Chapter 11: Childhood Friends Aren't Suited for Dating, But for Marriage
After a brief moment of shock and panic, Anon's mind quickly shifted gears. She let out a mischievous "Ehehe" giggle, crawling to the edge of the bed closest to Ren with a flushed, shy expression:
"What's this, Ren? If you wanted to confess to me, couldn't you have made it more grand? Who just says it straight out in a room like this? Don't think just because you confessed I'll go all the way with you."
"?"
That... almost made sense?
If you confess in a bedroom with a bed right there, you might end up rolling into it right after getting a yes.
But Anon seemed to have misunderstood something. Swiveling his chair to face her, Ren gave her a strange look: "Anon, I don't think I said I was confessing to you, did I?"
"You didn't? But you're thinking about getting a girlfriend—if it's not me, then who is it? Do you have some other childhood friend out there?"
Anon continued giggling "ehehe," convinced Ren was just too shy to say it clearly. But that was fine—her own face was thick enough for moments like this.
"Then let me ask you: Do you have any desire to date me?"
Ren really wanted to roll his eyes at her, but he held back and instead posed a question of his own.
"Hmm... Well, if you were the one to confess, then maybe?"
When put on the spot, Anon hesitated before answering with uncertainty.
She thought it over and realized she didn't have that doki-doki, heart-pounding feeling for Ren. They got along wonderfully, but precisely because they were so close, they'd never experienced the ambiguity typical between adolescent boys and girls.
When ordinary teenage boys and girls who aren't childhood friends accidentally touch, they might blush for over ten minutes, even recalling it when they go to bed at night. In more serious cases, they might still be lingering on that feeling days later.
But what about them? They'd held hands since they were little, and Anon had even put her unwashed feet directly on Ren without a second thought.
They had none of that ambiguous tension or budding adolescent attraction between the sexes.
"See, I also feel like if you confessed to me, I could reluctantly agree to go out with you. But if I had to be the one to confess? Well, I think there are girls cuter than you out there, Anon."
Ren nodded in agreement. He and Anon were better suited to skip straight to marriage. If they were to date, they'd basically have been dating since elementary school—a nine-year-long relationship already. Why keep dating instead of getting married? It just wouldn't make sense.
"How could this be..."
Hearing Ren's words, a complicated emotion rose in Anon's chest. She couldn't tell if it was disappointment or sadness, but her heart felt heavy and stifled. Yet she had no right to stop Ren from looking for a girlfriend.
If she were to confess and just make do with Ren, it would feel no different from how things were now.
"Ren... if you get a girlfriend, will you drift apart from me?"
After much internal struggle, Anon finally asked the question she cared about most. They were childhood friends—what if Ren started distancing himself from her after getting a girlfriend? She didn't want to lose this relationship.
"Of course not, but we'll need to be a bit more careful with boundaries. Don't go putting your smelly feet on me like you did today."
Though genuine friendships between opposite sexes are rare, childhood friends are different—they transcend ordinary friendship. If such a bond continues to develop, it might even become something akin to family.
"Hmph, your feet are the smelly ones!"
Satisfied with his answer, Anon felt considerably more at ease. So what if Ren found a girlfriend? She would always be his one and only childhood friend. Any so-called girlfriend probably wouldn't understand him as well as she did. In the end, she would still be the closest person to him.
Yet, an uncomfortable feeling lingered in her heart, as if something precious was about to be taken away.
Anon had no doubt that Ren could easily find a girlfriend. With his looks, if he were the type to casually hit on girls, he could probably go from karaoke in the afternoon to a love hotel by evening.
But she knew Ren wasn't that kind of person. If he were to look for a girlfriend, he wouldn't be like those ordinary high schoolers who treat confessions like a battle cry. He would only confess after building enough genuine rapport.
The more she thought about it, the more restless she became. After rolling around on Ren's bed a few times, Anon got up, said goodbye, and left.
