Even as the two sisters left the shrine and walked along the path to school, Hoshimori Shion’s thoughts remained fixated on that forum post.
In this world, while few could actually ‘see’ spirits, a considerable number could certainly ‘sense’ their presence.
Indeed, her exorcism duties from the previous day had been precisely about confronting these spirits.
According to the game’s lore, this land, known as the realm of eight million gods, embraced the belief that all things possessed a spirit. Alongside the benevolent deities who protected humanity, there existed malevolent spirits eager to devour them.
Regarding the origin of these evil spirits, Shion hadn’t completed the game and hadn’t delved into any lore books. Nevertheless, she understood that as the town’s shrine maiden, she possessed a spirit-suppressing constitution and the most potent perceptive abilities against spirits, making it her solemn duty to eliminate these malevolent entities. This was also one of the essential conditions for completing the game: she had to uncover the root cause of the evil spirits’ emergence, eradicate it, and fulfill the centuries-old vow of the Hoshimori Shrine’s guardians.
Her exorcism yesterday had been spurred by the discovery that the aggregation of evil spirits had surpassed controllable limits, necessitating their immediate elimination. Failure to act would have allowed them to wreak havoc and harm people, inevitably leading the game to a bad ending.
Just the second day into the game, last night, she had received incessant system prompts warning that if she didn’t perform the exorcism, the evil spirits would emerge to plague the town, resulting in an immediate game over.
‘What would an ‘immediate game over’ entail? Would I be able to return to the real world?’
The system offered no reply.
Right then. Shion pressed a hand to her forehead. ‘What if? Who knew? She’d read light novels where, if you were sucked into a game world, ‘game over’ meant truly ‘game over.”
****
“Sister, look quickly! The light and shadows on the back mountain are so beautiful!” Hoshimori Ayane, who had been skipping and bouncing along, tapped Shion’s shoulder, pointing towards the vast mountain forest behind the shrine, illuminated by the morning sun.
The Hoshimori Shrine nestled on the back mountain behind the town, concealed by lush, verdant trees. The main town lay at the foot of the mountain, with the school situated in its center. Consequently, the Hoshimori sisters faced a nearly forty-minute walk to school each day. Apart from annual festivals and occasional tourists from out of town, hardly anyone visited the Hoshimori Shrine for worship. This allowed the sisters to attend school without much concern during regular days.
Seeing her sister’s excitement, Shion found herself smiling unconsciously. “Yes, it really is beautiful, isn’t it?”
Indeed, it was stunning: crisp, emerald tree shadows danced as if countless green sprites swayed in the sunlight.
‘If only… no evil spirits would spawn on the back mountain.’
Recalling last night’s exorcism, Shion still felt a shiver of dread.
On the very first night, she had actually received a system prompt indicating the emergence of evil spirits and the need for an exorcism. However, having just entered the game, Shion had been in such a fluster, taking ages to even figure out her own identity by coaxing information from her sister, that she hadn’t followed the system’s instructions to perform the exorcism on the back mountain.
As a result, according to the game mechanics, if one chose not to perform an exorcism on a given night, the evil spirits’ strength would be significantly greater on the subsequent night, pushing them closer to the brink of chaos.
Thus, the system directly warned her: [If you don’t exorcise them now, game over].
What should have been a beginner-level tutorial exorcism on the first day had, by delaying until the second, escalated directly into a boss battle-level challenge.
Last night, she had also received a prompt stating that as the game progressed, the evil spirits would grow increasingly powerful until the true calamity facing the town was revealed. As the protagonist, Shion would gain attribute boosts with each successful exorcism, and strengthening her bonds with the heroines would also enhance her own stats.
‘What would happen in the end?’ Shion herself had no idea.
Last night, on the back mountain, surrounded by evil spirits, Shion had swung her blade until her arms were devoid of strength, eventually unable to even lift her sword. Perhaps it was because the evil spirits’ attacks had brought her health bar to the brink; the wounded girl could barely keep her eyes open or maintain consciousness.
Fortunately, in the end, she had unleashed one final, desperate swing. By some stroke of luck, it had struck the last remaining evil spirit.
In the pitch-black forest, Shion, utterly exhausted, simply collapsed into unconsciousness.
In the last second before losing consciousness, she had wondered if this game had defeat CGs, like ‘Dona Dona.’
‘My god, wanting to see your own defeat CGs is utterly insane…’
Then, she knew nothing more.
When she awoke this morning, she found herself staring at the familiar ceiling of her own bedroom in the shrine.
Thankfully, if an exorcism was successful, the system would transport her back home. Otherwise, she truly would have spent the entire day lying in the back mountain yesterday, or, following normal human vital signs, simply bled out and died from her injuries.
At this thought, Shion couldn’t help but shiver. Although it was summer, the morning sun felt warm, almost a little dazzling.
“Sister, what’s wrong? You’re acting so strange today.” Ayane, who had been walking ahead, stopped and leaned close to Shion’s face, scrutinizing her. “Didn’t you sleep well last night, Sister?”
“So close, so close!” Shion felt Ayane was so near that if she moved even slightly, their lips would touch. ‘While Ayane was precisely the type of beautiful girl I’d adore in reality, here, she was my own biological sister! Besides, did this game even have a sister route?’
Shion swallowed hard, a flush creeping across her face.
“Sister, are you alright? Your face is a little red.” Ayane pressed her forehead against Shion’s, checking her sister’s temperature.
Shion held her breath, daring not to exhale.
“You’re a little warm, but not quite feverish… How are you feeling today, Sister? Do you want me to ask for a day off for you?” Ayane asked.
“I’m fine, really! When did my thoughtless, silly little sister start caring about me so much? If you really cared, you’d wake up early and make breakfast!” Shion, her face still flushed, gently pushed her sister away, unable to meet her gaze.
“But you’re my best sister, and I care about you! If you really got sick, who would make my breakfast? I can’t get up early in the morning!” Ayane stuck out her tongue.
“You thoughtless creature! I thought you were worried about me, but it all comes back to breakfast!” Shion lightly tapped her sister on the head. Seeing this, Ayane quickly pulled her head back. “Sister, it’s not right to hit your sister!”
The two continued their playful banter as they neared the school. Just as they were about to reach the school gate, a sudden clamor erupted from the treeline beside the green path.
“Sister, over there… is someone arguing?” Ayane nudged Shion, pointing towards the edge of the woods.
It seemed three boys had surrounded a red-haired girl.
“Ayane, wait for me here for a moment. I’m going to go check.” With these words, Shion took small, quick steps, jogging towards the source of the commotion.
‘Was it… bullying?’ Shion quickened her pace, heading straight for them.