I have a life simulator.

However, what bothered Kitagawa Ryo was that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had specifically asked Tsukishiro to deliver a message to him before being sent to the orphanage:

Finally, someone defeated that man.

Perhaps we can glean some insight into Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's true thoughts from this.

But Kitagawa Ryo doesn't have that in mind right now.

Upon closer reflection, he realized he had already completed the plan he had set out during this simulation.

Change Sakayanagi Arisu, uncover information about the White Room, investigate Ayanokoji Atsuomi, and rescue everyone from there.

With his left arm covering his eyes, Kitagawa Ryo slowly fell asleep.

A butler who was waiting nearby quickly brought over a warm blanket, but it was soon snatched away by Sakayanagi Arisu and Yuki, who were even faster.

Neither of them intended to let go, and neither dared to speak, so they could only stare at each other with wide eyes, each clutching one side of the blanket, like two cats with their fur standing on end.

After a silent struggle of two minutes, they finally managed to work together and each of them spread the blanket on one side of Kitagawa Ryo's body.

Sakayanagi Arisu gently removed Kitagawa Ryo's left hand from his eyes. She immediately noticed the needle marks that hadn't completely scabbed over. A year wasn't enough time to erase everything.

But there are still many years to come.

Every child grows up, new teeth replace old ones, and the days pass by faster and faster. The same seven years can be everything in a seven-year-old's life, but for a fourteen-year-old, it's a childhood where they can laugh and talk with friends. For a twenty-one-year-old adult, it becomes just a fleeting glimpse in a dream.

She will stay with him.

They would all stay with him.

-------------------------------------

The way to ruin a person is simple: just make them believe, and then destroy what they believe in.

Ayanokoji Atsuomi realized this after entering the world of politics, or perhaps even earlier.

Those who rise to the top are mostly "second-generation" and "third-generation" individuals who were born into power. In his eyes, the sons of great politicians who are ignorant and lack a sense of crisis are like flat carbonated drinks, only able to spout fallacies on television day after day under the protection of their fathers.

There are even people who have successfully transitioned from the entertainment industry to politicians thanks to their good looks and fame.

Most of them are just pandas used to attract audiences.

Ironically, even so, they still had more room for advancement than a politician with no connections like Atsuomi Ayanokoji.

When Atsuomi Ayanokoji held parties in the banquet hall of that fifty-story luxury hotel, he often thought of his childhood, when he lived in a small hut where the adults managed farm tools. The roof was made of corrugated iron, and there was neither electricity nor gas. Bathing involved heating water in a stove and pouring it into a wooden tub, and he could only bathe once or twice a week.

He went from the ground floor to the fiftieth floor, using up everything he had so far.

From the age of twenty-seven when he joined the Naoe faction, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to it for seventeen years, whether it was the dirty and hard work at the beginning or the White Room project later on.

Ironically, when the White Room Project first started, Naoe Jinnosuke forbade him to use the name of the Naoe faction, and the initial start-up capital was all the savings that Ayanokoji Atsuomi had accumulated over the years.

Ayanokoji Atsuomi had imagined the tragic scenario of the White Room Project failing many times over the years, but he would probably still be able to stand up and fight again, just like when he failed in his first election.

but--

"The election for the new prime minister has recently begun. Judging from the first day's approval ratings and voting results, Onishima, a member of the Taipei City Party, has secured first place with an absolute advantage. It is understood that Onishima has always attached great importance to people's livelihood and education, and he has called on the country to pay attention to education in every speech. The Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, which has attracted widespread discussion in recent years, was also proposed and established by him..."

The television, deliberately installed in Atsuomi Ayanokouji's room, was playing the latest news:

"Naoe Toshi has succeeded Ayanokoji Atsuomi as the new head of the White Room. At yesterday's press conference, Representative Naoe Toshi officially took over the position of Representative Ayanokoji Atsuomi, becoming the new head of the White Room. Representative Onishima also attended the press conference and stated that he would further strengthen communication and exchanges between Tokyo Advanced Educational High School and the White Room, striving to create a new era..."

"Regarding the question of why Representative Atsuomi Ayanokoji resigned, Representative Naoe also responded, stating that a recent government investigation discovered large-scale corruption in the management of the White Room, and an internal party investigation is currently underway, hence his temporary resignation."

Atsuomi Ayanokoji couldn't turn off the TV because he wasn't given the remote.

He just stood there watching the middle-aged man on TV, who was talking eloquently, like a panda or a flat carbonated drink.

This is Naoe Jinnosuke's biological son.

Corruption.

The word pierced his ears.

Ayanokoji Atsuomi suddenly recalled the scene on the day he accepted the White Room Project, when he withdrew all three of his bankbooks at once.

That was more than ten years ago.

As if he had suddenly lost all his strength, he staggered and sat down in the chair behind him. His eyes could not see anyone; they just seemed to be looking over everything in a daze, as if looking at a distant and empty place.

Today is my birthday, I need a day off

Today is my 21st birthday, and I'm out having fun with friends so I can't update.

