Classroom of the Elite, I Have a Life Simulator

"You wove such an outrageous dream for me, and now you actually expect me to help you escape the pursuit of the White Room?"

"...Isn't this the world you wanted, where you defeat me with your own hands? Now you're dissatisfied? You really are difficult to please."

Kitagawa Ryo sprinted forward, holding Ichinose Honami's hand the entire way:

"What exactly do those people want? I finally managed to have two years of peace with Honami."

"Is that Kitagawa Ryo?"

On the other end of the headset, the voice of another middle-aged man suddenly rang out.

"Hmm? Sakayanagi's father? The Chairman of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School?"

"It is."

He replied in a deep voice:

"Actually, I have a way to provide sanctuary for you and Ichinose Honami regarding your current situation of being hunted by the White Room."

"Hey, hey, don't tell me you're asking me and Honami to enroll in your school."

"Unless you can think of a second option."

"What about Honami's family?"

"I will arrange for people to look after them, I give you my word of honor."

"...Why are you helping me like this?"

"I need you to prove your worth."

Kitagawa Ryo stopped in his tracks, and he asked with interest:

"How?"

"Compete against the Masterpiece of the White Room, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. The events will be chess and combat."

"You must win both."

Chapter 34: The Third Ending (Part 1)

[Player has used a temporary talent card. Based on the current simulation situation, relevant talents are being drawn for the player:]

[You have obtained the talent "Grand Master (Gold)"]

[Grand Master: You have reached the level of an international grandmaster in the field of chess (strictly limited to chess)]

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."

"Oh, so he's that man's son. It seems he really holds a near-irrational obsession with this educational method, not even hesitating to throw his own biological son into this project with a hundred percent failure rate."

"What's this? He ended up being the only successful case of that batch. Hey, given his background, doesn't it feel a bit like it was rigged from the start?"

Kitagawa Ryo sat on the spacious sofa, flipping through the documents in his hands while casually making snide remarks.

"You didn't seem to talk this much before."

Sakayanagi Arisu, standing to the side, narrowed her eyes and smiled. Although she said that, she seemed to enjoy the current atmosphere—though, of course, it would be even better if the woman sitting next to Kitagawa Ryo weren't there.

"Isn't that all thanks to you people sending me into the White Room? Trying to prove the limits of humanity using the power of emotion... I don't know why Sakayanagi would hold such an idea."

"Actually, at the time, I just wanted to use a counterexample to prove that the White Room's philosophy was wrong. If Ryo minds, I can apologize to you."

Sakayanagi Arisu bowed slightly, her formal etiquette impeccable.

"...That won't be necessary. Anyway, we are just in a relationship of mutual utilization right now."

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his head to flip through the stack of documents in his hands:

"If you really feel sorry, don't use the name 'Ryo' anymore."

Kitagawa Ryo looked up, his tone still lazy, but Sakayanagi Arisu could see through his pupils that he was serious.

"Just like how I call you Sakayanagi, you can just address me as Kitagawa."

"...Is that so?"

Sakayanagi Arisu sighed softly, seemingly wanting to say something more, but Ichinose Honami was more proactive than her, pointing to a section of the document and saying:

"Ryo, look here."

"Hmm? Here?"

Watching Kitagawa Ryo, whose attention was completely captured by Ichinose Honami, Sakayanagi Arisu just shook her head slightly. She inexplicably regretted why she had implanted the image of 'Ichinose Honami' into Kitagawa Ryo's mind back then. She stared at the side profile of Kitagawa Ryo as he pondered countermeasures, absentmindedly fiddling with her fingernails.

"The 'Masterpiece', huh?"

"If we go by time, I should actually be a 4th generation student of the White Room just like Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, but I was an outlier at the time. Neither my age when entering the White Room nor the time I spent learning can compare to his."

Kitagawa Ryo examined the documents in his hands and sighed:

"Looking at it this way, in terms of raw stats, he should be able to crush me."

"Jokes aside, the White Room is a genuine 'learning hell' after all. Unlike me, an unemployed person who has been doing nothing for two years."

"If you can bring out the strength you had when you defeated me two years ago, I don't think you will lose to this Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, at least in chess."

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed somewhat dissatisfied with Kitagawa Ryo's attitude, and she tapped the table lightly with her cane:

"I once met this Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in the White Room, and even back then, his chess level was on par with mine. By that standard, you shouldn't have to fear him too much, considering you can defeat me in chess."

Kitagawa Ryo merely shrugged at these words. He turned his head and asked Ichinose Honami:

"Honami, what do you think of my chess level?"

"Hmm."

Ichinose Honami thought hard before finding a description in her mind:

"Amateur enthusiast level?"

"That's about right!"

Kitagawa Ryo closed the documents in his hand, confirming Ichinose Honami's answer.

"How could that be?"

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the two, seeing no signs of deception. She lowered her head in thought for a moment before asking in surprise:

"Could it be that you were in my dream at that time..."

"Yes."

Kitagawa Ryo raised his eyebrows subtly. Ever since he had forbidden her from using the name "Ryo," Sakayanagi Arisu hadn't switched to "Kitagawa"; instead, she kept referring to him as "you." He himself couldn't quite understand what she was thinking.

"I probably simulated nearly a thousand chess matches with you in your dream back then, until I had figured out all your habits, your preferred tactics, and how you would respond in various situations before I dared to play against you."

