Life: A Fresh Start.
After tidying up the set, the old woman turned back before leaving and said this.
She took many portraits of various families for free. Some wanted to die quickly, while others wanted to die slowly. Considering this, she always ended her sentences with this sentence.
"Thank you."
Ying thanked them with the photo in her hand, and only after the door slammed shut did she stagger back to bed.
She stared at herself in the photograph, as if gazing at her afterlife.
This seems excessively cruel to a thirteen-year-old girl who can still be considered a child.
With a faint smile on her face and a sun hat on her head, against a backdrop of dazzling blue sky and white clouds that seemed to glow, and at her feet lay golden sand and azure sea.
If someone who doesn't know the situation saw this, they might think the girl in the photo was on vacation somewhere.
Ying placed the photo under her pillow.
On her birthday a few years ago, she found here the gifts Santa Claus had given to good children.
When Ryo returned from his afternoon job, Hotaru was lying on the bed, covered with a blanket and motionless, as if she were asleep.
His cold hands trembled violently for the first time, even though he had never broken a plate in his previous jobs.
But now, like a withered leaf falling in the autumn wind, I feel a chill and pull back the corner of the blanket.
He touched Ying's nose, forehead, tightly closed eyes, and lips.
As Ryo carried Hotaru on his back, intending to run towards the hospital, his younger sister opened her eyes while on his back.
"... elder brother."
Liang didn't want to answer or listen; his feet were moving incredibly fast, as if answering would trigger some kind of bad switch.
I'm sorry.
"Don't speak!... Please!"
He didn't want to listen to Ying's words, as if she was only with him to abandon him today.
"Um."
Ying's breath and breathing brushed against Liang's ear, carrying a warm touch.
She truly stopped speaking, like an obedient cat, curled up on the back of the person she trusted and relied on most.
Ying's breathing gradually weakened until the two hands that were wrapped around Liang's neck separated like a jade bracelet shattered in two.
The hospital's emergency room was bustling with people, with doctors in white coats and nurses in pristine white uniforms pushing trolleys and stretchers to transport patients.
This is a place where urgent cries and sorrowful weeping are not uncommon, but tonight they witnessed a truly memorable scene.
The boy, who had been crouching in the corner, burst into tears in front of everyone, and his bright red, chilling cries seemed to echo throughout the entire hospital.
There were no stars tonight; large swaths of moonlight, like snow, poured down from the dark night sky.
In a corner of the city, a retired Chess player never saw anyone log on again.
Liang tapped the screen of her phone and looked at the photo placed in the center.
He didn't want to call that photo his funeral portrait; it was so beautiful.
There was a faint sound of sobbing.
[Early morning, for an interview.]
Set this schedule on your calendar.
The screen's light faded, and Liang's figure, along with that last wisp of sound, was completely swallowed up by the pitch-black night.
(This volume: The Boy's Abyss, The End)
Main story: Kitagawa Ryo's Classroom of the Elite
Chapter 1: Life, A New Beginning.
[Identity verification in progress... Successful]
[ID verification in progress... Successful]
[Iris verification in progress... Successful]
[Life Restart Simulator]
[Each time you participate in a life simulation, five talents will be randomly selected. Talent levels are divided into five tiers: white, green, blue, purple, and gold. After each simulation, players can choose one talent to solidify and retain for the next simulation.]
[Please note that each chapter can be simulated a maximum of five times. The game is lost after five failed simulations.]
[Upon successful completion of each chapter, players permanently gain all talents acquired at the time of completion and can use them in the simulation of the next chapter.]
[Mysterious Prize will be awarded upon completion of all chapters.]
Enjoy the game!
[Chapter: Karuizawa Kei's Autumn Lie]
[Chapter 2 Completion Objective: Find and correct Karuizawa Kei's personality weaknesses until she can survive independently at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. Completed. Final overall score: 100 points]
[Congratulations on clearing Chapter 2! We are currently drawing rewards based on your score.]
[Congratulations to the player for obtaining the reward item: Self of Karuizawa Kei]
[Self of Karuizawa Kei: Before each simulation begins, randomly upgrade one talent to the highest gold level]
"The bullied may become the bully, but they may also become the protectors."
[Current highest rating: 100 points]
[The second chapter has three remaining simulation attempts. Players can choose to simulate the second chapter again, or choose to end the second chapter with a total score of 100. The remaining three simulations will be completed by default with a score of 100 and rewards will be issued.]
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the unlocked achievements "Advanced Nurturing", "Deeply in Love", etc.]
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "Harem Male Lead" and receiving one Gold Talent Draw Card]
[Harem protagonist: Gains the favor of six important characters in the story during a simulation (Ichinose Honami, Horikita Suzune, Sakayanagi Arisu, Karuizawa Kei, Shiina Hiyori, and Ryuen Kakeru)]
[Talent Draw Card (Gold): Draw one fixed talent, guaranteed to be gold level]
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the "One-Shot Success" achievement and obtaining the talent "Photography Expert (Blue)". This talent was already detected in the player's talents, so it has been upgraded to the talent "Photography Master (Purple)".]
[One-shot sequence: Only one cutscene is triggered throughout the entire simulation]
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "The Heartless One" and receiving the item "A Ring"]
[The Heartless One: After dating an important character in a simulation, he abandons them.]
[A ring: It should be a pair, but you don't know who has the other one right now.]
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the "Lifelong Rival" achievement. Miyabi Nagumo's initial favorability has decreased.]
