"Nii-san, you... you're finally back..."
Sagiri looked up, her beautiful eyes, bluer than the sky, brimming with a misty haze.
Even though she had practiced this many times in advance.
Even though she kept telling herself to control her emotions and not make her brother worry.
But seeing her favorite brother again, she really couldn't hold back the urge to cry.
When she woke up this morning, Sagiri suddenly realized she had been reborn.
If explained in gaming terms, she had returned from a year in the future, successfully starting a New Game Plus of her life.
In her future life, under Sora's encouragement and guidance, she had successfully overcome her fear. She could leave her room and even quietly go for walks with Sora on deserted nights.
But one day, not long after that, a bad woman suddenly showed up at the door looking for him.
Then the number of bad women kept increasing until they finally stole him away...
No!This time, I won't let those bad women take Nii-san away no matter what!
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Sagiri tearful and silent, Sora's expression darkened. He looked around with a sharp, piercing gaze.
"Did someone break in?"
"There are no bad people."
Sora breathed a sigh of relief at her words. As long as no thugs had broken in, other problems shouldn't be too big.
"Did a moth fly into your room?"
"There are no moths."
"Then did a snake crawl out of the toilet?"
"Ehh?"
Sagiri's small face turned slightly pale as she nervously clutched Sora's sleeve.
"Don't scare me like that, Nii-san. How could a snake crawl out of a toilet?"
"It really happens." Sora spread his hands. "I have a video from abroad saved on Niconico. The content is a snake crawling out of a toilet. Sagiri, do you want to see it?"
Sagiri nervously took half a step back, covering her slender chest with both hands.
"I don't want to see your perverted, grotesque videos!"
Hey now, that was clearly something interesting; it had nothing to do with being perverted or grotesque!
"It's not this, and it's not that. Then why are you crying, Sagiri?"
Sora asked, curious about the reason.
"I-I wasn't crying..."
Sagiri shyly turned her head away. As she gradually calmed down, the girl's bashfulness quietly took over.
Sora reminded her, "When you talk, wipe your nose first."
"Eeeek?"
Sagiri hurriedly raised her small hand to wipe her face, only to find there was nothing there. Her cheeks immediately puffed up, looking like a blowfish that had been caught and played with.
"Nii-san is a dummy! You're teasing me!"
Sagiri huffed and raised her right foot, giving Sora a light kick on the shin before explaining in a soft voice.
"It's just... I fell asleep this afternoon and had a really, really long dream."
Sora felt relieved upon hearing this. "So it was just a nightmare."
She was still a child after all, getting scared to tears by a dream.
"S-Something like that..."
Sagiri stammered, not revealing her secret.
If she told him now that she had started a second playthrough, Sora definitely wouldn't believe her, right?
"Eat some sweets and calm down." Sora raised his right hand, placed it on Sagiri's small head, and gently rubbed it. "There are sweets in the fridge. Go get some yourself, then watch some of your favorite Starlight Witch Meruru for a while."
It was just a nightmare; she would forget it quickly once she had something to eat and drink.
"I'm going to get busy now."
Sora put on his slippers and prepared to head back to his room to grind his skills.
"Wait a second..."
A small hand suddenly caught the corner of Sora's shirt.
"What is it?"
Sora turned to look at his sister.
"U-Um..."
Sagiri extended two slender index fingers and poked them together in front of her chest. She tilted her small face up slightly, her voice shy.
"P-Pat me again..."
Sora's tone was confused. "Your voice is too low, I can't hear you."
"Nii-san..." Sagiri took a deep breath, standing slightly on her tiptoes, her small face flushed crimson. "Pat my head again..."
Sora was speechless.
Good heavens. Just yesterday they were communicating through floor-thumping, and today she was blocking the door acting spoiled and asking for headpats. Please let there be more dreams like that!
Faced with his cute sister's request, he naturally had to satisfy her.
"I'll pat you for a bit longer then."
Sora raised his right hand again, gently pressing it onto the top of Sagiri's head and stroking it softly.
"Mmm~"
Sagiri's eyes soon curved into crescents. Her small head subconsciously rubbed against Sora's palm, revealing the blissful expression of a kitten eating a treat.
After enjoying the headpat for a while, Sagiri finally calmed down and retreated two steps shyly.
"Dummy Nii-san, how much longer are you going to keep patting me?"
Looking at the girl's face, which was as red as fire, Sora was quite speechless.
"You were the one who asked me to pat your head. Why are you acting shy?"
Sagiri puffed her cheeks. "It's the first time being touched in such an important place by a boy. Of course I'd be shy, right?"
Hey, stop saying weird things. The top of the head isn't a girl's most important place!
"That's enough for today. I'm going back to my room." Sagiri retreated with a blushing face. "...You can only pat my head! Nii-san, don't have any lewd, perverted thoughts!"
Sora remained expressionless. "Of course it's impossible for me to have lewd thoughts about my sister."
"Waaaah!"
Sagiri's cheeks puffed up instantly, looking like a squirrel with its mouth full of chestnuts. She ran forward on her bare feet and stomped hard on Sora's foot.
"Nii-san is a dummy!!!"
"..."
Watching Sagiri stomp upstairs in a huff, Sora felt utterly baffled.
Wait, I said I don't have lewd thoughts about my sister, so why are you angry?
"Girls really are strange, incomprehensible creatures..."
Sora lamented in a low voice.
Of course.
Anna, his childhood friend, was an exception.
In that gluttonous girl's head, there was only food and more food.
Sora first sent a message to Anna saying he had arrived home. Then he poured himself a glass of water, took it back to his room, and began to grind his skills seriously.
I'll add the experience points I gained this afternoon first... Game Design, you're the one. Sora didn't hesitate and decisively poured all the experience points into the [Game Design] bar.
He had thought about it seriously on his way back. The two abilities that could currently make money quickly were light novel writing and game development.
While writing light novels was easy, even the most popular ones could only be sold within Japan, meaning the ceiling was locked.
Games were different. As long as the creative gameplay was interesting enough, players worldwide would buy in. Furthermore, the two worlds were similar yet different; many famous games from his previous life didn't exist here. Creating games gave him a massive advantage.
It would be great if I could encounter a few more 'Witches'... Seeing the experience bar rise significantly, Sora felt extremely satisfied.
After his brief lament, Sora quickly calmed down and continued to grind for more experience.
Effort!
Wild Witches were rare and couldn't be relied upon. Only one's own hard work was the right path!
Half an hour later.
The door was quietly pushed open a crack.
A silver-haired girl hid by the door, secretly observing from the shadows.
Nii-san is so serious...I remember that half a year from now, Nii-san wrote a super popular light novel and made a lot of money. I have to find a way to make him write it earlier... If he makes money, Nii-san won't have to work so hard, right?For now, let me take care of Nii-san!