I have a life simulator.

-------------------------------------

[“If you have any doubts, please call the psychologist, Sakayanagi Arisu.” After falling into a huge panic, you subconsciously remembered the information you received that morning. You frantically dialed the number you had memorized in the living room. At first, you were a little worried that Ichinose Honami might have blocked the phone as well, but the call went through successfully, which made you breathe a sigh of relief.]

"Hello, this is psychologist Arisu Sakayanagi." A cool female voice came from the other end of the phone. Although she seemed to be trying to make her voice sound more mature, you could still tell that she was no more than eighteen years old. In other words, she was a minor high school student who claimed to be a psychologist, or even younger.

This reality made you choke on what you wanted to say, and you decided to test how well the other person knew you:

"Who am I?"

"Um?"】

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed interested in this, and she brought her mouth closer to the phone. Her previously light breathing became more noticeable in your ears, creating a mysterious atmosphere that seemed deliberately cryptic. Influenced by her, your breathing also became heavier.

“You are my patient number one, Mr. Kitagawa Ryo. It’s a pleasure to receive your call again.”

She seemed to be looking for some documents.

"We haven't spoken for two years and one hundred and twenty-eight days."

"Two years and one hundred and twenty-eight days? What does that mean?"

"That's literally what it means."

Sakayanagi Arisu sighed. She seemed to have found your medical records and was reading them to you line by line:

"Kitagawa Ryo, 20 years old, presents with amnesia."

"You should be thankful that because your condition is quite unusual, I have kept a file specifically for you."

The sounds of typing and mouse clicking came through the receiver.

"There are two main types of amnesia," Arisu Sakayanagi explains.

"The most common issue is that patients cannot remember events that have occurred, and the more recent the event, the more affected they are. For example, if a patient was in a car accident, they may not remember the accident, or the days or weeks before the accident, but—say—they may remember everything that happened six months before the accident very clearly."

“The other type is rarer,” she said. “Sometimes short-term memories cannot be converted into long-term memories. People who experience this can only live in the present and can only recall what just happened. Their memories can only last for a very short time.”

Unfortunately, you are experiencing both symptoms at the same time.

"You have lost your past memories and are unable to build new ones."

She seemed to be drinking something, clearing her throat before continuing with great interest:

“What’s even rarer is that your memory storage method is different from most amnesia patients. For example, many amnesia patients simply cannot have a continuous conversation with me because they forget the topic they were just talking about in a short time, but you can remember it for a long time.”

"Twenty-four hours?"

You remembered what Honami Ichinose said about how you have amnesia every morning.

Yes, 24 hours.

Her voice carried a hint of doubt, and her professional language made you subconsciously overlook her age.

"Twenty-four hours means you're perfectly capable of converting short-term memories into long-term ones, but I still don't understand why you can't store them."

"Do you have a way to help me?" you asked, as if grasping at a last straw. This amnesia was driving you almost insane; you couldn't trust anyone. Those three handwritings were like three spears piercing your brain, and all sorts of guesses floated and sank within it.

"Of course, after all, you are my patient."

Sakayanagi Arisu yawned lazily, and said with utmost confidence:

"Actually, if your girlfriend hadn't been so adamant about not letting you receive psychiatric treatment three years ago, you might have regained your memory long ago."

"Three years ago? How old were you three years ago?"

You noticed a suspicious point in the other person's words and subconsciously asked about it.

"Asking a girl's age is impolite, Mr. Kitagawa Ryo."

The voice on the other end chuckled, and what she said next left you stunned.

"Next, I will say some keywords that will trigger your memory. Please try to think about them."

The receiver fell to the floor with a clatter, like a skeleton hitting the ground; the sound was crisp, yet utterly desolate in the empty room.

"White Room."

She said this.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Awakening from a Dream?

You have no memories of the past, just like this room with its walls and ceiling painted snow-white—it's a complete void and emptiness.

But then someone tells you that you have a younger sister who is not related to you by blood, but who grew up with you and is no different from your actual family. Your memories suddenly come back to you.

Yes, you remembered the girl who always followed you around calling you "brother".

With the teacher's arrangement, you saw her again, and she was still as beautiful as ever.

After that, you stroked her head countless times, but each time you touched her silky hair again, your heart would fall at her feet, and your whole soul would be immersed in the tenderness from her fingertips.

On the feather-like bed, the girl lying there quietly was so endearing, yet so fragile and delicate, like the finest porcelain.

Even the best apples will become ugly from oxidation if exposed to air for too long, so they must be protected and kept in this pure white world that is isolated from the outside world and where there is no one else.

"elder brother."

Whenever this word comes out of your sister's mouth, your heart feels as satisfied as if you've tasted the sweetest honey.

"I heard that my brother got first place on his test today."

My sister has absolutely no talent, especially compared to you, who are being trained as a genius even here. The gap between you is as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.

