Romantic Date (5)

HiMERU-saaa~an! This way! Sorry for calling you all the way out here!

…

Fufu. I was starting to worry since you were running a little late.

I heard you weren’t feeling well. If that’s the case, then shall we call it a day here?

We are not close friends! Nothing happened, so the affinity shouldn’t be increasing!

What are you saying?! I think there might be something off with you HiMERU-san.

—No, there’s no need to worry.

Just to be absolutely sure, HiMERU went to the doctors in order to be properly checked out, and the doctor assured him that there was nothing wrong with HiMERU.

(That’s right—HiMERU thought this whole situation has been absolutely nuts, so he paid a visit to the hospital where “HiMERU” was sleeping.)

(The doctor is pretty good, and trustworthy too. There would be no way to entrust someone as precious as “HiMERU” to them otherwise, obviously.)

(Additionally, that doctor knows a lot more about “HiMERU”s body than HiMERU does.)

(For “HiMERU”s sake, a lot of money and materials are spent to perform repeated tests. That doctor has a lot of data on “HiMERU”, so of course–by extension–he has plenty of data on “me” as well.)

(However, the doctor spent a large amount of time doing examinations, only to say that there was “nothing wrong”.)

(But that’s absurd! To think that doctor ended up being an untrustworthy guy!)

(HiMERU visited other hospitals just to be safe, but they all told him the same thing! There was no issue with HiMERU’s physical or mental condition!)

(So that leaves two options: [1] This is all a figment of HiMERU’s imagination, and [2] HiMERU has contracted an unknown disease.)

(It’s a 50/50 chance, and if it ended up being the latter then that would definitely be unfortunate.)

(HiMERU would not be able to continue being HiMERU! Ugh, HiMERU can’t even stand the thought of it!)

Are you sure you’re alright, HiMERU-san? I realized you were mumbling to yourself a few strange questions a bit ago.

Please allow me to pray for your health.

—Quit being so nice to HiMERU!

Uwah?!

It’s annoying, so keep your distance!

I-I see…Apologies. It seems I’ve caused you discomfort.

So you’ve finally noticed!

Pardon?

It’s nothing…don’t worry. You haven’t done anything and HiMERU is just fine. Yes.

I was just concerned because it doesn’t look like it.

Why does it keep going up?! Even with HiMERU’s bad attitude!

Just what do you keep talking about?!

If you have any issues, you know you can always come talk to me HiMERU-san. It’ll just be between you and me as friends, okay?

We are strangers and definitely not close friends, got it?!

No. Um, I never called myself a close friend.

(Ugh. It’s no use. It’s one thing if everything Tatsumi does is angering, but nothing will be solved with taking it all out on him.)

(If the doctor’s diagnosis is anything to go by, it would be better to ask others for help. Even if it’s difficult.)

So, Tatsumi…

Yes?

There’s no simple way to explain this, but HiMERU has started seeing his reality as some sort of game.

Huh…?

According to the doctor’s tests, it’s an unforeseen side effect of playing “SSVRS”, especially with being immersed in a VR world for a prolonged period of time.

HiMERU appears to be unable to distinguish reality from games.

Aah, I’ve heard of something like that vaguely before.

Right. “SSVRS” is made to trick the brain and one’s senses into believing fiction is reality. So it makes sense that playing it for an extended period of time may be detrimental to the game.

W-wouldn’t that make it a harmful device?

…It’s probably fine. If it wasn’t, then they wouldn’t be sold on the market.

HiMERU is, to clarify, vulnerable to outside influences. According to the doctor, this is a symptom that appeared unexpectedly because of that.

? What does that mean?

Explaining in detail is unnecessary. At any rate, HiMERU is having physical and mental repercussions because of “SSVRS” and that’s all you need to know.

Right.

Another thing. The doctor said that until HiMERU finally beats the game, the symptoms won’t disappear.

Completing the game is crucial, as the brain needs to be tricked. When that happens, HiMERU would be freed from the game world like waking up from a dream.

That’s just a theory though. This is a completely unexpected situation, after all.

Fumu…however, I checked “Ai-stars” and its details, but this is supposedly a mobile game, correct? I’ve heard that there’s no way to “clear” those games.

It’s not like Super M-rio, where all you have to do is defeat B-wser and save Princess P-ach, right?¹

It’s odd to hear those kinds of words from you, Tatsumi. But yes, mobile games have no “end” so long as their servers are still in service.

Fortunately, in “Ai-stars” case—there is something called a “true ending”. The game ends when a certain character’s route is completed.

Route…?