I have a life simulator.

Sakayanagi Arisu was naturally different from them; she tilted her head back and asked naturally.

"of course can."

Sakayanagi Narumi nodded somewhat hesitantly. The white cat that appeared in the hospital courtyard, which led Sakayanagi Arisu to discover the USB drive, was later adopted by him as a symbol of good luck.

This was not a stray cat, because it wore a small cat necklace around its neck with the word "Firefly" engraved on it. After checking its physical condition and confirming that it had no germs or congenital diseases, the Sakayanagi family adopted this name.

However, Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't usually very affectionate towards Hotaru, so he was slightly surprised when he heard his daughter's request.

“I used to dislike cats simply because I didn’t want to see these creatures that jump around.”

Sakayanagi Arisu noticed her father's confusion and shook her head, explaining:

"And I always feel like I've seen Hotaru before."

"It probably looks a bit like a cat I've seen in picture books before."

Sakayanagi Narumi was chatting happily with his daughter when he casually picked up Hotaru, who was peering out the window.

"I don't know if it's because it's been out in the wild for too long, but it feels like it hasn't been tamed much even after a year of raising it."

The cat, its fate gripped by the scruff of its neck, glared fiercely at Sakayanagi Narumi, who then spoke with a somewhat strange expression:

"He really is a feline overlord."

Sakayanagi Arisu stood up and took Hotaru from her father's hands. She hugged her tightly and pressed her little face against Hotaru's.

"But it's very warm."

Reaching her hands into the soft fur, Sakayanagi Arisu murmured softly:

"Now I can understand some of the reasons why people love cats."

"Let's go on a trip together."

With a smile befitting her age, Sakayanagi Arisu playfully raised one of Hotaru's paws:

"Oh--"

It was as if the whole world had suddenly opened up. I laughed wildly, jumped boldly, and ran to the front to release all the emotions that had been suppressed before.

My fragile heart rejects all words related to intensity. All the sadness and joy I have experienced so far must be shrunk to a whole size before they can barely enter my fragile heart, where they slowly settle, ferment, and expand.

Sitting on a high-altitude zipline overlooking the entire forest and plains, experiencing the thrill and excitement brought by the height difference on the giant swing in the amusement park, and venting all the past emotions from the throat while hugging the equally screaming father.

Sakayanagi Arisu is relearning to be a healthy child. She had imagined countless times, just like Helen Keller who wrote "If I Had Three Days to See," but when this almost impossible luck actually came, she felt somewhat lost.

"dad."

Holding her father's hand, Sakayanagi Arisu asked in bewilderment in the amusement park at dusk:

"Is what I'm doing now a kind of retaliatory compensation for my childhood?"

Sakayanagi Narumi smiled with some relief, pointing to the other children around him, who were happily snuggling up to their parents while holding balloons in their hands, and said:

"This is something that should be experienced by Qi Neng in the first place."

"It's not revenge, but it's too late. Of course, it's not really that late."

Sakayanagi Narimori was very fortunate that his daughter was able to return to a healthy group of people at the age of seven. He knew Sakayanagi Arisu's personality better than anyone else. As a father and educator, he never liked the phrase "precocious" and believed that it was the responsibility of parents to give their children a happy childhood.

Approaching a park employee dressed in a mascot uniform, and handing over the camera he had prepared beforehand, Sakayanagi Shigemori, holding his daughter's hand, began searching for the perfect angle to take a picture.

I want to record everything about her in images and videos, and I want to accompany her through spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Give the camera your best smile.

After answering Arisu Sakayanagi's questions, Narumori Sakayanagi took her to the seaside.

The refreshing sea breeze lifted the sun hat off Sakayanagi Arisu's head. She walked barefoot across the golden sand to pick up the hat, then stood on the beach and waved to her father.

Waves surged over her ankles in waves, then receded again in waves.

"Arisu used to come here often, did you really like the sea?"

"I really like it. Especially the sound of the waves."

Wearing a sun hat, Arisu Sakayanagi jogged back and answered her father's question readily.

