I have a life simulator.

Tianze Yixia nodded, answering with a serious expression.

"So that's it."

Karuizawa Kei didn't think much of it. She had met Kitagawa Ryo when she was twelve years old, and she didn't know much about his life before he turned twelve. So she quickly changed the subject back to the script.

"Tianze's role this time is not difficult. Because he is a newcomer, he doesn't have many lines or scenes, but he still needs to work hard."

"Well, I'll do my best."

Amazusa Ichika smiled sweetly, her fluorescent eyes reminding Karuizawa Megumi of Kitagawa Ryo's younger sister, whom she had met before. This made Karuizawa Megumi feel a bit more affection for Amazusa Ichika, extending that affection to Kitagawa Ryo's younger sister. She said gently:

"Okay, let me first give you a brief summary of the original story of 'The Human Chair,' so you should be able to understand it better that way."

"Actually, the story itself is very short. It tells the story of an ugly and short craftsman who makes chairs. Because he has been oppressed and discriminated against for a long time, he suddenly had the idea to hide himself in a chair that was specially made by someone else, which is luxurious, spacious and placed in a big hotel."

"He hid in the chair, experiencing the world he had never seen before. Eventually, the hotel went bankrupt, and the big chair where he was hiding was auctioned off to another family. There, he fell in love with the landlady, but he was too ashamed to act on it."

"This novel is full of suspense and thriller because the story begins from the perspective of the female writer Yoshiko. She is sitting in a chair and opens a letter from a reader. The contents of the letter are the story of the human chair that I just mentioned. Only when she reads the end of the letter does she realize that the chair she is sitting on is the same chair in the story."

"And the woman the other party admires is herself."

Even after hearing only a brief written summary, Tianze Yixia had to admit that it was indeed a story that made one sweat a little:

"What about the end?"

"The novel ends with a second letter following the story of the human chair. It turns out that the story was just a submission written by one of her fans, who hoped to get her feedback. However, due to a postal error, the second letter, which was supposed to be the manuscript, arrived on Yoshiko's desk first."

"The overall reading experience felt like being played a cruel joke on someone."

"I think Edogawa Ranpo's writing skills are on full display in this piece."

Kitagawa Ryo, who had rolled back with a gurgling sound, suddenly spoke, startling the two who were still immersed in the afterglow of the story. Karuizawa Megumi, looking like she could no longer tolerate it, reached out and pulled Kitagawa Ryo up from the ground, dragging and scrambling him into a large container in the corner of the room.

"Liang should just stay inside and sleep peacefully. Consider it a preview of the role."

"Okay, the props team is pretty reliable. It's quite comfortable inside."

Kitagawa Ryo lay there lazily, now hiding inside a giant chair specially made by the props team, just like the chair craftsman in the story. His voice sounded somewhat muffled.

To perfectly recreate the descriptions in the original work, the props team also put in a lot of effort, achieving a level of consistency with the original text:

The person inside the chair is also in a sitting posture, with the armrests corresponding to the person's outstretched hands, the seat cushion corresponding to the thighs together, and the backrest corresponding to the chest. Because it uses a box-like support and has no chair legs, there is no need to worry about support issues.

Kitagawa Ryo didn't feel stuffy sitting inside. The props team had thoughtfully arranged many ventilation holes on the back of the chair, and the materials used were also very high-end. Kitagawa Ryo, sandwiched in the middle, felt quite comfortable, and vaguely recalled a sentence that had particularly impressed him when he first read "The Human Chair":

After each chair is finished, I sit in it first. In the monotonous life of a craftsman, only at this moment do I feel an indescribable sense of pride and satisfaction. What noble gentleman or beautiful lady will one day sit in this chair?

[Given such an extravagant custom order, the family must possess a luxurious room befitting this chair. The walls must be adorned with masterpieces, the ceiling suspended by a magnificent, jewel-like crystal chandelier, and the floor covered with an expensive carpet. And then, on the table that matches the chair, fragrant and eye-catching Western flowers and plants must be in full bloom.]

I indulged in this fantasy, feeling as if I were the owner of that luxurious room.

[...But in the end, only my meticulously crafted chair stood alone in the same spot, like a fragment of a beautiful dream.]

"Speaking of which, although I know that Hui plays Yoshiko, the female writer who narrates the story, who does Ichika play? There don't seem to be any other characters in 'The Human Chair', right?"

If these sentences from the past might have stirred some emotions in Kitagawa Ryo, he now simply revisited them with a leisurely mood, even having the leisure to ask the two people outside a question.

