My love game with them that will lead to certain death

She felt as if she had just woken up from a dream, but Eriri felt that the "reality" she had returned to was very different from the daily life she had long been accustomed to.

With her brain still groggy, all she could recall were bits and pieces of things from "another world". Some details of the memories were no longer clear to her, but clear images still remained.

"………thorough."

Almost as if she was muttering subconsciously, she had already called out this name that seemed familiar yet unfamiliar when she realized it.

In that dreamlike future simulation, although the next few decades of life became less clear, she still remembered every detail of her time with her twin brother.

During that period, she had hoped more than once to return to "normal" as soon as possible, but when she finally broke free from that unreasonable simulation, the real life that greeted her was so boring.

As usual, on school days, she was accompanied only by the butler and servants, and her brother was not seen at school. After returning home, her parents, who were busy with work, rarely took time to have dinner with her. They just asked the butler to prepare three meals a day for Yinglili.

"…Toru's dishes are still the best."

Although it was a luxurious dinner comparable to a full-scale Manchu-Han banquet, Ying Lili felt that the food was bland and tasteless.

But no matter how much she missed the long-dead man, she probably couldn't find any trace of him in "this world".

Without her brother's "blessing", she returned to reality and found that she still couldn't do things she was not good at.

She can't leave others behind as easily as her brother in physical education class, and it's difficult for her to cook delicious meals in home economics class. The subjects she can't learn still make Eriri scratch her head and not know where to start.

She was able to hold her head high in "that life" only because she took on her brother's life and inherited his gifts and talents.

The real her is still a useless person who has accomplished nothing, but now she can't even do such a simple thing as grabbing her brother's sleeve and acting coquettishly.

Forget it, maybe he is just an unforgettable NPC in a game that she is extremely attached to. If the other party is an NPC, no matter how much Eriri wants to see him again, it will be useless.

"After all, Toru... disappeared a while ago... hm."

After spending the first few days doing nothing in this depressed mood, Eriri gradually realized that something was wrong.

"Wait... wait wait wait."

Although it is true that her brother, Toru Sawamura Spencer, sacrificed himself in exchange for her life in that "dream", and it is true that Eriri has indeed lived to this day as an only child in this world...

But it would be a bit too arbitrary to take it as evidence that he no longer exists in this world.

"What if Toru actually exists...but in reality we are not siblings?"

Once a person who has completely lost hope grasps even the slightest glimmer of hope, he will desperately try to prove the possibility of this idea.

And when he said goodbye to his brother for the last time, did what he said in his brother's ear, "I have never been Toru Sawamura," have another deeper meaning...?

After returning to reality, Sawamura Eriri, who was originally devastated, felt like she had found a life-saving straw and began to put her guess into action.

She first looked for a list of students at Toyonosaki Academy where she was studying to compare and screen them, and then she secretly tried to find familiar faces in group photos of various classes - all to no avail.

Yes, even if he really exists in this world, he may not still be studying at Toyosaki Academy. If that is the case, it would be a bit too lucky.

Although the search was fruitless, Eriri was not discouraged. She still actively showed up at various places where her brother might be, and occasionally bumped into Tomoya Aki - but she did not stay for long, simply nodded and said hello before leaving the scene in a hurry, leaving Tomoya Aki, who had wanted to pretend to be indifferent, to find that she did not pay any attention to him at all, and he froze in place in extreme embarrassment.

Eriri did not regard the future simulation as a game. In her mind, everything she had experienced so far was more like another life. In that other life, she had completely cut off contact with Tomoya Aki, so naturally she had no energy to continue to pretend to be with him in reality.

For her, the top priority is still finding her brother.

If you are unable to do it yourself, then ask for help from someone more powerful and authoritative.

"Looking for someone? Is it a friend? Leave it to mommy, Eriri. As long as you can still remember the relevant characteristics of that friend, I will ask a colleague who is good at this to ask for you."

Although Sayuri usually seems to be a rather unreasonable mother, when something really happens, she is the first person that Eriri chooses to rely on besides her brother - although the way her mother finds someone is definitely in the gray area.

With the support of her understanding mother, Eriri gave the selection criteria: first start looking in Tokyo and its surrounding areas, a male high school student with short golden curly hair, aged 15-17, named "Tōru" with an uncertain surname, and with a pair of lake blue eyes.

Although this standard is very vague, Eriri can only look for someone based on this appearance feature.

Fortunately, there are not many people who meet these characteristics. Even the entire Tokyo city can be eliminated to the extent of only a few hundred people. Most of them are either international students or people who were confirmed by Eriri personally not to be the "Tōru" she knew. The search for several consecutive days came to a standstill when she shook her head at the last "suspect".

"Although there are only so many people who completely meet your requirements, Eriri...but if you leave out one or two of their characteristics, you might find something unexpected."

When Eriri was about to fall into despair again, it was her mother Sayuri who spoke and soothed her restless heart.

