[Simulation Ended] [Simulated Ending: Abyss of the Infatuated] [Simulation Comment: You overestimated yourself and others. Fortunately, even after falling into madness, he still accepted you. However, your relationship had become terribly twisted.] [Simulation Rating: B] [Reward: 20 Talent Points]
The dorm room was deathly silent, broken only by the occasional chirping of insects outside the window. Ichinose Honami lay on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, unable to calm down for a long time.
Her body felt completely drained of strength. Even moving a finger seemed exhausting, and she was in a state of near-numbness.
The memories of the simulation flashed through her mind like scenes from a film reel, every frame so vivid it left her breathless.
At the beginning of the simulation, everything seemed to be unfolding according to her perfect script.
To accomplish the first strategic goal—"toppling Miyabi Nagumo"—she carefully maneuvered within the Student Council, built alliances, gathered information, and even had Wu Qiao resort to a few underhanded methods.
The process was incredibly difficult. Several times, she nearly failed, almost allowing Nagumo to secure the Student Council President's seat beyond challenge.
But through her painstaking efforts, she barely managed to achieve her goal. Nagumo left in disgrace. Although the position of Student Council President didn't go to her but instead to an upperclassman named Kiriyama, she had still bought herself a much-needed strategic breathing space.
As for the second step—confirming Wu Qiao's social circle—she was equally thorough. To her surprise, quite a few girls surrounded Wu Qiao, and every one of them was beautiful, talented, and formidable in her own way.
At first, though, Ichinose Honami had kept her intentions perfectly clear: Wu-kun and I are friends. I just want to clear a path for him. I'm not here to steal anyone's man. We only need to maintain a friendly alliance.
But the wheels of fate began to take a disastrous turn during the Training Camp Exam.
Kiriyama-senpai was no monster on Nagumo's level. He was mild-mannered and simply couldn't withstand the immense pressure Director Tsukishiro brought to bear.
At the same time, because she had grown too close to Wu Qiao early on, the White Room's assassins had grown wary. Those enemies lurking in the shadows decided to change tactics. Instead of confronting Wu Qiao directly, they focused their attacks on Class B, his strongest ally.
Disaster struck.
Ryuen Kakeru of Class C and Sakayanagi Arisu of Class A joined forces with the entire first year to launch a merciless campaign against Class B.
Faced with overwhelming malice and schemes, Class B was plunged into an unprecedented crisis.
To protect her classmates and keep every one of them from being expelled, Ichinose Honami had no choice but to seek Wu Qiao's help more and more often.
On that stormy night, with Class B facing the threat of expulsion, Wu Qiao stepped in and spent an enormous amount of effort shielding her from every attack, both open and covert.
At that moment, as she watched Wu Qiao's weary yet steadfast profile beneath the hallway lights, something inside the simulated Ichinose Honami snapped.
"If... if I had him, would I never have to lose any of this again?"
Once that terrible thought took root, it spread like a weed. Under immense pressure and growing dependence on each other, their relationship quickly changed.
To bind Wu Qiao to her completely and secure his unwavering protection, Ichinose Honami went to his room one night and knocked on his door. The two of them crossed a line they shouldn't have. In the most primitive and extreme way, she bound Wu Qiao to herself.
From then on, the kind, gentle angel who was always talking about "reaching Class A together" was gone for good.
In her place was a fallen angel consumed by a desire for control.
In the days that followed, she exploited Wu Qiao's indulgence and guilt to drain him of every resource she could.
She turned the class into her private army and began secretly targeting the girls around Wu Qiao. Karuizawa Kei was inexplicably implicated in a disciplinary case, while photos of Sakura Airi were leaked, leading to her expulsion...
Every time, she would pretend to be innocent, cry in Wu Qiao's arms, and then smoothly remove another "potential threat" from his side.
Her classmates in Class B noticed the change. Kanzaki Ryuji and the others once confronted her in anguish. "Honami, what's happened to you? Is this really you?"
But by then, her eyes held nothing but a sick obsession with Wu Qiao. Even the desperate pleas of her old friends couldn't move her.
