Classroom of the Elite, I Have a Life Simulator

But this action only made Ichinose Honami realize one reality:

It was her mistake, her failure, and her sin that had caused those around her to be hurt.

This sense of guilt and the sorrow of being a transgressor shattered her heart in an instant.

Because of her own actions, an innocent person unrelated to the situation had been harmed.

For a girl like Ichinose Honami, who had been raised with good manners and a kind heart since childhood, this was more painful than being punished herself.

Not to mention that this person was her own mother, the very person she had been willing to commit a crime to protect from the start.

"This is my fault."

A whisper that no one heard escaped Ichinose Honami's lips, a declarative sentence that made one's heart tremble uncontrollably.

[But I no longer have such a future. My life will not change again. I have already passed the several divergence points leading to this moment, so there is only a straight track stretching out ahead.]

The words her mother once said echoed in her ears again; Ichinose Honami's life seemed to have become a straight path that could be seen through at a single glance.

The cacophony of rumors circled above the shopping mall, becoming more dramatic and turbulent, satisfying everyone's curiosity and desire to pry.

On this day, Ichinose Honami became "The Guilty".

[Plot CG: The Guilty, read complete]

Chapter Five: The Second Simulation

"A story about choosing to steal for the sake of family?"

"It seems the goal of changing Ichinose's past in the chapter mission is to erase this incident..."

After reading the "The Guilty" plot CG, Ryo had roughly sorted out the timeline and the sequence of events.

"The key to the failure of the first mission was that in the first ten days of the game, I barely made any substantial progress in my relationship with the Ichinose family, leaving me with no standing to intervene when the major event that would affect their family occurred."

Ryo browsed through the notes he had jotted down in his notebook.

"'Piercing Heart and Carved Bones' basically didn't play any role. Although the description said it might affect the chapter's ending, if it doesn't provide effective help for mission progress, it's not worth keeping even if it is a purple-tier talent."

"'Taciturn' was a complete side effect in this simulation; exclude it."

"The benefit of the 'Pooper Scooper' talent was only attracting Ichinose's younger sister, which indirectly gained me information, but 'I' seemed to have wasted a few days because of it..."

"'Affinity' is an effective talent for cultivating trust, but since it was only green-tier, it didn't seem to extract much useful information, though I'm not sure if it conflicted with Taciturn."

"The key to 'Modest Assets' lies in whether that property actually spawns near the Ichinose family. I'm also curious how I would even approach the mission target if I didn't have that talent."

After pondering for a moment, Ryo finally made up his mind.

[You have chosen to keep 'Modest Assets' (Blue Talent)]

[This talent has been solidified. Do you wish to start the second simulation?]

[Ding - Life Restart Simulator has been activated.]

[Please name your character]

[Player chooses random name]

[Named]

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

[Chapter: Natsuhi's Reappearance of Summer]

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

[A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold (Gold): You are very lucky. You are a childhood friend of the chapter's heroine. Your youth contains both you and her; your lives are intertwined and will not be separated. At any time, you will not abandon the other, even if you are unexpectedly stubborn, thick-skinned, or meddlesome at times. (That is the person who, day after day, from childhood to maturity, accompanied you through school, through rumors, and through the passing years.)]

"I actually drew a gold talent?"

[Tokyo Handsome Guy (Purple): Your personal charm is significantly increased (This talent has certain negative effects)]

"This purple talent looks much better than the last one, which I didn't understand, though this negative effect is quite concerning."

[Protector of Flowers (Blue): You have a knack for protecting women and will burst forth with unimaginable combat power in emergency situations (Let go of that girl)]

"Hmm... I almost feel like I'd rather have a cat."

[Scion of a Prestigious Family (Blue): Your family has quite a reputation in the local area (Reborn: I am a Spendthrift)]

"Uh, what is this? A thousand-year-old clan setting? A blue talent shouldn't be able to do that."

[Attracted to Younger Women (Green): Girls younger than you have an extraordinary attraction to you (The 'Jail-bound' Protagonist)]

"...I should probably swap this one out."

Although he didn't draw any white talents this time, this green talent also looked full of malice based on its description. Ryo barely hesitated before choosing to use the talent refresh card he had just obtained.

[Do you wish to refresh the 'Attracted to Younger Women' talent?]

[Success]

[Drawing new talent for the player]

[Congratulations to the player for obtaining the talent 'Attracted to Younger Women' (Green)]

[Attracted to Younger Women (Green): You have an extraordinary attraction to girls younger than you (The 'Jail-bound' Protagonist plus one)]

"This thing doesn't seem much different from the last one."