Standing beside her father, gazing at the azure sea, she added:

"I thought I would never have the chance to come back."

Sakayanagi Arisu stretched her ankles, the golden sand flowing between her fingers, the slight heat only bringing warmth.

"If Rusu wants to come, she can come every day, but I might not be able to."

"If Dad is busy with work, he doesn't need to worry about me too much."

Sakayanagi Arisu stood with her hands behind her back, her tone seemingly reverting to her old-fashioned mature demeanor, but with a touch more playfulness than before:

"Your daughter is a genius, and a healthy one at that, with no heart problems."

“I have never doubted that.”

As his phone vibrated in his pocket, Sakayanagi Shigemori took it out and glanced at it. In the past few days, while accompanying Arisu, he usually hung up on calls whenever possible and called back later, but this time the caller made him unable to do so.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call."

"Ah."

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded obediently, then ran back to the beach and started jumping on the waves like the other children, a game that seemed rather childish.

"Ayanokouji-sensei, it's me. Is there something you need?"

When the call connected with Atsuomi Ayanokoji, Narumi Sakayanagi lowered his voice.

"It's nothing serious, I just heard that your daughter has recovered from her illness recently, so I came to congratulate you."

Although the other party's tone was quite relaxed, Sakayanagi Narimori quickly noticed his subtext. After all, when he accepted Ayanokouji Atsuomi's invitation a year ago, his answer was that he would go to the White Room after Arisu's health had recovered.

"Thank you for your concern, teacher."

While exchanging pleasantries, Sakayanagi Narimori deliberately avoided the topic. His mindset had changed dramatically compared to a year ago. Back then, he simply wanted to find some interesting and fresh topics for his daughter in the hospital, but now he was hesitant about whether to let Sakayanagi Arisu get involved in this area again.

In particular, the recent White Room incident has brought up the issue of a marriage contract.

"It's alright, it's alright. If you have some free time recently, I would love for you to bring Arisu to visit us."

After going around in circles, Ayanokouji Atsuomi finally revealed the reason for his call: he desperately needed Sakayanagi's support.

"I remember Arisu was also very interested in white rooms."

Looking at Sakayanagi Arisu in the distance, Sakayanagi Narimori hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"I remember the fourth generation of the White Room, they were the same age as Arisu, right?"

"Yes, and there's a near-success story among the fourth generation."

"It's... Kiyotaka-kun, isn't it?"

Although he hadn't been to the White Room for a long time, as an insider involved in it, Sakayanagi Narimori still knew this information. After all, this child had been the most outstanding in the White Room project so far, and he was also the biological son of Ayanokoji Atsuomi, so Sakayanagi Narimori was quite concerned about him.

"Besides Qinglong, the White Room has achieved several other notable results in recent years."

"Take the overall quality of the fifth generation members, for example... Ha, if Sakayanagi could come, he would be very surprised."

Ayanokouji Atsuomi's tone was quite enthusiastic, so Sakayanagi Narimori readily agreed, subtly making his own request:

"Okay, since the teacher says so, then we must take a good look at the fourth and fifth generation students."

"No problem, many of them are already outstanding talents in the pipeline."

After hanging up the phone with Ayanokoji Atsuomi, Sakayanagi Narimori breathed a sigh of relief.

"Arisu."

Calling his daughter's name to bring her back to reality, Sakayanagi Narimori carefully chose his words and began:

"Do you remember the facility for creating artificial geniuses that I told you about before?"

"I remember, and I'm also very curious. What kind of institution is it? Has it successfully produced geniuses?"

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded without hesitation and asked.

"The ultimate goal of that facility is to turn all the children who receive education into geniuses. However, this plan is currently still in the experimental stage. Although, according to the propaganda, it is aimed at the battle fifty or even a hundred years from now. So the children in the facility now are not here to develop their talents when they grow up, but for the sake of future children. Whether they are the children who stay or the children who fall behind, they are all just samples."

“I am well aware of the teachers’ style and practices; they are simply confined to this facility and constantly used to extract data.”

