I have a life simulator.

Kitagawa Ryo once read the following statement in a book:

I dislike gentle girls. Gentle girls are actually gentle to everyone, but I mistakenly believe they're only gentle to me.

What distinguishes romantic love from friendship is its unique and special nature.

Special people, special feelings, and therefore special treatment.

"I also hope to join Liang's group."

Honami Ichinose began by saying this.

"Okay, I've been waiting for you."

Kitagawa Ryo replied with a smile.

Chapter 134: Love Game

"So why can't I team up with students from other classes?"

Just as lunch break was starting, Kitagawa Ryo received a call from Karuizawa Megumi, who sounded quite frustrated.

When Karuizawa Megumi first heard that the rules for this year's deserted island exam would be different from previous years due to the intervention of the student council vice president, Nagumo, she fantasized that, given Nagumo Miyabi's personality, the whole grade would compete like they did in the previous sports festival, and Class 1-B could legitimately cooperate with Class D. However, she didn't expect that the other party would completely disappoint her.

"Although there are group competitions and elimination of the last place, in the end it is still about letting the four first-grade classes compete against each other."

"That's just the style of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School. After all, Horikita Manabu is still the student council president, and Nagumo can only symbolically add a little bit of his own idea of ​​'meritocracy,' so that's all there is to it."

Kitagawa Ryo switched his phone from his right hand to his left, stopped in front of a vending machine on the roadside, and started choosing a drink while talking.

"Has Hui assembled a team yet? Although the cards haven't been distributed yet, apart from the special card [Double Blades] which requires team composition around the opponent, I don't really care about the others."

It would have been fine if the topic of forming a team hadn't been brought up, but as soon as it came up, Karuizawa Megumi's tone became dejected again, as if you could see her pouting and unhappy just by listening to her voice:

"Then I definitely can't form a four-person group in just three minutes like Liang did. No, four people seems like the limit for Liang."

Just imagining Kitagawa Ryo and three other girls setting up tents and lighting a campfire on a deserted island at night, chatting and cooking under the starry sky, made Karuizawa Megumi feel as if a valve in her heart had loosened a little, and inexplicable emotions flowed out from there like tap water, and then turned into words.

Karuizawa Kei had always thought she had maintained a relaxed mindset over the years, but in the last few days she realized that it was all just self-comforting rhetoric.

She had already failed twice, so this was her last chance. That's why she had to work hard to become the best version of herself. Forgetting the past is an extremely difficult thing. Karuizawa Kei thought she had let go, but in reality, everything she did, at its core, was still driven by the past.

It was as if he wanted to use this one breath to redeem everything from the past.

The last one is inherently related to the pursuit of words like 'ultimate', 'absolute', 'perfect', and 'pure'.

However, the number of girls surrounding Kitagawa Ryo continues to increase.

Especially after her direct confrontation with Horikita Suzune a few days ago, Karuizawa Megumi suddenly developed this strong sense of crisis.

"It's possible to encounter other groups on a deserted island."

"I've always trusted the students in your Class B. If we run into each other, we can totally have a get-together tonight."

Kitagawa Ryo also noticed Karuizawa Megumi's slight mood and took the initiative to comfort her.

"Or we could arrange to meet in advance at the location of the assessment for a particular topic. Swimming or beach volleyball would be nice, after all, I gave Hui her swimsuit, so it wouldn't hurt to let me take a few more glances, right?"

"...Then let's agree on this."

"Yes, it's just a special exam that lasts for fourteen days. Take care of yourself and have fun."

After ending his call with Karuizawa Megumi, Kitagawa Ryo thought for a moment and then walked towards Class 1-C, which was not far away.

Unlike Karuizawa Megumi's status in Class B and her own abilities, Kitagawa Ryo was undoubtedly more concerned about Shiina Hiyori's team composition in Class C. After all, although Shiina Hiyori had high academic ability, she was not strong in physical fitness, and was even below average.

The exam on the deserted island, no matter what, fundamentally tests each student's physical fitness.

However, after thinking about it again, Kitagawa Ryosuke decided to turn around and go back to his room.

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"Ayanokouji-san, can you tell me if you have a chance of getting into the top three in this special exam on the deserted island all by yourself?"

