I have a life simulator.

"You've woven such an outrageous dream for me, and now you're expecting me to help you escape the White House's pursuit?"

"...Isn't this the world you wanted, the world where you defeated me with your own hands? Now you're not satisfied anymore. You're too difficult to please."

Kitagawa Ryo ran hand in hand with Ichinose Honami all the way:

"What exactly do those people want? I finally managed to have two years of peaceful life with Fanbo."

"Is that Kitagawa Ryo?"

On the other end of the headset, I suddenly heard the voice of another middle-aged man.

"Hmm? Sakayanagi's father? The chairman of the board of directors of Tokyo Ikusei High School?"

"it's me."

He answered in a deep voice:

"Actually, I do have a way to protect you and Ichinose Honami, who are currently being hunted by the White House."

"Hey, you're not suggesting that I and Fanbo should get into your school, are you?"

"Unless you can think of a second way."

"Where are Honoka's family?"

"I will arrange for someone to take care of her, and I guarantee it with my reputation."

"...Why are you helping me like this?"

"I need you to prove your worth."

Kitagawa Ryo stopped in his tracks and asked with great interest:

"How to do it?"

“A match will be held against Shiroya’s masterpiece, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, in chess and martial arts.”

"You must win them all."

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Third Ending (Part 1)

[The player has used a temporary talent card. Based on the current simulation situation, we are drawing relevant talents for the player.]

You have acquired the talent "Grand Master (Gold)"

[Grand Master: You have reached the level of a Grandmaster in the field of chess (only in the field of chess)]

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

"Oh, so it's that person's son. It seems he really does have some kind of unreasonable obsession with this kind of education method. He even threw his own son into this plan with a 100% failure rate without hesitation."

"What? He ended up being the only successful case in that period. Hey, considering his background, doesn't it give people the feeling that it was predetermined?"

Kitagawa Ryo sat on the spacious sofa, flipping through the documents in his hands while casually making sarcastic remarks.

"You didn't seem to talk this much before."

Sakayanagi Arisu, standing to the side, smiled with narrowed eyes. Although she said that, she seemed to be enjoying the current atmosphere. Of course, it would be even better if the woman sitting next to Kitagawa Ryo wasn't there.

"Isn't it all thanks to you guys who sent me to the White House? To use the power of emotions to prove the limits of humanity, I don't know why Sakayanagi would hold such a thought."

"Actually, I just wanted to use a counterexample to prove that the White House's philosophy was wrong. If Ryo is bothered by this, I can apologize to you."

Sakayanagi Arisu bowed slightly, her formal etiquette impeccable.

"...No need for that, we're just using each other anyway."

Kitagawa Ryo lowered his head and flipped through a stack of documents in his hand:

"If you really feel sorry, then please stop using the term 'Liang'."

Kitagawa Ryo raised his head, his tone still languid, but Sakayanagi Arisu could see through his pupils that he was serious.

"Just like I call you Sakayanagi, you can just call me Kitagawa."

"……Yeah?"

Sakayanagi Arisu sighed softly, seemingly wanting to say something more, but Ichinose Honami pointed more enthusiastically to a certain part of the document and said:

"It's cold, look here."

"Hmm? Here?"

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo completely absorbed by Ichinose Honami, Sakayanagi Arisu simply shook her head slightly. She inexplicably regretted why she had implanted the image of 'Ichinose Honami' into Kitagawa Ryo's mind in the first place. She stared at Kitagawa Ryo's profile as he pondered a countermeasure, absentmindedly fiddling with her nails.

"The greatest masterpiece?"

"If we're talking about time, I should actually be a fourth-generation student of the White House, just like Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. But at the time, I was an outsider, and neither my age when I entered the White House nor my time studying there could compare to his."

Kitagawa Ryo examined the documents in his hand and sighed:

"Judging from this, on paper, he should be able to crush me."

"Jokes aside, the White House is a real 'learning hell,' unlike me, an unemployed person who has been doing nothing for two years."

"If you can bring out the same strength that defeated me two years ago, I don't think you'll lose to this Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, at least in chess."

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed somewhat displeased with Kitagawa Ryo's attitude; she lightly tapped the table with her cane.

“I met this Ayanokouji Kiyotaka once before in the White House. His chess level was already comparable to mine back then. By that standard, you shouldn’t be too afraid of someone who can beat me in chess.”

Kitagawa Ryo simply shrugged upon hearing this, then turned to Ichinose Honami and asked:

"What does Fanbo think of my chess skills?"

"Well."

Ichinose Honami racked her brains before finally finding a description in her mind:

"Amateur level?"

That's about it!

Kitagawa Ryo closed the documents in his hand and affirmed Ichinose Honami's answer.

"how could be?"

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the two of them and saw that they didn't seem to be lying. She lowered her head and thought for a moment before asking with some surprise:

"Could it be that you were in my dream back then..."

"Ah."

Kitagawa Ryo raised an eyebrow somewhat subtly. After she forbade the use of the name "Ryo," Sakayanagi Arisu not only didn't change it to "Kitagawa," but instead kept referring to him as "you." She herself was a little confused about what the other person was thinking.

