I have a life simulator.

The firefly beneath you spoke in your mind.

"Actually, if you realize that this is not Ichinose Honami's dream at all, you can wake up on your own in the next second."

"No, since it's my own dream, I can do whatever I want with it."

You roll around all over Ying's soft back:

"I've long dreamed of a day when fireflies can talk and carry me around everywhere."

"Ah...how childish. Actually, you're just talking to yourself."

"Hey, you can't say such discouraging things in a dream."

You slapped the firefly beneath you hard, then lay down in its soft fur and closed your eyes:

"Actually, I should have noticed it the first time I woke up. Ichinose Honami is not the kind of person who would entrust her illusory ideals to her dreams. She is the kind of brave and strong girl who would grit her teeth and overcome any difficulties."

“I was actually close to reaching this point at the time, but I was affected by my nightmares, which is why I inexplicably chose to commit suicide and start over.”

"When I woke up the second time, I didn't jump out of the window too early. Instead, I found a lot of clues in the house. As a result, I deduced by chance that this was my own dream, or rather, my own dream that was covered by Sakayanagi Arisu's dream."

"Actually, there are only three key types of handwriting in the house: my own handwriting, and two notes that I use to remind myself before I fall asleep."

“Sakayanagi Arisu’s handwriting was written on medicine prescriptions, love letters, and whiteboards.”

"And the handwriting of Ichinose Honami in her disguised state, as well as other things in the house, such as the writing on that wedding photo, are in this handwriting."

"I never expected that Sakayanagi Arisu would play the role of Honami in my dream, and she even deliberately played tricks on me. The note I left for myself saying 'Don't trust Ichinose Honami' was signed 'Kitagawa Ryo' by her, which misled me for quite a long time. If I hadn't accidentally seen that the handwriting was exactly the same as the 'Kitagawa Ryo' on the wedding photo, I would have been trapped for a while longer."

"As long as you realize that the whole house has nothing to do with Ichinose Honami, you will naturally think of Sakayanagi Arisu."

You lay down on Ying and stroked its white fur one by one.

"But she still left you with the clue of a psychologist named Sakayanagi Arisu."

"That's normal. Didn't she let me go back then? Sakayanagi always acts that way on the surface, but she's actually quite nice to me."

"Actually, I always leave myself an anchor point to escape when I enter a dream. The reason I was trapped in the dream for so long this time was because of those two inexplicable nightmares!"

You complained somewhat angrily.

"Hey, Hotaru, do you think dreams are really another timeline?"

"I already told you, you're asking yourself that question. I'm just a figment of your imagination in your dream, a firefly incarnate. It's just a cat!"

You purse your lips, feeling a little bored:

“Those fragments of dreams were so real, it was as if I had really experienced them with Fanbo.”

"Ah, speaking of which, did I accidentally drag Fanbo into this dream too...?"

"No way!"

You collapsed onto Ying, tears welling up in your eyes:

"Does that mean Fanbo saw everything I saw? Whether it was the first nightmare I witnessed or the second nightmare where she killed me with a knife."

You touched your forehead and wailed:

"And this bullshit dream where my dreams and Arisu Sakayanagi's dreams are intertwined!"

"My life... is over."

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

"Ah, she's awake."

Sakayanagi Arisu noticed that Kitagawa Ryo was slowly opening his eyes.

Your smile froze on your face the moment you saw her.

Am I still dreaming?

"No, you and she are already awake."

Sakayanagi Arisu pointed to Ichinose Honami, who was also slowly waking up beside her:

"It's time to talk about our business."

She revealed that same devilish smile to you once again.

[You have entered a story branching point; your fate will be determined based on your available talents.]

[Player detected to possess the talent: Dream Weaver (Gold)]

[Enter the hidden ending branch]

[Branch 1: Facing Arisu Sakayanagi, this branch leads to the hidden ending - Oedipus Rex, which unlocks the story CG "Fate"]

[Branch 2: Escape from Sakayanagi Arisu. This branch leads to the hidden ending - Rescue, which unlocks the story CG "Masterpiece"]

Based on the player's talents, the player is determined to enter a branch...

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Dream Ends

Based on the player's talents, the player is determined to enter branch two.

[Scene CG triggered: The Greatest Masterpiece]

[The ultimate masterpiece: One more time, one more time, one more time! Until I defeat you.]

[Would you like to watch this cutscene? (This may be helpful for your subsequent gameplay)]

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

"...If I say I don't remember anything, will Sakayanagi believe me?"

As Kitagawa Ryo spoke, he glanced at Ichinose Honami, who was still dazed and immersed in the afterglow of her dream. She didn't have as much experience entering dreams as he did. Several strange memories were suddenly stuffed into her mind, and it seemed that she would have to wait a while to digest them.

"Oh dear, I should thank Ryo for remembering my name even with amnesia. That's truly commendable."

Sakayanagi Arisu sat there with her legs crossed. After Kitagawa Ryo woke up, her interest had undoubtedly increased several levels compared to before. What Kitagawa Ryo saw in her deep purple pupils was an almost uncontrollable smile... and a desire for control.

"Actually, I still miss the days when Liang was still around over the past two years."

"After all, Ryo really surprised me at the beginning. If things had continued to develop in that direction, the title of 'greatest masterpiece' of the White House might have fallen on Ryo's head."

She covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled softly. Her every move revealed a deep understanding of the growth that Sakayanagi Arisu had experienced over the past two years.

"I'm thinking, if Ryo really becomes some kind of 'masterpiece,' then wouldn't the educational philosophy of 'White House' be a complete failure?"

"The truth is that I'm just a hypocritical genius, not even as good as those trained by the White House system. Sakayanagi can realize that now, right? After all, I lost to you 0 to 7 back then."

Kitagawa Ryo straightened up, seemingly just changing to a more comfortable position, but in reality, he subtly moved closer to Ichinose Honami and the door.

"...His body is not behaving properly."

Sakayanagi Arisu gently tapped his restless leg with her cane, and stroked Kitagawa Ryo's forehead with her hand, revealing an extremely sweet smile:

"Why are you looking at other characters when your younger sister is right here?"

"Hey, role-playing games ended two years ago."

Kitagawa Ryo wanted to slap her hand away, but found himself unable to resist her words. Memories of his past efforts for her on the pristine white bed resurfaced in his mind.

"...How could such a thing happen?"

He said through gritted teeth.

"It seems that even two years after leaving the White House, Ryo hasn't shaken off the influence of that suggestion."

"But that makes sense. In the six years that Liang has memories of, he was acting under the direction of that suggestion for almost four years."

Sakayanagi Arisu opened her arms to him, and even with her arms outstretched as wide as possible, she still looked like a small child because of her petite stature.

No, perhaps she deliberately wanted to project that image.

"Brother... come back to me."

She extends this sweet invitation to you.

"I will teach you a lesson and make you my most successful rival."

"Then, let's have another match."

…………

"please wait for a moment."

The one who spoke up and interrupted Sakayanagi Arisu was Ichinose Honami, who had already regained consciousness.

She still seemed a little unwell, covering her head as she got out of bed, but she still walked straight to Sakayanagi Arisu and stood between Kitagawa Ryo and Sakayanagi Arisu.

"Whatever happened between you and Ryo in the past, it was all without my knowledge, but I am here now."

Ichinose Honami opened her arms wide, a gesture that was different from Sakayanagi Arisu's embrace, but one that was a protective embrace of the person behind her.

“If Liang doesn’t plan to go with you, I won’t just stand by and watch you take him away.”

Honami Ichinose stared into her own heart, where an overwhelming longing was welling up. The emotions from her dream were like real objects in her heart, transforming into the heartfelt words called 'like,' overflowing little by little.

"what."

Sakayanagi Arisu narrowed her eyes and slowly withdrew her arms. Although she was much shorter than Ichinose Honami in terms of height, she still had a more imposing presence as she sat there quietly.

"--Really?"

"But for Liang, he basically has no memory of you. At this moment, in his eyes, you are just a somewhat familiar stranger."

Sakayanagi Arisu gestured to the bodyguard next to her to drag a rather large box from the ground outside the ward, and she went over and opened the box.

Inside were neatly arranged letters, so many that they almost completely filled the rather large suitcase.

“You weren’t his girlfriend, and even the correspondence during those four years was fake.”

The window was blown open by the wind, and the gust of wind blew the few letters on the paper into the air, where they swirled and landed in various parts of the ward.

"You don't understand it yourself, do you?"

Sakayanagi Arisu casually picked up a piece of letter paper:

[I read Liang's reply to me again and again. Just as Liang said, even though we are thousands of miles apart and can only communicate through letters, I feel warmth and heartfelt joy every time I read Liang's letter.]

"Which of these are genuine feelings, and which are derived illusions?"

Sakayanagi Arisu closed her eyes, and then, her deep purple pupils, once open, held no trace of a smile, instead piercing Ichinose Honami like a sharp knife:

"Or perhaps, it's all fake?"

"enough."

Kitagawa Ryo cast a cold gaze at Sakayanagi Arisu. It must have been the first time he had looked at her with such eyes. Even when he found out that Arisu was impersonating Ichinose Honami to deceive him, Kitagawa Ryo had never felt such negative and dark emotions.

He reached out and took Ichinose Honami's hand, giving her a reassuring smile.

Kitagawa Ryo gave Sakayanagi Arisu one last, deep look:

"sorry."

He apologized to the girl, who was unaware of the situation, and stepped forward to return the cane to her.

"Fan Bo."

Kitagawa Ryo held Ichinose Honami's hand, and for a moment, Sakayanagi Arisu even thought that the two were planning to escape, but their direction was not towards the door of the ward, but towards the windowsill on the other side.

"If you believe me."

Kitagawa Ryo put his feet up on the windowsill and smiled at Ichinose Honami:

"Jump down with me!"

Although Ichinose Honami was unaware of what had happened, she almost without hesitation did the same thing as Kitagawa Ryo. The two held hands and leaned half their bodies out of the window. The people downstairs seemed to have noticed their presence and were shouting to stop their double suicide-like act.

"So, Sakayanagi Arisu's dream has come to an end."

Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami's bodies plummeted from the high floor, and in mid-air, he clenched the hand of his most important childhood friend.

"This dream I built for you... the dream you defeated me two years ago."

"Now, let's go back to where we started."

The howling wind rushed into Kitagawa Ryo and Ichinose Honami's ears. Kitagawa Ryo adjusted his position in mid-air, shielding Ichinose Honami in his arms:

"That is my... true story with Honami Ichinose."