In Class 1-A, the class president, Kohei Katsuragi, unusually didn't call his usual follower, Yahiko Totsuka. Instead, he called Kiyotaka Ayanokouji out alone. After making sure no one was around, he asked Kiyotaka Ayanokouji a question with a serious expression.

Similar to Class D in the first year, Class A in the first year also recognized the importance of this special exam. If they could secure first place in the class rankings and also take the top three spots in their group rankings, they could even directly obtain as many as 900 class points in this exam.

Of course, the above is only the most ideal situation.

However, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's abilities gave Katsuragi Kohei a glimmer of hope for this impossible ending.

Although he is ostensibly the leader of Class 1-A, only Katsuragi Kohei himself knows that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is the most capable person in the entire Class 1-A, which is why he asked such a question at this time.

As the strongest class overall, Class 1A undoubtedly holds an advantage in the class rankings. He himself is also confident in forming a team to compete for a top-three position in the group rankings. If Ayanokouji Kiyotaka can secure another top-three ranking, then Class 1A will be the biggest beneficiary of this special exam.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji replied calmly:

"Katsura, you trust me too much. In the end, we only know part of the rules, and the information is incomplete."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka knew very well that Katsuragi Kohei's purpose in saying that was not really to let him form a team by himself. If he had nodded and agreed just now, Katsuragi Kohei would definitely have arranged three of the less advanced students in the class as his teammates.

With great power comes great responsibility. While Katsuragi Kohei himself has always lived by this motto, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka does not share this view.

There is no concept of 'companions' in the white room; rather, it is said that the greater the ability, the greater the power.

Seeing Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's reply, Katsuragi Kohei smiled wryly and touched his bald head.

"So, Ayanokouji-san, what are your thoughts on forming a team?"

"I will still form a team by myself."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka answered without hesitation, and then immediately explained to Katsuragi Kohei:

"Teaming up undoubtedly has advantages. But that doesn't mean you can't win alone. On the contrary, you have the advantage of freedom of movement without being affected by others. And depending on the situation, an individual may be more efficient at scoring than a team."

"The essence of team formation is to achieve complementary abilities. In other words, if a person's overall abilities are sufficient, there is no need to form a team with others."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka stared intently into Katsuragi Kohei's pupils, emphasizing the pronunciation of the word 'single'.

"...So, Ayanokouji-san, what kind of results can you achieve if you team up solo?"

Katsuragi Kohei also sensed Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's meaning and asked again:

"Number one?"

"If it's first place, there's a 50% chance."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's explanation was vague, but Katsuragi Kohei couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement:

"Even if there's only a 50% chance, that's still quite remarkable."

He didn't really doubt Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's words. After all, from Katsuragi Kohei's perspective, Class 1-A was the strongest class in Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was the strongest student in the class, naturally ranking first in the entire grade.

"Because there are only two possibilities: first or not first, it is naturally a 50% probability."

"what the hell……"

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji ended the topic of forming a team with a lame joke.

"In short, it's best to discuss the specifics of team formation after each student's cards are finalized."

"Well, I see."

Katsuragi Kohei noticed that there were more students around, and Totsuka Yahiko was waving at them from a distance, so he nodded and turned to leave.

Looking at the other person's imposing back, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji thoughtfully took a step in one of the directions.

Actually, what I just said wasn't some kind of probability theory sophistry, nor was it a lame joke.

There are only two possible outcomes for a team to finish first in its group.

Kitagawa Ryo is number one, or perhaps Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is number one.

That's it.

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Theoretically speaking, this was Kitagawa Ryo's first time standing at the entrance of Class 1-C. Although he had spent a fairly pleasant time here during Karuizawa Megumi's second mock exam, no one else remembered any of this except for him and Karuizawa Megumi.

However, one achievement from that simulation still left a slight mark on that experience:

[Congratulations to the player for achieving the achievement "Class Promotion"! The initial favorability with Class C in the first year has increased.]

Of course, besides this, what Kitagawa Ryo is even more concerned about is the ring that he has never taken out so far.

[A ring: It should be a pair, but you don't know who has the other one right now.]

This is an item he obtained after achieving the "Heartbreaker" achievement, so there's basically no doubt that the other ring is in Shiina Hiyori's possession, since it was originally a confession gift he gave her at that time.

