The Cutest Face (Part 2)

Tsukishiro leaned lazily against the sofa cushions, his voice carrying a hint of teasing.

"That was just a private visit by invitation; I haven't been there in a long time."

Sakayanagi Narimori nodded and explained:

"But now that the clues point to the White Room, it's perfect timing for me to go there."

"Has the child's name been determined through investigation?"

"Each child in the White Room will be named randomly; past names have no meaning."

Tsukishiro shook his head and explained:

"However, there aren't many White Room in each phase, and determining the gender can reduce the number by half, so finding one shouldn't be too difficult."

"Um."

Nodding thoughtfully, Sakayanagi Narimori stood up to bid farewell to the other person.

"Then I'll trouble Mr. Tsukishiro to continue the investigation."

"I also hope Sakayanagi-sensei has a successful trip."

With an impeccable smile, Tsukishiro also stood up to see him off.

Once Sakayanagi Narimori's figure disappeared from his sight, Tsukishiro leaned back as if all his strength had left him, lay down on the sofa, and slowly closed his eyes.

"The White Room... is a foolish and terrifying thing."

His heart pounded rapidly in his chest, an astonishing heat seemingly erupting from it, burning Kitagawa Ryo's heart like wildfire. This intense stimulation made it difficult for him to breathe for a moment. Then, like lava erupting from Yamanaka, an intensely hot dizziness and hallucination instantly engulfed Kitagawa Ryo.

"Intra-arterial injection... this is insane."

It was as if a black cloth had been shrouded in darkness, making everything too blurry. Kitagawa Ryo struggled back to his room and collapsed onto the lower bunk.

This was the second time he and Yuki had switched beds. At first, Kitagawa Ryo felt that the other person was not used to sleeping on the top bunk, so he took the initiative to move up there. However, as the White Room continued to administer drugs to him, even the simple action of climbing to the top bunk became somewhat difficult.

By dulling and discarding the sensation of "pain" in his brain, deceiving himself and his brain, Kitagawa Ryo gave up thinking.

Inside the White Room, he was unaware of what was happening outside. In fact, after using the [Marriage Contract], a one-time use item, Kitagawa Ryo's life had not changed at all.

He has now become a symbolic figure, White Room is meant to further enhance his image, serving as a hypothetical motivator for the Fifth Generation.

In order to gain Kitagawa Ryo's further cooperation, they increased the dosage and frequency of the medication without any scruples, and even today they used an extremely dangerous arterial injection.

"Cough..."

He didn't have the strength to turn on the light when he came in. Kitagawa Ryo lay in complete darkness. The empty room was deserted except for him. His perception, stimulated by the drugs, began to be distorted, and he began to hallucinate, as if something was watching him and wanted to devour him.

There was a sense of weightlessness, as if the world before my eyes had been completely overturned. The world spun around, and I felt dizzy. It was something that I couldn't ignore by closing my eyes. Reality at this moment seemed to have truly turned into black and white and chaotic images, like a television screen with no signal, jumping distortedly second by second.

It felt like he was back in that cramped, dark basement. Kitagawa Ryo was curled up on the bed, breathing heavily, his chest heaving like an old bellows.

At this moment, the body and spirit seemed to have separated from each other; the former was like a dead body that had turned into a docile lump of flesh, while the latter roared and howled as if it wanted to shoot straight out from the top of the head.

Suddenly, a string within him snapped, Kitagawa Ryo lost consciousness amidst the dizzying spin.

When Xue pushed open the door, she instinctively paused, startled. The room, unlit, was enveloped in immense darkness, as if frozen solid. A sharp scent in the air easily cut her nose.

Suddenly, as if she had realized something, she turned on the light almost instantly and rushed to the bed.

The distinct and pungent smell of blood was like a gleaming blade, easily extinguishing the child's last shred of reason.

Before she could even confirm, seeing Kitagawa Ryo's terrible condition, Yuki immediately ran out again.

Her first instinct was to find the instructor, but there was no one in the White Room that was already dark. Xue could only run down the corridor and punch all the doors she could see, whether they were open or closed.

Forgetting all rules about curfews and such, it was as if they were performing some kind of strange ritual, believing that once completed, they could save Kitagawa Ryo.

In fact, she was saving herself as well.

"That's incredible."

The assistant, observing this action through the security camera, shook his head and sighed:

"Go save him, the test is over."

Having received his assurance, the prepared medical team immediately rushed into the dormitory and lifted the unconscious Kitagawa Ryo onto a stretcher.

