I felt a creeping warmth against my skin, and the distant, soft chirping of birds started filling my ears. In that half-asleep state, I saw a smiling face right in front of me. She whispered, "I really love you."
Suddenly, a loud, sharp voice pierced through the dream. "Brother! Morning! Brother, wake up! Get up, get up!"
The voice kept getting louder and louder until I snapped my eyes open. Looming right over my head was a girl with bright pink eyes and matching pink hair.
She was staring at me intensely. "You know, brother," she said, "that smile on your face while you were sleeping was seriously creepy. Were you thinking about something perverted?"
I bolted upright and yelled, "What the hell are you talking about? Why would I think about that? I'm not interested in romance! I stay away from that stuff."
She started giggling. With a mischievous smirk, she said, "Oh, so you were having a romantic dream."
"You've got it all wrong!" I barked back.
"I didn't even ask you, brother," she teased, her expression shifting
. "You are such a creepy guy. Stupid big brother." She huffed, looked at me with a weird flash of anger, and then just stomped out of my room.
What a strange girl, I thought. She seemed jealous, but of what? I'm as single as it gets.
I looked around and groaned. My room was a disaster zone.
Cold drink cans were rolled across the floor, my books were scattered, and my pillows were tossed everywhere. She definitely did this. I stood up, stretched my stiff limbs, and started putting things back.
Then I saw my gaming setup—it was knocked over, and water had been spilled all over it.
My heart skipped a beat. I grabbed my phone from the bed—it was ringing.
But before I answered, I noticed something: someone had already read my private messages. Is that why she was so pissed? Did she go through my phone without asking?
I opened the game app, The Prince of Danger Heart. The top 100 rankings for the month had just been updated.
Isanami Roy. No surprise there; he's the son of the company owner.
Isari Kohra. The son of the partner group in Japan.
I skipped to the 4th rank. Rio Kisaki. That's me. It's crazy. Out of the top ten, three are just "company kids." This game is huge—50 million players—and I'm sitting at rank four as a designer and player.
I checked my email and found a new message:
"Dear Rio Kisaki, you are invited to the Prince of Danger Heart
tournament for 2024. Please reply. You are a top-tier player and helped develop this game, so this is a special invite. Waiting for your reply. Your friend, Ayesha Isanami."
"Friend?" I muttered. I think my sister is worried about me. She hates this gaming world. She's probably the one who poured water on
my PC out of fear that I'd get sucked back in. If that PC is fried, I'm a dead man.
"Rio! Get down here! Breakfast is ready!" my mom yelled from downstairs.
"Mom, I'm not even fresh yet! Give me 10 minutes!"
"You have exactly 10 minutes!" she shouted back.
I looked at the phone again.
This was the fourth invite this month. I always say no, but this time there was a note at the bottom: "Your information will remain private
. Please join."
I noticed something else. A message had been deleted. What did she write?
I bet it was a "No."
Back in 2018, I helped design this game. I was struggling and sold the rights for $800—a lot back then—to a big developer. I'm smart about the mechanics,
which is why I usually win by staying out of the direct fight, but my winning rate has dropped from 98% to 86% lately. They changed the game too much. Still, it's close to my heart.
"Brother! Your five minutes are up!"
I scrambled to get ready and dashed downstairs. My mom and sister were already at the table.
"Did you fight with Ishika again?" Mom asked, looking stern. Ishika was stuffing bread into her mouth, glaring at me like she wanted to bite my head off.
"It's nothing," I lied. "I accidentally spilled water on my PC last night. I thought Ishika did it, so we had a little spat." I turned to Ishika and bowed my head slightly. "Sorry."
I had to lie to keep the peace. Mom sighed. "Ishika, forgive him. He said sorry."
Ishika just pouted and looked away. I sat down and started eating, but she was chewing so loudly it felt like she was imagining my bones between her teeth.
"Sorry, Rio," Mom said suddenly. "There's an emergency at work. Since it's a holiday, you need to look after Ishika today."
