I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Even so, she seemed relieved, and optimistically raised the corners of her mouth: "But the routine is actually quite obvious. It should be to make you find the item that has the greatest connection between you and him, and then use the bond or similar intangible power to break into the next stage, such as crossing into that dream trial and giving this guy a good wake-up call or something—anyway, that's how the script usually goes, so I think the goal is quite clear. What do you guys think?"

The group exchanged glances, and the Yukino sisters seemed to realize something almost instantly, their faces showing a look of sudden understanding.

"Could it be..."

Her tone unconsciously became urgent as Yukino turned to Kasugano Sora and asked, "Little sister, do you know where Yuuyu usually keeps his more precious things? Like a handmade bracelet that his girlfriend gave him."

"Huh? There's no such thing..." The words had barely left her mouth when she saw the subtle twitch at the corner of her mouth. Kasugano Sora wisely didn't ask any further questions and just reluctantly answered, "I don't know, but it's probably in the desk drawer? Because it can be locked, he puts a lot of his things directly in the drawer, which is convenient to take out and he's not afraid that I'll rummage through it."

"Then I'll go check on his room." Without hesitation, Yukino Yukinoshita walked out of the living room and headed upstairs.

However, she had only taken a few steps outside when she suddenly turned back and gave Kasugano Sora a warm, gentle smile.

"His room is locked right now, isn't it? After all, he has a sister like you who loves to rummage through his things."

"..."

As if seeing through everything, her deep ruby ​​eyes narrowed slightly with ease as she scrutinized Kasugano Sora, whose expression had become somewhat frozen.

She added with a smile, "So, for the sake of your brother, my lover, could you help me open his room door? I'm sure you've hidden a spare key."

So, with Kasugano Sora puffing out her cheeks and clearly unwilling, Yukinoshita Haruno obtained the key to Tenkuji Yu's room and prepared to openly invade it.

As for the others, they all seemed to be lost in thought as they followed her upstairs.

Is there something wrong with Chapter Thirty-Two?

Kasugano Sora originally did not intend to leave Tenkuji Yu's side, fearing that something would happen to him if he left her sight, or that some philandering cat would take advantage of him.

However, considering that they were going to enter her brother's room next, and that she had a perfectly good reason not to stop them, Kasugano Sora hesitated for a long time before leaving the sofa. She carefully laid his body flat and touched his cheek with a worried expression.

"Yu, wait for me here, I'll be back soon."

"..."

His eyelids didn't move; he remained asleep peacefully and quietly, only his even breathing answered him.

Kasugano Sora lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, as if water droplets were clinging to them.

"You've worked so hard all this time... Now, get some sleep."

She forced a smile, but her vision blurred again, and the tip of her nose ached so much that she could hardly breathe.

Boundless loneliness and panic began to take root and cling to him. His heart ached and felt empty, as if half of it was missing. He only wanted to stay with him as he lost consciousness, no longer worrying that he would fall into a deep sleep forever.

Even if he does wake up eventually as written in the notebook, what if he doesn't pass that trial? Will he suffer any psychological damage? Will he forget his own story?

Could it be that... he has completely become a different person?

"Even though it wasn't a real separation of life and death, when you couldn't hear my voice and no matter how much I called you, you wouldn't respond, that feeling was worse than death."

Kasugano Sora wiped her eyes, making the world and herself clearer, while also suppressing her painful feelings.

Several years after her parents died in a plane crash, she once again felt a fear that was more painful than despair.

It felt like being a thousand meters underwater, surrounded by immense water pressure and impenetrable darkness, with internal organs aching to the point of nausea.

It felt as if the whole world had abandoned me, surrounded by loneliness and cold, unfamiliar air, with no one to rely on. I wished I could disappear immediately, not wanting to face an even darker and crueler future.

I wanted to hide in the room, to curl up in a corner, to cry my heart out, and to shake his body hard to make him wake up.

Even though she was only in a deep sleep from which she could not wake up, she was terrified as if her only family member was about to abandon her and leave her to live alone in this world where she had no relatives or friends.

—If that's the case, I might as well just die sooner.

Yuu Tenkuji is Kasugano Sora's pillar; if she were to leave him, there would be no reason for her to continue living.

Even a temporary loss of consciousness was a severe blow to her, akin to a serious injury...

If it were the Kasugano Sora of the past, perhaps upon seeing her brother, who was like a vegetable, she would have collapsed to her knees and never recovered.

She knew that she would just cling to his still-warm body, cry until her eyes were red and swollen, and then stay by his side like a lost soul, not eating, drinking, or taking a bath. If he didn't wake up for two or three days, she wouldn't care if she died like that.

Life without him is so terrible that I can't even endure two or three days.

"But I've grown up a bit now... Yu."

Kasugano Sora suddenly laughed, took his warm hand, placed it on her head, and gently patted it.

"As long as you're here, I'll be stronger than anyone else... and then, in turn, I'll become your pillar, always waiting for you to come home."

She spoke softly, her forehead touching his, her tender gaze gradually turning stern and resolute.

Because she is my sister, because she is family.

Knowing that her brother wasn't an omnipotent, perfect superhero, the younger sister wanted to shed her past weakness and helplessness and try to become his support.

Even if I can't help in any way, I absolutely cannot hold him back or make him worry at such an important time!

"Yu, I love you... After you wake up, you won't be so lenient if you don't hold me and sleep with me for a week."

With a smile that seemed to dispel all weakness and brighten the day after the rain, Kasugano Sora left behind these last words, placed her hand on his lower abdomen, and stood up without a second thought.

