"How am I supposed to observe this?"
Kanade studied it for a long time, yet still failed to grasp the real way to use it.
The simulator's screen and text kept scrolling, and the background was the hospital room where she currently lay.
[Step one: Tap the simulated subject's character portrait to further choose between first person and third person perspectives, allowing for a more realistic experience.]
It really felt like a game.
[In first person mode, the player's vision will synchronize with the simulated subject. Of course, no matter how intense the visuals may be, they will not affect the player's physical condition in reality.]
[In third person mode, you will obtain a god's eye view. You can observe Kitahara Toru's surroundings, and freely zoom in or out.]
It really felt like a game.
[It is a game.]
…Feeling guilty?
[Not at all.]
[In addition, the player may also enter the simulated world and act with an independent body. Please note that this body will inherit all conditions of the player in reality.]
[Heart disease will not disappear.]
I see.
Now she understood completely.
In that case, the best method was to experience Toru's life through first person mode.
She was quite looking forward to seeing the world through the eyes of a normal person.
Kanade tapped on Toru's portrait and selected the first person option.
Her consciousness gradually blurred, and she soon collapsed onto the hospital bed.
◇
Kanade slowly opened her eyes and realized she was in an especially wondrous space.
Her field of vision was not under her control. She could hear a boy's voice and fully share his sensations…
Her heartbeat was strong and powerful, and her thoughts moved at incredible speed.
So this is what a normal body feels like?
The girl murmured to herself.
"Let me think. Which extreme sport should I start with?"
Toru sat at his computer desk, tapping on the keyboard.
He had just spent ten minutes roughly figuring out the world setting.
The humans in this world especially loved courting death.
Hundreds of millions of people participated in extreme sports. Extreme clubs were everywhere, and countless extreme sports stars were active in the public eye.
The Olympics even had a ten thousand meter skydiving event, which was honestly kind of insane.
"Alpine skiing, mountain biking, F1 racing, rally racing…"
These were a bit too easy.
Maybe I should really go tomb raiding.
Seek the dragon, divide the gold, observe the winding mountains. One coil is one barrier. If the gate has eight layers of danger, it will not escape the form of yin and yang and the eight trigrams.
He even remembered the lines.
Toru felt that only the monsters inside ancient tombs might be able to fight him.
"The first special world I enter is actually this type. Sigh, that's a bit disappointing."
…
'Special world?'
Kanade did not quite understand.
But with her sharp intuition, she guessed that Toru might be hiding a huge secret.
Sharing his vision, she saw Toru stand up and move toward the bathroom…
Wait.
He, he is not about to…
Alright, people have urgent needs. I just will not look.
Kanade felt that her face must be bright red.
Rustling sounds reached her ears, clothes falling one by one into the laundry basket.
So Toru was not going to the toilet, he was taking a shower.
Boys showered quickly. Toru simply washed his hair, scrubbed his body a bit, then lay down in the bathtub filled with hot water.
At that moment, Kanade felt her entire body wrapped in warm water. The comfort made her instinctively open her eyes…
There was nothing indecent in sight. The foggy bathroom was filled with steam.
"Hah," Toru let out a satisfied sound.
He decided to make mountain climbing his first extreme sport.
Every July, Mount Fuji opened for climbing, and he planned to experience it.
The difficulty really was not that high.
But the destination was not important. What mattered was the scenery along the way.
"Should I bring someone along? I feel like someone would be interested…"
Toru thought about inviting Kita Ikuyo.
The past of this world setting had not changed much. Kessoku Band still existed, along with some familiar faces.
Hiroi Kikuri had still broken her leg and was lying in the hospital.
He seriously suspected that even if he went to another world in the future, these two dimensional wives would still follow right behind him…
Toru lowered his head and glanced at the base of his thigh.
You might have to work hard in the future.
…
◇
The real world.
On the hospital bed, the white haired girl's face was flushed red. She covered her cheeks as her heartbeat sped up, placing a heavy burden on her fragile heart.
Just now, in the middle of the shower.
Something filthy suddenly filled her vision.
From childhood to now, Kanade had only ever seen it in biology textbooks.
The impact was too strong. She was so frightened that she immediately disconnected the link.
"Boys' first person mode is terrifying," Kanade said as she patted her chest.
She took a deep breath of fresh air.
Her heart gradually slowed.
She would use third person mode from now on.
When Toru encountered something interesting, she would then experience it in first person.
[March.]
[Spring. Your condition shows no sign of improvement.]
[The older sister in the neighboring ward is about to be discharged. Through the wall separating your rooms, you can hear her chatting with Toru.]
[What she ate today, what she did, what interesting things she encountered…]
[Things like these, no matter how ordinary, make you feel envious. These are experiences you can never have.]
[Since elementary school, because of your congenital heart disease, you have not made many friends. School and hospital, back and forth, are the entirety of your past sixteen years.]
[You are like a canary imprisoned in a cage.]
[Your ways to pass time are nothing more than the internet and books.]
[The scenery in books is beautiful. Otaru in "Love Letter," Izu in "The Dancing Girl of Izu," all fill you with longing.]
[You have heard of the magnificence of Fuji, yet living far away in Tokyo, you have never seen Mount Fuji. How could you ever speak of its beauty?]
[You once saw pandas at the zoo on television, yet the wish to see a panda in person has been buried in your heart for nearly ten years.]
[The piano you learned in elementary school has not been practiced for a very long time.]
[The day before Hiroi Kikuri is discharged.]
[Toru suddenly wants to see just how cute the "super cute girl" she mentioned really is.]
[That morning.]
[It is your first meeting with Toru.]
[Early spring. The temperature is still slightly cold.]
[You vaguely remember that a few cherry blossoms had begun to bloom outside the window…]
[Compared to winter, the scenery is a little more beautiful, though not much has changed.]
["Hello, I am…"]
[Toru is introducing himself, but you do not really take it in.]
[It is not until Hiroi Kikuri appears that the barrier between you is finally broken.]
[During her time in the hospital, Hiroi Kikuri often comes to your room on crutches to chat with you.]
[It is just that sometimes she asks whether she can borrow some money from you to buy alcohol, and that makes you worried.]