Chapter Twenty-Three: The Third Simulation

Amid the chattering girls, Karuizawa Kei awkwardly echoed the questions from those around her, trying to appear less nervous. She tightened her grip on the phone she had just hung up. The girls gathered around her, whom she had called over and who had once bullied her, had now become her strongest line of defense.

She would never accept a breakup with you, even if it meant piling lie upon lie.

Karuizawa Kei took a deep breath. Today, in her blue yukata, she carried a rose-like fragrance: the perfume he had given her.

For the thirteenth time, Ichinose Honami heard the cold electronic voice from her phone's speaker: "The number you have dialed is switched off. Please try again later." Each time she heard it, she tightened her grip on the object in her hand, until the veins stood out along her pale wrist.

Ichinose Honami was a capable person. Unlike you, she had grasped Karuizawa Kei's true nature much earlier. She knew full well that Karuizawa Kei would never let go of the lifeline she had worked so hard to obtain. After you had listened to her past and accepted her weakness, she had become an inescapable... parasite.

The fourteenth call failed. Ichinose Honami tossed her phone into the nearby grass. She was now fifty meters away from Karuizawa Kei, and could clearly see the circle of girls around her. This expected outcome drew a cold laugh from her.

The closer the moment came, the calmer her heart grew. As Ichinose Honami waited in the grove, a deep, quiet weariness had already risen within her. It was as if she no longer cared about anything or felt attached to anything. At last, she no longer had to worry about her family, her classmates, or anyone else. This forgetting brought her a sense of peace she had not felt in a long time—a peace without bottom.

Only yesterday, she had regretted everything and wished she could return to an earlier point in time—whether when she buried Hotaru, when the two of you climbed the mountain, or even when she first went to the hospital to visit you. But Ichinose Honami no longer thought about those possibilities. She was already living in this reality.

She saw the young man approaching, carrying two candy apples. As he drew near Karuizawa Kei, he visibly faltered.

Just as she thought, he hadn't expected Karuizawa Kei to still try to exploit his kindness at the last moment, playing the victim to drag out their false relationship a little longer. If he understood love so well, he wouldn't have wasted so much time on her.

Ichinose Honami opened the birthday card in her hand. It hadn't been left in the burning building and devoured by the flames, as you had thought. Instead, it had been dropped in the hallway and found by Ichinose Honami afterward.

"I hope you can trust your heart and make your own decisions. I hope you'll care a little more about yourself. If you ever have to sacrifice yourself to save someone else, don't throw yourself away without hesitation. You're not really an all-powerful angel, nor are you a prisoner born with original sin."

She... still couldn't do it, it seemed.

Just like now, she wanted to give herself up once more for you—for the person she loved—and put an end to the problem of Karuizawa Kei once and for all.

Ichinose Honami closed her right hand around the knife and silently walked toward them.

The moment you saw the girls gathered around Karuizawa Kei, you understood the little game she had thought up. But your first reaction wasn't anger at being betrayed. It was an inexplicable sadness.

Perhaps you shouldn't have accepted her confession in the first place. Perhaps you shouldn't have accepted her past. Perhaps...

A strange atmosphere hung in the air, and the rose's sweet fragrance seemed to carry a hint of rot.

You took a step forward.

Another figure reached Karuizawa Kei before you did. Her shadow fell in front of you, the right hand within it gleaming coldly.

The blade shot toward Karuizawa Kei's chest like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

You rushed forward instinctively. In that instant, you moved so fast that even you found it hard to believe.

A cold sensation came with the pain. You felt your strength slipping out of your body, beyond your control, as if every bone had shattered. It was as though your optic nerves were being severed, one by one, and the information reaching your pupils grew fainter and fainter. Before long, darkness finally descended.

The last thing you saw was a magnificent firework blooming in the sky.

Day Fourteen: On the night of the Fireworks Festival, you took the blade Ichinose Honami had aimed at Karuizawa Kei. As the two women watched in grief and shock, you died.

This simulation lasted fourteen days. You may choose one talent to keep. It will be automatically used in your next simulation.

Congratulations, player, on achieving the ending: Phantom Dream

Phantom Dream: You failed to save anyone. But the good news is, you won't have to witness an even crueler future with your own eyes. Like a phantom dream, may you sleep in peace.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Third Simulation

Congratulations, player, on achieving the "First Clear" achievement. You received one Talent Refresh Card (Purple).

Talent Refresh Card (Purple): Refresh any one talent. The new talent is guaranteed to be purple.

Congratulations, player, on achieving the "I Want It All" achievement. You received one permanent talent slot.

