Chương 61: Chapter 60: Returning to Earth, Filled with Reunions

As we all stepped out of the portal, the sight around us was quite amazing. This was truly what you would call a technologically advanced world. All around us were all kinds of strange machines, as practically everything was automated. Robots roamed the streets as if they were people, and hovercrafts were available for everyone.

"Welcome to my world," Shiro introduced after recognizing that we were indeed in the correct place.

"It has changed a bit from what I remember, but it's mostly the same." After Shiro showed us around for a while, the rest of the girls were satisfied with what they saw. Soon, we traveled all the way to Shiro's home. After being away for so long, Shiro was hesitant about heading back in, but we encouraged her to do so. She soon rang the doorbell and reunited with her family, much to their surprise. With Shiro having achieved her goal of coming back home, she waved us goodbye, as we still had a trip back to Earth.

She didn't want to keep us waiting, as this was just a side trip to take her home. Not wanting to waste her good intentions, we all left after saying our goodbyes and found a private place without people. I soon opened another portal that led to Earth, and we all went inside. We appeared somewhere on Earth that I still didn't recognize, but it wasn't a problem, as I quickly asked around and found my way back home.

Another twelve years had passed since I went back to the fantasy world, and I wondered how my family was doing now. Back then, I gave my mom and dad the system so they wouldn't die of old age, so they should be fine. On the other hand, my sister must be quite old now, so I decided to make sure she received the system too when I got back. Suzune soon left us as we got closer, as she had to go find her mom after she learned about what her mom had been up to when I passed along the message.

She waved us goodbye, as she was very eager to see her mom. Now there was only Lucy, Sophia, Maria, Claire, and Himari behind me. We soon reached the front door of my house, and I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. Soon I heard footsteps, followed by the door opening. What I saw was my youthful mother, who looked exactly as I had left her twelve years ago. I was very glad I had given her the system back then, as she would have been very old now if I hadn't.

"Why did it take you so long to come back?" she yelled.

"I thought you would only take a short trip and come back immediately, but it has been twelve years!"

"I'm sorry," I replied as I emotionally went in for a hug. Once my mother calmed down, she looked behind me to see all the girls who had followed along.

"Who are they?" my mom asked in confusion.

"Since when were you so popular with women?"

"Let's go in first, and I'll explain," I replied, wanting to go in quickly to avoid gossip from the neighbors. We all soon went inside and sat down on the living room sofa, and I began to explain everything that had happened to my mother. She was shocked and worried as I began telling her everything I had done since I left. Once I was finished, my mother came in for another hug, seemingly concerned after everything I had been through.

I had suffered a lot since I had left and barely managed to come back alive after so much time had passed.

"Wait here, and I'll make all of you some food," my mom said after she finished hugging me.

"You must all be hungry after the trip here." Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. My mother went into the kitchen to make a couple of phone calls, which were probably to my dad and sister. After doing so, she began preparing food. Sophia went inside and asked if she could help in any way. Though initially refusing, my mom soon started to cook with Sophia by her side.

Seeing this, Lucy, Maria, Claire, and Himari all did the same, and the kitchen became very lively. Now alone, I decided to check out my old room, as it is where I'll be living now that I am back on Earth. Once I entered, the place was very clean, as my mom had probably cleaned it all this time. Other than that, it looked exactly the same as I had left it. I took some of the clothes that were around and took a shower before changing.

These clothes now felt foreign after all the time that had passed since I wore them. I laid around resting for a while before I heard a yell from downstairs that food was ready. I went down to a lively atmosphere where my mom was enjoying all the company that I had brought along. I joined in, and we started having all kinds of conversations while we ate. Once we finished eating, it had gotten late, and I could hear sounds from the door as the rest of my family was coming back.

As the door opened, I first saw my dad, who looked exactly the same as I had left him all those years ago. By his side was my sister, who now looked very old. She had aged considerably, and I felt some heartache, as I had missed her entire youth while being away. I also had an unexpected visitor who came along with the two, which was Shizuka, my childhood friend. She too had grown old, as her face now had several wrinkles that showed her age.

The first thing I did upon seeing them was give them my system, as I didn't want them to suffer from old age. Before they could react, their faces started to grow younger, and they regained their youth. They weren't particularly surprised, as I had already done it for my mom and dad, but they were still somewhat amazed by the changes. After their initial amazement, they came inside and demanded an explanation of what had happened for me to be away for so long.

Before that, though, their eyes went to the girls I had brought along.

"Who are they?" my sister asked.

"What's their relation to you?" Shizuka questioned.

"Are you that popular with women?" my father inquired. I sat them all down and began explaining everything from the start. This time, I went into much greater detail compared to the last time I had explained. This time I was no longer in a rush for time so taking my time didn't matter. They had similar reactions to my mom, as my explanation had a lot of dark details that I didn't really want to dig back up. Still, I pushed onward, as I wanted to tell them the truth.

After I finished, the three were stunned by what I said and remained silent to process the large amount of information that I had just told them. Once they finished processing, I was slammed by a barrage of questions.

"Are you okay now?" my sister asked in concern.

"How could you do something so dangerous?" Shizuka questioned worriedly.

"Are you back for good this time?" my father interrogated. I slowly answered all of their questions, as I had a lot to explain. The question session was long, as it dragged on for hours. Finally feeling satisfied, Shizuka and my sister started questioning the girls, as they wanted their opinions on the matter. My father decided to leave the questioning there, as there wasn't much left to ask. I began planning with my mother to allocate space, as there were simply too many people here currently and not enough rooms.

In the end, after Shizuka and my sister finished their questions, I began to tell the girls where they would be staying for the night. Two people could stay in my room, as I would be sleeping in the living room for the night. We had two extra storage rooms that didn't have beds currently, but if we rolled something out, we had enough room for another three people. The girls started to decide who stayed where, and they quickly decided on the room allocations.

With it being so late at night, Shizuka went home satisfied after a day of questioning me. She decided to head home for today and come back tomorrow. She apparently had a day off and wanted to come hang out again the next day. With that, everyone split up to go to their own rooms, as it was now time for bed. Claire and Lucy decided to share a room, Maria and Sophia decided to pair up, and Himari apparently decided to stay with my sister.

In the end, I managed to keep my own room and didn't have to sleep on the sofa in the living room, much to my surprise. Since the girls were adamant about the current allocation, I couldn't do much about it, and we each went into our respective rooms. Now in my room alone, I collapsed onto my old bed that I hadn't been on in a long time. I couldn't even get a nostalgic feeling, as it had been so long since I had laid on it. Still, it was quite comfortable as I lay on it to sort through my thoughts.

I finally made it back after all I had been through, and I could now live a normal life again. From now on, I would live peacefully with my family, and as for other things, I would figure them out as I went. I had infinite amount of time on my hands and plenty of room to make errors. As my thoughts consumed me, I began to drift into a deep sleep. After experiencing unending problems for so long, I slept very soundly, as I badly needed this comforting feeling.