I have a life simulator.

After tidying up the set, the old woman turned back and said this before leaving.

She took many portraits of various families for free. Some wanted to die quickly, while others wanted to die slowly. Considering this, she always ended her sentences with this sentence.

"Thank you."

Ying thanked them with the photo in her hand, and only after the door slammed shut did she stagger back to bed.

She stared at herself in the photograph, as if she were looking at her future self after death.

This seems excessively cruel for a thirteen-year-old girl who can still be considered a child.

With a faint smile on her face and a sun hat on her head, against a backdrop of dazzling blue sky and white clouds that seemed to glow, and at her feet were golden sand and azure sea.

If someone who doesn't know the situation saw this, they might think the girl in the photo was traveling somewhere.

Ying placed the photo under her pillow.

On her birthday a few years ago, she found here the gifts that Santa Claus had given to good children.

When Ryo returned from his afternoon job, Hotaru was lying on the bed, covered with a blanket and motionless, as if she were asleep.

For the first time, his cold hands began to tremble violently, even though he had never broken a plate in his previous jobs.

But now, like a withered leaf falling in the autumn wind, I feel a chill and pull back the corner of the blanket.

He touched Ying's breath, forehead, tightly closed eyes, and lips.

As Ryo carried Hotaru on his back, intending to run towards the hospital, his younger sister opened her eyes while on his back.

"……elder brother."

Liang didn't want to answer or listen; his feet were moving incredibly fast, as if answering would trigger some kind of bad switch.

"sorry."

"Don't speak!... Please."

He didn't want to listen to Ying's words, as if she was only staying with him to abandon him today.

"Ah."

Ying's breath and breathing brushed against Liang's ear, carrying a warm touch.

She really stopped talking, like an obedient cat, curled up on the back of the person she trusted and relied on most.

Ying's breathing gradually weakened until the two hands that were wrapped around Liang's neck separated like a jade bracelet broken in two.

The hospital's emergency room was bustling with people, with doctors in white coats and nurses in white uniforms pushing trolleys and stretchers to transport patients.

This is a place where urgent cries and sorrowful weeping are not uncommon, but tonight they witnessed a truly memorable scene.

The boy, who had been crouching in the corner, burst into tears in front of everyone, and his bright red, chilling cries seemed to echo throughout the entire hospital.

There are no stars tonight, but large swaths of moonlight, like snow, are falling from the dark night sky.

In a corner of the city, a retired chess player never saw anyone log on again.

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

Liang tapped the screen of her phone and looked at the photo placed in the center.

He didn't want to call that photo his funeral portrait, even though it was so beautiful.

There was a slight sobbing sound.

[Wake up early for an interview.]

Set such a schedule on your calendar.

The screen's light disappeared, and Liang's figure, along with that last wisp of sound, was completely swallowed up by the pitch-black night.

(This volume: The Abyss of Youth, The End)

Main story: Ryo Kitagawa's Classroom of the Elite

Chapter 1: Life, A New Beginning.

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【Life Restart Simulator】

Each time a life simulation is conducted, five talents will be randomly selected. Talent levels are divided into five tiers: white, green, blue, purple, and gold. After each simulation, players can choose one talent to solidify and retain for the next simulation.

Please note that each chapter can be simulated a maximum of five times. The game is lost after five failed simulations.

Upon successfully completing each chapter, players permanently gain all the talents acquired at the time of completion and can use them in the simulation of the next chapter.

[A mystery prize will be awarded upon completion of all chapters.]

Enjoy the game!

Chapter: Karuizawa Megumi's Autumn Lies

[Chapter 2 Completion Objective: Find and correct Karuizawa Megumi's personality weaknesses until she can survive independently at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School. Completed. Final overall score: 100 points]

[Congratulations on clearing Chapter 2! We are currently drawing rewards based on your score.]

[Congratulations to the player who has won the reward item: Karuizawa Megumi's Self]

[Karuizawa Kei's Self: Before each simulation begins, randomly upgrade one talent to the highest gold level]

"A victim of bullying may become a bully, but they may also become a protector."

[Current highest rating: 100 points]

[The second chapter has three remaining simulation attempts. Players can choose to simulate the second chapter again, or they can choose to end the second chapter with a comprehensive score of 100. The remaining three simulations will be completed by default with a score of 100 and rewards will be issued.]

Congratulations to the player for achieving the unlocked achievements such as "Advanced Development" and "Deeply in Love"...

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the "Harem Male Lead" achievement and receiving one Gold Talent Draw Card]

[Harem protagonist: Gains the favor of six important characters in the story during a simulation (Honami Ichinose, Suzune Horikita, Arisu Sakayanagi, Megumi Karuizawa, Hiyori Shiina, and Sho Ryuen)]

【Talent Draw Card (Gold): Draw one fixed talent, guaranteed to be gold level】

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the "One-Shot Success" achievement and obtaining the talent "Photography Expert (Blue)". This talent was already detected in the player's talents, so it has been upgraded to the talent "Photography Master (Purple)".]

[One-shot sequence: Only one cutscene is triggered throughout a single simulation]

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "The Heartless One" and receiving the item "A Ring"]

[The Heartless One: He abandoned a key character in a simulation after developing a relationship with them.]

[A ring: It should be a pair, but you don't know who has the other one right now.]

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "Lifelong Rival"! Nagumo Masa's initial favorability has decreased.]

