I loaded the geek game

"Okay, drink!"

Wu Daren, who looked every bit the leader of the "bad kids," waved his little hand with an air of heroic spirit.

At the same time, she set an example by taking the lead and picking up her own cup of sake, drinking it all in one gulp.

The liquor slid down her throat, she smacked her lips, and exhaled with feigned maturity: "Ha—!"

This demeanor, paired with her still-childish and adorable face, is really... incongruous.

Under Master Wu's lead, Aya and Hiyori followed her example and picked up their sake cups, but they only tried to take a tiny sip before shrinking their necks and making a weak "woo" sound.

Even the Zashiki-warashi, who had always been gentle and quiet, like a model of a "good child," picked up the sake cup in front of her with a hint of curiosity under the encouraging and urging gaze of Master Satori, and gently "pecked" a small sip.

"ah……!"

The spicy, slightly astringent taste of the alcohol assaulted her taste buds, and Zashiki's fair face immediately scrunched up. Her large eyes filled with surprise and discomfort, as if she had been "tricked." She hurriedly put down her wine cup, covered her mouth with the back of her hand, and looked both innocent and somewhat amused.

"Hey, why aren't you drinking yet!" Satoru's gaze swept across the room, finally landing precisely on Hidaka Mirai, the only one who hadn't made a move yet, his tone urging and impatient.

do not care……

Hidaka Mirai took a deep breath, picked up the cool little wine cup, tilted her head back, and drank the amber-colored nectar in one gulp.

The moment the liquor enters the throat, the senses are overwhelmed by an unprecedentedly complex flavor.

After the initial spiciness and stimulation, the aftertaste is warm and sweet, with a subtle, almost imperceptible, fresh sweetness reminiscent of deep-sea shellfish or some kind of sweet seaweed, which is quite unique.

As the drink slid down my throat, a warm current, accompanied by a slight burning sensation, immediately rose from my stomach. My chest felt warm, but not uncomfortable; rather, it was a strangely relaxing warmth.

"Hmph! That's right!" Master Wu seemed very satisfied with Hidaka Mirai's "getting the hang of it" and "generously" refilled her empty sake cup from the white sake pot. "Is it good?"

"Hmm..." Hidaka Mirai felt a slight warmth on her cheeks, but the lingering sweetness and the warmth in her stomach were indeed very comforting, so she nodded obediently, "It's quite delicious."

"Of course it's delicious!" Master Wu couldn't hide his smug expression after receiving affirmation from a "kindred spirit." "Hoshiguma secretly gave this to me! She said it's the first batch of seaweed wine made this year from the finest deep-sea seaweed hearts in the Sea Kingdom! It's rare for ordinary people to even smell it, you're really lucky today! Come on, don't waste it, let's have another drink!"

She had clearly come to regard Hidaka Mirai as a "capable assistant" at the dinner table, and enthusiastically raised her glass again to invite him to drink.

Looking at the refilled wine cup in front of her, she hesitated for less than a second.

The alcohol and the atmosphere seemed to have a magical power, making her pick up her glass as if possessed.

Ding--

The two small wine cups gently tapped together, making a crisp sound.

After taking a second sip of sake with Master Wu, Mirai immediately felt different.

A more pronounced, yet lighter, dizziness slowly crept up from my abdomen to the top of my head. My vision seemed to brighten, and the laughter and conversations of the girls around me sounded somewhat ethereal, as if filtered through a thin film of water.

My body felt light and airy, but my mood inexplicably lifted.

Is this... what it feels like to be slightly tipsy?
So it came so quickly...

The effects of the alcohol seemed to have opened some kind of floodgate.

Another cup of seaweed wine was downed.

Taking advantage of her dizzy state, Hidaka Mirai, who had been somewhat reserved and passively responding, became a little bolder and finally took the initiative to respond to what Master Satori had just said.

“You mean Hoshiguma…” she repeated the name, her eyes slightly glazed over from the alcohol, “Hmm… I often see her on TV… She seems so powerful, so imposing, and… so reliable. She seems to be a very remarkable demon king.”

"You've seen Hoshiguma on TV?" Satoru's eyes lit up as if he had grasped a crucial clue, his face slightly flushed with alcohol and excitement. "Then you must have heard of the great Satoru!"

