I have a life simulator.

"I heard from a senior I know on the basketball team that Wakata and her boyfriend had several arguments after that day, and then they stopped seeing each other. When I asked about it yesterday, the guy said he had dumped Wakata."

"Huh? Didn't you say before that Wakata and her boyfriend had a really good relationship?"

"Wakata probably went to him hoping he would stand up for him, but unfortunately, the other party probably wouldn't dare to do it after hearing Megumi's name."

Another girl added with a grin, their natural way of speaking even made Karuizawa Megumi herself a little bewildered. What she had been worrying about for several days seemed as casual as talking about what to have for breakfast today to her classmates.

"Hui, don't worry so much. I heard that ever since Ruotian broke up with her boyfriend, the girls in her class have started bullying her."

Emi Eura whispered in Megumi Karuizawa's ear:

"And they hit even harder than we did."

She winked at Megumi Karuizawa:

"Is Megumi sympathizing with Wakata?"

Karuizawa Kei quickly shook her head in denial:

"Just asking a question, um, just asking a question."

Since realizing that the other party might know her past in detail, Karuizawa Megumi has become somewhat afraid of Eura Emi. Unlike other girls who only know bits and pieces of information from legends, Eura Emi may have directly witnessed the tragic scenes of her past.

Upon considering this fact, Karuizawa Kei could only add again:

"Who told her to bully Yuko?"

Hearing this, Emi smiled and stood next to Megumi Karuizawa, echoing her sentiment:

"So Hui doesn't need to worry. Mingming did the right thing to protect her classmates."

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

The British Library, London and West Yorkshire, England.

This library, one of the most famous in Britain, has a history of nearly 300 years and a collection of more than 150 million books. Almost every visitor who enters here for the first time is amazed by its magnificent exterior and exquisite interior. Compared to its function as a library, it seems to be closer to a historical and cultural site. Just sitting here for a while and flipping through a book will make people feel the traces of history.

Even if you read one book every day, you still wouldn't be able to finish reading all the books here in a lifetime, two lifetimes, or even ten lifetimes.

When Shiina Hiyori first came here, this thought almost subconsciously popped into her mind. Last year, her father had to go to England due to a job transfer, and she and her mother moved from Japan to England a year later, after her father's job was settled. For Shiina Hiyori, who loves reading, she fell in love with this city almost on her very first day.

After asking her father to get her a St. Pancras Reading Room card, Hiyori Shiina spent her days there during various holidays. Although the British Library receives more than 4,000 visitors every day, Hiyori Shiina, who would stay there all day each time she came, quickly became a familiar face to the staff compared to most people who just wanted to check off the list.

Of course, this may also be related to the girl's unique appearance and personality.

"Name: Hiyori Shiina, reader card verification passed."

Staff members routinely checked the numerous readers queuing to enter the reading room, and would take a moment to exchange a few words with familiar names:

"Today, there will be a display of Shakespeare's manuscripts in the third exhibition room."

"Ah, thank you for reminding me."

The silver-haired, purple-eyed girl appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. She exuded a peculiar, ethereal quality and politely thanked the staff.

"Name: Kitagawa Ryo, reader card verification passed."

The boy behind her took back the library card that had been handed back. He seemed to have overheard their conversation, took a step forward, and softly said:

"Are there any good exhibits in the third exhibition hall today? I hope they won't just throw out a bunch of low-quality drafts to fool the visitors like last time."

The staff seemed to know him fairly well, and grinned as they said:

"Why don't you go see for yourself? Besides, if Holmes fans heard that you looked down on the Conan Doyle manuscripts that were shown last time, they would come and beat you up."

"whispering sound."

Kitagawa Ryo clicked his tongue in exasperation:

"You mean the sign outside is impressive, but inside more than 90% of it is actually just a display of manuscript translations from various countries? It successfully wasted two hours of my time. I would have been better off reading Lawrence Block's book."

"Ahem, this time you can go in and see for yourself."

The staff member, too lazy to say anything more, waved his hand to signal him not to block the people behind him.

Kitagawa Ryo also sighed. Since the other party had said so, even if he had been fooled last time, he had to go and see it this time just because of the name "Shakespeare".

"Um, hello?"

Just as he turned around, intending to follow the flow of tourists to the third exhibition hall, he was unexpectedly stopped by a girl who seemed to have been waiting for him for a long time.

"Um, hello."

