kscans

Chapter 117 - Interlude: Dragon Soul (Part 1)

A young girl leaned against a large sofa, holding a doll as she gazed at a monitor.

The monitor itself was black, displaying nothing. The girl simply stared intently at the dark screen.

But soon, still clutching the doll, she flopped onto her left side.

Immediately after, a man entered the room through the doorway.

"Ren...? Is she not here...?"

From his position at the entrance and the angle of the sofa, the man couldn't see the girl.

The girl, still lying down, raised her right hand and gave a little wave to make herself visible.

"Brother, I'm here."

"Oh, there you were... Is something wrong?"

The man walked to the front of the sofa, which sat in the middle of the spacious room, and posed the question to the girl, Ren, who was still holding her doll.

"Brother, why did Mom die?"

The man frowned, thinking she already knew the reason, then looked at the monitor. He understood.

Though it was over now, she must have been watching a movie until just now. The only movies Ren watched were the ones her mother had starred in.

"Which movie did you watch?"

"Um, the one where Mom's a psychic and fights a cursed doll."

"Ah, the one where the doll's owner dies on their eighteenth birthday, right? The doll's original owner was the main character, Mom. That's why she died when she turned eighteen."

Ren sat up and looked at her brother, Ash.

"Is that how it was? So, that fire scene at the beginning, was that the main character's house?"

"That's right. And by the way, that doll you're holding is merchandise from that movie."

"Does that mean this doll is cursed, too?"

Ren asked mischievously. She must have been asking despite knowing there was no such thing. In an age where everything could be explained by science, curses were impossible.

"There's no such thing as a curse. Not unless we're in a fantasy world, anyway."

"A fantasy world... To me, Mom is like something out of a fantasy, you know. Why did Mom have to die?"

Ash sensed that what Ren said had shifted the conversation to the real world. Her statement wasn't emotional, but to Ash's ears, Ren's words sounded as if she were blaming someone.

Ash and Ren's mother, Kilika Brandle, had passed away when Ren was just a baby.

From Ren's perspective, it was something that happened before she could form memories. Her mother was nothing more than an actress on a screen. With every movie, the story and the role were different. She watched the movies wondering which one was her real mother, or if all of them were different mothers altogether.

"That's a difficult question, but I guess you could say it was Mom's fate."

That was all Ash could say. No one was to blame. If there was a cause of death, it must have been her lifespan.

Ash himself had only a few memories of his mother, Kilika. But his assessment of her was that she was in a hurry to live.

According to their father, Veru, Kilika had wanted to give hope to many people.

With resources depleted, the Earth would end in a few more decades. The Frontier Project, a plan to find planets other than Earth, held little promise.

Ultimately, the choice was either to move to a colony in small numbers or to wander the vastness of space aimlessly in cryosleep, searching for a planet like Earth.

Everyone knew how irresponsible it was to tell people to have hope in such an era.

But even so, she wanted people to live with hope. She wanted them to believe in human potential. Kilika had a desire to entertain as many people as she could through the medium of film, something she could do as an actress.

For a long time, movies had been considered works completed with CG and synthetic sound. But Kilika refused to use such things, wanting to show the potential of human beings. She did her own stunts in action scenes. There were several times she risked her life for a single shot.

The movie Ren had been watching was one of her earlier works, a film with a hopeless ending. But it was through this movie that she met Veru, and she began to make films that were more inspiring.

In a world of dwindling resources, most entertainment was geared towards the indoors. The movies Kilika starred in entertained many. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she gave people the hope that if they kept living, good things would surely happen.

But Kilika had overdone it.

In her quest to entertain people and give them hope, she took on an impossible filming schedule, slowly chipping away at her own life. It could only be called an ironic fate.

"What's fate?"

A simple question from Ren. But Ash couldn't explain it.

"No, I was just trying to say something that sounded right."

"Oh. So you don't know after all. But I don't need to know, I just wish she was alive. Dad and you remember Mom, don't you, Brother? Being the only one who doesn't know Mom makes me feel a little left out."

"I'm... sorry. Are you lonely?"

"It's not your fault, you know. Besides, most of the people in the world don't know their parents, so I'm not that lonely. It's just that, in our family, I'm the only one who doesn't know Mom, and that's a little...

