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Chapter 83: Miss Yamada, you really...
🕑 Added 2025-02-08 09:33:43 +0000 UTCSimulation ended.
System Score: 65 points.
System Evaluation: In the next life, love blooms; she is not the only one you will love.
Your meeting with her was entirely by chance. She was always so radiant, full of energy. To understand the source of regret, you took the initiative to pursue her.
You put in a lot of effort, designing various plans, but your relationship with her faced some difficulties. However, in the end, under your persistent efforts, her cautious heart softened, and she couldn't resist your pursuit, becoming your lover.
During that time, you would stand at the bar, watching her busy figure, your gentle gaze feeling like a glimpse of your next life.
But in the end, the golden-haired girl couldn't make it.
Leaving her, your life became like winter. You didn't want spring or summer, nor the distant future. You only wanted her, a complete morning and night. But this wish was ultimately just a luxury, and you sank into an unshakable low point, sitting in the room where she once lived, filled with countless thoughts.
At that time, what saved you was the black-haired girl who knocked on your door... and also knocked on the door to your heart.
She took care of your life, lecturing you about your state of decline.
Unknowingly, her seriousness, focus, and meticulous nature became the support of your second life. You held her in your arms, determined to protect her.
But life is not long, and the moment of death will forever freeze.
After she gave birth to your daughter in her youth, she regrettably passed away in your arms.
You couldn't understand why the same painful blow would strike you twice, stripping away your happiness and warmth. Your mental state deteriorated, and although you actively cooperated with psychological treatment, it ultimately proved futile.
No one can withstand two heavy blows in life.
You remain frozen at the age of twenty-eight, with only regret for your daughter and for them in your heart.
Even though you know it will lead to regret, perhaps in the next life, you will still fall in love with them again.
"I can't accept this."
After reading the system evaluation, feeling the painful and sorrowful memories in his mind, Minami finally couldn't hold back the frustrated sound in his chest.
Yes.
Frustrated.
Very frustrated!
What's going on?
Why did everyone end up dead, hand in hand?
Minami turned over in bed, unable to understand.
What he couldn't understand the most was—
"Why is every ending full of regret, no matter what option I choose?"
And this time, it was even worse.
Not only did Chisato pass away, but even her friend Inoue Takina didn't live long.
The system only gave 60 points this time, purely because he became a couple with Chisato.
But from Minami's perspective, this outcome was even harder to accept than the 34-point outcome where he married Miss Yamada.
At least when he married Miss Yamada, he found happiness in his married life.
But now, everyone died with regret.
Everything they wanted to do remained undone, and their hopes were unfulfilled, all buried with regret.
What Minami couldn't accept the most was that this time, he had chosen the right option.
But the outcome still led to failure.
This was really hard for him to bear.
"Let me think carefully about what caused this outcome."
Minami shook his head, trying to cover the regretful memories in his mind, and began to reflect.
In this simulation, he had chosen to follow Chisato, and these two options seemed to have no issues at all.
He successfully unlocked the new "Riko-Riko" scene.
And his relationship with Chisato improved at work.
The progress was far beyond the slow pace of the first round.
Everything should have gotten better.
But in the end, Chisato couldn't survive the effects of congenital heart disease and passed away early.
Then, he fell into sorrow and met Inoue Takina...
"So, no matter how I choose, no matter how the options change, as long as I can't change the fact that Chisato dies of congenital heart disease, the outcome will always lead to regret?"
After sorting through the cause and effect, Minami finally understood the difficulty of this simulation.
As long as he couldn't save Chisato's life, the ending would inevitably lead to regret.
Minami rubbed his temples.
The initial excitement of "one life, one clear path" had completely worn off by now.
After all, he had spent two simulation attempts and still hadn't touched the edge of a happy ending.
He didn't rush into another simulation recklessly but instead reviewed the existing information and experience, turning his attention to the shop section in the romance simulator.
There, (healing potion) was glowing enticingly with 900 heart points.
Its short but clear description read:
[Universal Healing Medicine (900 heart points): After taking it, it can cure theoretically any incurable wound or disease.]
Minami shook his head.
For someone who only had around 1,200 heart points, the 900 heart point universal healing potion was quite expensive.
But there wasn't much to hesitate about when it came to what he had to do.
Strictly speaking, Minami knew he wasn't a goody two-shoes, but he wasn't cold-blooded enough to just watch a young girl die of illness—especially when he had the ability to save her.
This wasn't entirely due to the simulation.
It was more about his basic conscience.
If he knew that Chisato would die because of a disease but chose to turn a blind eye, Minami felt that he would live his life forever burdened by guilt.
But...
There was another issue.
Minami recalled Mr. Yamada's situation from the simulation with Miss Yamada.
He had passed away due to sudden lung failure and difficulty of breathing.
Although Minami had reminded Miss Yamada to be aware of her father's health...
But what if his body had already been beyond help at this stage?
There was only one universal healing potion for now. Who should he give it to?
The balance between the two sides of the scale began to waver. Minami didn't want to consider this, but he had no choice but to think about it.
At that moment, his phone, which had been charging on the bedside table, suddenly rang with a LINE message notification.
"Huh?"
Pulled out of his thoughts, Minami reached for the phone.
As he smoothly unlocked the phone, he wondered who could be reaching out to him so late.
First, he could rule out Miss Gotoh, the socially anxious creature.
After all, it was always him who contacted her at night, and with her level 3 social anxiety, the idea of her contacting him was almost laughable.
So, who could it be?
Had he just added Kita Ikuyo to his LINE? Or perhaps Nijika ? Or maybe Seika? PA-san...?
