NOVEL NEXT Prologue: By Chance, We got Another One
Around the afternoon in the middle of Spring.
I, Yoruto, and my little sister, Hikari, are at the mall to buy a Dive Gear and a new VRMMORPG game called Umbra Frontier Online, or UFO for short, at the game store.
It's for my sister though. Not me. Since I rarely play any games, being the one responsible for taking care of the house while Mom is at work.
So, after asking the cashier for one Dive Gear and the game, they rang those two items up and I paid them with my credit card.
"Oh boy! I can't wait to play UFO with Himeji. This is going to be so much fun!"
"Sure. Just remember to do well in class from now on like you promised, ok?"
"Of course, bro! Don't worry. I'll get aces on all of my next tests, just you wait!"
"Right..."
Somehow, I highly doubt that.
But anyways, the cashier handed us our purchases and the receipt, as well as a ticket.
"Umm excuse me, what's this for?"
"It's for the lottery that is going on in this mall as of the end of the season. The booth is located at the center of the mall on the floor below. You may use the ticket for one roll there."
"Oh. Uh, ok..." I did not know there was such a thing going on right now.
"Thanks." I said to the cashier and exited the game store with Hikari, as the both of us headed down a floor to where the lottery booth is said to be.
Upon arrival, we saw the line and queued for our turn for a while. During which, I handed the lottery ticket to Hikari.
"You wanna have a go at the wheel?"
"Can I? Sweet." Hikari took the ticket from my hand, handing me her Dive Gear and game which she wanted to carry on her own after we purchased it.
"Watch me, brother. Imma win us the grand prize in this one try." she excitedly said with optimism.
"Yeah. As if it'd be that easy." I retorted.
Looking at the prizes on the shelf behind the staff, I can see a VIP hotel resort ticket for two as the grand prize.
It would be nice if she can actually get that, but I doubt she'd be that lucky.
Eventually, it was our turn. Hikari handed the staff her ticket and spun the wheel as hard as she could.
*plop*
A silver ball dropped out of the wheel. Hikari and I looked at it dumbfoundedly.
*ding!* *ding!* *ding!* The staff then rang his bell. "Congratulations, young lady. Looks like you've won the second prize!"
Oh my god. She actually won something. It's not the grand prize, but still... my god!
Hikari looked at me with a cheerful smug on her face. "Ehehehe~ Looks like I got lucky today, bro."
I patted her on the head. "Yes you did, little sister. Yes you did..."
Second prize, huh? Well, what is it I wonde—
As I looked at the shelf again to see what Hikari had just won, I became momentarily stunned seeing that the second prize was an item which we had just bought at the game store.
"Here you go, sir. A brand new Dive Gear for your sister. Congratulations."
"Eh... Uh... Yeah. Thanks. I've just bought one for her already. But, thanks."
I took the bag with the prize in it and left the booth with Hikari, still somewhat puzzled by what had just happened.
"Ah great... Now we have two of them."
"I know, right!? How awesome is that!?"
"No. Not awesome! What am I supposed to do with a second Dive Gear!?"
"Keep it, of course! The one we bought is for me, and the one we won is for you. We can play VR games together from now on! Starting with UFO."
"We still need to buy another copy of that game though. Also, your big brother ain't got the time to play. You should know that. If anything, selling the second headset would be better. I can get most of my money back that way."
"Yeah, that's true. But you know, you have been working around the house so much and taking care of me, you barely ever get any rest. Besides, it's been so long since we played games together. I kind of miss the old days, you know."
Yeah... Me too, little sister. Me too. But unfortunately, reality doesn't work that way.
Our deadbeat father left us for another woman when we were young. Because of that, our mother became more busy with her work that she rarely ever comes home, just so she could provide for the both of us. So, as the eldest child in the house, many of the adult responsibilities naturally fell onto me who was but a ten year old at the time. I also chose to stop my studies after graduating from high school, just so I could focus all of my energy on taking care of Hikari who was still in elementary school at the time.
Currently, Hikari is in junior high, whereas I am a part-time working adult and a stay-at-home brother who takes care of the house.
But in any case, I sighed.
"Hikari, I understand how you feel but your big brother really doesn't have the time for games. I have a lot of housework to do and—"
"I'll help you out around the house then! I'll also do well on my studies! So pleasssseee~ Let's go buy another copy of UFO, so you can play the game with me."
"Uhh..."
There it is, was what I thought the moment Hikari interrupted me and began begging me with those cute puppy eyes of hers.
It's her Charm attack. Highly effective on me, her big brother, who has little to no resistance against it whatsoever.
Gah! Curse me for being such a doting brother.
"Fine..." I heavily sighed in defeat. "But I'll only play whenever I have spare time, all right?" I said to Hikari, who delightfully jumped with joy, attracting the attention of other people passing by to the sound of her celebrating.
"There there. Come on now. Let's go back to the game store and buy another copy of the game."
"Okay~!"
So, that's what we did. I must say... the cashier from earlier was surprised to see us return so soon, purchasing another copy of the same game we had just bought.
When I explained what happened at the lottery, they started giggling and congratulated me.
"Good for you, man. That will be 7,600 yen, by the way. Thank you for your purchase."
And there goes half of my salary from last month in total....
"Yippee~ Yippee~ Yippee~ Brother's gonna play with me again!"
Well, at least Hikari's happy.
