I have a life simulator.

Although he knew that the other party was just using the class as an excuse to express his little emotions, Kitagawa Ryo also knew that what Ichinose Honami said was not wrong. After all, this special exam was a competition between classes, and if he, who was the hot commodity in the eyes of the first-year students, kept delaying in finding a partner, he could indeed gain some initiative for Class 2-A.

After all, Ichinose Honami is quite professional when it comes to getting something for nothing.

"Okay, I'll try to confirm later."

"However, I'll leave the specifics of this special exam to Hui and Fanbo. Of course, just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Compared to being a planner who needs to coordinate the overall situation, Kitagawa Ryo is now more and more willing to be a simple executor. Moreover, this special exam is not particularly stressful in any aspect, so it shouldn't cause any problems if Karuizawa Megumi and Ichinose Honami are in charge. After all, they have led classes to participate in many special exams in the past year.

"Okay, Ryo, just focus on your own things."

Karuizawa Kei nodded confidently in agreement. After all, for this kind of special exam that tests academic ability and communication skills, Class 2-A is definitely the group of students who are the best in the entire second year.

First of all, everyone's average academic level is quite good. There are not many poor students who would risk dropping out of school if they were not tied to their older brother. Therefore, their actions will not be particularly restricted because of this.

Then there's the so-called communication skills. Although not all the students in Class 2-A are social butterflies, compared to the students in the other three classes, they are definitely among the best in terms of personality and the most approachable in their dealings with others. They have absolutely no problem interacting with first-year students.

Rather, in just over a week, many students in Class A have already become quite familiar with some of the first-year students through club activities and other means.

Thinking about club matters, Karuizawa Kei spoke with renewed enthusiasm:

"Actually, I think it's better to start by contacting clubs for this special exam. It's better to ask juniors in clubs who you know well and will be working with in the future than to go to the first-year students and talk to strangers directly."

"Well, in the end, we second-year students are the ones who are at a disadvantage in this special exam, or rather, we second-year students are the ones who need something from others. It feels like contacting freshmen we don't know will only result in us being overcharged."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo suddenly realized that he could also raise prices on the spot with the first-year students. If it were Nangumo Masa, she might have already started to enjoy the benefits of being a "central air conditioner" and auctioned off the spot for a study session with a handsome, rich, and academically gifted senior.

"But I think the most troublesome class is probably Class C. After all, although they have been more serious recently and hold their own study sessions after class, it is not something that can be truly caught up in a month or two. They are the ones who need the most help from the first-year students."

"But from the perspective of a first-year student, compared to taking on a burden to help others, they would definitely prefer to team up with a senior who has better academic ability, since a higher group ranking also brings personal points rewards."

"So in the end, it will definitely become a transaction where one hand pays money and the other helps."

"Sigh, last year when we first entered school, we could choose to pay the seniors in the second year to buy past exam papers. But this year, after we moved up to the second year, it's become that the second year students have to pay the first year students personal points. It's like we've wasted this whole year of school."

After making that subtle comment, Kitagawa Ryo picked up his phone again. A few minutes later, the crazy stream of message requests finally subsided. At the top of his contacts, he could see a text message from Yuki, whom he had set as a special contact.

The content is very simple, just a few words:

"Approval of the application."

Having just assured Karuizawa Kei that he would postpone the matter slightly, Kitagawa Ryo thought for a moment and then proactively replied:

"Have you finished class yet? I'm coming to find you."

Yuki replied quickly; Kitagawa Ryo's message status changed from unread to read within seconds, and then a few seconds later, the reply came through:

"Not going to club activities today?"

"You can take leave. I'm the minister, and I just approved it for myself."

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the entrance on the first floor of the teaching building."

"right away."

After exchanging a few words, Kitagawa Ryo took his schoolbag. Since textbooks were all replaced with electronic tablets this year, students have been packing their schoolbags much faster, and sometimes they even feel that it's not a problem to come to school without a schoolbag.

"I have something to do here, so I'll be going now."

After saying goodbye to Karuizawa Megumi and Ichinose Honami, Kitagawa Ryo left Class 2-A with his schoolbag. The other three classes seemed to be still discussing the special exam that had just been announced, so there weren't many people in the corridor.

The situation was similar for the first-year students. After descending the stairs in a few steps, Kitagawa Ryo quickly jogged to the entrance of the first floor of the teaching building, where he bumped into Yuki, who was waiting for him with her bag.

"Liang replies to messages so slowly..."

The moment we met, the other person made this small complaint.

"I received so many messages and applications that the page kept loading. I had no choice but to add Xue to my favorites list."

"Huh? Really? Let me see your phone."

"As soon as I give it to you, you'll probably go straight to the OAA interface and apply through your partner."

