" Simon! You look so honest and unassuming, tsk tsk."
The guy lightly punched Simon in the chest, a teasing look on his face.
What are you talking about?
"Come on, stop pretending, huh? Tell me, who is this Alice to you? You got a girlfriend and didn't even tell the guys?"
Upon hearing this, Simon finally understood why everyone was acting so strangely today, and was speechless for a moment.
"What? You're overthinking it. This is a friend I met online; we play video games together."
"Alright, alright, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Don't be so formal."
The brother, feeling awkward, shrugged and returned to his workstation.
Friends met on the internet?
Come on, what kind of pen pal of the opposite sex would find his address and send him a gift?
However, since Simon was unwilling to talk about it, the others put the matter out of their minds.
With so much gossip around, nobody's going to spend much time on this. Everyone else has managed to distance themselves from it, but Simon just can't.
He stared quietly at the floppy disk in the box.
According to the letter, this contains the original save data for each round of that game.
No wonder they didn't send it via email.
Such large documents are best transported by truck on the road.
Opening my email, besides a vast sea of work emails, I only found a handful of forwarded emails from my own inbox.
Most of the emails were from other players, either reviewing the details of the game with him or expressing their congratulations.
Even Benjamin, who lived nearby, sent him several emails to review a few key rounds, saying things like, "If only I had done it that way."
But the [alice] section fell completely silent after that day.
Simon was very impressed with this guy with whom he had a very good working relationship.
Two logistically weak nations could have achieved universe domination through cooperation; such an achievement would have been impossible without close communication.
In just one game, the two exchanged over a thousand emails. Logically, she shouldn't have just vanished like that.
[to alice]:
I received your package. What happened? Why didn't you send an email directly?
There was no reply.
Simon was used to this; she only had a chance to reply to messages when he wasn't online.
In the evening, filled with a strange unease, Simon carried the cardboard box back to his place.
His old PC had a floppy disk drive, so Simon simply inserted the floppy disk directly into it.
As expected, a long string of save files contained the entire match from the first round to the very end.
At the end of the file list, there is also an inconspicuous little document.
Simon decisively tried to open it.
[">a
Inside was her email address and password.
Why did she send all of these things at once?
Was it sent to the wrong person?
Simon immediately dismissed this guess.
This floppy disk was clearly purchased specifically to store these files.
But why?
"Boo"
There was an extra email in my inbox.
Upon hearing the sound, Simon quickly sat up straight and opened his email to check.
But the sender wasn't Alice, it was King. [Hi, what a fantastic game! It's just a pity I didn't play well and got caught out.]
I've been researching different styles for a few days. If we have the chance, how about we get together for another game?
[Invite Donut and Alice along, and some other people too]
[I can't wait to use my new tactics to make you scream in agony!]
Simon wanted to tell King that Alice might not be online anymore.
But for some reason, he felt as if a stone was stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything.
Alice has quit the game, I think.
Simon didn't want to think things would get any worse.
He picked up the cardboard box; the package had been sent from a city on the East Coast, without a detailed address.
Even if he wanted to find the other party in person and ask them for clarification, there was no way to do so.
"Boo"
Another email. It can't be from Alice.
The sender was Benjamin.
[Bro, King contacted me. What did he say? Want to book a new room tonight? I'll email Alice; let's ask her to book a room this time.]
Upon seeing this, Simon suddenly felt a pang of anxiety.
He suddenly began to worry, wondering what would happen if no one received a reply from Alice.
Alice has probably been quite busy these past few days and hasn't had a chance to go online.
Perhaps she had anticipated this situation, which is why she entrusted her email account to him.
He thought of it.
After much hesitation, Simon gritted his teeth, logged out of his account, and tried to enter the email address from the file.
[19 unread messages]
[king]: [Are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Tonight...] [ Simon ]: [I received your package, what is it...]
Simon took a deep breath, suddenly opened the Stars! interface, logged in with his account, and created a new room.
A few days later.
Benjamin and a preoccupied Simon sat facing each other.
