Rehearsal Before Enrollment

These are essential qualities for performers on stage.

So when Sakura Airi later proposed to become Gravure Idol, Kitagawa Ryo wasn't surprised, because he remembered that in Karuizawa Kei's simulation, Sakura Airi ultimately chose the same path.

Choosing to hide one's true nature on the virtual internet and show a false sense of liveliness because of silence in reality is actually a form of escapism from the problem.

And it was done in the most brutal way.

Upload photos of yourself in swimwear, cosplay, or wearing suggestive, slightly erotic clothing to flaunt your cute appearance.

Sakura Airi made this plan, but out of respect for Kitagawa Ryo, she chose to inform Kitagawa Ryo before taking action.

It sounds like something that's simply incomprehensible.

But Sakura Airi saw this as perfectly normal, because it was the only thing she possessed, and the only thing she was worthy of boasting about.

"I'm satisfied as long as one fan is happy because of this. Even a hundred criticisms will be overshadowed by this one compliment."

Sakura Airi explained her behavior in this way.

"Then why not choose to become a real idol directly?"

Kitagawa Ryo countered with a question.

Startled by Kitagawa Ryo's question, Sakura Airi quickly waved her hands and replied:

"Impossible... I don't have that kind of talent."

Unlike Gravure Idol who only need to flaunt their looks, Sakura Airi cannot imagine herself singing and dancing on stage in front of an audience.

Just imagining it in my mind makes me feel like I might faint.

Every time I watch Kitagawa Ryo perform, I'm always intimidated by the energy of the audience.

"Give it a try, I believe Airi can do it."

But Kitagawa Ryo reached out his hand to her at that time:

"Starting today, give up on pointless dramas and try being an idol instead?"

So from that night on, Sakura Airi stopped practicing the unproductive dramas and began learning Singing, dancing, and most importantly, the courage to face an audience, at Kitagawa Ryo's suggestion.

For many nights after that, the two practiced in an empty theater, one standing on the stage and the other the sole audience member.

It was as if they were entertaining themselves.

Kitagawa Ryo created this small world for Sakura Airi, brought in the first ray of light, and then accompanied her as she took her first step forward.

Sakura Airi possesses an unexpected talent for Singing, but at first she was afraid to sing with her head held high.

Later, Kitagawa Ryo found glow sticks himself and practiced a set of fan cheering moves. Whenever Sakura Airi started Singing, he would clap along and wave his glow sticks below.

Fortunately, no video or photographic evidence of this embarrassing history has survived.

Because she wanted to see Kitagawa Ryo, who always had a cold face, cheering, Sakura Airi gradually got used to raising her head to sing and learned to look at the audience.

The audience gradually grew from one to two, Karuizawa Kei forcefully joined in after discovering their secret practice one day.

After all, according to her, she is also a friend of Sakura Airi, and she should definitely help if she can.

Under Kitagawa Ryo's guidance, more and more glow sticks appeared in the Theater Troupe, and he invited the Actor, support staff, errand runners, and even the Theater Troupe leader himself to join in.

But Kitagawa Ryo remained seated in the front row, waving his glow stick and leading the rhythm of the entire event.

However, Sakura Airi knew very well that the other person was not actually her fan.

He was simply offering help as a friend.

On the night Sakura Airi left the Theater Troupe, she spoke many words to the moon and to the mute man.

[One day, I will achieve a goal in my idol career.]

[Let myself become the cool one... the one I only support, my favorite kid]

Chapter Thirty-Three: Pre-enrollment Rehearsal

In this White Room, no one can defeat themselves.

Unlike his contemporaries, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka held this belief throughout the first fourteen years of his life.

In the daily grind of mechanical training, the students standing around him eventually succumbed to their anxiety and fear about the future.

However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was different.

Even as fewer and fewer classmates joined him in the same classroom, the expression in his eyes remained unchanged.

Ultimately, most of people's anxiety and fear stem from the unpredictability of the unknown. Just as few people would scream because of a horror movie they've watched countless times, once you understand the principles and accumulate experience, your brain will naturally develop a processing pattern.

