My Romance Simulation with Them

......

"Ah!"

I sneezed loudly.

Goto Ichiri, who had made such a loud noise, quickly covered his mouth and nose. At the same time, his eyes, hidden under his bangs, anxiously looked around, afraid that his loud sneeze might have disturbed the students around him.

Fortunately, the air was quiet for a moment. The students only paused for a moment, glanced at her a couple of times, and then continued to chat and laugh.

The timid look hidden beneath the girl's bangs relaxed, but a sense of loss quickly welled up in her heart again.

It's best if it doesn't affect others.

But isn't it a tragedy that someone who's an outsider in their own class ends up like this?

Carrying her guitar, Goto Ichiri nervously stood up from her seat, pretended to flip through popular rock band magazines, and after confirming that no one wanted to talk to her, walked out of the classroom.

then.

He stopped walking.

With her small, fair hands, she clung to the doorframe, timidly peeking half her face into the classroom again, making sure no one wanted to talk to her about music.

After a grueling day at school, a heart full of devastation, Goto Ichiri finally peeked back inside.

"Of course I know!"

A pink-haired girl, walking alone in the school's central courtyard, clenched her fist and said earnestly to the empty air beside her, "Just waiting for others to strike up a conversation won't work; I have to take the initiative. But... but... I've already tried my best today!"

"You've worked so hard today, it's only natural that you should go home and rest, right?"

Goto Ichiri felt a little itchy on her bottom. Without caring about her ladylike image, she scratched it with her hand and continued to explain to the air very seriously.

Soon, as if nothingness itself responded, she nodded vigorously and continued talking to herself:

"Yes, thank you for your recognition, Jitai. I know you really are my best friend."

"Hehe... What national treasures of humanity? They don't deserve to be my friends... Although they are indeed that outstanding, Jita, don't be so blunt—Ouch, don't pounce on me."

The pink-haired girl made a forward-leaning motion as if she had been hit by something, and fell to the ground with a thud.

At the same time, there was her voice, both amused and exasperated by her 'air friend':

"Seriously, Yoshita, you—uh."

Goto Ichiri, who had been chatting away smoothly with her imaginary friend in the air, suddenly stopped.

She kicked off one of her student shoes, leaving her unfunny black socks exposed, but she had no time to care.

If you were to ask her what she fears most in this world...

That undoubtedly means that someone saw her communicating with her imaginary virtual friends.

What's even more terrifying is that the person in front of you recorded your entire dark history on their phone.

The most terrifying thing is that the person in front of you is the man hailed as the top of the food chain at Ocha High School—Nango Toki.

"Um..."

With his phone's video recording function turned on, Nango Toki, having recorded down to the very last second, ended the recording with satisfaction and stood up with a smile: "Let's talk, Goto-kun."

"Ah, I want to go back..."

Goto Ichiri looked frightened and tried to back away.

"I hope Goto-san can reconsider."

Nanxiang smiled broadly and turned on the video recording on his phone.

From inside, came the smug, foolish laugh of someone who had just been there: "Hehe, humanity's national treasure..."

Halfway through the recording, he pointed to the bench: "Now we can sit down and have a proper talk, right? Goto-dō..."

"Wang!"

"...What are you doing?"

Seeing Goto Ichiri sitting on the school bench like a puppy, Nango couldn't help but ask a question as the words were about to come out.

"I have done everything in my power to express my obedience to you. I only ask that you be lenient by recording this..."

Nanxiang fell into a long silence.

Did I really die for this silly guy in the simulation?

With that thought in mind, he silently turned on the phone's recording function again, this time targeting Goto Ichiri.

Anyway, it's pretty interesting, let's record it first.

Chapter Twelve. Miss Goto's mental state is worrying.

Goto Ichiri had heard many rumors about Nango Toki.

Born in the countryside, she worked her way up from an obscure rural junior high school in Akita Prefecture, a place with limited educational resources, to her current high school, Ocha High School in Bunkyo Ward.

