I_LOVE_RICE+
patreon
Chapter 26: A Simulated Love for One Still Counts as Pure Love
🕑 Added 2025-09-25 12:46:04 +0000 UTCThe midterm exams had ended.
Toru stood in the hallway where the results were posted, gazing up at the list. His eyes lingered on the name at the very top, and he let out a sigh in his heart.
He had deliberately held back, even gone so far as to get several questions wrong on purpose.
Damn it, am I really still too strong?
How is an ordinary person supposed to act? Having lived fifteen years, no, sixteen years if he counted the simulator, Toru had never truly known what it meant to face defeat.
In his previous life, he had once hit a wall with the bass, but even then, he had forced open the door to genius with sheer life-burning effort.
How he wished he could just become a hopeless loser.
Unfortunately, even the slightest effort from him was already the limit of this elite high school.
"Kitahara-kun, that's amazing! I actually went up dozens of spots this time." Nijika bounced on her toes beside him in excitement. When she turned her face, she noticed him staring blankly at the results board.
Hmm, let me guess what Kitahara-kun is thinking.
Could it be, he's wondering why I improved so much?
But no...
"Yamada-san actually has to take a makeup exam this time. That's hilarious." Toru turned with a merciless grin toward Nijika.
Didn't study before the test, huh? Well, now you get a makeup exam~
"Let me see… huh, she really is on the list?"
Nijika rubbed her forehead, a trace of worry crossing her little face. "She was already on the edge during last year's finals, almost had to repeat the grade."
So, even in the simulator, Ryo's still an airhead?
"This year's already senior year. She should start trying harder."
"True," Nijika nodded.
Toru added smugly, "At least she needs to work as hard as I do. Otherwise, no hope for Todai."
The little angel Nijika quipped, "Kitahara-kun, you're even more self-absorbed than Ryo."
From what she knew, Toru had spent the entire pre-exam period lazing around in the clubroom, sipping tea and eating snacks.
When he got bored, he'd pick up his guitar and strum a little.
In fact, over the whole week, Nijika hadn't even seen where his textbooks were.
Curious, she asked, "Kitahara-kun, can you really score this well without studying?"
"No, I do study."
"But I never saw you do any problems."
"Huh? …When I was teaching you, I was reviewing the material at the same time. Isn't that how everyone studies?"
He feigned surprise.
Ahem, all an act. He'd been dying to say that line! A classic show-off phrase from every star student!
He did study, but only at home.
A true student should work in secret, then shock everyone by rising above.
"Uh… that's amazing."
Nijika's motherly smile brushed past him, her tone the same as if she were humoring a silly child.
Ryo also loved to show off, so as her close friend, Nijika had been well-trained over the years. She was long immune to this kind of behavior.
When it happens, just smile and it'll pass.
[Happiness points +15pt]
Kitahara-kun, you're way too easy to please.
You feel happy just from showing off a little in front of me?
Nijika turned her head, her gaze lingering on him for longer than usual. And then… she found it hard to look away.
This boy was not only brilliant at studying, he was also handsome, athletic, and outstanding in every way…
Her fair cheeks flushed faintly at the thought. After so long in this complete simulation, spending day after day together, their relationship had grown close.
Of course, it wasn't romance yet. Only the first stirrings of it.
A peace warlord, Sun Tzu, once described the stages of love as gradual: drawn by appearance, deepened by talent, and bound by character.
Nijika had already passed the first two stages. As for character, she wasn't sure yet.
After all, there were always those boys who looked good but hid beastly hearts, and without time, one could never tell.
Better to keep observing. That was what Nijika thought to herself.
——
[Ijichi Nijika's attention toward you has increased.]
[Ijichi Nijika's affection toward you has risen.]
Very good.
Toru read the simulator's notifications from his desk, and his mood brightened.
He had already made up his mind. In this life, he would cheat...no, love only Ijichi Nijika!
Ah, she's too cute. How can there be such a cute girl as Nijika?
…As for Yamada Ryo?
Well, not really close.
Please don't drag feelings from a past life into this one, thank you.
Clinging to the past only drowns you. Love is the same. When the old goes, the new comes, like changing clothes.
Though, that did sound a little like the words of a scumbag.
But hey, he wasn't a scumbag in real life. Can't a bro at least have a waifu in the simulator?
His thoughts settled, Toru became even more determined to pursue Nijika.
A simulated love for one is still pure love.
Suddenly, the simulator sent two new messages.
[Yamada Ryo's attention toward you has increased.]
[Gotoh Hitori's attention toward you has increased.]
Huh?
Why were the wives from the last two simulations suddenly paying attention again?
Toru didn't really get it.
In this life, he hadn't approached Hitori at all. With Ryo, he'd kept things strictly at the level of friendship, never saying or doing anything remotely ambiguous.
And yet, they like me anyway?
Couldn't they have a little more self-awareness? My heart in this life already belongs to Ijichi Nijika. I'll never love another. Please try harder in the next simulation, thank you.
——
"Stuck."
A faint crease of doubt appeared on Ryo's otherwise emotionless, icy face.
In the last simulation, Toru's affection for her had quickly risen to the confession threshold of 80. But this time, after more than a year, it lingered stubbornly at 70.
At 70, he was only a friend.
At 80, he would be a lover.
At 90, marriage would be possible.
At 100, love would be eternal, even beyond life and death.
Right now, his feelings toward her were awkwardly stuck in between as confession would be rejected, yet it wouldn't rise any higher.
Ryo couldn't figure it out. Had someone swapped out the Toru who had once fawned over her so desperately?
But that was fine. She still had a whole lifetime.
Speaking of which, in this simulation, Toru and Nijika's relationship had been growing closer. At first, Ryo worried. But after some thought, she realized she might be overthinking it.
Nijika was always so innocent and carefree. Ryo had never seen her like any boy.
…
But if the two of them really got entangled, she wouldn't know what to do.
One was her childhood friend of six or seven years. The other was the boy she liked, the one she wanted to make up for her regrets with.
If she stood at the crossroads of fate...
Which path should she choose?
Should she take the one toward her friend?
Or the one toward her lover?
![[ ʜʏᴇɴᴀ ʙᴇᴡɪʟᴅᴇʀᴇᴅ ] from gumroad](https://patrefans.com/kistorage/110963.jpg)
