I have a life simulator.

However, due to the pitiful exchange rate of ten to one, even though Ichinose Honami has painstakingly accumulated more than two million personal points, after exchanging them, she will only have more than two hundred thousand yen left.

In Japan, the average monthly salary for most university graduates is around 200,000 yen. Considering this, this behavior can be said to be completely counterproductive.

That's why, for the upcoming special summer exam, Ichinose Honami is particularly focused on the reward regarding the redemption amount.

Compared to the original 10 to 1 ratio, the 1 to 1 ratio is basically a benefit that Dongyu School is giving to its graduates.

If possible, Honami Ichinose would like to take advantage of this summer special exam to save up several million yen in one go, and then earn a similar number of personal points during her more than one year of study at Tokyo University, so that she can receive a generous start-up fund upon graduation and better plan for the future.

From this perspective, she should probably choose those with extremely high potential, such as the freelance careers chosen by Shiina Hiyori and Kitagawa Ryo, or she could do what she did last year and use information asymmetry to make a fortune with a small investment. Ryuen Sho is following this path because whether it's a part-time job or an internship, the potential is actually quite predictable.

Compared to the more direct aspects of money and salary, these two things mainly allow students to get a head start on experiencing the atmosphere and work experience of the industry they aspire to, which is undoubtedly valuable. However, for Honami Ichinose at this moment, they seem somewhat useless.

However, after struggling and agonizing for a whole day, in the final list of job preferences submitted to the school, Honami Ichinose honestly followed her pre-planned strategy and chose the banking-related field she had initially intended to pursue.

Japan's banking industry is highly developed. Apart from the central bank and state-owned banks, most of the other private banks, large and small, are controlled by major conglomerates. As a major national educational project, Tokyo Advanced Educational High School's chairman, Shigemori Sakayanagi, has good relationships with many parties. Therefore, this special entrance exam offers students a wide range of choices, mostly from several large banks with high salaries, good benefits, and great development potential.

However, Honami Ichinose's decision to intern at the bank wasn't to become some kind of white-collar elite, backbone, and high-achieving woman. Just like this career path was something she had decided on almost a year ago, it was something she had thought about long ago.

Among the four simulated heroines, Ichinose Honami is actually the last one to decide her future direction, but frankly speaking, there are only two people who actually need to make the decision: her and Karuizawa Megumi. After all, Sakayanagi Arisu will definitely need to take over the Sakayanagi family's businesses, including Tokyo Advanced Educational Middle School, while Horikita Suzune is rushing headlong into the culinary and food industry.

Upon closer examination, each of their considerations for the future is inextricably linked to their considerations for Kitagawa Ryo. After all, their fates are already deeply intertwined. Rather than scrambling to make a decision when the time comes, it's better to start thinking about and working towards it during high school.

However, since Kitagawa Ryo has always adhered to the principle of non-interference and only support, the path to the future has been left to each of them to figure out themselves. After all, reality is not a fairy tale, and the story will not end with "and they lived happily ever after." In a sense, where they place themselves in each other's future determines where the other person will place them in their future.

Sakayanagi Arisu could be said to have had no choice but to choose herself. Firstly, she was indeed the only daughter in the Sakayanagi family, and secondly, for a long time, she stubbornly believed that only the Sakayanagi family background could make her and Kitagawa Ryo the most natural couple, since it was the most suitable match.

Horikita Suzune was simply led into a deep pit called cooking by Kitagawa Ryo. The days when the two of them ran a dessert shop together in the simulation had such a great impact on her that she even chose a related industry for this summer special exam, which can be considered as finding her true hobby.

The reason I put Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu together is that Ichinose Honami is well aware that the other's family background is actually different from her and Karuizawa Megumi's ordinary families. Although there may be a big difference between Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu, there is still a clear difference compared to her and Karuizawa Megumi.

As female protagonists who have also experienced multiple stages of life, Honami Ichinose and Megumi Karuizawa undoubtedly noticed this from the beginning. However, compared to the latter, who had made it clear before entering school that she would pursue a career as a professional theater actress, Honami Ichinose thought about this a lot.

After all, unlike Karuizawa Kei, she hadn't already made a long and successful career path. Instead, she had wasted a considerable amount of time due to her own anxieties and insecurities.

Honami Ichinose doesn't have any absolute insistence or even a kind of mental fastidiousness that prevents her from relying on any existing resources and that she wants to build everything from scratch. After all, she has tried this kind of hard work countless times in her past life.

