The Suzune Horikita Rescue Plan (Not Really)
[Talent extraction complete]
[Seven talents have been selected for the player, as follows:]
[Eidetic Memory (Gold): Your memory is almost at the limit of human ability (Go study humanities!)]
[Close Relatives (Gold): You have a publicly known kinship with the female protagonist of this chapter (please confirm the specific relationship after entering the simulation)]
[Master Chef (Purple): Your culinary skills are among the best in your field (To win someone over, first win their stomach)]
[Strength to Carry a Tripod (purple): Your physical abilities are outstanding (you could even support yourself by carrying bricks on a construction site)]
[Hawkeye (Purple): You possess exceptional eyesight, allowing you to perceive more details (please do not use this to spy)]
[Pianist (purple): You played the piano very well (but you didn't encounter the violin-playing beauty)]
[Abandoned Child (Green): You don't know who your parents are, but perhaps one day they will find you (wait and hope)]
[Please select a fixed talent]
[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)]
"Remove the Childhood Sweetheart from Heaven, Unforgettable, and Kindred Spirits."
The objective of clearing the third chapter will definitely be related to Horikita Suzune. Now that you know about her inner conflict, you just need to eliminate all the uncertainties, and clearing the chapter shouldn't be too difficult.
As Kitagawa Ryo pondered, he carefully selected the talents to bring into the simulation. Unlike the previous two chapters, he now knew Horikita Suzune inside and out. In addition, the talents he drew included [Three Relatives and Six Families], which meant that Kitagawa Ryo no longer needed to establish a connection with Horikita Suzune through other talents.
He didn't want to see his "Unforgettable" talent create another Marriage Contract for him.
Actually, Kitagawa Ryo himself didn't care much about the initial talent he drew this time. After clearing the game twice in the past, he had accumulated quite a few gold talents in his fixed talent slots. As long as the initial talent didn't hold him back, he could clear the game with his own fixed talents.
Moreover, while the initial talents this time weren't of the highest quality, there weren't any major flaws either. Apart from the green talent [Abandoned Child], the other talents were all quite useful.
After all, Kitagawa Ryo doesn't have any Talent Refresh Card in his inventory right now, and if he comes across a bad talent, he won't even have the ability to replace it.
Moreover, he also had two rather useful tools at his disposal.
[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)]
[Self of Karuizawa Kei: Before each simulation begins, randomly upgrade one talent to the highest gold level]
[Talent selection complete. The effect of the item "Self of Ichinose Honami" has been activated, randomly drawing talents for upgrade.]
[The Talented Master Chef (Purple) has been upgraded to God of Cooking (Gold)]
[God of Cooking (Gold): Your culinary skills have reached the pinnacle (a dish that glows)]
[Her talent, Allure of the Masses (purple), has been upgraded to Peerless (gold)]
[Peerless (Gold): Your appearance is the most perfect work of the Creator (sculpted by Nuwa herself)]
[The talented Grand Pooper Scooper (purple) has been upgraded to Ying (gold)]
[Firefly (Golden): The average lifespan of a cat is ten to twelve years, but Firefly will stay with you forever (please scoop the litter box for this little darling for the rest of your life)]
[The item "Self of Karuizawa Kei" effect is activated, randomly drawing talents for upgrades.]
[The talented Abandoned Child (green) has been upgraded to the Heir of the Wealthy Family (gold)]
[Heir of the Wealthy Family (Gold): You don't know who your parents are, but perhaps one day they will find you (and return to inherit the family business)]
"... this."
For the first time, Kitagawa Ryo showed obvious emotional fluctuations. He twitched the corners of his mouth, but in the end, he could only choose to confirm.
[Player has completed all talent selections]
[Eidetic Memory (Gold), Family and Relatives (Gold), Perseverance (Gold), Grand Master (Gold), The Fraudster (Gold), The God of God of Cooking (Gold), Peerless (Gold), Super Detective (Gold), Thespian (Gold), Firefly (Gold), Heir of the Wealthy Family (Gold)]
[Strength to Carry a Tripod (purple), Hawkeye (purple), Orator (purple), Awe-Inspiring (purple), Martial Artist (purple), Photographer (purple), Pianist (purple)]
[Well-Read (blue), Modest Assets (blue)]
"It's getting more and more luxurious."
