"I’m going first, Kevin. See ya."

Kevin waved his hand as Kai left the classroom. Feeling good about today. Kai was smiling to himself inside.

Good progress for today, making up with Lily and he had also learned many things about himself today compared to the 21 years he spent living as "Ryan."

Leaving school, Kai walked on the sidewalk. The time was still quite early afternoon and chances were his little sister, Risa, had also come home from school. Maybe they could cross paths on the road again, plus the distance between Risa’s middle school and high school was close enough, besides Risa’s middle school was the school he had attended based on "Kai’s" memory.

Speaking of Risa, Kai was curious why there seemed to be distance compared to before. Along the way, he thought about why his little sister seemed to be keeping her distance from him again.

"Hmm... maybe I should take her out this weekend, besides if I’m not mistaken she invited me to go to the beach."

Kai remembered the promise he made with Risa about going to the beach and staying at a villa. Yeah. They couldn’t go last week because he was sick.

Haa... I feel a bit guilty. Because I was sick, my time just got wasted like that.

Looking ahead, passing through various intersections, Kai saw a familiar figure up ahead. A smile returned to his face, but only for a moment before his eyes dilated wide.

〈She’s Mine〉

"Kai’s" instinct felt like it was forcing him to do something irrational. But of course "Ryan" was still normal and rational. Even though this body was still connected to the soul of the "villain character," the soul inside it was "Ryan" and surely, he was still holding back the impulsive feelings within.

Seeing Risa talking to a boy her age, Kai broke out in more cold sweat. No way he could show up quickly. He thought that person would appear several months from now, not now.

⌈Ren Macrolla⌋

The male lead in the game’s story. The perfect character controlled by the "player," the self-insert figure for game players. The flawless figure described as perfect because players could develop his stats.

Now that figure was right in front of Kai and talking with Risa. Seeing the expression his little sister made, his heart pounded hard. He honestly had never pounded this hard, and it felt ’hurt’ in way he didn’t know.

Kai held his chest. Beating fast, maybe around 140 plus bpm. When was the last time it beat this fast? Even when he was stabbed by the crazy ex-boyfriend of Arisa, he hadn’t panicked that much facing that.

Maybe this wasn’t his feeling, but the genuine feeling of "Kai."

Seeing Ren about to reach for Risa’s hand, Kai swiftly ran and stopped him. Ren, with his face still smiling, raised both hands.

"Relax... I’m not a suspicious person. I purely just wanted to have a little chat... with Risa."

Ha... he knows her name? Have they already known each other?

Thoughts and possibilities about how far their relationship had gone flowed into Kai’s brain. Looking at Risa, Kai saw that this girl was also confused.

"Sorry, my little sister has business."

"Hmm... what a shame. Maybe another time."

Ren then left him and Risa. He waited until that person disappeared from view before Kai pulled Risa to go home together.

"Let’s go home."

Kai’s thoughts ran on autopilot, thinking about Ren’s appearance, why he appeared to Risa first, instead of the "heroine" he was supposed to meet, Lily, and his first appearance should have been at school, not on a public street like this.

Random. Is this my fault... most likely this is my fault, because I changed the route as I want. Maybe this is the consequence. Or there’s another reason why Ren chose Risa first compared to the other three.

Or... he was a ’reincarnator’ just like him.

Kai was flustered inside so he didn’t realize he was hearing Risa’s complaints about being pulled and walking too fast.

"Big bro... hey brother, it hurts. KAI!!!"

"?!!" Kai stopped his steps to look at Risa’s face, which was a little—no, not a little, but annoyed. Damn...

Kai let go of her hand. Risa’s face just now was the same face she made back when their relationship wasn’t good.

"..."

"..."

Shit... I fucked up again...

The other’s days is Lily and now his little sister. It felt like his head was about to explode when everything went wrong all at once. This was only two. What if the four "capture targets" also had problems simultaneously close together? Kai wasn’t sure he could handle it.

But for Risa... she was certainly a priority. Not because she was a "capture target," but because she was his little sister. Even if she weren’t a capture target, Kai—no, "Ryan"—would still prioritize Risa.

"Want to talk..." Kai said.

"Mmm..." Risa nodded, her eyes not looking at her brother as if everything that happened had undergone a hard reset.

Kai understood that and walked, followed by Risa from behind. They walked in silence. Risa didn’t know where her brother would take her.

One step, two steps, and several tens of steps later, they finally arrived near the riverbank. It all started here. Kai looked at the place where he had woken up and become "Kai."

⌈There are infinite ways to live life.⌋

Those were Mimi’s words, his little sister in his previous life. Mimi’s words were always exaggerated because basically she was more talented and smarter than him, "Ryan."

⌈The more you love, the more people will love you too.⌋

Those were Arisa’s words, his closest female friend in his previous life. That advice was truly the reason why he used to have so many female friends.

Having known them was truly a blessing for Ryan. And now he was meeting new persons and yet his position remained the same: as an older brother.

"Are you going to jump into the river again?" Risa asked when she saw the river.

"Hmm... if you throw something into the river again, I’ll retrieve it again."

"..." Risa moved closer and leaned on Kai’s arm. She closed her eyes, enjoying the evening breeze. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to be like that and distant since yesterday."

Risa put her hand on her chest, checking whether her heart beat or not when near Kai. Still not beating. She felt disappointed in herself.

"Do you have a problem, lately?" Kai asked.

"Humm." Risa nodded, tilting her head up to look at her brother’s profile. She tried to smile. "It seems my love for you has decreased."

"Huh?"

"I mean... my heart doesn’t beat for you anymore."

Risa sighed, pulled Kai to turn so they faced each other, then hugged Kai, hiding the face she made against Kai’s chest.

Kai didn’t hug her back, but his hand patted and stroked her hair gently, like someone stroking a cat.

Heart doesn’t beat anymore... could it be because of Ren? But it’s impossible that just by his existence he could charm the "capture targets" in an instant as he pleases.

That’s cheating.

Kai remembered that in the game there were also stat attributes to ease game progress. But again, that required grinding and that was in the game. If in the real world it was like this, that meant all of Ren’s stats were maxed out.

"Sis... I mean Risa, I have one question."

"Hmm..."

Kai held his breath before saying something that, if he said it in a public place like this, could get him socially dead. So he leaned to Risa’s side. His warm breath made Risa shiver a little as he spoke right into Risa’s ear. This is worth shot to try as Kai thinking

"Do you love me and see me as more than just a brother, more than afamily? Do you see me as the opposite sex?"