Since meeting Shiina Hiyori, Kitagawa Ryo has never heard her mention anything about rings, and he himself would certainly not bring it up. If it weren't for the "Class 1-C" sign in front of him triggering some memories, Kitagawa Ryo would have almost forgotten about it.

The girls in Class C of Grade 1 were quite bold. Seeing a handsome boy from another class standing thoughtfully at the door of their classroom, they took the initiative to go up and strike up a conversation:

"Is that Kitagawa-kun from Class D? Are you here in Class C to see someone?"

Although he had taken advantage of the conflict between Ryuen Sho and Tokito Yuya within Class C at the beginning of the semester to make Class C suffer a loss, most of the students in Class C were unaware of the inside story. They just thought Kitagawa Ryo was quite pleasing to the eye and were quite familiar with him when they struck up a conversation.

As for why they recognized Kitagawa Ryo, you'd have to ask the girls who compiled the list of handsome first-year students.

"Yes, I'm here to see Hiyori."

Upon hearing this, Kitagawa Ryo put aside his thoughts, nodded, and smiled in response.

"So it's Shiina-kun."

The girls seemed quite familiar with the name Hiyori Shiina, judging from their tone of voice:

"Shiina-kun's seat is over there."

A girl pointed to a spot from the window for Kitagawa Ryo, then peeked inside and said:

"She's still reading. Come to think of it, she's been reading that book since this morning. I'm a little worried that she might not have heard the rules of the special exam clearly."

"A few homemade snacks, thank you for taking care of Hiyori all the time."

Kitagawa Ryo took out a box of handmade desserts that he had just retrieved from his room from the bag he was carrying and handed it to him sincerely.

"ah……"

Now the girls were a little embarrassed. After all, they were just ordinary classmates with Shiina Hiyori, and it was really hard for them to be called 'taking care' of her.

"I'll go in first."

However, Kitagawa Ryo didn't give them time to react. He placed the delicate little box in one of their hands and walked into Class 1-C's classroom with ease. Judging from his natural and familiar manner, it was as if he had returned to his own class.

Since the lunch break had already passed for some time, the students either went to the cafeteria for lunch or went back to their rooms for a nap. Apart from the few girls who had just left Class C, there were only two people left in the class.

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at it and, sure enough, it was Ibuki Mio.

It was easy to predict that the other party also had no friends.

Mio Ibuki, who was napping at the table, didn't notice Ryo Kitagawa's slightly pitying gaze. On the contrary, Hiyori Shiina, who was focused on her book, noticed Ryo Kitagawa's approach.

However, Shiina Hiyori didn't close the book in her hand. Instead, she held it horizontally and slowly raised it to her forehead until her purple pupils were revealed.

"Is Ryo here to team up with me?"

"Wake up, this exam doesn't allow cross-class teams."

Kitagawa Ryo pulled up a stool and sat down in front of Shiina Hiyori. He habitually reached out to tap her forehead with his finger, but instead bumped into the spine of the book.

"And Then There Were None? Why are you reading this again? Hiyori must have read it many times by now."

Noticing the book title and Agatha Christie's name on the cover, Kitagawa Ryo asked with some confusion.

"I remembered it because the class teacher talked about the rules and content of the exam on the deserted island this morning."

Hiyori Shiina nodded slightly, her silver-white hair swaying gently beside her ears with the movement.

"Look, aren't these all stories that take place on deserted islands?"

As she spoke, Hiyori Shiina placed the book she was holding on the table. The page she had turned to was none other than the most famous nursery rhyme in this mystery novel:

"Ten soldiers went out for a treat; unfortunately, they choked, and only nine remained..."

Hiyori Shiina hummed softly the rather dark-sounding nursery rhyme.

But Kitagawa Ryo didn't find it terrifying, or rather, he never even thought about it that way.

Just like the description of the person you like in "The Little Prince," when you are unique, I will think of you when I see any ordinary scene. So after the fox fell in love with the Little Prince, he would think of the Little Prince's bright golden hair when he saw the golden wheat fields.

Listening to Hiyori Shiina's soft humming, all he could think of were takoyaki, watermelon cutting, goldfish scooping, ring toss, the grand and spectacular drone show in the night sky, and those two rings.

It was a mystery game about love between two mystery novel enthusiasts.