Becoming One / Winning Over the Gaming God of Beichuan Liang's Realm

"Then Yingying will die."

The answer and words she hadn't expected came from her brother's mouth. The girl in the sailor uniform looked up in surprise and met his gaze.

Unbeknownst to her, Kitagawa Ryo was on the verge of a breakdown. Like a player who had painstakingly completed all the conditions for clearing a game, collected all the necessary quest items, and finally stood before the final NPC to submit the ultimate quest, she was exhausted and impatient, her anticipation outweighing her excitement. She didn't want to watch even a second of the cutscenes.

But Hotaru still noticed her brother's expression and eyes.

The topic of life and death had been too distant for her over the years. When it came closest, she was still a child who didn't understand the concept at all. And after she learned about the concept, her brother had already made proper arrangements for her.

"Okay, I'll go."

After a brief moment of distraction, she nodded seriously in agreement.

However, the other party didn't need to use life-or-death threats to scare people. All they had to do was say that if they didn't go, they would never see him again, would that have been enough?

But the two years abroad were even harder to endure than Ying had imagined.

If I had to summarize, loneliness would be a more accurate adjective than anxiety or fear.

The bond between siblings, born in the increasingly distant past, can easily dispel feelings of fear or anxiety as long as it exists, as long as one can see the words "brother" in their contacts when they open their phone.

The significance of the older brother being born first might be so that he wouldn't miss a single day of his younger sister's life, who was born later.

This is probably one of the advantages of age difference.

But there are also many downsides.

Just like that math problem we solved as children, the age difference between them will always be two years.

However, due to various factors, the two were forced to attend different elementary schools, and subsequently missed each other one after another.

"So, brother, should you consider repeating a grade for two years?"

During a phone call, Hotaru asked this question so naturally.

"That's impossible."

"But I want to be in the same grade and class as my brother, to go to school and study together."

"That would mean I have to repeat two years. It's much more convenient for me to pick you up from school every day."

"Do you carry it on your back?"

Why did you think of carrying it on your back?

"Because when I was little, my brother would carry me around everywhere."

"But we are already middle school students now."

"Can't a middle school student carry that? I'm very light."

"This has nothing to do with weight."

"Tch... When I get back, I'm going to jump right onto your back, brother, and see for myself whether you can carry me or not."

"Then get well soon and come back soon."

"Uh-huh."

Besides her regular phone calls with her brother, Hotaru also tries to find out what he's been doing while she's away through various other means.

As she grew older and gained more experience, she became increasingly aware of her situation and the high price she would have to pay.

Even though she's now older than the brother who took her out of that house, she's completely unable to do it, or even imagine it.

My brother is a remarkable person.

Not only Hotaru, but everyone around her was always talking about this topic, though the root cause was different from hers.

My older brother, who was born a little earlier than me, also fell in love a little earlier than me.

This is a very normal thing, yet it makes Ying feel inexplicably dejected.

However, after one ordinary day, someone suddenly told her that they were no longer siblings by blood.

To be honest, when Hotaru first heard the news, she didn't feel any particular emotion, because the relationship between the two of them might have been determined by kinship at first, but it had changed completely later.

After all, if kinship were everything, then their parents would never have abandoned them in the first place.

But...

If there's no blood relation, wouldn't it be strange to continue calling someone "brother"?

I don't know if it's because I've entered puberty, but although my mind is still full of all sorts of random thoughts, their nature is completely different from when I was a child.

Even though they're not related by blood, he keeps calling me "brother," and for some reason, it just feels more sentimental.

But it doesn't really matter.

They were already used to addressing each other that way.

We're even more used to each other's names than to each other's names.

The only problem, however, is that they've lost their legitimate reason to live under the same roof anymore, since they're no longer biological siblings who need to depend on each other.

But they've always lived together from the very beginning.

Just like the way someone addresses you, it's something you can't change.

Let's find a different identity that allows us to continue living together.

Just like Valentine's Day chocolates.

