Since the incident in my old junior high school, I had never liked anyone.
But today I couldn't help but confess to a game character.
I did not think about the consequences of the confession, whether it would lead to a bad ending, or game over, I just wanted to say those words.
I did not believe in love at first sight, and even fell into the despair of not believing in the existence of any emotions. But now I confessed to a girl?
My second confession was in the game? Wasn't it ridiculous?
"..."
Ying seemed to have fallen into a petrified state. No, how could the game characters be petrified... They would only freeze animation due to overly complicated calculations.
"...Ying?"
I asked her tentatively, and before I knew it, I also changed the way I called her.
She suddenly stood up and hugged me!
Now it was my turn to freeze!
As a person who had not dated girls for 18 years, although I had been in contact with many girls in this game, this was the first time I have been hugged!
It was also physical contact, but it was different from the last time I touched Ying's chest. This was a hug after confession.
"Me, me too..."
"What did you say?"
The voice was too low to hear clearly.
"...I like you too, Classmate Gaocheng."
God bless. My first successful confession! And I was hugged by the girl I liked!
At this moment, the contradiction between the game and reality was no longer important to me. The only important thing was the intense feelings that were now in my heart.
My first successful confession was with a game character. Would the people in the real world laugh to death when I said such a thing?
No! Ying was not a simple game character, she was an angel, an angel who really existed! As long as I did not delete the archive, she would not disappear, and we would always be lovers!
"I'm so happy... the first time someone cared about me so much and said they liked me..."
"It's the first time I have this feeling too... I feel warm. This feeling..."
"Then... will you be with me forever?"
She asked me carefully.
"Yes, I will be with Ying forever."
As long as I remembered her and remembered this game, it would not count as leaving her, right? It was just... I was a little flustered. What was this sudden panic feeling?
But watching her smile contentedly because of my answer, this was enough for me.
"Elder sister!"
Jasmine, who suddenly opened the door, was shocked to see us hugging.
"Jasmine..."
"You really are together! Dad—"
Jasmine turned and ran downstairs, making quick and panic footsteps.
"Don't tell Dad..."
Ying tried to stop Jasmine, but she had already run downstairs.
We stayed in the room anxiously. Probably because the conversation with the blind date went smoothly tonight, I didn't expect that Ying's father was not only not angry, but he even encouraged our relationship.
"...I have always given you too little love. I hope student Gaocheng can make up for the love I couldn't give."
——He was really a good father who understood children.
Wait a minute, on what day this game would end?
Don't tell me that it will be tonight.
It would be so cruel to lose the angel after the confession was over! No, this was not right. I've reached the hidden ending, right? The so-called hidden ending was...
Ying's father has left the room, and when I said goodbye to her and planned to go home——
"Let's go on a date on Sunday."
She grabbed my clothes. This... was probably the hidden ending?
It was progressing a bit fast… but it didn't matter, it was an old game after all. Anyway, I got the chance to date a girl I liked for the first time in my life, although it was in the game...
———
[Fourteenth Day]
Today was my date with Ying.
Yesterday, that was, Saturday, I went to see Shuiyuan Weina's concert.
So this was the second time I have gone to see her concert.
Everything was exactly the same as in the 46th week, but this time her life was without my participation.
Without the ticket provided by Ms. Shuiyuan, I could only get a seat very far back. I was far away from Shuiyuan Weina, but I could feel her different from before...
She was not happy. She was just pretending to be happy.
After this concert, she would continue to live a harsh life until she became a star and had a life she didn't want to live...
But I couldn't help her anymore. Not only that, I couldn't help Minghai Lily as well. I didn't know how the club was, and no one would tell me.
But now was not the time to feel guilty, the most important thing was the date with Ying.
The door of the coffee shop opened, and I reflexively took a look at who the guests were—
"Yuan!"
Ying walked into the coffee shop wearing a white suspender dress and pink sweater. She saw me here and came and sat in front of me.
"I couldn't help but feel happy when I thought of seeing Yuan today. I was despised by Jasmine..."
After Ying sat down, she began to chatter about her experience.
"Father also had a good chat with auntie, it's time to decide the date of marriage..."
"In this case, the family will become a lot more lively..."
"Ying… Will you go to the movie later?"
I took out two movie tickets that I had kept in my pocket for a long time-I would think of asking her to watch a movie because I was inspired by Minghai Lily.
"Okay!"
... After all, it was equivalent to a gift that came with the game. This movie was really boring, but I still watched it soberly.
Actually, as long as I was with the angel, it didn't matter what the movie was. This kind of pure love experience was very rare to me, and I enjoyed it very much...
"Wuwuwu, so touching..."
In the dark, I saw Ying take out a tissue to wipe...
How is this simple love movie touching...
After the movie, it was shopping like how other dates went. The commercial street was bustling with people on Sunday. We bought two grilled octopus skewers and lemon tea and sat down on the stone bench on the corner of the street.
"I'm so happy to be able to eat grilled octopus skewers in the afternoon with Yuan like this."
"It's incredible. From the first time I saw Ying, I felt that it was a fateful encounter."
Indeed, the encounter under the cherry tree left a very deep impression in my mind.
"Huh? I didn't expect Yuan to think this way too?"
"Ying, you..."
"Mhm. The first time I saw Yuan, I felt a strange feeling"
Did Ying think so too? My heartbeat was a bit fast...
"So when we first met... what did Ying think of me?"
