บท 58: Chapter 58: Minami Yuuki Shivered.
[You pretended to be worried about your final grades, coaxing Ibuki Honoka into suggesting her daughter tutor you, to which you gladly agreed.]
[That very evening, after returning from the izakaya, Ibuki Honoka brought you to her home.]
[Ibuki Yuko sat at the low table in the living room, wearing headphones and reading a book. Ibuki Honoka took away her phone and book, instructing her to tutor you. Then Honoka sat on the sofa behind the low table, half-sitting, half-lying, watching you.]
[Despite her mother's sudden request and your unexpected arrival, Ibuki Yuko showed no signs of impatience or displeasure. She pulled out first-grade textbooks from the cabinet and began tutoring you.]
[The low table was small, and the girl was very close to you. Her clear voice surrounded you as she explained concepts you already understood.]
[A slight lift of your chin allowed you to see her fair hands and the delicate face beneath her long black hair.]
[The girl sat upright, her posture and expression unchanged. Your arrival had not shaken her in the slightest. The elegance she displayed in maintaining her composure in your presence was a form of rejection. Her tranquility was a resistance against you, a refusal to let you affect her inner world.]
[You realized your plan had failed.]
[Even this unexpected intrusion into the girl's home couldn't affect her emotions. You couldn't think of a way to break through the ice surrounding her.]
[Facing such a dilemma, you chose...]
[1. "Go with the flow, wait for the right moment."]
[2. "Now that I think about it, Honoka is quite beautiful too."]
[3. "I can only use more aggressive methods. Go buy some rope and a utility knife."]
[4. Free simulation]
Minami Yuuki glanced at the options. Besides one and four, the rest were quite strange.
"What does 'Honoka is quite beautiful too' mean? If I can't be with Ibuki Yuko, I'll go for a father-daughter relationship instead?"
"And what's the deal with 'buying rope and a utility knife'? That's definitely criminal!"
He clicked on option one.
[You decided to wait for the right opportunity. You believed no one could maintain elegance and calmness forever. One day, Ibuki Yuko's inner self would reveal itself. She would become anxious, afraid, joyful, embarrassed, and when that day came, you would seize the opportunity.]
[An hour later, you finished your tutoring and returned home. From then on, you visited the Ibuki home for half an hour each day to ask Ibuki Yuko for help with your studies.]
[Occasionally, Ibuki Honoka wasn't home. You thought you might see some change in Ibuki Yuko, but the girl's attitude remained the same.]
[For the final exams, you ranked in the top ten of your class. That evening, you thanked Ibuki Yuko for her help. As you expected, the girl only politely congratulated you.]
[On the first afternoon of summer vacation, you sat by your bed, contemplating your next move.]
[Simulation ended]
"...?"
Minami Yuuki stared in disbelief at the words "Simulation ended." He scrolled down the simulator interface, but it wouldn't move. The simulation had indeed ended, and there were no more words.
"How could it end just like that?"
He sat up on the bed, looking at the abruptly terminated simulation interface, filled with confusion.
One moment he was thinking about his next plan, and the next, the simulation was over?
It felt like reading a web novel where the author promised to start updating more frequently but then disappeared the next day, ending the story abruptly.
Did he miss something?
Minami Yuuki pulled up the simulator interface and reread the text of this simulation.
His eyes had not deceived him; the simulation ended just like that.
Next to the simulation interface, a summary box had already popped up.
[Summary of this Simulation]
[Stage: Pursuit Phase]
[Score: 6]
[Comment: She hides her inner self behind a sturdy iron door. You failed to break through its defenses.]
[Settlement: You gained a small amount of learning experience]
There were no clues in the summary.
Minami Yuuki dismissed it and looked back at the simulation interface.
What exactly had happened to cause the simulation to suddenly stop?
He recalled the simulations with Asano Nao. Even if their relationship didn't progress, the simulations continued until he graduated from high school.
