Humans Are Creatures Who Long to Be Loved

Sakayanagi Narimori's knowledge was naturally much broader than that of Sakayanagi Arisu at the moment. He had also experienced the tragedy of friends who had ruined their lives after accidentally getting involved with this substance, so he spoke with a heavy expression and pursed lips:

"It felt like all the bones in my body were being crushed," he told me at the time.

Thanks to his past experiences, Sakayanagi Narimori has a certain understanding of this subject.

Generally speaking, the normal process of addiction should start with inhalation, then switch to intravenous injection because the pleasure is not enough, and finally reach the extreme of injecting the drug directly into the artery to pursue the most extreme stimulation. However, Kitagawa Ryo was forced to inject intravenously from the beginning, and even underwent an "arterial injection" a few days ago.

Moreover, children's immune systems are inherently weaker, making them more susceptible to drug addiction and dependence. With all these unfavorable factors combined, frankly speaking, even Sakayanagi Narimori didn't have much confidence.

"But it's so quiet."

Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help but speak up, and Sakayanagi Narimori was also slightly taken aback.

He recalled the image of his friend during his drug rehabilitation, where he had a nurse strap him to a restraint chair, screaming and yelling with a ferocious expression, first crying, then laughing, and finally dejectedly admitting defeat and begging for one last injection.

It was so quiet inside that if Sakayanagi Narimori hadn't specifically arranged for a nurse to stay with him, he would have been worried that Kitagawa Ryo might have fainted.

However, Sakayanagi Arisu's words made Sakayanagi Narimori somewhat uneasy, but he still patted his daughter on the shoulder:

"It's alright, trust the child."

"Arisu 'll come see him again once his condition stabilizes."

"After physiological detoxification, psychological detoxification is also needed, and that's when we'll need Arisu's help."

"Help?"

Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her head curiously.

"Um."

Sakayanagi Narimori smiled and patted his daughter's head. He squatted down and explained affectionately:

"For psychological detoxification, having family or friends with you can help encourage and distract you, which can help you reintegrate into society more quickly."

"Dad might not have that much time, so I'm asking Arisu for Arisu."

"Knew."

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded seriously in agreement to her father's request.

For Kitagawa Ryo, the hellish two weeks were finally over.

Thanks to the comprehensive medical system and nursing support arranged for him by Sakayanagi Narimori, coupled with his own willpower and the help of his golden talent [Persistence], the physiological detoxification phase was finally successfully completed, and his body was basically free from dependence on drugs.

Lying on the hospital bed, drenched in sweat, Kitagawa Ryo estimated his weight and felt that he had lost even more weight than when he first arrived. He slowly exhaled from his almost bloodless lips, looking utterly exhausted.

At this point, I do miss the earliest versions of text simulators, which were basically just repetitive things like "[Day xx: Withdrawal symptoms occur, overcome]".

Unlike the suffering of someone with ALS in the previous simulation, one is the helplessness of watching one's organs and muscles gradually fail and atrophy, while the other is an intense longing, an itch and pain deep in one's bones.

It should be said that the previous simulation experience served as a mental preparation, and this time, the physiological detoxification process was forced through by Kitagawa Ryo, but it is definitely one of the most unforgettable experiences of all the simulations so far.

As was his habit, Kitagawa Ryo took the medicine prescribed by the doctor from the table. During these two weeks, he had almost lost the ability to sleep on his own and could only rely on medication to help him fall asleep. The effect of medication was very significant, but he did not feel any sense of satisfaction after sleeping when he woke up. It was just an artificial and mechanical sleep.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was about to take his medication and go to sleep as he had for the past two weeks, the screen of his phone on the bedside table suddenly lit up.

This was left here by Sakayanagi Narimori on purpose, meaning that Kitagawa Ryo could call him anytime if he encountered any difficulties. But the person calling now is not Sakayanagi Narimori, but Sakayanagi Arisu.

"Hello."

Perhaps influenced by the overall impact of this simulation, or perhaps because the experiences of the past two weeks had left him exhausted, Kitagawa Ryo's voice sounded somewhat indifferent.

However, this fits his current persona. If Kitagawa Ryo could still be carefree and cheerful every day, Sakayanagi Narimori would probably suspect that he has some kind of mental problem.

"Hey... Liang."

I heard someone mutter quietly on the other end, "Is that the name?" and the sound of pages turning.

"I heard you've successfully passed the first stage, so congratulations."

It was accompanied by a soft 'clapping' sound.

The character Sakayanagi Arisu in this simulation seems more lively and agile, probably because she recovered from her illness beforehand.

