novelhk Page 44
Page 44
However, after Yukino moved out, she decided that if she wanted to raise a cat, she would have to raise it from a kitten, so she didn't adopt one. At that time, Light Yagami came up with a way to take in Momoka by taking advantage of her sympathy.
After all, being sent to a stray animal shelter means waiting for a harmless euthanasia.
“That completes the registration.” Izayoi Nina leaned over and taught Yukino Yukinoshita how to use Line.
"I want to add Yukino's LINE too!" Yui grabbed her phone, the shiny pendant on the case giving it a high school girl vibe.
Yukino Yukinoshita swiped her fingertips across the screen, accepting friend requests one by one. She now had four more friends on her LINE account.
"Hmm, I'll ask my sister for her LINE account later."
Chapter 78: Then Confess!
Ichi Seika yawned as she passed by her sister's room.
"Don't always immerse yourself in a virtual world; you'll only get deeper and deeper into it."
She leaned against the doorway, looking at Hongxia in the room with a rather complicated expression.
The girl with golden hair reached out and gently stroked the air, as if someone were there.
Ichika knows that her younger sister is interacting with the fake mother again. There are many modes. Last year, Light Yagami created hundreds of interactive events for the mother in different scenarios. Whenever she misses her mother, she enters the world of BR, as if she has returned to the time when she played in a band.
My mother's words of advice to cherish my family were exactly the same as those in my memory.
But what's the use of that? Dwelling on it all the time will only increase the pain. Some people only realize they should have cherished something after they've lost it.
Having already explored every mode to its fullest extent, Ichika Hoshika naturally didn't want her younger sister to become addicted to it.
"A new mode has been updated inside, allowing you to touch a mother whose feel is almost indistinguishable from a real one, with no lag."
Reluctant to leave the illusory world, Ichiji Nijika turned and smiled as she told her sister.
"what?"
Two minutes later, Ijichi Hoshika joined the online mode.
A few years ago, at home, the two sisters, one big and one small, looked at each other. In the virtual world, everything was the street and scenery from when their mother was still alive. The Shimokitazawa was built to a 1:1 scale, covering everything within a 10-kilometer radius of their home. There were hundreds of character models, and the server required a huge amount of computing power, which was only possible by connecting to the Galaxy Computer.
The former might be achievable by wealthy individuals spending tens of billions, while the latter is only for the most elite family heirs in Japan to be eligible to apply.
The revolutionary technology was used by the eldest son of the Yagami family to soothe the emotional wounds of the two lovers.
Ichi Seika tremblingly reached out her hand, trying to touch the face of the kind woman so close to her.
She touched it, and it felt just like touching another player. Unlike other NPCs, there was a slight delay and lag. Whether it was the touch or the words, it felt like touching Hongxia in this world.
Could it be someone who looks almost exactly like her mother who joined? This thought flashed through Ijichi Hoshika's mind, and the words "limited time opening" reminded her that this might be the case.
But Ichi Seika couldn't quite make out that familiar tone of voice or the expression on his face, even though it was a little blurry.
"Hongxia, you've grown so much! Has your older sister taken you to play in the band?"
An and Subaru naturally took on the role of mother, and through the activation of their abilities, she also logged into this world.
The things left behind by Light Yagami have never been taken back, and the server continues to exist and run.
“My sister is very good to me. She doesn’t have a band anymore. She opened a live house, and Boqi and I perform there…” Ijichi Nijika has said this countless times. Whenever she encounters troubles, she comes to this virtual world.
She was grateful that the world would always be open to her and her sister.
When their mother was alive, her greatest wish was for the two sisters, 21-year-old Xingge and 9-year-old Hongxia, to get along well. However, neither of them understood this. It wasn't until their mother was involved in a car accident and passed away that they realized the importance of family.
“My dream is to form a great band. My sister left the band to take care of me, and I want to continue it for her.” Ichiji Nijika, with tears in her eyes, threw herself into her mother’s arms and repeated the events of the past few years over and over again.
"I found a great bassist, Yamada Ryo, and the lovely Gui Qu Lai Xi, but she ran away from our first performance. Luckily, I found Boqi-chan, a very famous guitar hero online. We formed a four-person band and also met Boqi-chan's boyfriend. The band became famous, not a global sensation like Ku Lai Xi Ku, but as long as my sister's live house is always full..."
Just like when she was a child, she was being stroked by her mother's large hands. Ichiji Nijika did not hide anything because her older sister was beside her. The warm touch was just like in her memory.
"Nijika is a good girl. She still wears the ribbon that was given to her back then, doesn't she?" An and Subaru's acting skills are not bad. With Yagami Light's temporary guidance, they can almost perfectly play the role of the mother.
“Every day!” Ijichi Nijika proudly lifted the red ribbon tied around her neck. It was obviously ridiculous and didn’t suit a high school girl at all; it looked more like something a child would wear.
"Great, great..."
Several tens of minutes later, An and Subaru withdrew from the all-in-one machine.