[Lifelong Rival: Defeating Student Council Vice President Miyabi Nagumo multiple times in a simulation]
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "Class Promotion"! The initial favorability with Class 1-C has increased.]
[Class Promotion: Achieve a class promotion in a single simulation]
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "Point Maniac" and receiving the item "Two Million Private Points"]
[Point Maniac: In one simulation, the player possessed over 20 million Private Points]
[Two Million Private Points: A one-time use item that grants two million Private Points through legitimate means upon use.]
[Congratulations to the player for achieving the "Unconventional Approach" achievement and receiving one Talent Upgrade Card]
[A risky approach: Clear the chapter without developing a romantic relationship with the female lead]
[Talent Upgrade Card: Upgrades any talent once]
[The player achieved a perfect completion in this simulation, retaining all talents.]
[All talents have been fixed.]
[The player currently possesses fifteen fixed talents, namely: Childhood Sweetheart from Heaven (Gold), Unforgettable (Gold), Perseverance (Gold), Grand Master (Gold), Fraudster (Gold), and Super Detective (Gold)]
[Orator (purple), Awe-Inspiring (purple), Allure of the Masses (purple), Grand Pooper Scooper (purple), Martial Artist (purple), Photographer (purple)]
[Well-Read (blue), Modest Assets (blue), Kindred Spirits (blue)]
[The player currently possesses nine items: Blessing of Ichinose Honami, Self of Ichinose Honami, White Rose of Karuizawa Kei, Self of Karuizawa Kei, Marriage Contract (one-time use item), Enrollment Qualification, Talent Draw Card (Gold), One Ring, and Two Million Private Points (one-time use item).]
[Blessing of Ichinose Honami: You will never obtain a white talent when drawing initial talents]
[Self of Ichinose Honami: Before each simulation begins, randomly upgrades three of her qualities (gold talents cannot be upgraded further, including initial and fixed talents)]
[Marriage Contract: A one-time use item that allows you to enter into Marriage Contract with any character]
[White Rose of Karuizawa Kei: Wearing this grants the blue talent "Florist"]
After a long day at work, I logged into this virtual game called [Life Restart Simulator], and my vision was immediately filled with dense information and prompts.
Thinking about it carefully, it seems I left in a hurry last time and didn't even pay attention to the final rating of the second chapter.
Ryo slightly raised his gaze and saw the score of 100 in the information. He nodded in satisfaction. This simulation had a high degree of freedom, and he had brought his golden talent of "Fraudster" to its fullest potential. Shiina Hiyori was right. Karuizawa Kei had been revolving in the world he created. Finally, with his help at the Sports Festival, the opponent should be able to survive quite smoothly at that Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. It was reasonable for him to get this score.
He unlocked a bunch of random achievements and received a lot of items, but Liang didn't have the energy to check them all.
The interview opportunity that she had worked so hard to get this morning now seemed hopeless. Although it was just another ordinary failure, it still made Liang a little restless.
Perhaps it's because I dreamt about my sister again last night, and I still haven't fully calmed down.
Looking at the dazzling array of talents, Liang always thought of the incredibly rudimentary Life Restart Simulator he had created for Ying in the past, which he described in words.
Just like the fixed talents he currently possesses, the first three imagined talents he tells Ying each time are also all fixed.
"Good health, happy family, and Allure of the Masses."
Except for the last one, the first two seem to be in a completely different league from these incredibly powerful gold and purple talents; their ratings might only be white.
In fact, neither Ryo nor Hotaru ever drew either of these two items.
The real world neither refreshes nor upgrades.
That's why I'm so obsessed with these Life Restart simulator games.
It can satisfy the different lives you might imagine late at night, while the constant presence of the word "simulation" in the game also reminds you of the artificiality of everything.
The third chapter, [Chapter: Horikita Suzune's Midwinter Phantom Dream], has been unlocked from its grayed-out, unselectable state.
With just a tap of the finger, the immense talent accumulated over time will allow one to enter a new and extraordinary second life.
However, Liang simply remained on the game's main menu screen; he showed no intention of entering the third chapter.
It's not hard to guess that the third chapter should focus on Horikita Suzune as the female protagonist, and the core of the conflict should be her relationship with Horikita Manabu, and how to break free from the heavy shackles that the other person has been putting on her day after day since childhood.
After all, through the previous simulations, Liang had already gained a basic understanding of the girls' inner struggles.
He reached out and touched those golden talents:
[Persistence], [Grand Master], [Fraudster]...
If I had a data-driven talent bar in real life, it would read:
[Give up on many fools who ultimately achieve nothing][Players who give up halfway][Fools who only deceive themselves]...
With a slight thought, the talent draw card in the warehouse was used, and a new talent slowly appeared in front of Liang, shimmering with golden light:
[Thespian (Gold): You possess astonishing talent on the theatrical stage; everyone is captivated by your skill. Every move you make, every exclamation you utter, touches the hearts of the audience.]
"... Ha ha."
Suddenly, I felt a strange sense of amusement and burst out laughing.
He quit the game.
If you indulge in self-deceptive dreams too many times, you'll find it impossible to live in reality.
Liang was running low on household supplies, so he walked out while writing an email on his phone to the "Classroom of the Elite Studio" game studio. He was preparing to give up his job as a beta tester for the game.
Although I didn't expect to receive much pay for working only a few days, I still had some expectations in my heart.
If you can exceed the amount you want, you can go to a nearby ramen shop and have a long-awaited meal.
It's been so long since I've had this; I feel like I've almost forgotten what my own taste is like.