One More Time

Horikita Suzune was also somewhat taken aback by the current situation, but Sakayanagi Arisu quickly nodded in confirmation and spoke with certainty:

"Yes, so Horikita- san, do you want to choose Truth or Dare?"

"Truth or no."

Horikita Suzune made her decision cleanly and decisively. She had just casually glanced at the contents of the game cards, and compared to the potentially embarrassing actions in the Adventure cards, Horikita Suzune didn't feel that she couldn't say anything from the heart.

The knot in her heart about Horikita Manabu that had once troubled her has been completely untied.

Seeing the confident Horikita Suzune, Sakayanagi Arisu didn't hesitate to draw a card from the pile of truth cards in the middle and read aloud the words on it:

Please describe in detail what kind of feelings you have for the person sitting opposite you.

"The opposite seat, that is, Arisu."

Ichinose Honami added from the side.

"My feelings for Classmate Sakayanagi?"

Horikita Suzune's expression turned somewhat strange, and a hint of hesitation flashed in her purplish-red pupils.

"You absolutely must tell the truth during the truth-or-dare segment, otherwise there's no point in playing this game."

Sakayanagi Arisu spoke with a smile, but her tone was aggressive; she seemed unsurprised by the question.

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at the scattered deck of cards and suddenly remembered the "Concentration" game he had played with Sakayanagi Arisu before. The game cards and playing cards were actually very similar, and if Kitagawa Ryo remembered correctly, it was Sakayanagi Arisu had taken the initiative to shuffle the cards just now.

However, he wouldn't expose Sakayanagi Arisu's suspected cheating behavior. After all, everyone was just having fun and relaxing together, and the school wouldn't actually write anything inappropriate on the cards.

Furthermore, Kitagawa Ryo himself is also curious about the answers to certain questions.

On the other side, Horikita Suzune seemed to have also sorted out her words and thoughts:

"If we're talking about now, I only know Classmate Sakayanagi because of my brother's Cultural Festival. I was able to get into Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School through the connections of the Sakayanagi Family, and I didn't actually meet Classmate Sakayanagi that time. I think I really got to know her after I was assigned to Class D upon entering the school."

"But actually, I had already met Sakayanagi- dōji... Arisu earlier."

At this point, Horikita Suzune glanced in Kitagawa Ryo's direction, and Kitagawa Ryo nodded slightly.

After receiving confirmation from Kitagawa Ryo, Horikita Suzune continued her explanation:

"However, at that time, Ryo was Arisu's biological older brother, and the two of you had a very good relationship. Ryo chose to study medicine and joined Massachusetts General Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, to conduct research on congenital heart disease because of you."

All three girls present had similar magical experiences, so they naturally understood what Horikita Suzune meant by "that time".

Sakayanagi Arisu's gaze softened. Although she had heard snippets of information from Horikita Suzune before, hearing about Kitagawa Ryo's sacrifices for her filled her heart with a surge of happiness.

"But... what does this have to do with the question of truth?"

Ichinose Honami her hand to ask a question.

Horikita Suzune nodded again, glanced at Sakayanagi Arisu, and said very seriously:

"Because at that time Arisu was Ryo's younger sister, and I was Ryo's lover, so to be honest, in my eyes, Arisu was just... uh, my sister-in-law, or, a child?"

"..."

Sakayanagi Arisu's beautiful eyes widened instantly. She finally understood why Horikita Suzune had always inexplicably shown her care. It turned out that she had never been a threat to Horikita Suzune.

If circumstances allowed, Sakayanagi Arisu would have already hugged Kitagawa Ryo in front of Horikita Suzune and asserted her ownership of her.

"I can testify that this is roughly the case."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded.

Horikita Suzune was the person he trusted the most, both in terms of personality and simulation experience. After all, this was the only simulation chapter he had ever completed with a perfect score in one life.

Sakayanagi Arisu now come to her senses, especially when she thinks about how Kitagawa Ryo's work in his relationship with Horikita Suzune was actually for her benefit, and she inexplicably has a subtle feeling.

