Chapter 373 365: Long Dream Reprised
Friends.
"Hey, wanna hang out after class today? There's a new frappe in Starducks."
"Why not Em? I'll swing by at 3?"
Lovers.
"U-uhm... I really like you..."
"Right. I don't know you or anything. Why don't you man up, pull those shoulders back, and then we can try talking? I am not gonna date you though. Never"
"Oh..."
Family.
"Hey kid, I whipped up some of your favorites."
"Thanks, Mom, I love you."
"Your dad will be here soon, so wash up till then."
I had it all.
After all, nothing was impossible for me.
Whether it was maintaining my social circle with the best of the best students in the world's biggest academy or whether it was keeping up my family time with my mom and dad, I could do everything.
But no matter how much I tried.
It all felt empty.
Like.
Something. Somewhere. Was missing.
When I went to class it seemed as if someone else would have passed through the same halls a while back. When I went back home to the dinner table, it seemed as if someone else should have been there sitting with me. When I was confessed to by men and women alike, I felt as if I had to introduce them to someone else before I could take them seriously.
He was there when I was born.
He was there when I was in elementary school, middle school.
He was there when I didn't need him, always, always there. He wasn't looking at me, but he was there.
And now that I did need him.
He was gone.
Friends, Family, Lovers, Mentors, in the end, now all of them just felt empty.
.
.
.
And very fucking honestly dudes, I didn't care!
"Hey, Nari, you even listening—Holy fuck!?"
Nari. That was my name, but I ignored the voice saying it. I stacked up the weights in the gym of the academy. The lights flashed all around me while the meter's beeping red showed the weight. I lined the weights on the bar and went down on the bench press.
"T-two thousand pounds?"
"How much is that in Kilos, Em? Why would you ever use that dumb measurement system?"
"I-its about... 900 kilos?"
I shook my head and grabbed the bars, slowly lifting them.
"Just measure it in burgers at that point."
"Half pounders? That'll be like, four thousand burgers."
"Argh, always so quick with your sass, huh?" I clicked my tongue at my old friend's words. "It's light. Be useful and put on some more weights."
"I can't lift that shit, girl," Nari hummed as she walked to the back of the bench and placed her hand below the bar, like a spotter.
I thought she couldn't lift this stuff.
It really was light, though.
Everything in this world was just, so damn easy for me. That's what happened when you were perfect. A perfect dual core, a perfect daughter, perfect friend... once a perfect sister too.
But none of that mattered to me now.
"You're lifting it like it actually is made of burgers," Em muttered before turning around. "Hey! Kevin! Help Nari out a bit here."
Another distant voice screamed back as the sounds of shoes screeching on the linoleum floors stopped a tad. The person, blonde-haired pretty boy douchebag, Kevin, came running over at the mention of my name.
"The princess needs my help? Should I use my ability again?"
"You bet," Emily continued. "Make it heavier for her, way heavier."
"Woah! 2000 pounds?"
"Four thousand burgers."
"Em, darling, half-pounder burgers don't work that way."
"Thanks for the voice of reason, douchebag," The words spilled out of me on their own. Douchebag McDouche's lips twitched as he took a stance and started engaging all his mana. A magic circle formed in the air above me.
"[Duplex Gravitas]!"
The gravity around me increased twice at once. My eyes widened as the pressure of the weights finally fell on bench presses.
People all over the gym started to gather. Screaming about how many I was going to pull off this time.
But none of that mattered.
I only cared about one thing.
That was, to be the strongest in the world.
Why the strongest you asked? What did not being strong get you?
Death. That's what.
My brother was weak. And he died.
My loser. Idiot. Trash. Brother, who would never be here when I wanted him to be.
Even if three years passed.
He was never here.
I...
Didn't want to be a loser like him.
So, I decided to be the strongest. The very strongest.
"Argh!" A grunt left me as I placed the weights back on the rack and the spell vanished. "Hah, how many was that?"
"I... didn't count."
"Yeah, we thought you were keeping a track."
I looked around the room at the idiots who had stopped everything and were looking at me. All of them just shrugged.
"Seriously? Whatever."
Douchebag and Em continued chatting while I finished most of my workouts.
The sun went away and evening started to fall.
No dragons attacked us whatsoever.
In the changing room of the gym, I stepped out after taking a shower and put on my watch. Messages popped up on the holographic screen.
One of them was from my mother. I quickly tapped on her chat and sent a reply.
[Mom: Where are you? It's getting late.]
[Me: Finishing up, omw. Want cake?]
[Mom: Choco please]
I slammed the locker close with my legs, put up my bag on my shoulder, and stepped out of the room.
Outside with her pink hair flowing down her shoulders was Em, waiting for me for a fairly long time.
"Let's go home together."
She flashed a bright smile. A blindingly bright, fulfilling smile.
But it still felt empty.
I smiled back.
"Sure," I said. "Let's get some cake on the way as well."
"Oh! No cars are flying in the shopping district down your house, that's the best place. I'll ask for a chocolate strawberry butterscotch cake."
"Cool idea! And I'll call for the cops."
The two of us started walking away with silly chatter as our bgm.
As we stepped out of the gym, the statue at the front of the building made of pure stone filled my eyes.
Emily took a look at it and patted my shoulder.
[In loving memory of: Albert Wessler and Yu-Jin Han. Heroes who saved the academy.]
Weak. Weak heroes.
Heroes who disappeared from this world, like once a long dream.
Yeah.
I never wanted to be like my brother. Like Yujin Han
I...
Wanted to be the strongest.
***
[A/N: Welcome to Volume 7 of This Eroge Won't Make Me Fall. That's the only other character who'll be getting first person in this story, yay!]
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