I have a life simulator.

Slightly embarrassed by Kitagawa Ryo's straightforward praise, especially with other colleagues she'd been working with for over a week glancing in their direction, Asahina Nazuna deliberately cleared her throat twice to indicate that they should try to talk about work first.

"What kind of clothes does Liang want to order this time?"

"A decent formal suit, and then some casual clothes for home."

Is it cold?

"Well, because we need to use it during the shoot, and our studio doesn't have a perfect fit. Also, because of the character's personality, we thought it would be better to have a new set custom-made."

After finishing his work at the advertising company about Lotto 7, Kitagawa Ryo finally had time to film his own short drama these past two days.

The two had only been chatting for a few minutes when the store manager, seeing that they seemed to know each other already, came over and assigned them a task: to have Asahina Nazuna measure Kitagawa Ryo's body size.

"Know it."

After agreeing, Asahina Nagisa took out a measuring tape, a body measurement record sheet, and marker tape for temporarily marking key points such as shoulder and waist lines from the toolbox next to her. Then she glanced at Kitagawa Ryo's perfect posture and demeanor and felt that there was no need to use a level or plumb line to check whether Kitagawa Ryo's shoulders were level or whether he had a hunchback or other body symmetry.

"Then, Liang, just stay in this position... don't move."

Asahina Nazuna is definitely not short, but she is still more than a head shorter than Kitagawa Ryo, who is over 1.8 meters tall. Therefore, when measuring her neck circumference and shoulder width with a soft measuring tape, it is necessary to stand on tiptoe slightly, and it is easier to measure her chest circumference.

Upon hearing this, Kitagawa Ryo also remained motionless, even slightly pausing his breathing, and looked down at the other person's focused profile—eyelashes lowered, lips slightly pursed, fingertips carefully sliding down his shoulder line, as if measuring some kind of secret thought.

After measuring all the core dimensions of the upper body—bust, waist, abdomen, sleeve length, and back length—and recording them on the form, Asahina Nazuna paused slightly before half-squatting down and focusing intently on re-wrapping the measuring tape around Kitagawa Ryo's lower body.

Waist circumference, hip circumference, pant length, thigh circumference, knee circumference, pant leg circumference—I don't know if it's because the lower body parts do have more significance than the upper body, or simply because of other ambiguous thoughts, but it always seems to take much longer to measure than the upper body. Several times the measuring tape was crooked and tilted, and I was forced to measure it again to get accurate data.

"All right!"

After a while, Asahina Nazuna stood up again to indicate that she had succeeded, and then reached out to massage Kitagawa Ryo's shoulder.

"Aren't you tired from standing still for so long? Sorry, I'm still a newbie, so it took me a while."

"I was going to say no, but if saying yes means I can get a massage from my senior, then I'll say yes."

"Then Liang, please have a seat first—"

Upon hearing this, Asahina Nazuna pressed Kitagawa Ryo down onto the sofa in front of her with his back turned. She then placed both hands on Kitagawa's neck, her fingers spread and hanging down, while her two thumbs pressed slightly on the center of the back of his neck, as if measuring his neck circumference again, except this time she was using her fingertips instead of a measuring tape.

As the boy in front of her continues to grow and develop, and his physique changes, if she really decides to develop in this direction in the future, there will probably be many more experiences like today where she has to measure other people's body dimensions.

However, Asahina Nazuna would prefer that the situation back then was closer to the current situation between the two of them.

Run your fingertips across the skin to feel the circumference of the other person's neck.

...use your thighs to personally feel the other person's waistline.

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

This is probably the last time I'll ask for leave for this book.

Something came up today and I can't update. I was originally planning to finish writing the main story in one go, but it seems like that's not going to work out. I think I'll take a day off.

As you can see, the main text of this book will be completed at the beginning of next month, and we will continue to update the book with extra chapters to complete the content.

I'll leave everything else, including the new book, in the author's closing remarks. Thank you all for your continued reading and support.

Wishing all readers good health and all the best.