However, her hair color isn't actually blonde.

The first truth-or-dare round ended just like that, and Sakayanagi Arisu finally got the answer she wanted, resolving the doubts she had had for several years. It was worth it for her to secretly memorize a lot of the card details in advance.

"Then, round two!"

Kitagawa Ryo threw the dice with great enthusiasm, and this time he was quite lucky. When he revealed them, they were two game dice with sixes facing up.

"This is almost certainly a sure win."

"Unless someone else can roll twelve?"

"Liang can just ask me any truth-or-dare questions she has; there's no need to specify anyone."

Ichinose Honami and the other two also rolled their dice. Sure enough, the highest number among the remaining three was only eight.

"Hmm... who should I choose?"

Kitagawa Ryo, who emerged victorious in the second round, pondered for a moment before pointing to Ichinose Honami, who had recently captured him with his exceptional insight:

"Let 'Honami then, that way all four of us will feel involved."

"Then I'll choose truth too."

Ichinose Honami didn't seem surprised that Kitagawa Ryo had chosen her as the target of punishment, and nodded in response.

Kitagawa Ryo randomly picked a card that asked for the truth, and read it aloud word by word:

Do you have someone you hate the most? If so, who is it? Why do you hate them?

The question was quite pointed, and as soon as Kitagawa Ryo read it aloud, the somewhat cheerful atmosphere created by the previous question and answer immediately sombered.

Actually, if you want, you can skip this question with a joke, such as saying that the person you hate the most is a celebrity with a lot of bad deeds.

But it was Ichinose Honami.

Ichinose Honami has always been considered a relatively straightforward and easy-to-understand person whose emotions are easily expressed on her face.

But now, Ichinose Honami often displays an expression that makes it impossible to read her true intentions.

They were all smiling almost identically.

"Even if Liang doesn't get this issue, I'll probably explain it to him in the next few days."

Ichinose Honami adjusted her posture, feigning nonchalance, and tilted her head back slightly, lost in thought.

"Especially after hearing Ryo and the others' story, how they went to medical school specifically for Classmate Sakayanagi and spent more than ten years researching a case, it sounds like they went through a lot of hardship."

"However, the mutual respect and remembrance of each other's efforts are indeed the cornerstone of a relationship, and from that perspective, I can understand Classmate Sakayanagi."

Kitagawa Ryo frowned, and he directly denied it:

"You are a different matter altogether, and have nothing to do with the current Honami or me."

"If it were before, I probably could have fooled myself with that 'cold' statement for a long time."

Ichinose Honami also quickly refuted Kitagawa Ryo's words:

"I don't think we can think like that. No matter how much time has passed, past sins will not disappear."

Kitagawa Ryo took a deep breath. He was well aware of the information gap between the two of them, but he couldn't explain it directly.

From her perspective, each of her simulations was a firsthand experience, but in reality, only the Ichinose Honami was a complete word game.

A word game in the literal sense.

But Kitagawa Ryo can't say it now, because if he does, it will definitely create a strong sense of disappointment.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo could do his best for everyone else, he only needed to quietly click the screen and watch the story unfold when it came to Ichinose Honami.

This is an undeniable fact, and it is the most important reason why Kitagawa Ryo decided to leave the school after the Uninhabited Island Exam.

He wanted to give Ichinose Honami a real, albeit presumptuous, 'cleanup' for her, a redemption, rather than a genuine act.

Because in Kitagawa Ryo's heart, they all held the same weight. Since he had decided to respond to everyone's feelings, he could only continue down this path.

Ichinose Honami continued speaking slowly but firmly:

"The person I hate the most is actually..."

Karuizawa Kei couldn't sleep well in her single tent.

She tried to Matsushita by recalling some pleasant memories, and naturally thought of her birthday, which was after the performance of Macbeth.

