My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

Zhang Ying slowly opened his arms in the crowded throng, his elbows spreading out an inch, then an inch further. He didn't tighten the embrace, but simply used his arms to create a thin barrier around them.

Li Ziqing huddled in the gap that had been created, the brim of her down jacket brushing against the collar of her school uniform. She could feel the crowd still shoving around her, but the shoving was dissipated when it hit his arm, leaving only a slight swaying motion for her.

He left her a corner where she wouldn't be disturbed.

Her trembling slowly subsided. She raised her head, stray strands of hair clinging to the corners of her mouth, her pupils fixed on Zhang Ying's face.

His face was etched with strain. Zhang Ying clenched his teeth, a fine layer of sweat beaded on his forehead, and his arms trembled slightly from the pressure on both sides, but he remained silent.

He smiled at her, the kind of smile that says, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Let's go together.

Li Ziqing pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay." She took a half step forward, snuggling into his arms and pressing her cheek against his chest.

The warm, rapid heartbeat emanated from beneath the jacket, audible even through the school uniform.

At that very moment, the crowded throng suddenly parted. Not by being pushed apart, but by the human wall taking a half-step back. The surging of the crowd ceased, and the shoving subsided. A wide stone path stretched out from the right, its surface glistening with the lingering moisture of the rain, climbing into the distance and up a mountain.

Li Ziqing pulled away from Zhang Ying's embrace and took his hand in hers. His hand was still cold, with smooth skin and delicate fingers, like holding a piece of soft jade without warmth.

But this time, she gripped him so tightly, her knuckles digging into the web of his hand, so hard that he could feel his pulse beating back from her fingertips.

She pulled Zhang Ying onto the stone path. The two walked through the quiet crowd, past the bamboo forest at the foot of the mountain, up the winding mountain path, past a grove of low-lying mixed trees, and finally pushed through waist-high grass to reach the edge of the cliff.

A breeze swept up from the cliff, carrying the bitter scent of grass. Zhang Ying stood on the edge of the cliff and looked down; the entire city stretched out beneath his feet.

The strips of light from the streetlights intertwined in the checkerboard-like streets, while the distant skyscrapers still glowed with neon lights. The street they had just squeezed through appeared as a thin, luminous line when viewed from the cliff. The crowds and the city burned silently in the night below.

Li Ziqing released his hand and sat down on the grass. Zhang Ying sat beside her, and the two of them gazed side by side at the lights that stretched to the horizon.

"Do you know what I like best?" Li Ziqing said.

Zhang Ying turned his head and glanced at her. The lights from the foot of the mountain outlined her profile in a soft glow. He thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"I can't make a decision. What I'm saying is ultimately what I think you like. But what you truly like is always what you say yourself."

"Don't beat around the bush." ​​She turned her head, her eyes sparkling in the night, a slight, expectant smile playing on her lips. "Tell me, what do you think I like?"

Zhang Ying stood up. He took a deep breath. The wind on the cliff was strong, blowing into his collar and making his school uniform, already soaked with sweat, feel cold.

He held his breath, gazing up at the brightly lit city ahead. Then, from somewhere in the city, a golden point of light suddenly shot up. Trailing a fiery tail, it soared into the sky, exploding in the heart of the night, transforming into a shower of crimson fire!

fireworks.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, countless beams of light rose from all directions of the city, exploding into a colorful sea of ​​flowers against the backdrop of the night.

Red, gold, purple, green, layer upon layer, one on top of another, as if someone had picked all the flowers of summer and scattered them into the sky.

Zhang Ying shouted those words with all his might towards the fireworks and the city. The explosions drowned out his voice. Fireworks exploded one after another overhead, the deafening roars drowning out everything, even he himself couldn't hear what he was saying.

The light from the fireworks fell on Li Ziqing's face. Her cheeks were taut, and tears welled up in her eyes. Her lips moved slightly, as if she were silently repeating the words that had been obscured by the fireworks. Then she nodded gently.

"Um."

No one knows what Zhang Ying shouted, perhaps not even Zhang Ying himself knows how heavy those words were for Li Ziqing.

But beneath the sky ablaze with fireworks, the boy and girl made a promise. A promise that might last until the end of the world.

The surrounding scenery shattered like broken glass. Grass, cliffs, city, fireworks—all crumbled in the same instant, the fragments drifting upwards, higher and higher, before melting into the darkness.

Zhang Ying awoke from the illusion. Before him was an ordinary music room. The wind chimes on the door were silent, dust covered the windowpanes, and moonlight streamed in, casting a crooked rectangular patch of light on the floor.

He stood in the center of the vocal room, his chest still heaving violently. Everything that had just happened felt like a dream he had been in too deep, and even after waking up, all his senses were still immersed in that dream.

The simulator's panel popped up in front of him.

[The Dancer's Ghost Story: Affection level increased to 80%]

[Special CG 4 Unlocked]

[Strategy Training Bar Unlocked]

When the strategy training bar reaches 100%, the Dancer's affection level will rise to 100%, unlocking a romantic relationship.

[Daily intimate contact, carefully chosen gifts, and dates between the two will all increase the romance progress bar. Begin your sweet pursuit of the ghost stories!]

Zhang Ying stared at the words "80% Favorability" on the panel, slowly raised his hand, and covered his chest. His heart was beating fast and hard behind his ribs, not from fright, not from running away, but from a different frequency he wasn't familiar with.

He leaned back against the wall, trying to regulate his rapid breathing. His exhaled breaths were exceptionally clear in the quiet vocal room, where only his heartbeat could be heard.

This rapid heartbeat was completely different from the panting I felt when I was being chased by monsters and narrowly escaped death.

He tilted his head back, pressing the back of his head against the cold wall, staring at the dust-covered lamp on the ceiling. Then he suddenly smiled.

"I never imagined that one day," he said, "I would be able to experience the feeling of being moved."

Just as he was marveling at this, a gentle coolness emanated from the jade bracelet on his wrist.

The coolness wasn't bone-chilling; it spread upwards from his wrist, around his forearm, and stopped at his chest, as if someone had very, very lightly tapped his heart with their finger.

Then he felt a connection; the other end of the bracelet was connected to a person. If he wanted, he could contact Li Ziqing through this jade bracelet.

But now was not the time to contact him. He leaned against the wall, suppressing the impulse. His heart wasn't fully calm yet, and he was afraid that if he spoke now, he wouldn't even be able to utter a complete sentence.

He reopened the simulator panel and went through the messages that had just popped up one by one. Affection level: 80%. Guide/development bar activated.

Clearly, the strategy has reached its final stage.

In the remaining four days, he would use normal pursuit methods to fill the remaining twenty percent. Gifts, dates, intimate contact—it was all clearly written on the panel.

Zhang Ying removed his hand from his chest, looked at the words, and suddenly felt like laughing.

Pursuing a girl is undoubtedly another major challenge for someone with no real-life dating experience.

It's even harder than dealing with monsters. At least monsters have the ability to see, have Little Black to help them, and have simulators to improve their physical abilities.

But when it comes to pursuing this, the emulator only gives him a progress bar, so what is he supposed to do?