Looking at the row of talented people in front of him, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but sigh softly.
[Chapter 3 Completion Objective: Find and correct Horikita Suzune's personality weaknesses until she is free from the shadow of her older brother, Horikita Manabu]
As expected, things went as planned.
[Simulation Start]
As usual, in the inorganic classroom, the inorganic lesson began.
Horikita Suzune stood tall and straight, standing out among the students around her who were either slumped, lying down, or hunched over.
The first class in the afternoon happened to be math, a subject that makes everyone drowsy. Spring drowsiness, summer fatigue, autumn lethargy, winter hibernation—students always manage to find a reason to sleep in every season.
The atmosphere in the classroom came to a standstill with the math teacher's silence. Some students were startled by the sudden silence and quickly opened their half-asleep eyes to glance at the blackboard, where a long string of rather complicated equations were written.
"Actually, solving this problem only requires slightly modifying the method I just taught you. Would anyone like to give it a try?"
The math teacher's voice rang out again, and the sleepy students in the back row lowered their heads again as if they had received some kind of permission. After all, this problem was obviously complicated, like a tangled ball of yarn.
"Then I'll call on someone randomly."
Everyone snapped to attention immediately. Some hurriedly put on their glasses, some took out water glasses from their drawers and gulped down half a bottle of water, and some picked up pens and started scribbling and drawing patterns in their notebooks that they didn't even know what they were.
"Horikita Suzune."
The performances didn't stop until a name was spoken.
So, under the watchful eyes of the whole class, Horikita Suzune walked up to the podium. With her back to them, she didn't start solving the problem immediately, but paused for a moment.
The students in the class stared at Horikita Suzune's back. In the dull classroom, if they could see someone make a fool of themselves, the whole atmosphere would suddenly become lively. As long as one person started laughing, everyone would start to revel without restraint.
It's like celebrating some kind of holiday.
Especially for Horikita Suzune, who was always disliked in the class, the girls in the front row couldn't wait for her to say, "Teacher, I don't know how to do this problem."
But Horikita Suzune quickly picked up the chalk, and as if she were playing some kind of magic, she added a few auxiliary lines that are very easy to understand in hindsight, and then the messy knot was untied.
As a result, the whole class wilted, like eggplants that had been drenched in a downpour.
"Good solution, you can go now."
The math teacher waved.
Other students might have tried to feign humility at this point.
However, Horikita Suzune nodded smugly and calmly, then walked back to her seat with her back straight.
School was the best place for Horikita Suzune to gain confidence.
Because once you get home...
"This is the same version of the Math Olympiad math practice book that he did before. It took me a lot of effort to buy it."
Just as Horikita Suzune was trying to share her joy at solving a complex math problem in front of the whole class at school today, the boy standing in front of her abruptly interrupted her.
He held out his hand, where a brand-new workbook lay.
"If all goes well, I should be able to make it to the Math Olympiad in the second half of this year."
After somewhat roughly shoving the workbook into Horikita Suzune's arms, Kitagawa Ryo turned his back on her.
"Take a look through it first, then we'll get ready to eat in ten minutes."
"Oh."
Horikita Suzune obediently agreed. On the wall in front of her was a schedule accurate to the minute, which she and Kitagawa Ryo had agreed upon together.
These are all things that must be accomplished in order to surpass his older brother, Horikita Manabu.
We should not be complacent with our current achievements; we must continue to work hard.
Just follow in your brother's footsteps, and you'll catch up eventually.
Horikita Suzune encouraged herself. Although she hadn't seen Horikita Manabu much since childhood, it didn't stop her from taking this older brother as her role model and goal.