When Kanzaki Ryuji angrily declared that he would lead some of the class in refusing to take part in her plans, she only looked at them coldly and issued her ultimate threat: "You don't want to be expelled, do you?"
Those words were the final straw. Her classmates in Class B broke down—not because they were afraid of being expelled, but because they had lost all hope.
They realized that the Ichinose Honami who had once united them and warmed them like the sun was gone for good. She had plunged the entire school into chaos and surrounded herself with enemies on every side.
The only consolation was that, even after she had become so detestable, Wu Qiao was still willing to reach out and help her.
Because of their complicated feelings and shared responsibility, Wu Qiao didn't abandon her. She had never betrayed or schemed against him personally. Her feelings had gone too far, but Wu Qiao couldn't deny his own part in it, either.
In the end, on the eve of graduation, amid the whispers and pointing fingers of the entire school, they both chose to withdraw.
The memory ended. Ichinose Honami sucked in a sharp breath, like a drowning person finally breaking the surface. She touched her cheeks and found them wet with cold tears.
"That was terrifying..." she murmured, her voice trembling.
She had to admit, that purple [Blackened] talent was truly terrifying. Once triggered, it made her frighteningly decisive, while her ability to manipulate people's hearts became downright chilling.
In less than a year, she had gone from an innocent class representative to a mastermind capable of manipulating the entire school.
But at what cost? She lost her friends, her principles, and everything good in her life, all for a relationship twisted beyond recognition.
She slowly curled up, burying her face in her arms. Her silent tears soaked the pillowcase. She knew perfectly well that the version of herself who had taken one extreme step after another to protect her class, eventually becoming a monster, wasn't the real her.
That was the desperate creation of the [Blackened] talent, born when fear and helplessness had driven her into a corner.
"What am I... so afraid of?" she whispered into the darkness.
She was afraid of losing everyone in Class B, afraid of betraying her classmates' trust, and even more afraid that her own incompetence might put Wu Qiao in danger in this brutal school where the strong ruled.
But the simulated "Ichinose Honami" had gone wrong because she had placed every burden squarely on her own shoulders, trying to fight the malice of the entire world with an almost pathological desire for control.
When she used the class's power to push away the girls around Wu Qiao, when she threatened her old friends with expulsion, she had already destroyed the thing she had once been proudest of: the bond built on mutual understanding and respect.
"Yeah... it's probably best if I never redeem that talent." Ichinose Honami shook her head hard, as if trying to fling that dark memory out of her mind.
In the morning, Ichinose Honami opened her dorm room door to go for her morning run. Just as she was closing it out of habit, her gaze fell on the doorknob. There was another plastic bag hanging from it.
She paused, then took it down and looked inside. It held a bag of chocolate pies. Just like last week, only this time it wasn't cake.
She took out the note inside the bag. Wu Qiao's familiar handwriting met her eyes:
[Not sure why you asked me that yesterday, but it seems like something always happens to you on Mondays. If it gets to be too much, remember to talk to me or Ayanokoji Kiyoha. She may seem like she has nothing to do all day, but she's actually really capable. —Wu Qiao]
Reading the note, Ichinose Honami couldn't help smiling. Her heart felt warm and sweet.
That guy might be as dense as a block of wood, but when it mattered, he always noticed when something was wrong. He'd even left her this little "care package."
Of course, she knew Ayanokoji Kiyoha was unfathomable. After all, in that simulation, she had been the hardest person to deal with after Wu Qiao: calm, rational, and almost incapable of making a mistake.
Still, it was easy to keep Ayanokoji Kiyoha on her side in a way. As long as she didn't disrupt her quiet life, she could even get her to help with unexpected things, like preparing supplies for the night.
The thought made Ichinose Honami shudder, raising goosebumps all over her body.
"Stop, stop! Don't think about that version of me who got corrupted!" she frantically told herself. "It was terrifying. Truly terrifying!"
She took a deep breath, chased all those bizarre thoughts from her mind, and carefully placed the bag in her schoolbag.
"Okay, I'd better get to morning practice!"
Ichinose Honami set off toward the athletic field. The morning sunlight fell warmly and brightly upon her. She wouldn't let anyone push her into the abyss. She would keep moving forward with her head held high, together with everyone else.