Even death cannot bring solace to the soul, and the flow of blood cannot escape the endless entanglement of nightmares. The followers of the gods have all fallen into corruption, and the upcoming night may be long. If there is still compassion in this world, then only the spirits that have already dissipated into eternity can sigh softly.
Abandoning hope for miracles, I prepare to leave this world. Loneliness and coldness are creeping towards me. I have often wondered, starting from tomorrow, how should I proceed with a life that belongs only to myself?
In this tomb of death, I thought I could pray in the dark church to hide away, but... "Why can't you sleep anywhere else and have to come to my place?"
Yuanhui lounged lazily on the sofa in my room, watching the recent TV broadcast with a sense of happiness on his face. "Don't be so heartless. I was chased out by that she-devil of a dormitory manager. Don't tell me you don't want to shelter me?"
At the same time, he gave me a look begging for my mercy, like a puppy... Disgusting!
"Shelter you?" I was so angry that I almost threw the spatula in my hand at him. "You just escaped from the dormitory on the day of the big cleaning to avoid being punished with a month of corridor cleaning. And now you're here hiding from the dormitory manager chasing you?"
"Oh, how could I be that kind of person? Don't doubt your dear friend, me..."
"Open the door! Open it now!" Just then, came Jola's high-frequency knocking on the door from outside, with angry shouts.
"Please open up. Otherwise, I will arrest you for harboring a criminal and make you clean the corridor!"
"Coming, coming. If the door gets damaged from the knocking, I won't be responsible!"
"You're crazy... we're all going to die!"
"No, no, no. You need to understand, it's you who's doomed, not me!"
No matter how Yuanhui pleaded with me, I ignored him, treating his words as if they were mere wind. After all, he had deceived me earlier...oh, he didn't deceive me, but I would still rat him out!
"That Yuanhui guy is indeed here with me. Please take care of the matter!"
"Okay, as you wish!" Jola gave me a thumbs up, signaling that it was all on me. Then, she grabbed Yuanhui by his hair, scolded him while apologizing to me.
"Don't cause trouble for others anymore. Next time, be careful or I'll make you repaint the entire dormitory building!"
"Hey... no, no!"
Jola's tough stance forced him to abandon his compliments and directed his frustration towards me.
"Come on, buddy, you can't just stand by and watch someone suffer."
"Hey, after you finish sweeping the courtyard, study well and turn over a new leaf, got it!"
The ending...
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" (Me)
"Thank you for your cooperation!" (Jola)
"Goodbye!" (Yuanhui)
Finally seeing them off, I wished never to encounter that guy again. Even if I do meet him again, I... huh?
As I closed the door, my complaints were interrupted by the sudden ringing of my phone. It turned out to be just a text message, and I realized how rare it was for someone to message me. It might even be from Yuanhui this time, so I chose to end the call.
"Sneeze... sniffle!" Yuanhui murmured dizzily in the corridor. "The weather is changing again, or maybe someone is talking behind my back... Achoo... Achoo!"
"If he is sweeping the corridor, then who could it be from?"
The juniors and that girl... impossible. I clearly didn't give them any cell phones, so they should still be in their rooms playing games, right?
...
"Big sister, you're so amazing!"
"Of course, back in my school days, I had a very close relationship with the gaming legend of that time. Every move of mine was taught by him."
"Well, big sister's martial arts skills in real life are amazing, but I never expected her to be so awe-inspiring in games too!"
"Hmph, I am a mature adult, so even if you, a little brat, keep praising me, I won't be happy... Hahaha!"
In the room with a temperature of twenty-seven degrees, two blonde girls, one tall and one short, squatted on the floor on the left and right sides of the TV, eyes fixed on the screen, tightly gripping the controller. The left hand was pulling the joystick, while the right hand was frantically pressing buttons!
"Oh yeah, big sis wins again! You're still early in development!"
...
"Well, it shouldn't be those two who are at best a burden."
Thinking about it carefully, it's strange. I wonder what those two silly girls are doing now. How can I continue playing?
Also, I really admire Yuanhui for having the courage to avoid Jola's punishment. People in the class say Jola is a violent tigress who likes to solve problems with force, which is so annoying.
Although I say that, the kitchen knife in my hand is still dancing on the cutting board, dissecting potatoes and pieces of meat.
"Wow, you're pretty good at cooking. Who taught you?"