Chapter 84: Be What You Wanna Be

Standing once again beneath the iconic Red Gate of the University of Tokyo, Arisu Sakayanagi politely exchanged greetings and bid farewell to those who came to see her off before boarding the car sent by Narimori Sakayanagi to pick her up, thus concluding her two-week visit to the University of Tokyo.

The driver did not take her back to the Sakayanagi family's mansion in the port area. After all, students were forbidden from returning home during this special exam, and Sakayanagi Arisu was no exception. So, after making two turns, the car stopped in front of a luxury hotel in the Chuo Ward.

As its name suggests, Chuo Ward is located in the very center of Tokyo’s 23 wards, forming the heart of Japan together with Minato Ward and Chiyoda Ward.

Although Tokyo is considered a true international metropolis and the top of the social hierarchy by people in other parts of Japan, the social hierarchy between different wards has never really stopped, even within Tokyo itself.

Many people from Minato Ward even bluntly say that apart from Minato Ward, Chuo Ward, and Chiyoda Ward, the rest of Tokyo is just the countryside.

Whether it's Bunkyo Ward, where various prestigious universities are concentrated, or the bustling Shinjuku and Shibuya areas, in their eyes they are nothing more than remote areas where schools are clustered together or entertainment areas for 'ordinary people' that are not respectable.

Sakayanagi Arisu neither confirmed nor denied this, after all, she had indeed grown up in a high-end residential area in Minato Ward, and even during her hospitalizations for health issues, she stayed in the best hospitals and VIP wards in the country.

While she was pondering, the car door was carefully opened by the driver who had gotten off first. Sakayanagi Arisu, who no longer needed to instinctively reach for her cane as before, got off the car with her suitcase and took the key card handed to her by the driver.

Sakayanagi Shigemori has already prepared a room for her for the rest of the month, and all she has to do is organize her experiences and insights from the first half of the month at the University of Tokyo.

To Sakayanagi Arisu's surprise, when she went into her room, finished unpacking all her luggage, and was about to go to the hotel's buffet restaurant for something to eat, she ran into her father, whom she hadn't seen for quite some time.

Clearly, the other party was deliberately waiting for her here.

After placing some food on a plate, Sakayanagi Arisu sat down in front of Sakayanagi Narimori and called out, "Father."

"Has Arisu gained anything from this trip? Or what are your immediate feelings right now?"

Compared to the conversation between father and daughter, Sakayanagi Shigemori now seems more like the current chairman of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, examining and observing the professional abilities of Sakayanagi Arisu, the next chairman.

However, Sakayanagi Narimori is not really that kind of person; he immediately took back those two sentences as soon as they left his mouth.

"Of course, these questions are all based on the premise that Arisu is willing to take over Tokyo University in the future. If Arisu doesn't have this idea, then let's just consider it a visit to the University of Tokyo for experience?"

He was never the kind of father who would insist on his daughter taking over his business. Although Tokyo Advanced Educational High School was indeed the property he inherited from his father, Sakayanagi Arisu's grandfather, the main reason was that he himself was quite passionate about the education industry.

Of course, due to the fact that the Sakayanagi family has only had one son for three generations, if Sakayanagi Arisu really wasn't interested in this, then it seemed that the only option left for him was to find a son-in-law to live with him. However, when he thought about how his daughter's chosen partner was much better off than them in terms of family background, and might not even be interested in their small family, Sakayanagi Narimori felt a little uneasy.

However, Arisu Sakayanagi's answer quickly put him at ease.

"Father, don't think so much. I took the initiative to choose Tokyo University for this special exam, so you should know what I mean. As for the education industry... Grandpa nagged me so much when I was a child. I can't really let the hard work of the Sakayanagi family and you two generations be ruined in my hands, can I?"

As she spoke, Sakayanagi Arisu unconsciously recalled her experience in the last simulation. At that time, she had genuinely entered the upper management of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School. Although she had not yet directly taken over the position of chairman due to her age, she was still truly involved in the management of Tokyo Educational High School.

When his daughter expressed her willingness to take over the mantle of the Sakayanagi family and continue to work in the education industry, Sakayanagi Narimori nodded with satisfaction and then told her about his original intention in founding the school.

