Chapter 124: The Truth of the World, I Have Deciphered It!
The drive was slow, the roads clogged with an unusual amount of traffic. Rovel suspected it was because 'Honkai' had shut down its servers for maintenance; with the virtual world temporarily inaccessible, it seemed a great many people had decided to venture out into the real one.
Following the GPS, the two of them soon arrived at their destination: a sleek, modern hotel.
"Hello." Yuki confidently slapped her ID card onto the polished front desk counter.
"One moment, please... Let me just confirm your reservation," the receptionist said, tapping at her keyboard. "You've booked the Deluxe Couple's Double Suite, is that correct?"
"Exactly right," Yuki confirmed with a flourish, making finger guns with both hands.
"Please change that to two standard rooms for us," Rovel interjected smoothly, placing his own ID card on the counter.
"Brother~" Yuki's cheerful expression immediately soured, her voice dripping with dissatisfaction. She had made extensive preparations for this trip, fully determined to finally cross that crimson line known as 'taboo' today!
"Uh... I'm very sorry, sir," the receptionist began, her professional smile tinged with apology. "Due to the 'Honkai' server shutdown and update, our hotel has no spare rooms left. Not only that, but the nearby hotels are in the same situation..."
Rovel's gaze shifted suspiciously to his sister. "Yuki, you didn't bribe her, did you?"
It wasn't that he lacked trust in her, but rather that orchestrating such a scenario was precisely the kind of thing Yuki would do without a second thought.
"What are you saying, Brother? How could the innocent and adorable Yuki do something so devious?" She turned her head away, feigning a wounded pout. "Even if it's you, Brother, if you doubt me like this, I'll get angry!"
"Sigh... alright, my mistake." Rovel rubbed his forehead. When she put on that act, he really had no way to counter it. He couldn't very well march from hotel to hotel just to verify the story, could he?
"Hee-hee, one room it is!" Yuki's face instantly lit up, her feigned anger vanishing as she beamed at the receptionist. She shot the woman a conspiratorial wink, which was met with a subtle 'OK' gesture from below the counter.
"Hello, we'd like to book a room."
Just then, a couple approached the other end of the front desk.
"Certainly," a different receptionist's voice replied. "Please provide your ID cards, and I will process that for you right away."
The exchange wasn't loud, but in the suddenly silent lobby, every word landed with perfect clarity.
A bead of cold sweat instantly traced a path down Yuki's back.
"Yuki..." Rovel's voice, calm and dangerously low, sounded from right behind her.
Her entire body went rigid. With a stiff, creaking motion, she turned around. When she met Rovel's hollow, utterly unimpressed gaze, a wave of immense pressure washed over her.
Finally, she broke the tension.
"Ehehe~" Yuki gave her own head a light, sheepish knock.
"Two rooms, please," Rovel said, his voice flat. "Thank you."
After they had settled into their separate rooms, Yuki couldn't wait to drag Rovel out for the main event: shopping.
"Brother Rovel, our objective this time is to take home all the collectibles. Are you confident?!" Yuki was practically glowing with excitement. It had been far too long since she had added anything new to her anime display case. Of course, all of it was kept at Rovel's apartment—her own family would never allow such treasures in their home.
"I'll do my best." Rovel stretched his arms and shoulders, limbering up. From the look in her eyes, he knew this was going to be a fierce battle.
"No energy! I can't hear you at all!" Yuki barked, channeling her inner drill sergeant. "Do you expect to command a warship with such a quiet voice?!"
"Ohhh~!" Rovel roared back, putting as much spirit into it as he could muster.
"Good! Let's go!"
With that, Yuki immediately entered her 'sweep and clear' mode.
"I want one of everything on this wall. Oh, and wrap those up for me too. Hmm, and the figures, of course..."
Before long, Rovel's arms were laden with a mountain of shopping bags. Fortunately, thanks to his game synchronization, his base attributes were exceptionally high. The weight was nothing to him. He had never bothered to measure his exact strength, but he knew the handgrip dynamometer he kept at home had been unceremoniously crushed during a casual test.
"Satisfied, so satisfied!" Yuki declared, admiring her spoils of war with a look of deep contentment.
By the time they loaded everything into the car, half of the trunk was already filled to the brim.
