I said you are all war criminals

He seemed to have some kind of debuff in the simulator, and his progress in learning music had been slow. Hakuno first ruled out the possibility that he really had a poor sense of pitch, and instead thought the simulator might be holding him back.

"What? I should have added a 'musical genius' setting for myself earlier."

Bai Ye muttered unhappily, then put the matter behind him.

There was no point in dwelling on these things, so Hakuno decided to focus on more important things.

It wasn't about gene sequencing research; that had been fully delegated to Ryo. Hakuno believed Yamada Ryo's brain could solve any problem, so he had to focus on something truly important.

That's right.

That is recycling CG.

Hakuno has a grand plan: to date ten beautiful girls from MYGO and AVE mujica in this simulation, then dump them one by one and recycle all the CGs.

This is a big project and we can't be careless.

"You've neglected your bass guitar skills and are now lurking at the school gate in Haneda again."

Considering this is an all-girls school, your behavior is quite despicable.

The simulator is blunt.

Hakuno spoke righteously.

"Damn it! If I don't wait here, how am I going to trigger Takamatsu Deng and Anon-chan's CG? My goal this time is to recover all ten CG members from both groups!"

You still haven't met any MYGO characters, or any Crychic characters, and of course, no Ave Mujica characters today.

After a week of squatting, you feel like you're turning into a fossil.

You originally thought that if you persisted in waiting outside the gates of Hanegaoka Girls' High School every day, you would eventually be able to trigger the storyline for Takamatsu Touma and Chihaya Aine and successfully retrieve their CGs. But for an entire week, all you saw were NPCs you didn't recognize. The MYGO members seemed to have vanished without a trace.

You decide to change your strategy. Instead of waiting for something to happen, you should take the initiative.

You attack the "ring" directly, intending to find Shiina Ritsuki here, and then use Ritsuki's path to find Takamatsu Touma.

"Ring" is a livehouse located near Hanegaoka Girls' College. It's also a bit bigger than Starry.

A girl with striking black hair sat at the bar counter at Ring. She wore a black T-shirt, seemingly the shop's uniform, and a sliver of her fair thigh peeked out from beneath her skirt. She lowered her head, her fingers swiping rapidly across her phone screen, seemingly oblivious to Bai Ye's approach.

["Lixi?" Bai Ye asked tentatively.]

The girl raised her head, her purple eyes resting on Bai Ye for a moment, "Who are you?"

[Those sharp eyes are exactly the same as in the animation. ]

Hakuno rubbed his hands.

Great, although I originally planned to start with the lamp, it’s also good to start with Lixi.

Now, Hakuno decided to attack Riki—to be more precise, he decided to start from Riki.

"Um... Miss Lixi?" You forced yourself into a kind smile, walked to the bar, and tried your best to look harmless. "Do you remember me? I'm crychic..."

Shiina Riki didn't even raise his eyelids, but just coldly spat out one word: "Get lost."

"Come on, I'm your fan after all..." You tried to struggle a little longer.

"Fans? Fans know my name, but don't they know that 'Ring' is a band's performance venue, not a place to pick up high school girls?" Li Xi finally raised his head, his sharp eyes piercing Bai Ye like a knife, "Please respect yourself!"

You were left speechless by Li Xi's words, and could only escape from the "ring" in shame.

【Please be more considerate before trying again. 】

If I had the eloquence and consideration, I would be able to deepen my relationship with Shiina Riki.

"Hey, is this the P-series setting? If you're not considerate enough, you can't trigger further plot points, right?"

Hakuno waved his arms, "Simulator, list my attributes for me!"

【白野】

【Consideration: 1 (Understanding of human nature)】

[Courage: 1 (timid and fearful)]

Knowledge: 1 (no knowledge at all)

[Charm: 1 (No one cares)]

[Dexterity: 1 (clumsy)]

"Okay, okay, it's really P5, right? You don't even want to upgrade your metaphorical fantasy."