"She was the first girl to sit in the chair during her stay at the hotel."

Karuizawa Kei casually replied that she became very focused once she got into character, and then turned to Amasawa Ichika to continue discussing the scene.

"How about this, you go and give it a try first."

"Liang goes first..."

Before Karuizawa Megumi could finish speaking, Amasawa Ichika had already swiftly sat down in a chair, startling Kitagawa Ryo, who was still resting with his eyes closed, unable to see what was happening outside.

Tianze Yixia hummed a lullaby softly.

She sat in that huge chair, her legs and hands moving restlessly, and she occasionally giggled.

But Karuizawa Kei couldn't stop her, because everything she did was just lines from a script:

Judging from her voice, I imagined her to be a young foreign girl in her prime. The room was empty at the time, and she seemed to have encountered something happy, humming a whimsical tune as she entered with light, cheerful steps. She walked to the armchair where I was hiding and suddenly threw her full, soft body against me. For a good half hour, she sang on my lap, sometimes moving slightly to the melody.

Separated only by a thin layer of leather, it was almost no different from a normal hug, or rather, it was a more ambiguous posture.

If you ignore the chair, it's basically like Amazu Ichika is sitting on Kitagawa Ryo's lap, her back pressed against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, and her hands in his palms.

They could even feel each other's body temperature mingling.

But right now, Kitagawa Ryo can only sigh.

He recognized the tune that Tianze Yixia had just hummed; it was a tune he often sang to her in the white room when he was her cotton-cloth mother.

Although he had long suspected that the other party's feelings for him were not so simple, Kitagawa Ryo still chose to use his last corrective power to preserve her memories from the simulation. As a result, Amasawa Ichika, who was already quite concerned about Kitagawa Ryo's defeat of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in reality, directly chose to betray him, changing his identity from the White Room assassin to Kitagawa Ryo's assistant.

So, under Kitagawa Ryo's reverie (mainly to distract himself) and Karuizawa Megumi's watchful gaze, Amazawa Ichika played on the chair for a full half hour.

"Acting, huh?"

Tianze Yixia winked playfully before getting up.

"Um...can I come out now? It's a bit stuffy."

"Don't come out, Liang! Give me a good performance!"

Karuizawa Megumi sat down aggressively, flipping through the script in her hand, and said:

"The female writer is the person the chair likes the most; the performance should capture the feel of the original work."

When she leans on me, I always catch her as gently as possible. When she's tired, I quietly shift my knees to adjust her position. When she's dozing off, I gently rock my knees, acting as a cradle.

Kitagawa Ryo began to move his knees as he recalled the descriptions from the original work, which unexpectedly made Karuizawa Megumi blush slightly.

"Slow down..."

"I really don't want to see our scandal in tomorrow's newspapers."

Kitagawa Ryo continued to sigh.

He had just returned from a simulation and all he wanted to do was rest.

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

"Although he won an award, I feel that Liang doesn't really like the story of 'The Human Chair'."

Karuizawa Kei suddenly spoke up like this.

"It's not that I don't like it, how should I put it..."

Kitagawa Ryo folded his hands behind his head and strode forward.

"Since you've decided to abandon certain ideas, you should do it thoroughly."

"Reconciling with your past self is an extremely difficult thing."

"Placing hope in fantasy, yet reality remains bleak. This is the case with the protagonist in 'The Human Chair.' Every time he ends his fantasy, the gray reality re-reveals its ugly form."

"It's a good story, but not the story that people want to see."

Kitagawa Ryo noticed some reporters hiding behind him, so he suddenly leaned down towards Karuizawa Megumi, as if feeling tired, and gave her his weight:

"Hey, Megumi."

He put his index finger to his lips, looked into Karuizawa Megumi's eyes, and said softly:

"This is the kind of story everyone wants to see."

"And it's also a good story."

Chapter 126: What They Craved

Since it was already late, Tomoya Mashima, the instructor who had accompanied the drama club, decided that the group would stay at the hotel for another night and return to Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School the next morning.

In the past, the instructors who accompanied the clubs out of school were often not very nice and were very strict in their work.

Sudo had complained to Kitagawa Ryo more than once that their basketball team finally managed to go out of school for a practice match, but the whole process was like being a prisoner. They were just transported from one cell to another in a car, and not only were their belongings checked multiple times, but they also had almost no free time.

Aside from rest periods, they spend most of their time in the car, then walk into the competition venue under the guidance of their instructors, and return immediately after the competition.

But none of this applies to Kitagawa Ryo.

