It was 3 a.m. The room was dark except for the faint glow of laptop screens and the muted hum of a game loading. Somehow, all of us—Mom, Nishi, Aunt Marika, and Shiori-san—were huddled in my room, playing SFO. The house felt like it was on pause while we were locked in a completely different world. How did it come to this? Well, let me rewind a bit.
---
After the whole kidnapping debacle, Aunt Marika and I headed home. I was still on edge from earlier, but I wanted to make sure everything felt normal again. Mom, however, had other plans.
"What?! Haru got kidnapped?" she shouted, nearly dropping the plate she was washing. Her eyes darted from me to Aunt Marika, who was standing there, looking guilty enough to cry.
"I'm sorry, Miyako nee-san," Marika mumbled, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "It was my fault..."
Mom sighed, placing the plate on the rack. "Well, it's fine as long as Haru is safe. But seriously, Marika, you need to be more careful."
Trying to defuse the tension, I quickly added, "By the way, we should thank Shiori-san. She really saved me back there. Maybe we should invite her over for dinner tonight?"
Mom smiled, brushing her hair back. "That's a good idea. Haru, why don't you call her?"
---
By 5 p.m., Shiori-san arrived at our house. She looked around the living room, her eyes sparkling as they landed on the Christmas decorations.
"Wow, you guys really went all out," she said, running her fingers over the garlands on the walls.
"Yeah, Mom loves Christmas," I replied casually.
"Haru, Shiori, dinner's ready!" Mom's voice called out from the kitchen.
As we sat around the table, I noticed how relaxed everyone seemed. For once, there was no tension between Aunt Marika and Shiori-san. Mom had even made her famous curry, which was rare since she'd been so busy with work lately.
"By the way, Shiori," Mom said, breaking the silence. "Marika told me what happened earlier. Thank you for saving my son."
Shiori-san waved her hand dismissively. "Ah, it's no big deal, Mom. I just can't stand the thought of Haru-kun being harmed."
I blushed, quickly stuffing a spoonful of curry into my mouth to hide it. Meanwhile, Nishi, my little sister, gasped dramatically.
"What?! Nii-chan got kidnapped? Are you okay?"
I patted her head. "Don't worry, I'm fine."
Aunt Marika, however, stayed quiet, poking at her food absentmindedly. She still looked like she was carrying the weight of what happened earlier. Hoping to lighten the mood, I turned to her.
"Aunt Marika, how about we play SFO after dinner? We can play all night if you want. I'll even skip class tomorrow."
She perked up a little. "Really? You'll help me level up?"
"Of course. We'll get you back to your old rank in no time."
---
After dinner, Mom and Nishi volunteered to clean up, giving us time to start setting up the game. Shiori-san, of course, invited herself to join us.
"Wait, Shiori-san, you want to play too?" I asked, trying to sound neutral.
She grinned. "Of course! No way I'm missing this."
Aunt Marika shrugged. "Fine by me. She's the one who killed me last time, so it's only fair she helps me now."
"Sorry about that, Auntie! I thought you were some online predator..."
I sighed. "Can we not bring that up again? Let's just play."
We gathered in my room, laptops at the ready. Shiori-san pulled hers out of her bag, while Aunt Marika said she'd borrowed one of Mom's laptops—which, by the way, was supposed to be for work. She'd even installed SFO on it. Mom would flip if she found out.
We formed a party and jumped into the game. Our main goal was to help Aunt Marika regain her lost level. Since she'd been killed in-game during her last session, she'd practically restarted from scratch. We decided to tackle some bosses to rack up EXP for her.
"Marika nee-san, stay back during the fight," I instructed. "These bosses can one-hit you."
This strategy worked well. We kept the bosses distracted while Marika stayed safely at a distance, earning all the EXP without taking any hits. By the end of the first hour, she'd leveled up several times.
---
While we took a break, I decided to check my friends list. Most of my usual squad was offline, but then I noticed something odd.
Nishi's username was lit up.
Not only that, but she was in an exploration party. Curious, I clicked on her profile to see who she was playing with. My jaw dropped.
She was married.
"What the hell?!" I blurted out, startling both Shiori and Marika.
"Haru-kun, what's wrong?" Shiori asked.
"Nishi's married!"
Aunt Marika raised an eyebrow. "In the game, right?"
"Of course in the game! But that's not the point. Who the hell marries my little sister in SFO?"
Shiori leaned over to check the screen. "Oh, a whale, huh? His name's Yanagi. Looks like he's a tanker."
For those unfamiliar with gaming slang, a "whale" is someone who spends a ridiculous amount of money on in-game items. Usually, they're rich kids or working adults. The thought of some grown man marrying my little sister—even in a game—made my blood boil.
"I've decided. I'm going to kill this guy."
"Haru-kun, calm down," Shiori said, trying not to laugh. "It's just a game."
"No! He's probably taking advantage of Nishi's innocence. I won't allow it."
---
Using a teleportation item, I tracked down Nishi and her so-called husband. They were strolling through a forest, completely unaware of my presence. I activated my unique assassin skill, **Invisibility**, and prepared my strongest weapon: a lightning-enhanced dagger.
From my perch in a tree, I whispered, "Unique skill: Killing Spree."
Lightning crackled around me as I leapt from the tree, aiming directly at Yanagi. My attack landed, but he managed to block it at the last second with a shield. His health bar was nearly depleted, but not enough to finish him off.
"Haru-kun, one more hit!" Shiori shouted through the party chat.
Just as I was about to strike again, the door to my room burst open. Nishi stormed in, glaring at me.
"Onii-chan, what are you doing?!"
I froze. "I'm killing your husband."
"You idiot! That's Mom!"
Wait, what?
---
I hurried to Mom's room, where she was calmly sitting in front of her laptop, sipping tea.
"Ara, Haru. What's wrong?"
"Mom, are you Yanagi?"
She smiled. "Oh, so you found me."
I dropped to my knees. "Mom, I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you."
She laughed softly. "It's fine, Haru. I only started playing because Nishi asked me to. She said she wanted someone to play with."
That explained the beginner-level build. Still, I couldn't believe she'd married Nishi in-game.
"But Mom, why did you marry her?"
Nishi poked her head into the room. "Because Mom isn't married in real life."
"Oi, Nishi! Don't say stuff like that," I scolded, but Mom just chuckled.
"It's true, though. Besides, it's just a game. Don't overthink it."
---
With the misunderstanding cleared up, we all returned to playing. Aunt Marika, Shiori-san, Mom, Nishi, and I formed a full party and decided to tackle a dungeon together. Despite the chaos earlier, the night ended up being one of the most fun I'd had in ages.
By the time we finally logged off, the clock read 3 a.m. Everyone was exhausted but happy. Looking around the room, I realized that even though my family could be a handful, moments like these made it all worth it.
Now, if only I could get some sleep before morning.
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