System: [...]
[What are you talking about, honey,] it responds intelligently, [Sorry, I'm a little confused.]
But firmly guarantee that [I have no ill intentions.]
[Please don't worry, it's just a game, it won't harm you...]
Ichijō Mirai: "..."
Of course it won't harm, at least not maliciously, otherwise he would have run away without blinking after logging into the game for the first time.
"I know you don't mean any harm," he cautions politely, stretching his brow, "and you don't look like you're capable of scheming against humans."
Mostly because he didn't have the intelligence.
Kind of stupid.
He only reminded him politely, a bit subtly, but the other party seemed to recognize it immediately, and was a bit silent, [...]
[You're scolding me.]
It's not a scolding, it's a compliment.
If this thing had looked even a little bit smart, Ichijō Mirai would have run away.
A full-fledged criminal always needs to be well versed in the art of escape.
"When the prison printed out the pictures, I thought about the printed suicide note and realized," He said slowly, "would a normal person write a suicide note and print it out?"
"Most people write their own."
"Why don't you write it by hand? Maybe it's because of a quirk, maybe it's because they can't write by hand, and if they do, they'll reveal something."
"For example..."
Ichijō Mirai raised his right hand and casually turned it around, "It would reveal that 'Ichijō Mirai' is Ichijō Mirai."
It's not "Please, the other me!" but rather amnesia.
He hypothesized that waking up in the bedroom on the second floor of the dessert store was not the point at which he first came to this world.
The point at which he first came to this world should be: "When I was a child."
"The game isn't just a game, it's the real past," Ichijō Mirai said in a steady tone, "The player position I'm in now is the person I was before I lost my memory."
"When I first came to this world, I became a child. Adults and children are different, so Officer Ichijō thinks I'm sick."
There's a problem: adults and children are different.
But adults can disguise themselves.
Ichijō Mirai had no experience with parents, so he assumed that if his parents in this world didn't fit his behavior, he would leave after weighing his options.
A child criminal can survive on the outside anyway.
If he doesn't leave, it means that the two of them are still getting along, so he'll choose to disguise himself, and even if he doesn't, he won't let his parents think that he's sick.
In short, 'not running away' and 'parents thinking he's sick' can't exist at the same time.
But they do.
...What happened then?
Ichijō Mirai wasn't sure, but could only blackmail the idiot in a calm tone.
The idiot was a bit sullen, [You're lying to me.]
[You said so.]
[If you're lying to me in a calm tone, you're lying to me, if you're lying to me in a light-hearted tone, you're lying to me, if you're making some kind of speculation in a serious manner and look hesitant, you're definitely lying to me, and if you're not realizing it as if nothing's happening, you're definitely lying to me!]
Ichijō Mirai: "?"
...What?
[If you're talking, you're lying to me. If you're silent, you're trying to lie to me.]
[If I ask a lot of questions and answer a lot of questions, you must think I'm scheming, if I keep my mouth shut, you must think I'm scheming, if I answer sometimes and sometimes don't answer, then I must be scheming!]
System: [You said it...]
Ichijō Mirai:"..."
What the hell.
He was briefly silent for a few beats, "Then you are admitting to my hypothesis."
'There was never another me, I just lost my memory.'
System: [Hmmm...]
Correction, by the way. [You didn't just find out, you made a guess when you saw the suicide note.]
It's been authoritatively confirmed, you said.
[You said that no matter how well prepared you are, you will always find fault, and the moment you open your eyes without knowing anything, you will be on guard, suspecting everything.]
[Because you're an unabashedly skeptical person.]
Ichijō Mirai again: "..."
"But it sounds like," he weighs his tone, letting it relax a bit, "I trust you."
"Even the 'memory loss' thing was discussed with you."
Yes, discussed.
The word "discussed" suggests that the loss of memory is an active behavior.
"So," Ichijō Mirai said slowly, "why did I choose to lose my memory?"
And he knew the answer in advance: the lovely 'customer service' would not answer him.
Sure enough, the system stammered.
After half a minute, it only said: [There are always some things that you can't do after decades of coming to this world, but you can do after just coming to this world.]
[I can't tell you, it would affect your choices.]
It's a bit of a guilt trip.
What Ichijō Mirai wanted was not an impossible answer, but this guilt.
He softened his tone again, "Well..."
Another curt nod of 'hmmmmmmmm, I'm skeptical', "Are you sure that 'memory loss' won't unduly damage me? I feel like my mind is a little,"
Ichijō Mirai raises an eyebrow, flirting easily as if it were real, "missing a few pieces."
"It's like I'm purposely avoiding things when I think about them, like 'games are the past of reality', and it took a lot of work to finalize the speculation, but it still feels like I'm overlooking something."
He inquired, "Is this normal?"
[It is normal,] the system replies, [In fact, 'memory loss' is the price to pay, and the situation you mention is one of the inevitable aftermaths...]
It repeated again: [I cannot tell you the details.]
It's 'the price'.
There is a price to be paid, and since the price to be paid is memory loss, what about the price to be paid?
The game?
Ichijō Mirai lowered his eyes, "Okay."
He was very understanding, "Since you can't tell me, I'll tell you what I think,"
"After all, I trust you without losing my memory."
"I think, we must have gone through a period of suspicion and bonding before we reached this stage of mutual trust," he raised his eyebrows helplessly, "Unfortunately, I lost my memory, and once again, I am full of mistrust towards you."
"...Sorry."
That's very much what it sounds like.
Ichijō Mirai smiles with feigned helplessness, "Since I trusted you in the past, I'll try to trust you."
He sat up straight with his legs crossed, and squared his shoulders, "'The Game' is divided into three parts, which are chunked in time,"
"The first, a three-year period from age seventeen to twenty, is the [Organization Newcomer] section."
"The second block, which is 20 years old, ends at an unknown time, my initial guess would be either the end of the police academy or after a period of time in the police force, but given the name, I'm leaning more towards the former."
Ichijō Mirai resumed speaking accurately, "The second block, which is between the ages of 20 and 21 for a period of one year, is the [Police Academy Newcomer] portion."
"The third block, the countdown hasn't ended yet, I'm assuming for now that it's 21 to 27."
27 years old. That's the realistic time.