[Solidified Talent: "Modest Assets"]

[Modest Assets (Blue): You possess an eighty-square-meter property and five million yen in savings. (Property is located in Tokyo)]

[Talent selection complete]

[Chapter 1 Clearance Goal: Find Ichinose Honami's life turning point and correct it.]

"Phew."

Taking a deep breath, Ryo reviewed his talents once more before starting the second simulation. The configuration of one Gold, one Purple, three Blue, and one Green was undoubtedly much better than the first run's one Purple, two Blue, one Green, and one White. Moreover, the newly drawn Gold talent, A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold, practically solved the problem of how to gain Ichinose Honami's trust. Barring any accidents, the success rate of this mission should be significantly higher.

Ryo's mind drifted back to the The Guilty CG he had just viewed. Even though he knew it was merely a virtual game, he couldn't help but feel an instinctive urge to save the other person. He smiled at himself with a touch of self-mockery.

Perhaps it was precisely because it was a game that he could occasionally harbor such thoughts; after all, in the reality he lived in, Ryo could barely even save himself.

[Simulation Start]

[Day 1: The date is July 9th. Tokyo in early July is in the midst of a sweltering heatwave. Pedestrians on the road are in a hurry, either holding parasols or walking in the shadows of eaves and tree canopies to escape the scorching sun. The car's air conditioning is running at full power. After checking the time on your wristwatch, you roll down the window of the Mercedes-Benz S600 and whistle at Ichinose Honami as she exits the roadside chain supermarket.]

"Why does it feel like the style changed all of a sudden... some cliché story about a wealthy playboy and a hardworking girl from a humble background."

The second simulation threw a curveball at Ryo right from the start, but it also piqued his interest. Ryo got back up, poured a glass of water from the kettle, and continued browsing at his leisure.

[Over the past dozen years of being together, you have long since understood the personality of Ichinose Honami—your childhood friend. Therefore, when she mentioned a few days ago that she wanted to buy a hair clip as a birthday gift for her younger sister, you didn't offer to pay for it yourself. Instead, you chose to introduce her to a cashier job at a chain supermarket. The general manager of this business is a family friend of your uncle's generation, and after a brief chat with him, Ichinose Honami officially began her part-time working life.]

[You are well aware that Ichinose Honami's mother does not want her to work part-time. She is a pragmatic mother who is serious to a fault. In her worldview, Ichinose Honami should devote all her energy to self-improvement—that is, her work and studies at school. There is no need for Ichinose Honami to worry about household matters. On one hand, she is willing to bear the life pressure of the household as a mother; on the other hand, she also hopes that her daughter will walk squarely and steadily along the path she has set.]

[Based on the experience gained from interacting with her over the past few years, Kitagawa Ryo can be certain that if Ichinose Honami commits any act that she deems a "derailment," she will not hesitate to use the crudest methods to pull her daughter back onto the track she has set. Therefore, she has never had a good impression of Kitagawa Ryo's existence. This is due to Kitagawa Ryo's affluent family background, which she fears will bring bad influences to her daughter compared to the Ichinose family, and also because she sees traces of "derailment" in Kitagawa Ryo.]

["Derailment" is a privilege of the children of the rich; the poor cannot afford their children's antics. Although her mother often says such pointed things to Ichinose Honami, it still cannot stop Ichinose Honami from associating with Kitagawa Ryo, because they grew up together—a relationship known as childhood friends.]

[On the way home after dropping Ichinose Honami off, you chat with her about the day's news. Ichinose Honami mentions that she received a flyer for the fireworks festival to be held next month. After a brief discussion, you decide that unlike previous years, the two of you will go to watch the fireworks alone this year.]

[The car soon stops at the entrance of the Ichinose residence. Until last year, you lived across the street from the Ichinose family, but due to some reasons that are hard to explain, you chose to move out this year. Ichinose Honami invites you to come in and sit for a while, but you wave your hand and refuse. You and Ichinose's mother have some fundamental disagreements in your views. Although it hasn't reached the point of mutual loathing, both sides are consciously avoiding meeting each other to avoid making Ichinose Honami feel awkward.]

[After agreeing with Ichinose Honami to come pick her up again tomorrow, you have the butler drive away.]

