I have a life simulator.

"Take it easy. After all, we still have two years to go in Dongyu. If we're already so anxious now, I don't even want to think about what will happen when we graduate in our third year."

After offering a brief word of comfort to Sudo Ken, Kitagawa Ryo said no more. After all, he had never been a babysitter for any class, especially after being comforted by Karuizawa Megumi after transferring classes, which gave him a more open-minded perspective on such matters.

"Ah."

After nodding, Sudo Ken looked intently at Kitagawa Ryo:

"But could you give me a heads-up?"

"If one day our class gathers 20 million points and we're willing to use them for your transfer to another class, would you still be willing to come back?"

"...I will come back."

Kitagawa Ryo had heard the news countless times that they would gather 20 million points for him to transfer to another class. He couldn't help but chuckle, but seeing Sudo Ken's serious and earnest expression, he suppressed his smile and gave him a positive answer.

"I understand. Sigh, I hope that day comes soon."

Kitagawa Ryo chatted casually with Sudo Ken about their respective classes and the special exam. After some time, he finally caught a glimpse of Watanabe Norihito from his group running towards him with the baton in hand. There were still no other students behind him, which meant that their third group was still in first place.

After saying goodbye to Takeru Sudo, Ryo Kitagawa quickly got into position to receive the baton. The process went smoothly, and the baton was steadily passed from Norihito Watanabe's hands to him.

In the next instant, he burst forth with astonishing speed like a cheetah on the grassland. Judging from the beginning, one might even think he was running a 100-meter sprint instead of 3.6 kilometers.

Unlike the rugged terrain near the turnaround point initially chosen by Kitagawa Ryo, this section of the journey to the forest school was quite flat.

Following the route that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had recently run, Kitagawa Ryo embarked on his final leg of the race against the wind. As he approached the finish line and saw Ayanokouji waiting there, the lyrics "I've felt the evening breeze you've felt" inexplicably popped into his head.

The next second, he leaped across the finish line, representing the third group and winning first place in the grade for this road relay race.

The members of the third group, who had been brought back ahead of time, rushed up to him, some giving him high-fives and others hugging him. Kiyotaka Ayanokouji hesitated for a moment, but still chose to be swept up by the crowd and gave Ryo Kitagawa a stiff, not-so-crisp, high-five.

In that instant, he even felt that the outcome of their battle had become irrelevant.

Unlike the past fifteen years in the white room.

Unlike countless times when victory was achieved through competition, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka experienced for the first time the feeling of winning through cooperation.

He couldn't quite put his finger on the feeling.

Because he couldn't determine whether this feeling stemmed from cooperation or from victory, or from the victory achieved through cooperation or from the victory gained through working with him.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji suddenly recalled the conversation he had overheard between Ryuen Sho and Hashimoto Masayoshi the night before, and the thought he had before going to sleep became even clearer.

At this moment, Kitagawa Ryo, who was in Class 1-B, was still unaware of that fact.

Takeru Sudo from Class A of the first year, Sho Ryuen from Class C of the first year, and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji from Class D of the first year all began to unconsciously move in the same direction.

and many more……

Hey, Firefly!

Is something wrong with our dating simulator version?

Touching the day at the beginning of the month

It's customary to touch the ground one day at the beginning of the month.

I never expected that the Classroom of the First Year anime would actually get a fourth season, the second year arc. I hope the production quality will be better, since the original novel is quite popular in Japan. However, the quality of the first three seasons of the anime was really not up to par. I wish it could have the same level of production quality as this season's "Too Many Loser Heroines". Sigh.


Chapter 439: Two Myths

Since individual scores, group scores, and overall group scores can only be viewed after all four exam subjects are completed, Kitagawa Ryo wasn't entirely sure who would win between him and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. After all, they weren't actually competing side-by-side. However, according to his estimation, the final difference between them should be very small, so it wouldn't be surprising who won or lost.

Of course, even if he couldn't pull away from Kiyotaka Ayanokoji in the road relay race, there was still the final test: a speech.

However, for the first-year students, the more important thing right now is obviously to eat. After all, they haven't had a proper lunch yet. After running around all morning and covering several kilometers, they are already starving. Under these circumstances, even if they wanted to give a powerful and eloquent speech, their physical condition wouldn't allow it. Therefore, the school has thoughtfully given the first-year students a time to eat and rest before the speech test will be held in the afternoon.

Because the time it took for each group to complete the road relay race was different, and Kitagawa Ryo and his third group were the first group among the first-year students, and the meal times of the second and third-year students were different from theirs, on the last day of this special mixed training camp exam, they enjoyed the privilege of having the entire student cafeteria to themselves, and for the first time sat down around the same table as a group.