Having deactivated her superpowers, she plopped down on the sofa, unceremoniously flapping her shirt to cool off. The warmth from the girl's embrace had reached her, so much so that even after she withdrew, she subconsciously imagined the carefree feeling of returning home in the summer.
"Mind your manners!"
A familiar voice came from beside him. An and Subaru said "Hai" and sat up straight, placing their hands together on their knees.
"Hahahaha, Private First Class An and Subaru, stand at attention!"
Light Yagami burst into laughter. He found that teasing this girl was quite fun. Online, she was mostly just talking nonsense, but after meeting her in person, he was the one who enjoyed making her laugh.
"You can even use voice imitation..." Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, An and Subaru launched a Triceratops attack and successfully locked his neck.
"I can do a little bit of everything."
Feeling something soft against his elbow, Light Yagami coughed twice, and An and Subaru realized something was wrong and quickly moved away.
"I forgot you're not Renrencai. This is what I do when that girl makes me angry."
She cleared her throat to explain, then asked with disdain, "You actually dated Nina? What were your intentions? Tell me the truth!"
"Actually, she's more suited to be a daughter; she seems very easy to raise."
"Oh, so you like younger people, no, you like younger people psychologically." An and Subaru nodded thoughtfully.
"I thought you enjoyed arguing with Renna."
“She can’t argue with me. I have a few pictures of her crying.” Yagami Light took out the photos he took that afternoon, in which Nina was wailing and looked incredibly comical.
Today, besides updating the configuration in the Unreal Engine and adding Kasumigaoka Utaha's grandmother, I came to Anhe's house for another matter.
"An and Subaru, should we try dating?"
Speaking in a joking tone, Light Yagami's face was incredibly serious.
And An and Subaru knew very well that he was asking them seriously.
"Have you thought this through? I'm really climbing the social ladder, you know? Once it's announced, your parents and grandma will never let me let go. You have to take responsibility."
Anhe's granddaughter also has her own responsibilities.
For example, trying to marry into a family that has previously owned shares in a company.
Chapter 79: The First Encounter Between An and Subaru
High-rise duplex, overlooking the sea and the river.
The house that Grandma bought for An and Subaru is located in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, a prime location where land is extremely valuable, and it has its own floor.
"But I don't want to be an actress at all."
Having just finished a day of classes, An and Subaru returned home, collapsed onto the sofa without even taking off their shoes, and sighed repeatedly.
From this vantage point, you can see the scenery outside the window; ships near the port roar as they approach the dock, their sounds carrying far away.
Driven by her grandmother's expectations, she went to performing arts school and moved out of the house to live alone.
There was no way around it; she hated hypocritical masks anyway, but when it came to family ties, she willingly put one on and bound herself to it.
Meanwhile, the group of people at the school lived with various personas and masks, building their own social circles, trying to curry favor with her, the granddaughter of the Anhe family, while ignoring those without connections.
They're all hypocrites.
An and Subaru replied perfunctorily to a few LINE messages on their phones; it was from another actor's child—Wakaba Mutsumi.
She only puts in the effort for certain worthwhile social interactions.
Never mind, let's play a few games.
Anhe Subaru quickly turned on the screen-projected TV and operated the controller.
For her, the virtual network and virtual identity meant that no one knew she was Anhe Tiantong's granddaughter, and no one knew that the gamer with the masculine ID who could carry three opponents to victory in Splatoon 5 and leave a message saying "I don't take apprentices" was actually a girl with smelly feet.
As she walked along the floor to the sofa, her little feet, covered by purple dinosaur socks that had turned slightly black, couldn't quickly dissipate the sweat from a day of walking because of the loafers, which mixed with the faint smell of leather in the room.
Of course, there weren't any Genshin Impact players here, otherwise they would have already jumped in front of me and said, "Please try your best to step on me, Anwa Subaru-san~".
She quickly started a match, playing solo queue as a lone wolf. It wasn't that she was afraid to play ranked; it was just that at higher ranks, matchmaking took a long time, and she couldn't wait since she had just returned home. She wanted to quickly vent her frustrations about the spoiled brat behavior she had developed at school.
Every day it's just "Gui'an, Gui'an." Those who know the situation might think it's some kind of etiquette passed down from the Warring States period by warriors and nobles who consider themselves of noble blood to distinguish themselves from commoners. But those who don't know the situation might think it's some kind of polite greeting.
Casual typing made the bad teammates stay at home and slack off, so An and Subaru took the lead and rushed out with purple spray.
With her signature purple-colored spray gun, An and Subaru skillfully maneuvered, she sprayed her way to the enemy's base. The first player she encountered along the way was completely wiped out and sent to respawn mode. Meanwhile, the storm of attacks from her two teammates behind her was also neatly neutralized by her swift dive into the liquid.
Prepare to storm into the enemy's base and wipe out the one camping there, achieving the familiar feat of wiping out the enemy team for the first time. Then come countless more team wipes, just like always.
An and Subaru appeared effortlessly from the blind spot and sent out a message.
"2 minutes and 34 seconds, team wipe achieved."
