The next morning, Hoshimi woke up leisurely.
"Ah~" He sighed lightly, sitting up and rubbing his forehead.
After a night of rest, the aftereffects of 'Removal Modified' were still strong, and his whole body still felt sore and weak.
Additionally, he was mentally exhausted.
Firstly, because he had acquired a massive amount of information last night.
Secondly, because Yukino and Kotoko had been bickering all night, unable to finalize the rules for their card game.
It was best not to let the two of them be together again in the future; it was too troublesome...
"Ha~~~" Hoshimi yawned, feeling lethargic.
"Right, let's try that..."
Hoshimi recalled the Confucian scholar's mention of 'Revival'. He closed his eyes and silently recited in his heart:
"Use 'Revival' to eliminate the physical aftereffects and mental fatigue."
As soon as his thoughts settled, his mind instantly cleared, and the soreness in his body immediately vanished.
Hoshimi raised his arm, waved it a couple of times in the air, and felt no soreness at all.
"Really effective, and quite fast." Hoshimi spoke to himself, "With just one use, it killed a dream avatar. That's indeed quite extravagant."
With his body restored, Hoshimi remarked on the dream avatar's loss but didn't pay it much attention; after all, the subconscious would continue to produce dream avatars, so losing one or two wasn't a big deal.
"Time to get up..."
Hoshimi threw off the covers, ready to wash up and head to school.
"Wait, today is Saturday, isn't it?"
Hoshimi picked up his phone from the bedside and confirmed it was indeed Saturday.
"Saturday, huh..."
Hoshimi ran his fingers through his messy hair and decided to put on his slippers and continue his morning routine.
Feeling energetic and clear-headed, he thought he might as well get up and play some games.
...
Saturday, a routine day.
According to Hoshimi's previous schedule, today should be a day of gaming and watching movies, a day fully dedicated to relaxation and entertainment.
But this time, he took an unprecedented two-hour workout session in his home gym.
Exercise was necessary...
This wasn't a reminder from the dream avatar but a judgment made by Hoshimi himself.
Poor physical condition could make certain things difficult in the future...
...
Saturday night, in the dream.
Hoshimi lay alone on a hillside, gazing at the magnificent midsummer night sky.
Knowing that he could control who entered his dream, he didn't let anyone in tonight.
Sometimes, it was nice to be alone.
...
Late at night, Kotoko Iwanaga, dressed in pajamas, paced anxiously in her room.
"What's going on? Why hasn't Hoshimi pulled me into his dream yet?"
"Hoshimi isn't asleep yet? That's impossible; his schedule is very regular. He always sleeps before midnight."
"It's already past midnight. Hoshimi must be asleep by now."
"So, that means... ah~~ ah~~~ so annoying!"
Kotoko hugged her head and squatted down, frustratedly saying, "I should never have told Hoshimi the rules for pulling people into dreams..."
"Hmm~ but even if I hadn't told him, if Hoshimi had the intention, he'd figure it out anyway..."
"Hmm~ so annoying. Hoshimi wouldn't have only pulled Yukino in, would he?"
"Probably not..."
Unsure, Kotoko abruptly stood up and headed towards the bedroom door.
Halfway there, she turned back and sat down at her vanity, sighing in resignation.
"Ah~ forget it, I'll go to sleep. I'll see Hoshimi on Monday anyway."
Kotoko patted her face and regained her usual calm.
Then, she removed her right eye prosthetic and soaked it in water, and took off her left leg prosthetic, placing it beside the vanity.
Holding her cane, she stood up and slowly walked to the princess bed in the center of the room.
After a while, lying in bed, Kotoko closed her eyes and murmured softly,
"Goodnight, Hoshimi."
Soon after, Kotoko, who had fallen asleep, dreamed that she had entered Hoshimi's dream and regained a perfectly intact body.
In the dream, she was barefoot on Hoshimi's back, giving him a back massage.
Hearing Hoshimi's praise, the sleeping Kotoko displayed a peaceful and shy smile.
...
At the same time, Yukino, who was suffering from insomnia, sat at her desk, distractedly watching cat videos.
During the commercial break between two videos, Yukino glanced at the time.
1:14 AM.
She had lost track of when she last stayed up this late.
Tonight, she was unable to sleep and had to reluctantly get up and watch cat videos to relax.
"Meow~~ Meow~~ Meow~~"
Listening to the cute meowing, Yukino began to zone out.
At this hour, Hoshimi should have already fallen asleep, but why hadn't she entered Hoshimi's dream?
"..." Yukino pressed her lips together, her expression growing colder.
She kicked off her slippers, placed her feet on the edge of the chair, hugged her knees, and rested her head on her lap, staring blankly at the cat videos.
"Meow~~ Meow~~ Meow~~~"
As the progress bar slowly moved forward, Yukino, lost in thought, didn't notice when the progress bar reached the end.
"Your brother is coming to cut me down..."
The sudden loud advertisement startled Yukino, making her shiver. She frowned and closed the webpage, staring blankly at the computer screen.
Forget it, time to sleep.
Yukino put on her slippers and got up to head to the bedroom...
Half an hour later, Yukino, dressed in pajamas and holding a cat pillow, returned to the study.
She sat back at her desk, opened the computer, and prepared to continue watching cat videos.
But as she opened the webpage, Yukino suddenly recalled something her sister had said to her.
"Yukino, do you know him? Do you know who Hoshimi Kiyokawa is? Do you know the meaning behind the surname Hoshimi? If you don't know anything, don't make decisions lightly~"
Yukino pursed her lips and silently typed "Hoshimi" into the search engine.
Clicked search
The first entry: "Hoshimi Takuya - Wikipedia"
Yukino's eyes moved slightly as she clicked on the entry to read more.
"Hoshimi Takuya (March 24, 1978 - March 27, 2019), male, Yamato ethnicity, from Chiba, was a Japanese stock market genius following in the footsteps of Korekawa..."
2019? That was just last year?
Hoshimi Takuya, she remembered now, the news about this stock genius's death had been all over the television in late March last year.
Even on April 1st, the morning she started high school, her father and mother had lamented about the early death of this stock genius.
"Such a waste of talent, dying in a plane crash in his early forties. By the way, a few years ago, he even advised me on investments. It's truly a pity…"
She still remembered her father's wistful expression at that time.
"What did he advise you on?" her usually composed mother had asked with a smile.
"I don't remember clearly, but I think Hoshimi Takuya advised me that if I bought US bonds, I should sell them before 2020." Her father seemed to imply something.
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