[You noticed something was off with Ichinose Shiori. Sure enough, after entering the room, she confessed her remorse and described her perceived sins to you. From her words, you learned that Ibuki Yuko had willingly submitted to your coercion.]
Sighing as he read the simulation text, Minami Yuuki pondered.
Before the memory scene appeared, he had sensed something was wrong. The simulation continued even after Ibuki Yuko's death.
From previous life simulations, he had deduced a conclusion: the simulation ended with the conclusion of a romantic relationship.
In the past simulation, when Asano Nao died, the simulation did not end immediately because their relationship had not ended.
Love is an emotion between two people; as long as the emotion is deep, even separation by death cannot end the romance.
In the last simulation, his relationship with Ibuki Yuko was shallow, and the simulation ended abruptly with her death.
This time, he thought his relationship with Ibuki Yuko was similar to the last one, yet the simulation did not end with her death.
It was clear that their relationship had not ended; Ibuki Yuko still had unexpressed emotions.
From this, he immediately realized that his belief that Ibuki Yuko was a lifeless puppet was a misconception, an illusion.
He had been deceived by Ibuki Yuko!
The girl had actually undergone a change within, quietly and subtly, masked by an elegant facade, hidden beneath her pure white face.
In plain terms, Ibuki Yuko had secretly fallen for him!
"Indeed, no one can resist my charm!" Minami Yuuki's initially discouraged heart was comforted.
Feeling proud for a moment, he returned to the issue of Ibuki Yuko.
He complained, "Since you've already fallen for me, why not show it a bit!"
"No, perhaps she did show it? And I just didn't notice?"
He recalled the simulation's storyline, thinking of an incident that made him decide to give up on Ibuki Yuko.
He had tested Ibuki Yuko's limits by assuming the identity of her "fiancé." When he failed, seeing her offer no resistance, he concluded that she was a puppet devoid of will.
"Is it possible that Ibuki Yuko did not resist because she was happy to go along with it?"
If so, her lack of resistance was an action, an action that contained her own will.
These were just speculations. Minami Yuuki set them aside and continued to look at the simulation interface.
[Ichinose Shiori's statements stirred waves in your heart. You do not blame Ichinose Shiori; you had already decided to leave Ibuki Yuko before she intervened. It was you who failed to notice the girl's inner feelings.]
[At the same time, you have a different theory about Ibuki Yuko's death compared to Ichinose Shiori. Shiori believes Ibuki Yuko stood under the cherry blossom tree by the river, gazed at the apartment, and then jumped into the water. You do not think so. You comfort Ichinose Shiori, encouraging her to cheer up and investigate the incident.]
[The next day, the investigation made progress. Through reviewing nearby surveillance footage and questioning residents, the police identified the real culprits.]
[Around 1 a.m. that day, Ibuki Yuko was walking on the road near the subway entrance. Two middle-aged women, returning drunk from a bar, were jealous of her beauty. Approaching her, they used the excuse of her being out late to berate her.]
[Ibuki Yuko neither argued nor resisted, intensifying their malice. After being shoved a few times, the girl ran forward. Drunk and enraged, they chased her, causing her to fall into the water. Staring at the dark river, they, fearing responsibility, neither rescued her nor called for help, and fled in panic.]
[This led Ichinose Shiori to another question: did Ibuki Yuko fall in panic, or did she head straight for the moon reflected on the water?]
[She cannot determine.]
[Simulation Ends]
Thinking about Ichinose Shiori's question in the simulation, Minami Yuuki in reality also began to ponder.
He too couldn't find an answer.
But at least he knew that Ibuki Yuko did not truly seek death.
Perhaps, on the contrary, above the abyss of death, the girl clung to the cliff edge of life, hoping someone would reach out to her, pulling her back to the land of the living.
Minami Yuuki's mind was again filled with doubt. Since Ibuki Yuko's death was an accident, and since the girl longed for a supporter, the guess that she liked him no longer held.
He could be a supporter, and so could Ichinose Shiori. Ichinose Shiori previously said that Ibuki Yuko was craving his coercion.
That might be correct, but how could Ichinose Shiori prove that Ibuki Yuko wasn't craving her coercion?
Was it because the girl was very obedient under his coercion, but ran away from home under Ichinose's coercion, and even went to the vicinity of his apartment building? But this apartment building was also Ibuki Yuko's home, so how could he be sure that Ibuki Yuko was there to see him, and not to see her own home or Ibuki Honoka?
After thinking for a long time, Minami Yuuki couldn't come to an answer.
Girls who bury their feelings deep inside are the most troublesome. Trying to infer a girl's inner thoughts from the few traces left in reality is too futile.
He put aside his thoughts and looked at the summary for this round.
[Summary]
[Score: 23]
[Stage: Pursuit Phase]
[Comment: Your feelings are confined to both of your hearts.]
[Settlement: You have obtained some memory fragments.]
Confined to both of their hearts, huh.
Minami Yuuki rubbed his head. In one simulation with Asano Nao, he seemed to have received a similar evaluation.
Having this evaluation means that Ibuki Yuko indeed had some good feelings towards him, right? It's just unclear if it was romantic love or simply a desire for a supporter.
Should he try another simulation? This time, avoiding Ichinose Shiori, or colluding with Ichinose Shiori to monitor Ibuki Yuko together!
Monitoring a beautiful girl together with another beautiful girl sounds a bit exciting!
He looked out the window; the night was already deep. This third simulation might consume a lot of time.
Forget it, he had to get up early tomorrow.
Let's see what kind of reward this settlement brought.
Minami Yuuki stared at the summary screen, looking at the words "some memory fragments" in the settlement column.
This was a type of reward he had never seen before.
[Do you want to extract memory fragments?]
Yes!
The moment he clicked confirm, Minami Yuuki felt a lot of information flooding into his brain. These pieces of information formed more than a dozen small scenes.
Among them were scenes of the final exam at the end of the second semester of the second year, scenes of him shopping with Chitose Kazumi, and scenes of him listening to Ichinose Shiori's complaints.
So, the memory fragments were pieces of time he had spent in the simulated life. These fragments were insignificant, so they neither entered the memory scenes nor were described by the simulation text.
This reward seemed ordinary, but Minami Yuuki was thrilled.
These memory fragments were scenes from the future!
For example, the final exam scenes meant he could now predict the exam questions!
Unfortunately, there were no scenes with lottery numbers or football matches.
As for the exam questions, he wouldn't need them if he just studied a bit more seriously. However, the scene of talking with Ichinose Shiori contained some potentially useful information.
Minami Yuuki sighed and closed his eyes.
He entered his dream, arriving at the dream theater.
"Yuuki and Nao"
Play!
The little senior is so troublesome; my Nao is still the cutest!
Miu and Rikka are the best in the world!