Sora originally had no intention of leaving Yuu's side. She feared that if she left him for even a moment, something would happen to him, or he would be taken advantage of by certain mischievous cats.
However, considering they were about to enter her older brother's room, and she couldn't stop them for very strong reasons, after several hesitations, Sora finally left the sofa. She carefully laid Yuu's body flat and touched his cheek with a face full of worry.
"Yuu, wait for me here. I'll be right back."
"..."
His eyelids didn't stir. Yuu still slept soundly and peacefully. Only his regular breathing answered her.
Sora lowered her gaze. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, as if tears were clinging to them.
"Truly, you must be very tired... Now, sleep well."
She forced herself to smile, but her vision blurred again. The tip of her nose ached, making it difficult to breathe.
Boundless loneliness and panic began to take root and spread. Her heart ached and felt empty, as if she had lost half of herself. She just wanted to lose consciousness with him, no longer worrying if he would sleep forever.
Even if Yuu was sure to wake up, as written in the notebook, if he didn't successfully pass that test, would his spirit be wounded? Would he forget her?
Would he... truly change into someone else?
"Even though this isn't a true life-and-death farewell, when I can't hear your voice, and you don't respond no matter how loud I shout, it truly feels worse than death."
Sora wiped her eyes, allowing the world and herself to become clear, while also suppressing her discomfort.
After years since both her parents died in a plane crash, she once again felt a fear more painful than despair.
As if being a thousand meters underwater, surrounded by heavy water pressure and lightless darkness. Her internal organs ached to the point of wanting to vomit.
As if abandoned by the entire world, surrounded by loneliness without support and cold, foreign air. She wanted to disappear immediately, unwilling to face a darker and crueler future.
Wanting to hide in the room, wanting to curl up in a corner, wanting to cry loudly, wanting to shake his body hard and force him awake.
Even though he was only temporarily asleep, she was so afraid, as if her only family would leave her forever, letting her live alone in this world without relatives.
If that happened, it would be better to die earlier.
Yuu was a pillar for Sora. If he left her, she would have no more reason to live.
Even if his consciousness was only temporarily gone, the impact on her was as severe as a heavy wound...
If it were the old Sora, perhaps upon seeing her brother in a coma-like state, she would have collapsed weakly on the floor and never risen again.
She knew that such a self would only tightly embrace Yuu's still warm body, cry until her eyes were swollen, and then remain by his side like a soulless being, not eating, not drinking, not bathing. If Yuu didn't wake up in two or three days, she wouldn't care if she simply died.
Life without him was a terrible thing she couldn't endure for even two or three days.
"But the me now has grown up a little, Yuu."
Sora suddenly smiled. She took her brother's warm hand, placed it on her own head, and gently stroked it.
"As long as you're still here, I can be stronger than anyone... Then, I'll turn around and become your pillar, always waiting for you to come home."
She whispered. Her forehead touched Yuu's forehead. Her gentle gaze gradually became firm and resolute.
Precisely because she was his sister, precisely because she was his family.
Because she knew that her brother was not a perfect and omnipotent Superman, the younger sister wanted to shed her past weak and helpless self, trying to become his support—
Even if she couldn't help at all, she absolutely couldn't hinder him at such an important moment and make him worry!
"Yuu, I love you... After you wake up, I won't forgive you if you don't hug me while sleeping for a week."
With a smile that banished weakness and was as bright as the sky after rain, Sora left that last sentence. She placed Yuu's hand on his lower abdomen, then rose without hesitation.
"Let's go." She looked at the girls waiting for her at the door and said coldly, without expression, "Searching for items is fine, but the bed and wardrobe must not be touched. I will watch over you from the side."
"How rude! Do we look like perverts who would sneak in and kiss Yuu-chan's blankets and underwear?" As if feeling slandered, Haruno puffed out her cheeks and protested, "Such a thing can be done anytime; who would choose the wrong time!"
"The problem isn't about time, you know!"
Yukino interrupted coldly. Seeing a small gray cat casually stepping on the stairs, as if leading them to Yuu's room, her eyes sparkled. She followed behind the cat's bottom excitedly, occasionally "Meow~ Meow~" trying to communicate with it.
As for Masuzu, with regret that her plan was exposed, she followed them up the stairs.
As Sora walked out of the living room, the lights dimmed, the door closed softly, and the curtains covered the sunlight from the large window.