After carefully considering what kind of behavior would lead to first place and what kind of behavior would prevent him from being surpassed by others, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka successfully stood out from the crowd and put his thoughts into action.

The thirst for knowledge and the desire to win.

The two emotions that were only allowed to remain in the White Room became Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's personality, and also supported him in his journey toward success.

Nothing else is needed.

All sorts of information and knowledge were crammed into his mind.

He had seen websites and message boards filled with venting and suicide attempts—but he didn't understand them.

It was a website full of exchange posts about exhibitionism and transvestism—he didn't understand these fetishes, but he still made a note of them.

He browsed through websites filled with graphic images of corpses and various murder scenes, even taking the time to determine the source of the fatal wounds.

Only when he was the last of the children from his cohort did Ayanokoji Kiyotaka realize that he had become the ultimate success.

The data he left behind not only surpassed all the experiments in the first three phases, but also set a record that was difficult to surpass in subsequent phases.

What instilled in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka this unwavering confidence was the education he received in the White Room.

No matter how many children are taught using the same methods, no one can reach such a level.

But he was also very clear about one thing:

There are certainly people in this world who are better than you, after all, there are over 7 billion people living in this world. But the White Room is different.

In that world, there is no one more outstanding than me.

This idea was confirmed on that day.

Outside the White Room, a boy named Kitagawa Ryo, the same age as himself, easily defeated him in Chess.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka himself was not discouraged by the result, but his father did not think so.

His father's reaction reminded Ayanokoji Kiyotaka of a sentence he had read in a book when he was a child:

To prove that a machine is not perfect, you don't need to painstakingly investigate all its performance aspects; simply pointing out one of its flaws is sufficient.

Kitagawa Ryo doesn't need to prove that he is better than Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in every aspect, but the outcome of their Chess alone is enough to prove that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is not a perfect success story.

So after this incident, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's daily training changed. Not only did he have a lot more random courses, but the pressure of various physical and skill training also increased sharply. Even after only half a year, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt fatigue that he had never experienced in the previous ten years.

"..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had no idea why the man in front of him had come here, nor did he have any intention of calling him father, even though according to the records and blood relations, they were indeed father and son.

Judging from the other person's clothing, it seems to be winter now. The White Room rarely shows the outside sky. With only day after day of practice, the concepts of seasons and time have become blurred.

"Next week, you will be entering this school during the Cultural Festival of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School."

Ayanokoji's father's eyes were sharp as knives.

"Your goal is to gather all the information you might need in advance for your formal enrollment in a little over a year."

In fact, he had already obtained a lot of information about the school by investigating several graduates of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, but Ayanokoji's father would not directly deliver it to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

To fulfill the bet made more than a year later, he had to verify Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's abilities once again.

"I see."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded indifferently.

For him, this was something slightly new, but still essentially a test, a trial from the White Room.

It's snowing.

Kitagawa Ryo felt like being cut by a sharp knife as it blew against his face. The few remaining withered leaves on the roadside trees were torn to shreds by this gust of wind.

Pure white snowflakes began to fall from the heavy, overcast sky.

Hotaru climbed out of his hood and into his scarf. Even though half a year had passed, Hotaru seemed not to have grown up at all, still the size of a kitten. It looked like his shoulders would be occupied by this little guy for a long time to come.

The traffic light in front of him changed from red to green. Kitagawa Ryo pressed Hotaru back down and headed home.

There weren't many memorable events in the past six months. Apart from the successful performance of the theatrical version of "Cats" adapted by myself and Karuizawa Kei, there doesn't seem to be anything worth mentioning.

Everyone is moving forward steadily along the path they have chosen.

Sakura Airi's idol career continues, and her popularity is soaring. Her limited-edition support outfit from six months ago is now being resold for 30,000 yen a piece, which even surprised Kitagawa Ryo.

Karuizawa Kei began to broaden her acting range, and after several performances, she attracted the attention of many professional drama critics who exclaimed that the supporting actress who used to lean on the genius could now stand on her own. Of course, she still often visited Kitagawa Ryo's house, and Hotaru's room almost became her private room.