"I probably played chess with Sakayanagi nearly a thousand times in my dreams, until I figured out all of Sakayanagi's habits, her preferred tactics, and how she would respond in various situations before I dared to play against her."

"But that way I should leave an impression."

"Just cover this dream with another dream that has nothing on top of it, just like how I was influenced by your dream in the beginning, it's just a dream within a dream."

"That……"

Kitagawa Ryo seemed to have anticipated what Sakayanagi was about to say, and pointed to his head with a sigh:

"First of all, there is only one night left before my match with Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. Without knowing the exact location of my opponent, I have no way to locate his dream, let alone simulate it in advance in the dream."

"Secondly, this ability of mine cannot be used indefinitely, and because the negative consequences in the past were quite significant, I have basically not used it in the past two years except for being busy building dream worlds for you every night."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo glanced at his girlfriend again. Ichinose Honami was holding his arm and giving him her usual smile, which made Kitagawa Ryo feel a chill down his spine.

"Ahem... It shouldn't count as building all sorts of dreams with my girlfriend."

Somewhat awkwardly changing the subject, Kitagawa Ryo continued:

"Actually, there is a way. According to the agreed rules, only Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and I will be present at tomorrow's duel. The Sakayanagi family and the Shiroya family will watch the match remotely via devices as witnesses. This is a decision that will not affect fairness."

"But even so, there is still some room for maneuver. I just need to pull Ayanokouji Kiyotaka directly into the dream the moment before the competition begins."

"Can Liang pull a conscious person directly into a dream?"

Honami Ichinose frowned:

"I remember that the ability to cool only works after someone has fallen asleep."

"Oh, that's definitely not possible. The basis for the creation of dreams is that a person is in a state of sleep."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement, but then he smiled:

"But of course I have a way to get Kiyotaka Ayanokoji to sleep."

"As for chess, please trust me."

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

"I didn't expect Ms. Sakayanagi to ask me out so late?"

On the night before the duel, it was already past midnight. Ichinose Honami gently closed the door to her room and walked straight to a side room deep in the corridor.

Sakayanagi Arisu leaned against the door frame and nodded to her:

"Because there are things I want to say to Ichinose no matter what, about him."

"is it?"

Ichinose Honami didn't seem inclined to ask any further questions. She went into the room and turned on the light. Before her was a chessboard with black and white pieces scattered on it. Ichinose Honami sat down on the stool closest to the inside.

"I thought Ichinose would refuse my invitation to talk. After all, I did some terrible things to Ichinose before, so I wouldn't be surprised if you dislike me."

From the age of ten to fourteen, Sakayanagi Arisu corresponded with Ichinose Honami under the identity of Kitagawa Ryo. At the same time, she also impersonated Ichinose Honami to trick Kitagawa Ryo into taking action. In a sense, she was almost toying with the lives of the two of them.

"Yes, what Ms. Sakayanagi did was indeed very excessive."

Honami Ichinose stared directly at her with resolute eyes, her gaze devoid of any fear:

“I not only remember my own share, but I also remember Liang’s share.”

"is it?"

Sakayanagi Arisu slowly sat down on the chair closest to the door. Her frail and petite figure might easily evoke a protective instinct in others. She reached out and toyed with the 'Queen' on the chessboard.

"Then I'll await your challenge."

"If he succeeds tomorrow, we should be able to meet at Tokyo Higher Ikusei Junior High School in less than a year."

She reached out her finger and knocked over the 'Knight' piece standing upright on the chessboard:

"If you have the chance to become my opponent, give it your all!"

"Tokyo Higher Ikusei Junior High School..."

Honami Ichinose recalled the scene she saw in Ryo Kitagawa's dream, but unfortunately, all her attention was focused on herself standing at the finish line and failing. Although some events within the school were involved later, she didn't remember them very clearly.

Besides remembering the face of a blond man whom he called "Nagamo-senpai".

I'm feeling nauseous again.

Honami Ichinose quickly suppressed the discomfort rising in her stomach:

"What brings you here tonight, Miss Sakayanagi?"

"I'm just a little curious about his life these past two years..."

Seemingly noticing the bright gaze that Ichinose Honami immediately cast at her, Sakayanagi Arisu waved her hand helplessly and said:

"After all, for the past two years, I was deceived by the dreams he made up for me, and I always thought that I had defeated him. For the past two years, I have been taken care of by Eiichiro Matsuo. It wasn't until I woke up yesterday that I realized I knew almost nothing about his experiences over the past two years."

Why should I tell you about him?

Honami Ichinose rejected Arisu Sakayanagi's request without hesitation:

"Instead of saying that you are strange, Ms. Sakayanagi, your position is strange. To trace it back to the source, you were the one who caused the tragedy of Ryo's childhood. It was because you interfered in other people's lives on a whim when you were a child."

Honami Ichinose glared at Arisu Sakayanagi:

"I don't even understand why Liang would choose to cooperate with someone like you, and even create a dream for you that lasted for more than two years."

"A rare honest opinion."

Sakayanagi Arisu showed no sign of anger at Ichinose Honami's words; she simply rested her head on her hands and praised her:

"Sometimes you just need to tell the truth; the dream built on lies will eventually end."

She sighed slightly before revealing her true purpose for inviting her over tonight to Ichinose Honami:

"If, I mean if."