This simulation, however, only lasted until the summer of his first year.
Was it his series of actions that caused Ibuki Yuko to dislike him? Had she already categorized him as someone she could never be with, leading to the immediate end of the romance simulation?
No, in the simulated life, Ibuki Yuko was merely cold, not to the point of dislike. It was already unbelievable enough for a young girl to be cold towards him; the idea that she could dislike him seemed even more far-fetched.
Moreover, the summary only mentioned that he couldn't get into Ibuki Yuko's inner world. If she disliked him enough to end the romance simulation, it would have been noted in the summary. Since it wasn't, that wasn't the case.
"Which means, the end of the romance simulation wasn't caused by our emotions," Minami Yuuki murmured to himself.
His eyes gradually widened as a possibility emerged in his mind.
"If it wasn't an emotional issue, then it must have been a physical one."
He looked at the simulation text again, staring at the last line.
[On the afternoon of the first day of summer vacation, you sit at the bedside, contemplating your next move.]
"Before the simulation ended, I was sitting at the bedside in my apartment, so it shouldn't be my physical body that had a problem. It must be Ibuki Yuko who had a problem."
There was no moon tonight. The pitch-black night seeped through the gaps in the curtains. Minami Yuuki rubbed his chilled arms and shrank back into the covers.
To verify his guess, he started the simulation again.
[Simulation Start]
[Remaining Simulation Attempts: 1]
[Simulation Target: Ibuki Yuko]
[Initial Relationship: Acquaintance]
[Five days have passed since you arrived in this world. You've become friends with Asano Nao, who has taken over your meals; you've also become friends with Chitose Kazumi, alleviating the boredom of school life. You've changed your classmates' impression of you, evolving from a fringe person to someone popular.]
Minami Yuuki swiped through the interface, skipping the repeated parts.
In this simulated life, he mostly followed his previous actions.
He became friends with Ibuki Honoka and frequently visited the Ibuki household under the pretext of tutoring. He ranked in the top ten of the class in the final exams and received a perfunctory thank you from Ibuki Yuko.
The change occurred during summer vacation.
[On the first day of summer vacation, you wake up early and wait by the elevator in your apartment, watching the floors where it stops. Every time it comes down from the eleventh floor, you press the button to check if Ibuki Yuko is inside.]
[At noon, you spot your target.]
[Casually greeting Ibuki Yuko, you walk into the elevator. After descending, you follow her.]
[You're not skilled in following people, but luckily Ibuki Yuko doesn't mind your presence.]
[Ibuki Yuko goes to the library, returns her books, and picks out a new stack.]
[By the time she leaves the library, it's already afternoon. You focus intently on the figure of the girl in front of you.]
[The library is in a remote area, the road ahead is wide, and there aren't many pedestrians but plenty of vehicles.]
[The scorching summer sun makes it hard to keep your eyes open. Even glancing at the traffic lights takes great effort. The intersection is busy with vehicles, and there isn't a trace of greenery around, making you feel uneasy.]
[You see the cause of the abrupt end of your last simulation.]
[On the glaringly bright road, a green truck ignores the red light and heads straight towards where you and Ibuki Yuko are standing.]
[The surrounding vehicles honk loudly, warning the pedestrians at the intersection and trying to alert the truck driver.]
[Ibuki Yuko notices the approaching metal behemoth. She seems either dazed by the summer sun or frozen in fear by the massive shadow, standing immobile at the intersection.]
[You pull her aside and run.]
[The truck barrels past you and her, crashing into the library wall, and the gust of wind stings the back of your neck.]
[Once you steady yourself, you turn to look at her. She's unharmed, and you breathe a sigh of relief.]
[But soon, under the blazing summer sun, a sudden chill invades your chest, making you shiver.]
[A question swirls in your mind—was the girl really scared just now?]
[Could the composed and graceful Ibuki Yuko, who remained unruffled by your advances, truly be frightened by a relatively slow-moving, ordinary truck?]
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