For the past two weeks, Kitagawa Ryo has been working hard to communicate with the doctors and nurses who are taking care of him and to obtain information. These medical staff, who were specially hired by the Sakayanagi Family, naturally enjoyed talking about the congenital heart disease incident that happened more than a year ago. As a result, Kitagawa Ryo also learned that Sakayanagi Arisu had been cured.

Although the medical staff treated finding the treatment plan as just a story and a bit of fun, Kitagawa Ryo knew very well that it was probably true.

The USB drive sounded very familiar; it was clearly the pathological analysis and treatment plan for congenital heart disease cases like Sakayanagi Arisu he had painstakingly compiled during the last simulation.

However, the specific causes and consequences still need further investigation, although Kitagawa Ryo always felt that Hotaru was involved in this matter.

After all, it's rumored that Sakayanagi Arisu found the USB drive by following a cat.

However, being able to cure Sakayanagi Arisu's congenital heart disease in advance is entirely beneficial for clearing the game. Sakayanagi Arisu's psychological defects do not stem entirely from her physical defects, but they are certainly related to them.

Therefore, we should still give credit to Yingji.

"Meow."

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was thinking about Hotaru, he happened to hear a familiar cat meow from Sakayanagi Arisu, followed by Sakayanagi Arisu's slightly disdainful comments like, "Why are you being so attentive to me at a time like this?"

After pressing down the cat that had forcibly approached, Sakayanagi Arisu, still wearing her pajamas, quickly spoke up:

Anyway, I can visit you at the hospital tomorrow. Goodnight.

"Also, Father said I'm older than you, so remember to call me 'older sister' tomorrow."

It seemed as if they were afraid of disturbing Kitagawa Ryo's sleep time, or perhaps it was originally...

Having only informed them of this one thing, Sakayanagi Arisu quickly hung up the phone.

Kitagawa Ryo put his phone, which was now stuck in a busy signal, back down and lay back on the bed, feeling both amused and exasperated.

In the last simulation of Horikita Suzune, he was Sakayanagi Arisu brother, but now he's become her younger brother. Life is truly unpredictable.

However, what bothered Kitagawa Ryo was that neither Sakayanagi Arisu nor Sakayanagi Narimori mentioned anything about the Marriage Contract in their conversations, but the [Marriage Contract] item had indeed disappeared from their personal inventory, indicating that it had already been used.

I'll have to ask again later.

After reviewing the entire simulation process with his eyes closed, Kitagawa Ryo set his sights on the [White Room].

Although he had only been in the White Room for six or seven years, he had thoroughly understood what kind of organization the White Room was. In addition, he had already clashed with them in the real world, so he had no psychological burden whatsoever in destroying this plan.

Even though I've been away from the White Room for two weeks, I still find myself thinking about what happened there.

And people.

Raising my left arm, the scars and needle marks were beginning to fade, but the grotesque appearance of the past was still faintly visible.

There must be a way.

Muttering to himself, Kitagawa Ryo closed his eyes and began to trace back everything from the past.

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka escaped the White Room with the help of Ayanokoji Atsuomi's butler."

This information comes from Ichinose Honami's third simulation, a long time ago.

"That was when Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was fifteen years old, which is eight years from now. At that time, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was able to escape because Ayanokoji Atsuomi lost control of the White Room. He was forced to hand Ayanokoji Kiyotaka over to Matsuo, the butler, to take care of for a year. On the butler's advice, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka chose to apply to Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School to escape the White Room's pursuit."

"Ayanokoji Atsuomi is probably not the real mastermind behind the White Room Project. If we go back from the start of the White Room Project, Ayanokoji Atsuomi was only around thirty years old at that time, and he had no resources or ability to support such a project."

"He wanted to produce results, and that included his use of me. Moreover, the process was quite rough and hasty. The White Room was clearly not a project that could yield results in the short term."

"This shows that the person supporting him behind the scenes also desperately needs such achievements and political accomplishments. Ayanokoji Atsuomi himself holds a high position and is able to act as his backer. What the other party is after is the power of this country."

Although they were almost certain of identifying the real culprit, Kitagawa Ryo didn't think he had much of a chance. After all, with his small frame, it was wishful thinking to try and refute the other party on a political level.

Furthermore, Kitagawa Ryo strongly suspects that Ayanokoji Atsuomi's White Room project was interrupted because something happened to his backer, and based on his age, it's likely that he passed away.

"However... there are still some things we can use."

The status quo of the White Room will not change because of his departure. If Kitagawa Ryo's prediction is correct, he should be labeled as eliminated. That's how the children of the White Room disappeared without a trace.

Horikita Suzune's simulation process provided Kitagawa Ryo with a good idea.

In that case, let's defeat magic with magic.

"Are you planning to move your entire room over there?"