"Alright! Next up is an indispensable part of any great outing," Yuki announced, pointing dramatically down the street. "The extra-spicy restaurant over there!"
"Of course it is," Rovel sighed, though a small smile played on his lips. He had seen this coming a mile away.
"But what's with this couple's private room?" Rovel asked, arching an eyebrow at Yuki as the waitress led them to a secluded booth.
"I did the math," Yuki said, launching into an excuse that even she clearly didn't believe. "The couple's set meal here is ten percent cheaper than ordering a la carte."
Considering the small fortune in otaku collectibles currently sitting in their car, the idea that she was concerned with saving a few dollars was utterly laughable. Still, it was just a meal, so Rovel decided not to press the issue.
"I'm going to the restroom," he said halfway through their meal, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
"Mm-hmm..." Yuki nodded, her mouth full. "Get me another bowl of mung bean soup on your way back." She gestured with her chopsticks toward a fiery dish coated in crimson chili oil before diving back in. There were already four empty soup bowls stacked neatly beside her.
"Okay," Rovel agreed and left the room.
As the door slid shut behind him, he thought he heard a faint, furtive sound from within. A flicker of suspicion made him pause. He waited outside the door for a few seconds before quietly, carefully, pushing it open just a crack.
"...one pill seems like too little," he heard Yuki muttering to herself. "It would be bad if it doesn't work. Maybe I should put in two more..."
His eyes narrowed. She was hunched over his seat, her hands busy doing something to his drink.
"Yuki..."
The devilish whisper sounded again, this time right behind her.
"Bro... Brother?!" She jumped, spinning around in her seat. "Didn't you go to the restroom? Could it be... Brother is that fast..."
She tried to maintain a calm front, hastily hiding whatever was in her hand behind her back. She even attempted to use a crude joke to divert his attention.
"Give it to me." Rovel simply held out his hand, his expression unreadable.
"Ah, does Brother want to invite me to a dance?" Yuki chirped, placing her own hand delicately on his palm, still playing dumb. "I recently learned a pretty good one."
Her charade was futile. Rovel deftly searched her, his fingers closing around the small vial of 'computer accessories' she had tried to conceal. It was a common, if crude, online euphemism for aphrodisiacs. He had no earthly idea where she had even managed to acquire such things.
A moment later, Yuki was pouting, covering her cheeks which were now slightly red and swollen from Rovel's firm pinching. She glared at him, her eyes filled with indignation.
"Stop staring and eat," Rovel said, rolling his eyes. He was becoming increasingly speechless when it came to his sister's antics.
"Fine, I'll eat!" Yuki huffed. As if to vent her frustration, she began to furiously shovel the super-spicy food into her mouth. The inevitable result came swiftly.
"Mung bean soup! Brother, I want mung bean soup!"
That afternoon, they headed to an anime convention being held nearby—one of the main reasons Yuki had chosen this city for their trip. She had returned to the hotel beforehand and changed into a cosplay outfit she had prepared long ago.
Long, straight silver hair cascaded over her chest. A stark white dress gave her a somewhat sickly, fragile appearance. She clutched a plush black rabbit in her arms, and two large black bows were tied neatly in her hair.
"Bro... ther..." Yuki intentionally lowered her voice to a breathy whisper, using the black rabbit to partially cover her mouth and nose as she looked up at Rovel with bashful, pleading eyes.
"If you're ready, let's go," Rovel said, giving her only a passing glance before starting to walk.
"...Brother is an idiot!" Yuki put on a deeply hurt expression, but seeing him walking further away, she quickly scurried to catch up.
They had only walked a short distance when Yuki suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. A strange, nonsensical babbling started to escape her lips.
"Heh heh heh... ha ha ha ha... The truth of the world... I have deciphered it!"
"What kind of craziness is this now?" Rovel asked, looking back at her in utter confusion.
"Brother, do you understand the meaning of marriage?" she began, a manic gleam in her eye. "Simply put, marriage is when two unmarried people move their personal information onto the same household register and begin living together."
She took a dramatic step forward, her voice rising with her grand conclusion.
"According to that definition, it turns out I've been Brother's wife from the very beginning!"
Yuki declared the words with such triumphant finality, it sent a jolt through Rovel's entire nervous system.
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