She took the workbook to her desk, and the warm orange light from the desk lamp instantly filled the entire desk. Horikita Suzune held her pen and began to try to solve the problems.
Being excellent in basic school courses doesn't prove anything; his older brother, Horikita Manabu, is a champion in the International Math Olympiad.
Just as she was getting a clue, she heard Kitagawa Ryo calling her to eat. The faint aroma of food wafting through the air tempted Horikita Suzune, but she waited until she finished solving the problem before leaving the room.
Kitagawa Ryo didn't pick up his chopsticks first. He seemed to be scrolling through trending news on his phone at the table. Horikita Suzune glanced at him out of the corner of her eye; it seemed to be gossip headlines about celebrities and idols.
"Liang shouldn't focus her energy on these things."
"It's of no use except as a waste of time."
Horikita Suzune pulled out a chair and spoke to her cousin, who was currently staying at her house.
"Anyway, I don't have any talent to begin with, so let it go to waste."
Kitagawa Ryo replied with his legs crossed:
"After all, it's you who needs to defeat Horikita Manabu, not me."
Horikita Suzune paused in her act of picking up food, and said sarcastically:
"I've heard of a bird that, unable to fly, laid an egg and waited patiently for it to fly in its place."
"Suzune wasn't born of me, and I've never forced Suzune."
Kitagawa Ryo pursed his lips and counted on his fingers:
"Besides, it was clearly Suzune who heard that I was quite close to Manabu and wanted to get to know him through me."
"By the way, because you're late, you only have five minutes left to eat."
"Today's lessons include piano, Aikido, and cooking."
"We have a training session on interpersonal relationship management tomorrow morning. I just heard from my family that Xue has already joined the Student Council, so Suzune has to join the Student Council too."
Horikita Suzune silently quickened her pace of eating.
After she finished eating, Kitagawa Ryo and Horikita Suzune went to another small room together.
A brand-new electronic keyboard sat quietly in the corner, covered with a thin layer of black velvet. It was purchased by Horikita Suzune with money borrowed from Kitagawa Ryo because Kitagawa Ryo had said that Horikita Manabu's piano skills had improved by leaps and bounds in recent years and were already quite superb.
Horikita Suzune had only been learning piano for a few days, and Kitagawa Ryo had only taught her some basics. But whenever her fingertips danced on the black and white keys, Horikita Suzune felt as if she were leaping up one step after another, and could fly to Horikita Manabu's side in a flash.
"You're wrong."
But Kitagawa Ryo's voice quickly brought her back to reality.
Leaning against the window, his voice seemed to come from a distant place. Kitagawa Ryo came up and played the short passage that Horikita Suzune had previously misplayed again. The sound was desolate, reminiscent of the bright moonlight.
"Sigh, it's far from good enough."
Kitagawa Ryo sorrow. He pulled a photograph from his pocket and used tape to stick it onto the piano.
The person in the photo was wearing glasses, and the red uniform made his tall figure look even more dashing. His lips were pursed into a resolute arc. Even though it was just a photo, it made Horikita Suzune feel genuinely breathless.
"This is the goal you must overcome."
"Practice hard, haven't you always wanted to surpass him?"
So Horikita Suzune continued practicing the piano, and on this early autumn night, Kitagawa Ryo was her only listener.
It's unclear how long they practiced before Kitagawa Ryo finally called for a stop.
Horikita Suzune wiped the sweat from her forehead. The photo of Horikita Manabu that was pasted on the piano seemed to suddenly grow larger, hanging above her head like the sun. It was just like in the past, no matter how much she struggled, the other person was always stronger than her.
Although she hadn't seen Horikita Manabu for a long time, and the last time the two of them spoke was two years ago.
It's like chasing after a phantom in a vague, ethereal shrine.
Horikita Suzune had that illusion for a moment, but she quickly dismissed it.
That was her brother; she had set a goal for herself since she was a child to surpass him.
Horikita Manabu can do it, then I can definitely do it too.
That's why I, who have always been a loner, let Ryo stay here.
"Next, Aikido."