I Want It All: Trigger at least three story CGs in a single simulation.

Permanent Talent Slot: Adds one slot to the player's initial talents. You can now draw six initial talents.

Congratulations, player, on achieving the "Double Girlfriends" achievement. You received one Talent Upgrade Card.

Double Girlfriends: Gain the affection of two important female characters in a single simulation.

Talent Upgrade Card: Upgrade a selected talent by one quality tier. Gold talents cannot be upgraded. Can be used on initial talents and permanent talents.

Congratulations, player, on achieving the "Regret" achievement. You received one Temporary Talent Card.

Regret: Achieve a Bad End for the first time.

Temporary Talent Card: Can be used at any point during a simulation. Upon use, the player is guaranteed to gain a talent advantageous to their current situation. Quality is random.

First Chapter Clear Objective: Find and correct Ichinose Honami's turning point in life. Completed. Final overall score: 69 points.

Congratulations on clearing the first chapter. Drawing the reward corresponding to your score tier.

Congratulations, player, on obtaining the reward item: Blessing of Ichinose Honami

Blessing of Ichinose Honami: When drawing initial talents, you will never receive a white talent.

Highest score so far: 69 points

Three simulations remain for the first chapter. You may choose to simulate the first chapter again, or end it with an overall score of 69 points. The remaining three simulations will be completed automatically at the 69-point score tier, and the rewards will be distributed.

"Is it... over?"

Ryo mechanically tapped the screen, still immersed in the afterglow of the second simulation. The lifelike characters and sincere emotions in that simulation had drawn him in more than the rewards he had received afterward. Even though the screen had already returned to the game's start page, he was still thinking about the girl in Ichinose Honami's story.

Ryo had originally thought that drawing a gold talent like "A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold," which could max out initial affection, would make the second simulation go more smoothly. But he hadn't expected its ending to still be a tragedy. Although the game ultimately judged that he had cleared the first chapter and completed the task of changing Ichinose Honami's past, the system's final score of only 69 made it clear that he hadn't fully cleared it.

On the game's start screen, the title of the second chapter had lit up. Once he cleared the first chapter, it had become unlocked.

"Karuizawa Kei's Autumn Lie."

"Is she the protagonist of the second chapter?"

Ryo furrowed his brow slightly. Unlike Ichinose Honami's situation, he still didn't know Karuizawa Kei very well. But based on the second simulation, what she had suffered and faced seemed even worse than what the first chapter's protagonist, Ichinose Honami, had endured. Her personality also seemed more twisted.

His eyes were feeling a little sore, so Ryo simply put down his phone and closed his eyes, recalling the entire second simulation from beginning to end.

False Love, She and Her Cat, Actor, and finally Fireworks Are Cold. He could feel Ichinose Honami's struggle and hesitation between the lines, as well as the stab she had made for him at the end. Thinking about it, Ryo was a little relieved that the simulation had ended there. He couldn't imagine what sort of fate awaited Ichinose Honami after she had personally stabbed her childhood sweetheart. He didn't want to imagine it, either.

She deserved a better ending.

Ryo splashed cold water on his face, reopened the game, and chose the first chapter without hesitation:

[Summer Time Rendering: Ichinose Honami.]

"Then let's have this summer one more time."

"If I'm keeping a talent, the only particularly valuable ones from last time were the gold 'A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold,' the purple 'Tokyo Handsome Guy,' and the blue 'Protector of Flowers.' Looking back now, though, 'Tokyo Handsome Guy' and 'Protector of Flowers' were also hidden reasons behind the second simulation's Bad End. My high personal charm was what attracted Karuizawa Kei, and without 'Protector of Flowers,' I might not have been in time to stop that knife. Though I suppose not stopping it would have been a Bad End, too."

"The importance of 'A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold' isn't just that it's a gold talent. It also raises Ichinose Honami's affection to a fairly high level from the start. So if I'm keeping one, that's the best choice."

Back at his desk, Ryo quickly considered his options and made a decision.

[You chose to keep "A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold" (Gold)]

[A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold (Gold): You are very lucky. You and the heroine of this chapter have been childhood sweethearts since you were young. Your youth belongs to both of you, and your lives are intertwined and will not be separated. You will never leave the other person behind, no matter what. Even if you may sometimes be stubborn, shameless, or meddlesome. (Day after day, from childhood to maturity, she stayed by your side as you crossed the schoolyard, the rumors, and the passing years.)]

"I can't help feeling... a little irony here."

[This talent has been made permanent. Begin the third simulation?]

