"Yes, happy reunion."
Shirakawa Natsu handed over the drawing in his hand and noticed the mobile phone lying on the table. Hashimoto Yuna didn't usually play with her phone.
Seeing it tossed aside carelessly now, it was clear she had just been talking to someone. Any doubts were confirmed by the tear stains on her sleeves, evidence that she had been crying—up until he arrived.
"Sister Youcai seems upset. Did you have a difficult patient today?"
Arina Hashimoto noticed the tear stains too, covering her forehead with her hand. "Honestly… I wanted to keep up the image of the cheerful, brave older sister who faces hardships head-on, but apparently, showing weakness makes me look… fragile. If you want to laugh, then just laugh."
She spread her hands, her expression saying, Go ahead, make fun of me all you want.
Shirakawa Natsu didn't let it distract him. With a teasing tone, he said, "If Sister Youcai has difficulties, you can tell me. Don't just look at me like this—I'm very, very rich."
Though he drew comics with mischievous intent, they still brought him a considerable income.
"Don't act like a rich old man, you scoundrel~" Arina Hashimoto lifted her head, rapping him lightly on the head before waving her hand dismissively. "It's nothing. My sister can handle it."
"Yes..." Shirakawa Natsu's voice dropped, tentative. "About the boyfriend?"
He remembered the day he got the APP, overhearing gossip from two nurses: Hashimoto Arina had been seen getting into a Porsche with two handsome young men.
The cheerful smile on Arina's face slowly faded, replaced with something more reserved, almost like an elder's gentle smile. "Adults have their troubles too."
In that moment, Shirakawa Natsu felt as if there were a river hidden beneath her smile. They could see each other, talk, even laugh—but they couldn't reach the other side.
"I'm not a child!" Natsu blurted in frustration. Beyond the rewards from the system, why did he care so much for this cheerful sister? It wasn't the right moment, but the system's favorability, at ninety-three, gave him a sliver of hope. "I… I like—"
He didn't finish. A small hand pressed gently over his lips.
Arina Hashimoto's eyes were wide with panic, fear, and bewilderment. She shook her head slightly.
Feeling a surge of injustice, Natsu reached out and grabbed her arm, trying to pull her closer, though he used no force.
He read the plea in her eyes: the fear of losing something precious.
Natsu's heart softened instantly. His grip loosened.
They stared at each other until he struggled to breathe. Arina hurriedly let go, stood, and gently rubbed his back, her usual calm gone, replaced by panic. "Sorry, sorry… Natsu, are you feeling unwell?"
Natsu raised his hand to stop her, took a few deep breaths to steady himself, and then smiled. "It's okay. I just wanted to say I like this ending. I believe Sister Youcai will too."
Hashimoto Yuna froze, her eyes fixed on the drawing. It was different from her usual manuscripts—this one was meticulously crafted, each character more three-dimensional, every line brimming with emotion, as if the characters could move at any moment.
"I came to deliver the drawing today. Sister Youcai has finished reading it—please give me your thoughts."
After saying this, he waved and walked out.
This time, Arina didn't follow to deliver it. After watching Natsu leave, a worried expression crept onto her face.
Cautiously, she tiptoed to the door, peeking out, watching until he slowly entered the ward.
She returned to her desk, picked up the drawing, and studied it intently. Her hands traced the textured bumps of the paper, as if she could feel the young man's emotions poured into every stroke, shaping the ending she longed to see.
Turning the pages, a few tears slipped onto the paper.
Arina panicked and hastily wiped the tears with her sleeve, afraid of damaging the manuscript.
In the ward, Shirakawa Natsu lay dazed on the hospital bed, questioning his life.
That ninety-three favorability rating on the APP wasn't a mirage.
He even wondered if the system used a thousand-point scale—otherwise, according to normal game logic, a ninety-three would already make the "heroine" cooperative, obedient to any pose or request.
Rational thought quickly dismissed the idea. If it were out of a thousand, then item exchanges in the mall wouldn't be in double digits—he would have emptied the mall by now.
The APP was clearly a percentage system.
Yet Natsu couldn't understand why his confession had failed with a ninety-three favorability.
He thought about it all afternoon, until Yazhikui arrived to collect the manuscript.
"Deep in thought, huh? Looking absent-minded."
Mi Zhikui, with an unlit cigarette dangling from her mouth, stood beside the bed. At 1.79 meters with long legs, she looked even taller, as if she'd stepped off a fashion runway.
Natsu, at a loss, asked like a desperate student: "If a girl has a very high affection for you—say, ninety-three out of a perfect hundred—but still rejects your confession… why?"
He looked to her for guidance, hoping for a constructive answer.
Mi Zhikui glanced at him with a mixture of pity and patience. After a long pause, she said, "Maybe… her affection is just your illusion. Maybe you're misreading her feelings."
"...!"
Natsu's lips twitched. She clearly thought him paranoid. But the situation was awkward. He couldn't whip out his phone to show her the ninety-three score and shove it in her face.
Mi Zhikui noticed his frustrated look, tilted her head, and sat casually on the edge of the bed with her legs sprawled.
"First of all," she said, "it's impossible to quantify affection accurately. In real life, many times, even people don't know their own hearts."
Natsu's eyes lit up, as if he'd caught a key clue. "Go on."
She pulled a lighter from her pocket, hesitated, then played with it instead. "Even if you like someone very much, many factors come into play—different life outlooks, gender, family ties, marital status…"
"So that's it!" Natsu felt as if a week-long blockage had suddenly cleared. Reality wasn't a game. In the game, if you had enough favor, the heroine couldn't refuse you.
Reality was different. Even if feelings were mutual, other factors mattered.
He had mistaken the APP's magic for real life, ignoring practical obstacles.
He began listing potential problems between them:
A six-year age gap.
Patient-doctor boundaries.
Life-and-death stakes in medicine.
Hashimoto Arina had a rumored boyfriend.
Deflated, Natsu sank back onto the hospital bed.
When he first got the APP, he hadn't understood its functions. He'd chosen Arina based on personal preference, accidentally activating "**** mode."
The APP had given him hope, but reality struck again.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Mi Zhikui noticed his eyes dimming from life to despair.
"I can't give up." Natsu's voice was firm. He wasn't the type to quit. If he had to live this life again, nothing would scare him.
He had to change what could be changed, and find a way to make Arina accept what couldn't.
Intelligence would be his key.
He needed every piece of information about her rumored boyfriend.
Looking down, he realized he couldn't investigate himself. His eyes shifted to Mi Zhikui. With her appearance and gender, even if she were caught snooping, she could easily concoct a plausible excuse.
Natsu looked at Mi Zhikui, eyes serious. "Please… help me. It's hard to ask, but I have no one else."
Mi Zhikui froze for a moment. The lighter slipped from her hand, clattering to the floor.
Her body stiffened under his sincere gaze. She crossed her arms, meeting his eyes without flinching.
"We grew up together," she said carefully, "and I've always considered you my best brother."
"Yes," Natsu nodded, serious. "That's why I can only ask you. I don't trust anyone else."
Mi Zhikui stepped back slightly, realizing she had no argument.
He had spent his life confined to a hospital bed, isolated from normal social life. The business card he received yesterday probably sparked some hope.
Her expression was cloudy, uncertain. She had always seen him as a best brother—nothing more. But denying a single request from her best brother would be cruel.
She took a deep breath, met his eyes, and said seriously, "Okay… but you know I only like women. That won't change."
Natsu froze for a moment, not understanding why she emphasized that—but when he heard she would help him, he immediately nodded, a mix of surprise and relief. "Of course I know."