"Let me think... Yuan, who appeared in front of me at that time, revealed a gentle and soft look."
Was I like that back then? I clearly remembered that it seemed like... Forget it, as long as she was happy about it.
"Later, when I was at a loss, Yuan appeared next to me and promised to take care of Meow Chan for me... At that time, I was sure that I was right. And when I heard that Yuan came to me yesterday, my heart was beating very fast. I feel the warmth of being cared for..."
"...I have been moving frequently all the time, and I have lost contact with friends. This kind of life was really enough... I just want to find someone and be with him forever."
That was right, Ying's mother died in a car accident 6 years ago. Her father was busy at work and she had to take care of her younger sister. Of course, she couldn't enjoy much care.
"Don't worry, regardless of the past, I will be with you forever in the future."
I patted her head. Her hair felt soft.
"Um! Yuan will be with me forever, right?"
She was asking this again? Was she this insecure? There was a strange feeling in my heart, but it was quickly concealed by Ying's charming smile.
"Ah...yes, I will."
In any case, this was just a simple dating game with such a simple design. It was normal for the character AI to ask exactly the same questions.
"But Yuan, didn't you say that after graduation, you would go to work in a big city?"
"You still remember what I said so long ago? You are really..."
I pressed a strand of idiot hair that suddenly stood up on the top of her head.
"...If Ying is willing to, we will go together. If not, I will stay with Ying."
"You promise! We will be together forever!"
"I promise."
We spent an afternoon strolling almost the entire Hanakura Town. Welp, it was a small town after all.
The sky was getting darker, even if we were reluctant, we still had to separate. After all, we haven't reached the point of living together. Seeing her poking her head out of the window on the second floor and waving to me, I suddenly realized that this might be the last day in the game.
How great it would be if there was a way to take her out of the game…
———
[Fifteenth Day]
Opening my eyes again, it was the early morning of a new day.
...Was this game supposed to be this long? The online strategy did not mention it. Normally, it should be over in two weeks, right?
Could it be... I was still in the hidden ending plot line? Or I accidentally played an unrecorded easter egg?
That was amazing! I had to show off to Waning Moon!
This was a rare opportunity, so I decided to enjoy this unrecorded 15th day before logging out of the game.
I habitually walked to the cherry blossom road. But two weeks later, the cherry blossoms here have almost withered, leaving with green buds on the branches.
... This messy look was so ugly. Sure enough, the cherry tree looks best when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
Today, Ying was not here. I was a little disappointed...
Suddenly, my eyes were covered by two little cold hands...
"Good morning, guess who I am?"
"...It's Ying."
This voice was undoubtedly Ying.
"...You can't guess it at once. Otherwise, it would be too boring, you know?"
Ying looked at me, a little annoyed.
"Okay, okay. I'll guess wrong 3 times in a row next time."
"That's more like it..."
In reality, falling in love in high school was a behavior called premature love and it would be punished by school teachers and parents.
But there were not so many troubles in the game. Ying and I walked into the class holding hands, not fearing to be seen by others. No one was surprised. It seemed that the AI in this game was set to be like this.
At noon, the two of us cuddled up on the rooftop to eat lunch, and at night we went home together holding hands.
This day was simply the best. It made me experience what it felt like to have a girlfriend in real life.
[You have been playing for 24 hours, please leave the game and take a rest to avoid your body functions from falling into chaos. ]
——?
The system pop-up that only existed in the manual appeared in front of me... This was the first time I got this notice after playing this game for so long. I should probably save the game and rest for a while later...
This game could only be archived when I went home and slept. So I decided to go home.
As soon as I opened the door, Meow Chan ran to my feet, meowing and spinning around me.
"What's wrong? Are you hungry? I'll get you cat food, don't worry."
I took the cat food to the cat food bowl, but...
The cat food bowl was full.
"Meow meow--"
Meow Chan was still spinning around my feet, which was very different from the usual way of ignoring me. Was it sick? Was there a vet in this town?
I didn't know what was going on... Probably I should ask Ying what to do tomorrow.
Of course, I wanted to quit the game and eat something first.
[Do you want to save? ]
[Yes]
[Do you want to continue the game? ]
"Exit the game."
"..."
"Exit the game."
"..."
"Log out..."
I kept repeating, but the system did not give me any response.
"What happened?"
The log-out menu was right in front of my eyes, but it was like a BUG, no matter how I clicked it, there was no response.
"Why can't I log out?"
My heart dropped, and the emotion of fear filled my body.
I could not quit the game? !
How could this be possible? Would I be trapped forever in this game?
No, no, this was absolutely impossible.
"Continue the game."
Helpless, I had to try to continue. What kind of bug was this! Hurry up and finish today and try again in the morning——
When I opened my eyes again, the dazzling sunlight shone on my face, but I was not in the mood to stretch out my hand to block it.
"Meow--"
I was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Meow Chan, but I didn't have time to worry about it now.
What was going on? Failing to log out again in the morning, I decided to check if there was anything wrong with other places in the game...
The moment I opened the door, Meow Chan also rushed out with me. It was acting very abnormal today.
"Meow Chan, you—"
There was a piece of paper in its mouth. It was a bunch of incomprehensible things drawn crookedly on it.
I picked up the piece of paper, flipped its direction, and finally barely recognized that the drawings on it were Chinese characters. When did cats learn to write?
"Waiting to crack the program, be careful of the people around you."
Seeing this, my mind instantly went blank.