"What?! Mom, no!" I almost choked on my food.
"Don't take that tone with me!" Mom snapped. "You've made enough mistakes today. This is your punishment."
Ishika stood up, walked over, and sat right next to me, staring holes into my face.
"Fine," Mom said, "Finish up. I'm leaving."
As soon as the front door clicked shut, I tried to bolt for my room.
But Ishika grabbed my hand with a terrifyingly sweet smile. "Big brother... were you thinking of running away?
"
"Ishika, do you want something?" I tried to pull away, but her grip was like iron.
"Come with me,"
she said, dragging me toward the stairs. Her hand was warm, and the scent of her hair was actually really nice, which only made me more confused.
She pulled me into her room
. The smell of roses was everywhere. It was perfectly clean—totally unlike my room. But then I saw the walls. My photos were everywhere. What is she thinking? There were rose petals scattered on her bed. My heart started thumping. My face was heating up.
"Ishika, what is this?"
"Your face is totally red, brother," she said, looking at me. "Are you thinking about something 'creepy' again? I just thought the petals looked pretty, so I decorated. Do you like it?"
My head started spinning. I literally leaned my forehead against the wall. "What is happening here?"
"Brother... I've always loved you," she whispered.
My brain short-circuited. I got so flustered and angry that I lightly tapped her on the head. She immediately burst into tears. "I'm hurt! Why did you hit me, brother?!"
"I'm sorry! Sorry, Ishika!" I panicked, bowing down.
She suddenly stopped crying and grinned. "Payback! Now, since you hurt me, you have to take me on a date. Mom's out, and we are both free."
I looked at her and sighed. "Fine. Wherever you want."
She let out a cheer and hugged me tight. "I'll forgive you if you let me hug you like this for five minutes."
"You planned this whole thing, didn't you?" I grumbled.
After five minutes, she finally let go.
"I'll tell you what I replied to that message earlier. It's interesting." She went to her closet and started throwing clothes everywhere.
"Found it!"
She pulled out a box and showed me a new outfit. "I bought this for you with two months of my pocket money. I hope you look good in it. Take care of it."
My throat went dry. She was being so serious. "I'll be careful with it," I promised. "But tell me about the message. If you said 'No,' I'm fine with it."
"I didn't say no," she said, walking toward me. "Now, take off your clothes."
"Wait, what?!"
"Change into this. Right here. I'm not letting you out of my sight. You'll just run away."
"I'm not changing in front of you!
" I grabbed the clothes and tried to bolt, but she caught me.
"I don't trust you, Rio. Just change."
In the end, she stepped outside the door but kept peeking through the crack. I finally managed to shut the door, changed quickly, and walked out. She was gone.
I went downstairs and found the TV on. An ad for the Prince of Danger Heart tournament was playing. Then, a voice came from behind me. "Big brother... I love you."
I didn't even jump this time. I turned around and saw her. She was wearing a beautiful dress, her pink hair flowing. My heart raced. She looked incredible.
She held up her phone. "I got the location."
"Location for what?"
"To meet Ayesha," she said softly.
The ground felt like it disappeared from under my feet. "You're joking. She's busy, she won't be in Tokyo."
Ishika smirked. "You don't check her social media, do you? She's right here. And look... she replied: 'I am waiting for you.'"
My head was spinning. "So... you're coming too?"
She leaned into my ear and whispered
, "Of course. I want to see what you two talk about every month in secret. Your 'loving' sister Ishika is going to find out everything."
We walked outside, and a luxury car was waiting. A woman opened the door for us. I sat inside, feeling completely overwhelmed
. Ishika sat right next to me, her eyes fixed on me.
As the car started moving, I looked out the window, wondering why I always lose to her. Why can't I ever say no?
Suddenly, Ishika grabbed my hand tightly. "Big brother, you look so upset. Do I need to kiss you to make it better?"
The driver's eyes nearly popped out of his head in the mirror.
"What?! What the hell are you saying?!" I yelled, my face turning bright red.