C16

Chapter 16: Failure to Reflect Upon

Students on their way to school, bicycles waiting at a traffic light, an old man walking his dog—the unchanging scenery of a weekday morning slowly drifted past the window.

Yet, every bit of it looked like an event happening in some distant world.

Reo leaned back against the backseat, gazing blankly out the window.

Unfocused pupils.

Though it looked like he was tracking the passing scenery, in truth, nothing was reflected in them.

The car stopped at a traffic light.

High school students in uniforms illuminated by the morning sun crossed the pedestrian crossing while laughing.

Without tracking those figures with his eyes, Reo just kept staring beyond the window.

Inside the car, the air conditioning blew quietly, and neither the radio nor music was playing.

His mother, gripping the steering wheel, repeatedly checked on Reo through the rearview mirror.

A pale face, deeply carved dark circles. His bloodshot eyes lacked any fixed focus, and that hollow expression was clearly worse than yesterday morning's.

"We'll be there soon."

She called out gently.

"......Yeah."

There was a reply, but that voice lacked its usual strength.

His mother let out a small breath and turned her gaze toward Reo once more through the rearview mirror.

That profile, unmoving as it stared at the passing scenery, looked like a complete stranger compared to her usual son.

(I need to get him seen quickly.)

The red light turned green.

Stepping on the accelerator to shake off the anxiety spreading deep in her chest, the car quietly started running toward the hospital.

◇

Arriving at the hospital, his mother finished checking in at reception and began filling out a questionnaire.

Reo sat down on a chair in the waiting room.

In the waiting room drifting with the scent of disinfectant, soft chatter drifting from the examination rooms, administrative exchanges at reception, and regularly ticking electronic sounds melted into the quiet air.

In the quiet waiting room, only the sound of turning paper echoed slowly.

On the wall-mounted television, a morning info program was playing, but the volume was turned down, and only the visuals coldly chipped away at time.

Reo cast his gaze blankly toward the floor. Even trying to assemble something inside his head, his thoughts immediately scattered into mist.

"Tachibana-san—"

A nurse's voice echoed through the waiting room.

"Right this way."

His mother gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

Reo slowly stood up and headed for the examination room.

◇

Called by the nurse, Reo entered the examination room.

His mother followed right behind him.

A desk sat in the center of the examination room, and on the other side, a doctor in a white coat was looking over a medical chart.

"Hello, you're Reo Tachibana-san, correct?"

The doctor lifted his face from the chart and stared intently at Reo's face. Seeing his pale complexion, bloodshot eyes, and deeply etched dark circles, his eyebrows twitched slightly.

"It looks like you've accumulated a fair amount of fatigue."

"......"

Reo gave a small nod.

"What brings you in today?"

His mother opened her mouth.

"He's been skipping school for about three days... and his state is clearly stranger than it was yesterday morning."

"It seems he's had a continuous lack of sleep."

The doctor nodded quietly and turned his gaze back to Reo.

"Meals?"

"......I'm eating."

"Hydration?"

"......I'm drinking."

"Do you remember when you last slept?"

Reo thought for a moment. Tracing his memories inside his head to remember when he last slept. He tried to recall the day he went to school and the event he started after coming home.

He farmed limited bosses, participated in guild raids, and kept hunting with Shigumin even after that.

He could remember that far.

However, the moment he tried to push past that point, his memories cut off.

......Uh.

Information that normally should have taken less than a second to process stagnated in his head, and his thought processing failed to proceed as if a server had crashed.

"......I don't know."

The doctor stared at Reo for a while and let out a small breath.

"You're slightly dehydrated."

"Let's start with an intravenous drip."

With those words, he gave a subtle cue to the nurse.

"Right this way, please."

Guided by the nurse, Reo moved to the treatment room.

Lying down on the bed, his arm was sterilized with alcohol, and a needle was quietly inserted.

A clear IV drip fell drop by drop at a steady interval.

Reo gazed blankly at that sight.

(A recovery item... or something like that?)

In a game, this is where HP would slowly recover bit by bit.

Thinking about that, he quietly closed his eyes.