Ren followed her downstairs. Watching her unusually subdued demeanor, he said nothing, locked the door after she left, and returned to his room.
At times like these, women would only slow down his trigger finger.
Even if his childhood friend stood naked before him, he wouldn't glance up—not when his new computer had just arrived.
Ren loved playing FPS games, but his skills had been lacking before. After starting work, his reflexes had dulled even more, making him lose most gunfights. He could only resort to sneaky tactics, playing like a crafty lurker.
But now, things were different. He was terrifyingly strong.
Coincidentally, one of the popular FPS games in Japan happened to be Apex Legends, which Ren particularly enjoyed. Though plagued by cheaters and declining daily active users, he remained loyal to Apex. Now, even when facing hackers, he felt confident he could hold his own—all thanks to the system's boost.
Here's a dark joke: having lost his entire family, wasn't he, with this system, the biggest cheater on Earth?
After testing his aim in the firing range and achieving a 98% headshot rate on moving targets, Ren felt thoroughly satisfied.
He then dove into matchmaking, still using the default skin for Pathfinder.
As soon as the match started, he heard the greeting of his Japanese female teammate. He'd heard there were many Japanese girls playing Apex, but he hadn't expected to actually match with one today.
Still, Ren wasn't particularly interested. After a brief, polite greeting, he focused on the game.
But the emotional support provided by the Japanese girl was still valuable. Having returned to being sixteen with enhanced physical abilities, Ren could lock onto enemies' heads frame by frame. Even when ambushed from behind, he could react instantly and snap to their heads, achieving nearly every shot as a headshot.
This prompted exclamations of amazement from the matched Japanese girl, whose repeated cries of "sugoi" lifted Ren's spirits. Eventually, he was even asked if he was using hacks.
Never did he expect to be accused of cheating, which only made Ren feel even more pleased. He could only respond that it was all due to hard work and sweat.
That night, he breezed through matches effortlessly. With his abnormally high headshot rate and crosshair automatically locking onto enemies' bodies and heads, he was reported not only by opponents but even by some teammates. However, it was futile—he genuinely wasn't cheating; it was all reaction speed and skill.
As his KDA continued to climb, even in low-level matches, Ren eventually got matched with Apex Predator teammates. In just one night, he advanced into high-tier lobbies.
This time, his team still included a Japanese girl, though she spoke very little—only providing crucial callouts without any casual chatter. If this were ranked mode, she was definitely the type solely focused on climbing.
Most importantly, her skills were exceptional, and her voice sounded vaguely familiar to Ren.
But she spoke too sparingly, and her microphone quality was poor, distorting her voice enough that Ren couldn't pinpoint where he might have heard it before.
Still, she was frighteningly skilled—almost unnervingly so.
How could there possibly be someone as skilled as me in this world?!
Given the high-pressure lobby where the final circle contained multiple squads, even Ren couldn't withstand focused fire from one or two enemy teams. After being downed, he spectated the Japanese girl and discovered her aim was just as terrifying—her crosshair automatically locked onto enemies like his own.
Ren's first suspicion was that she was cheating, but when he saw her crosshair accidentally lock onto a teammate, his doubts vanished. She was genuinely top-tier—so focused in combat she'd even lock onto allies.
They ultimately achieved a "Chicken Dinner," and Ren felt a sense of mutual respect for this Japanese girl. Having a reliable duo is crucial for ranking up in FPS games, so he sent her a friend request—though she didn't accept it.
Seeing this, Ren didn't push it. In these top-tier lobbies, the same players cycle through repeatedly. If they matched enough times, she might eventually feel the same camaraderie.
After the match ended, Ren stretched and glanced at his phone—it was already midnight.
Maybe I should just take tomorrow off too.
With his reflexes so sharp, Ren felt like he'd become a gaming addict. When you can dominate, you go all out—why wait to get dominated instead?
But then he thought of Hitori, and reconsidered. He'd go to school after all—weekend was the day after tomorrow anyway, so he could game all day then.