Bai Ye clicked his tongue twice, "Simulator, give me some more!"

【Please increase your attribute value by simulating content. 】

"So should I go get a burger or grab a doll? You have to give me a hint, right?"

[…Characters that can currently trigger increased consideration include: Toyokawa Shoko. Please explore and learn how to increase consideration.]

"In the end, I still have to play with Xiangzi..."

Bai Ye was a little disappointed.

If possible, he wanted to let Xiangzi grow up freely without his interference as much as possible... In this way, it would feel "unexpected" and not within Hakuno's expectations.

But, hey, the numbers.

"Anyway, let's first ask Xiangzi how she's doing. Simulator, let's go find Xiangzi—oh, she should be in Totsuki right now, right?"

The simulator doesn't talk.

Perhaps this is part of the plot, not a system issue. This simulator rarely reveals what's actually happening in the plot; Bai Ye was completely fooled by it when Xingge simulated it before.

However, there was one thing that was clear to Hakuno.

This simulator doesn't lie.

At most, I won't tell the whole truth.

"Okay, let's go to Totsuki Academy!"

Hakuno gave the order.

You temporarily gave up the route to Hanegaoka Academy and went to Totsuki.

Totsuki Saryo Culinary Academy, Japan's top culinary academy. In your mind, it's probably like Japan's New Oriental.

After entering the school, you remembered that you and Xiangzi had exchanged phone numbers. You could have called Xiangzi first.

“…Ah! That’s what happened!”

Bai Ye suddenly realized.

Then, he immediately became suspicious.

Could it be that the reason why the simulator didn’t answer before didn’t mean that “the plot cannot be told directly”, but rather a silent expression of “why didn’t you call”?

...No, not really?

"Anyway, let's call Xiangzi first."

【You dialed Xiangzi's number.】

After the call was connected, you asked about Xiangzi's current situation and said that you happened to be near Totsuki Academy and could come visit Xiangzi. Xiangzi replied that he was preparing for the Shokugeki Shokugeki and that you could come directly to the Japanese cuisine club.

You follow the directions on your phone's navigation system, turning many corners along the way until you finally find the quaint building housing the Japanese cuisine department at Totsuki Academy. Before you even enter, a rich aroma fills your nose, making your stomach growl.

"This smell... could it be the legendary 'golden fried rice'?" You swallowed subconsciously, and classic scenes from various food anime appeared in your mind.

"No, it's just white rice."

Toyokawa Shoko came out from behind you and pushed you towards one of the tables. "Since you're here, it's a good opportunity to help."

[Her voice carried a certain undeniable tone.]

Chapter 59: One Year Later

Shoko Toyokawa is going crazy.

Why was it that music was a simulator, but food battles required her to personally fight against others? This was something Xiangzi couldn't understand.

...Perhaps if I hadn't chosen to be a chef in the first place, things would have been different?

“How terrible…”

Xiangzi rubbed the rice in his bowl vigorously and groaned in his heart.

This is already the 20th Shokugeki battle today... Xiangzi in the simulator doesn't have Shokugeki battles every day, but Xiangzi in reality will have another Shokugeki battle soon.

This was all Sawako's fault, saying she had to cultivate a "fighting spirit" and defeat all the cooking clubs at Totsuki Academy. Of course, Sawako only wanted her to do it within the semester, but the simulator didn't plan to give Sawako a semester.

In fact, when Xiangzi couldn't help but get up to look at the clock, he found that less than half an hour had passed.

Outrageous!

The cooking time for these twenty food battles alone must have been seventy or eighty hours, right?

That's right, seventy or eighty hours. Xiangzi wasn't done with just competing or even just winning. She had to understand why she won and why her opponent lost.

——I’m just a cooking lover?

Xiangzi felt that he was about to suffer from heart failure.

The only lucky thing is that she is not alone.

