A silent room. Nothing visible, only a bright beam of light illuminated the room in a single focal point. The bright light came from a computer being used. A hero character attacking with a sword and magic appeared to be struggling. However, it soon became a turning point in the ongoing battle.
The victory sign for the player broke through the screen. This made the previously focused young man elated, shouting in triumph as if he had successfully crossed the line between champion and loser. But that wasn't what made him victorious; it was how he had truly put in the extra effort, completely locking his mind to give his all in the battle. With a satisfying result, the young man exclaimed proudly to himself.
"Great! Finally—ahahahah!! Finally!" However, his joy was cut short by a strong push from the door of his dark room. The young man was shocked to see someone standing there, glaring angrily at him.
"Brother! How many times have I told you not to scream like a madman!"
"Eepp!? Pi-pi? Look at this!" The young man showed the computer results of the game to his younger sister, whom he called Pi-Pi in front of him. However, the results were even more terrifying. She walked roughly around the corner of the small room, deeply irritated by hers filthy older brother. Dirtier than the trash itself.
Click! The sound of the switch being successfully pressed brightened the lamp that had been dormant there for more than half a day. But for the young man, his eyes were in excruciating pain. It felt like they were burning and being exposed to extreme light simultaneously, leaving him unable to say anything but scream in agony.
"Pi-pi?! What the hell, It hurts, you know!" He complained, covering his eyes, which were in pain from the bright light. It was also his fault for not seeing some light for almost a week.
Ignoring her older brother who was in pain, her hair loose, walked towards the mess of books and game covers. Just looking at them made her curse hers older brother, disgusted by his habit, wanting to throw away all the games and his computer rather than see her brother like a parasite in this house. She started pulling her brother's ears from the side, hers face full of rage and anger that had been building up since seeing the door closed tightly earlier.
"You stupid brother! You better clean up your room now than have me clean up this mess of your trash!! I won't tolerate anything if this isn't done, understand! Stupid brother!!"
"Yes, ma'am! I'll clean it up!"
In just a few minutes, the scattered items, empty energy drink cans, and fast food became a clean room. It seemed as if nothing had happened except for the monitor screen flashing, displaying the winning message to the person behind it—the player.
Even though her brother was a fan of RPGs and exploration games, seeing him like this made her feel uneasy. Something was clearly wrong—or perhaps more accurately, how difficult was this game to beat?
She simply shook her head helplessly. How could her brother, a gaming maniac, not be able to complete a level in a game?
While tidying up the remaining game covers near the computer desk, she noticed a game cover that read, "Beyond Neverlands." The background featured several large trees growing alongside a vast expanse of transparent grass. And frankly, the cover looked both impressive and impressive. It seemed the game designer was very talented in graphic design.
"Oh, that. That's the game you finished earlier. The result? Hm! hm! hm!" Ignoring her brother's pride, she walked over to the monitor. Pressing the menu button on the top left, the screen that initially displayed the victory message changed to a character selection screen with information about each character.
The older brother simply gave a confused look, finding it quite odd that she would actually try the game, considering she was someone who loved studying and reading books as thick as a professor's report. But if it was a character, especially a beautiful female character, then...
"This is it!"
"Everyn nacht. A famous noble girl in the game. Renowned for her cruelty and brutality against the inhabitants and rulers of the underworld. Everyn~~"
There was something strange about his little sister. But it wasn't anything strange, just like... who was this person who suddenly became a fan of female villains? More importantly, the character mentioned earlier was the final boss in the game "Beyond Neverlands." In her fifth form... hhahh, even he was speechless.
Before he finished staring at his little sister, who continued to stare at him strangely yet full of... uh, don't ask how to explain it. Just let her laugh maniacally there with the woman on the monitor.
Walking down the quiet hallway outside his room, the stairs leading down to the living room felt very quiet. Maybe it was just his little sister's background noise echoing. Now he just wanted a drink of water.
Letting his little sister see the boss character wouldn't be a problem, right? Maybe it would be even better if they could play together. Like when they were little, really, that was a common thing besides playing those internet games.
'By the way, how pi'pi know everyn?'
Rena Kannawa, often called "pi-pi" by her older sister, has always been a favorite among her schoolmates and the wider community. Her nickname "the princess" might seem like a perfect fit for her. While this may seem obvious to them, what they don't know is her true nature when it comes to her older sister.
"You damn brother!" Or perhaps "fuck you brother!" were her everyday words when she tried to educate her brother, who was truly lazy and aloof. "Kikono kannawa," that was her brother's name, always a loner like a lone wolf. Wouldn't he be easily bullied if she left the house or went to public places where appearances and reputation were valued?
Her job now was to protect her brother, to prevent him from suffering the same misfortune as before. Like when her brother could still... play with her with smile there.
Since that incident in middle school, her brother rarely played with her, always keeping to himself, as if shutting himself off from the outside world. Including herself, who always hoped to be with him again. But because of that, she had to work harder. Harder so that what happened to her brother wouldn't happen again. If anything happened to her brother, then, she will definitely be devastated.
'I wouldn't be able to forgive him, nor would I...'
And that's why she tried to understand the game her brother had recently purchased, locking himself in his room for 24 hours straight. Wouldn't he experience insomnia or symptoms of addiction to the female characters there? Hopefully not, that's what she hoped for.
