is a Japanese light novel series written by Yuumikan and illustrated by Koin. It began serialization online in 2016 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Fujimi Shobo, which published the first light novel volume in September 2017 under their Kadokawa Books imprint. Sixteen volumes have been released as of August 2023.
A manga adaptation with art by Jirō Oimoto has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen manga magazine Comp Ace since May 2018, and collected into seven tankōbon volumes. Both the light novel and manga have been licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation produced by Silver Link aired from January to March 2020. A second season aired from January to April 2023.
Plot
Urged on by her friend, Kaede Honjō begins playing the VRMMORPG NewWorld Online under the name Maple. Not wanting to get hurt, Maple opts to be a shield user with maxed-out defense stats, and continues putting every status point she earns in the game into increasing only her defense level. As a result, she is left with slow foot speed and no magic, but her high defense allows her to endure most hits without taking any damage. This, along with her basic-level creative thinking, allows for her to make unexpected accomplishments in the game, its quests and events. By doing this, she ends up earning all kinds of equally unexpected skills and becomes one of the strongest players in the game.
Characters
Maple Tree
The main protagonist, who has just started playing NewWorld Online. Since she does not like to get hurt, she puts every skill point she earns into boosting her defense, allowing her to acquire new skills and level up simply by withstanding attacks. Even with her lack of gaming experience, Maple remarkably gains enough resistance to almost anything and seems to have innate luck in locating rare items, hidden dungeons, and unique quests and skills. This gives the game admins many headaches as they try to devise ways to slow her down; to which, her unorthodox methods overcome the developers' adjustments. In the first event, she becomes the third-ranked player after defeating over 2,000 players. During the second event, she finds a monster egg which later hatches into a turtle, which she names Syrup. Due to her high defense, she has been nicknamed "the Walking Fortress" by other players. She is the guild master of Maple Tree.
Kaede's real-life friend who introduced her to NewWorld Online. She plays the swashbuckler class, which specializes in evasion and high-speed offense. Risa previously won a championship online game reward; all the trophies in her room, as well as gaming knowledge, hint that she is a pro gamer. She had to join Maple late in the game because her mother forbade her from gaming, wanting her to pass her proficiency exams. Sally could also be described as a genius tactician as she seems to always be able to develop plans to lead her guildmates to victory and how to best use Maple's bizarre skills. She has a strong fear of ghosts; Maple jokes she could not handle haunted houses despite being in-game. During the second event, Sally found a monster egg which later hatches into a fox she named Oboro. After annihilating many players on the final day of the second event, she earned the moniker of "Untouchable Blue Monster".
A samurai whose speed is on par with Sally. She was ranked sixth in the first event. The Flame Emperor guild intended to recruit her, but Maple got to her first. She and the Flame Emperor's Split-Sword Shin have faced each other multiple times in the past and she defeated him every time.
An androgynous male mage player, who specializes in intel gathering and puzzle solving, which allows him to access secret places and items in the game. He uses a Rubik's Cube-like staff called the "Akashic Records," which grants him a random skill each day. He also has a library of spells that he can prepare ahead of time.
A great shielder like Maple and one of the first players that Maple meets in the game. He is recognized as a top player, having ranked ninth in the first event. He usually hangs out with Iz. He later gains the "Undead Lord" gear after soloing a hidden dungeon designed for players who have died and revived a certain number of times. He is usually involved in the game chat where the chat presses him for information about Maple. It is implied he is the oldest among the guild as he states he has to act as the girls' big brother and protector just to make sure no one takes advantage of them.