I remember seeing a saying before that the reason why time seems to fly by is because each year you live when you are seven years old is one-seventh of your life, and when you are twenty-one years old, it becomes one-twenty-one. I think this view makes a lot of sense, and I used it in yesterday's updated chapter.

Here's a bonus picture of Arisu Sakayanagi in a swimsuit.

Chapter 120: Their Future

Ayanokoji Atsuomi committed suicide that winter. What drove him to despair was not the political career that had been stripped away, but the future that he could see the end from now on.

He spent forty-four years turning his life from a single-choice question into a multiple-choice question, but ultimately returned to a dead end.

In fact, Ayanokoji Atsuomi waited alone for three months, but no one, whether from the Naoe faction, the Onishima faction, or even other opposition parties, was willing to say a word for him.

Every day on the news, those who had once shared drinks with him but whom he looked down upon from the bottom of his heart were still dressed in suits and still looked glamorous. At these times, Ayanokoji Atsuomi would feel like a fish being roasted on a fire, along with the deep, deep pride that had been buried in his heart.

Ayanokouji Atsuomi completely collapsed. This was not entirely due to the blow of this incident, but rather because in the instant when Naoe Jinnosuke abandoned him with a smile, he knew that he could no longer stand at the top of this country.

What had sustained him for so many years collapsed from the deepest part of Ayanokoji Atsuomi's body.

As he submerged his head in the sink full of water, Ayanokoji Atsuomi already imagined the news reports after his death. He would probably be portrayed as a politician who committed suicide out of guilt for corruption, but by then no one would care at all.

The only blood relative he had was Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, who had been sent to an orphanage. However, Atsuomi Ayanokouji had never considered himself his father, and naturally, he would not ask the other to consider him a blood relative.

In the final, blurring moments of consciousness, Ayanokoji Atsuomi suddenly smiled.

Because he remembered that, in order to facilitate adoption by families who had lost their only child, the children in the welfare home often did not have surnames, so like the white room, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka should just be known by the name Kiyotaka.

This was the favorite gigolo of the woman who was once legally his wife—something completely unrelated to him.

first name.

-------------------------------------

It's another rainy day.

The autumn rains seemed to have lasted for almost a century, making the small courtyard look somewhat sickly. Tall, lush, and unnamed trees were planted around the courtyard, their branches stretching upwards, lifting up the gray sky. From the sky's perspective, the courtyard looked somewhat like a deep well, and raindrops pattered down into it.

Sakayanagi Arisu, holding an umbrella, spoke with a touch of nostalgia, then suddenly turned to Kitagawa Ryo and smiled:

“About eleven or twelve years ago, I lived here for a long time. This used to be a children’s ward. I would come to this courtyard to take walks and do some rehabilitation exercises.”

Kitagawa Ryoya was holding an umbrella. He was actually more familiar with this place than Sakayanagi Arisu. In the last simulation, the only world he had ever seen was this corner.

Ten years have passed since Ayanokouji Atsuomi's death, and just as he had predicted, Ayanokouji Atsuomi's death was uneventful, just like his birth.

The White Room still exists, but it is now more closely aligned with the Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, and its promotional messaging has always been aligned with Tokyo Educational High School. The original White Room can no longer be found anywhere. Apart from the people involved, what remains in people's memories is that it was a famous training institution that cultivated geniuses like Kitagawa Ryo and was dedicated to developing the potential of every ordinary person to the limit.

As for Kitagawa Ryo himself, perhaps influenced by the Koenji Zaibatsu, which was of the same caliber, the Kitagawa family had been consciously handing over the family business to him from an early age, cultivating his ability to be the helmsman of the Kitagawa family's giant ship. Unlike Koenji Rokusuke, Kitagawa Ryo did not act eccentrically; he simply completed his work quietly and accurately, showing the image of a standard heir.

However, the only thing that gave Kitagawa Ryo a headache was that, perhaps because he was worried that the persecution he suffered in the White Room in his early years might have left him with some hidden illness, or perhaps because of the precedent that the Kitagawa family almost went extinct if they hadn't found him, their illegitimate son, the various demands for marriage, both overt and covert, have become more and more frequent since Kitagawa Ryo came of age this year and reached the legal age for marriage.

Although Kitagawa Ryo and Sakayanagi Arisu faded from public view after the show ended that year, and "Genius Showdown" was taken down from all online platforms due to Ayanokoji Atsuomi's issues, the internet's memory is sometimes so strange. A video compilation of the couple's childhood sweethearts was released a few years ago, bringing up their old variety show and giving it a good old rehash.

Kitagawa Ryo initially thought it might be another tactic by his family to subtly pressure him to get married, but after checking the IP address, he discovered that the video's creator was just an ordinary fan who simply wanted to reminisce.

However, what made Kitagawa Ryo's lips twitch was that he actually knew this person; it was Matsushita Chiaki from Class D in real life.

So you're not only a wingman for Sakayanagi Arisu in class, but you can also provide such assistance in simulations?

