Chapter 120: Chapter 119 - The Future Mina Saw

Mina Fujikawa walked into the VR centre with a singular purpose; just to have fun - nothing else, no plans or secret romantic agenda, just plain old fashion fun.

The universe had other ideas.

When she sat down at the VR console there were many options on the screen like Festival Simulation, Beach Date, School Romance, Fantasy Adventure, and Future Life.

However, as per her usual routine, she did not read any of the description.

"Oooh," she said to herself while randomly hitting buttons to choose Life Together Simulation.

When the loading was done, she was smiling and thinking, "That’ll be fun."

Famous last words!

Suddenly the entire world around her faded out then back to an entire new environment; an apartment...a nice warm, comfortable, lived-in, brand new apartment.

Mina blinked when the notification came:

Simulation year: +8

"Huh?", she said because no one answered her.

Then the apartment door opened.

Kuro walked in...AI Kuro.

Kuro was older (and taller and more mature) and carrying groceries.

"You are late".

Mina automatically responded to him, and the response surprised her because she had not made that response up on her own, the simulation did.

Kuro then looked at her with that apologetic look and stated, "There was a long line in the store."

"Okay," she said hoping for leniency on that one too.

"I have ice cream," he said.

At that point, if there were any doubts in her mind about forgiving him, the doubts now were gone!

The rest of the simulation continued, as days and then weeks went by before Mina realised what the purpose of the simulation was.

Mina and AI Kuro cohabitated.

There was romance.

There was flirtation.

They shared an actual dwelling.

They were to eventually share their entire lives

Initially.

It was a riot.

Cooking mishap number one.

Mina burned some breakfast.

The fire alarm went off!

AI Kuro opened every window.

"How?"

"I used the recipe."

"Burning everything; that is, not in the recipe."

"It was contained."

That ended the argument after ten minutes.

The situation recorded everything.

Then it was onto the next event.

Shopping.

Movies.

Board games.

Random arguments over small incidents.

Because AI generated numerous trivial instances.

There weren’t many memorable events.

Why? Because it felt like everything was real.

One evening they had a disagreement over which film to view.

Thirty minutes later both had fallen asleep before viewing below.

On another evening it took them longer than two hours to put together furniture.

The furniture had won.

Mina did not like the furniture.

The simulation enjoyed it.

Months passed; years passed.

The look of the apartment changed.

Pictures appeared.

Souvenirs appeared.

The apartment became a place of memories.

The place became a place of shared memories for them.

Mina no longer treated the apartment as if she were in a game.

She unknowingly made many new memories.

They created memories;

Birthdays.

Celebrations.

Trips.

Late-night discussions.

Thunderstormy days.

Sunshiny mornings.

Tedious events.

Those were the most dangerous events, because it’s difícil to acknowledge the existence ordinary happiness until after it has occurred and has passed.

The simulation went on.

Face it, AI Kuro dropped the ball on the present for Mina on her birthday.

Mina was not happy with AI Kuro.

Mina gave him her forgiveness without hesitation.

Another Anniversary?

A Weekend Away?

A Beach Resort?

The two of them had spent many hours together walking along a beach.

Although there was nothing outstanding happening between them,

Mina was smiling.

A lot.

The years passed.

Eventually, A notification appeared.

"Moving On To The Next Life Milestone?"

To this day, she never read it.

That was her big mistake.

That was the massive mistake.

That was the legendary mistake.

Without giving it a second thought,

Mina pressed:

YES.

The world disappeared.

Then, it came back.

Wedding chimes were ringing.

Mina was frozen.

Mina saw the church appear before her.

There were rows of guests,jet boats, furniture and decorations in white.

The entire area was beautiful.

Mina looked at herself,

And saw that she was wearing a white dress.

Mina screamed.

"What?!"

The simulation did not respond.

The simulation entered panic mode,

And then absolute panic mode and

Pointed to her as if to express her panic.

AI Kuro was standing at the altar

In a tuxedo and calm

Unlike Mina,

Whose soul had already left her body.

Wedding Sequence Initiated

"No."

Sequence Locked.

"No."

Emotional Milestone Required.

"Who Invented This Thing?!"

No response.

The music continued.

The guests were smiling.