Since I've been stripped of my legal status as a family member, let me naturally become my unique destiny.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Merging into One

Although she had already decided to have the Firefly of this world become the initial witness to the truth, the choice of the specific chapters still gave the cat quite a headache.

After all, Kitagawa Ryo has experienced many simulated lives in the past, some of which lasted for more than ten years. It's impossible to cram all of them into Hotaru's little head at once. For the first time, showing her a simulated life once should be enough.

But which one should we choose?

The first people that came to mind were naturally Ichinose Honami or Karuizawa Kei, who were closest to Hotaru. However, of the three simulations of the former, the first one was a completely unrelated plot, the second one was a bloody scene that children were absolutely forbidden to watch, and the third one was because she was afraid that Hotaru wouldn't understand it.

Karuizawa Kei's situation seems to be somewhat better, so she received a temporary reservation.

As for the latter two, although Horikita Suzune's simulation can be considered a happy ending for the lovers in every aspect, it seems a bit strange considering that Hotaru doesn't know Horikita Suzune at all, and that the other party's acquaintance with Kitagawa Ryo happened after Hotaru went abroad.

Needless to say, it's impossible for Sakayanagi Arisu to choose her.

The negative impact of this on minors is immeasurable.

After narrowing down the scope to Karuizawa Kei, Neko started thinking about the explanation again. After all, she couldn't just show someone the video right away; she needed to provide some background information.

This will inevitably involve the previous real-world timeline.

Should we lay all the cards on the table?

In Dormitory 408, where the owner had already left, a pure white kitten was rolling around on the bed, looking quite conflicted.

After hesitating for a while, the kitten finally nodded with a determined look in its eyes.

Why is it that over the past few years, she has involuntarily felt that the other person is not the same person as her, but not with Ichinose Honami and Karuizawa Kei, who have also experienced timeline and worldline jumps?

Ultimately, it's because of memory.

Just like the paradox of the Ship of Theseus, memory is the most important part of a person, an individual. Her relationship with Hotaru is like the Ship of Theseus with most of its structure replaced, which is why she constantly feels that vague sense of unease.

But she now has a chance to replace those parts again.

However, this raises a new question.

After all, the hull of the Ship of Theseus in the paradox was replaced over many years, piece by piece, nail by nail, and piece of wood by piece. What she was about to do was to dismantle a large part of the entire hull in one go.

Therefore, it is more likely that the entire ship will simply collapse.

The cat was very clear about its own, and Hotaru's, place in its brother's heart, so it was extra cautious when dealing with matters that might cause harm.

But aren't there also sayings like, "The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago and now"?

If this drags on any longer, the new Ship of Theseus will only grow larger and larger, making it increasingly difficult to replace it.

And...

The kitten could sense that Hotaru wasn't entirely without suspicion about the unusual changes in her brother, but she ultimately buried them all under the assumption that it was perfectly reasonable because he was her brother.

They were originally the same person; they just had different upbringings and experiences.

Even if all of this was originally something she wanted to create for herself, would she really want to see the so-called tragedy repeat itself in reality?

Even if she wanted to, her brother probably couldn't withstand such a blow, so the other person's rescue and her own rescue were inevitable.

She is a better version of herself who has fulfilled the three visions her brother once spoke of; what she ultimately lacks is simply all the memories that are the same as her own.

And when the two truly become one, that may be the day her long-cherished wish comes true.

With that in mind, Ying stopped worrying about it and immediately began working.

Perhaps, from the very beginning, she didn't need to agonize over which chapter's female lead to watch, because in this unconventional three-person film, the choice of the female lead had already been determined.

It is not the summer of escaping the cycle of reincarnation and rebirth until finding oneself again, nor the late autumn of breaking free from the shackles of memories filled with lies, nor the deep winter of Phantom Dream turning into beautiful dreams and beautiful dreams descending into reality, nor the spring of long-cherished wishes finally coming true and life beginning anew with vibrant energy.

It should be me, who is by his side every moment of every season.

On the night before her brother was able to leave the fully enclosed Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School and meet her again after nearly half a year, Hotaru lay in her own bed for the first time in a long while and suffered from a little insomnia.