She puffed out her small chest, her tone filled with a sense of entitlement.

“Hmm…” Hidaka Mirai tilted her head, thought about it seriously for a moment, and then honestly shook her head, “I’ve never heard of it.”

"Never heard of him?!" Lord Satoru's smugness froze, replaced by disbelief. "How could that be! My position in Takamagahara is one level higher than Hoshiguma's! I'm... I'm a core member! A very important one!"

Looking at her eager explanation, especially noticing the obvious blush that had crept onto her fair cheeks and even the tips of her ears, she realized that she had noticed it all along.

hey-hey……

Future chuckled inwardly, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. "Looks like this 'Master Wu' isn't so great at drinking after all..."

As she thought this, she shook the wine cup in her hand, which still had a little less than half a cup of wine left: "Then, Master Wu, have you ever been on TV?"

"No, no!" Master Wu took another sip of wine, then stiffened his neck. "I don't need to show my face in front of you mortals! My work... is all behind the scenes! Very high-class!"

I even used a fake persona in my previous live streams!
Perhaps unwilling to be completely outshone, she added, "Even if I don't appear on television directly, you should at least have heard my name in the news, in those official documents or announcements released by Takamagahara! The Minister of Education and such."

"I haven't paid much attention to it..." Future blinked innocently.

"Then, then you went to Omoikane Shrine?!" Satoru pressed on, leaning forward slightly. "You must know who is enshrined at Omoikane Shrine!"

"Of course, the one enshrined at Omoikane Shrine is Yasikage. I'm going to pay my respects..." Mirai shook her head, mimicking her father's tone before leaving, "and pray for good luck in my exams."

"Hmph!" Master Wu's face showed a victorious expression that said, "I've caught you."

She jumped up from the cushion, hands on her hips, chin slightly raised, and announced, word by word, in a voice still somewhat childish but trying hard to project an air of authority:

"I am the God of Thought!"

"what?"

Hidaka Mirai still held the small sake cup in her hand, her head tilted back, staring intently at the person in front of her—

Her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and excitement, her white twin ponytails swayed with her movements, she wore a black and white dress, put her hands on her hips, and tried to straighten her small body, claiming to be a god... a proud and cute loli.

Hahaha……

She said she was a god of both thought and action.

This realization sparked absurd yet joyful ideas in my drunken mind.

"Well... okay." Fueled by the alcohol, Future abandoned her thoughts and doubts, grinning foolishly, her cheeks flushed and her eyes hazy.

"Hey! What's with that... hiccup... what's with your reaction?!" Lord Satoru wasn't satisfied with the future's "compromise," probably feeling like he was being brushed off. "You must have seen my statue at the Omoikane Shrine, right? The really special kind!"

"Um……"

A special statue?
Is it at Omoikane Shrine?
I will try my best to recall it in the future.

It seems... there is a symbolic type of statue?

But when I went to worship before, I never thought about all that...

“In that case…” Hidaka Mirai was no longer quite sure what she was saying, nor could she, or rather, did she not want to, control her words and actions.

Alcohol is like a soft blanket, enveloping all caution and boundaries.

She picked up the white wine jug unsteadily, noticing that it was much heavier than before.

“Well then…” Mirai tilted her head, a silly smile on her face, and awkwardly poured wine into the empty wine cup in front of Satoru-sama, “Omoikane-sama, let me pour you some wine too.”

The aroma of sake filled the air, and the steam from the sukiyaki pot rose gently.

Zashiki covered her mouth and chuckled softly, Ayako curiously peeked out, and even Hiyori turned her small body around and chuckled.

Wu opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end he only muttered softly, "Hmph... I guess you know what's good for you..."

Then, she took the glass of wine that the future had filled, and under the still-smiling gaze of the other person, she tilted her head back and drank it all in one gulp.

……

"Let me tell you..." Wu, holding his small wine cup, began to grumble and complain, "Being a 'Thinking God'... hiccup... is really tough!"

"If I were to listen, every single day! Every single day, all sorts of ridiculous prayers would reach my ears... things like 'May the gods bless me so I can get into Tokyo University,' 'Please let me pass this exam'... hiccup... There's no way that can be done by worshipping the gods and praying for good luck in exams, there's no such thing as a free lunch!"