There was only a corner of light illuminating the handsome young man lying supine on the sofa, who slept peacefully with a slight smile on his lips, as if dreaming beautifully.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Yuu thought the Final Exam was no joke. Its difficulty level was completely incomparable to the previous four missions.
As if the system no longer gave him any ease, he couldn't find a starting point for an attack at all, not even knowing which direction to put effort into.
Time had moved from early April to late May.
During this time, cherry blossoms bloomed everywhere. There were flower-viewing parties, celebrations, and smiles. The joy of spring seemed to have just begun to ignite the entire island.
During this period, Yuu got used to student council work, the life of a third-year high school student, and all the people and things he encountered in this test.
His relationship with his two juniors also gradually warmed up. Every day, he was alone with them in the student council office. Sometimes on holidays, he even went out and ate with them under the pretext of work...
If only he had always maintained a proper distance as a senior and not overstepped boundaries, such an interaction pattern would be almost like dating both of them at once, having double female partners.
Nevertheless, a month had passed, and Yuu still hadn't found enough clues to initiate the mission objective.
The three clues he found on the first day—the fact that this was his third year of high school, his hikikomori little sister's uniform, and the familiar feeling that he had once formed a student council with his juniors.
None could be the answer to solving the mystery of the system's objective.
And during this period, he found nothing else noteworthy. As if everything that began in this third year of high school made sense; nothing was lacking, nothing was superfluous. Such daily life would continue.
The only suspicious thing might be his sister.
However, after trying various methods, Yuu was forced to give up looking for flaws in Sora.
Because Sora in this test was behaving very strangely. She was much quieter than usual, and seemed to try to avoid private conversations with him. She looked like an AI deliberately simulated by the system for this test, and very crudely made—
Perhaps the system also knew that even if it could change the world line, it couldn't affect the familiarity level of the world's strongest siscon with his sister, right?
If he were allowed to become close with Sora here, then in less than a day, the clue for the Final Exam would probably be found quickly.
If it were solved in seconds, what would be the point of this test?
So Yuu guessed that the clue to his objective was not with Sora at all, but with other things he wouldn't normally notice or suspect.
For example...
"The system itself."
Yuu smiled coldly, a wise look in his eyes showing that he saw everything.
"Although the system itself is in a paused state, in this test, I can still use statuses and skills... Regardless of whether it's a special facility given to me by the system, this itself is an extraordinary clue."
And the system probably didn't expect that the sudden idea he had to forcibly combine certain statuses and skills had actually managed to leave an unusual backdoor in the last mission...
If this backdoor could be activated smoothly, let alone finding clues, he might even walk through walls from the labyrinth's entrance to the finish line, as if he were using cheats.
"Initially, I just wanted to prepare it just in case, but I didn't expect to use it this quickly. Truly, plans don't keep up with changes."
Yuu sighed with emotion. He stood in front of his bedroom door. Facing the closed door, he slowly extended his hand.
"In that case, I've come to see you..."
He held the doorknob, closed his eyes, and remembered the feeling at that moment—
Using Perfect-level Learning, aided by the special status of Sense Synchronization, he successfully learned the feeling of the system opening the door for him, at the cost of a nosebleed.
Could such an absurd and illogical thing truly be accomplished?
Yuu had never tried it, and there was not enough evidence to support this idea—but he was confident that he had learned how to open the door from the system and could open the door leading back to the real world.
Regardless of success or failure, his confidence was a thousand percent.
So at this moment, with absolute certainty that he would succeed, Yuu followed the guidance of the power within his body, pushed the door in front of him, and stepped out.
"In that case, let's meet with a surprise, long time no see—Life Achievement System!"
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The spare key turned. The door opened. Sora was the first to enter.
The scene behind the door unfolded before their eyes. Masuzu couldn't wait to look around the room, her eyes sparkling, and her smile slightly lewd.
The view outside the window was covered by curtains. The bedroom was definitely empty. The masculine decor exuded a melancholy cool blue tone, but its tidiness made the mood bright.
Most importantly...
Taking advantage of them entering in sequence, and all of them having their backs to her, Masuzu stopped at the doorway. She raised her slender neck like a swan, flared her nostrils, and took a deep breath like a whale.
"Sss—"
(Ah~)
(That's Yuu's scent; the whole room is filled with his unique and familiar aroma~)
(Amazing! The best!)
(Is this really a privilege I can experience?!)
With a flushed expression as if on the verge of ecstasy, Masuzu closed her eyes. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, her body wriggling like a maggot, her abdomen constantly contracting, and her entire body lightly trembling as if electrified.
"The greatest happiness..."