Ever since she brought Xue to school a month ago with her Valentine's Day gift and a handwritten letter, she has been unable to stop thinking about it.

Although love letters or handwritten letters are a nearly obsolete and outdated way of expressing affection in today's internet age, they do have certain irreplaceable advantages in some aspects.

At least Hotaru didn't think she could say what she wrote in that letter in front of her brother.

Moreover, this method of communication, which involves using communication tools and therefore doesn't provide an immediate response, also gave Hotaru a sense of satisfaction. After all, until a definite answer is given, she could unilaterally assume that her brother was in a state of agreement.

However, precisely because of this, as the time for Kitagawa Ryo to leave school and meet her drew closer, Hotaru herself felt somewhat uneasy.

Based on her understanding of her brother over the years, the most likely thing he would do is pretend he didn't see the letter, just like how he cleverly responded to her words when he came back to celebrate her birthday last Christmas Eve. Even if she pressed him further, she would eventually be led back to another topic.

Ultimately, it might be because she knew too little about her brother, while he knew too much about her, especially during the two years she was absent.

When she was in elementary school, she was worried about whether her brother would choose Ichinose Honami or Karuizawa Kei in the end. But when he came back last time, he just dumped out a whole bunch of gifts. Now that she thinks about it, it seems a bit too much.

Looking back now, they were actually girls with the same motivation as her: they wanted to share life with their brother and also wanted to share in his life.

There were so many girls she didn't know who had had stories with her brother in places she didn't know about, stories she never knew about.

Hotaru didn't like this feeling.

With this slightly annoyed feeling, she grabbed the front of the blanket and closed her eyes in a huff.

Then, a new world suddenly opened up before her.

Written request for leave

Relatives are visiting today, so I need to take a day off.

I took my relative's kid to see a movie, and you know what? Sheep Without a Shepherd 3 was actually pretty good.

I apologize for the inconsistent updates this month. I will try to update more frequently after the New Year. This book should be completed by the end of this year.

Thank you all for your continued reading and support.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Kitagawa Ryo's Conquest of the Domain Master

After returning to his hotel room and putting away his luggage, a somewhat tired Kitagawa Ryo lay down on the soft, comfortable bed and closed his eyes for a short nap.

Although he seems to be able to handle any girl with ease, this is actually based on his thorough understanding of them. Therefore, to be honest, Hotaru is not actually one of them.

Just like Ichinose Honami, whose thinking remained rigid for a long time after her rebirth, like someone who gets stuck at a certain point in a game during the first playthrough and only thinks about how to solve the problem and break through the level after finally starting the second playthrough, thus ignoring many other things she should have done, Kitagawa Ryo herself has actually made similar mistakes, or rather, fallen into such a predicament.

It's no exaggeration to say that in the first few years after his Life Restart, he focused all his attention on Hotaru's health, to the point that he didn't even think about looking for other people he had met in the simulation. People like Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami had to take the initiative to come to him.

Looking back now, he realized that he and his sister actually spent less time together than in their previous life. Towards the end, he almost fell into the kind of rigid thinking that Ichinose Honami's mother had, "I'm doing this for your own good." That's why he didn't realize the changes in her feelings and attitude towards him at the first moment.

However, Kitagawa Ryo also knew that these were all Zhuge Liang thoughts, because he had indeed pushed his nerves to the limit at the time, and even briefly fell into the boundary between nothingness and reality because of the simulator that had reappeared after many years, almost doing the stupid thing of drowning himself in the bathtub.

However, one thing is certain: he did not lose his original intentions like the protagonists in those reincarnation stories, and therefore he would not develop any strange feelings of love turned to hate towards Hotaru herself.

Rather, even after so many years, seeing his younger sister grow up healthy and to this age is still one of the greatest comforts for Kitagawa Ryo himself.

I just didn't expect it to turn out like this.

Remembering the Valentine's Day handwritten letter he received from Hotaru, which was practically a love letter confession, Kitagawa Ryo sullenly rolled over in bed, burying his face in the soft pillow, feeling a strange mix of emotions.