Naturally, Kitahara Toru wouldn't know that another girl had loaded the simulator and even inserted herself into his... simulated world without permission.
Our protagonist, Kitahara Toru, is now checking this life's attributes.
[Current Character Attributes]
Knowledge: 124 (Diligent and studious) Courage: 161 (Self-sufficient) Dexterity: 113 (Normal) Consideration: 101 (Expert listener) Charm: 132 (Attention-grabbing)
After the increase in the last simulation, almost all attributes went up by approximately 40, and four of them—except for courage—successfully entered the second level.
However, Kitahara Toru only has a partial understanding of their specific functions.
He only knows that the knowledge attribute can increase the rate of experience point acquisition.
The rest of the attributes may be linked to special events, but Kitahara Toru doesn't like playing in text mode...
When the simulation was fully immersive, the simulator didn't even show choices, which was completely different from Gotoh Hitori, who only dared to play in text mode.
Disabling the attributes, Kitahara Toru checked his talents again.
[Talent: Incomparable Genius]
It seems that after receiving a lot of attention, he will be called a genius. Unfortunately, this simulation requires him to be an ordinary person. Being too outstanding won't lead to an increase in ratings.
Forget it—let's start making arrangements.
Kitahara Toru's ordinary life, here we go!!
――――
On the other hand, Ijichi Nijika was looking at the messages in the simulator with some frustration.
She realized that making someone happy was actually very difficult. Extremely difficult!
Happiness is not the same as joy; it is a deeper feeling. Helping an elderly woman cross the street, for example, might elicit gratitude, but never happiness.
[You made lunch for your sister, Ijichi Seika. Happiness points +1]
Perhaps due to their long-term companionship, Nijika could only earn very few happiness points from her sister by doing small things like this.
[You made dinner for your sister, Ijichi Seika. Happiness points +1]
Fortunately, this type of happiness points is easy to obtain—you can get at least several points in a day.
100
Seika is like an ATM that keeps spitting out money, with unlimited withdrawals.
Ijichi Nijika looked at her sister, who was asleep at the table, and decided to end the simulation. Once she obtained the beauty cream, she would let her sister use half of it.
Since this was the first simulation, Ijichi Nijika's goal wasn't too ambitious. She initially set her target at 10,000 happiness points.
[On the last day before the end of Golden Week, due to a typhoon, it rained heavily. Kessoku Band's first performance was quite empty, but fortunately, they performed well. After the performance, you saw someone who had been invited by Yamada Ryo to attend: The name of the guest is Kitahara Toru.]
The person Ryo invited?
Wait, the fact that Ryo invited someone is already quite surprising in itself...
In her own words, it should be... well, this is rock and roll.
As she spoke, Ryo nodded frequently to make herself sound more credible.
'Wait...'
Nijika quickly thought of something strange about Yamada Ryo recently—
She had been spending much more time practicing the bass and seemed to have a lot of worries buried deep in her heart.
Could it be related to this Kitahara Toru?
Nijika had a bold idea.
Ah~ No way, right?
Could it be... love?
Dokidoki!
She kept reading.
[Kitahara Toru's attention toward Kessoku Band has increased!]
[Kitahara Toru's attention toward you has increased!]
"Eh...?"
Nijika froze, her head filled with question marks, adorably confused.
Why?
Nijika couldn't understand. As the drummer, she was at the back of the band and had no idea why Kitahara Toru was paying attention to her.
It was strange.
Could it be that Kitahara also likes the drums?
[Faced with Kitahara Toru, who has been watching you, you decide to…]
Approach him and greet him. Do a "wall bang," lift his chin, and say—"Hm, man, you've managed to catch my interest." Start a conversation and ask if he has any problems you could help with. Ask about the rumors between him and Ryō Yamada.
Which one would you choose?
It was her first time playing, and she was confused.
Ijichi Nijika really wanted to choose the fourth option.
The first and third options were similar, and the fourth was a bit daring.
As for the second one, Nijika felt like the simulator was joking.
How could someone confess their feelings for the first time and say such a cringey line?
Maybe only Yamada Ryo could do something like that, right?
Choose 1.
[You approached Kitahara Toru, who was sitting near the bar, introduced yourself, and asked for his opinion on the performance just now. He responded with a thumbs-up and index finger gesture, indicating that he only had a superficial understanding of rock, so he might not be able to offer a useful opinion. Courage +1]
What? He turned out to be just an ordinary handsome customer.
[He didn't stay long and left soon after.]
[After that day, you discussed it with Kita Ikuyo and asked Yamada Ryo about any news regarding Kitahara Toru. Only then did you realize that Yamada Ryo and he were just semi-strangers who had only met once. Kita Ikuyo felt much more relieved knowing that her favorite senpai, Ryo, hadn't been 'stolen.']
[In your second year of high school, you lived a fulfilling life—helping your sister cook every day and playing with your bandmates. You could say that nothing changed. The only thing that did change was your band's reputation: the number of guests coming to STARRY specifically to enjoy your performance increased from a few to a dozen, and from a dozen to dozens.]
Hmm... If this continues, it won't be long before we truly become famous.
Even though it was just a simulation, it felt great to be the first to achieve her dream and experience it.
Ijichi Nijika was looking forward to it.
[Although you are far from being famous, the STARRY live house no longer looks deserted when it's your turn to perform. Over the past year, you have earned happiness points: 1,252 points from taking care of your sister.]
Sis, you're amazing.
Since she hadn't found new ways to earn happiness points, Ijichi Nijika could only thank her sister for her generosity.
[Last year of high school, in April, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, a new transfer student arrived in your class. He wore subtle black-rimmed glasses and had short, refreshing black hair. Most importantly, he was very handsome. You recognized him immediately—it was Kitahara Toru, whom you had briefly met last year.]
[Soon, Kitahara-san got along well with everyone in class, without any signs of awkwardness. Although you were curious about why he transferred here, since you weren't familiar with him, you didn't ask in detail and quickly put the matter behind you.]
[Until one day, you saw Yamada Ryo and him entering the Shimokitazawa High School music room after school.]
??
Ryo, what are you doing?
[The next day, Yamada Ryo invited you to join the light music club formed by Kitahara Toru.]
A club?
Three people?
Ijichi Nijika felt that the Ryo in the simulator was acting a little strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
But it was just so strange!