"Tch, you figured that out."

"Because Xue always wears her heart on her sleeve."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo looked again at the girl's small face, which was slightly tilted towards him:

"It's always been like this: I laugh when I'm happy and cry when I'm sad."

"Isn't that how normal kids are? And I'm only like this in front of Ryo. In the eyes of the other students in our Class 1-D, I'm basically synonymous with a female demon or a violent maniac. So maybe I'm pretty good at acting? Thinking about it this way, Ryo's drama club seems like a pretty good place for me."

"Why are you suddenly thinking of joining the drama club? Did your interview with the student council not go well?"

"No, I did pass the second round of interviews, but it felt like it took way too long. The final round of interviews hasn't even started yet, and the special exams have already come first."

Xue yawned wearily, seemingly dissatisfied with the student council's work efficiency.

"I feel like it might be the end of April before I officially join the student council, even though all the other clubs have already finished recruiting and the new members have already participated in several club activities."

"This year's situation is indeed quite special."

As one of the people in the know, Kitagawa Ryo explained the specific situation in the student council to Yuki. These were some complaints that Horikita Suzune had been venting to him about these past few days, and she was actually just asking him for comfort.

It can only be said that Suzune used to be someone who would endure any hardship without ever uttering a sound, but ever since the ring that Hotaru gave away changed something, a part of Suzune's personality has also subtly changed.

"Due to the nature of the organization, the student council's recruitment process has always been slower than that of other clubs, or you could say it's more rigorous. After all, Dongyu's student council is different from the outside world, and Xue should be aware of that."

"As for why this year's recruitment has been particularly slow, one reason is that the number of students applying has exceeded the previous year's record, making the selection process much more complicated. Another reason is that there are also differences of opinion within the student union itself."

"What disagreement?"

"Should we expand enrollment?"

"Expanding enrollment?"

"Well, according to previous practice, the student council usually recruits between two and four new members every April. This number is better to be less than more. However, due to the surge in the number of applicants this year, Ayanokouji, as the vice president, suggested that we could consider expanding the recruitment."

"He just wants to put all his people in the student council."

Upon hearing this, Xue curled her lip in slight disdain:

"Even someone like Baoquan, who is only at that level, was able to pass the second round of interviews. That's practically an open secret. It would be a joke if someone like him could join the student council."

"……really."

After briefly imagining the scene of Ryuen Sho joining the student council, Kitagawa Ryo nodded in deep agreement:

"But besides him, there are indeed many good students among this year's first-year students. Suzune's side is also hesitant. After all, not recruiting anyone is definitely not an option, but recruiting too many students from Ayanokouji's camp would obviously cause them trouble. Eliminating them and choosing others would also raise questions about the specific criteria."

"What about Arisu? Isn't she also the vice president of the student council?"

"Her main goal is to get her friend Matsushita into the student council, so she is in favor of expanding the number of students. With the two vice presidents in agreement, Suzune, as the president, cannot ignore it, so this is where things get stuck."

"No wonder the recruitment process has been dragging on for so long; it's even been delayed until the first special exam has started."

"Actually, it's a good thing that it's been delayed until now. It will make it easier for the student council to assess the abilities of the students who have entered the final round of interviews based on the results of this special exam, and it will also be more convincing to the public."

"So Liang should team up with me even more to get first place! Approve the application—approved, approved..."

Seeing her snuggle up to his hand again, repeating herself in a coquettish manner, seemingly ready to snatch his phone at any moment, Kitagawa Ryo put his phone back in his pocket.

"There's no need to be in such a hurry. Are you worried that I'll end up partnered with another first-year student?"

"Speaking from someone whose phone is temporarily overwhelmed by real-time messages and applications, it just doesn't feel very convincing."

"I wouldn't bother with them anyway, and frankly, I don't even know them. I haven't had much contact with the first-year students."

"Where's Nanase? Didn't she join your drama club?"

"Although it's a club, Fanbo basically leads the club activities. He works behind the scenes, and his chances of performing on stage are still far off."

After hearing that Kitagawa Ryo's account matched the information he received from his sister, Yuki felt relieved and naturally shifted the topic to her sister.

"How about Sakura? How did she do?"

"She's surprisingly good. At first, I thought she wasn't very motivated, but she's quite serious about learning and is making rapid progress."

"After all, she's my own sister. Actually, she's very capable in all aspects, whether it's academics or sports. It's just that she intentionally hid some of her abilities because she wanted to be in the same class as me. As a result, I ended up in Class D, while she was actually at the level of Class A."

"Is this the first time Xue has praised Yingzi to me like this?"

"But not a single word he said was a lie."