"But if that were the case, I should have retained an impression of it."

"It's enough to just overlay an empty dream on top of that dreamscape. It was just a dream within a dream, like how I was influenced by your dream while being in your dream at the start."

"Then..."

Kitagawa Ryo seemed to have realized what Sakayanagi Arisu was going to say next. He pointed to his own head and sighed:

"First of all, there is only one short night left before my match with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. Without knowing his exact location, I have no way to lock onto his dreamscape, let alone conduct simulations in advance."

"Second, this ability of mine cannot be used indefinitely. Moreover, because the negative cost in the past was quite significant, I have basically not used it for the past two years, except for busy nights spent constructing dreams for you."

Speaking of this, Kitagawa Ryo glanced at his girlfriend. Ichinose Honami was hugging his arm and giving him her usual smile, which made his back feel a bit cold:

"Ahem... constructing various dreams with my girlfriend probably doesn't count."

Brushing past the topic with some embarrassment, Kitagawa Ryo continued:

"Actually, it's not that there's no way. According to the agreed-upon rules, only Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and I will be at the scene of tomorrow's showdown. The Sakayanagi family and the White Room will act as witnesses, watching remotely via equipment. This is a decision that doesn't compromise fairness."

"But even so, there is still some room for maneuvering. I just need to pull Ayanokoji Kiyotaka directly into a dreamscape the moment before the match begins."

"Ryo can pull a conscious person directly into a dream?"

Ichinose Honami frowned:

"I remember that Ryo's ability can only work after others have fallen asleep."

"Oh, that's true, it's not possible. The foundation of a dream's birth is that the person is in a state of sleep."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded in admission, but then he smiled:

"But of course, I have a way to make Ayanokoji Kiyotaka take a nap."

"As for the chess, please just trust me."

"I didn't expect Miss Sakayanagi to invite me out so late at night."

On the night before the showdown, it was already around midnight. Ichinose Honami gently closed the room door and walked straight toward a side room deep in the hallway.

Sakayanagi Arisu leaned against the door frame and nodded at her:

"Because there are things I wanted to say to Ichinose no matter what, regarding him."

"Is that so?"

Ichinose Honami didn't intend to press for details. She walked into the room and turned on the lights. Before her lay a chessboard with black and white pieces scattered across it. Ichinose Honami sat down on the chair closer to the inside.

"I thought Ichinose would reject my invitation to talk. After all, I have done some excessive things to you in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if you hated me."

Between the ages of ten and fourteen, Sakayanagi Arisu had constantly communicated with Ichinose Honami under the guise of Kitagawa Ryo, while simultaneously impersonating Ichinose Honami to trick Kitagawa Ryo into taking action. In a sense, she had almost been toying with both of their lives.

"Yes, what Miss Sakayanagi did was indeed excessive."

Ichinose Honami looked at her with stern eyes, her gaze devoid of any fear:

"I am not only keeping track of my own share, but I am also keeping track of his share for Ryo."

"Is that so?"

Sakayanagi Arisu sat slowly in the chair near the door. This frail and petite posture might easily elicit a protective instinct in others. She reached out to toy with the 'Queen' on the chessboard:

"Then I shall await your challenge."

"If he can succeed tomorrow, we should be able to meet at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School in less than a year."

She extended a finger and knocked over the 'Knight' standing on the board:

"If there is a chance to become opponents, you must give it your all."

"Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School..."

Ichinose Honami recalled the scenes she had witnessed within Kitagawa Ryo's dreamscape, though unfortunately, her focus at the time had been entirely on the version of herself who stood at the starting line only to fail miserably. While there had been some involvement regarding internal school events, she could no longer recall them with any great clarity.

Except for the face of a certain blond-haired man she had referred to as "Nagumo-senpai."

[It's making me feel sick again.]

Ichinose Honami quickly suppressed the wave of nausea rising in her stomach:

"What exactly did you want to see me about tonight, Sakayanagi-san?"

"I am simply curious about his life over these past two years..."

Seeming to notice the sharp, bright gaze Ichinose Honami immediately fixed upon her, Sakayanagi Arisu waved her hand helplessly:

"After all, for the past two years, I was deceived by the dreamscape he fabricated for me. I truly believed that I had defeated him back then and that I had been under the care of Matsuo Eiichiro for these two years. It wasn't until I woke up yesterday that I realized I knew almost nothing about his experiences during that time."

"Why on earth would I tell you anything about him?"

Ichinose Honami refused Sakayanagi Arisu's request without a moment's hesitation:

"If anything, isn't your own position quite strange, Sakayanagi-san? Tracing it back to the source, Ryo's childhood tragedy was almost entirely of your own making. It was all because of a whim you had as a child to interfere with someone else's life."

Ichinose Honami glared at Sakayanagi Arisu:

"I don't even understand why Ryo would choose to cooperate with someone like you, or even go so far as to craft a dreamscape that lasted for over two years specifically for your sake."

"A rare moment of honesty, I see."

Sakayanagi Arisu showed no signs of anger at Ichinose Honami's words. Instead, she simply crossed her hands to prop up her chin and offered a compliment:

"Sometimes, honesty is exactly what is needed. Dreams built on lies are bound to wake up eventually."

She sighed softly before revealing the true intention behind why she had summoned Ichinose Honami tonight:

"If, and I do mean if."