He is clumsy in action due to physical reasons, knows nothing about learning, is tone-deaf, has the lowest physical fitness of an average person, is clueless about the rules of chess games, cannot draw, and is completely ignorant of interpersonal communication.

If she were alone, she probably wouldn't be able to survive in this world full of brutal competition.

"It's all for your sake."

You always start your day like that.

Therefore, you will make double or even more efforts for your sister, and you will act as her protector so that she can survive well.

"Ah."

They whispered to each other at a distance where their breaths mingled.

You initially thought this kind of life would continue indefinitely, until—

Black and white chess pieces are commanded and fought on the chessboard by the player.

Your fingers are trembling, and you almost can't hold the chess piece in your hand.

I wanted to close my eyes and escape, but the clock kept ticking away.

He wanted to stand up and escape, but his body felt as if it were nailed firmly to the spot.

The pure white house gradually dissolved like a dream, like pure white snowflakes falling on a blazing red furnace, shattering away in a soft, continuous drizzle.

The opposing man's deep purple pupils were like an endless abyss, or like a gaping maw roaring a greeting.

"Genius cannot be created later in life, just as mortals cannot compare to gods."

Her offensive was like a raging storm.

"Like Oedipus, or Icarus."

She shook her head, her silvery-white hair swaying in the breeze.

"If you get too close to the sun, your false wings will be burned, and you will fall high—high."

With her slender, pale fingers, she pushed the jade-like chess piece forward, making the final move towards Kitagawa Ryo:

"Only I am suited to burying hypocritical geniuses."

"Check."

The sweetness and purity painted on the pitch-black memories were ruthlessly torn apart, and Kitagawa Ryo lost his seventh match against his opponent.

The 0-7 scoreline was less a match and more a crushing defeat, a one-sided massacre.

The incandescent lights on the ceiling resembled twinkling, fleeting stars.

The boundary lines on the chessboard seem to be shaky and blurred.

Everything in front of me seemed to be separated by a thick membrane, and I couldn't hear the sounds around me clearly.

A feeling welled up in my chest, making me feel incredibly depressed; something was stuck in my throat, and I couldn't speak.

"Then, the game is over."

Absurdity is celebrated, but the truth revealed after piercing through the facade is often far more cruel.

Your younger sister looks down at you from her elevated position.

"A failed product."

You tripped and fell.

Like someone in a dream suddenly kicking their foot, you seem to hear the sound of glass shattering, the image in front of you disappears, as if the film reel has reached its end, and the image on the screen turns into flickering light and flying dust particles.

You opened your eyes again.

There was no sound from the receiver lying on the ground, but it wasn't disconnected either. It was as if the other party had anticipated your unusual behavior. Like a seasoned hunter, she cast out bait and waited quietly for you to take the bait.

You close your eyes and try to recall the scene in your memory, trying to see the white walls and black chess pieces. You try to see the girl's face clearly, but there is nothing. The subtle memories have evaporated without a trace, as if they never existed, or were burned to ashes by reality.

"I remembered something."

You picked up the receiver and replied.

"Oh, isn't that something to be happy about?"

Sakayanagi Arisu responded to your question immediately:

"What did you remember?"

"A white room, I was in it... studying... my sister... was defeated."

The words are so fragmented and incoherent that you yourself may not even know what you're saying.

"Her name?"

Sakayanagi Arisu continues to guide your thoughts; her voice is both hazy and dreamlike, as if it comes from another land.

"I can't remember." You wonder if the girl might be Ichinose Honami, since she mentioned you're her childhood friend. But if you try to connect the image of Ichinose Honami to the blurry girl in your dream, it just doesn't feel right.

"Let's move on to the next word." Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled softly, like a child discovering an interesting toy, and continued speaking softly into the microphone:

"Matsuo Eiichiro."]

-------------------------------------

"You're amazing."

You hear a boy your age praising you sitting next to you. You are sitting on a high hillside. The blood-red sunset that blankets the mountains at dusk awakens your consciousness. You look around and wonder where you are and when you got here.

“You should be the first person to come out of there.”

The boy reached out and picked a blade of grass from the side. He lay there with it in his mouth and continued speaking:

"My dad said this should be the first case."

"Hey, tell me what it's like inside. I'm really curious. We're friends now, after all."

Seeing that you weren't saying anything, he unceremoniously grabbed your neck and tripped you down beside him. He propped his head up on your right side and gestured with his lips towards you.

"It's okay if you don't tell me, anyway, I'll never have anything to do with that kind of place in my life."

"But you're my friend, doesn't that mean you're connected to that place?"

You hear yourself saying this.

"Ah...that's true."

The boy let go of his hand and lay back down, gazing at the sky.

"Although we don't know how long it will take them to find you, you should stay here until they do."

"um. Thank you."

The boy turned his head, looked into your sincere eyes, and couldn't help but smile:

"What? I thought everyone from there was a robot."

Have you seen it before?