The number of people who had added him as a friend was quite small.
Instinctively, Minami looked at his LINE.
And then...
He saw a nickname that surprised him.
[The Lonely Bass Freak: Are you there?]
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: What's up? Miss Yamada?]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: That's too formal. Just call me Ryo. (The attached image shows a blue-haired woman holding a bloody bass and knocking someone's head.)]
"Ah?"
The sudden request for a more casual nickname left Minami stunned for a while.
This wasn't a simulation anymore, Miss Yamada.
How did your affection level rise so quickly?
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: Okay, Ryo, what's the matter?]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: Don't add 'Miss.']
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: Ryo, what's the matter?]
There was a long pause before Miss Yamada replied.
Perhaps she was really pleased with Minami's straightforwardness.
After a while...
[The Lonely Bass Freak: It's nothing, I just wanted to thank you for today.]
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: Please call me Minami-san or just Minami. Don't be so formal, Ryo and I aren't that close yet.]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: I took the day off to take my dad to the hospital for an examination. Thanks to your reminder, my dad's lung condition was detected. I'm really grateful to you, Minami.]
It seemed like Miss Yamada was truly carefree, not really understanding what it meant to respect someone's words.
Due to the guaranteed outcomes in the simulation, Minami reluctantly accepted the casual way she referred to him.
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: Was the condition detected?]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: Yeah, it seems to be a viral lung infection with a strong incubation period. It would be missed in a basic health check. Thanks again.]
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: Is there a way to treat it?]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: You warned me early, and the condition isn't severe yet. A few days of IV drips should solve it. But if it's delayed, the latent virus could flare up, and that would be troublesome.]
A long string of messages followed by a short one:
[The Lonely Bass Freak: Do you have time tomorrow? I want to treat you to a meal.]
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: No need to be so polite.]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: If you don't want that, then I'll come to you with the ingredients and cook for you.]
"..." Minami.
Miss Yamada, please stop this.
Minami was facepalming in frustration.
He recalled the scene from when he simulated Bocchi before.
It seemed like it unfolded in a similar way back then.
At first, Yamada Ryo just hung around beside him, studying, but gradually, she was mooching food and drinks at his place. During this phase, her affection level for him also shot up.
If this had been the simulation, Minami estimated that by choosing this option, the most likely outcome would have been him marrying Miss Yamada.
His fingers began sliding across the phone screen.
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: Can you cook, Ryo?]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: I can't cook, but I can learn. I'm a genius at bass, so I'm sure cooking won't be a problem.]
Ryo… Who gave you the courage to say such things?
In the simulation, even after studying cooking for three months, your cooking skill was still only at LV1, did you know?
Minami shook his head and directly rejected the offer.
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: No need, let's just meet outside.]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: Really? Aren't you going to feel regret?]
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: ? What regret?]
[The Lonely Bass Freak: Not being able to eat the meal cooked by Tokyo's First Beautiful Bass Girl. (Attached image is a blue-haired woman holding a spatula.)]
[Tokyo's First Handsome Boy: My phone's out of battery, I'll log off now. Let's decide the time tomorrow.]
The LINE user with the panda avatar faded out.
"..." Yamada Ryo.
She lazily leaned on her hand, looking indifferent, and placed her phone aside.
Then she stretched and yawned. "Decide the time tomorrow...?"
Looking at Minami's avatar on her phone, Yamada Ryo tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Hmm… Is this my first time going out with a guy?"
She stood up and went to her wardrobe.
"Hmm… This one won't do."
"Ah… this one won't do either."
"Uh… this should be okay, right?"
She changed into her favorite black long-sleeve shirt and dark blue mid-length skirt. Then, she stood in front of the mirror, emotionless as she inspected herself.
"Hmm… Not bad. Let's go with this."
Kicking her legs back onto the bed, she put on her headphones and began listening to music while flipping through a magazine.
Her first time going out with a guy.
Although she wasn't particularly interested in Minami, she still felt a little bit of anticipation.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
"Miss Yamada really does have a consistent performance."
Sitting on his bed, Minami couldn't help but rub his temples, muttering to himself.
Yes.
It really was Miss Yamada's steady performance.
After so many simulation cycles, Minami had come to realize this.
Miss Yamada was indeed a very stable character.
At this point, he suspected it wasn't just in the simulation; in reality, Miss Yamada was probably the same.
But…
Tomorrow would just be a meal.
Once that was over, he should be able to keep his distance and wouldn't have to deal with Miss Yamada anymore, right?
Minami rubbed his chin, then went back to reviewing the simulation that had just ended.
He had been focused on his plan to save Chisato, and he had missed the system rewards.
Since he had nothing else to do for now, he could take a look at them.
[System Settlement: You have gained a special trait: Sensitivity LV1.]
"Sensitivity LV1...?"
Minami looked at the new trait and roughly guessed whose talent it was.
This was probably Chisato's unique talent.
Unlike ordinary people, Chisato had always possessed an incredibly sharp sensitivity.
In the original story, she could even dodge bullets thanks to her acute reflexes (the setting was indeed like that).
Dodging bullets with her reflexes? That must be LV5 level, right?
Minami thought as he turned his gaze away.
The Sensitivity LV1 trait was at most useful for focusing his attention and improving reaction time.
It was better than nothing, but for now, he didn't need to worry about it.
What concerned him more was that now, Yamada Ryo's father seemed to be completely fine.
So, the next step for him was to figure out how to approach Chisato, who had congenital heart disease, and convince her to take the universal medicine.
This... was something he had to seriously consider.
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Special thanks to @Ethan Farias and @Insert Name
I'll pump out more chaps later..
