Chapter 2: You, As Always (Please give it a bookmark)

[Simulation attempts remaining: 3]

[Simulation target: Hitori Gotoh]

The text on the system panel began to change.

[Today, as always, you are diligently studying, just as you have been for the past year since transmigrating.]

[A stable life of studying, a smooth and uneventful life, and finding a wife who can satisfy all your desires—this is your lifelong ideal.]

*[To achieve this ideal, despite receiving numerous love letters and invitations from girls, you remain focused on your studies. To you, the naive romances of high school hold no appeal.]

Wait, why does the system make it sound like all I do is study?

And can we not phrase the part about a wife satisfying all my desires so bluntly?

Minami wasn't too pleased with the system's portrayal of him as some kind of overly studious, rigid individual. It felt like a misrepresentation of his character.

[During lunch break, after finishing copying the notes and eating, you organized your thoughts and decided to—]

[1. Stick to your usual routine;

2. Embrace your youth and visit the gym;

3. Chat with a female classmate who approaches you;

4. Enter the simulation personally.]

"Enter the simulation personally?"

Curious, Minami tapped on the fourth option, and an explanation popped up.

[Project your consciousness into the simulation world for a 100% authentic, fully immersive, high-freedom experience! This option consumes 4 simulation attempts.]

Minami glanced at his remaining 3 simulation attempts and regretfully dismissed the idea of the so-called "100% authentic experience."

His attention returned to the other three options.

The second option was to embrace his youth and visit the gym...

To be honest, if this simulation were to reflect reality, Minami had little interest in working out at the gym, even though his physical fitness was decent.

The third option was to chat with a female classmate—

But since this was a romance simulator, and the heroine, Hitori Gotoh, hadn't even appeared yet, it felt somewhat inappropriate to get too friendly with other girls.

That left only the first option: stick to his usual routine.

For the past year since arriving in this world, Minami had made it a habit to set aside some time during lunch breaks to preview his lessons, ensuring he stayed on top of his studies.

Rather than choosing the latter two options, it seemed safer to stick to his usual routine. This way, he could maintain his focus on academics while conserving his energy.

After some thought, Minami reached out and selected the first option.

[Despite the temptations around you and the indulgence of your peers, you decided to preview your lessons to prepare for the afternoon classes. To you, the naive romances of high school held no meaning. Your life remained unchanged, even after obtaining the Romance Simulator. Love? It couldn't possibly disrupt your steadfast daily routine.]

This description made Minami feel uneasy.

[You spent the first day as usual.]

[You spent the second day as usual.]

[You spent the third day as usual.]

[Your learning ability and self-discipline improved.]

Minami: "..."

[During the final exams, you defended your position as the top student in your grade with an absolute and unshakable advantage. Everyone looked at you with admiration.]

[You spent a month as usual.]

[You spent two years as usual... Your life remained completely unchanged.]

What are you doing?

Minami glanced at the name "Romance Simulator" to make sure he hadn't opened the wrong app, then continued reading.

[Thanks to your highly disciplined nature, you effortlessly got into the University of Tokyo's medical school.]

[At a class reunion, you met a woman who could satisfy all your desires. At her request, you learned to play the bass guitar.]

[With your outstanding looks and musical talent, you easily won her over. Thanks to her affluent family background and your own resources from the University of Tokyo's medical school, after graduation, you smoothly took over as the head of her family's hospital department. Occasionally, you practiced the bass with your wife, living a happy and stable life—exactly the smooth, uneventful life you had always dreamed of.]

[System Evaluation: 0 points.]

[Comment: You never met her. Sticking to your routine isn't a bad thing, but looking back, there are some regrets in life that you missed out on.]

[System Settlement: Your self-discipline has improved.]

Huh???

Staring at this unexpected outcome, Minami couldn't help but open his mouth in surprise.

Sure, he ended up relying on his wife's wealth, but the result seemed surprisingly good?

But what about the romance? Wasn't this supposed to be a romance simulator? And it only gave me one option?

Also, who did I end up marrying?

What about Hitori Gotoh? Wasn't she supposed to have "slight admiration" for me? In the simulation, did she not even dare to talk to me?

If she had just approached me, maybe she could have had a passionate romance with Tokyo's most handsome young man.

There's definitely something wrong with this woman.

Do you even understand the value of a 9 in appearance?

Minami tapped on the desk, deep in thought.

Perhaps he had taken the wrong approach from the start.

Thinking about it, in the simulation, he didn't even know Hitori Gotoh. If he had chosen to preview his lessons from the beginning, naturally, there would be no opportunity to interact with her.

In hindsight, the previous choice seemed a bit hasty.

As for his learning ability...

Minami casually opened his personal panel.

Under "Special Skills," his learning ability was still at LV4, but now there was an additional "Self-Discipline LV1."

It seemed that his natural talent was already so high that improving it was a bit challenging.

Just as Minami, sitting in his classroom chair, was pondering whether to start another simulation—

A voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Minami, if you don't mind, would you like to chat with us to pass the time?"

Huh?

Hearing this, Minami looked up in surprise at the female classmate who had nervously approached him, her face slightly flushed.

With his Learning Ability at LV4, he remembered that the simulator had an option to chat with a female classmate who approached him.

And now, this was actually happening in real life.

Could it be that this simulator had some ability to predict the future?

In the simulation, he had chosen to preview his lessons.

Perhaps it was time to try a different approach...

"Sure," Minami replied.

Minami nodded, agreeing to the invitation.

The girl, who hadn't been expecting much, was clearly surprised. The usually studious and aloof Minami, often referred to as the "ornamental pretty boy," had agreed to her request so readily.

Her face lit up with joy, and she excitedly called over the other girls in her group.

Soon, a small crowd of girls surrounded Minami, chattering away about various topics.

As expected of high school girls, their conversations revolved around school gossip, recent makeup trends, and which shampoo worked best for their hair.

To be honest, Minami wasn't particularly interested in these gossipy topics.

But when they brought up a certain subject, his attention was immediately caught.

"By the way, Yuka, have you noticed that first-year girl... what's her name again? Hitori Gotoh?"

"Hitori Gotoh?" Minami, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

"You don't know about her, Minami?"

Seeing the usually reserved and ornamental pretty boy take an interest, the girls were thrilled. They didn't care about privacy laws and eagerly spilled everything they knew about Hitori Gotoh, embellishing the details with artistic flair.

An ugly girl, hunched over, flat-chested, and with a weird fashion sense—she wore a pink tracksuit with a skirt to class, carried a guitar around for no reason, and had this gloomy, unapproachable aura that made everyone uncomfortable.

Ugly? Hunched? Flat-chested? And she wore a pink tracksuit with a skirt?

Minami frowned.

While he understood that the girls were likely exaggerating to pique his interest, the artistic liberties they took were a bit too much.

What kind of weirdo would wear such a disastrous outfit?

After sending the group of girls away, Minami silently summarized the information he had gathered about Hitori Gotoh.

First-year, Class 3? So she's his junior?

It seemed the simulator could indeed simulate future events to some extent.

In the previous simulation, he had chosen to preview his lessons, which led to him focusing solely on his studies.

But this time, in reality, he had interacted with the girls and gained information about Hitori Gotoh.

Would this change the content of the simulation involving Hitori Gotoh?

Minami looked at the floating simulator panel.

[Start simulation?]

Yes!

(TL Notes: Please comment and review! Helps a lot, if anyone is still reading, otherwise I'll just find a new fanfic.)