[Day 2: After dropping Ichinose Honami off at her workplace, you feel idle. In fact, you clearly remember that Ichinose Honami's birthday is on July 20th, two days after Ichinose Maki's birthday. However, unlike her younger sister, thirteen-year-old Ichinose Maki is still looking forward to her birthday gift, while Ichinose Honami, two years her senior, stopped being curious at the age of seven. Your relationship with Ichinose Honami has long since surpassed the level of exchanging birthday gifts. You naturally share each other's lives, giving each other small, inexpensive but thoughtful trinkets on days that aren't special—for example, the string of Buddhist prayer beads on your left wrist was given to you by Ichinose Honami on a day last year, an accessory she strung together bead by bead.]

[When it rains, she carries the large black umbrella you gave her, and the alarm clock she gave you rings by your bedside every morning. The white cat you once raised together was buried in the park where you played as children after it died of old age. When you wanted to give her another white cat of the same breed, she replied, "There won't be another cat exactly the same; having raised one is enough." So, you gave that cat to her younger sister as a gift one year, and the little guy should still be growing up healthily now.]

[Before you knew it, you had wandered into a department store while lost in thought. Stopping at the jewelry section, it took you a while to find that specific style of hair clip. The price of over ten thousand yen is not expensive for you, but Ichinose Honami would never allow you to give this to her sister as a birthday gift. In a way, Ichinose Honami has been well-educated by her mother, and she herself is physically and actively shaping a healthy and positive view of money for her sister. You don't dislike this approach of Ichinose Honami; on the contrary, you approve of her and respect her.]

[Day 3: You received a text message from your junior, Hirata Yosuke, this morning. He and Ichinose Honami are both third-year middle school students, while you are one year older than them. The private middle school Hirata Yosuke attends is one of your family's enterprises, and you yourself graduated from there. The opportunity for you to get to know Hirata Yosuke was because of a school bullying incident. Hirata Yosuke's friend chose to jump off a building due to long-term bullying. If you hadn't happened to be there and grabbed the other person's ankle, it would likely have resulted in at least paralysis. After learning the details of the incident, you swiftly cleared up the school's bad atmosphere. This not only prevented the scandal from spreading but also made Hirata Yosuke admire you immensely. All in all, he is a junior with whom you have a pretty good relationship.]

[Sure enough, Hirata Yosuke's contact this time is to invite you to play a soccer match at school. As the school's former student council president and soccer club captain, although you have been graduated for half a year, you still have considerable influence. According to Hirata Yosuke, this friendly match is being held jointly with a neighboring school's soccer club, and he hopes you can return to lead the soccer club, as the rules don't state that graduated seniors aren't allowed to play.]

[It just so happens that you have been a bit idle these past two days, so you readily agreed to Hirata Yosuke's request.]

[When you picked up Ichinose Honami that evening, you asked her if she would like to come watch the match. Ichinose Honami said with some difficulty that if she finished work early, she would come. Although you could secretly arrange for her to leave work early, out of respect for Ichinose Honami's honest nature of getting paid for the work she does, you let go of the idea of interfering and smiled, telling her it didn't matter.]

[Day 4: You returned to your alma mater's field for the first time in a long while. Hirata Yosuke, the current soccer club captain, trotted over to introduce you to the new members and freshmen. The scale of this friendly soccer match seems even more exaggerated than you imagined. Perhaps because it's summer vacation, the students from your school and the neighboring school have almost filled the stands, and you even see banners and cheerleading squads organized by both schools.]

[With your excellent physical fitness and superb skills, you quickly became the focus of the entire field. However, the opponent's strength was also quite outstanding. After being caught off guard by your solo breakthrough and assist at the beginning, they quickly changed their tactics, mobilizing more people to mark you. In the end, the first half ended two to one, with your team having a slight upper hand.]

[During halftime, the cheerleading squads from both schools began their performances. Amidst the cheers filling the stadium, you replied to Ichinose Honami's text, "I'm off work, coming soon," while noticing that one of the members in the opposing school's cheerleading squad had stiff movements and an unnatural expression. You secretly noted the person's appearance.]

[In the second half, the two schools engaged in another fierce competition, but in the end, with your buzzer-beating goal, your team won the match five to four. Amidst the enthusiastic celebrations, one of the forwards who scored a goal confessed his love to a girl in the stands under the witness of the entire stadium. Amidst the laughter of the whole stadium shouting "Say yes, say yes," you watched a unique confession with some amusement, and under the influence of this atmosphere, the girl also blushed and agreed to the confession.]

[In the chaos of people watching the excitement, many students took advantage of this atmosphere to confess their love, whether sincerely or falsely. You had just changed out of your soccer team uniform and intended to go to the stands to find Ichinose Honami when you happened to run into a crowd pushing and shoving. It was the opposing school's cheerleading squad, attracting the attention of many spectators due to their bright yellow, beautiful uniforms.]

