Pooling Wisdom, Not Ashamed to Ask

The morning sun spilled through the hospital window. Wu Qiao looked at the warm breakfast shoved into his hands, then at Ichinose Honami, who sat by the bedside with a look of earnest concentration. He was truly at a loss for words.

He slowly unwrapped his chopsticks, patiently listening as she recounted the events of the previous day and the student council invitation issued by Horikita Manabu, repeating every detail exactly as it had happened.

"So," Wu Qiao took a bite of his sandwich and looked at her, puzzled, "why ask me? You should just make that decision yourself."

Ichinose Honami's gaze softened as she looked at Wu Qiao. She shook her head gently and spoke slowly, "Wu Qiao, I want to hear your opinion. I hope you will answer three questions for me."

She held up two fingers, her tone solemn. "First, should I join the student council? Second, if I do join, what should I be careful about?"

Wu Qiao froze for a moment, then couldn't help but retort, "Hey, hey, those are clearly two questions, aren't they?"

"Please answer first." Ichinose Honami ignored his protest, her eyes filled with an unyielding persistence.

Wu Qiao sighed helplessly, set down his breakfast, and leaned against the headboard to think for a moment. "Since it's a personal invitation from Horikita Manabu, then go. It's a good platform. As for what to be careful about... Nagumo Miyabi."

Upon hearing that name, Ichinose Honami's eyelashes fluttered slightly. She didn't show much surprise, only a faint smile. "As expected, Wu Qiao, you probably know even more than I anticipated."

She took a deep breath, as if having made a firm decision, and softly asked the final question hidden in the depths of her heart: "Then, the last question. How did we first meet? In your eyes, what am I like?"

Wu Qiao's mouth twitched violently, and he swallowed the words he had been about to say. "That's obviously two more questions, right? And the scope is way too broad."

"Please answer." Ichinose Honami folded her hands on her lap, leaning forward slightly, her clear eyes fixed intently on him. "It must be one hundred percent the truth, okay?"

Watching the girl's earnest, almost stubborn expression, Wu Qiao fell silent for a moment. He avoided Ichinose Honami's piercing gaze, turning to look at the clear blue sky outside the window. His tone became somewhat ethereal, yet carried a strange sense of certainty.

"Before you even realized it, a long, long time ago, I already knew you."

He paused, turned his head back, and let his gaze fall on Ichinose Honami's face. "You are very kind, Ichinose. But sometimes, you are truly too kind."

A brief silence fell over the hospital room.

Ichinose Honami did not press further. She slowly closed her eyes, her mind involuntarily reviewing the words the boy had once said to her in the simulated world.

"I fell in love with Ichinose Honami before we even met."

So, that point in time when he fell in love was even earlier than she had imagined—so early that, before she had even noticed it herself, there was already someone watching over her from a distant place.

And just how early was that?

There was no need to ask, and no need to know.

She opened her eyes again, a faint mist of moisture rising in them, but a look of relief and tenderness bloomed on her lips. "Thank you, Wu Qiao. I think I know what I need to do now."

Ichinose Honami sat in the corner of the Class B classroom, surrounded by a group of boys who were usually boisterous but were currently sitting bolt upright. She took a deep breath, a look of desperate resolve on her face, and sought out several students in the class known as veteran GalGame players.

There was no helping it; if she relied on her own brain to simulate, she was afraid she'd lead herself into a ditch again. After all, in those bizarre simulated lives, her endings with Wu Qiao were always filled with regrets and uncontrollable variables.

And so, Class B's class representative, Ichinose Honami, turned these boys into the subjects of her "humble inquiry." Watching their usually gentle, kind, and top-performing class representative seriously asking for tips on how to clear a GalGame, the boys' jaws nearly hit the floor.

"Cough, cough, Class Rep, are you... are you sure you want to ask this?" A boy wearing glasses pushed up his frames, his face full of disbelief.

