I have a life simulator.

I caught a cold, and my throat is so sore I'm swallowing razor blades. I'm forced to rest, and I hope I'll feel better tomorrow.

Everyone should also take care to keep warm, as it's too easy to catch a cold in this weather.

Thank you all for your continued reading and support. The first-year arc is scheduled to conclude this year, with only a few chapters left to wrap things up. The second-year arc will likely be released in a new volume. It's already 2025, time flies!

Chapter 518: Confused Youqi (4k5)

With the completion of the first-grade year-end special exams, the class points for the four classes have changed accordingly:

Class A, Grade 1: 919 points (formerly 969 points).

Class 1B: 1213 points (originally 963 points).

Class 1-C: 509 points (formerly 559 points).

Class D, Grade 1: 560 points (originally 310 points).

Class B and Class D, which were in the lower ranks, took this opportunity to advance to the next rank. Class A and Class C, which failed in the final round, also suffered defeat and each dropped one rank.

However, for the current first-year students, changes in class points and class rankings are not their most pressing concerns at the moment, because the penalty for failing the special end-of-year exam is expulsion.

So, did the commander himself resign from school to take responsibility?

Or should we pick two scapegoats from the losers' bracket?

Horikita Suzune, the commander of Class A (or rather, Class B) in the first year, chose the former without hesitation.

Then, with the support of Kitagawa Ryo, Amasawa Ichika, Sakayanagi Arisu, and Sakura Airi, they quickly used another 20 million personal points to offset the punishment of being expelled from school, thus successfully passing the test.

There's no way around it; Class 1B is already riddled with problems. If two more students drop out, the situation will undoubtedly become even worse.

However, the former Class C, which had already fallen to Class D, chose a different approach.

After Kohei Katsuragi, acting as the commander, stated that he would not accept the punishment of expulsion, the vote from the winners' bracket was naturally opened, and the result was no exception: more than half of the students voted in favor, saving the commander while distributing the punishment to the losers' bracket.

As the target of everyone's criticism, Masayoshi Hashimoto was undoubtedly voted out.

However, the remaining random selection inevitably made the students in the loser's bracket nervous, even Commander Kohei Katsuragi, who was no longer at risk of being expelled.

After all, both Kikyo Kushida and Masumi Kamuro in the class were in the loser's bracket and were entirely potential targets for being drawn. The latter was alright, but if the former were drawn, the class strength of Class D that year would undoubtedly decline by a lot.

In a sense, Kikyo Kushida's position in Class D was truly irreplaceable. Otherwise, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji wouldn't have chosen to win her over even knowing she had betrayed the class, instead of kicking her out like he did with Masayoshi Hashimoto.

However, Kikyo Kushida herself did not seem particularly nervous. She was even gently comforting her classmates who were either anxious or disappointed, continuing to play the role of the class's little angel.

It can only be said that Class D in the first year really can't come up with the 20 million personal points to redeem the student. Class B was able to come up with so many personal points to cancel Horikita Suzune's expulsion punishment mainly because Sakura Airi had been saving up 10 million. 20 million is not so easy to save up. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka only had Nagumo Masaru forgive Class D's debt, but didn't give Class D millions of personal points back.

Just as Katsuragi Kohei was feeling uneasy, the second expulsion result was also announced. According to the school's random selection, Motoi Chikako from Class 1-D became the victim and would be expelled along with Hashimoto Masayoshi.

Upon seeing this result, Katsuragi Kohei breathed a sigh of relief. Firstly, Motohiro Chikako herself wasn't particularly outstanding in Class D, and secondly, he actually felt that dropping out of school was a relief for her.

After all, she had suffered consecutive major setbacks in her relationships with both Hashimoto Masayoshi and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and the former had been particularly attentive to spreading a lot of erotic rumors about her. Perhaps leaving the environment of Dongyu was a better choice for her.

Thinking of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Katsuragi Kohei sighed helplessly once again.

He had always felt that if the other side were in charge, they would be able to see through Class C's plan when confirming the official projects and turn it around to their advantage. But assumptions are just assumptions. Maybe Ayanokouji Kiyotaka originally wanted Class D to experience this kind of failure due to underestimating their opponent in their last year.

Looking back now in hindsight, the project setup and personnel arrangements should have been based on the assumption that Masayoshi Hashimoto, a bombshell of dissatisfaction with the class, would self-destruct.

In the end, Katsuragi Kohei could only helplessly define this special exam:

There is no doubt that there is a considerable gap in strength between Class C and Class D. Given that Class D was tricked and Class C had a clear advantage in luck, especially in the sixth round of rock-paper-scissors, they were able to drag it out to a narrow 3-4 defeat. If they do not underestimate Class C next time, they should still win.

But Long Yuanxiang, who was sitting opposite him, clearly didn't think so.

While Class C's victory over Class D in this special exam certainly involved a degree of luck, it cannot be said to be entirely due to chance.

He also did a lot of work on top of luck.