"Anyway, there's only one subject left. I hope everyone can do their best."

Thinking about it carefully, this really seems to be the first time Kitagawa Ryo has sat down to eat with the boys in the student cafeteria at the forest school. Because he was really exhausted in the morning, and he had run the last 3.6 kilometers at full speed without holding back, he immediately started eating after saying this. The other students were in similar condition, except for Yukimura Teruhiko and Sotomura Hideo, who tactically gave up on the road relay race and seemed to be in a slightly better state.

It has to be said that perhaps it was because their third group was indeed ahead of the competition, or perhaps it was because the boys were eating so fast, that the rest of the first-year groups arrived at the restaurant one after another while Kitagawa Ryo and his group had almost finished their lunch.

Before long, Kitagawa Ryo learned the final results of the road relay race from their casual conversation. After their third group secured first place with a commanding lead, the competition among the remaining groups was quite intense, especially in the final sprint. The contest between Sudo Ken and Shibata Hayate felt like a return to last year's sports festival. In the end, Sudo Ken prevailed thanks to his advantage in the earlier legs, leading the first group to second place in the race. If nothing unexpected happens, their group should also be second in the overall score for the entire grade, only behind Kitagawa Ryo's third group.

After lunch, there was a short rest period, but it wasn't long. The school didn't even allow the first-year students to go back to their dormitories. Instead, they were asked to rest temporarily in the student cafeteria while waiting for their last speech exam in the afternoon. After all, they still had to return to Tokyo Advanced Educational High School today, so time was a bit tight.

Fortunately, the students do seem to have a natural talent for sleeping soundly even while lying on their desks. Kitagawa Ryo himself put his arms on the desk and rested his head on it for a while. Before he knew it, he heard the reminder bell coming from the loudspeaker. The first-year students' break time was over, and the last part of the special exam for this mixed training camp was about to begin.

Actually, what Kitagawa Ryo is most curious about now is what kind of speech Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has prepared for him.

The theme of the first-year student's speech was his experience and thoughts on his year at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, a school that is quite unique. For Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, this topic was essentially asking him about his views and understanding of the world outside the White Room.

In the past year, Kitagawa Ryo was genuinely curious about what knowledge the other party had learned that would never have been known in the white room, and whether or not they had written it into this speech.

Although there were only a few judges scoring the final speech exam, Kitagawa Ryo had become quite familiar with Oki Masashi, their professor, over the past few days of classes. He could ask him about it after the exam.

With this in mind, Kitagawa Ryo, along with a group of first-year students, followed the school staff to the location of the final exam.

Due to the large number of students, the speech exam was conducted simultaneously in three venues. Masashi Oki served as the chief judge and inspected the venues. Each venue had five judges. If there was a significant difference in scores, the judges from other venues would re-score the speech after the recording. The whole process was quite rigorous and fair.

Like job applicants going to an interview, the first-grade boys were scattered in the corridor, sitting or leaning against the wall, waiting for their numbers to be called every few minutes. Then they walked into the classroom with either nervousness or composure, and then walked out with either relief or worry.

After this process was repeated several times, it was soon Kitagawa Ryo's turn.

To be honest, there's not much to say about this exam. The only thing that left a slight impression on Kitagawa Ryo was the winking and smug look on Oki Masashi's face as he looked at the other judges after his speech.

As with the training over the past week, the exams for boys and girls were conducted separately. Apart from a brief encounter at the road relay race, Kitagawa Ryo didn't see any girls again until he finished all the exams for the day.

Students who finished their exams first were allowed to return to their dormitories to pack their belongings, but with a heart full of satisfaction, Kitagawa Ryo chose to wait there until the very end. Only after Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Hirata Yosuke, the two last group members to be called upon, finished all their exams for the day did he call all the students in the third group to return to their dormitories with him.

"how do you feel?"

On the way back, Kitagawa Ryo deliberately slowed down and strolled over to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, casually asking him this question.

"I have no experience with this kind of exam, so I don't know how I would have performed according to the school's grading criteria."

The others, naturally unaware of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's past experiences, observed his cryptic demeanor and remarked that this was likely the way a top student humbly admitted to failing an exam. Ishizaki Daichi himself even chimed in, adding:

"That won't do. Ayanokouji, you're a member of the student council. If you run for student council president in the future, you'll definitely need to be good at public speaking. You should practice now."

As soon as Ishizaki Daichi said those words, Kitagawa Ryo's eyes flickered.