[The leading girl almost dragged a member over, pushing her toward you with a grin. She giggled and told you that someone here wanted to confess to you. The surrounding crowd, hearing this, suddenly became agitated, and for a moment, the eyes of more than half the stadium converged here.]

[The girl pushed out of the crowd was the person you had noticed during halftime. You are very certain that you had never had any interaction with her before today.]

["I, I... like you, please go out with me."]

[Broken, incoherent words that could hardly be called a confession spilled from her trembling lips. She buried her head extremely low, her waist bent almost ninety degrees. You noticed that the group of chattering girls was saying things like "ugly freak in heat" and "toad wanting to eat swan meat" in a very high-profile manner. You instantly realized that this was a form of school bullying.]

[As early as a year ago, you had handled matters in this regard. You know the girls' methods very well; forcing victims to confess to boys they don't like, the sloppiest boys in the class, or the most popular boys in the grade is a common tactic.]

["Hey, senior, how about it? Are you going to accept Karuizawa-san's confession?"]

[They showed an impatient attitude toward the upcoming fun.]

[You remembered your conversation with Ichinose Honami about school bullying.]

["When you see school bullying, you have already lost the ability to escape."]

["Because, for the victim, the bystander—the so-called third-party position—is actually no different from the perpetrator."]

["No different at all."]

[So, you accepted her confession.]

[Unlocked Story CG: False Love]

[False Love: Intense, infatuated feelings are not proof of the existence of love; the only thing they can show is how lonely and bored those men and women were beforehand.]

[Do you want to read this story CG? (This may be helpful for your subsequent game progress)]

Chapter 6: False Love (Part 1)

"Hey, Yosuke, this setup doesn't look like a friendly match, does it?"

Kitagawa Ryo, having changed into his team uniform, said to Hirata Yosuke, who was standing on the side, while stretching his ankles with a speechless expression. Clearly, the other person hadn't mentioned such a big production over the phone.

"Actually, they were the ones who called us out first, but we had to make use of our home-field advantage, right? Plus, once we leaked the news that our senior would be participating, things just ended up like this."

Hirata Yosuke scratched his cheek in embarrassment. The number of spectators today had truly exceeded his expectations. Students from both schools, alumni, and even some teachers, along with the cheer squads from both sides, had packed the stadium stands to the brim. People were even crowding the aisles, craning their necks to get a look inside.

"Are the safety measures in place? Have the emergency response manuals and evacuation protocols been distributed?"

Even though he had graduated half a year ago, Kitagawa Ryo issued orders as if it were second nature.

"I've already arranged for student council members to maintain order at the venue. The team you left behind has incredible execution."

"That's because they're capable in their own right."

Bending down to tie his shoelaces tight, Kitagawa Ryo led the team onto the pitch:

"Time to head in."

Just three minutes into the match, Kitagawa Ryo brilliantly capitalized on a mistake during the opponent's passing sequence, intercepting the ball just past the midfield line before immediately sprinting forward without a moment's hesitation.

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo dribbling, the spectators in the stands naturally focused their attention on him, eager to see if this impossibly handsome senior possessed skills on the soccer field that matched his looks.

Although he hadn't played in a while, Kitagawa Ryo felt familiar with the ball the moment it touched his feet. He used his left instep to nudge the ball half a meter forward, planted his right foot to support his body, drew his left leg back, and quickly struck the bottom of the ball with the inside of his foot.

The ball soared into the air from a position about ten meters past the midfield line on the left flank, cutting diagonally across the field and flying straight toward the right attacking corridor.

In that instant, at least a thousand pairs of eyes were glued to the ball. Just as it was about to land, Hirata Yosuke, who had been sprinting at high speed, was already in the lead, visibly closing in on the ball's landing spot.

The opposing defender, left trailing behind by Hirata's explosive speed, could only grit his teeth and give chase, but he had miscalculated the synergy between Kitagawa Ryo and Hirata Yosuke.

Back when Kitagawa Ryo was still the president of the soccer club, he and Hirata Yosuke had already developed a strong rapport. Now back on the field, this precise long pass was delivered exactly in the way Hirata Yosuke was most accustomed to receiving.

"Great pass! Hirata Yosuke is through on goal!"

The club advisor, specially invited to provide commentary, shouted at the top of his lungs.

For spectators who don't understand the rules, soccer is really just about watching the excitement—seeing one side kick the ball into the other's net. Now that Hirata Yosuke was charging straight toward the goal with the ball, this clear-cut attacking sequence made every spectator hold their breath.