For example, there was more than just Masayoshi Hashimoto as a traitor in Class 1-D during this year's special end-of-year exam.

In this respect, the girl named Kikyo Kushida did indeed possess an extraordinary ruthlessness.

Because if the commander standing here at this moment who lost the game were Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was originally planned, then half of the students in the winner's group of Class 1-D would be instantly incited to mutiny, and the commander would be expelled from school on the spot.

Unfortunately, the commander standing here at this moment is not Ayanokoji Kiyotaka himself.

Moreover, Ryuen Sho didn't believe that Kushida Kikyo's plan would succeed if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka were to take command.

Overall, Class C won this special exam and returned to its original position as Class C.

Yes, that's good.

Long Yuanxiang kicked off his chair and stood up. Although there were still a series of activities to come, including the graduation ceremony, graduation performance, etc., for him personally—

He has finished his first year at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School.

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

The Student Council Activities Department at Tokyo Advanced Educational Junior High School.

"...Why did you come to the student council to work overtime right after losing the special exam?"

"Isn't this because someone made a big promise to everyone when they were running for student council president? The show is officially starting tomorrow, and if we don't work overtime to do a final check now, it will be too late tomorrow."

"It's alright, it's alright. Today, I and Yixia will be your helpers."

"Yes, the supreme former acting student council president has finally returned to his loyal student council activity room. Congratulations, congratulations!"

"Airi just reported from the scene that there seems to be a problem with the lighting in Zone C."

"Yes, yes—I'll explain it to the staff right away."

"That bastard Ayanokouji is still on sick leave. He hasn't even been to the student council much since he became vice president, has he?"

Even though the special exams at the end of the school year had just ended and students were officially beginning their wonderful spring break, the student council's activity room was still bustling with activity.

Just an hour ago, Horikita Suzune, Sakayanagi Arisu, Amasawa Ichika, and Kitagawa Ryo were back and forth as competitors, but now they were all extremely busy, checking for any potential problems or malfunctions with Sakura Airi, who was on stage for a pre-show rehearsal, via remote connection.

"Phew... that's pretty much it. The lighting and sound equipment have all been checked, and we're just waiting for the show to start tomorrow."

After working for a while, the newly elected student council president, Horikita Suzune, stretched in her office chair and got up to loosen her limbs.

"Everyone has worked hard."

After finishing all the student council work, Horikita Suzune did not announce the disbandment and go home as usual. Instead, she glanced at Sakayanagi Arisu and Amasawa Ichika in turn, then sat back down in her seat, resting her chin on her hand and adopting an attentive listening posture:

"So, can you two explain what happened this afternoon?"

"Well, this is quite a long story."

"It's okay, I don't have anything else to do for the rest of the day anyway. You can take your time to tell me and I'll listen. It's best not to leave anything out and to explain the whole story clearly, otherwise I definitely won't be able to sleep tonight."

"Too."

Knowing she was in the wrong, Amasawa Ichika smiled sheepishly, then sat down opposite Horikita Suzune, lost in thought.

Where to begin?

Knowing that Horikita Suzune shared similar experiences with her in the Sims, Amasawa Ichika saved herself a lot of trouble. After thinking for a moment, she continued:

"Rinne should know about the White Room, including myself, who was a fifth-generation member of the White Room."

"Ah."

"So, what I'm going to talk about next is what I went through with Arisudo, back when Ryo was also a member of the fifth generation of the White Room in the same year as me."

After half an hour.

"...Let's get straight to the point. It's been thirty minutes and I still haven't heard Arisu appear. And is it really possible for a child to remember how old they are so clearly?"

After listening to Amazusa Ichika's kindergarten diary for a full half hour, Horikita Suzune rubbed her forehead.

"Yes, yes, after all, they are children of the White Room. It's quite normal for them to be precocious. In fact, it's more accurate to say that if they weren't precocious, they wouldn't be able to survive in that kind of environment."

Tianze Yixia nodded as if it were a matter of course:

"Since Suzune said she wanted to hear the whole story, I naturally have to explain it in detail. Besides, Arisu didn't have any objections, did she?"

"Yes, but I'm just more interested in what kind of life Liang led before I went to the White Room."

Upon hearing this, Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head slightly. Ever since losing the final chess match of this special exam, her mood seemed a bit strange. It couldn't be described as listless or disappointed, but rather as a feeling of confusion and contemplation.

"However, I'm tired of hearing the story about Amazu Ichika and her caretaker Kitagawa Ryo. Ichika, please speed things up a bit and tell me why Ryo looked the way she did when I went there. You should know what I mean."

"...I really didn't want to talk about this topic. Actually, I only found out about it later. The cause of the incident was the human variant experiment of rhesus monkeys, which was strongly advocated by Suzuki, a researcher in the White Room."

After briefly explaining the principles and process of the rhesus monkey experiments, Tianze Yixia stood up, spun around, ran behind Kitagawa Ryo, leaned on his back, rested her head on his shoulder, and pointed with her hand:

"So, Ryo was the chosen cotton mother, but I only saw him as an older brother at the time, since Ryo was a boy."