However, Karuizawa Kei suddenly remembered that among the Theater Troupe staff who had wished her well back then was Kitagawa Ryo, who had been pulled in by Ichinose Honami to do some logistical work to supplement her family's income.

Furthermore, Karuizawa Kei seems to remember that they had such a conversation.

"Honami? Are you getting used to your job here?"

"No problem. As for logistics, Mr. Izaki taught me a lot."

Ichinose Honami clasps her hands together in prayer:

"Today's performance was a great success, and Hui's performance was excellent; there are also many positive reviews online."

"Did Honami watch it too?"

"Even though I could only hear the voices backstage, I could still feel the enthusiasm of the audience."

"Especially after Lady Macbeth's death, during Macbeth's soliloquy, Liang's acting was superb."

"... Yeah?"

Karuizawa Kei was taken aback by what she heard, after all, she was actually playing Lady Macbeth in the play.

"I think the dialogue in that part was really good. Let me think, it was something like these lines:"

[Life is but a fleeting shadow, a player who struts on stage for a moment, then disappears without a trace. It is a fool's tale, full of noise and commotion, yet devoid of any meaning.]

"That is indeed a good sentence."

Karuizawa Kei was silent for a moment before speaking:

"The next performance is Hamlet. Honami can listen to more of the lines. I remember Ryo really liked a particular part of it. Yeah, I like it too."

Despite experiencing all the hardships, he was never harmed. He accepted both the cruelty and the favor of Fate with equanimity. He was able to adjust his emotions and reason so appropriately that Fate could not manipulate him.

[Such people should be lucky.]

Update tomorrow, I've had the flu for the past two days.

I've been feeling really unwell these past couple of days due to the flu in the Chinese League One, so I apologize for the inconsistent updates.

Please take care of yourselves and stay healthy.

Make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make up one hundred words, make one hundred words.

Chapter 163: One More Time

"Etc."

Just as Ichinose Honami was about to give her answer, Kitagawa Ryo interrupted her.

"There shouldn't be an answer to this question for Honami."

Kitagawa Ryo casually flipped the question card over and placed it back at the bottom of the deck, then wore an expression of utter nonchalance:

"How could Honami possibly have someone he genuinely dislikes? This 'truth or dare' question is a false premise from the very beginning."

He knew very well that the Ichinose Honami would give in the end would definitely not be Karuizawa Kei, just like the ending of the second simulation that happened by chance, Karuizawa Kei was just the superficial reason and catalyst for that ending.

In fact, no matter how many simulations are conducted, everyone's underlying personality and behavioral logic never change, Ichinose Honami is no exception.

Humans are beings that possess both social and natural aspects. In the past Ichinose Honami would focus infinitely on her social aspect, even at the cost of sacrificing a part of herself. This is why she locked herself in her room for half a year after the theft incident, because in Ichinose Honami's eyes, that incident had completely destroyed all the social relationships she had built.

The relationship with one's mother and sister at home, the relationship with teachers and classmates at school, and all other forms of recognition from the social sphere.

In the second simulation, Kitagawa Ryo tries to change this aspect of Ichinose Honami. He tries his best to make Ichinose Honami value her own feelings, which are the natural human traits of pursuing survival, food, and reproduction.

To put it bluntly, liking someone means having the desire and willingness to procreate with that person.

But that final blow at the end of the simulation completely destroyed the personal emotions that Ichinose Honami had painstakingly built up.

From this perspective, Kitagawa Ryo's appearance, like the theft incident, indiscriminately attacked Ichinose Honami in the two most fundamental aspects.

Considering the specific circumstances, his death may have had a greater impact on Ichinose Honami, after all, it's the difference between killing someone with one's own hands and stealing.

The latter could even use family ties as a reason to comfort themselves for a while.

Therefore, Ichinose Honami's answer must be herself.

According to Kitagawa Ryo, the difference between Karuizawa Kei and Ichinose Honami in the past was that the former would intentionally torture herself and deliberately belittle herself mentally, while the latter would unintentionally torture herself.