[A lifelong rival: repeatedly defeating Student Council Vice President Nagumo Masa in a simulation]

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "Class Promotion"! The initial favorability with Class C in the first year has increased.]

[Class Promotion: Achieve a class promotion in a single simulation]

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "Point Maniac" and receiving the item "Two Million Personal Points"]

[Point Maniac: In one simulation, the player had over 20 million personal points]

[Two Million Personal Points: A one-time use item that grants two million personal points through legitimate means upon use.]

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the "Unconventional Approach" achievement and receiving one Talent Upgrade Card]

[A risky approach: Clearing the chapter without developing a romantic relationship with the female lead]

[Talent Upgrade Card: Upgrades any talent once]

The player achieved a perfect completion in this simulation, retaining all talents.

[All talents have been fixed.]

Currently, the player possesses fifteen fixed talents: Childhood Sweetheart (Gold), Unforgettable Love (Gold), Perseverance (Gold), Grand Master (Gold), Conman (Gold), and Super Detective (Gold)

[Orator (purple), Imposing without anger (purple), Adorable to all (purple), Pet owner (purple), Fighter (purple), Photographer (purple)]

[Extensive reading (blue), Some assets (blue), Shared interests (blue)]

Currently, the player possesses nine items: Ichinose Honami's Blessing, Ichinose Honami's Self, Karuizawa Megumi's White Rose, Karuizawa Megumi's Self, Marriage Contract (one-time use item), Admission Qualification, Talent Draw Card (Gold), One Ring, and Two Million Personal Points (one-time use item).

[Ichinose Honami's Blessing: You will never obtain a white talent when drawing initial talents]

[Ichinose Honami's Self: Before each simulation begins, randomly upgrades three of her qualities (gold talents cannot be upgraded further, including initial and fixed talents)]

【Marriage Contract: A one-time use item that allows you to enter into a marriage contract with any character】

【Karuizawa Kei's White Rose: Wearing this will grant the blue talent "Flower Language Master"】

After a long day at work, I logged into this virtual game called "Life Restart Simulator" for the first time in a long time. My vision was immediately filled with dense information and prompts.

Thinking about it carefully, it seems that I left in a hurry last time and didn't even pay attention to the final rating of the second chapter.

Ryo slightly raised his gaze and saw the score of 100 in the information. He nodded in satisfaction. This simulation had a high degree of freedom, and he had brought his golden talent of "deceitful man" to its fullest potential. Shiina Hiyori was right. Karuizawa Kei had been revolving in the world he created. In the end, with his help at the sports festival, the opponent should be able to survive quite smoothly at that Tokyo Advanced Educational High School. It is reasonable for him to get this score.

He unlocked a bunch of random achievements and received a lot of items, but Liang didn't have the mind to check them all.

The interview opportunity that she had finally managed to secure this morning now seemed hopeless. Although it was just another ordinary failure, it still made Liang a little uneasy.

Perhaps it's because I dreamt about my sister again last night, and I still haven't been able to calm down completely.

Looking at the dazzling array of talents, Liang always thought of the incredibly rudimentary life-restart simulator he had created for Ying in the past, which he described in words.

Just like the fixed talents he currently possesses, the first three imagined talents he tells Ying each time are also all fixed.

"Good health, happy family, and universal admiration."

Except for the last one, the first two seem to be on a completely different level from these incredibly powerful gold and purple talents, and their ratings might only be at the white level.

But in fact, neither Ryo nor Hotaru ever drew either of these two items.

The real world is neither refreshed nor upgraded.

That's why I'm so obsessed with these life-restarting simulator games.

It can satisfy the different lives you might imagine late at night, while the constant presence of the word "simulation" in the game also reminds you of the artificiality of everything.

The third chapter—【Chapter: Horikita Suzune's Winter Dream】—has been unlocked from its grayed-out, unselectable state.

With just a tap of the finger, the immense talent accumulated over time will allow one to enter a new and extraordinary second life.

However, Liang simply remained on the game's main menu screen; he showed no intention of entering the third chapter.

It's not hard to guess that the third chapter should focus on Horikita Suzune as the female protagonist, and the core of the conflict should be her relationship with Horikita Manabu, and how to break free from the heavy shackles that the other person has been putting on her day after day since childhood.

After all, in the past few simulations, Liang had already basically learned about the girls' inner struggles.

He reached out and touched those golden talents:

[Persistence], [Grand Master], [Fraudster]...

If I had a data-driven talent bar in real life, it would read:

[Give up on many fools who ultimately achieve nothing][Players who give up halfway][Fools who only deceive themselves]...

With a slight thought, the talent draw card in the warehouse was used, and a new talent slowly appeared in front of Liang, shimmering with golden light:

[Veteran Actor (Gold): You possess astonishing talent on the theatrical stage. Everyone is captivated by your skill; every move you make, every exclamation you utter, touches the hearts of the audience.]

"……Ha ha."

Suddenly, I felt a strange sense of amusement and burst out laughing.

He quit the game.

If you indulge in self-deceptive dreams too many times, you will no longer be able to live in reality.

Liang was running out of household supplies, so he walked out while writing an email on his phone to the "Skills First" game studio. He was preparing to give up his job as a beta tester for the game.

Although I didn't expect to receive much pay for working only a few days, I still had some expectations in my heart.

If you can exceed the amount you want, you can go to a nearby ramen shop and have a long-awaited meal.

It's been so long since I've had this; I feel like I've almost forgotten what my own taste is like.