After two days of speculation, the rumor that Nangumo Masayuki was going to be dismissed from the student council has become widely known, as evidenced by the fact that even Ishizaki Daichi, who usually doesn't care about such matters, knows about it.

If the first-year students in the past didn't have a deep understanding of the student council of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, now even the students who don't care about this aspect can realize how important the student council is in the class competition within the grade. However, the members of this year's student council have been completely determined, and the next recruitment will not be until April next year. Therefore, the four first-year members, including Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, are particularly eye-catching.

After all, if Nagumo Masaru is indeed removed from her position as student council president because of this special exam, then the next student council president can only be one of the four of them. Even though Sakayanagi Arisu and Horikita Suzune have already occupied the positions of two vice presidents, before the results are announced, no one can say for sure that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Katsuragi Kohei have no chance at all.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka himself did not respond to Ishizaki Daichi's question, but since Ishizaki Daichi had always been aloof in his public persona, he didn't pay much attention to it and soon went back to Yukimura Teruhiko to thank him for successfully predicting the exam questions.

While Kitagawa Ryo and his friends returned to their dormitory and leisurely packed their bags to await the final exam results, a certain acting chairman of Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School was watching a video that had just been sent from the Forest School with a rather amused expression.

That was a recording of a speech given by Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka a few tens of minutes earlier.

The former's performance was not unexpected. In fact, in Tsukishiro Tsunehito's opinion, if it weren't for that bizarre and tortuous background that could be considered a drama or light novel, Kitagawa Ryo would definitely have become famous as a theatrical actor in the future.

That was a supermodel performance that was completely out of the scope of a high school student. Rather than a speech, it was more like he had turned that area into his personal stage in those few minutes. Every judge's mind was being led by his every move and word, and they completely lost their ability to think independently.

Judging solely from the persuasiveness of the speech, Tsukishiro Tsuneshige even believed that the other party possessed the top qualities to become a politician.

In contrast to Kitagawa Ryo, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's speech was undoubtedly much more awkward. Tsukishiro Tsuneshige knew very well that this was the greatest masterpiece of the White Room and had also seen some of the records he left in the White Room. The other party was not a genius who was born with knowledge. Instead, he was more like the type who mastered knowledge through hard work. What often happened was that he performed averagely when he first started, but got better and better later, and finally reached the top at an astonishing speed.

This was his first time giving a speech.

That is why, compared to the other party's posture, volume and tone, Tsukishiro Tsunehira was more interested in the content of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's speech.

Although the theme was supposed to be a summary of the year's campus life, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's opening was a well-known Greek myth.

Greek mythology has always been excellent material for various dramas, after all, it contains too many stories containing humanity, hatred and jealousy. Just like Horikita Manabu, the former student council president of Dongyu, Tsukishiro Tsuneaki has also read Kitagawa Ryo's most famous work, "Oedipus Rex".

However, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji tells the story of Icarus's Wings.

The story's outline is very simple:

—Once upon a time, there was a great inventor in Greece named Daedalus.

Daedalus, under the orders of King Minos, built a labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur. However, he was later abandoned by King Minos and imprisoned in the tower along with his son Icarus.

To escape the tower, Daedalus and his companions collected bird feathers and created enormous wings. The large feathers were bound together with thread, while the smaller ones were secured with wax. When they finally completed their wings and prepared to take flight in pursuit of freedom, Daedalus, as their father, gave his sons this advice:

"If you fly too high, the wings that are held in place by wax will melt in the sun, so be careful."

Having received such advice, Icarus took off from the tower with his father.

Having escaped the labyrinth, they were finally free. However, Icarus suddenly became arrogant and forgot his father's advice, flying high towards the sun.

The fake angel wings he made melted away in the blink of an eye when exposed to the sun.

Soon after, the False Wings were completely burned away, and Icarus fell into the sea and died.

From a positive perspective, Icarus can be seen as someone who bravely flies into the sky in order to gain freedom.

On the other hand, he might just be an arrogant person who overestimates his own power and believes he can even reach the sun.

Then, the second myth narrated by Kiyotaka Ayanokoji is the story of Phaethon.

Phaethon, who also disobeyed his father Helios's orders, drove his sun chariot without permission. The out-of-control chariot burned the earth and rivers, and then buried him in them.

This is another myth similar to that of Icarus.

Just as there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand readers' eyes, the interpretation of the same myth may be completely different for everyone.

However, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji neither praised their courage nor mocked their arrogance, and he did not discuss topics related to freedom and patriarchy. He simply stated his thoughts in a calm manner.

