I have a life simulator.

Like a drowning person grasping at a last straw, Karuizawa Kei took out the photo from her pocket. When she saw Kitagawa Ryo and Hotaru, tears streamed down her face. But she was afraid that her tears would wet the photo, so she had to move it away. However, her vision was blurred by tears, and she couldn't see it clearly from a distance. She could only desperately wipe away her tears, leaving streaks on her face.

The wind blowing in through the open window whistled against the girl's shoulders.

The weather is getting cooler; it's already autumn.

Chapter 77: I Want to Become Stronger for You

"Hashimoto, Kito."

Sakayanagi Arisu gave the instructions through the earpiece:

"Go to the venue of Class D in the first year to participate in this round of the men's 4x400m relay as a temporary substitute."

"Understood, Your Highness."

Hashimoto Masayoshi smiled warmly, completely unconcerned about the stares from others at the somewhat childish nickname he used in his speech, and turned to find Kito Hayabusa in the class.

With a fierce expression and long hair, Kito Hayabusa looks nothing like a high school student, but he is actually the strongest boy in Class 1-A, even surpassing Hashimoto Masayoshi and Katsuragi Kohei.

"Ghost Head, come with me to Class D."

Since there were no projects at the moment, Kito Hayabusa, who was resting in his chair, heard Hashimoto Masayoshi's greeting and blinked in confusion, asking:

"how is the situation?"

"3 to 2, Class D is leading by one set."

As Hashimoto Masayoshi and Kito Hayato walked out of Class 1-A's camp, chatting as they went, he squinted and sighed:

"Class B of Grade 1 is under a lot of pressure right now."

"Although it seemed to be riding high over the past semester, it was ultimately because the leaders were so outstanding."

"Although there are a few outstanding students in the class, most of them are just too mediocre."

Kito Falcon turned his head and asked:

"You seem very confident."

"Because Class B of the first year simply couldn't find four boys with outstanding athletic abilities."

"If Kitagawa chooses to intervene in this round, even if he wins, it will only drag the match into a deciding game."

"Yamada has excellent physical fitness, but running is not his forte. Below Yamada, there are only Ryuen, Ishizaki and others."

"This lineup would be tough enough to take on the opposing Class D alone, let alone the combined forces of our Class A and Class D."

Hashimoto Masayoshi is very quick-witted, and it's clear that he regularly gathers information about other classes.

"What about Class C in the first year?"

Kito Hayabusa suddenly spoke, turning his head to look in another direction:

Will they get involved?

"Ichinose Honami would never gamble with the class. The fact that our class hasn't chosen an opponent yet is a way of intimidating them."

"She must be in a dilemma right now."

"Ichinose-san is a good person."

He scoffed at Kito Hayabusa's inexplicable remark and replied nonchalantly:

"That's why Class B became Class C."

-------------------------------------

"Class B is currently trailing by two to three and is about to begin their sixth team event."

"It's the men's 4x400m relay."

Honami Ichinose kept trying to contact Hiyori Shiina via text message, but after the other party actually replied, she hesitated, unsure how to respond. She typed and deleted several lines, then typed and deleted again, until finally Hiyori Shiina took the initiative to send a message of advice:

"Fanbo, don't worry about this. This is a matter for our Class B."

Honami Ichinose pursed her lips, almost sending the message "Our Class C can come and help," but in the end, her fingers trembled as she deleted all the words.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

She tried to ask in a personal tone, as if that might alleviate some of her guilt.

After all, if it weren't for the joint plan initiated by Class B of the first year, Class C of the first year wouldn't have been in a much better situation.

Furthermore, in Ichinose Honami's mind, the attack on Class B by Class A and Class D in the first year was wrong, even though Class B had helped these two classes defeat Class A and Class B in the second year that morning.

"This is the men's 4x400m relay. Even if Fanbo wanted to participate, there was nothing he could do."

She made a little joke, even though her class was already on the verge of failure, Shiina Hiyori still tried to dispel Ichinose Honami's doubts and worries.

"But……"

Honami Ichinose hesitated, unsure where to begin. If she were the commander of Class 1-C, she would probably order her students to aid Class 1-B without hesitation. Even if Class 1-A challenged and retaliated against her afterward, she would be the one to be expelled.

But the problem now is that the commander of Class 1-C is not Ichinose Honami, but Shiranami Chihiro.

As the class representative of Class 1-C, Honami Ichinose couldn't gamble with the interests of her classmates, since Class 1-C simply couldn't afford the 20 million individual points if they failed.

Perhaps it was precisely because Sakayanagi Arisu had grasped this point that she was able to so confidently control Class 1-C.

Subconsciously, she wanted to ask Horikita, the student council president, for help, but at that moment, Class 3-A was fiercely battling Class 2-A. After a midday break, although Nangumo was still somewhat dazed, she was still quite conscious. In addition, she had made arrangements for Class 3-A in advance, so the battle was not as one-sided as the students had thought. Instead, it gradually became more intense.

In this situation, Ichinose Honami was also at a loss.

"how so……"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hashimoto Masayoshi and Kito Hayabusa from Class 1-A walking towards the other side of the playground. If nothing unexpected happened, these two should be the reinforcements sent by Class 1-A.

