Skyrim: A Sorcerer's Tale - Chapter 373 - XCVI: In The Mists of Sovengarde

Sakimori Kagami plays a VRMMORPG called Arch Earth Online. He is a veteran player with the name and appearance similar to an elderly bearded wizard from a certain book about a ring.

One day he purchases an appearance change item as a last resort to spend expiring currency and gets the idea of choosing what he would want to look like if his character was ever a girl.

Falling asleep should have suspended the game, but Kagami wakes up still online and feels the game has has gotten a bit more realistic. Did Arch Earth Online finally get a long-awaited update?

Drowned, betrayed, and humiliated—Brandon’s life ended in the most pathetic way possible. But when he opened his eyes again, he was no longer Brandon.Reborn as Noah Weaverheart—in a novel he had read—the spoiled yet talentless son of a duchess, he quickly realizes a cruel truth: he’s nothing more than a stepping stone, fated to die in the first 30 chapters of this world’s story.But fate isn’t set in stone.Because he now has the Sovereign Bond System, a power that allows him to share everything from the women he bonds with—but at 10,000 times the quality.—[Ding! You have bonded with Neko Neko.][Ding! You have shared the affinity and talent of Neko Neko.][Ding! You have obtained the affinity: Ice (SSS rank) and the talent: Sovereign of Ice (SSS rank).]Noah’s lips curled into a knowing smirk.If this world wanted him to be a stepping stone, then he’d crush the so-called protagonist, steal his harem, and rewrite destiny itself.

A virtual underground game that has no protection. Lurking with players who seek power, fortune and survival. Kieran chose to enter this VRMMORPG game without hesitation because he knows this is his only way out from death. Can he escape death in real life or dying via the game?

- Description from Novelupdates

Leguna. An orphan. His life changed dramatically the day the thieves’ guild happened to select him for training and development. He would go on to become lifelong friends with a loyal mercenary, the partner of a beautiful magus who was cold as ice, the savior of a mysterious disfigured dark-elf girl with a talent for the Breath, and the unlikely caregiver for a feisty young maiden. And yet, who would be with him to the very end?