This can’t be happening.
Even if I don’t know whether I’ll succeed in getting to the ending, anyone should be able to set up a target to pursue.
I tried several times with my sister’s name, but the result was the same.
[Failed to set target for pursuit.]
Damn it!
My head started to throb.
I bit my lip and pressed my fingertips hard against my temples.
“Something’s seriously twisted.”
But I couldn’t just give up.
It had only been a few minutes since I decided to try again.
While playing the game, I didn’t encounter system messages very often.
It was only when setting a target for pursuit, a few choices, and when notifying the success or failure of the final ending.
I couldn’t check my stats individually through the status window, but I could infer them to some extent from the situations that followed.
It wasn’t like I’d only played the game once or twice, so this wasn’t a problem.
But this situation was a first.
“Ugh, this is driving me crazy.”
I scrubbed my face roughly with my slender hands.
I was beyond flustered; I was dumbfounded.
Then, a memory suddenly struck me.
“Could it be that?”
It was a memory I’d glimpsed on the game lounge bulletin board.
I tried to calm my breathing as much as possible and struggled to recall that memory.
[Question: I keep getting the message ‘Failed to set target for pursuit.’ What should I do?]
[Author: Trainee]
Answer:
Master3: Hello, Trainee. This is Happiness Operations Master3. First of all, I apologize for the inconvenience in the game. A case has been discovered where setting a target for pursuit fails due to a system error. In this case, don’t panic, and build up a certain level of favorability with the target for pursuit and receive a gift from them. However, please note that you must complete this within one year (before the protagonist turns 12) for the target for pursuit to be set normally.
I breathed a sigh of relief at the memory I finally found.
“Whew, it does exist.”
It was absurd that they still hadn’t fixed the error, but I was getting used to things like this.
Rather, I was strangely drawn to it because it was the first time I’d experienced it.
That’s because, thinking it wouldn’t be an easy path from the start, something akin to a desire to conquer welled up.
Was this really the same person who was trying to die just a little while ago?
“Anyway, now there are only two options.”
Build up favorability with my sister and receive a gift within a year, or give up and get hit head-on by the great disaster.
I’d already had a meaningful (?) first meeting with my sister, so I decided to bet my life on the former.
“First, let’s go home.”
I stretched and took a big step forward.
It had been a long time.
Since I’d headed home with such a light heart.
Back home, I naturally looked around the bedroom.
It was a habit I’d developed from repeated regressions.
I had to check in advance for any changes to prepare for what might happen later.
“Well, doesn’t seem like there’s anything in particular.”
In the game, I was the eleven-year-old only daughter of the Cleo Baron family.
Having lost my mother at a young age, I was a precious daughter raised by my father, who ran a trading company.
To honor my mother, who loved sailing, my father spent more time at sea than on land.
Thanks to that, the trading company grew quite steadily, and the family’s financial situation became comfortable.
However, seeing my father’s face was as difficult as picking a star from the sky.
‘But I don’t have any complaints.’
Cleo Baron was a harder worker than anyone else.
He didn’t mistreat me just because I was a daughter; instead, he hired a skilled chef to prepare nutritious meals and paid special attention to my clothes.
In addition, he promised to invest generously in my education if I wanted to learn.
He was fulfilling his heavy responsibility to raise his only daughter without any shortcomings.
I felt a lump in my throat at that fact.
‘Because…….’
Before being possessed by the game, I was raised by a single mother.
I had never even seen my biological father.
When my mother lost the use of her legs in an accident, she eventually took her own life out of despair.
After that, my life was a series of sorrows.
Therefore, as someone who grew up eating scraps at this house and that house, I was simply grateful to my game father, Cleo Baron.
Frankly, I was just happy that a father existed here.
As I was reminiscing about the past.
‘Huh?’
Something strange happened to me.
Countless memories began to be injected into my head.
At first glance, it was the game’s story.
‘I skipped all this.’
Most players neglected the story because it didn’t have a big impact on the game.
I was one of those people.
It was just boring, and there was no problem proceeding even if you didn’t know the content.
Rather, it was much more advantageous to focus on the relationship with the target characters, stats, items, and events.
But this time it was different.
‘……!!’
At one scene that flashed by like a revolving lantern, I froze like a statue.
It was so vivid, as if I hadn’t been possessed by the game but had been here from the beginning.
It seemed that the encounter with my next-door sister at the beginning of the game had changed the game’s story.
Along with concern, a voice was heard.
‘Sister, you have to marry me when I grow up.’
Sister, you have to marry me when I grow up.
The voice echoed in my head again and again.
‘Of all things…’
My brow furrowed.
That was definitely what I had said to my sister when I was a child.