"I see. If you're okay with what I know, I can tell you about her."

"Yeah, thanks... oh? Wait, didn't you have something you needed to tell me?"

"Ah, right. I got an email. It said we've been chosen as test players for the Another Frontier Project, and it seems like we can experience a virtual reality. It looks like me, you, and Dad are eligible. Want to go? All we have to do is go to the designated place at the designated time."

"Virtual reality? Like a game?"

"Who knows. But the catchphrase was 'a virtual reality indistinguishable from the real thing,' so I think it'll be pretty fun."

Ren thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile.

Lately, she hadn't gone anywhere and had just been cooped up inside. Besides, their father, Veru, had quit his acting job and was living a self-indulgent life. She thought this would be a good excuse to drag him outside, even if by force.

She immediately dashed out of the room to persuade her father, Veru.

Veru agreed to Ash and Ren's request without much objection.

And so, they boarded the spaceship Aphrodite and entered the virtual reality.

It was a space that was the same as, or even better than, reality. A virtual reality that could completely replicate all five senses was supposed to be impossible. But here it was.

Ash and Ren lost track of time and immersed themselves in this world.

Time passed, and Ash and Ren returned to the real world less and less. This virtual reality was more fun than the real world.

They even formed a team called a Clan. The name was Dragon Soul. They took the name from the role their mother, Kilika, had played in her last movie. A woman with a soul as noble as a dragon's. That was Kilika's final role.

Their father, Veru, didn't fight much, but he was always by Ash and Ren's side. Veru wasn't used to games and made many mistakes, but Ash and Ren found that teaching their father things was a happy experience for some reason, so they taught him all they could.

And they made friends outside the family as well.

An acquaintance of Veru's came to their clan's base.

"I never thought I'd see you participating in this, Veru."

"Pat, it's been a while. About five years?"

"Longer than that. It's been since Kilika-chan's funeral. More than ten years have passed."

"Ah, you're right. Still in the acting business?"

"Of course. I haven't had a big hit like you. If I don't work every day, I'll have trouble eating. I'm doing this to make a living, too. By the way, is that handsome fellow over there Ash? And is that beautiful young lady Ren-chan?"

Pat shifted his gaze to Ash and Ren. He seemed certain, a smile on his face.

"Yes, I'm Ash. It's been a long time, Pat-san."

"Yeah, it's been a while. You were much smaller when I last saw you, but I can see the resemblance. Still, Ash, you look just like Veru when he was young. Say, was that handsome actor in that movie the other day you, Ash? I thought he looked like Veru."

"Yes. It was just a bit part with two or three lines, but I was in it."

"I see! But even a bit part is good, you know. Before Veru made it big, he was in a horror movie where he was the first to get killed without any lines. You're just getting started."

Pat slapped Ash on the shoulder a few times, then turned his gaze to Ren.

Ren didn't know Pat. If they hadn't seen each other since Kilika's funeral, then it was before she could remember.

"Ren-chan, you don't remember me, do you? You were so little."

"Um, is it alright if I call you Pat-ojisan?"

"Let's go with Pat-oniisan. I may be an uncle, but I always want to be called 'big brother'."

"Then do you know me, Pat-oniisan?"

"Of course. Ren-chan, you may not remember, but we met when you were little. But I was surprised. Ren-chan, you look just like Kilika-chan. In a few more years, I think you'll be quite a beauty."

"Hey, Pat. Are you hitting on Ren? Think about your age."

"That kind of thinking is what's scary about you. Of course not... and besides, Veru, you haven't grown up at all. You used to get in the way just for me talking to Kilika-chan. To say something like that to Ren-chan now, it seems like Ren-chan is going to have a hard time."

"Wait! Were Dad, Mom, and Pat-oniisan in a love triangle!?"

It was about the mother Ren didn't know. This was information she absolutely had to hear. Ren latched onto the topic with unusual enthusiasm.

"Why do you sound so lively saying that? Of course not. Those two were head over heels in love. And yet they tried to hide the fact that they were dating, so I had to be careful around them. I was surprised they thought no one knew."

Veru was flustered by the stories of the past being exposed, but Ren, wanting to know more about her mother, pressed Pat for every detail. Naturally, Ash was also interested and listened in.

It became a story so long it couldn't be finished in a single day.