"Mom was also helping you look through the files, and then she found this child, and she felt like she might be the friend you mentioned, Eriri - do you want to go and see for yourself?"

Sayuri sent her the address of a boy who worked part-time after school, and that was why Sawamura Eriri showed up at the closing band's performance.

Chapter 73 Found You

It is not difficult to find a twin who is almost the same as yourself when you know your own appearance - at least Eriri can recognize at a glance whether the "target suspect" is her blood brother.

But the difficulty lies in this point. It is difficult to find a male high school student who has the same bright golden hair as Eriri and a pair of lake blue eyes of the same age as her, even if you look throughout Tokyo. Even with Sayuri's help, she couldn't find someone who perfectly meets the standards.

With all hope gone, Ying Lili followed her mother's advice, relaxed the corresponding standards appropriately, and decided to find out the truth herself.

"After all, it's normal for reality to be different from "dreams". In reality, Toru is no longer my brother, so it's understandable that he might be a few years younger or look a little different... Hey, what if he's a boy in reality! Should I ask mom to find a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes too!"

The imaginative Eriri doesn't care about gender, appearance or age restrictions at all - she just wants to find her "brother".

As long as the inside is the person she is familiar with, she doesn't care what the outside is like.

Not wanting to miss any chance of finding her brother, she followed her mother's instructions and went to the underground livehouse performance in Shimokitazawa after school.

Sayuri's explanation was that a young man working here met most of the characteristics provided by Eriri, and although Eriri herself did not have any expectations, she still came here with a glimmer of hope.

Because she couldn't find the entrance to the underground venue at first, Eriri wasted a long time wandering around the streets of Shimokitazawa. By the time she finally found the entrance to the livehouse, the band's performance had already ended. When she entered the venue, all she saw was the audience who were still not satisfied and were shouting for an encore.

"Will that Toru guy... be here?"

Eriri, who had never been to such a place, was a little at a loss for a moment. Just as she was trying to poke her head around and wanted to back out, Ijichi Hoshika's head popped out from the front desk.

"Oh, you are too late, guest. The show is over."

“Ah, is that so…! Then I am still…”

"But if you want to go in, go ahead. The show is over anyway so we won't charge you for the ticket. There will be an encore for the closing band soon."

The blonde woman who seemed to be the boss smiled and waved her hand. This kindness made it difficult for Eriri, who wanted to take the opportunity to slip away, to refuse. With a slightly awkward dry smile on her face, she gritted her teeth and squeezed into the crowd surrounding the stage.

"The End of the Band? I've never heard of this name..."

It’s better to say that as a 2D otaku, Eriri knows nothing about the current popular mainstream or underground bands except for those world-famous rock bands - this set of questions is a bit beyond the scope of her.

Naturally, she had never participated in such an underground band performance. Therefore, even though she squeezed into the crowd at the first time, the confused Eriri was still pushed to a corner with a poor view by the flow of people, and could barely stand firm in the crowded crowd.

In the noisy and humid environment, she was stuck in the crowd and had a bad experience. Just when Eriri couldn't help but mutter in her heart, "How arrogant are these people?", the spotlight on the originally dim stage suddenly lit up, and several figures jumped onto the stage from the backstage with full of energy.

"We have heard everyone's calls - please listen to our encore performance next!"

The blonde girl in the lead looked somewhat similar to the boss at the front desk. She jumped in front of the drum set with great energy and sat down, using her slender percussion stick to liven up the atmosphere of the entire venue.

“The song we’re bringing is, ‘Cats’ by DISH//.”

A girl with short blue hair, holding a bass in front of her, stepped out from the shadows and succinctly explained the repertoire of the performance.

"……Eh?"

And Eriri Sawamura was also surprised to find that the girl in front of her seemed familiar, as if she had seen her somewhere before.

Standing at the edge of the spotlight, a pink-haired girl in a loose pink sportswear plucked the prelude with her nimble fingers. As the spotlight in the center of the stage lit up, a young man bathed in the light walked into the spotlight of the audience.

The young man with black curly hair should be the lead singer of this performance - he also walked to the microphone with a guitar in his arms, and while playing the backing notes of the closed guitar with skillful fingering, he put his mouth close to the microphone.

Then a clear voice flowed out from the speakers, accompanied by a beautiful guitar melody that gradually filled the entire small venue.

"日焼けがburning えてこの街ごと, drinking み込んでしまいそうな日に, servant は君を手出してしまった..."

The clean singing voice seemed to have magical power and soothed Eriri's originally restless mood. After avoiding the dazzling spotlight, Eriri gradually saw the face of the lead singer who was singing on the stage.

Then, she subconsciously held her breath and concentrated, and then she lost consciousness uncontrollably for a moment.

"...?"

The lead singer's short black curly hair is just like the models commonly seen in Roman sculptures. His facial features and outlines, which may not be handsome at first glance, are very attractive. His sparkling lake blue eyes stare at the audience who are intoxicated by the singing, as if they are his whole world.

