I have a life simulator.

1. Separation from the Kitagawa family.

Second, save up enough money to cure Ying.

It seems that my current feeling of confusion is entirely due to the fact that I have already achieved both goals.

I should be happy, after all, I've finally resolved my inner conflict.

Moreover, none of the tragedies I witnessed have happened so far, and everyone is happy.

Kitagawa Ryo stretched and looked at the glass wall of the building next to him. The face reflected there showed no sign of happiness.

"It's strange."

Kitagawa Ryo muttered something to himself, then took out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

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"It seems my chess skills have improved. Ryo's moves were much slower than before today."

On the other side of the chessboard, the silver-haired girl was speaking with a smile. She seemed genuinely happy, her eyes and brows full of laughter.

"Well, maybe."

Kitagawa Ryo held the chess piece in his hand, trying hard to recall his thought process when he first encountered chess in his previous life. Back then, he was just a beginner and very inexperienced. He should be able to handle this situation...

But the brain still came up with another perfect solution.

Like a precise machine, it told Kitagawa Ryo that he only needed to move here to find a weakness in five steps and completely defeat Sakayanagi Arisu in thirteen steps.

【Grand Master】

The title representing the highest professional level in the world of chess, the Golden Talent, bestowed upon Kitagawa Ryo unparalleled skills.

Not only Sakayanagi Arisu, but even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, whom she met a few days ago, was no match for her.

but……

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to notice Kitagawa Ryo's unusual behavior and took the initiative to come over and ask him.

Ever since Kitagawa Ryo defeated the White Room, Sakayanagi Arisu has acknowledged that her opponent is a genius who stands on a higher level than her.

One can achieve success in both drama and chess.

The title of genius seems to rightfully belong to Kitagawa Ryo.

Sakayanagi Arisu had even planned to have her father, the chairman of the board of directors of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, directly recruit Kitagawa Ryo in two years, and her father agreed. Both father and daughter were looking forward to seeing how the other would perform in the merit-based school.

At the same time, Arisu Sakayanagi also knew that she was also hoping to defeat her opponent there.

"I just have a bit of a headache, let's call it a day."

"I'm sorry I only managed to play half a game after calling you out."

Kitagawa Ryo said, rubbing his forehead.

But Sakayanagi Arisu didn't seem to care; she simply nodded and said:

"No, there's a lot I need to learn from this half of the plate as well."

After tidying up the chess pieces and board, Sakayanagi Arisu asked with concern:

"Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"It's alright, I just need to rest for a bit, you can go ahead."

"……All right."

Sakayanagi Arisu slowly turned and left, holding her cane. She looked back twice more before finally leaving.

After resting for a while, Kitagawa Ryo reached out and took out his phone, holding it up to his eyes, after hearing it vibrate in his pocket.

"Hello, Minister Kitagawa. This is the list of new students who applied to the Drama Department this year. There are 165 people in total, and 37 people have passed the initial review."

After looking at it for a while, I realized that it was a message from the person in charge of the drama department at my school. Although I was nominally the head of the department, I didn't think I had ever been there many times, let alone handled any affairs of the drama department.

Scrolling up, it seemed that the other party was constantly reporting on the activities of the drama club, but Kitagawa Ryo would only give formulaic replies such as "I know" and "You guys handle it" each time, completely acting like a hands-off manager.

Needing something else to distract himself, Kitagawa Ryo, who was quite willing to take responsibility, idly opened the list sent by the other party.

The result was that I saw the name 【Horikita Suzune】 on the first line, with the note 【Preliminary review passed】.

"..."

How did Suzune pass the initial screening? Does the drama club also judge people by their looks?

Based on my understanding, Horikita Suzune's resume doesn't seem to have any compatibility with the drama club at all.

After all, he has been a lone wolf since elementary school, making a mess of any teamwork.

With a slight sense of confusion, Kitagawa Ryo replied to the message:

What were the criteria for determining that Horikita Suzune passed the initial review?

The other party seemed completely unprepared for Kitagawa Ryo's sudden reply, and only resent the message after its status changed from "unread" to "read" for quite some time.

"Because we judged that she was outstanding in appearance and that her resume showed that she was very capable, we approved her for the first time."

It's obvious at a glance that they didn't meet the person in person for the interview.

However, considering that a total of 165 new students had applied, the drama department really didn't have time to verify them all.

Kitagawa Ryo remembered that the drama club's final audition seemed to involve freshmen drawing a classic scene from a play to perform, so he typed out a question:

"Which character from which drama did Horikita Suzune draw?"

“In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, I played the role of Lady Macbeth.”

Kikyo Kushida's lips curled up; this was certainly not the result of a random selection.

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Karuizawa Kei's father noticed that his daughter, who had returned home after a long absence, would often sit in front of the television and giggle. He curiously glanced at the screen and, sure enough, saw a drama starring his daughter.

He wasn't interested in that, and the reason he agreed to let his daughter pursue that path was because the legend of Kitagawa Ryo had shown many parents another shortcut to raising their children, but in the end, only Kitagawa Ryo succeeded.

"Go to bed early. The new school has been arranged for you, so it's time to settle down."

"alright, I got it."

Karuizawa Kei answered without looking up, leaving her father shaking his head helplessly as he returned to his room.

The girl refocused her attention on the video on the screen, which was her proudest performance.

Macbeth.

"My hands are the same color as yours, but my heart is ashamed to turn as pale as yours."

After receiving a prophecy from the witches, Macbeth assassinated his cousin, King Duncan of Scotland. In his panic and confusion after the killing, Lady Macbeth, who had always supported her husband, offered him comfort as a wife.

