Compared to the clamor, what mattered more was, as expected, still the warmth brought by family.
At least, for me, that was the case.
And that shabby rental house clearly shut both of those things outside its door.
The sun had long since sunk completely below the horizon.
In the air that had switched to night mode, a few strands of bone-piercing chill drifted about.
But even so, it was still far from matching that instant when I pushed open the door of the rental house.
It was empty.
No one was there.
That cold desolation rushing straight at my face seemed to exist specifically to remind me of something.
Ah…
This was something I experienced every single day.
For me, I should have grown used to it long ago.
“Cheer up, Yae Yoruichi. The things that will happen next will get you a little excited.”
I cheered myself up in this completely uncommendable way and stepped into the house.
The air was mixed with the musty smell of old furniture, as if announcing to me that I had temporarily returned to this place meant to provide shelter.
My gaze slowly swept across the interior of the rental house.
Even though I lived here every day, an undeniable sense of unfamiliarity always lingered in my heart.
Perhaps it was because even at night, the time I spent staying here was no longer than at school.
“Ah… There’s actually a hot dog at home.”
I rummaged through the cabinet, my tone carrying a hint of self-mockery.
“Then today it’ll be hot dogs with instant noodles… plus a half-boiled egg.”
While tearing open the tight plastic packaging of the hot dog, I poured hot water into the instant noodle bowl, letting the noodle cake and egg merge in the steam.
Thick white mist casually slapped against my face, emitting the distinctive, slightly shabby aroma of fried noodles.
In the rental house, it was still only me.
My parents, because they completely did not understand BHAO, had been assigned to factory jobs doing things like mechanical maintenance.
Surprisingly, however, they did not seem to feel any frustration because of this.
The remuneration paid by The Earth Ring company was quite substantial.
It was enough for those “people who don’t play BHAO” to live what was called a “high-quality life.”
The food industry and catering industry were contracted by the same group of people.
Their life trajectories were planned in advance, as if already written into some invisible flowchart.
And in reports from the outside world and the media, they were filled with praise for The Earth Ring company.
Those words that sounded so greasy they made one nauseous, under meaningless flaunting, concealed the fact that a portion of people who chose not to enter BHAO were living lives akin to walking corpses.
“A life completely controlled by The Earth Ring—can this even be considered high-quality…”
With my mouth stuffed full of carbohydrates mixed with MSG and salt, my complaining words became somewhat muffled.
But when my gaze shifted away from the instant noodle bowl and landed on the photograph on the bookshelf, my chewing motion involuntarily halted.
“…Sister.”
The dim light reflected on the glass photo frame, perfectly covering that neat fringe of bangs.
Black short hair, a sweet and gentle smile, and that familiar Blue Sea Academy girls’ school uniform.
These memories existing only in the most precious region of my brain were pieced together into a longing powerful enough to make my heart tremble.
My thoughts uncontrollably drifted back to the past.
Back then, the whole family was still together.
BHAO had not yet become widespread, and the world was simple to the point of near purity.
But when BHAO brought the world of the “super holographic network” to all of humanity, it simultaneously took away my sister.
Yae Hatsuyuki.
She had disappeared a month ago.
No matter how I searched, I could not find any clues.
Hatsuyuki had come into contact with BHAO much earlier than I had.
Therefore, I could not even imagine what she had experienced in that world.
What kind of identity had she once held?
And what kind of trials had she undergone in those legends that belonged to her?
It was as if she had been entirely swallowed by BHAO’s world.
There was no information about Hatsuyuki at all.
Even when I told my already numb parents about this, their only reaction was.
“Your sister is probably working at The Earth Ring company headquarters, right?”
“Yoruichi, you also have to keep working hard and catch up to your sister’s footsteps.”
Such casual words.
At that moment, even the strength to continue searching was stripped away from me.
“Hah… What completely irresponsible parents toward their own children.”
After finishing the last mouthful of instant noodles with a rather undignified slurp, I dragged my slightly weary body over to that photograph.
From the hollow wooden carved cabinet, I took out a pink cellphone.
This was what my sister had left behind—another “treasure.”
Of course, it was not because I had some weird fetish and regarded the girlish phone itself as a treasure.
But rather the account that this phone had once carried.
Now, it could be used by me.
Recalling how I had explained the system judgment blind spot to Heita during the day, a trace of unease still lingered in my heart.
Explaining that phenomenon from a “BUG” perspective always felt somewhat inappropriate.
The Earth Ring company had clearly long since guarded against multi-account point farming behaviors.
BHAO’s login method was not the traditional account and password system, but rather through the phone collecting fingerprints and DNA, precisely binding to the individual.
The collection probe was located at the top of the phone.
Once the binding was completed, it could not be changed.
For each duel, one only needed to scan the fingerprint to complete login.
Even within the DNA collection technology, a higher-level gender recognition system had been implanted.
Although I had no interest in the underlying principles, at least at a common-sense level, I could understand.
In BHAO, it is almost impossible for gender-mismatched characters to appear.
In other words, most characters in BHAO were projections of their real-world appearances.
The only differences existed in racial demonization or special forms.
Ah… So that’s how it is.
I could not help but smile bitterly.
No wonder my “Unknown Name Warrior” not only remains forever stuck at Tier 0 but also has such an unremarkable appearance.
Wrapping my sigh in self-mockery, I gently stroked the bumpy buttons on the phone.
Then, as if completing an emotional switch, I buried the weakness deep in my heart.
“Alright, Yoruichi.”
I said softly to the empty room.
“You’re no longer that ‘Unknown Name Warrior’ who gets mocked by others.”
“But… the one that even the Lords would be somewhat wary of—the Night Witch.”
This kind of thing obviously could not be explained with common sense.
If The Earth Ring company found out, I might be treated as maliciously exploiting system loopholes and taken away on the spot.
But since I could not figure out the principle anyway, continuing to ponder would only add unnecessary trouble.
It would only make life even more suffocating.
So, I deliberately cast aside the extra thoughts and carefully placed my sister’s pink phone into my trouser pocket.
The front door of the rental house was still wide open.
I always only locked it when leaving.
“This time… I want to go somewhere a bit farther.”
I muttered to myself.
“I’ll just take the train to the E3 district of the city.”
After making up my mind, I picked out a coat with a fleece collar from the wardrobe.
The chill of the night was much heavier than during the day.
It would really be a loss to ruin my health for the sake of so-called “duel fun.”
“Ah… I hope the KING OF LANCER in the E3 district won’t let me down.”
The door gently closed behind me.
And the night belonging to the “Witch” had only just begun.