My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

The sky was pitch black, obscured by clouds, and the moon was nowhere to be seen.

The store lights reflected on the bustling street.

The traffic light turned red at the intersection, and the taxi stopped in front of the pedestrian crossing.

The middle-aged male taxi driver held the steering wheel with one hand and fiddled with the in-car display screen below the meter with the other. The display screen showed the time as 9:13 PM, and the taxi driver scrolled through the screen, playing the song "All the Way North".

The singing filled the entire taxi.

"I headed north, leaving behind you..."

Sitting in the back of the taxi, Zhang Ying unconsciously hummed a song, flexing the fingers of his right arm in the sunlight streaming through the window.

Perhaps because of his arm, after cleaning himself in the school bathroom, his badly damaged body began to recover at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The bloody welts on his back from the whipping had already scabbed over and fallen off.

Along with the waves of coolness spreading from my right forearm throughout my body, the cramping pain in my internal organs had almost subsided.

After leaving school and changing my clothes, I felt fine except for being a little tired.

Everything that happened today feels like a dream: the feuding organization, the lovers who became a couple, and the arm that was lost and then found again.

He couldn't help but sigh.

I'm afraid the days to come will only become more and more fantastical.

The taxi stopped at the entrance of the residential area, and Zhang Ying got out and went straight home.

As I pushed open the door, a stern greeting came from the living room sofa.

"Xiao Ying, so you finally decided to come back?"

Zhang Ying tossed his dusty backpack at the doorway, apologetic on his face. He went inside and said to his mother, who was sitting on the sofa:

"Mom, you're still awake?"

"Hehe, how dare I sleep? I'm afraid I won't be able to see you again if I fall asleep." Zhang's mother got up from the sofa and sighed heavily. "Xiao Ying, tell me, what exactly do you do every day? You've been leaving early and coming home late for more than just a day or two."

Seeing the worried expression on his mother's face, Zhang Ying gritted his teeth, unconsciously touched the back of his head, and said, "The pressure of studying was too much, so I went outside to go online. Mom, scold me if you want."

Zhang's mother pursed her lips as she watched Zhang Ying's actions.

"You...sigh...if you want to play, I'll get you a computer, so you don't have to go out to surf the internet all day long."

"Ah? Uh, thank you, Mom," Zhang Ying said with a smile.

Zhang's mother went to the kitchen to heat up chicken soup and food, while Zhang Ying took a shower in the bathroom.

The warm water flowed across his angular skin, bringing waves of electric-like stinging pain.

He practically gritted his teeth to finish the shower, and when he came out of the bathroom, every part of his body ached.

After finishing his meal, Zhang Ying lay on the bed, completely exhausted, as all the pent-up fatigue surged up at once.

He no longer cared about checking the simulator; he closed his eyes and drifted into a dream.

……

"A small win..."

"A small victory..."

"A small win."

A gentle, slightly hesitant, aged voice lingered in my ears.

In a vast expanse of white snow, young Zhang Ying, wearing plastic gloves, made snowballs.

The snowball, made of mud and snow, looked very dirty and messy, and he looked at it with a dejected expression.

"Xiao Ying, why are you playing in the snow all by yourself?"

A large, calloused hand pressed down on his head and rubbed his hair.

Young Zhang Ying struggled to break free of the hand and complained, "Grandpa's rubbing my head hurts so much!"

He looked behind him with a reproachful expression. An old man in a tattered military overcoat, with a hunched back and an indistinct face, was holding a handful of candy and looking at him.

Zhang Ying happily accepted the candy from the old man's hand, but looking at the candy in his hand, he couldn't help but tear up again.

"Grandpa, do Mom and Dad not want me anymore? Why is it that during the New Year, all the other children have their parents with them, but I'm all alone?"

"Who said you're all alone? You still have your grandfather..."

……

Zhang Ying suddenly opened his eyes, the sunlight shining through the window stinging them.

He shielded his eyes from the sunlight with one hand, sat up in bed, a tear rolling down his cheek. He rubbed his eyes and asked in confusion:

"Strange...why did I suddenly dream about Grandpa?"

Perhaps it was because he had used up too much of his rationality, but even after sleeping all night, his mind was still foggy.

He went to the bathroom and, as usual, reached for his toothbrush on the sink, but his fingers hit the sink with a thud.

"Um?"

Zhang Ying realized something was wrong, so he turned on the tap and splashed cold water hard on his face.

He looked completely different in the dressing mirror!

His height jumped to about 1.9 meters, and his wingspan also increased significantly! Although his muscles became more muscular, his increased height made his physique appear more balanced and athletic.

His facial features haven't changed much, but his face shape has become sharper, adding a touch of mature man's ruggedness to his youthful innocence.

"Wow, this 0.3 increase in physical attributes is even bigger than last time! This isn't just growth, this is super evolution!"

Zhang Ying stroked his jawline and couldn't help but swallow.

How am I supposed to explain this to my mom? Even if I ate Qunbolong rice every day, I still wouldn't have grown into this size!

He looked at his right forearm, which had grown along with his body, the forearm he had received from Li Ziqing.

To test it, he clenched his right fist tightly, and the veins on his right forearm bulged.

But then, the skin on his right forearm began to wrinkle and crack, peeling off piece by piece like dry old tree bark.

His right forearm has returned to its wooden structure, with the ball joint clearly visible.

"Hiss—what's going on? Could it be that my skin is dehydrated?"

Zhang Ying frowned, and with a thought, another layer of skin extended from the wooden forearm, spreading to the fingertips.

Looking at his intact skin, he tried to apply force again.

And the result was the same as last time: the skin peeled off, revealing the true form.

"Sigh, looks like I'll have to be more careful in the future, or I might scare people."

Zhang Ying carefully picked up the toothbrush and squeezed toothpaste onto it, but his finger trembled slightly, and with a snap, the toothbrush broke in two.

He could only helplessly brush his teeth in front of the mirror while holding a half-broken toothbrush.

After a difficult wash, he realized the most pressing issue now:

He needs to familiarize himself with this body and learn to control his strength.

In the living room, he held three small balls and tossed them back and forth like a juggler.

These small balls effectively train his upper limb coordination and strength control. The improvement in his physical fitness also enhances his neural control over his body. He quickly gained control of his body and was able to do other things while tossing the balls.

Zhang Ying sat on the sofa, three small balls spinning back and forth between his hands, but his attention was not on the balls at all, but on the simulator panel he had brought up.

[Friendly reminder: Did you know? Thoughts are a very powerful force, but most people are unaware of it.]