"Although Tokyo Advanced Educational High School and the White Room have been thrust into the spotlight and even become tools for two political factions to engage in verbal battles due to various reasons, I hope Arisu can remember that Tokyo Advanced Educational High School was never, and never will be, a school for politicians. This is completely different from the White Room."

At this point, Sakayanagi Narumi himself looked somewhat embarrassed:

"But I must admit that when the White Room Project was first proposed, I was indeed swayed by Ayanokouji's sweet talk and helped him contact some zaibatsu for sponsorship."

"The purpose of this project is to save as many children's lives as possible, even if it's just one more person, so they can receive the right education. That's why I wanted to create a special facility. I was also one of those who were deeply inspired by the advanced education schools your father built."

"These are the words that Ayanokouji said to me back then. Now that I think about it, he must have inquired about my personality, children, education, life... When it comes to these things, I do tend to be a little less calm."

Faced with her father's honest admission of his mistakes, Sakayanagi Arisu offered him a word of comfort:

“I have always felt that Tokyo Advanced Educational High School is a better educational institution than the White Room.”

“That’s true, but I also expect Arisu to remember that the difference between our Dongyu and the White Room is not about who cultivates real geniuses and who cultivates fake geniuses, but about other things.”

It was probably because of the experience of accompanying Sakayanagi Arisu to the White Room ten years ago that Sakayanagi Narimori left such a deep impression on him. He was also afraid that his daughter might still remember those remarks from back then, so he emphasized it again.

"For many children with limitless potential, education is often the only opportunity in their lives to truly realize those potentials. What we need to do is to build the most suitable platform for them. This is the significance of Dongyu's existence."

"Of course, in order to truly put this idea into practice, we have been making various attempts since your grandfather's generation."

"Yes, Grandpa also mentioned this to me, and I also mentioned it to Liang, because he once complained to me about Dongyu's admission system."

"Haha, that's normal. After all, even I myself didn't quite understand my father's admission rules before I officially accepted the position at Dongyu."

Ultimately, if we only consider external factors such as investment and school size, Tokyo Advanced Educational High School is in no way inferior to the elite schools in Bunkyo Ward that cater to the sons and daughters of wealthy families; in fact, it boasts an even larger scale of occupying an artificial, uninhabited island.

However, Tokyo Advanced Educational High School did not develop in that direction. Instead, it expanded its enrollment to the whole country and emphasized a "no-holds-barred" approach, making each graduating class seem to have a mixed bag of students.

Although the unique class point system and its resulting class division mechanism at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School generally concentrate these students with various deficiencies in lower-level classes such as C and D, their very existence is a waste of teaching resources, and most students have indeed spent three years in the school in an unremarkable manner.

So much so that before Kitagawa Ryo and his class arrived, there had never been a story of Class D making a comeback to become Class A. In the end, the script for each year was just either Class A dominating or having a tug-of-war with Class B.

"But no one can say that they have not grown at all. Class points are sometimes the thing that can distort the specific contributions of each individual."

Just like how Class D in the past year and Class B in the current second year can talk about who got the MVP and who was just a freeloader, the relationship between the individual and the group is also a rather delicate topic in Tokyo Advanced Educational High School. Of course, Sakayanagi Shigemori will not deny students who integrate into the group and progress together with the group, but he will also hope to see students who make progress little by little through their own efforts.

"That's why Father designed this special summer exam."

"Hmm, I want to see if this special exam format will be more effective."

While the uninhabited islands were intended to develop students' comprehensive abilities and the luxury cruises were meant to broaden their horizons, in retrospect, for most students, these were indeed good opportunities to expand their horizons. However, after they ended, they were just left with an anecdote to be told decades later, and they did not actually benefit them in their future careers or work.

It was precisely for this reason that Shigemori Sakayanagi, as the head of the entire Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, decided to make changes in this year's special summer exams.

After all, while both cruise vacations and internships at large companies may seem like ways to broaden students' horizons, the latter, if used properly, can indeed provide tangible benefits for their future.

Students who become blindly confident due to being completely immersed in Dongyu's rules; students who become extravagant and consumerist because of the different difficulty in obtaining personal points and yen; students who graduate from Class A simply because they are in a good group but are completely unable to perform their jobs...