"I'm so busy every day, I don't have time to care about you! If you want to get into a good university, you'd better rely on your own efforts! Idiots! What's the use of begging me!"

"Hmm!" Hidaka Mirai felt that the sounds around her, especially Satoru's long, drunken rant, seemed to drift in through her left ear and then float out through her right, unable to stay in her already muddled mind.

She simply nodded in agreement, maintaining a drunken, silly grin on her face, but her hands kept moving—

He continued to refill his wine cup, both for himself and for Master Wu, who was already hoarse from talking.

Strangely enough, this white wine jug, which doesn't look very big, seems to have an endless supply of wine, always managing to pour out amber-colored nectar.

"And another thing..." Master Wu took a swig of wine to moisten his throat, then changed the subject, "...and so on..."

She seemed about to say something, but then stopped herself abruptly because Hidaka Mirai was there, and changed her words: "I mean, that guy, he used to never let me drink. He was such a controlling person! Once, he scolded us just because Ayaori and I ate chocolates with liqueur fillings!"

"How could this be possible?"

Hidaka Mirai read along in a flat, monotone tone, but her hand movements as she poured the wine were fluid.

“That’s right!” Wu got even more excited after receiving the emotionless support. “Now that he’s not around, and Mary… Mary isn’t around either, no one can control me! I can drink as much as I want! Hmph!”

She raised her glass, made a "cheers" gesture, and then drank it all in one gulp, a triumphant look on her face.

But those pink eyes, blurred by the effects of alcohol, inadvertently revealed a different kind of emotion.

“We used to…” Suddenly, her voice lost its intensity, “often like this… eating sukiyaki together, especially on snowy days…”

In the courtyard outside the glass sliding door, fine snow fell silently, layer upon layer dyeing the stone lanterns and bare branches a tranquil pure white.

Wu's eyes, which always gleamed with cunning or discontent, lowered slightly, his gaze unfocused on the still bubbling pot. His flushed profile, illuminated by the warm indoor light, revealed a softness that was almost melancholic, as if softened by alcohol.

"Ok?"

Hidaka Mirai was a few steps behind, but finally reacted to this new topic, which was different from her previous complaints and commotion.

She stopped mechanically pouring the wine, tilted her head, and looked at the suddenly quiet Master Wu with eyes that were also hazy with alcohol but trying to understand.

Master Wu did not immediately respond to the question about the future.

She paused for a moment, then slowly shifted her gaze from the pot to Hidaka Mirai's neck—where the plain white amulet was faintly visible through her collar.

Fueled by the last surge of intoxication, she spoke in a tone that was a mixture of willfulness, generosity, and some other indescribable emotion: "Anyway... you have the amulet he gave you."

Wu paused for a moment, then glanced at Wei Lai's face, which looked endearing due to the alcohol: "Besides... I quite like the way you drink."

"Alright then, since I'm happy today." Master Wu puffed out his small chest again, trying his best to strike a majestic pose as a god, although the effect was greatly diminished by the blush on his face and his dazed eyes. "I can grant you one wish."

"what……"

Hidaka Mirai couldn't keep up with the conversation, and the alcohol made her thinking extremely sluggish.

Seeing her confused look, Satoru further reminded her, "I am the God of Thought, the God of Wisdom. Even if you want the answers to the upcoming common test and the Hitotsubashi University entrance exam, hehe~ I can give them to you right away."

She was still drunk in the future, but she seemed to have finally realized that Master Wu was talking about something related to her.

Unfortunately, her mind went completely blank, and almost without thinking, she blurted out, "No! No way!"

Future shook his head violently, the movement so large that even he felt dizzy.

She didn't think about key issues like "going to university" or "a turning point in life" at all. Her tone was just inexplicably stubborn: "In that case, what does it mean that I studied until 2 a.m. every day for a year?"

"I, I..." Her voice trailed off, tinged with the weariness of alcohol and a hint of childish grievance, "Right now I just want to... get a good night's sleep."

“What a boring wish, what a waste of the gods’ generosity.” Wu said, but then laughed. “But… well, whatever, you said it yourself, so you can’t go back on your word.”

After that, Hidaka Mirai... went blank.

……

Hidaka Mirai woke up in her room at home in Yokohama.