Although Kitagawa Ryo didn't understand what the girl in front of him meant, he responded to her greeting out of politeness.

"Excuse me, what's the matter?"

“Hmm, I remember… your name is Kitagawa Ryo, Kitagawa-kun, right? It’s not easy to meet you at the British Library.”

Kitagawa Ryo roughly understood what she meant; it simply meant that meeting a companion from the same region on the distant European continent evoked a subconscious sense of kinship.

"Oh, I remember you come here quite often, your name is..."

I tried to recall my impression of the girl. Although I could vaguely recall seeing her reading here, it seemed a little difficult to call her by her name directly like she did.

"My name is Hiyori Shiina."

Seemingly noticing Kitagawa Ryo's predicament, Shiina Hiyori quietly introduced herself with a smile.

Are you also planning to see the exhibition in Hall 3?

"I'm just interested in Shakespeare's manuscripts. I hope it won't be a waste of my time like last time."

Kitagawa Ryo responded as he walked.

"From what Kitagawa-kun just said, is it that you're more interested in mystery novels?"

"Even those who aren't detective fans should have heard of Conan Doyle, after all, the Sherlock Holmes stories are a top-tier IP worldwide."

"But Kitagawa-kun just mentioned Lawrence Block. If you're only a fan of fringe mystery novels like Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, and Hercule Poirot, you probably wouldn't bring up his works on your own initiative."

"Oh, I do quite like his hard-boiled mystery style, like 'Eight Million Ways to Die'."

"is it?"

Shiina Hiyori quickened her pace, walking two steps until she was side by side with Kitagawa Ryo:

"I think Dorothy's works are also very good. As a rare female mystery writer, although she is not as famous as Agatha Christie, her representative work, The Mysteries of Lord Peter Wimsey, is actually an excellent mystery novel. Moreover, the British Library has a complete collection of Dorothy's mystery works."

"Yeah, indeed."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded. It was the first time he had met someone his age who could talk so eloquently about mystery novels, especially a beautiful young girl.

However, seeing that the two were about to enter the third exhibition hall where loud talking was prohibited, Kitagawa Ryo didn't bother to say anything more and quietly walked into the exhibition hall.

In his eyes, it was just a chance encounter with a girl.

until--

"Kitagawa-kun probably hasn't had lunch yet, right? Would you like to have lunch together if you like?"

After spending two hours viewing the Shakespeare manuscripts exhibition in the third exhibition hall, Kitagawa Ryo finally walked out of the door satisfied, only to bump into Shiina Hiyori, who seemed to have been waiting outside the exhibition hall for a while.

"...?"

Kitagawa Ryo stared at the girl in front of him, who was smiling with her eyes narrowed, seemingly very happy. For a moment, he couldn't figure out what she was thinking.

Has the British become so open-minded that strangers can arrange to meet for dinner on their very first day of meeting?

No, neither of them seems to be British.

"Because I really hope to talk to Kitagawa-kun about novels."

Shiina Hiyori looked at Kitagawa Ryo with a smile and explained:

"Book lovers, that's all."

She stretched out her fair right hand and waved it in front of Kitagawa Ryo's eyes:

"May I?"

Kitagawa Ryo was a very perceptive person. He stared into the other person's pure purple pupils, which were completely free of impurities and other thoughts. As if aware of Kitagawa Ryo's gaze, Shiina Hiyori deliberately widened her eyes a little, encompassing Kitagawa Ryo's entire shadow.

"Ok."

He couldn't find any hint of romantic feelings. It seemed that Shiina Hiyori, the girl he had just met that day, really just wanted to talk to him about novels, so Kitagawa Ryo couldn't find any reason to refuse.

“I remember Kitagawa mentioned before that he really liked Lawrence Black’s ‘Eight Million Ways to Die’.”

The two randomly picked a roadside restaurant. Shiina Hiyori seemed to be there for the first time, so she followed Kitagawa Ryo's example and ordered the same set meal.

"Yes, Lawrence likes to write about prostitutes, and this one is no exception. Compared to typical detective novels, his book has a slightly more human touch."

After Kitagawa Ryo figured things out, he relaxed a bit and focused on chatting with Shiina Hiyori about the novel.

"Do you know what kind of crap is in this city? Do you know what's in this fucking metropolis, from the stench of the forests and the filth? There are eight million ways to die (at the time, New York's population was eight million)."

"This sentence is considered one of the most classic sentences in the entire book."