"After this lesson, she should be more obedient."

Yuki, exhausted, returned to her room and bumped into the adults carrying Kitagawa Ryo away. The anxious and uneasy look on her face had not yet faded. She tried to say something, but in the end, she stepped aside and let these people who had harmed Kitagawa Ryo take him away again.

She had clearly been looking for these people, but as they left with Kitagawa Ryo, she felt a strange surge of anger and resentment.

As they passed each other, Xue instinctively wanted to ask a question, but a single glance from the other person silenced her. She could only stand rooted to the spot outside the door, watching them walk away.

What unfolded before the child was an almost realistic despair. The last man smiled at her before leaving, a smile like a huge nightmare standing in front of her, yet she couldn't move or escape it.

That night, Kitagawa Ryo was not sent back. Yuki slept alone in bed, curling up in the deepest part of her body.

A terrifying yet familiar scent lingered on the sheets beneath her, and specks of blood, like tiny flames, slowly cooked her body.

Xue clutched the blanket and fell asleep anyway.

Gradually regaining consciousness, the first thing Kitagawa Ryo couldn't tell when he opened his eyes whether he was still in a simulation or had failed and returned to reality. However, the lingering taste of blood in his mouth and the scene before him quickly made Kitagawa Ryo realize the truth.

I don't know if it was the accumulated discomfort waiting to explode the moment I regained consciousness, but just a few seconds after I became fully conscious, I felt intense discomfort all over my body, especially my heart, which was wailing loudly in my chest.

Bacterial endocarditis

With his purple [Physician] talent, Kitagawa Ryo had roughly pinpointed the lesion based on his current symptoms, and couldn't help but sigh.

Addictive drug injections often cause a complete collapse of the immune system, including sepsis from hepatitis B and C, and bacterial endocarditis is also a very common complication.

To Kitagawa Ryo's dismay, this condition is actually common in patients with congenital heart disease, such as those with atrial septal defects or ventricular septal defects, who are more susceptible to this disease.

Even though he didn't have a stethoscope in his hand, his years of experience researching congenital heart disease told Kitagawa Ryo that his heart must be making a loud and rough murmur.

He realized he had been placed on a hospital bed. He tried to turn his head to observe his surroundings, but his mind suddenly became foggy again. His right hand twitched unconsciously, causing some blood to flow back into the Kitagawa Ryo drip bottle, staining the transparent tube a light pink.

"Are you awake? Don't open your eyes, get some rest."

She heard a familiar voice, but couldn't immediately recognize who it was. Kitagawa Ryo felt a small hand gently stroking the top of her head, while her other hand pressed down on her right hand, as if to prevent her from moving again.

The taste of blood in his mouth seemed to be getting stronger again. Kitagawa Ryo squinted and saw the person beside the bed take a glass of water from the bedside table and hold it to his lips.

Would you like a drink?

Kitagawa Ryo was speechless. He felt he hadn't suffered this much during his last simulation at the same age. He could only sip the warm water that was brought to his lips.

"It's alright, I'm here."

"Liang will be fine, he's just sick, he'll be better soon."

Feeling better after drinking the water, Kitagawa Ryo struggled to open his eyes again, but his movements were interrupted by something the other person did before: a kiss on the forehead.

Through the blurry focus, I saw the color of the other person's pupils so close to my eyes.

The beautiful fluorescent color almost caused Kitagawa Ryo to hallucinate for a moment.

However, he immediately realized that the other person was Amasawa Ichika.

Before my sluggish brain could even process where I was, another question popped into my head: why was this person next to me?

Kitagawa Ryo hesitated for a moment, but before he could ask a question, the other person reached out and covered it.

A wave of sleepiness washed over him once more, and Kitagawa Ryo once again drifted into a deep, almost unconscious sleep.

"As you can see, Liang is seriously ill."

"They should have been eliminated."

As Ichika stepped out of the room, she heard the man in the white coat say this. Like a typical White Room, she didn't ask any questions, but instead simply asked:

"What do you want me to do?"

"Strive, strive, and strive again."

The assistant smiled casually and pointed to the room, saying:

"If we do his share too, he can survive."

Seeing that the other party quickly nodded in agreement, the assistant replied:

"Okay, if you perform well tomorrow, I'll give you the chance to come visit."

After sending away the most enthusiastic member of the Fifth Generation, the assistant entered the room and gazed at the sleeping Kitagawa Ryo.