After all, even Karuizawa Kei can't say that all her achievements to date are due to her own efforts. As Kitagawa Ryo's designated partner, who is now widely recognized in the drama industry, this title itself shows that she enjoyed Kitagawa Ryo's attention from the very beginning. This also applies to her later growth environment and learning conditions. Kitagawa Ryo taught her many things little by little.

But as long as both parties can learn something from each other, there is no such thing as an unhealthy relationship.

Therefore, Honami Ichinose will not resist Ryo Kitagawa himself, his identity, or anything else that these things can bring. What she needs to do is, like Kei Karuizawa, actively utilize some of these resources, and with her own efforts, pave her own future path while also ensuring that they can find the most suitable position and identity for each other in the future.

As mentioned earlier, many of Japan's private banks are subsidiaries of various conglomerates. To operate or take over a large conglomerate, relevant personnel are always essential. Naturally, the best candidates are those who are closest to you, most trusted, and capable.

This is the position that Ichinose Honami is aiming for.

Karuizawa Kei had already shown her through her own experience that while they could certainly talk about love with Kitagawa Ryo, they couldn't just talk about love forever.

The time spent at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School will only occupy a mere three years in their lives, which is not much longer than the long rest of their lives.

They will all graduate and enter society, so they can no longer maintain the same mindset and behavior as students. Even the deepest feelings cannot withstand the vicious cycle of one person moving forward while the other remains stuck in the same place.

Thinking of this, Honami Ichinose turned off her phone screen and stopped looking at the more than two million personal points balance displayed on it.

The screen, now completely black, reflected her expression—the look of someone who had finally made a decision and convinced herself, just like before her complete confrontation with her mother last year.

Looking back now, she realized that she had fallen into the same mental trap as she had back then. These millions of personal points were equivalent to a five-figure hair clip back then. However, this time, Honami Ichinose did not reach out to satisfy a long-suppressed feeling from the past or to make it seem like she could solve her current problem once and for all.

Even if she does choose to gravitate towards either Kitagawa Ryo or Ryuen Sho in this special exam, are those millions of personal points and millions of yen that she can take out of Dongyu upon graduation really that important?

She had clearly distinguished between personal points and Japanese yen in the past, and used them to accomplish many impossible things and achieve many impossible wishes, but she never expected that when the two were truly equated, she would still fall into hesitation.

If that were all, she would never be able to achieve her goal, because at that point she would be dealing not with so-called personal points, but with real money.

No way.

Honami Ichinose hugged the pillow in her arms tightly, biting her lips until they were almost white, while also giving herself little hints and encouragement.

She is now Liang's lover.

In the future, she will be his wife.

But another identity is still needed.

Finance, secretarial, housekeeper...

It doesn't matter what you call me.

In areas outside of romantic relationships, she also needs to be someone very, very important to him.

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

Chapter Sixty-Nine: You Will Succeed

On the last night before the start of the summer special exams, Kitagawa Ryo did not stay in his own room, nor did he go to the other girls' rooms. Instead, he went to room 401, which was on the same floor as his dormitory room 408.

This is Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's dormitory room.

It's been almost half a year since I first came here before the special exam for the cultural festival last year. When I came to Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's dormitory again, I could easily notice that the room's layout was a bit different. If the previous style was simple to the point of being plain, then now it clearly has a more homely feel, like a few faint but clearly visible strokes of color on a pure white sheet of paper.

"this is for you."

Without any intention of exchanging pleasantries, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who had invited Kitagawa Ryo to come over that evening, handed him something as soon as he entered the room.

Kitagawa Ryo looked down and saw that it was a very common sketchbook, the kind that could be easily bought at the convenience store on campus.

Turning the pages, you can see various patterns and designs drawn with crayons, but most of the pages are blank. Many of the drawings are meaningless, like a child's random scribbles. In no time, Kitagawa Ryo casually flipped through the entire thin sketchbook.

"After this special summer exam, no matter what the result is, I probably won't have the chance to go back to Tokyo High School."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka didn't ask Kitagawa Ryo about his thoughts on the sketchbook. Instead, he sat down and took one of the two glasses of water that had been poured and placed on the coffee table. He then gestured to Kitagawa Ryo to sit opposite him.

"The only personal item in this room that I care about is this sketchbook in your hand, so I hope you can keep it safe for me."

"Okay, I'll keep it for you for now, but you'll have to ask for it back someday, since there are still many blank pages on it."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded and sat down opposite Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, tucking his sketchbook under his folded arm. He reached for another glass of water, took a small sip to moisten his throat, and then continued to ask:

"But have you really thought it all through?"

"Ah."

Perhaps sensing the concern in Kitagawa Ryo's tone, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's expression softened slightly, as he tilted his head back to look at the pure white ceiling above him.