I had a rare good night's sleep, a very deep and peaceful one. When I woke up, I felt refreshed and clear-headed, all the fatigue and pre-exam anxiety of the past few days were gone, and even my mind was much clearer.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, casting bright spots of light on the tatami mats.

It was already broad daylight, clearly past the usual time to get up.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and tried to recall what had happened yesterday—

I think I'm... lost in the mountains.

So how did I get home?
I can't remember at all.

Only a few fragmented images flashed through my mind: a bubbling sukiyaki, the silent snow falling outside the glass door, the figures of several girls in different poses sitting around under the warm light, and the clear, slightly sweet aroma of sake.

And then there's that cute little girl with white hair and twin tails, wearing a black and white dress, who calls herself Omoikane, babbling on and on...

These images are vivid and absurd, with an unreal aura.

Did these things really happen?

Or was it just a bizarre yet remarkably vivid dream I had yesterday after returning from my visit to Omoikane Shrine, when I was exhausted and probably caught a chill in the mountains, and fell asleep immediately?

Hidaka Mirai sat on the bed, trying to distinguish the boundary between memory and dream, but she could not come to a definite conclusion.

Everything was so bizarre, yet so...warm.

After thinking it over and over without finding a solution, she simply shook her head and stopped worrying about it.

Anyway, I feel great right now and have lots of energy, which is the most important thing.

She got out of bed, walked to the window, and drew back the curtains. The winter sun streamed into the room unreservedly, somewhat dazzlingly bright.

Then, in the future, she turned around, picked up the coat draped over the foot of the bed, and prepared to change into it.

pat-

A soft sound.

A small, rectangular paper package, tied with a thin string and wrapped in warm gray washi paper, slipped out of her coat pocket and fell onto the tatami mat.

"Ok?"

Hidaka Mirai was stunned.

With a mix of doubt and a strange racing heart, she bent down and picked up the small paper packet.

The paper package has a warm and delicate texture, and the way it's tied with a string is simple yet unique.

Gently untie the thin string and unfold the warm gray washi paper.

What was revealed inside was a small, square, and delicately textured dark red yokan (a type of sweet bean jelly).

……

In April, Tokyo is already full of spring.

The sun was shining warmly, and cherry blossom petals, like pale pink snowflakes, twirled and fell in the breeze, covering the streets and paths of the campus.

At the entrance of Hitotsubashi University's national campus in Tokyo, it's the busiest time for new students to register. Young faces in brand-new uniforms or casual clothes gather here, the air filled with anticipation for the future and the excitement of entering a university campus for the first time.

Hidaka Mirai was also among the bustling crowd.

Three months ago, after the incident of visiting the Omoikane Shrine, Hidaka Mirai's exam preparation life did not experience the legendary "good luck in the exam, as if divinely aided".

No exam questions or answers ever clearly appeared in her mind, nor did she suddenly gain any extraordinary wisdom. She still had to do the practice questions, memorize the books, and stay up late as usual... well, that was less of a problem.

Because, ever since then, she has been sleeping very well.

Every night, as long as it's what she considers her rest time, she lies down on the bed, closes her eyes, and falls into a deep sleep within ten minutes.

I didn't toss and turn, I didn't experience anxiety or insomnia, and my sleep quality was surprisingly high.

I always wake up feeling refreshed the next day.

Sufficient rest and a stable condition allowed her to demonstrate the abilities that her homeroom teacher and college counselor believed she should have always possessed in the subsequent common tests and the second entrance exam for Hitotsubashi University's independent admissions program.

As a result, she received her acceptance letter from Hitotsubashi University.

Before leaving Yokohama yesterday, Mirai visited the Omokene Shrine again.

Since the exam period is over, there are far fewer people visiting the shrine.

She found the special statue with the symbolic shape inside the shrine, and then, when the priest wasn't looking, she quietly placed a pot of sake on the offering table.

Hidaka Mirai reminisced about Yokohama while taking a deep breath of Tokyo's flower-scented air.

"What will the history of the gods be like?" she wondered as she stepped into the academic hall of her dreams.

A spring breeze blows, and pink cherry blossoms fall like rain.

A new life and a new chapter in Hidaka Mirai's life unfold slowly amidst the falling cherry blossoms of April. (End of Chapter)