After the fifth Shokugeki, the simulator brought Hakuno in as an assistant. Although Hakuno's cooking skills weren't great, his knife skills were quite good, allowing Shoko to avoid most of the chopping work and focus on cooking and conceiving the dishes.

In fact, it's not just Hakuno. Shoko can also contact Ooba Nana and Iwanaga Kotoko to come and help. However, compared to Hakuno who is present at every food battle, these two people are not always available - but their level is also a little higher than Hakuno, which makes Shoko feel like he is playing a simulation game.

Hmph, or maybe it's because Nana Ohba likes Junna Hoshimi, Kotoko Iwanaga and Kuro Sakurai are in love, and only Hakuno and Shoko are alone... Tsk, Shoko is subtly annoyed. She has no time to manage her emotions right now. It's all music and food battles, not love.

Anyway, Xiangzi completed the game.

At least the first chapter of this game.

After returning to reality, Xiangzi staggered to the kitchen and prepared to pour himself a glass of cold water.

You've temporarily eliminated all the "bottom-of-the-barrel" clubs. This year, you've competed in twenty food battles, winning them all. Meanwhile, Wildfire's operations are thriving. You've held three live shows, and the response has been growing. An agency even approached you about signing you—but after some deliberation, you declined a commercial debut and instead continued as an amateur band, occasionally releasing music online.

【A year has passed, and everyone's situation has changed slightly.】

Nana Ohba graduated from Seisho and is planning to study abroad at the Royal Academy of Drama. This was one of the reasons you decided not to debut commercially. In fact, you even thought the band would disband.

"It's okay, we can still rehearse together online." Bai Ye wasn't worried.

He keeps his word—he's managed to get a cutting-edge AR system from some unknown company, allowing Nana Ohba, who's in England, to rehearse with her bandmates in Japan. You'd think it was too advanced, but Hakuno doesn't care.

Meanwhile, Iwanaga Kotoko and Sakurai Kuro are traveling around Japan, apparently working as detectives on the side. You suspect they're searching for the mortal who gouged out Kotoko's eyes, so to avoid upsetting them, you haven't asked for details.

【As for Hakuno.】

【Hakuno is in love with Takamatsu Touma. 】

Xiangzi didn't hold the glass firmly, and the cold water knocked it over and broke it in the sink.

She stared blankly at the simulator, seeing content that she had never expected to appear on it.

Hakuno, Takamatsu Light.

...What are you doing?

[“Why are you looking for the lamp——”]

After you learned about Hakuno and Takamatsu's relationship, you went to Hakuno in a rage, asking him what he was thinking. You even thought that Hakuno deliberately went to Takamatsu to annoy you.

Then, Hakuno asked back, using words you hadn't realized you had said, "What do you mean?"

You realize that you've never told Hakuno about your past, and Hakuno has never asked. Therefore, it's impossible for him to know about your relationship with Deng... Perhaps, his relationship with Deng was just a coincidence.

"Are you dissatisfied with Deng?" Hakuno didn't get angry at all even when you asked him. He always had this nice guy attitude. "Deng is a good girl."

[“…How did you two meet?” Your anger subsided a lot, but you couldn’t bring yourself to apologize, so you had to find an excuse to change the subject.]

"Well, you probably don't know? Deng is the lead singer of a band called MYGO. I'm a fan, so after one of their performances, I approached her and asked if she could sign an autograph or something." Hakuno said it lightly, as if everything was perfectly logical. "Anyway, I ended up being with Deng."

"What on earth...what on earth are you doing..."

Xiangzi leaned slightly against the kitchen.

Ever since Hakuno had become available at his beck and call in the simulation, Shoko had assumed they were more than just friends. After all, as the number of Shokugeki shokugeki increased, and as time went on, their interactions became increasingly natural. At least Shoko herself thought, maybe Hakuno and she could become a couple.

Of course, this was a very simple, vague thought. It was a simple thought that came to mind unconsciously after being cared for so attentively by Hakuno while my mind was preoccupied with the contents of the food battle.