thefictionvixens Page 104
Page 104
Once she put on the uniform, she transformed from a top student, Aoyama Nanami, into a skilled restaurant server.
Serving dishes, taking orders, clearing tables—they were busy non-stop until late at night.
My body was already exhausted, and my legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
But she dared not stop.
Because she knew that stopping meant taking another step further away from her dream.
……
Late at night, in a small apartment.
Nanami finally finished her day of running around.
Instead of lying down to rest immediately, she took out her voice acting school textbooks and began practicing in front of the mirror.
"I, I, I..."
She tried her best to imitate the standard pronunciation in the textbook recordings, attempting to erase the stubborn Kansai accent from her own accent.
This is much harder than I imagined.
Whenever she thought she was speaking perfectly, she would record it and listen to it again, and that familiar accent would still involuntarily pop out.
"Why...why can't I change!"
She scratched her hair in frustration.
For her, practicing standard Mandarin was like "killing" a part of herself.
That version of myself who grew up in Osaka and speaks the familiar Kansai dialect.
This feeling made her feel a sense of despair.
Exhausted, she collapsed onto the bed and hugged Torajiro again.
"Torajiro...do I...really have no talent?"
"Should I... listen to my father and go back to Osaka...?"
Tears finally welled up and soaked the plush of the pillow.
……
at the same time.
In the special care ward of a high-end hospital in Tokyo.
Yuto Itsuka stared blankly at the laptop screen.
On the screen, a clear image of Aoyama Nanami curled up in bed, hugging a tiger-shaped pillow and crying silently is displayed.
Aoyama Nanami, the subject of this simulation, is also a character from an anime series that he really liked in his previous life.
This was his second day in this simulated world.
In this world, he is a classmate of Nanami Aoyama, a boy who has to take a long leave of absence from school and be hospitalized due to a serious illness.
His only companions were this white hospital room and a laptop that could connect to [simulated objects]—a perk the system gave him.
According to the system, he needs to find the answer to his emotional dilemmas in the real world here.
Originally, he intended to be a mere bystander.
Without intervening or interfering, just quietly watch the simulated scenario unfold.
He didn't want to have any further emotional entanglements with the female protagonist of the simulated world, Ryougi Shinobu 4.
Nishimiya Shoko and Sakurajima Mai have already given him a huge headache.
He cannot create a third "special case".
but……
That's the Seven Seas of Green Mountains!
When he saw through the screen that stubborn girl, who maintained the dignity of an excellent student at school during the day, and cried bitterly in her cheap rented room at night because of hunger and frustration.
He was still somewhat moved.
That kind of stubbornness in not bowing to anyone and pursuing dreams even with gritted teeth; that kind of tenacity in not giving up even when in dire straits.
It reminded him of his past self—eating instant noodles and typing away in his rented room, believing that one day he would be able to escape this predicament.
Oh my god, this is me!
"What a... fool." Itsuka Yuto sighed softly, unsure whether he was referring to the girl in the picture or his past self.
Watch?
I'm afraid it's impossible.
He couldn't bear to watch a girl like him, a character he admired, be crushed by the harsh realities of life.
He entered the simulation to find answers and to escape the chaos of reality.
But escaping doesn't mean becoming cold-hearted.
Perhaps... the system is right.
A completely new simulation, unrelated to his current predicament, would allow him to re-examine himself from an outsider's perspective.
So let's start by helping this girl in front of us.
However, he couldn't use Itsuka Yuto's identity; he didn't want to have any direct contact with her.
He only wanted to help her from the shadows.
He looked at the girl's trembling shoulders on the screen, his eyes filled with complex emotions, but he also made a decision.
Green mountains and seven seas, I will protect your dreams.
All you need to do is keep running towards the light.
……
What does despair feel like?
Aoyama Nanami knows now.
It was a suffocating feeling, like being abandoned by the whole world and sinking into a cold, deep sea.
Just now, she received an email from the voice acting school.
The title is "[Urgent Notice Regarding the Final Deadline for Tuition Payment]".
The content is brief, yet brutal.
If she cannot pay the outstanding tuition fees by 5 p.m. tomorrow, she will be expelled from school.
The phone slipped from my limp hand and fell onto the blanket with a dull thud.
Nanami sat there blankly, her mind a complete blank.
tomorrow……
There's only one day left.
Where was she supposed to find the money to pay that astronomical sum of tuition?
My wages won't be paid until next month, and even then, it won't be nearly enough.
Ask your family for it?
She could almost see her father's contemptuous face, which seemed to say, "I told you so."
No, absolutely not.
Even if she starved to death in Tokyo, she would never bow down to her family.
2. Leeks together, six kicks led to the mountain. Willow H that... borrow from a friend?
Nanami picked up her phone again and opened her contact list with trembling fingers.
The names scrolled past one by one.
They were all her peers, struggling to make a living in Tokyo, just like her.
Everyone is short of money.
How could she possibly bring herself to say that?
But... if she didn't speak up, her dream would come to an incredibly abrupt end here.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally mustered up the courage to send a message to a friend with whom she had a fairly good relationship.
[Misaki, are you there? Um... could you... lend me some money?]
She stared nervously at the screen, her heart pounding.
Every second of waiting feels like a century.
The other party replied very quickly.
[Sorry, Nanami! I'm almost broke this month, and the landlord is pressing for rent again. I really don't have any extra money. I'm so sorry!]
It was followed by an emoticon with hands clasped together and an apologetic expression.
"It's okay, I'll think of another way."
Nanami quickly replied to the past, as if that would mask her disappointment.
She then tried contacting a few other friends.
Without exception, the response I received was that we were unable to help.
Yeah, we're all the same.
In this city, life is not easy for anyone.
Who can be whose savior?
Last hope has been completely extinguished...
Nanami threw her phone aside, unable to hold back any longer, and buried her face deep into Torajiro's body, bursting into tears.
The grievances, resentment, exhaustion, and despair that had been suppressed for so long instantly overwhelmed her at this moment.
Why……
Why……
Why is reality still so cruel to her even though she has tried so hard?
Was her dream really just a joke?
The father's sarcastic words, the teacher's harsh criticism, the classmates' strange and selfish looks... all flashed through my mind.
She really... can't hold on any longer.
Perhaps, she really should give up.
Go back to Osaka, find an ordinary job, and live a stable life.
That's the path she should take.
Just when she was enveloped in endless darkness and was about to give up completely.
"Om-"
The phone, which had been tossed onto the bed, suddenly vibrated.
Nanami ignored Yi Qi Liu? Yi Shan Er Er l Jiu Er.
It's probably another promotional text message from some store.
never mind.
It doesn't matter anymore.
"Om - hum -"
The phone stubbornly vibrated twice more.
Nanami wiped away her tears in frustration, grabbed her phone, and prepared to turn it off.
However, she froze when her gaze fell on the notification that popped up on the screen.