[Simulation Ended]
[Simulation Ending: The Manipulator's Farewell]
[Simulation Review: You opened Pandora's box yourself, but couldn't accept the consequences. In the end, you were the best of friends and the most estranged of people.]
[Simulation Rating: C]
[Reward Talent Points: 10]
The moment her consciousness returned to her body, Ichinose Honami jolted upright in bed, her pajamas soaked with cold sweat.
She now had thirty-five talent points. Yet Ichinose Honami lay on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling as the long, suffocating simulated life she had just experienced continued to churn through her mind.
She had drawn a talent called "Persuasive Inducement." In the simulation, she used it to subtly influence Wu Qiao through her words, hoping he would help her deal with Miyabi Nagumo's immense influence in the Student Council.
Throughout the process, Wu Qiao often said strange things she couldn't make sense of. For instance, he claimed he had fallen for Ichinose Honami before they'd even met, or said something crazy like, "In my Remembrance, Ayanokoji Kiyoha should be a boy."
Then...
The good news was that they had successfully dealt with Miyabi Nagumo.
The bad news was that, in the process, Wu Qiao had demonstrated a form of mental hypnosis so bizarre and terrifying that it sent chills down her spine.
People were creatures of habit. Once they tasted the benefits of a shortcut, it was hard to turn back. After Wu Qiao discovered how useful mental hypnosis was, he went too far, hypnotizing all his enemies until they were puppets who obeyed his every word.
Miyabi Nagumo, Chairman Tsukishiro, and even the younger students Nanase Tsubasa and Amasawa Ichika had all become silent pawns on his chessboard.
Because of all this, the Ichinose Honami in the simulation had fallen into a painful spiral of self-blame. She had tried countless times to stop Wu Qiao, but nothing worked.
Eventually, the mere sight of Wu Qiao's face was enough to make Ichinose Honami tremble with fear. She began to desperately question whether the friendship, dependence, and even the feelings she'd developed for Wu Qiao had all been illusions created by his hypnosis.
In the end, Wu Qiao chose to withdraw from school and leave.
"Honami, you don't have to look like that." Wu Qiao stood backlit, still wearing that faint smile that was impossible to read. "I'm just going somewhere I won't have to pretend."
"You ruined them, and you ruined me!" Ichinose Honami's voice shook as tears streamed down her face. "You knew I didn't want things to turn out this way... Why did you have to become like this?"
"Because this is what you wanted." Wu Qiao spoke softly, a trace of sorrow in his voice. "You wanted Miyabi Nagumo gone. You wanted every obstacle swept away. I only... fulfilled the deepest wish in your heart. Honami, we're the same."
"No! We're not the same!" Ichinose Honami screamed hysterically. "I never wanted to take away anyone's thoughts!"
Wu Qiao fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly. "Maybe not. But once Pandora's box is open, it can never be closed again. Goodbye, my best friend."
But Wu Qiao's departure didn't help the Ichinose Honami in the simulation pull herself together.
During the time she spent leading her class to Class A, the people who had been hypnotized gradually returned to normal, but Ichinose Honami herself remained unchanged.
That clarity only made her break down further, because it showed her, beyond any doubt, that she was the one to blame for everything. She had personally pushed Wu Qiao into becoming a demon who wantonly tampered with other people's minds.
In the end, just before graduation, Ichinose Honami actually applied to transfer classes, giving up her hard-won chance to graduate from Class A. It was as if only by punishing herself could she lessen her guilt, even a little.
When it was time to leave, Wu Qiao said his final goodbye to her at the school gates.
It was cherry blossom season, and people streamed in and out of the school gates.
Ichinose Honami dragged her suitcase, ready to leave the school that had been the setting for countless nightmares. Wu Qiao stood beneath a tree some distance away, watching her in silence.
"Leaving already?" Wu Qiao asked, his voice as still as a stagnant pool.
"Yeah." Ichinose Honami didn't look at him, only lowered her head to stare at her toes. "I gave up my place in Class A. It's the only way I can atone."
"Was it worth it?"
"It was, to me." Ichinose Honami raised her head, a broken but resolute look in her eyes. "Wu, I hope you... don't use that power again, not even for your own sake."
