When Hoshinohara opened his eyes again, he found himself observing the entire living room from a bird’s-eye view, looking straight down.
On the living room sofa sat his younger sister and…
Himself?
Hoshinohara’s eyes widened in shock.
It turned out he was currently in a state similar to an out-of-body experience, floating against the ceiling.
He had completely lost control of his physical form.
The Hoshinohara on the sofa had lost the light in his eyes, falling into a state of sluggishness and daze.
Watching this bizarre scene, Hoshinohara was utterly bewildered.
He was no stranger to the clear, reddish-orange gem his sister had produced—it was a Heart Gem.
Only a girl acknowledged by a Heart Gem has the qualification to become a Magical Girl, and the color and shape of each girl’s gem are essentially unique.
The gem in Hikari’s hand clearly looked like “main character party” tier.
Not only was it a perfect heart shape, but it was also crystal clear, with smooth, rounded facets shimmering with a faint light, as if thousands of stars were hidden inside.
A divine aura practically overflowed from it.
However, during his time playing through the game’s plot, he only knew that the Heart Gem was a symbol of a Magical Girl’s power—it would glow during power-ups and such.
He had no idea it had this kind of function.
Can a Heart Gem actually cause an out-of-body experience?
After a brilliant flash, the Heart Gem shifted into a glowing, excited state.
The light it emitted seemed to possess a soul-capturing power; though Hoshinohara’s body remained glassy-eyed, his gaze was firmly locked onto the gem’s radiance.
Hoshino Hikari looked clumsy using the Heart Gem; it was likely her first time.
Her senior had told her that if she truly couldn’t hide things from her family, she could use the Heart Gem’s hypnosis function to simply modify their memories and perceptions.
This would make them ignore her frequent, mysterious disappearances.
Under her brother’s repeated questioning, Hikari felt forced to use this method.
Her brother cared for her too much and knew her too well; if she lied, he would definitely see through it, making things even harder to explain later.
She waved her hand in front of Hoshinohara’s eyes and asked tentatively, “Can you hear me, Brother?”
The stiff body on the sofa remained unresponsive for a long time, to the point where Hikari began to wonder if she had used the magic incorrectly.
On the ceiling, Hoshinohara’s conscious self—or rather, his soul—hesitated for a moment before replying tentatively: “I can?”
“I can.”
The Hoshinohara sitting on the sofa emitted a voice devoid of emotional fluctuation, sounding like a manipulated puppet without any feeling.
Hoshinohara found it rather startling that he could still answer despite having lost control of his body.
Hikari, who had been nervously biting her lip, breathed a short sigh of relief when her brother finally reacted.
“Brother, you must remember: Sister did not come home late today. Instead, she came home on time to eat and rest, just like always.”
At this sight, the Hoshinohara on the ceiling nearly hit the floor in shock.
He was all too familiar with his sister’s current “operation.”
He had seen scenes like this dozens, if not hundreds of times.
Usually, the protagonist relied on some magical app, a laser pointer, a notebook, incense, or eye techniques to perform this on others.
This is literally hypnosis!
A Magical Girl’s Heart Gem can actually do hypnosis?!
Hoshinohara suddenly remembered that in the story, if a Magical Girl accidentally encountered an ordinary passerby while on a mission, they would find a way to make them forget the encounter.
This helped protect their secret identities.
But that was such a standard setting!
Who would pay special attention to that while playing the game?
Hoshinohara couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams that the Heart Gem could be used for hypnosis—and even less so that he would be the one hypnotized.
Yet, upon careful thought, it suddenly felt logical.
After all, his role was essentially that of the “minor character brother” of the protagonist…
Perhaps because he was a soul descended into this world, the hypnosis didn’t fully work on him, resulting in this eerie state of “watching myself being hypnotized.”
What should I do?
How should I answer at a time like this?
Facing his sister’s questioning, Hoshinohara’s mind raced.
If he refused on the spot and argued with her, he would expose her identity as a Magical Girl and derail the original plot line.
Not to mention, countless other problems would arise.
The consequences were too severe; he didn’t dare gamble.
After weighing his options, he decided that pretending to be hypnotized and observing was the only viable plan.
“Understood… I remember.”
After a while, the brother on the sofa nodded vacantly.
Hikari’s small face was full of disbelief, amazed by the wonders of magic—that it could truly modify a person’s memory.
She decided to strike while the iron was hot and add “patches” for future situations.
“In the future, if Sister comes home late, you will continue doing your own thing and won’t care about her whereabouts, let alone ask where she went, okay?”
After the same long pause, the brother replied in the same dull tone: “Okay.”
“In the future, when Sister comes home, even if she looks disheveled or has obvious wounds, you will think it is completely normal and won’t worry about her. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“There might be things in Sister’s backpack that you’ve never seen before, but no matter what they are, you will only treat them as ordinary toys. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
…
These questions were all taught to her by that senior Magical Girl.
Setting psychological suggestions this way could solve the troubles family members caused Magical Girls to the greatest extent without affecting their daily lives.
Using hypnosis magic for the first time made Hikari inevitably nervous.
But gradually, through this process—seeing her brother’s usually gentle, deep eyes lose their focus, his consciousness and memory at her mercy—a forbidden pleasure began to sprout uncontrollably in her heart.
Following that, a thought spread through Hikari’s mind like a rapidly growing poisonous weed.
She immediately realized this was wrong, and the tug-of-war between temptation and her moral compass left her in a state of extreme inner struggle.
The Hoshinohara on the ceiling was curious.
Why had his sister suddenly stopped giving instructions?
Moreover, she was biting her red lips again, her hands gripping her bath towel so hard it looked like she might wring water out of it.
Hoshinohara knew his sister’s habits well; she only acted like this when she was exceptionally nervous or conflicted.
What on earth is she struggling with?
Just as he was wondering, the hands gripping the towel slowly relaxed.
She seemed to have made up her mind about something.
She then reached out with both hands and cupped Hoshinohara’s cheeks, forcing his dull gaze to meet hers.
Simultaneously, the Hoshinohara on the ceiling felt a sensation of soft, cool skin against his cheeks.
A sickly, feverish flush appeared on his sister’s face: “Brother Hara, from now on, you are not allowed to like other women. You can only love me. Do you understand?”
Hoshinohara: “?!”
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