"I should thank you and Yuecheng for this. No, Yuecheng only started paying attention to me because of the changes you brought about. So you were the one who led me to this ending in the first place."

"Looking back now, the reason why I hadn't resisted Ayanokouji Atsuomi before was simply because he was an unknown opponent to me. He knew everything about me up to this point, but I knew nothing about his past, so I never really thought about taking action."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji has always been a very self-aware person. Even though it has been called the masterpiece of the White Room from beginning to end, he has never been arrogant about this title because he is well aware of his own shortcomings.

Even setting aside lessons on personality and interpersonal skills that the White Room never taught, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka knew that he wasn't a genius who was born with innate knowledge and could quickly master everything new. Instead, he was the type who improved his proficiency through repeated practice with his exceptional learning ability.

Therefore, he would not deny that it was precisely this learning model that cultivated his mindset of planning before acting, and his ambiguous attitude towards Ayanokoji Atsuomi also stemmed from this.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka certainly wanted to end his predetermined fate, and he also considered rebelling against his father, with whom he had only a blood relationship but no affection. However, due to his habitual way of thinking, he got stuck at the very first step.

It was precisely because of this that, over this long period of time, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji gradually and somewhat pessimistically accepted his fate. When he first enrolled in Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, all he wanted was to spend the next three years of his life here, outside the White Room, and then return to the White Room after graduation.

But Kitagawa Ryo and later Tsukishiro Tsunehira decisively unveiled all the mysteries surrounding Ayanokouji Atsuomi, revealing the true nature of the controller of this white room after stripping away all the halos.

In Kitagawa Ryo's own view, it was quite remarkable that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was able to develop a sense of rebellion against Ayanokouji Atsuomi in the white room environment without any external interference.

After all, he himself had genuinely experienced the education in the White Room for several years. As a testing ground for various large-scale social psychological experiments, the biggest characteristic of the test subjects in the White Room was that no matter how much their bodies and minds were trained, they could not develop the consciousness or idea of ​​resisting the White Room in their hearts. This was because it was a concept that was rooted in their bodies from the very beginning, from infancy, and existed like a steel imprint of their thoughts.

Although Yuki and Amasawa Ichika, both girls from the White Room, do not possess this ability, it is due to the influence of Kitagawa Ryo, who entered the White Room carrying multiple life memories and a large amount of talent.

Compared to them, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who has been almost completely unaffected by the outside world in the real world, was able to generate such thoughts on his own, which is the key reason why Kitagawa Ryo ultimately chose to help him.

After all, if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka himself had no intention of saving himself, then there was no need for him to meddle in other people's business.

For Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, Ryo Kitagawa's role was not only reflected in his telling him all the information about Atsuomi Ayanokouji, the controller of the White Room (his past world), turning him from a complete controller who could destroy his world with a single word into an ordinary human being who had been a host and had to grovel before others, but also in the fact that he truly learned from him what was missing in the White Room.

All I can say is that if this were a film set for some kind of girl band, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji would be leaning on the railing and shouting, "I want to be human!"

"But the situation is different now. I didn't expect that this special summer exam would be held directly in Tokyo."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji himself knew that this was not the best time, because his preparations were not entirely thorough or foolproof.

Unlike the courses he took in the white room, this time there was no room for error; it was a complete do-or-die situation.

Kitagawa Ryo didn't say anything about whether he needed help at this time. After all, in some ways he was more eye-catching than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Moreover, once he got involved, things would develop in an even more unpredictable direction. So all he had to do was keep the sketchbook that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had given him safe and wait for news.

If the other party succeeds, then it will be a token for the two to meet again in the future.

If Kiyotaka Ayanokoji fails, then this will be his keepsake.

Do you have any specific ideas? If you can tell me, please do.

"Yes, Tsukishiro and a few other people will give me some assistance, and as for the school, I've also tricked Nagumo and Kiriyama."

"Is that why they've been so well-behaved lately?"

Kitagawa Ryo smiled upon hearing this, after all, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's way of manipulating the two of them was quite simple, still relying on the so-called information gap.

"What did you do about Ishigami's words?"

“He’s honest. After all, he had no other choice. All he wanted from beginning to end was Ayanokoji Atsuomi’s political resources and legacy. What he can give, I can give too. Besides, he never intended to give it to Ishigami.”

Unlike Yagami Takuya, the fifth generation of the White Room who wanted to prove to Ayanokouji Kiyotaka that his abilities were greater than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's, Ishigami Kyo was not a loyal follower who had been brainwashed for years. Instead, he had a very flexible stance, just like Tsukishiro Tsuneshige, after all, his family was originally a trading company.