Wu Qiao looked at her. After a long while, the faintest smile touched his lips. "I wish you all the best, Ichinose. May I never appear in your dreams again."
Lying in bed, Ichinose Honami felt impossibly conflicted. It was as if a boulder weighed on her chest. She felt helpless, wanting to help but unable to, unable to bear what would happen to Wu Qiao if she let him fall that way.
The simulation had proved that Wu Qiao really was a bug-level existence. He had only wanted to read in peace and remain a bystander, removed from all the conflict.
Now it seemed that sort of "peace" was the best solution. But this school offered no such peaceful environment.
So how was she supposed to face the real Wu Qiao?
She didn't want him to go mad and turn Blackened because of her influence, but she also didn't want him to trample on other people's dignity just to protect her.
Yet with her current abilities, she couldn't protect him at all. She could barely even protect herself.
The only thing Ichinose Honami could be grateful for was that, in reality, she hadn't influenced Wu Qiao into becoming like that.
Everything she had just experienced had been only a simulation.
She took a deep breath, climbed out of bed, and went to the window to open it. The cool night breeze blew in, calming her fevered thoughts a little.
No matter what, she couldn't just sit around and do nothing.
It was Tuesday. The morning sun was bright as ever, but, for once, Ichinose Honami had taken the morning workout off. She arrived at the classroom early and alone, sat by the window, and gazed at the empty desks and chairs, her thoughts tangled in knots.
It felt like every simulation delivered another blow to her heart, big or small. This time, Wu Qiao had become a demon who controlled people's minds, and the helplessness and guilt still lingered in her nerves.
Even someone as optimistic as Ichinose Honami wanted to stand there and curse this school out. Why couldn't they just let people study in peace and graduate? Did they have to force everyone to scheme against and hurt one another?
Next time... Next time, she had to find a way to steer clear of the pitfalls. She'd treat the next simulation as a trial run...
She lay down on her desk and buried her face in her arms, trying to shake the tangled thoughts from her mind.
But Ichinose Honami had made up her mind not to see Wu Qiao that day. She was afraid that seeing his face would remind her of the suffocating ending in the simulation. She needed time alone to think carefully and figure out what to do next.
Before she knew it, it was noon. Students began trickling out of the classroom to get lunch. Ichinose Honami was staring blankly at her textbook when a sudden commotion outside Class B shattered the midday calm.
Or rather... the commotion seemed to be coming from Class A.
Ichinose Honami looked up in confusion. A crowd had already gathered outside Class A. Many students craned their necks, excited to watch the drama unfold, while others looked panicked.
"What happened?" Her heart lurched, and a sense of foreboding welled up in her. She grabbed a passing Class B student and asked what was going on.
The student was panting, his face full of fear. "Something awful happened! A student from Class D was taken to the infirmary. It looks like Kito Hayato from Class A pushed him down the stairs! I heard he was badly hurt, and they already carried him away on a stretcher!"
Ichinose Honami's heart tightened. "What's the Class D student's name?" she hurriedly asked.
The student thought for a moment, looking unsure. "What was it... Wu Qiao, I think? Oh, right, Ichinose, you know him, don't you?"
Boom—!
The instant she heard his name, Ichinose Honami's mind went completely blank, as if thunder had exploded beside her ears.
Wu Qiao?! Kito Hayato had pushed him down the stairs?!
The floodgates of her Remembrance burst open, and information from the previous simulation came rushing back. She didn't know exactly how this had happened in reality, but this scene had indeed appeared in the earlier simulation! The details might have been different, but the key event was exactly the same.
"How could this happen..." Ichinose Honami's face turned deathly pale, and her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
Because Ichinose Honami didn't know Wu Qiao's plan, she took all of this as her own fault.
In her mind, if she hadn't been caught up in the negative emotions left by the simulation, going back and forth between hope and despair, she should have noticed something was wrong. She might even have been able to stop this from happening.
"I knew... I knew something would happen today..." She gripped the edge of the desk until her knuckles turned white. Overwhelming regret and self-blame swept over her. "I could have stopped this, but I hid here feeling sorry for myself and forgot something so important!"
Looking at the noisy crowd outside Class A, Ichinose Honami gritted her teeth and sprang to her feet. Whatever was behind this, she had to find out one thing now.
How was Wu Qiao?