Hoshino Gen sensed something ominous in his younger sister’s unusually abnormal expressions and speech.
What did she mean, “You are not allowed to like other women, you can only love me”?
I only have one sister; if I don’t love you, who else would I love?
Wait a minute!
Hoshino Gen was confused for two seconds before his eyes widened.
Considering this game seemed to originate from that island nation, and that there was a TV series there so famous it had become part of the everyday lexicon—the one about “siblings.”
Combined with his sister’s erratic behavior and the game’s cultural background, the answer pointing toward the truth made his earlier confusion vanish into thin air.
I treat you like my own sister, yet you are eyeing my body?
This isn’t right, this isn’t right at all; something is nine-tenths wrong with this.
In the original work, Hoshino Hikari was a family-first type who would manifest power far beyond her usual limits whenever she needed to protect her family.
That was precisely why her corruption was so thorough after she learned she was not her parents’ biological child.
Hoshino Gen figured that if the child was a family-first type, he should let her feel as much warmth as possible, so he simply farmed some favorability to strengthen her mental resistance for the hardships ahead.
Thinking back carefully, he hadn’t done anything particularly special over the past year.
It was just cooking for her every day when their parents weren’t home, packing lunch boxes, and helping with homework.
Buying her new clothes and gifts from time to time.
When she was sad, he would pat her head to comfort her; when she was tired, he would massage her back to help her relax; and he helped her solve any problem immediately.
Whenever she was troubled, he listened to her vent and provided all the support he could.
Oh, and there was also the time Hoshino Gen sent his subordinates to have the girl group that had been bullying her since elementary school “transferred” to another world.
Honestly, watching his sister become more cheerful and lively every day this year, Hoshino Gen felt quite a sense of accomplishment.
Hiss…
Could it be that he tried too hard, causing their sibling relationship to sour?
Impossible, absolutely impossible; aren’t these all things a big brother is supposed to do?
Hoshino Gen even felt that since this was his first time being an older brother, his skills were a bit unrefined and he hadn’t done enough yet.
Just as Hoshino Gen was scratching his head in confusion, his sister issued a new command, regardless of whether he had replied or not.
“Brother, the wall in your room that leans against mine is the most ordinary and inconspicuous wall in the world. You will not inspect it, and even if you find something there, it is perfectly normal, and you will not care about it. Do you remember?”
Hoshino Gen: ……?
The wall between his and his sister’s bedroom was truly normal; what could possibly be there?
Hoshino Gen wanted to wait a moment before answering, but the light of the Heart Gem in his sister’s hand suddenly began to flicker on and off, looking exactly like the color-timer on the chest of that certain alien hero when he was about to lose power.
Oh no!
Hoshino Hikari’s expression turned frantic.
She had been too greedy, issuing too many commands at once; the light of the Heart Gem dimmed, signifying that the magic inside was running out!
Flustered, Hoshino Hikari scrambled to save the situation: “Forget my previous commands, brother, remember as much as you can, and then immediately return to your room and go to sleep!”
After this command, Hoshino Gen felt his body move involuntarily.
He stood up from the sofa unsteadily, then stumbled toward the bedroom.
As the Heart Gem flickered for the last time, Hoshino Hikari watched her brother enter the bedroom, and her hanging heart finally eased a little.
At the same time, Hoshino Gen’s consciousness felt a sudden, powerful suction, like a massive vortex dragging him in.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw his familiar ceiling.
Hoshino Gen sat up from the bed, stretched his body, and experienced the feeling of having his body back.
It seemed things had taken a slightly unexpected turn, but that was fine; these things would not affect the main storyline.
She was just a young girl who mistook her dependence on her brother for love; it was understandable.
When she grew up a few years from now, she would naturally understand what it was all about.
Hoshino Gen didn’t take this incident too much to heart, thinking about how to complete the time-limited mission given by his boss as he drifted off to sleep.
*
Early the next morning, Hoshino Gen woke up as usual to cook and prepare a lunch box for his sister, called her to wake up, and helped her style her twin tails.
Before leaving the house for school, Hoshino Gen packed the lunch box in a separate bag and handed it to her.
Normally, the lunch box should have been placed inside her school bag, but since he had already promised to ignore the matter yesterday, he would just pretend he hadn’t noticed.
“Why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?”
Hoshino Gen saw the abnormal flush on his sister’s face and instinctively reached out to touch her cheek, while his other hand felt his own forehead.
“N-n-n-n-no! I’m in perfect condition!”
Hoshino Hikari recoiled as if shocked by electricity, clutched her lunch box, and ran far away from the front door.
Finally, the sister composed herself, turned back, and gave a sweet smile: “I’m going to school, goodbye Brother!”