Then, in just one year of high school, he kicked the former top student off the list with an absolute and unshakeable gap, firmly securing his position as the top student in the grade. Even now, no one can touch his toes.

A saying is circulating on campus.

When Nanxiang got a score of 100, it didn't mean he could only get 100 points; it just meant that the score on the test was only 100 points.

If it were just good academic performance, that would be fine, but the key point is that Nanxiang was also exceptionally good-looking.

The combination of various factors has created a true central figure on campus.

This is the state that Ichiri Goto has always dreamed of.

Even if she just sits there in silence, she exudes a sense of mystery in the eyes of others.

Even if you just stand up to go to the toilet, people are willing to come up and chat with you.

If only I could be this popular someday... how wonderful that would be!

Goto Ichiri had imagined himself as Nango Toki on the panel more than once at night—

'Oh, you really want to be friends with me?'

'Since you've already knelt down and begged me... nowhere is impossible.'

"Hehehe... I'm Goto Ichiri... I'm the top student in my grade, the most beautiful woman, the guitar hero... everyone's darling..."

Goto Ichiri let out a silly 'hohoho' laugh from his throat.

Nanxiang, who was sitting next to her, had been staring at her for a long time, but he couldn't help but pat her face: "Hey, Guitar Hero, snap out of it."

"Hey...slurp...Nan-Nanxiang senior?"

Goto Ichiri wiped his drool with the cuff of his sweatshirt, lifted his face from under his bangs, and looked blankly at Nango in front of him: "Didn't you already kneel in front of me begging me to be your friend...?"

Nanxiang didn't say anything, just smiled at her, the image recorded on his phone reflecting a malicious light.

She couldn't help but shiver, and timidly pulled her head back into the stand-up collar of her pink tracksuit, completely snapping out of her delusion of 'Goto Ichiri, the national treasure of humanity'.

"Now can we have a proper talk?"

"Please, please don't worry."

Goto Ichiri's stammering voice came through: "I...I understand."

Oh?

Nanxiang was a little surprised.

This was the first time he had ever seen Goto Ichiri understand his meaning so quickly.

Then--

Goto Ichiri's overly pale hands suddenly held out a wallet to Nango Toki's face, followed by her voice, which was trembling and tearful.

"I will give you the money every day, but please be lenient about the recording."

"Uh..."

Nanxiang looked at the wallet being handed to him and asked, "Have you misunderstood something?"

He does love money, and he studies hard so that he can make a lot of money in the future, but extorting money from a socially anxious girl will only make him feel guilty.

This contact with the other person was only prompted by a new hint from the dating simulator, which made him want to get in touch with them.

He had absolutely no intention of bullying or taking advantage of the other party.

"Misunderstanding...?"

With his timid gaze hidden beneath Liu Hai's head, Goto Ichiri looked up at Nango Toki in a panic.

She quickly understood the meaning behind Nango's words and said in a voice that was about to cry, "I'm sorry, Nango-senpai, I only brought this much today."

"Please, please accept this."

She also took off the guitar from her back.

You really don't listen to anyone at all?

Goto Ichiri's self-deprecating and self-harming behavior triggered unpleasant memories of Nango Toki during his second simulation.

This woman is not only annoyingly insecure in the simulation, but she is also like that in real life!

Because of fear of crowds, they hide their emotions.

Because of his inferiority complex, he constantly abuses himself.

Always giving in to others will only end up hurting yourself.

What an absolute pain in the ass!

Nanxiang looked disgusted.

But having experienced the simulation of a wife in the second playthrough, he finally sighed, still unable to rest easy about her lifestyle.

It seems that correcting her fear of others will be a long process.

It's probably not going to work out today.

So Nango Toki readily took Goto Ichiri's guitar, then held up one finger and said, "Tomorrow, at the same time, if you want your guitar back, come here."

The guitar is like a hostage, used to get Goto Ichiri to talk to him about the hostage.