It's actually only 2 minutes and 18 seconds now, but the experienced An and Subaru are used to calling out the numbers in advance, since she has already foreseen the death of the last person.
As for whether it is insulting?
Sorry, in esports, being bad is the original sin, and she also has the ability to pretend. She has been ranked first in the New Kawasaki region for many years, and she also has the shining title of the strongest in the national server, which is enough to suppress the complaints of a bunch of people who were crushed - they will only fawn over her like those people in school.
Soon, Anwa Subaru, who had given herself 16 seconds to eliminate this self-righteous weakling, was severely humiliated.
The opponent simply sidestepped, dodging her attack perfectly. Then, taking advantage of the stunned state, they quickly unleashed a combo, with the red liquid headshot dealing extra damage, and the base invasion defense mechanism also increasing damage. In less than two seconds, An and Subaru were reduced to low health.
She was forced to hide behind cover, looking for an opportunity.
After removing the headphones and unplugging the charging cable for the controller, An and Subaru knew they had encountered a master.
Once she was in a serious state, she got up from the sofa, took off her awkward socks, and discarded all factors that made her uncomfortable and prevented her from entering a perfect state. She began to prepare for a counterattack.
However, all the strategies and tactics anticipated failed to work. The tactics that usually dominated the matchmaking arena, as well as the extreme gambles made in high-ranking matches, seemed to have been seen through.
In the game, An and Subaru, who only had one drop of health left, naturally knelt down on one knee after standing still for a long time.
All of this was because she was staring at a red spray gun.
Having grown accustomed to single-handedly dominating the opposing team in a match, An and Subaru were prepared for defeat this time, but the opposing team didn't fire a shot.
"Yongchu Taffy." That's his ID.
"Hurry up and kill him, don't try to wait until I'm halfway there before headshotting him." Anhe Mao typed quickly. She had seen this kind of maneuver many times before, toying with her opponents, since she often did it herself.
When everyone thinks this situation is normal, An and Subaru don't need to consider other people's feelings in every aspect of the game.
“Being good at the game doesn’t mean you have to be aloof and command everything. Maybe if you just listen to me, we can easily win this game, but your teammates might not have started this match to win.”
The other party simply typed a message reminding An and Subaru to check their teammates' messages.
The public chat was visible to everyone, so An and Subaru clicked on it.
She said just one sentence, and her two teammates, seeing her title, treated it as gospel, making the last person stay at home obediently and follow the master's orders.
"What are you trying to say? Sympathy for newbies?" Anhe Mao didn't understand. It was just a game tactic, and she didn't have any strong demands. She just hoped that her teammates could be a little smarter.
"You're not very old, are you? Maybe a high school student? Perhaps you're very skilled now, heavily addicted to the internet, and can freely seek out the flowers and applause that don't exist in real life in the game, even changing your life through these things. But ten years from now, when you open this game again out of nostalgia, life will have changed you beyond recognition. You'll just want to relax, and at that moment, the opposing team or your teammates will tell you to behave obediently, and they'll be clamoring that they don't take on apprentices..."
The bullet she fired in her youth struck her future self between the eyebrows ten years later. An and Subaru understood this meaning, but unfortunately, she couldn't empathize with him.
Even if the eldest daughter of the Anhe family doesn't play this game ten years later, she won't be reduced to being crushed by life. It's purely because the person on the other side has too high a moral standard, but he also has the capital to be high.
—After all, I was still kneeling, and four minutes had passed in the game.
However, she also realized that this was a matchmaking game, and many people came in to play a game without caring about winning or losing, just like her, with the purpose of venting their frustrations in life.
“You’re right, I apologize. Shall we have a one-on-one match later?” An and Subaru replied. In the world of games, winning or losing often convinces the other party, rather than simply relying on reason.
After quickly ending the game, the opposing team agreed to the one-on-one challenge.
On various maps, An and Subaru suffered utter defeats, and she could deeply feel the helplessness she felt when she first encountered a master player in the game.
Back then, she would think about honing her skills to fight back, but now she can't muster the slightest thought of resistance.
Playing shooting games is very stress-relieving. You witness the bullets being fired, feel the impact and the shattering sensation, and be admired by others for your own abilities, rather than because of the name of Anwa Tendo's granddaughter.
But now the bullets are being fired at her, making her a sitting duck, unable to hit the other person with a single shot.
"You win. I admit, my tone was indeed harsh and condescending..." Anhe Mao wasn't someone who wouldn't back down, but after admitting her mistake, she shamelessly added him as a friend, trying to defeat him.
I have a competitive personality, but that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to admit defeat.
It's just that I've bowed down too many times in real life, so I want to win back in the game.
She secretly joined the band to play drums time and time again, becoming a bass drum teammate. She thought about telling her grandmother that she didn't actually want to be an actress, but then, under her heartfelt smile, she told herself to forget it.
Grandma is old now. She's no longer the strong woman she once was, and she's no longer the age where you could hold her in your arms, lift her up high, and ask Subaru if he watched Grandma's live recording of the detective's diary today. The diary is already on its ninth installment.