"There's nothing I can't learn, the key is to be focused enough!"
"Well said, I agree with that philosophy too, but..."
"But what... Oh dear, how did you get in?!"
Yukari had already entered my room without me noticing, wearing a casual pink shirt and brown jeans, sitting casually by the kitchen sink, observing me as if watching a small animal.
"I mean, you're so focused that you didn't even answer my messages. And, as a student, your security awareness is too low, you didn't even lock the door... quite careless."
"Nonsense, I did lock it, with a dual electronic lock!"
I hesitantly rebutted, looking past her... the window was open.
Seeing this scene, I almost lost my temper.
"Don't you lock the windows when you see someone going in and out on the balcony?"
"Hehe, forget about that. Let me see if you've done your homework properly."
"Homework... what homework?"
"...Hmph, forget it."
With her warm face against my cold one, she quieted down a bit.
I silently dumped the cleaned vegetables from the basin onto the cutting board. Yukari smiled and approached me.
"Your way of cooking is very similar to mine. I wonder how good your cooking is. Can I taste it?"
Her question reminded me of the extra portion that was originally meant for Yuanhui, which would probably go to waste. Jola said he would make sure he wouldn't starve... well, I ended up with an extra portion anyway.
Besides, she came all this way to my room...
"Well, one person can't finish it all anyway."
"Is that so?"
Upon receiving my permission, Yukari's actions immediately stunned me. Her movements and expression upon standing up seemed a bit exaggerated, reminding me of how lively and cute the old Yukari used to be.
I couldn't help but sigh and say, "She's obviously my older sister, why does she make me feel so insecure?"
"Hey, what are you muttering about?"
"Nothing, never mind."
Luckily, I kept my voice very low, so she didn't catch on.
What a fool I am, I thought to myself, of course, that was directed at myself. I was a total fool, mistaking Yukari, who used to diligently tutor me at the library filled with the scent of books at dusk, for the sister I used to know.
Honestly, I regret it now. It took me until now to realize that the scent that I associated with books back then was actually my sister's scent!
Although I'm not someone who easily lets others change my personality, in front of Yukari, I just couldn't muster up the courage. Moreover, with her supervising me here, I couldn't even hold the kitchen knife steady.
"Do you also enjoy cooking?"
"Um, what?"
"Cooking, I mean, do you enjoy cooking?"
I stammered, my voice careful and barely audible.
"Yukari, I mean... do you also know how to cook?"
"Enjoy cooking? Of course, I enjoyed it, but that was a long, long time ago.”
Yukari casually sat on my bed, one hand supporting her head, looking like she was agonizing over something, muttering softly.
"Oh dear, no!"
"Are you okay? What's wrong?"
Seeing her in pain, I pretended not to notice and continued to stay silent. It's not that I wasn't proactive enough, just seeing Yukari's sky-blue eyes glaring, I felt myself sinking into deep thought.
"Oh, I can't remember when I stopped cooking, but I was happy for a while after that.”
"Happy, aren't you happy now as the heiress of a wealthy household?"
"What do you know?!"
After I mentioned heiress, Yukari almost jumped off the bed in anger.
But her rage dissipated quickly, and she slumped back to the bed, apologizing to me.
"...Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you, it’s just…” (stopped abruptly)
"What happened?"
I murmured as I looked out the window.
"Just a regular thunderstorm?"
Until the second boom, simultaneously, I saw the sky suddenly reddened by fire and then dimmed rapidly, followed by a dense barrage of gunfire from that direction!
"What...what's happening?"
"Who knows?"
Yukari nonchalantly pulled out some apple juice from the refrigerator, tilted her head back, and gulped it down.
Unfortunately, the room lights flickered, and finally plunged into complete darkness.
"Oh—!"
"What's wrong, Y- Yukari?"
This is bad, I almost slipped up and used my casual address. Yukari wasn't one to overlook even a slight loophole, right?
"It's okay, just spilled some drink on my clothes, did you turn on the heater?"
"Huh?"
"What do you mean huh, I’m taking off my clothes, turn your head towards the window!"
"…Oh!"
So I turned around cautiously and (sneakily) reminded her.
"But without electricity, the air conditioner won't work."
"…"
"And also, the door seems to be an electronic lock. Without power, the emergency lockdown system will activate, and you won't be able to leave, right?"