Sakayanagi Narimori looked at his daughter with a headache as she directed the movers to load various items into the trunk of the truck.

"Anyway, Dad never comes home to sleep."

Sakayanagi Arisu blinked, carefully selecting books from the bookshelf and stuffing them into her suitcase, while simultaneously putting the Chess box from the table into her backpack.

"Besides, I don't really know what he likes, so it's best to bring a few more things."

"Chess, Go, playing cards... cell phone, laptop... and Dad said he needs sleeping pills to fall asleep lately, so I also brought storybooks."

"When I was sick before, my dad prepared this for me in the same way, right?"

"I specifically looked it up, and psychological detoxification is a long-term process, so companionship is extremely important!"

It was rare to see his daughter so concerned about something, but he never interfered in Sakayanagi Narimori Sakayanagi Arisu's affairs, so he just shook his head helplessly.

"You look exactly like your mother."

"Being compared to my mother is the greatest compliment I could receive."

Sakayanagi Arisu responded with a smile, carefully putting away the stack of season tickets for amusement parks, zoos, and aquariums that her father had given her into her pocket, when she suddenly remembered something:

"Has Dad recently taken on the role of Chairman at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School?"

"Yeah, that's why I've been so busy lately."

Sakayanagi Narimori muttered a helpless remark.

Then he saw his daughter obediently extend her hand to him:

"Then please hand over all the tickets for the Cultural Festival."

Going home, taking a day off

I suddenly received an urgent notice from the school, which led to a chaotic rush home. Suddenly, there were no more classes, no more exams, and winter break was brought forward by a month (although the price was home quarantine).

I've been traveling all day and I'm so tired I can't write anymore. Sorry, I'm going to bed now.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Chapter 94: Humans are creatures that crave love.

Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, although it is still ninety years away from being a century-old prestigious school, has made a name for itself in Tokyo and even the whole country in recent years with its claimed college entrance rate and employment rate of 99.9%.

As its reputation grew, Tokyo Advanced Educational High School also gained an air of mystery due to its fully enclosed management model. It only enrolls 160 students each year, yet its investment is visibly huge. It can be said that in recent years, every move of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School has attracted considerable attention in the education sector.

Although this was nothing new to Kitagawa Ryo, he still tried to show a bit of curiosity when faced with Sakayanagi Arisu sitting in front of him, giving a vivid introduction.

It's roughly at the level of "[sounds really impressive]", like a series of loud, enthusiastic slaps.

Incidentally, Kitagawa Ryo had no intention of calling Sakayanagi Arisu sister as she wished. After all, considering that her memories from the simulation would also be synchronized, it was better to avoid those embarrassing past events as much as possible.

However, Sakayanagi Arisu only felt that Kitagawa Ryo had just escaped from the White Room and was unable to accept or express the kindness of those around him. This, in turn, aroused her inexplicable competitive spirit, as if she wanted to make Kitagawa Ryo obediently and compliantly agree with her.

After giving a thorough introduction to Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, Sakayanagi Arisu finally revealed her true colors:

"So, Ryo, would you like to come with me to this year's ANHS Cultural Festival?"

Sakayanagi Arisu took out the last two season tickets from the various season tickets lined up in front of her and waved the tickets in her hand.

The only time Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is open to the public each year is during its Cultural Festival around November. Relatives of school staff can obtain a limited number of tickets to enter the campus as guests, which can be considered a kind of implicit perk.

As the newly appointed Chairman of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, Sakayanagi Narimori naturally had this right as well, so Sakayanagi Arisu obtained two tickets to this year's Cultural Festival from her father.

Feeling like he'd heard similar invitations before, Kitagawa Ryo quickly recalled receiving invitations from Sakayanagi Arisu for Cultural Festival both in Horikita Suzune's simulation and in reality. However, on those two occasions, he had only acted to help Horikita Suzune resolve her inner conflict.

Sakayanagi Arisu, naturally unaware of Kitagawa Ryo's thoughts, assumed Kitagawa Ryo was resisting going to crowded places. She leaned forward slightly and earnestly promised:

"I'll stay with Ryo, and there aren't any... uh, bad guys there."

"If such a thing existed, I could also protect Liang."

Although Sakayanagi Arisu's thin arms and legs didn't look very convincing, Kitagawa Ryo looked down at his own skinny arms and legs after being tortured, and still nodded with a forced smile.

Out of concern for Kitagawa Ryo's unpleasant memories, Sakayanagi Arisu tacitly avoided mentioning anything related to the White Room. After confirming that Kitagawa Ryo was willing to go to the Cultural Festival with her, Sakayanagi Arisu happily asked:

"Is there any game you'd like to play, Liang?"

"Game?"