Yuki stopped in front of Kitagawa Ryo, hesitated for a moment, and then told him her true thoughts:

"Therefore, I hope that Ryo can pair Arisu and Sakurako together."

"Want to challenge them?"

"Yes! Genius against genius."

She nodded vigorously at the boy in front of her.

Many years ago, there was a variety show that was once very popular across the country with a similar name. However, back then, she was just a viewer and could only be a viewer. All she could do was pray for his victory and congratulate him on his victory.

There is indeed no incurable pain in this world, nor is there any endless depravity.

But everything that is lost is destined to return in another form someday.

Just so you know, it never really left.

Chapter Fourteen: My sister's judgment is indeed excellent.

"Me... going to team up with Sakayanagi-senpai for this special exam?"

In the drama club's activity room, after listening to Kitagawa Ryo's words, Tsubaki Sakurako, who was looking at the drama script, also looked up with some confusion.

"Yes, it's your sister's idea."

"Sister..."

She muttered to herself. Although she and Yuki were quite similar in appearance and looks, the two gave off completely different vibes. Kitagawa Ryo herself was a little curious about how the two sisters usually got along.

"So, are you going to team up with me, senior?"

"That's right."

"So, what's my reason for teaming up with Sakayanagi-senpai? Simply to be your opponent?"

Even though she didn't know exactly what had happened between her older sister and Sakayanagi Arisu, Tsubaki Sakurako could still sense the obsession her sister held for her. The grand performance called "Für Elise" near Tokyo Tower on Valentine's Day might still be unknown to outsiders, but if she read a few names that her sister always mentioned aloud, the answer would naturally emerge.

Thinking of this, Tsubaki Sakura couldn't help but glance at Kitagawa Ryo again. She couldn't understand why, if he was expressing his love to Sakayanagi Arisu, who was studying at Tokyo University at the time, he would deliberately choose to perform in Tokyo, outside of the school. It was practically a direct and blatant mockery.

Moreover, the idea of ​​juggling multiple relationships at the same time is already something to complain about, but when I went to Dongyu University and checked the campus forum, I found that the students seemed to have accepted this as commonplace, and they were making fun of it like crazy. It made Tsubaki Sakura wonder if the world had been secretly altered in some strange way.

"Because Yuki thinks that Sakura is an excellent child who is no less than herself, she chose to have you partner with Arisu. After all, any competition is only interesting when the two sides are evenly matched, or at least on the surface, they have to appear to be evenly matched."

Facing Tsubaki Sakura, Kitagawa Ryo naturally couldn't say that his sister made dumplings just for the sake of this dish of vinegar. Rather, he should say that it was wrong of Yuki not to discuss this matter with her younger sister Tsubaki Sakura before bringing it up with him without thinking. He could only use the art of language to help Yuki smooth things over a bit.

“She has never said any of this to my face.”

Upon hearing this, Tsubaki Sakura simply shook her head slightly, her tone somewhat meaningful. Then, she picked up the script she hadn't finished reading earlier and agreed to the matter:

"However, if Sakayanagi-senpai agrees, I'm fine with that too."

"If you don't want to, Sakurako can refuse."

Just like when Yuki encouraged Tsubaki Sakura to join the drama club, Kitagawa Ryo said something similar to her again:

"I'll talk to Xue about it."

"Why wouldn't I be willing? Sakayanagi-senpai has one of the highest academic abilities in the OAA system. Countless first-year students want to team up with her but don't even have the chance. Of course I'd be happy to."

As Tsubaki Sakura turned the pages of the book in her hands, her actions and words conveyed a clear sense that she didn't want to continue the conversation.

"it is good."

Kitagawa Ryo gazed at her intently one last time before turning and walking away.

However, before he could take more than a few steps, he heard Tsubaki Sakura's hesitant questioning voice from behind.

"Sister, does she really want to win, or does she simply want to partner with you, senior?"

"To be honest, I don't know myself, maybe it's a combination of both."

"Then I just feel that in the end, it's impossible to be perfect in any aspect."

Although she said that, Tsubaki Sakura still held the Shakespeare anthology, and even when Kitagawa Ryo turned around to look at her, she deliberately raised the script in her hand to block his gaze, as if she didn't want to meet his eyes, and her voice unconsciously became a few decibels lower:

"If the goal is to compete against Sakayanagi-senpai, then this duel is unfair from the start. If the final result is a ranking based on the group's overall score, then Sakayanagi-senpai will definitely lose because she can't beat you, senpai, and I can't beat her. But if the final result is a ranking based on individual scores..."

At this point, Tsubaki Sakura hesitated slightly again, and the script that had almost covered her entire face was pulled down a little, revealing her snow-white, purplish-red eyes.

"When she's with her senior, my sister changes."

"What's different?"