◇

While Reo was receiving the IV drip, his mother was called back into the examination room.

"Would you mind letting me hear a bit more about things?"

The doctor asked mildly while checking the chart.

"Regarding his condition at home, have there been any changes lately?"

His mother hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

"When he came home from school. His eyes were red, almost like he'd been crying... his voice was tired too, and I thought something might have happened, but he went straight to his room..."

"And after that, he started locking himself in his room more often, his replies when spoken to were short... and at night, there were times when we heard something like a scream coming from his room."

The doctor nodded quietly.

"The fact that it happens after he comes home from school is a bit concerning."

"Yes."

His mother clasped her hands over her knees.

"Since he's never been one to talk much about himself... maybe he was holding something in on his own even if something did happen."

The doctor thought for a bit before speaking.

"In the case of students, shifts in school life or human relationships can sometimes trigger a sudden collapse in physical and mental health."

"Trouble sleeping, dropping appetite, becoming unable to do things they could do before."

"Even when such changes manifest, there are cases where the person themselves cannot talk about the reason."

His mother listened in silence.

"Of course, the sleep deprivation itself is a heavy burden."

"However, why did he reach a state where he couldn't sleep to that extent? I believe we should check the cause of that as well."

The doctor dropped his gaze once and wrote something on the chart.

"There's also the adolescent period to consider. It's not uncommon for children to bottle up things they find hard to tell their families."

Then, he slowly lifted his face.

"I recommend consulting a psychosomatic internal medicine clinic once."

"Psychosomatic medicine..."

His mother murmured quietly.

"Yes. It doesn't mean a major problem has been decided."

"Consulting early can sometimes help the person organize what they're carrying."

"If necessary, I can prepare a referral letter here. Please bring it to our clinic's psychosomatic department."

"You can also book an appointment at reception, so please visit at a convenient date and time."

◇

Only the sound of the IV drops falling echoed through the quiet treatment room.

One drop.

Another drop.

His head, which had felt hazy at first, slowly regained sensation as time passed, and his foggy thoughts gradually cleared up.

Gazing up at the ceiling, Reo organized his memories anew.

From the day he went to school, to the limited boss, guild raids, and subsequent farming and enhancements, he lined up the flow of the past few days in order inside his head.

......1 minute later.

(......About 70 hours.)

Reo blinked quietly.

(I see.)

There was no surprise.

He simply analyzed cause and effect.

Due to long hours of sleepless gaming, his concentration and judgment speed had dropped.

As a result, the further along he got, the sloppier his inputs became, and his farming efficiency visibly plummeted.

(......It seems letting my guard down because I made a reason to skip was a mistake.)

On top of that, the fact that it was during an event period was a big factor.

He felt like he'd lost his sanity a little bit.

He kept running without discerning his limits.

He had wasted time that originally should have yielded much more output.

(Moderate breaks are necessary.)

From this failure, Reo reached a single conclusion.

Whether in a game or in reality, self-management is required to maintain efficiency.

No matter how much efficiency you chase, if you lose your sanity, everything collapses.

Starting next time, he'll take a cue from Shigumin and take moderate breaks.

Taking breaks is part of the walkthrough, too.

That was the conclusion Reo arrived at.

And, one more thing.

The biggest mistake this time was causing unnecessary worry to his parents.

He didn't regret skipping school to play games in itself.

If an environment where he could take a break was available, he believed there was no problem staying away for an extended period.

He wouldn't struggle with studies.

Even glancing through classes was enough to lodge the necessary content into his head; he had never needed to preview or review, yet his school rank had never dropped out of the single digits.

Even on national mock exams, he maintained top-tier grades.

As long as he had textbooks and reference books, it was more than enough to understand the scope taught at school. Therefore, he judged that taking a break itself wasn't a problem.

However, health management was a different story.

Because he mismanaged his playtime allocation, he ruined his health, and as a result, caused unnecessary worry to his parents.

Making a reason to skip and actually ruining his health to make his parents anxious were two different things.

Causing worry to his parents in that fashion was not his intention.

That alone, he genuinely reflected upon.