"I'm sure." Ichinose Honami nodded heavily, her eyes incredibly serious. "Please help me. Just treat this as... a very serious tactical review."

To avoid confusing everyone, Ichinose Honami packaged her simulated experiences as game endings she had already achieved.

"Suppose," she cleared her throat and began to explain, "the male lead is a good-natured person who likes to read and seems harmless, but he is actually hiding his true depths. Due to external pressure, his personality slides toward extreme directions. And the female lead—the character the player controls—has a high sense of morality and justice, hoping to be friends with everyone."

The surrounding boys listened with great interest, one after another stepping into the role of "game planners."

Ichinose Honami held up her fingers, reviewing the heart-wrenching "bad endings" one by one:

"In the first route, the relationship between the leads is friendly but not deep. Later, due to immense external pressure, the male lead goes completely dark to protect his partners, using absolute force to suppress all opposition. Although the problem is solved, the male lead becomes a terrifying tyrant."

"In the second route, the leads reach a deep cooperative relationship. But because of some early misunderstandings, the male lead's affection for the female lead is not only insufficient, it's basically zero. In the end, to achieve a highly efficient goal, the male lead stabs the female lead in the back."

"In the third route, the female lead tries her best to persuade the male lead, preventing him from going dark. But the price is that the male lead is forced to drop out and leave the school. For the rest of their time, the female lead and her classmates live in a repressed state. They don't meet the male lead again until graduation; although a new future begins, the lost youth can never be reclaimed."

"In the fourth route, the female lead invites the male lead to intervene in class events early, but his methods are too focused on efficiency and maximizing benefits, completely disregarding the female lead's moral bottom line and feelings. This leads to an irreparable rift between them; even if they love each other, they end up parting ways. And the female lead spends her time silently atoning for the consequences of the male lead's underhanded tactics, even punishing herself."

After finishing these four "blood-and-tear histories," Ichinose Honami looked at her classmates, who were lost in thought, and posed her core dilemma: "So, if it were you, from what angle would you start the strategy? If you force affection, it's easy to miss the chance to solve early key events; but if you don't solve those hidden dangers early, the pressure of later events increases geometrically, eventually leading to a collapse."

The classroom was quiet for a long time. The boy with glasses broke the silence first. He stroked his chin and analyzed, "Class Rep... oh, I mean, this female lead. Since the male lead is a good-natured person who likes to read, it means his underlying logic is a desire for peace. But he goes dark because of external pressure, which means his sense of security is severely lacking."

Another boy added, "Right! This type of male lead usually hates being used the most. If the female lead just treats him as a tool to solve problems, his affection will definitely drop. But if the female lead doesn't rely on him at all, he will feel excluded and head toward the other extreme."

"So, the key is the balance between participation and boundaries!" The glasses-wearing boy snapped his fingers. "Don't force affection. The female lead should show her vulnerability and confusion early on, letting the male lead feel that she needs him, rather than that she is using him. At the same time, when the male lead is about to use extreme measures, the female lead must stand up immediately—not to blame him, but to tell him, 'Let's think of another way together.'"

"Exactly!" Another boy slammed the table excitedly. "Early events must be solved, but the male lead shouldn't have to carry it alone. The female lead has to get involved herself; even if she gets hurt, she must let the male lead know that she is willing to share the risks with him. This way, you solve the early dangers and pull the male lead back from the edge of darkness, and the affection will naturally go up!"

Listening to the boys' heated analysis, Ichinose Honami's furrowed brows gradually smoothed out.

So, all she had to do was be a partner willing to fight side-by-side with Wu Qiao and face the storms together.

"I understand..." Ichinose Honami stood up and bowed deeply to the group of boys. "Thank you! You've really been a huge help!"

Watching their class representative's smile, which was as bright as sunshine, the boys scratched their heads, their faces turning red to the roots of their ears.

Ichinose Honami took this advice and left, excited; she planned to go back and review everything properly.