The clubs at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School are among the best in the country, so most of the instructors for each sports club are former professional athletes. Their professional background and high level of expertise easily earn them the respect and admiration of the students.

Unlike these sports clubs, Tokyo Advanced Educational High School did not have a drama club in its previous history, making it difficult to find an instructor who could specialize in drama.

These teachers, who have absolutely no understanding of the world of drama, fall into a predicament of "who am I, where am I, what should I do?" as soon as they leave school. In just a short while, Kitagawa Ryo can easily take over the leadership of the entire team.

In the end, the student council could only appoint Mashima Tomoya, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, as the drama club's advisor, hoping that he could make the most of his position as the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D.

Meanwhile, Majima Tomoya, who was appointed, carefully observed Kitagawa Ryo's actions over the past few days and finally made up his mind.

"Mashima-sensei?"

As Kitagawa Ryo walked into the lobby of the hotel with Karuizawa Kei, he immediately spotted the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa in the lobby and went up to greet him.

Of the four homeroom teachers in the first year, after learning about the past of Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie, Kitagawa Ryo had basically collected all the information about the four people.

If he were to choose the most suitable homeroom teacher for most students right now, he would probably choose Tomoya Mashima without hesitation.

Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie's hearts are not really in the teaching profession. The two of them are trapped in the past ten years ago, living in a morbid way. Rather than being homeroom teachers, they are competing with each other.

If we were to use the words of the fans who shipped him and Arisu back then, it would be that they should lock them up forever and swallow the key.

As for Class C's homeroom teacher, Kazuma Sakagami...

He is probably the kind of teacher that inevitably emerges under the distorted system of this school.

If Kitagawa Ryo were in Class C, he would probably like him a lot.

But unfortunately, he's not here anymore.

"Kitagawa-san, and Karuizawa-san."

Tomoya Mashima is very strong, and one would expect him to be very imposing when he stands up from his seat, but that is not the case.

"I have something I'd like to talk to Kitagawa-kun about alone, is that alright?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Karuizawa Megumi standing next to Kitagawa Ryo. Mashima Tomoya's knowledge of this class representative of Class 1-B came entirely from Hoshinomiya Chie's remarks in the office, but he never expected that she would have such a close relationship with Kitagawa Ryo.

"it is good."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement, then turned to Karuizawa Megumi and said:

"Hui, go back to your room and rest. You have to get up early to go back to school tomorrow."

"Ah."

Karuizawa Kei obediently agreed, glanced at Mashima Tomoya one last time, and then stepped onto the elevator.

If the homeroom teacher standing here wanting to speak with Kitagawa Ryo privately were Chabashira Sae or Hoshinomiya Chie, she probably wouldn't leave no matter what.

Especially Hoshinomiya Chie, Karuizawa Kei, as the class president of Class B, had already figured out her temperament in the past few months. Putting aside her resentment towards Chabashira Sae, Karuizawa Kei was already somewhat uncomfortable with the chaos in her personal love life.

From that moment on, Karuizawa Kei was determined never to let Kitagawa Ryo and Hoshinomiya Chie meet alone.

After all, it is known that Hoshinomiya Chie's biggest obsession is to keep Chabashira Sae in Class D forever, and her love life is quite chaotic. So, if a student like Ryo appears who can help her drag Chabashira Sae down from Class A and also fits her aesthetic...

Karuizawa Kei wouldn't let that happen, so she looked at Mashima Tomoya's unshaven, middle-aged face with a bit more reassurance.

A homeroom teacher should be this kind of middle-aged man, right?

Mashima Tomoya was unaware of what Karuizawa Megumi was thinking. After Karuizawa got on the elevator, he pointed to the sofa next to him and said to Kitagawa Ryo:

"Please sit here."

"Ah."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded and sat down quite naturally in front of Majima Tomoya.

In fact, he had already made contact with the other party once during the midterm exams, and obtained the complete list of those who failed from Majima Tomoya, secretly using points to buy points to save some people.

But Tomoya Mashima had no intention of bringing up the matter at all, and simply said:

“I used to think that teachers should maintain an appropriate distance from students in order to provide them with the best education.”

"But I never expected that I would be the first to break this rule."

At this point, Tomoya Mashima paused, looking into Ryo Kitagawa's dark eyes as he spoke:

"Did you know? I used to be a student at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School."

"Like Chabashira and Hoshinomiya, I even knew them, but I was two grades above them back then."

Even now, Tomoya Mashima seems to be just looking for someone to chat with, his tone filled with nostalgia.