Ichinose Honami has finally become the Student Council president again, just as she wished. This time, having ended the theft incident, she will be able to complete her third year of junior high school, leaving behind the six months she spent locking herself in her room. Her grades at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School should also improve, and if she is placed in a class normally, she should be placed in Class A without a doubt.

Horikita Suzune also tried to broaden her interpersonal relationships. Through the performance of "Cat", she started with fellow Drama Club students. Although the progress was slow, Kitagawa Ryo could see her growth and changes. If she could make up for this shortcoming, Horikita Suzune would undoubtedly be a candidate for Class A.

However, Kitagawa Ryo knew that the class assignments for his year would not be as complicated as in previous years.

News was being displayed on the exterior screens of the buildings along the road.

Kitagawa Ryo felt the cool sensation of snowflakes landing on his face and melting as they fell on the snow-covered streets.

The new students who will be entering Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School in a little over a year are essentially part of a pre-arranged competition.

On the surface, the two sides in the standoff are him and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, but the underlying relationships between them are far more complex.

Simply put, they both need to prove their success by defeating each other.

Unlike the previous simulation where Ayanokouji Ayanokoji Kiyotaka escaped the White Room and only wanted to seek refuge at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School for three years, this time he faces Ayanokoji Kiyotaka who has come voluntarily with a mission from the White Room.

Kitagawa Ryo wasn't sure if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, now free from his psychological burdens, would be stronger than before.

While remaining vigilant, Kitagawa Ryo did not believe he would lose.

Theoretically speaking, he also experienced the education of the White Room in Ichinose Honami's third simulation. Even though it was just a simple textual description at the time, it still left a deep impression on Kitagawa Ryo.

Considering Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's decisive and ruthless performance in Karuizawa Kei's second simulation, Kitagawa Ryo, like Sakayanagi Arisu somewhat averse to this plan.

However, Sakayanagi Arisu only wanted to prove that geniuses cannot be created through the destruction of the White Room, while Kitagawa Ryo simply felt that such facilities should not exist. Although the idea of cultivating geniuses through education is not wrong, the method is hard for him to accept.

Judging from the final successful product— Ayanokoji Kiyotaka— it's more accurate to say he was mass-producing high-performance robots than a genius.

"I'm back."

Before I knew it, I was home. Kitagawa Ryo took out his keys, opened the door, and habitually began to speak.

"Hmm, welcome back."

Horikita Suzune, who was still practicing her lines, looked up and gave a perfunctory reply. With less than a week until the Cultural Festival, she, who had been full of confidence, suddenly started to get nervous again these past two days, and the tune she had already memorized started to repeat over and over again.

This is also why Kitagawa Ryo has been hesitant to start the next simulation. Before Horikita Suzune's Cultural Festival ends smoothly, he doesn't want to cause any more trouble. If something unexpected happens during the next simulation of Sakayanagi Arisu, it might affect reality.

However, speaking of impacting reality, his golden talent [Heir of the Wealthy Family], which was solidified after his last playthrough, has not shown any signs of activity since.

Unlike in the simulation, the real Kitagawa Ryo was not assigned to the Sakayanagi Family.

Otherwise, Hotaru wouldn't be happy if a younger sister named Sakayanagi Arisu.

But Kitagawa Ryo quickly realized another detail.

If the "Heir of the Wealthy Family" talent takes effect, wouldn't that mean he and Ying are actually siblings with no blood relation?

While Kitagawa Ryo was lost in thought, Horikita Suzune brought out the prepared dishes from the kitchen.

When she occasionally visited Kitagawa Ryo's house, she would usually cook a meal for him.

"How's the situation?"

"It's alright, the rescue was timely, and I managed to control it beforehand, otherwise he would at least be brain dead."

"It seems those years at Massachusetts General Hospital weren't wasted."

"I just happened to be passing by; after all, it's a human life at stake."

Kitagawa Ryo brought over the Tom Yum in front of him; this kind of warm stew is perfect for winter.