"Oh, right, I later found out that Ryota has a younger sister, and her eye color is exactly the same as mine! Doesn't it feel like fate?"

"...I think that apart from this aspect, Ichika and Hotaru have absolutely no similarities."

"No way, they're all adorable girls, okay? And they're around the same age too. It's just a shame I only saw them from afar last time..."

"Stop, stop, stop. Let's talk about that later. Let's get back to the story of the white room. If we keep going on like this, we probably won't finish talking tonight."

Faced with the topic heading in a somewhat off track, Horikita Suzune, who simply wanted to know the truth, immediately spoke up to stop it.

"I know, I know."

Tianze Yixia pouted. In essence, she just wanted to lighten the atmosphere on the field, or rather, to make herself feel a little better. After all, it is never easy to dig out the deepest scar in one's heart and show it again to unsuspecting outsiders, even if it has almost healed and no longer shows any blurry flesh.

So, when Ichika Hozumi calmly peeled back the disguise of the white room and explained the measures taken against Ryo Kitagawa inside, Suzune Horikita's expression lost its initial composure. After all, these were things she had never known before, things she had never imagined that the person she cared about most had ever experienced such brutal abuse.

"That's all in the past."

Noticing Horikita Suzune's unusual expression, Kitagawa Ryo offered her a word of comfort. For Horikita Suzune, whose biggest challenge in the simulation was how to confess her feelings, this was probably an unexpected development, as if she had jumped into another world with a different worldview.

If we're only talking about the level of difficulty, Arisu's chapter is definitely the most difficult of the four chapters. Both simulations tormented him to no end; he was either on his last breath or had no breath left at all.

Meanwhile, Tianze Yixia's narration continues:

"And so, under those circumstances, I had a chess match with Arisu, who came to visit the White Room. In the end, I lost the game, and Ryo was taken away from the White Room by Arisu."

"The rest of the story is too long to tell in a short time, and it's also related to snow, but if we get to this point, Suzune should be able to understand part of what happened today."

"……perhaps."

By the second half, Horikita Suzune had almost forgotten about chess, her attention still almost entirely focused on Kitagawa Ryo in the story. Suddenly, she realized the weight behind her joking remark earlier that day, "Ryo has it tough sometimes too."

But before she could speak, Kitagawa Ryo calmly shared his thoughts:

"But no matter what, I hope that my encounter with everyone is to create one new happiness after another in the future, to talk about and escape the old sorrows of the past, but not to keep remembering them."

As he said this, Kitagawa Ryo looked at Sakayanagi Arisu.

But the other person, quite unusually, avoided his gaze.

Many years later, she once again experienced the discomfort of her heart beating so heavily and wearily in her chest.

This time, however, the loud and rough noises surrounding it did not originate from any physiological lesion.

Chapter 519: There's No Oxygen on the Moon (4k5)

"I am back."

After helping with student council affairs and attending Amazu Ichika's storytelling session, Kitagawa Ryo finally finished his busy day around ** o'clock in the evening and returned to his dormitory room 408, where he habitually greeted Hotaru, who was staying behind.

"Meow meow meow--"

As usual, Hotaru stood on the shoe cabinet near the entrance. After Kitagawa Ryo closed the door, she jumped into his arms and affectionately rubbed her face against his hand.

"By the way, I have a question for Ying."

As Kitagawa Ryo changed into his indoor shoes and walked into the room, he took off his coat and casually placed it on the sofa next to him, asking Hotaru as he did so:

"Is there a way for Ying to bring those simulations of my past experiences to life in reality?"

Having experienced today's special exam and tonight's storytelling session, Kitagawa Ryo has become increasingly aware that the numerous information gaps have inevitably become the root of conflicts and estrangement among the girls. If he can resolve this issue, it will undoubtedly be of great help in handling his interpersonal relationships with girls in the future.

Hotaru didn't answer Kitagawa Ryo's question immediately. After pondering for a while with her head down, she first shook her head, then nodded, conveying a sense of 'it's not impossible, but I have to tinker with it first'.

"Well, then I'll trouble you, Ying. If it really comes true, I'll call all the people involved over and have them sit in a row to watch it together. It sounds like it would be quite interesting."

Gently scratching the kitten's chin, Kitagawa Ryo put Hotaru aside again, grabbed his change of clothes, and went into the bathroom to take a shower, leaving Hotaru alone there, tilting her little head and thinking about how to fulfill her brother's new wish.

Frankly speaking, apart from one or two rather short simulations, most of the simulations span a long period of time, truly representing another life in name and in fact. Therefore, it is impossible to simply present the entire simulation process in its original form.

and so--

The final answer should be the director's cut.

The pure white kitten raised its front paw and pretended to adjust the glasses that didn't actually exist, feeling that it had successfully found the answer.

Of course, this was her first time doing something like this, and considering the final product, she knew she needed to find an audience to judge it first.