Acute bacterial endocarditis, that's the doctor's diagnosis.

Symptoms include high fever, fatigue, and alarming-looking subcutaneous bleeding points on the face and neck.

The assistant couldn't help but shake his head and wrote in the documents in his hand:

"Rhesus Monkey Follow-up Experiment 3: Harlow further instructed his assistant to create a realistic monkey mask as a control group. However, the infant monkey was born before the mask was completed, so Harlow placed the infant monkey with a [Cloth] mother who had no facial features. The infant monkey, however, fell in love with the faceless mother and kissed her passionately. When the realistic monkey mask was finished, the baby monkey screamed in terror upon seeing the face and hid in a corner of the cage, trembling all over."

Our needs go far beyond hunger; we strive to connect with others, and the first face we see is the most endearing in our hearts, and it's difficult to change that impression.

Eighty-ninth: A way of writing tragedy

"If I had three days' worth of vision, what should I look at?"

"On the first day, I want to see those kind, gentle, friendly people who make my life worthwhile."

---- From the Story of My Life, by Helen Keller

A strong heart may also mean that its owner is able to bear or express deeper emotions.

Sakayanagi Arisu received her seventh birthday present from her father, and somewhat unexpectedly, she received two different items.

"This is what I prepared for you before. Although I thought it might be a bit inappropriate to give it to you now, I finally decided to give it to Arisu together."

The father, somewhat embarrassed, handed the exquisite walking stick to Sakayanagi Arisu.

Sakayanagi Arisu was well aware of her father's initial intentions. If it weren't for that fortuitous encounter a year ago, her frail heart and body would indeed have needed such a cane.

"Of course, for now it can only be used as a decoration."

His words, though tinged with regret, carried an upward cadence as his father knelt down and took a picture of Sakayanagi Arisu was holding a cane.

"The second thing is something I just prepared for you Arisu, these past few days."

"Ta-da!"

Sakayanagi Narimori showed absolutely no signs of maturity or composure. Like a child, he clapped his hands and pulled open the gift covered by a red cloth. Inside was a stack of season passes, covering everything from amusement parks and zoos to aquariums and panda theme parks. It included not only attractions in Tokyo but also famous places in more distant Hokkaido.

"During this time, Arisu can go wherever she wants, but don't get lost!"

Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help but laugh at her father's teasing tone. She hadn't heard any words like "run" or "jump" from him in a long time. This cautious manner made him seem even more sensitive than when she was a patient.

"I like it very much, Dad."

With her face held high, she offered her heartfelt thanks to her beloved father. Sakayanagi Arisu had never met her mother; she could only listen to her father occasionally reminiscing in a warm and gentle tone, and then she would play both roles herself, gradually filling in the gaps in her memory.

People who are sick often feel like they are the most unfortunate person in the world, but this misfortune is often doubled by their parents, and perhaps for Sakayanagi Narimori, it was doubled.

That's why Sakayanagi Arisu still thinks about what happened a year ago. She was a child who gave up fairy tales early on, but the events of the past year make her feel as if she is living in a fairy tale.

Unlike Alice in the fairy tale who chases after the rabbit with intense curiosity and childlike innocence, Sakayanagi Arisu only followed the cat slowly to the tree in her distress, with a tentative interest in living creatures.

Sakayanagi Arisu's life changed again from that turning point.

It was as if the research was specifically for patients with congenital heart disease like her, and Sakayanagi Arisu received a gift from God.

The process of being sick is never a process of gradual satisfaction; it is always a process of increasing pain.

All patients yearn to be healthy, but often they cannot say these words directly in order to consider the feelings of their relatives and friends. Sakayanagi Arisu was no exception.

Should she criticize her own father?

Is it fair to criticize a father who has gone to great lengths to soothe the pain of losing his wife before wholeheartedly loving his own father?

Sakayanagi Arisu once read in a book that children her age were still in the preoperational stage of thinking and did not actually have the ability to see things from other people's perspectives. She refuted this view.

Once a child learns the feeling of "love," he will unconsciously consider the other person's feelings. Liking is the most egoistic and extreme emotion, but it is also the most altruistic and self-destructive extreme emotion.

Sakayanagi Arisu seen children her age throw tantrums. They were all well-educated and sensible children, so they didn't yell and cry at their parents. Instead, they preferred to never apologize or say anything, and just watch the other person suffer while they tortured themselves.

"Can I bring Hotaru with me?"