During my three years at this school.

He will create a pair of wings for himself that will not be melted by the sun.

Then--

Go and grab the reins of that sun chariot with your own hands, hold them tight, and steer it.

Chapter 440: The Exam Ends (5k5)

After watching the recorded speeches by Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Tsukishiro Tsuneaki leaned back lazily in his office chair and casually asked his secretary:

What were their final scores on this exam?

"Kitagawa got full marks, while Ayanokouji was a bit worse, only around 70 points. The judges thought his speech was a bit off-topic, and his demeanor and volume were also average. However, he didn't make any mistakes like stage fright or forgetting his lines due to nervousness, so he was given a total of 70 points."

After hearing the secretary's answer, Yuecheng Changcheng nodded, lay down, squinted his eyes and thought for a moment, then continued to ask:

"If the speech subject is scored out of 100 or 70, what would their total scores be across the four subjects in the final exam?"

"Kitagawa Ryo is in the lead. He and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka both scored full marks in meditation and the written exam, and he is leading by a hair's breadth in the road relay race. If the final score for the speech exam is determined in this way, then he will undoubtedly win."

"Hmm... So you mean that even if Ayanokouji gets a perfect score on the last exam, the speech subject, her final score won't surpass Kitagawa's, right?"

"That's right, especially since there was already a score difference between the two before the final exams started."

"it is good."

Upon hearing this, Yuecheng Changcheng nodded and then casually waved his hand:

"Backstage, change Ayanokoji's score in the speech category to the same perfect score as Kitagawa's."

Although he didn't quite understand Tsukishiro Tsunehira's intentions, the secretary wisely refrained from asking further questions, nodded, and left the chairman's office. After all, the Forest School was about to tally all the students' scores and announce the results of this special exam, and time was quite tight if someone's score needed to be changed at the last minute.

After the secretary left the office, Tsukishiro Tsunehiro sat up straight in his office chair and pulled the progress bar of the video in front of him back to the beginning, staring at Ayanokouji Kiyotaka on the screen with great interest.

To be honest, as someone who was involved in some of the affairs of the White Room project from its early stages, Tsukishiro Tsunehira didn't really believe that such a facility could actually cultivate any geniuses who could change the future of the country. He just thought it was another useless project to swindle funding from above. However, the appearance of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was indeed an accident, and this accidental masterpiece happened to bear the surname Ayanokouji.

However, even so, for a long time, Tsukishiro Tsuneaki did not believe that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka could fulfill his father Ayanokouji Atsuomi's long-cherished wish. Although Ayanokouji Atsuomi, as the previous generation, had laid a certain foundation for him, so that he would not have to accumulate the initial funds and connections to enter politics like his father did, then again, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who was nurtured by the White Room, was not suitable for entering politics from the beginning.

At least Yuecheng Changcheng couldn't imagine the other party giving a public speech on the street or engaging in enthusiastic negotiations with social elites. If Yuecheng Changcheng really had to think of one of the advantages that would make the other party a politician, it would probably be that he could react faster than the bodyguard next to him when he was shot by an assassin. He might even be able to roll and dodge the gun with his bare hands and not end up with a magnanimous attitude.

But today's speech video gave Tsukishiro Tsuneaki a different feeling, because he rarely saw a certain quality in Ayanokouji Kiyotaka that he had never shown before, or rather, had never displayed. Whether it was ambition or a desire for change, as long as this emotion appeared in Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, then his value in Tsukishiro Tsuneaki's eyes increased even more.

If his past attitude towards Kiyotaka Ayanokoji was largely due to his father's influence, then from today onwards, his investment focus may shift more towards the man himself.

It's like adding that crucial number one to the very beginning of a long and infinite series of zeros. If that one is indeed added later, then the long string of zeros that follows, including learning ability, knowledge level, physical fitness, and so on, will truly show their value.

The other person has a full two more years to go at this school.

Yuecheng Changcheng was happy to witness this process.

Witness whether the other party can truly and forcefully take the reins of the sun chariot from their father, or whether all their embellishments will melt away under the sun's rays, causing them to fall high from the sky.

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

"Since we need to register and calculate all scores and rankings of all students in this special exam, it may take a long time. Please be patient. Also, the lottery for the last day has started. You can go to the corresponding page to draw a card. This draw guarantees a minimum of a 0.5x boost card."

Even after the students in the third group had finished packing their belongings, the final exam results were still not announced. The tablets only received a notification from the school, which greatly disappointed everyone. However, they were quickly drawn to the now-opened card draw.