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Chapter 38: Just a Joke
🕑 Added 2025-10-02 12:58:00 +0000 UTC---
[The due date was in spring, but that winter felt colder than usual. At home, the heater was always running so you wouldn't catch a chill. Having quit his job, Toru cared for you with painstaking devotion, as though holding a fragile glass bottle: crystal clear, beautiful, and ready to shatter at the slightest fall.]
Nijika read the words and watched the images, her heart warming.
[Unfortunately…]
Hm?
Something didn't feel right.
A chill of unease made Nijika frown.
A tragedy was when something beautiful was destroyed in plain sight. This was how tragedies began.
[Unfortunately, you wanted to go outside for some fresh air, but your husband wouldn't allow it.]
Phew, scared me for a moment.
I thought I was about to get sick.
[But after being cooped up too long, one day, while Toru wasn't looking, you sneaked onto the balcony to breathe in the cold air and bask in the sun.]
No, no, get back inside!
Nijika felt an impulse to switch on full immersion mode. Her simulated self was clearly courting trouble.
[But you were bundled up warmly, so it should have been fine…]
Alright, so maybe the other me isn't completely reckless.
[Yet your frail body didn't let you off. That night, you developed a low fever. Toru's face was full of both helplessness and heartache as he stayed up all night caring for you.]
Nijika realized she was too young for this. The simulator loved to play cruel tricks.
Just like last time with the confession, suddenly giving a bad ending, then revealing it was fake.
[By morning, your fever had broken. But your husband hadn't closed his eyes once. He never blamed you for stepping outside, instead, he reproached himself for neglecting your feelings, for failing as a husband.]
Thank goodness.
Nijika had nearly thought she'd collapse into a serious illness, rushed into the ICU, and cremated a month later.
Because nothing about this story's tone felt like it was leading to a happy ending.
[As the delivery date drew near, your body kept showing small problems. Old injuries from chasing your dreams resurfaced, striking just when you were most fragile.]
…Not good.
[At last, in spring, you were admitted to the hospital.]
What? Hospitalized?
[Because the baby was nearly due, Toru reserved a luxury ward for safety.]
This simulator was really pushing it.
Nijika was so annoyed she wanted to punch it.
Three words, enough to rile up Nijika-chan: "I'm a simulator."
[Everything went smoothly. It seemed everything was fine. The child was a girl…]
Hm?
Was there going to be another twist?
[The baby was healthy. Though newborns all look the same, you believed that your child with Toru would surely be beautiful.]
[The above two sentences are merely this simulator's nonsense. Please enter the simulated world yourself.]
Eh? Why?
[Did you forget? Childbirth cannot be simulated for you…]
Nijika wasn't prepared at all. She had completely forgotten that in Ultimate Mama Simulator, having a child meant going in herself.
But since things had come this far...
There was no way she could give up now.
——
Elsewhere.
Miss Ryo was also watching the simulator.
[Nijika's delivery went smoothly. As her friend, you soon saw their baby being wheeled out of the delivery room. You already knew her name, Shio Kitahara.]
And Nijika?
[The weak Nijika was soon pushed out of the delivery room as well.]
[Day one: mother and child safe.]
[Day two: still safe, nothing amiss.]
[Day three: safe.]
[Day four: Nijika suddenly fell into a coma.]
[Day five: coma persisted.]
[Day six: her condition began to worsen.]
[Day seven: her health deteriorated further, and she was moved to the ICU.]
Ryo froze, unable to read further.
————
Nijika herself didn't dare look either.
She didn't even want to enter the simulation, afraid she'd fall into the coma right alongside her simulated self. Everything had been fine the first two days, so why had it all collapsed the moment she left the simulation?
After a long time calming herself, she forced herself to keep reading.
[We're sorry. In this season of blooming cherry blossoms, you passed away.]
Eh?
D-dead?
That's a lie, isn't it? With modern medicine, is care really this poor?
[Having just given birth, your weakened body was invaded by a virus, which rapidly developed into viral pneumonia, triggering complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome and heart failure. The hospital couldn't save you in time. Even with mechanical ventilation and other interventions, your immune system was too frail to withstand it.]
So… this was where the simulation ended?
Nijika's expression froze. In the first half, she had worked so hard for her dreams; in the middle, her family life was filled with happiness. Yet in the end, it all collapsed like this?
Then what would happen to Toru?
He had always begged her not to have children, terrified of something like this happening.
A wave of guilt surged through Nijika, swallowing her heart. She couldn't imagine what her husband, who had treated her as his entire world, would do now.
---
OST: Clannad OST ~ Roaring Tides
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[After your death, your husband held a funeral. He didn't cry, for his tears had already been spent in the days before. He only stared blankly at your black-and-white photo, clenching and unclenching his fists helplessly.]
How could this be?
[Toru blamed your death on himself and the child. He regretted it all, regretted ever giving in, regretted agreeing to your wish. He had always known your frailty, but had still clung to a shred of hope.]
No, don't blame yourself.
It's not your fault.
Nijika stared at the screen, at her husband's anguished expression, at his haggard face, and her chest ached.
The selfish one was her. If only she hadn't…
[After you were gone, he turned to alcohol, abusing his body to numb the pain.]
No…
Don't do this! Please!
[As if hearing your plea, within a week, your husband pulled himself together. He opened a flower shop with part of his savings. Every day he brought the most beautiful roses from Ota Flower Market to your grave. Then, like a hollow shell, he sat before your tombstone, talking to you for hours.]
[Your daughter was healthy…]
"Simulator, you're lying to me, aren't you?"
Nijika's voice was dry, trembling. She couldn't accept such an ending.
The simulator had tricked her before. This had to be another one of those times.
[Yes, you are correct. This simulator was only joking.]
I knew it!
So then...
[We're sorry. Your daughter is not healthy. From birth, she was frail and sickly.]
…Perhaps.