As he spoke these words, Sakayanagi Narimori's profile showed a slightly pained expression. He recalled the advice he had given to Ayanokoji Atsuomi with good intentions, but what the other party saw was a more extreme form of psychological control.

"Dad, do you hate this facility?"

Sakayanagi Arisu asked with some concern.

"To be honest, I may not be able to openly express my support. If the children who grow up here really do become better than anyone else; if things in this facility become taken for granted—I think that's just the beginning of an unfortunate situation."

Even if they succeed in the end, it means that thousands of little Alberts have failed, Sakayanagi Shigemori sighed.

"Don't worry, I will show you how I can sabotage this plan."

Sakayanagi Arisu answered confidently that her heart recovery had completely eliminated her physical disadvantages.

"Yes, I'm really looking forward to it, Arisu."

Sakayanagi Narumi smiled with relief, but he now took it as just a polite remark from his daughter to comfort him.

His real purpose in going to the white room was to find the child, whose existence was uncertain.

Inside the white room are a group of children whose hearts have already broken.

Just thinking about this made Sakayanagi Narumi hold his daughter's little hand tighter.

if possible……

Chapter 90: For Whom Does My Heart Beat?

It was a pure white facility, befitting its name.

After leading her father inside, Sakayanagi Arisu discovered that not only the exterior, but everything inside, including the walls, corridors, and floors, was an endless expanse of white.

The staff and the children receiving training also wore the same white clothes, those white dress-like blouses that easily reminded Sakayanagi Arisu of prison uniforms.

Leading the way for her and her father was Ayanokouji Atsuomi's assistant, who was devoutly introducing to Sakayanagi Shigemori what they had seen along the way: the first, second, and third generation projects that had already failed, the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth generation projects that had just begun, and the fourth and fifth generation projects that were receiving special attention.

Having broken free from her father's hand, Sakayanagi Arisu curiously ran to the one-way window of the classroom next to her, pressed her small body tightly against it, and watched intently as the children in the room looked to be about her age.

"This is the classroom for the fifth cohort."

The assistant stepped forward to introduce the two, and jokingly remarked with a smile:

"Although the fifth generation of children are younger than Ms. Sakayanagi, they are also outstanding children. The overall quality of the fifth generation is the most outstanding among all the programs so far."

The children in the room were undergoing training at an intensity inappropriate for their age, and each of them displayed a wild, biting posture.

What caught Sakayanagi Arisu's attention was one of the red-haired girls, who stood out quite a bit.

"Is this the successful product that Father mentioned before?"

Looking up at her father, Sakayanagi Arisu asked, and saw that her father and the assistant accompanying her both shook their heads.

“That’s one of the fourth generation students. Although Ichika, whom Ms. Sakayanagi is seeing now, is also performing very well, he is still much inferior in terms of grades. Of course, this is also the result of our education.”

When discussing Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's white room as the best example, the assistant couldn't help but beam with pride.

Considering Sakayanagi Narimori's attitude, Ayanokouji Atsuomi intended to conceal some of the darker aspects of the White Room from the very beginning. Compared to the fifth generation students who were under control, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who had consistently performed well since birth, was naturally the focus and the most suitable person to promote the educational achievements of the White Room.

"I have something to discuss with Ayanokouji-sensei. I wonder if he is currently in office?"

While Sakayanagi Arisu was engrossed in watching, Sakayanagi Narimori quietly communicated with his assistant.

“Councilor Ayanokouji is currently in his office. He originally planned to come to see you after he finished his work. If Mr. Sakayanagi has something urgent to attend to, I can show you the way.”

"That would be troublesome."

He patted his daughter's head and gave her a word of advice:

"Arisu, stay by yourself for a while. Dad will be back soon."

"understood."

Resting her chin on her hand, Sakayanagi Arisu observed the fifth-generation students in the room and casually agreed.

Even through the glass, she could sense that the fifth generation was different from the other generations.

Shaking his head somewhat helplessly, Sakayanagi Narumi had considered that his daughter might be interested in such facilities, but it seemed that her curiosity was even stronger than he had imagined.