Although this person had slight differences in appearance and temperament from the brother she was familiar with, for some reason Eriri was captivated by him on the stage and could not look away.

His elder brother Toru Sawamura is the kind of person who can be recognized at a glance no matter where he goes. His style is not high-profile but also flamboyant. Just like his bright blond hair, he always becomes the focus of people's attention.

But at this moment, the young man with black curly hair who was singing quietly on the stage restrained his edge, and told his own story calmly and purely with his singing. The infectious power he exuded made almost all the audience members in the audience quietly immersed in his singing, even the boss Ijichi who was sitting at the front desk doing nothing was no exception.

They didn't look like the same person, just like there was an obvious difference between striking blonde hair and understated black hair, and Eriri knew it very well.

But, I don't know why.

"……thorough."

Looking at the black-haired boy on the stage who was concentrating on singing, Eriri's vision became blurred because her eyes were soaked with tears.

She was certain that he was the one she had been looking for.

Chapter 74 Hold Me Like a Friend

Although Sawamura Eriri confirmed her feelings, it was a pity that Ming Hai on the stage did not notice Eriri who was staring at him closely from the audience, and naturally he could not notice that she was already in tears at this moment.

"Jun's face is white, face is white, face is white..."

He continued singing and exchanged glances with bassist Yamada, who responded to his performance with an affirmative look, and then used even more outstanding bass playing to complement the singing - the tacit understanding between the two is not limited to daily life, even in performances they are still extremely in sync.

"...!"

Pochi, who was standing behind them, noticed the micro-expressions in the two people's eyes. Although she was a little lonely for a few seconds, she immediately refocused her attention on the performance and amazed the audience with an even more brilliant guitar performance when the chorus came.

Feeling that the other teammates were extremely motivated, Hong Xia was not willing to be left behind and increased the strength of her drumming. The hearty and clean drum beats complemented the guitar and bass, presenting a wonderful ensemble to the audience.

At the end of the song, the originally passionate music came to an abrupt end at the end of the last note, and was replaced by thunderous applause and cheers from the audience.

On the stage, Yamada, with his hands free, gave Ming Hai a thumbs up, and a little relieved smile appeared on his face that was always listless. Ming Hai turned his head and smiled in response to Yamada's affirmation while accepting the praise and cheers from the audience - but caught a glimpse of gold in his peripheral vision.

"?"

But when he turned his head to try to find the golden shadow, he found that the latter had already run out of the crowd in a panic and disappeared at the exit of the venue.

So far, there is only one person with blond hair that I know, and that person should be——

"……No way."

Ming Hai pursed his lips. If it was really Eriri, how did she find this place was one thing - and why did she run away without saying a word was the other.

"Come to think of it, I have no other relationship with Eriri in real life except playing games together and her helping me with secondary creations. Isn't it a bit too coincidental that she came here?"

Although he was a little concerned about the golden shadow, Ming Hai chose to wait and see. His principle of action was to focus on the present situation first.

"Why, Xiao Hai, you were looking down at the stage just now."

After the encore, when the band members returned to the backstage one after another, Yamada tugged at the curly-haired boy who was holding his guitar and heaved a sigh of relief. Although Yamada seemed to care nothing, she was surprisingly attentive. This was a fact known to the band members who were familiar with her and Ming Hai.

"Could it be that he has taken a fancy to someone in the audience? Being an O fan is a big taboo. At least he has to be famous to have the confidence to do so."

Yamada's seemingly earnest reminder made Ming Hai twitch the corner of his mouth. He was used to Yamada, who looked serious and taciturn, always saying shocking things.

"Then I'm a fan of Yamada, remember to bring the bail money to get me out."

"A fan of the popular rock singer O would join Orange? You really underestimate this society."

"Why does it sound even sadder?"

After the two of them had some casual banter, Ming Hai went through a simple psychological struggle and chose to confide his thoughts to Yamada.

"Well, I did see someone I might know in the audience just now, but I'm not sure if it was that guy."

"After seeing our wonderful performance just now, that person must have been deeply touched by you."

Yamada gave this answer without hesitation. She always said the most encouraging words to her friends unintentionally.

"Ah - I'm even more curious about why she's here. She obviously doesn't listen to rock music or bands at all. I think it's more likely that she was dragged by her family to watch a stage play in a theater."

"Who is it, Xiao Hai, do you know such an elegant person?"

"Well... after all, she is the daughter of a wealthy family, so she will definitely be dragged by her family to frequently go to some so-called "high-end" places."

Ming Hai deliberately cut out the beginning and the end and told part of the truth, and of course concealed the fact that he was one of the "family members".

"Oh? A rich lady?"

Ms. Yamada's ears moved, and she obviously caught the most important key words in this passage.

"It was so dark downstairs just now, how could you see this clearly?"

"Ah, because that guy's hair is very eye-catching. It's hard to ignore a head of blonde hair."

"........."

Yamada, who originally had a teasing look on his face, gradually restrained his expression and fell silent.