In fact, even Chiaki Matsushita probably didn't expect such a surge in popularity at first. She simply happened to glimpse old posters, support signs, and a knitted children's sweater while packing her things when she graduated from high school and left her parents for university.

These things instantly transported her back to the time ten years ago when she and her parents would sit in front of the television every week.

My father's tea is still just as strong, but he goes to the toilet more often. My mother still knits, but when she threades the thread through the eye of the needle, she has to get her eyes closer and closer to the light.

With a mix of nostalgia and reminiscence, Matsushita Chiaki found some old video footage and recounted the story of her family and the two children who were about her age, half complaining and half reminiscing.

At the end of the video, Chiaki Matsushita said the following:

"The White House faction and the High Education faction are still arguing to this day about which educational method is superior, but in fact, ten years ago, they only represented which genius child you were supporting."

"I still remember that my mother really liked that boy named Liang, who was the same age as me. She said she would knit him a sweater and send it to him, but in the end she couldn't find a concrete way to do it."

"As for me? I probably remembered him when I was suffering from neurasthenia; it was the first time the two of us faced off."

"As far as I remember, that day was a snowy day."

Although Kitagawa Ryo had investigated and found no problem with the video's distribution, he was absolutely certain that someone was pushing the hype behind it. Since Kitagawa Ryo's identity was unclear at the time, the reporters who rushed over to rehash the old news could only approach the readily available chairman of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, Sakayanagi Shigemori.

The kind-looking middle-aged man simply smiled and replied, "They're still the same as before."

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but sigh, raising the umbrella slightly so that raindrops could fly onto his face. The slightly cool touch refreshed him for a moment.

"Was that USB drive also found here?"

"Yes, it's under that tree over there."

Sakayanagi Arisu walked briskly. This time in her life, she did not choose to go to Tokyo Advanced Educational High School. In her own words, it was because she had observed a special exam for the class of Chabashira Sae back then.

She didn't feel that she could learn anything from such a special exam.

In fact, Sakayanagi Arisu doesn't really agree with either Tokyo Advanced Educational High School or the White Room, whether it was then or now.

Kitagawa Ryo followed Sakayanagi Arisu to the tree he knew very well. He reached out and stroked the white cat perched on his shoulder. Hotaru tilted her head up, her little head held higher than the sky, as if to say, "Come and praise me!"

After teasing Hotaru for a while, Kitagawa Ryo had a vague idea about Hotaru himself, but all of this would have to wait until the end of this simulation.

Sakayanagi Arisu has told the story of that year countless times, but she still repeats it without getting tired of it, after all, it was the most important turning point that changed her life.

"Does Arisu plan to take over as the chairman of the board of directors of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School?"

Recalling some of the things Chairman Sakayanagi had said to him a couple of days ago, Kitagawa Ryo asked a question.

"That's the plan."

Sakayanagi Arisu tucked a few stray strands of hair back behind her ears.

"Does Ryo know how Ayanokouji Atsuomi persuaded my father to join the White Room Project?"

She then answered her own question:

"What he said at the time was that the White Room was a charitable organization that saved children's lives and allowed children born unexpectedly and not accepted by their families to receive a normal education."

"Children, education, life—these were all words that fathers at that time, no, at any time, could not refuse. That's just the kind of person he was, there was no way around it."

At this point, Sakayanagi Arisu gave a helpless smile.

"Tokyo Advanced Educational High School was actually founded with this goal in mind from the beginning."

"Does Liang know about Class D, which just graduated this year? They were in Class D from the time they enrolled until graduation."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded upon hearing this:

"know."

In fact, this was the class he should have been in. It's just that this time the world line changed so that he, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Sakayanagi Arisu, Matsushita Chiaki and others did not enroll in Tokyo Advanced Educational Middle School. It's understandable that Class D ended up being Class D in the end.

Anyway, Kitagawa Ryo doesn't expect Horikita Suzune and Karuizawa Emi, who haven't reached their full potential, to lead the team to promotion.

However, Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly reported a series of data:

"Among the forty students in Class D, there are students from single-parent families whose high schools had their admissions revoked because of a violent incident; there are students who were the worst students in their class during junior high and only knew how to brag; there are students with extremely poor physical fitness but who are very talented in electronics; and there are students from ordinary families who were unremarkable and excelled in no way during junior high."

"In Liang's opinion, what aspects should a normal high school student prepare for their future during high school?"

Kitagawa Ryo answered without the slightest hesitation:

"Academic performance, club activities, and interpersonal skills."

"Generally speaking, it's these three aspects."

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded and smiled at Kitagawa Ryo. Unlike ten years ago, she was now an adult, and every smile and gesture of hers was even more captivating. She was also taller than Kitagawa Ryo remembered.

"Therefore, Tokyo Advanced Educational High School gave them the opportunity to enroll and the opportunity to cultivate these three abilities."

“The admission process of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School is criticized every year, but it is actually a rule left by my grandfather from the very beginning.”

"Education is a platform."

"These are his words."