He seemed to have thought of something amusing, and suddenly chuckled:

"If we convert that to Tokyo, there are about 6.5 million ways to die."

"Hey, I remember Tokyo has a resident population of thirteen million?"

Shiina Hiyori asked, somewhat surprised.

"Because half of the people die in the same way, all by suicide."

Kitagawa Ryo stirred the hot milk that had been served with a spoon, propping his chin up as he spoke casually:

"People commit suicide for various reasons: school violence, loan sharks, social pressure..."

"Speaking of school violence, Kitagawa-kun, have you read any of Keigo Higashino's recent mystery works?"

"Malice?"

Kitagawa Ryo was somewhat paying attention to this person. After thinking for a moment, he sipped his milk and said:

"Unlike typical mystery novels, this book focuses on describing the perpetrator's motives. The murderer, who was protected by his friend during school bullying, also joined in the bullying of his friend. Even after being forgiven, he still killed his friend out of childhood resentment."

"It's a tragedy."

Hiyori Shiina also sipped her milk, just like him:

"Yes, it's a tragedy."

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

The next time Karuizawa Megumi heard Wakada's name was a month later, after Wakada committed suicide.

[Plot preview: It seems an old friend has returned; I have finished reading.]

Chapter Six: What Hui Can't Do, I'll Do

Karuizawa Kei didn't leave her house for a whole month during the summer vacation after the first semester. She locked herself in her room and pretended not to hear her father and mother's advice and even scolding. How could she explain this to them? Anyway, the rumors that had already spread in the school were that Wakata committed suicide by jumping off a building because of despair caused by school bullying. The evidence was that Karuizawa Kei had once led her classmates to corner Wakata in the woods.

She was branded a murderer almost immediately, and overnight, Karuizawa Megumi's name was inextricably linked with murder. What followed was exactly what she expected...revenge.

Karuizawa Kei refused to call everything she suffered "revenge," because if those students who claimed to be acting in the name of justice were really as they said, Wakata wouldn't have fallen into despair and attempted suicide. Even the girl from the next class who had actually bullied Wakata could shamelessly kick her while she was down, as if that would absolve her of what she had done.

The horror of school bullying lies in its unlimited backlash. Once the first person strikes, the victim is branded with a mark of humiliation. It's as if bees are signaling to their companions with their scent, and others will swarm in to commit secondary violence because they know that the person has already been bullied.

They might think, "We've already been bullied by others, so what's one more time?"

Besides, it seems that no one is protecting her. The legendary "Kitagawa Ryo" did not appear after a whole semester. Not everyone has seen him. So why should they be afraid of someone who only exists in legends?

On the contrary, bullying someone who has already been bullied at school only makes them feel more at ease, because they don't feel that it is their fault. On the one hand, this is because of the sense of security of placing individual behavior within group behavior, since everyone else is doing it; on the other hand, it is also because they can comfort themselves that since they didn't start it, the whole thing has nothing to do with them, and they are just joining in the fun and going with the flow.

Karuizawa Kei hid herself under the covers, covering her head. Even so, she could still feel the chill that surged up from the depths of her bones when someone poured a bucket of cold water over her head. Thinking of this, her teeth began to chatter with fear.

The terrifying memories of the past overlap with reality.

Karuizawa Kei recalled the densely packed thumbtacks in her indoor shoes, the dead mouse carcass in her desk, and all sorts of malicious graffiti in red pen on her textbooks and desk. In just one night, the protective wall she had built over several months vanished as easily as sand swept away by the wind.

"Megumi? Are you alright? Actually, everyone was just carried away by their emotions and did some bad things. I'm trying my best to communicate with them. After all, it wasn't just you, Megumi, who went to find Wakata at the time."

Her phone chimed with a message from Emi Jiangpu. Karuizawa Kei only realized from the lit-up screen that it was already August 9th, and half of summer vacation was already over.

Karuizawa Kei gripped her phone like a drowning person grasping at a last straw, reading the text message word by word. She breathed a sigh of relief, remembering that in the month before summer vacation began, Emi Jiangu hadn't bullied her like the other girls in her class. She quickly confirmed this fact and imprinted it in her mind, reminding herself that at least she still had a friend.

"Thank you."

She sent her thanks via text message and then waited anxiously for Jiangpu Huimei's reply, momentarily wondering if the other person was just teasing her.

"You're welcome, we're friends anyway."