She addressed the drastically changed, ambitious yet fearful demon, traitor, and executioner Macbeth:

"Put on your pajamas. People might come looking for us. Don't let them see that we're still awake."

"I will stay by your side while you sleep."

Every word Karuizawa Kei utters exudes the scent of love, almost drowning you in her sweet nothings without you even realizing it.

Finally, Kitagawa Ryo fell asleep peacefully in her arms, like a child.

Chapter Eleven: Helping You One Last Time

"Nice to meet you, Horikita-kun. I'm Kikyo Kushida, who's in charge of recruiting new members for the drama club. If you don't mind, you can just call me Kikyo."

"Can I help you?"

Kikyo Kushida smiled and extended her hand to Suzune Horikita in front of her. Her enthusiastic smile and already well-developed figure drew the attention of the other freshmen who came for the interview.

They had heard that there was a super beautiful senior in the school's drama department, but when they actually met her in person, some of the freshmen were still inevitably amazed. Moreover, she was so gentle and approachable, and spoke softly to everyone, which made them feel even more favorably toward her.

"...Hello, I'm Horikita Suzune."

"I came here today to ask if the Macbeth passage I drew could be changed into a monologue."

As Horikita Suzune spoke, she handed the script to the other person. Her posture with her arms crossed didn't look like a consultation, but rather like she was stating something.

"I'm afraid that won't work."

Kikyo Kushida stuck out her tongue cutely, and replied somewhat awkwardly:

"This scene is about the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. If Horikita-kun is concerned, we can have a girl play Macbeth in the play. For example, I would be happy to do so."

After saying that, Kikyo Kushida added:

"Of course, this is also because Horikita-kun has a great talent for drama."

Kikyo Kushida didn't deliberately lower her voice, and since the other freshmen were already paying attention to them, her words immediately sparked whispers among them.

As freshmen who passed the initial screening of the drama club to get here, many of them even had experience in theatrical performances, and the rest also had their own stage performance skills. As a performing art, those who were willing to enter here were at least not as socially impoverished as Horikita Suzune.

Before today's final script distribution, the drama club specially arranged an hour for the freshmen to get to know each other. Horikita Suzune was the only one who sat in the corner reading for a whole hour. During that time, other freshmen tried to strike up a conversation, but Horikita Suzune's indifferent attitude deterred them.

Nobody wants to offer their warm welcome to someone who doesn't reciprocate, no matter how good-looking the other person is.

Besides, isn't there also a beautiful and kind-hearted Kikyo Kushida here?

Just one comparison was enough to cause Horikita Suzune's image in the minds of the freshmen to plummet. Under such circumstances, when they heard that Kushida Kikyo was willing to compromise, many people's nameless anger was instantly ignited.

"Hey, hey, if you want to perform a one-man show so badly, it seems you just want to steal the spotlight on stage."

"This kind of person can actually be praised for having theatrical talent. She has only said three sentences in the hour she has been here. If she were to go on stage and perform a show, she would have to recite her lines for three days and three nights."

"Why is Kushida-senpai taking such good care of her? It's not like the drama club is begging her to join."

At first, it was just quiet complaining, but after realizing that the voices of the people around them were loud enough to drown out their own presence, these jarring discussions suddenly became a clamor.

Horikita Suzune merely frowned upon hearing this. She had heard similar remarks before, so she wasn't about to lose her temper. Just as she was about to speak in her defense, Kushida Kikyo, standing beside her, spoke first:

"Everyone, there's no need to be so angry. Horikita is a very outstanding person. Even Department Head Kitagawa mentioned it to me."

When Kitagawa's name appeared, the entire classroom instantly fell silent. After all, the name Kitagawa Ryo was simply too dazzling for these freshmen who were passionate about drama. Although it couldn't be said that 100% of them were here because of his reputation, at least 90% of them were.

However, they still looked at Horikita Suzune with suspicion. No matter how they looked at her, she didn't seem like a genius who deserved such praise.

Horikita Suzune was also surprised to hear Kitagawa Ryo's name here. She asked Kushida Kikyo:

"really?"

"Of course! They even specifically asked me which script you drew for the final review."

Kikyo Kushida showed Horikita Suzune the last chat log on her phone. After seeing that the other party had actually asked about her, Horikita Suzune proudly raised her head.

But she quickly realized that this action had a hint of smugness, and hurriedly changed her words:

“Even if he doesn’t ask, I will show it to him someday.”

"Yes, yes, maybe Minister Kitagawa will even come to the scene to watch Horikita's performance on the day of the final hearing."

Kikyo Kushida covered her mouth and chuckled. From deliberately setting aside an hour for the new students to interact before, to now having face-to-face contact with Suzune Horikita, she had roughly figured out Suzune Horikita's personality.

If you want to get a proud girl to back down, it's best to work on her personality first.

For example, first elevate her to a high position.

"Then I'll be your partner, Horikita-kun?"

Kikyo Kushida said sincerely, placing her hand on her chest.

"Let's do this for now."

The praise made Horikita Suzune feel like a child who had received candy. Although she had never acted in a play before, she now had the illusion that she was very talented.

Kikyo Kushida took in everyone's reactions and lowered her eyes.

The scene she saw every morning naturally came to mind:

The morning dew, lifted by the leaves, proudly grows fuller and fuller, bending the leaves with its weight. In that most rounded moment, it reflects the sun's brilliance with crystal clarity, as if it too is shining with golden light.

Then, it shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.

Torn apart.

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Kushida bellflower.