So don't be fooled by his claims that he has always endorsed Ayanokouji Atsuomi's ideals. In fact, if you ask Ayanokouji Atsuomi himself, he probably doesn't even know what his own ideals are. The White Room project, which has lasted for more than a decade, was initially a task assigned to him by the Naoe faction. In the end, his truest ideal is simply, "I want to improve too much."

Alright, now Ishigami Kyo wants to improve too.

"Well then, I wish you success."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't press for more details, since even if he knew, it wouldn't be of much use. Besides, it's highly likely that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka himself hasn't even finished designing the entire plan yet, since he can't control Ayanokouji Atsuomi's actions. He'll likely have to act according to circumstances and adapt to the situation.

"The year and a half I spent at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School was a more fulfilling time than the more than ten years I spent in the white room in the past."

Since both parties knew that tonight's conversation was likely to be their last, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji unusually revealed a little of his inner thoughts.

"No matter what the final outcome is, I have no regrets."

“My past life, name, and identity may not have been my own, but the feelings I have now and the things I want to do now are definitely generated spontaneously from the bottom of my heart. That’s enough, that’s all.”

You will succeed.

Perhaps feeling that all he could offer now was verbal encouragement and acknowledgment, Kitagawa Ryo hesitated for a moment before choosing to tell Ayanokoji Kiyotaka a half-truth:

“I know you’ve always been curious about why I know so much about the White Room and Ayanokouji Atsuomi. Even if Yuki and Ichika are close to me, they wouldn’t tell me everything that happened inside the White Room, as if I had experienced it all myself.”

"But actually, there's nothing wrong with saying it like that. Just think of it as a parallel world setting, and see me as Doctor Strange. I did experience the White Room once, and I did see how you won and what your ending was."

"So, you will succeed."

Upon hearing Kitagawa Ryo's sudden words, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was slightly taken aback, but he quickly nodded, his lips curving upwards as he gazed into Kitagawa Ryo's eyes.

"Okay, I believe you."

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

July 4th marked the first day of the special summer exams.

At seven o'clock in the morning, students who had packed their luggage walked out of their dormitories and headed to the square in front of the school gate to gather. Dozens of school buses were already waiting there. After all, although Dongyu has the prefix of Tokyo, it is still quite a distance from Tokyo, so they had to take a bus there first.

However, this time the school did not divide the students to board the bus according to class and grade order. Instead, students with similar work and internship locations were assigned to the same bus and the school directly took them to the corresponding areas for resettlement.

After passing through the school staff's security check on his suitcase and stuffing it into the bus's storage space, Kitagawa Ryo also boarded his bus with a small bag on his back.

Their bus seemed to be heading to Shibuya Ward and the surrounding area in Tokyo, a place known for its trendy pop culture and youth gatherings. As soon as Kitagawa Ryo boarded the bus, he caught sight of several familiar figures.

After thinking for a moment, Kitagawa Ryo walked straight to an empty seat in the last row of the bus. He'd barely sat down and closed his eyes for a couple of minutes when the faces next to him and in front of him changed. Then he felt a light tap on his arm. Opening his eyes, he saw Asahina Nazuna, who had been sitting in front of him, turn around and kneel on her seat, offering him a bottle of room-temperature cocoa.

Here, would you like some cool drinks?

"Thank you, senior sister."

Kitagawa Ryo reached for the drink. It was already July, and many of the students around him were already chugging cold drinks early in the morning. But he didn't have that habit, and Asahina Nazuna knew that too, so she specially bought a room-temperature drink.

"Liang was right last time, we really did run into each other. It seems our workplaces are quite close?"

"Yeah, they should all be in the Shibuya area after all."

After taking a quick look around the nearly full bus, apart from Sakura Airi who was pretending to sleep next to her and not participating in the conversation, and Horikita Suzune who was a couple of steps late and had to sit a little further in, the rest were all familiar second-year students. I didn't see many first-year or third-year students.

"Almost half of our grade are in those two cars over there, going to Bunkyo Ward, since the University of Tokyo is there."

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo looking out the window at the other buses, Asahina Nazuna offered a helpless explanation before raising her own bottle of drink:

"Drink up. This is the last thing you can get with your personal points for the next month. You have to finish it before you get off the bus."

However, perhaps because of the promise Kitagawa Ryo had made to her, Asahina Nazuna's tone no longer carried the bitterness of a few days ago. After cheerfully clinking glasses with Kitagawa Ryo, she gulped down her entire drink in one go.

"come on--"