My girlfriend is actually myself.

After finishing his part-time job that night, Shiraishi Saku returned home, turned on his computer, and started playing games.

The game, titled "Love Activity," is relatively obscure within the industry. The developer declared bankruptcy during the game's Early Access phase, leaving the game only one-third complete and extremely limited in content. Its only redeeming qualities are its exceptionally well-developed character creation system and incredibly lifelike 3D models.

This is what captivated Shiraishi Saku.

The game's logo lit up on the monitor screen, and piano background music started playing, breaking the silence of the home.

Hearing the noise, younger sister Sakura Nene came running in, pushed open the door, looked at the anime girl model on Shiraishi Saku's screen, and exclaimed, "Brother H!"

She is Shiraishi Saku's half-sister, and takes the surname Sakuraha from Shiraishi Saku's stepfather. As her name suggests, she is a girl as beautiful as a cherry blossom and as soft as a feather, quiet and well-behaved—at least in public.

Once at home, she displayed extreme lack of courtesy and distance in front of Shiraishi Shuo.

For example, right now, she naturally opened Shiraishi Shuo's door, leaned on his back, and openly peeked at his computer screen, examining the character he was creating.

"Why are you so tall? Brother, do you actually like mature women?!"

"This place is too big, it's more adorable when it's small!"

She gestured and instructed Shiraishi Saku to modify the model according to her preferences.

Unable to bear it any longer, Shiraishi Saku picked up the girl, threw her outside, and locked the door from the inside.

"Open the door!" The door banged loudly, and the younger sister's voice came through the crack, "I won't say anything, let me in!"

Shiraishi Shuo ignored her and continued adjusting his 3D model. The character creation system in "Love Activity" was extremely complex, and he was a perfectionist. He had been working on this model for two nights and expected to finish it tonight. He did not want to be disturbed.

When her pleas for mercy went unanswered, the younger sister outside the door began to tempt her.

"What's so fun about digital models? I can introduce my classmates to my brother!"

Saku Shiraishi slides the mouse to adjust the hair length of the model.

"How was Hina-chan who came to visit last time? She can cook and sew—she's got amazing feminine charm!"

Shiraishi Saku repeatedly pressed forward and backward, comparing the differences between the two adjustments.

"You actually don't like Hina-chan? Brother, you're so picky. How about Saori-chan? A classic beauty with long, straight black hair, she's every man's dream girl!"

Shiraishi Saku adjusted the ends of his hair, then turned his attention back to the overall look, checking for any imperfections.

"Hey, pay attention to me! If Hina-chan and Saori-chan can't handle it, what about tomboy Yuzu?!"

Shiraishi Saku clicked save.

He had met all three girls his sister mentioned. To be honest, they were all adorable children, but no matter how adorable they were, they had nothing to do with Shiraishi Saku.

Putting aside the fact that his sister and her classmates are still in junior high school, just considering the matter of dating itself, Shiraishi Saku politely declined.

He had suffered enough from women in his past life, and he would never repeat the same mistakes in this one.

The unsolvable mystery and the never-ending comparisons always sent chills down his spine whenever he thought of them.

Dating? Even a dog wouldn't date!

Marriage? Absolutely not!

Unfortunately, he was reborn in Japan, where society is still too feudal. It would have been better if he had been reborn in France.

When her attempts to seduce him failed, the younger sister outside the door resorted to threats.

"Brother, you'll never find a girlfriend if you keep going like this!"

That would be perfect.

"Is my brother going to live with the characters in the computer forever?!"

That's exactly what I meant.

"When my brother gets old, he'll have to live alone! I can only visit him once a week at most!"

It's not a bad thing.

Honestly, I'm quite content with myself. We share similar interests and appreciate each other. There's not so much guessing, so much resentment and control, so much nagging and comparison.

Living alone may not bring you profit, but it will never result in a loss. In a global economic downturn, being able to break even is already a victory for most people.

Shiraishi Saku was convinced he had made the wisest investment and focused on playing with his model.

"I'm so angry!" The younger sister kicked the door twice and stomped away.

The floor vibrated, and Shiraishi Saku thought of the giant monster in the movie. In a way, the sister he always wanted to introduce his best friend to was a monster that tried to destroy the world.

Without the monster's interference, Shiraishi Saku's work progressed rapidly, with 3D models spinning around on the screen.

When all four numbers on the bedside digital clock reached zero, he stood up, stretched, and rubbed his sore eyes.

The modeling was finally completed; every curve and every inch of skin was the result of his meticulous planning.

After taking a shower and changing into his pajamas, Shiraishi Saku returned to his computer to admire the final product.

On the computer screen, a beautiful blonde girl stood quietly. Her parameters were displayed in the blank space at the edge of the screen.

162cm、45kg、79/55/78。

The not-too-exaggerated figures made the girl's entire body fit perfectly, with nothing overpowering her.

Not vulgar, not imperial, not plain, not seductive, she fully and wholeheartedly interprets the word "girl," revealing a state between vulgarity and imperialism, between plainness and seductiveness, embracing all the beauty of womanhood with an invincible youthful attitude.

Her skin was so white and translucent, like the snow in Hokkaido.

In his previous life, Shiraishi Saku had seen snow in many places. The snow in the south was damp and gloomy, while the snow in the north was dry and cold, always carrying the regret of being able to admire it from afar but not to play with it. Only the snow in Hokkaido was delicate and soft, and lying in it felt like falling into the clouds, fulfilling all of Shiraishi Saku's beautiful fantasies about snow.

Her eyes were a clear, bright blue, like the summer sky over the countryside.

When Bai Shishuo was a child, his grandmother saw that he was suffering from the heat, so she brought out a wooden basin from the house, filled it with water, and let him soak in the basin while looking up at the sky. The clear sky was a deep blue, and his grandmother fanned him with a palm-leaf fan, letting him imagine himself wandering in this blue sea.

Her long hair was like sunlight streaming from the countryside sky onto the snow of Hokkaido—brilliant, clear, piercing the azure sky and draping over the snow-covered hills.

Saku Shiraishi moved the mouse, zoomed in, and followed the golden hair, admiring his masterpiece with satisfaction.

The digital clock ticked, signaling that it was already one in the morning. He had class the next day and had to go to bed.

Shiraishi Saku carefully clicked save and wrote down the name he had already thought of in the character naming pop-up window.

—Yukimiya Natsune.

Not content with saving once, Shiraishi Shuo saved it three more times. He then opened the backend, packed the model into a USB drive, placed it in the innermost drawer, and finally climbed into bed to sleep.

Perhaps because of what his sister had said earlier, Shiraishi Saku had a strange dream. In the dream, Yukimiya Natsune crawled out of the screen and attacked him while he was fast asleep.

Before he could do anything, a startled cry rang out, shattering his sweet dream.

He opened his eyes and sat up.

Perhaps due to lack of sleep, he felt a bit heavy and his vision was a bit blurry. The former felt like a heavy weight was hanging on his shoulders, while the latter felt like wearing broken VR glasses with two different perspectives in front of him.

What's going on?

Before he could regain his senses, a pair of arms were placed on his shoulders and he was shaken violently. One of his visions began to tremble, but the other remained unchanged.

His younger sister's face came into view, and she puffed out her cheeks as she asked, "Brother, who is she?!"