Clubs that only spend money on external facilities and teaching resources but lack substance and have too few opportunities for external communication; gambling dens that were brought up by Tsukishiro Tsuneshige's actions and can still be seen on the campus forum; student councils that have more power than outsiders but are unwilling to take on the corresponding responsibilities and actively contribute to the students' campus life...

The problems that Kitagawa Ryo saw during his year-long time at the Tokyo University training school were also visible to Sakayanagi Shigemori.

In a sense, this is a long-standing problem that Dongyu has accumulated over the years, so any changes will inevitably be a long process that cannot be rushed.

Fortunately, he still had Sakayanagi Arisu after him.

"However, even though Dongyu still has many shortcomings, I hope that Arisu will not change its foundation, which is the relevant regulations on admissions."

Faced with Sakayanagi Narumori's request, Sakayanagi Arisu nodded in agreement.

"I know, father."

"However, if possible, I would like to increase the number of students admitted each year. One hundred and sixty students in four classes per grade is indeed too few. In fact, there is still a lot of space that can be utilized in the entire Dongyu campus."

"Your grandfather and I did consider expanding Dongyu's enrollment, but we hesitated due to both the associated costs and the lack of policy support, since the current prime minister hasn't been officially appointed yet."

Although Dongyu is owned by the Sakayanagi family, without government policy support, the Sakayanagi family could not have created such a high school out of thin air.

Ultimately, although it doesn't add "Tokyo Metropolitan" to the prefix of its full name like most public schools, the full name of To-Yukyu High School, "Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Educational High School," still includes the words "Tokyo Metropolitan."

"So, if Arisu really wants to further develop Dongyu, in addition to Kitagawa's support, he also needs to get the Onishima councilor to officially take office. However, he has indeed been at a stalemate with the Naoe faction recently. After all, at this crucial moment, no one dares to make any small moves that might lead to a decisive victory for the other side."

"Yes, Liang will support me."

Sakayanagi Narimori mumbled these words, and Sakayanagi Arisu only remembered the part about Kitagawa Ryo. After all, she was never interested in these political topics. She simply agreed and then stopped talking. Instead, she vaguely remembered an English song that Kitagawa Ryo had shared with her a few days ago.

"Be What You Wanna Be"

Perhaps that's Liang's view on education.

It's not like the inscription by Ayanokouji Atsuomi on the desk above the white room: "Give me a dozen healthy babies, and I can guarantee that I can randomly select one of them and train him to become any type of person I choose—a doctor, a lawyer, an artist, a tycoon, or a beggar or a thief, without regard to his talents, inclinations, abilities, ancestral professions, or race." Instead, it gives students the right to choose for themselves.

However, what Sakayanagi Arisu didn't know was that, besides her, Kitagawa Ryo had also shared this song with another person some time ago.

Meanwhile, the other person was humming the melody of the song as they assembled something in their hands.

“Doctor, actor, lawyer or a singer.

(Doctor, actor, lawyer, or singer)

Two polished metal tubes, each about 40 centimeters long and 5 centimeters in diameter, were placed side by side.

"Why not president, be a dreamer.

(Why not president? Be a person with dreams.)

The wooden boards, tape, and bolts are combined and fixed together to form a rough, camera-like structure.

“You can be just the one you wanna be.

(You can be anyone you want to be)

The battery and wires were designed together to form a simple electro-ignition mechanism.

“Police man, fire fighter or a post man.

(Police officer, firefighter, or mail carrier)

Why not something like your old man.

(Why not someone like your dad?)

He stuffed gunpowder and shot-like pellets made of steel pillars, nails, and metal fragments into it, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka raised this crude-looking but deadly weapon and aimed it at the dummy in front of him for a test shot.

The unrifled bullets were launched in a scattered manner by the impact of the gunpowder explosion, followed by a shower of debris, and a large hole was ripped through the dummy's chest.

“You can be just the one you wanna be.

(You can be anyone you want to be.)

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

P.S.: This chapter can be enjoyed in conjunction with "Be What You Wanna Be".

Chapter 85: Will the snow melt in summer?