Even if Takeru Sudo is too exhausted to participate, Class 1-D can still field a formidable lineup for the men's 4x400m relay: Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Yosuke Hirata, Masayoshi Hashimoto, and Hayato Kito. Meanwhile, Class 1-B is fighting alone...

Even if Kitagawa Ryo chooses to intervene, his teammates are only Yamada and Ryuen, who are not good at running. What's worse, both of them have exhausted a lot of energy in the previous events. Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from Class 1-D is also not at his peak, the two reinforcements from Class 1-A are a real force to be reckoned with.

The more I thought about it, the lower I felt Class B's chances of winning were.

There wasn't much time left for Honami Ichinose to consider and make a decision.

Thinking back, the last time I felt so tormented about making a decision was when I was standing in front of a display case in a department store, hesitating whether or not to pick up that hair clip.

At the time, the thought of "for my sister" ultimately overcame the resistance and disgust towards the act of stealing.

However, the outcome of the incident was extremely tragic.

Therefore, I should learn from this lesson and not let unrelated people be implicated and harmed by me again.

"Monitor."

At that moment, Ryuji Kanzaki came to Honami Ichinose's side. He seemed to see that the girl was in a state of confusion and contradiction.

He spoke earnestly:

"You are the class monitor of Class C, Grade 1."

Ryuji Kanzaki's meaning was very clear: whatever decision she made, the students of Class 1-C would accept it and carry it out.

Even if what I'm about to do might harm the interests of Class C?

Honami Ichinose answered with a rhetorical question.

She clenched her fists.

"The class monitor wants to help Class B, right? I think it's fine. If something really goes wrong, I'll take half the responsibility for the class monitor."

Shibata Hayate said with a grin.

His words resonated widely with the entire class, and the heavy responsibility suddenly felt one-tenth, one-twentieth...

In the end, only one-fortieth of what was given to Honami Ichinose was left.

"...Although this is just my personal opinion."

Honami Ichinose said this.

Everyone stared at her in silence.

Honami Ichinose didn't say that out of absolute confidence; she was terrified of what might happen in the future and desperately wanted to escape, even feeling like she might burst into tears at any moment.

Even so, Honami Ichinose still wanted to try to explain her thoughts.

The students in Class C who had shared joys and sorrows with her throughout the semester could not possibly be unaware of this.

"I want to help Class 1-B. I don't want the leader of Class 1-B to drop out of school."

"Everyone will definitely support you, right?"

Shibata shouted this with a smile.

At the same time, all the students in Class C offered their unanimous support.

This is the hope of Ichinose, and the girl personally felt its weight.

This is something that no one but Honami Ichinose could do.

"go!"

-------------------------------------

[The commander of Class D, Grade 1, has confirmed the participating students from this class.]

The students in Class D of Grade 1 turned their attention to the four people who were already standing in their designated positions on the track:

Yosuke Hirata, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, Masayoshi Hashimoto, Jun Kito.

"Hey, this lineup really can win, right? They have a chance!"

One of the boys excitedly said that Class D of Grade 1 only needs to win one more game to defeat Class B of Grade 1.

This nightmare has been looming over Class D since the very first day of school.

The students in Class D of Grade 1 even felt a slight sense of unreality, as if they were in a dream, and their breathing became a little heavier.

"At first I thought they were really going to cooperate with Class B. It seems that Karuizawa-san had prepared this move all along."

"Ever since last semester when Karuizawa went head-to-head with Class 1-B for Sakura's headphones, I knew she could definitely lead Class 1-D forward!"

"Class 1B betrays their allies every day, never imagining that one day they would be betrayed by their own allies."

Whether it was a boy or a girl, even the homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, sitting in the audience, had a faint smile on her face.

Class D of the first year has already defeated Class B of the second year. If they can defeat Class B of the first year again at the Sports Festival...

She believes that Class D will usher in a complete new life.

"Karuizawa Megumi."

Chashu Sae chewed on the name. She remembered checking the other person's information when school started. All the data was clearly below average, but now she had become the person leading Class D forward.

It could even be said that what she expected Kiyotaka Ayanokoji to do, Karuizawa Megumi should do even better.

Just as Chabashira Sae and the students of Class 1-D were marveling at Karuizawa Kei's growth, Karuizawa Kei herself, in the multi-purpose classroom, fell into deep self-doubt.

"What am I doing...?"

Karuizawa Megumi stared blankly at the image projected on the large screen. Although everything was proceeding as she had expected, she felt no joy whatsoever.

She was pinned to her seat by the fragments of memories in her mind, like a prisoner nailed to a cross.

He couldn't move a single finger, and when he closed his eyes, he could see a vast emptiness, in which past memories flickered.

They were like echoes of the tide, crashing against Karuizawa Kei wave after wave.

"Karuizawa-san."

Hirata Yosuke's words in the earphones pulled Karuizawa Megumi out of her dazed state.

Karuizawa Megumi closed her eyes, then opened them; closed her eyes, then opened them.

After repeating the action several times, she finally answered:

"what happened?"

My lips are so dry, every word feels like it's stuck to my teeth.

"It seems like the students from Class C of the first year have arrived."

Following Hirata Yosuke's words, Karuizawa Kei turned her gaze to the left side of the screen, where Ichinose Honami and several students from Class C walked into the formation of Class 1-B, seemingly talking to Shiina Hiyori about something.

"Okay, I'll notify Class A of Year 1 right away."