The ceremony continued.

Mina was still looking for the exit button.

There was no exit button.

There was no exit.

There was no forgiveness.

Only marriage.

The wedding march started,

And Mina was walking slowly toward AI Kuro.

Each step increased the emotional wear and tear he had on her.

As she walked (which was very painfully and emotionally) toward AI Kuro,

He extended his hand toward her.

"Are you ready?"

"No."

"Okay. Then we’re continuing with the ceremony."

"We’ll be reading our vows now."

"Next we will exchange our rings."

"After that, we will make our marriage official."

At that moment, Mina’s brain stopped working.

"Once again,,"

"And once again happened."

Finally, Mina realized she lost."

She was beaten by the simulation.

A few moments later.

"Marriage complete."

Mina looked up.

"I was beaten."

"I was completely beaten."

Again the simulation moved forward.

"Now we were legally married."

"I wished we weren’t."

The apartment reappeared.

"My future moved forward."

"Our routine moved forward."

"Our time spent cooking together."

"Our time watching movies."

"Our time shopping."

"Our lives."

Not much had changed.Except for one thing.

Their relationship had gained more depth.

Their relationship had gained meaning.

"My future continued to move forward."

"And the apartment became our home."

Mina discovered that the wedding ceremony was not the highlight of the experience.

It’s the countless small experiences that came later.

Quiet happiness.

Shared experiences.

Ordinary living.

All of these made the simulation dangerous.

Because they were realistic.

Because they were painful.

Eventually, the final phase of the simulation happened.

"Simulation complete."

The apartment disappeared.

She had lost all her belongings.

She had lost my future.

Mina took the headset off.

It was silent.

It was completely silent.

A few minutes later.

Soon after, she stood up.

She slowly and carefully stood up.

She was emotionally devastated.

The VR people were concerned.

"Miss?"

"..."

"Are you okay?"

"..."

"Miss?"

"I just got married."

The VR person blinked.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Then, Mina left.

Hours passed.

She got Kuro’s home.

The bad news?

They were all there.Akari , Aoi , Rika , Minami and Kuro.

They were all eyeing her very inquisitively.

How was the simulation?

Akari asked.

The minute Mina sat down, she crossed her arms and turned away; I’m not going to talk about it.

A few moments of silence passed; suspicion was building.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"You’re lying."

"It was educational."

"That sounds worse."

"Yes, it does."

Mina would not elaborate.

No amount of questioning worked.

No amount of pressure worked.

Mina was carrying that secret on her own.

The weight of a horrible mistake.

A mistake where you married an AI named Kuro.

And no one will ever find out.

The only problem was...

The system has logged everything.

User:Mina Fujikawa

Relationship Route:Marriage

Emotional Investment:Extremely High

Future Satisfaction:Confirmed

The record was logged.

It’s just waiting.

For when the chaos starts.

Her walk back her home after . And that was agony. Agony.

Her face was planted deeply in her hands as she walked home from the wedding.

Each time she took a few steps and remembered something else, she would blush again.

(Ringing of wedding bells)

She remembered the church and her face would become even redder than it had been for the wedding bells.

She also remembered walking down the aisle in her wedding dress and the damage she had done to the dress was severe.

She said to herself, "Why did everything have to feel so real!?!"

This is going to make things worse.

Then it took her several minutes to remember all the little things that had occurred .

After she married AI Kuro - their apartment together, the time spent watching movies together, grocery shopping together, weekend laziness, little conversations and all the little things.

All of these little things felt more shameful than marrying AI Kuro.

Mina remembered all of the little things because she enjoyed all of them so much.

Her face became even hotter.

Mina shook her head "no" to constantly.

Mina said that the whole experience was "fake" and "not real" and "definitely not real."

However, she soon remembered something again - AI Kuro standing in the kitchen and smiling and saying, "Welcome home."

When she thought about AI Kuro standing in the kitchen and saying, "Welcome home," Mina stopped dead in the street and almost died.

"Why am I remembering this!?!"

People were stopping and staring at Mina.

Mina put her face back in her hands to hide herself.

When she got home, it looked like she had been in a natural disaster.

In a way, she was in a natural disaster.

The natural disaster was accidentally marrying AI Kuro.