“Be careful, come home early tonight.”
Hoshino Gen waved goodbye to his sister, standing at the door until she was completely out of sight.
After sending his sister to school, the remaining time was entirely at Hoshino Gen’s disposal.
He usually went to the supermarket to buy fresh ingredients for the next day’s lunch box.
In the afternoon, he began to handle some affairs within the organization.
When he was just a regular member, he had to run errands offline constantly, but now that he was a high-level cadre, all office work was done online, which saved time and energy.
To reintroduce him: Hoshino Gen was three years older than his sister Hoshino Hikari and was a high school dropout and an otaku.
Being an otaku had its perks, namely having plenty of time, which allowed Hoshino Gen to fully exercise his own initiative.
If he were a student like his sister, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to rise through the ranks of the Dark Erosion so quickly.
And to be honest, Hoshino Gen felt no need to learn those high school subjects.
Plus, with his parents regularly depositing living expenses into his card every month, his life could only be described as “doing as he pleased.”
The living expenses his parents gave him were quite substantial, but since Hoshino Gen was a person of very low material desire, most of that money was actually spent on his sister.
Once Hoshino Gen became a high-level cadre, money became nothing more than a string of numbers on his card to him.
After all, backed by the largest villain organization in the world, it was no exaggeration to say that if Hoshino Gen wanted to, he could treat the currency of this world like play money.
After returning from the supermarket and cleaning the living room, it was time for the exercise session Hoshino Gen reserved for himself.
Over the past year, Hoshino Gen had tried various ways to obtain magic, but under the dominant rules of the world’s setting, all his efforts were in vain.
However, Hoshino Gen still found a way to get stronger, and that was: exercise.
After Hoshino Gen insisted on exercising for a month, he finally confirmed that in this world, exercising could significantly enhance his physical fitness.
Although the progress was slow, he could feel it growing day by day.
Adhering to the principle that “a little stronger is still stronger,” Hoshino Gen had been exercising for a year now, starting every morning by jogging five kilometers around his home before returning to cook.
After lunch, he started doing push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and frog leaps in his room.
Hoshino Gen didn’t know much about fitness and was too lazy to plan any specialized programs; he just wanted to take care of all the muscle groups in his body, from his biceps and abs to his sphincter—everything that could be worked out, he worked out a little.
He usually exercised without his shirt on; there was no special reason for it, he just sweated too much from the high-intensity workout.
Exercising while wearing clothes meant not only taking another shower but also washing his clothes again.
Perhaps his long-term “rain and dew” approach had taken effect, as Hoshino Gen now had a very balanced physique; he looked lean in clothes and muscular without them.
The muscle lines on his body were distinct, yet not excessively bulky like some muscle heads, and combined with his naturally handsome face, he overall looked like a gold-tier male model for whom wealthy women would scramble to throw money at in exclusive clubs.
Hoshino Gen knew very well that he was now two completely different people from the shut-in “Hoshino Gen” in the original game’s plot, who only had two lines of dialogue and didn’t even have an official face in the first playthrough.
After exercising, Hoshino Gen took a shower and, feeling refreshed, was about to turn on his computer to handle “official business” when he suddenly remembered what his sister had said last night about the “most ordinary wall in the world.”
He couldn’t help but look at the wall a few more times.
The arrangement in Hoshino’s room was simple: a bed, a computer, a desk, and a bookshelf filled with various books; there were no other sundries obstructing his view.
No matter how he looked at it, this was a very ordinary wall.
What kind of secret could there be?
Since his sister had mentioned it yesterday, there was a high probability that this wall had some tricks up its sleeve.
If it couldn’t be seen with the eyes alone, he would have to use his hands.
“Thump, thump, thump…”
Hoshino Gen quickly tapped the entire wall from top to bottom with his fingers, and finally, near the center of the wall, he heard a sound that was different from the rest.
There was a hollow space inside this part of the wall.
Hoshino Gen tried pressing firmly on the hollow area with his hand, and the wall, which seemed perfectly seamless, actually caved inward.
He could clearly feel that the material of this small section was completely different from the rest of the wall.
After taking out the recessed brick, he discovered the passage hidden behind it.
After closer observation, Hoshino Gen found that the brick in his hand was actually translucent. From his side, it looked like an ordinary brick, perfectly blended into the whole wall.
But from his sister’s side, the view was unobstructed, and the effect was like a transparent glass panel.
Hoshino Gen tried to align his vision with the passage to see what could be observed in the room from this angle.
It seemed that his entire bed, as well as a small empty area in front of the bed, could be perfectly captured in his field of view.
When Hoshino Gen did his daily indoor exercises, specifically his push-ups and sit-ups, he basically worked out right in these two areas.