Anyway, since then, she's learned various things about that world. Starting from the world system, the game mechanics, and the characters there. Especially the final boss, known among gamers as the most difficult boss there. Sometimes even competitive players have to spend precious hours defeating this boss. If you want to know, how difficult are these bosses?
But that's also why I came to know this final boss, right in front of the monitor screen. A slender face with a firm yet graceful chin, beautiful yet soulful pupils, like electric violet eyes in color theory—that's her name.
"Everyn Nerch. What a beautiful name, isn't it..." Her hand stroked the monitor screen, as if trying to hold her face, filled with hostility and coldness. Her eyes were filled with menace and dominance. That was the final boss, but it wouldn't be a boss without an interesting backstory.
The story goes that in a simple family, there was a beautiful and lovely girl, like any other girl, receiving attention, living peacefully, and pursuing higher education. Or so she should have. Living in misery when a group of bandits raided their village, leaving only she alone. Then, not only that, she became a slave to the bandits. Tortured, abused, and sold like mere commodities. And truly, Rena couldn't help but sympathize with this character. Planning revenge after gaining the game's strongest ability, only to be defeated by the world's hero.
"How miserable you are, everyn. If only there were a 'story changer' mode, surely, surely you would get a happy ending... just like the fandom wants." But that's impossible, because if there were, creating such a thing would take up server space and require creating a special storage system for the game's created stories. So, yeah, the only way is to create fan comics or fanfiction novels.
Is this what they call 'villains aren't born, but made'? And unfortunately, this is always the cornerstone of every villain story.
Her casual clothes felt incredibly tight now, even though she was wearing looser ones. But she seemed to realize later that she was indeed too weak when it came to emotional matters.
'Really, I'm too weak for sad stories like this.'
Feeling like something was amiss, she glanced at the time on the monitor in the bottom right corner. It was 7:00 PM, time for dinner. Her older sister really didn't know the time.
"Tsk, you idiot. Better cook dinner first," Rena grumbled before turning off the computer. Closing the door after turning off Kikonno's computer, the quiet, empty room was left in darkness except for a few shadows of the mattress and shelves filled with books and games.
Days passed, and there was only laughter and anger in the harmony between the two people. The whereabouts of the two children's parents remained a mystery, but now they were carrying on with their routines like any other normal person. And now, they had arrived at a park where they played together during their free time.
"Heh. Still the same, isn't it, Pi-Pi?"
"Yeah, you're right. Still the same one..."
The park seemed deserted, even though it was a Sunday, filled with children playing outside with their friends. But somehow, today felt a little different, but what could you do? Modern times can sometimes make people forget how much fun it is to play outside in person. How cruel.
They were currently sitting on an empty playground swing. They could feel the heat from the sun, but it didn't matter because it was still early. They thought of it as a healthy way to get some sunlight, but nothing else. They were just trying to reminisce about their childhood.
"Big Brother"
"Pi-pi."
Surprised, they stared at each other. But only a few seconds later, they were laughing together; blood relatives never disappoint.
The older brother stared at Pi-pi for a moment before looking up at the brightly lit ceiling. It happened to be summer, so the morning was quite hot. At least for now, they could chat like they used to.
"Pi-pi, do you still remember how you fell here? It was such a good joke that I rolled around laughing." Kikono laughed heartily, feeling like the incident she was remembering happened yesterday.
"What?! Big Brother, you still remember it!?" Embarrassed, Rena lunged at her brother in anger, strangling him fiercely. Her rage was like a king of the jungle pouncing on a hyena. What a joke.
"Pfft, sorry, sorry—" He flicked his hand at Rena's forehead. It made her step back, holding her forehead in a pout. And that made Kikono chuckle.
"Well, whatever. That was quite fun." He reached out to touch Rena's cheek. But instead of the gentle older sister's attempt to soothe her, he pinched her cheek roughly. It overwhelmed Rena.
"Brwotherd—! Iwt hwurt!" The sound of complaint echoed in her unsynchronized mouth, making strange yet amusing noises for her older sister. It made he's giggle before releasing her squishy cheek.
He stood up from the park sand, which was now starting to feel hot. Even the sounds of insects were beginning to indicate the heat was about to escalate. It would be appropriate to get up now and cool off with something, like...
"Want some ice cream? I'll treat you."
"Really?" Looking at her older brother, who nodded with a smile, Rena's eyes lit up. Perhaps even the bright sunlight wouldn't be enough to mask Rena's enthusiasm for the kikonomi offer.
"Okay, let's go! Let's go." Ignoring how sandy her long skirt was now, Kikonomi could only resign himself to it, knowing his little sister would surely squeeze he's wallet again. Really, but seeing his sister so genuinely happy and cheerful, even the sun and flowers would continue to shine and bloom for her.
'It doesn't matter, it's just money. I can still earn it.'
Now he approached his little sister proudly, wrapping his arm around her like she was very close to someone. And this was his way of letting those around her know that his little sister was very close to him, and vice versa. But really, he also wanted to play a little prank there.
"Hey, what about that figure of yours? Still using that 'fantasy'~?"
"B-brother!!" With her face embarrassed by Kikonomi, she now fiercely hit his brothet in the face. It was terrifying how people on the street stared at them, but quickly ignored them. That's just how little sisters and brother are, of course.
And now the streets were filled with laughter and jokes, occasionally teasing Rena mischievously. Indeed, that is the habit of an older sibling towards his younger sibling, especially if it is a younger sister.