"Let's go." She glanced at the girls waiting for her at the door and said coldly, without any expression, "You can look for things, but you're not allowed to touch the bed or the wardrobe. I'll be watching you."

"How rude of us! Do we look like the kind of perverts who would take the opportunity to sniff Yuuyu's blankets and underwear?" As if she felt slandered, Yukino Yukino puffed out her cheeks and protested, "You can do this anytime, who would be so indiscriminate in their timing!"

"The problem isn't the timing at all."

Yukino gave a cold remark, then watched as the gray-spotted kitten leisurely took a step on the steps, seemingly leading them to Yuu's room. Her eyes lit up, and she followed the cat enthusiastically, occasionally meowing as she tried to communicate with it.

As for Natsukawa Masaki, feeling regretful that her plan had been exposed, she followed her upstairs.

As Kasugano Sora stepped out of the living room, the lights dimmed, the doors closed quietly, and the curtains blocked the sunlight from the French windows.

Only a sliver of light illuminated the handsome young man lying on the sofa, seemingly having a sweet dream, his lips slightly upturned as he slept soundly.

……

Yuu Tenkuji thought to herself, "The final trial is indeed no joke; its difficulty is incomparable to the previous four missions."

It's like the system is no longer going easy on me; I can't find any points to exploit, and I don't even know which direction to take.

Time has moved from the beginning of April to the end of May.

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom here, and everywhere there are people enjoying the flowers, celebrating, and smiling. The liveliness of spring seems to be spreading throughout the entire island nation only now.

During this period, Yuu Tenkuji became familiar with the work of the student council, the life of a senior in high school, and everyone and everything she encountered in this trial.

My relationship with the two female students is also gradually warming up. I spend every day alone with them in the student union office, and occasionally we go out to play and have meals together under the guise of work on holidays...

If I hadn't always maintained the proper distance as a senior student and never crossed any lines, this kind of relationship would have been almost the same as dating both of them at the same time and having two girlfriends.

Nevertheless, a month has passed, and Tenkuji Yu still cannot find any clues sufficient to unlock the mission objective.

The three clues found on the first day were: the timeline of senior year, the uniform of the younger sister who stayed at home, and the familiar feeling of having once been in the student council with the younger female students.

None of these can become the answer to unlocking the mystery of the system's objective.

During this time, he didn't find anything else noteworthy. Everything seemed perfectly reasonable since the beginning of his senior year of high school. Nothing was missing or superfluous, and this kind of daily life would naturally continue.

The only point of suspicion is probably the younger sister's side, right?

But after trying various approaches, Yuu Tenkuji had no choice but to give up on the idea of ​​finding a weakness from Sora.

Because Kasugano Sora behaved very strangely during the trial, much more silent than usual, and seemed to be trying her best to avoid being alone with him, she seemed like a crudely made AI specially simulated by the system for this trial.

The system probably knows that even if it can change the timeline, it can't affect how familiar the world's strongest siscon is with his sister, right?

If he could become familiar with the dome here, he would likely uncover the clues to the final trial within a day.

If you can clear it in seconds, what's the point of this trial?

Therefore, he guessed that the clues to the target were definitely not on Qiong, but rather on other things that he would not normally pay attention to or doubt.

For example...

"The system itself."

Tenkuji Yu gave a cold smile, a glint of all-knowing wisdom flashing in his eyes.

"Even though the system itself is supposed to be paused, I can still use the status and skills in this trial... Regardless of whether it's a special benefit from the system, this is an incredible hint in itself."

Moreover, the system probably didn't expect that its flash of inspiration, its experimental combination of a certain state and skill, would actually leave behind an illogical "backdoor" in the last mission...

If this backdoor can be activated successfully, then not only will I find clues, but I might even be able to walk through the walls and reach the end of the maze, as if I had a cheat code.

"I only intended to have it in case of emergency, but I didn't expect to need it so soon. Plans really can't keep up with changes."

With a wistful sigh, Yuu Tenkuji stood in front of her bedroom door, slowly extending her hand towards the closed door.

"Now, I'm here to see you..."

I gripped the doorknob, closed my eyes, and recalled the feeling from that time—

With perfect "learning" and the special state of "sensory synchronization", he successfully learned the feeling of the system "opening the door" for him, at the cost of nosebleeds, and put it into his body.

Is it really possible to do something so absurd and illogical?

Yuu Tenkuji had not tested it, nor did he have any evidence to support such an idea—but he simply believed that he had learned the method of "opening the door" from the system and could open the door back to the real world.

Whether he succeeds or not, he has 1,000% confidence in himself.

So at this moment, with absolute confidence in his success, Tenkuji Yu followed the guidance of the power within him, pushed open the door in front of him, and strode out.

"Then, let's have a meeting full of surprises, it's been a long time—"

"Life Achievement System!"

……

The spare key turned, the door was pushed open, and Kasugano Sora went in first.

The view behind the door then unfolded before her eyes. Natsukawa Masaki couldn't wait to look around at the furnishings in the room, her eyes sparkling and her smile slightly awkward.

The view outside the window was hidden by the curtains, and the bedroom was naturally empty. The masculine-style decor had a melancholic, cool blue hue, but its clean and tidy appearance made people feel cheerful.

the most important is……

Taking advantage of the moment when they filed in and all had their backs to her, Natsukawa Masuzu stopped at the doorway, raised her swan-like neck high, opened her nostrils wide, and took a deep breath like a whale swallowing its prey.

"hiss--"

Ah ~

It was his scent; the whole room was filled with his unique, familiar aroma.