The moment the words 'drinking alcohol' came to mind, Ichiko felt an indescribable sense of rejection.
But this feeling that arose surprisingly made her feel much better mentally!
It was as if all negative emotions were less profound than this strong sense of reality.
Ichiko reached out without any hesitation and took out a bottle of white wine.
She didn't even care how strong the white wine was; she directly unscrewed the cap and didn't even use a glass.
It was as if, on the verge of collapse, she had grasped the last straw.
Slowly closing her eyes.
Her throat bobbed; having never drunk alcohol with such a high proof, she felt her throat burning.
While gasping for air, she also reached out and wiped away the tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.
A large amount of endorphins were secreted, and a strange sense of pleasure made Ichiko feel much more comfortable overall.
All the previous emotions such as pressure, entanglement, confusion, and fear were cast aside at this moment.
After resting for a while, Ichiko rinsed her mouth and took a bath.
Hot water flowed down from her head, soaking her hair and running over her smooth skin.
Ichiko emptied her mind, like someone saved from drowning, taking small breaths and escaping the root cause of her state.
After bathing, she blow-dried her hair.
Since things have come to this, let's sleep first.
Don't need to think about anything, and don't need to care about anything either.
This feeling is truly relaxing.
Ever since drinking that glass of alcohol, her head felt slightly dizzy, and Ichiko felt like she had entered a state of extreme exhilaration.
As long as she could stay in this room, in this place full of memories, it was enough.
She threw her phone, watch, sachet, and other items in the living room and staggered alone into Haruko's room.
She lunged forward and hugged the giant panda pillow that Haruko usually cuddled while sleeping.
Burying her pretty face in the pillow, she took a deep breath.
'Haruko's scent.'
Like~
What am I holding now?
A pillow?
That's not right.
I'm holding Haruko.
Yes, it's time to sleep with Haruko now.
Don't need to think about anything, just being with Haruko like this is really comfortable.
Pulling the blanket over with one hand, her tired eyes gradually closed.
Her small mouth mumbled open and closed to herself.
'So sleepy... I really want to sleep.'
'Haruko seems to be at the Hospital, is she waiting for me there?'
'But if I go to the Hospital, I'll feel uncomfortable again, and she'll show her yandere side to me, right?'
'Haruko or something... it's really not as comfortable as here.'
The scent of the sachet, it smells so good.
As if all the burdens on her shoulders were lifted, Ichiko fell into a deep sleep.
She was too tired. After continuous high pressure, Sento forced her to make a choice again, finally snapping her last string.
Her subconscious began to protect her body and brain.
Not thinking.
Escaping reality.
While Ichiko was in a deep sleep, Haruko coincidentally woke up faintly at the Hospital.
Opening her eyes to look for a familiar figure, she didn't see anyone.
'Ichiko isn't here.'
Haruko's voice held some regret. With difficulty, she reached for the phone on the bedside table and then tapped open a mysterious mini-program.
[Host, rest first]
'Rest?' Haruko skillfully spent 100 emotional points from the System store to exchange for a healing pill and threw it into her mouth.
She said slowly, 'I don't like resting in an empty Hospital room. The smell of disinfectant here isn't good at all. Of course, I want to sleep in Ichiko's arms when I rest.'
The mini-program on the phone opened, and a blinking location was displayed on a familiar spot on the map.
'Ichiko is actually at my house?'
This was a mini-program customized by Haruko using the simple hacker toolkit given as a prize from the System's lottery. She had prepared it early.
With the help of the System, no matter where Ichiko was, she would know her location.
After all, none of the skills given by the System were weak.
However, what puzzled Haruko at this moment was why Ichiko was at her house?
At this moment, Ichiko was holding her giant panda and sleeping soundly.
Haruko took the time to understand the whole process.
Instantly, her eyes became eerie and terrifying.'She actually chose to escape, Ichiko is truly making me sad~'
At this moment, the System in her mind spoke up.
[Ho... Host, it's quite normal for Ichiko to escape, isn't it? It's not just the pressure you've put on her, Shin, Yuri, and Dr. Kaito's alias have all been putting pressure on her from multiple sides; she's already reached her limit.]
[Sento was just the fuse that lit the dynamite. In fact, even if Ichiko were to collapse because of this, I wouldn't be surprised.]
'She won't collapse that easily.' Haruko smiled faintly. 'You know she's the female lead. In the original work, based on the plot I know, she only collapsed twice in total.'
'The first time was after learning that the original owner had been drowned. Because the original owner had scratched her face, punctured her chest, and said vicious words that made her temporarily lose her reason and feel despair, she was slightly instigated by Sento and let Sento handle the original owner.'
'Perhaps the her in the book thought that Sento would just punish the original owner.'
'But who could have imagined Sento's ruthlessness? After being beaten to the verge of death for several days, the original owner was drowned in the sea by Sento's subordinate.'
'Everything from her childhood became memories with the original owner's departure. Ichiko even believed that it was her neglect of the original owner that led to the original owner being led astray and then killed by Sento. Countless emotions surged into her heart, leading to a collapse.'
Haruko spent a lot of emotional points during this time to catch up on the original plot. Although she hadn't finished the entire book, she had finished the first fifth, plus the part about Ichiko's ending.
'And the second collapse was at the final ending.'
'No matter how much of a 'White Moonlight' the female lead is, she can't resist the author's pen.'
'The rich female supporting character who appeared out of nowhere pressed closer step by step, and the people around her betrayed her one after another. She went from hope to despair multiple times, yet even so, she bravely withstood countless pressures.'
'Only at the very end, when she was staying in a small rental room and found a photo she had taken with the original owner, did she suddenly realize.'
'The ones who cared about her the most were actually the original owner's family.'
'And Haruko, including her family, in a sense, died because of her.'
Haruko leaned against the headboard and looked at the ceiling.'System, do you know? In terms of results, from Ichiko's perspective, the original owner might have never hated her.'
'Not allowing her to interact with Sento, because in the mid to late stages, Sento did betray Ichiko. Could the original owner's actions be considered protecting Ichiko?'
'Believing that Sento was fixated on her because of Ichiko's appearance, so by puncturing her face and chest, would Sento then dislike Ichiko?'
'Confessing to the major male leads, wasn't there also the possibility of throwing herself into the situation?'
These were not Haruko's guesses, but the ending in the original work. Ichiko only suddenly realized and inferred this after recalling all these things.
Every word she said was written in the original work.
Perhaps it was the author's conscience. While writing Ichiko's death, they also cleared the original owner's name, making her Ichiko's only one, so that a female lead written for thousands of chapters wouldn't end up with no one to love.
Inferring the process from the result in the original work.
Miss Original Owner, Elder Brother Yuna, Father Chi and Mother Chi who took care of her, and her War God Father, these 'cannon fodder supporting characters' who died early, were among the few people who truly loved her throughout the thousands of chapters in the entire book.
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