Long before I was possessed by this body.
“Since I’m eleven now, was I five? Or maybe six years old?”
Not even knowing exactly what marriage was.
Just thinking that if you liked someone, being together was marriage.
My childhood story, where I could package very dangerous thoughts with innocence.
No, to be exact, it wasn’t something I experienced.
It seemed to be the default value given when meeting my sister.
Although it wasn’t decided yet that she would be the target for pursuit.
“Still, marriage with my sister? That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
I shook my head.
My feelings for my sister were never like that.
What I wanted was just a normal friendship ending where I could shout ‘Our friendship forever!’ with my sister.
It would be even better if that was a hidden ending.
“Haha!”
I giggled like someone with a screw loose.
It was because I was worried about how I should look at my sister in the future, in a situation that was embarrassing beyond words, regardless of memories or anything else.
My sister’s personality, which I saw that day, also played a part.
“She definitely wasn’t soft. If anything, she was flawless.”
In fact, I was impressed by her sharp appearance.
“Anyway, since I’ve been injected with memories, my sister must have the same memories, right?”
Memories that made it seem like we had known each other for a long time.
Now, my sister was no longer just an extra 1.
She would become the protagonist’s irreplaceable friend, so I had to treat her accordingly.
“If you’re a friend, you should have a nickname.”
I decided to set my nickname as ‘Say’ like my real name, and quickly decided on a nickname to call my sister.
Originally, the more you worried about things like this, the more you fell into a maze.
It would be much more efficient to focus on pursuing my sister than to waste time.
At the same time, I hoped that my sister would erase that promise from her memory.
“Maybe it was such a long time ago, she might not remember.”
I decided to mentally win like this.
There was no point in worrying about something that hadn’t happened yet.
When you think about it, the target for pursuit hasn’t been completely set yet, right?
“It’s actually a good thing.”
I had about a year more to think about it.
If I saw a better target for pursuit in the meantime, I could change the target.
There was no other way but to just try it anyway.
“That’s right. Just do it!”
I approached the mirror with a heart full of excitement.
Even from an objective point of view, I was a great beauty.
Having inherited the beautiful appearance of my deceased mother,
“Agh!”
I had forgotten for a moment while designing the framework for pursuing my sister.
The fact that I had a huge challenge.
I see it every time, but why can’t I get used to it?
It was hard on my heart in a different sense.
“T, this can’t be!”
My appearance in the mirror was uglier than usual.
Not only did I pull all my pink hair up to reveal my forehead, but I also had a topknot.
It was as if a vacuum cleaner had sucked my hair.
“Young lady! Miss Sadie!”
The one who was about to appear and cut my heart in half had come at the right time.
“Young lady! Where are you?”
“I’m in the bedroom!”
“Ah, yes! I’ll be right there!”
Will it be that news again this time?
I already knew what was going to happen, but I turned around with a nonchalant expression.
“Are you here?”
I was faster than the maid Anne in opening the bedroom door.
She was holding an envelope decorated with high-end ornaments in her hand.
“Yes! Young lady, guess what arrived?”
Anne was beaming as if she had brought something amazing.
That appearance felt quite cute.
I liked that there was someone who was sincerely happy about my affairs.
I was going to match Anne’s excitement, but.
‘No. There’s not much time. If I don’t hurry, I might miss it.’
I quickly decided to give up.
Only Anne’s eyes were shining brightly, unaware of such circumstances.
“That’s the National Foundation Day invitation, right?”
At that moment, Anne’s face rapidly hardened.
Like someone who had been spoiled the ending of a movie they hadn’t seen.
“Young lady, h, how did you know?”
I naturally took the invitation in Anne’s hand and replied as if it were nothing.
“I saw the imperial crest.”
“Wow, this?”
“Yeah. The only thing that would come around this time is the National Foundation Day invitation.”
“Oh my, how did you figure that out in such a short moment?”
Well, because I’ve experienced it several times?
Here in the Kaiter Empire, the National Foundation Day is held every year in October.
As a country built on the painful wounds of a long war, the National Foundation Day was a major event to commemorate the sacrifices of many people, to thank the heavens, and to spread the spirit of the empire far and wide.
Even in Delman, the small city in the province where I live, a festival is held under the auspices of the empire.
The festival includes a variety of events, including spectacular performances.
“You’re really amazing, young lady.”
“Well, it’s nothing…”
The more Anne looked at me in awe, the more my conscience pricked.
But I couldn’t back down.
It was already past the stage of pretending not to know what I already knew.
“But young lady, I think the preparation period for this year’s festival is too short.”
“Hmm, is that so.”
Anne asked cautiously, watching my reaction.
“I guess it’ll be difficult to participate this year?”