[Ding—Life Restart Simulator simulation has begun.]

[Please name your character.]

[The player chose the name Kitagawa Ryo]

[Name confirmed]

[The third simulation of the first chapter will now begin.]

[Chapter: Summer Time Rendering: Ichinose Honami]

[Six talents have been drawn for the player, as follows:]

[Unforgettable (Gold): You have an extremely mysterious past, though you can't remember much of it. It's as if your memories were somehow taken from you. (Drawing this talent unlocks the hidden endings "Oedipus Rex" and "Salvation.")]

[Oedipus Rex: Fate will always catch up with you, until it brings about the future it chose for you.]

[Salvation: Then let's make a promise here: we'll go a long way together.]

"...I remember this talent appearing in the first simulation, but back then it was called 'Piercing Heart and Carved Bones' and was purple. It never appeared in the simulation, either."

Ryo flipped through his old notes and found the description from before.

"Those two endings look like one's a happy ending and the other's a bad ending."

[Love Expert (Purple): You have an extremely subtle grasp of women's minds and can easily gain their affection. (This talent has a certain negative effect.)]

"That warning about a negative effect is almost exactly the same as the one on 'Tokyo Handsome Guy' last time."

Ryo sighed softly. If none of the talents he drew afterward were particularly terrible, he had already decided to replace this one.

[Dream Weaver (Purple): You are skilled at weaving dreams and can peer into and slightly influence other people's dreams. (Code name: Paprika)]

"Superpowers? What does Paprika mean?"

Ryo frowned and looked up some information online.

"Paprika is an animated film by Japanese director Satoshi Kon. It's set in the near future, when a mental health research institute in Tokyo develops a machine that can reflect other people's dreams to treat the growing number of increasingly severe mental illnesses. With the help of a miniature DC, dreams are displayed on a screen, making it easier to find the root of a person's anxiety. The heroine is a physician who enters other people's dreams through the device to treat them. Her name in the dream world is Paprika."

"That's interesting."

[Pooper Scooper (Blue): You have a clever, well-behaved pet cat who understands people. (It's just a cat, though perhaps you could call it 'Hotaru'?)]

"...Is it possible that the first chapter's heroine isn't Ichinose Honami, but this cat?"

The moment this talent appeared, Ryo couldn't help thinking of the little thing from his first simulation that had bewitched him into staying home and petting cats every day. A white cat named "Hotaru" had appeared in the second simulation, too. He hadn't expected to draw this talent again in the third one.

[Combat Mastery (Green): You have mastered a certain degree of fighting skills. (Only a certain degree, though.)]

"Better than nothing."

[Close Friend (Green): You have a close friend of the same age. (Male)]

"If it were a girl, I'd definitely refresh this one..."

[Permanent talent: "Modest Assets"]

[Modest Assets (Blue): You own an eighty-square-meter home and have five million yen in savings. (The home is located in Tokyo.)]

[Permanent talent: "A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold"]

[Influenced by the initial talent "Unforgettable," the talent "A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold" has become "Childhood Sweetheart from Heaven." The talent's quality remains unchanged.]

[Childhood Sweetheart from Heaven (Gold): You and the heroine of this chapter formed a deep friendship in childhood, then vanished from her life. People unconsciously romanticize the past, weaving their passionate memories and fervent hopes into the most perfect illusion. You are the Christ in her heart. Even now, she is still waiting for you and keeping her promise. (You are the cinnabar mole between her brows, not the mosquito blood in her palm; the white moonlight in her heart, not the rice stuck to her lips.)]

[Use Talent Refresh Card (Purple)?]

[Please select a talent to refresh.]

"Pure romance players don't need Love Expert."

[The talent "Love Expert (Purple)" has been refreshed.]

[Unwavering Perseverance (Purple): Strive, work hard, never give up. (This is the cornerstone of success.)]

"Mm, not bad."

Ryo nodded and continued using his items.

[Use Talent Upgrade Card?]

[Please select a talent to upgrade.]

[The talent "Dream Weaver (Purple)" has been upgraded to "Dreamweaver (Gold)."]

[Dreamweaver (Gold): You entered the world of dreams at a very young age and can peer into, weave, and construct multiple layers of dreams. (Everyone has the right to sleep peacefully in their dreams.)]

"I feel... kind of excited."

[Talent selection complete]

[Dreamweaver (Gold), Childhood Sweetheart from Heaven (Gold), Unforgettable (Gold)]

[Unwavering Perseverance (Purple)]

[Pooper Scooper (Blue)]

[Combat Mastery (Green), Close Friend (Green)]