"Ha! You think you can use the same old tricks twice? I've already wiped out two waves of Alice's stealth ships. You still want to steal my goods like before?"
"Ha ha..."
Simon gave a forced, dry laugh.
This feels completely different.
He lacked tactical acumen. He had thought that he could still play the same way as before, or even create more brilliant combinations, when controlling two accounts.
But it turned out I was wrong.
Their builds wouldn't work without either of them.
Simon's tactical style is completely incompatible with Alice's lineup. In fact, he often gets flustered and confused, which leads to poor performance on both sides.
"Hey, cheer up, don't act like a sore loser. If you ask me, let's just take this opportunity to cooperate and take over Alice."
"Good... good idea."
For some reason, Simon just couldn't bring himself to say it.
It was as if doing so would prove their suspicions true.
He could only operate two email accounts by himself, pretending that Alice was still online.
The next day, Simon dragged his exhausted body to the company.
Since he started operating two accounts, he moved the daytime portion of his game to the daytime. He would sneak onto the website and play a few rounds when his boss wasn't looking, and then operate Alice's account when he got home at night.
However, with his boss keeping a close eye on him, he could only focus on his work and diligently handle the emails.
Suddenly, his hand stopped, and he stared in disbelief at the next email in the list.
This was sent earlier today.
It was simply lost in the vast sea of emails.
[">a
How is that possible?
She hasn't already... she should have already...
Simon swallowed hard and frantically opened the letter.
Hello, Mr. Simon, thank you for your concern.
[I... am Alice's sister. I found this mailbox while I was packing her things.]
[She seems to be having a lot of fun, thanks to you and the other friends.] [ Alice hasn't been this happy in a long time because of her health.]
[You can play games with your friends via email on your computer...]
Isn't that amazing?
I'm sorry, I'm not very familiar with this, I don't know if you'll receive my email.
Thank you again!
[get your free email at novamail]
Simon's head buzzed, and the intense tinnitus made him suddenly unable to hear the noise in the office.
Ignoring the surprised looks from others, he hurriedly typed out a reply.
What happened to her?
After thinking for a moment, Simon deleted that section and rewrote it:
[Is everything alright?]...
No, not good at all.
Alice is dead.
He died in the hospital ward, in late spring, in April.
[ Simon ]: [Have you told anyone else about this?]
[alice]: [Not yet, she's pinned you to the top]
[ Simon ]: [I'd like to show you something. Would you mind coming to Stars!?]
Following Simon's instructions, the older sister tried to open Stars! and connect to the new room he had created.
The vast universe, the deep Starfield...
And that densely packed, invisible fleet that only she could see, covering most of the universe.
Alice hadn't left the hospital in a long time. But she had already seen what the universe looked like.
She had also commanded research ships to travel freely through this Starfield.
She lived, too.
[ Simonemail ]: [This is the universe she created]
[ Simonemail ]: [Want to play Stars!? Use her account to help her continue writing the story.]
[alice]: [Sorry, I'm not very good with computers... but I'll try my best.]
[alice]: Thank you for letting me see this.
A few days later.
Benjamin sipped his soda listlessly, a half-eaten Donut dangling from his mouth.
He looked at Simon with a hint of surprise.
Simon's complexion seems much healthier these past two days; he no longer looks sickly as before, and even has a bit more oiliness.
"Hey, I actually admire your mentality. You and Alice were completely crushed by me, yet you're laughing so happily. Anyone who didn't know better would think you won." "Hey, it was just a momentary lapse. We've secretly devised a new strategy. Next round, you'll be sorry, and King too."
"Fine, whatever you say goes."
In the evening, Simon returned home as usual and casually opened his email.
He had already switched back to his own account on his computer.
He pinned Alice's contacts to the top of his list.
"Boo"
A new email has arrived.
This is their two thousandth email exchange.
If you put it in any other email address, it would probably be full by now.
But this is novamail, so Simon doesn't need to worry about those issues at all.
Because... Hurry up and get your free email account from novamail!
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