True Education: I Have a Life Simulator

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kitagawa Ryo."

Kitagawa Ryo's first impression of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka wasn't bad. In terms of appearance, movements, and tone, aside from a slightly lazy demeanor and an apparent lack of interest in anything, he didn't seem much different from a typical fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy.

Since the two were strangers, there was no need for small talk. More importantly, they had come here today to prove two fundamentally opposing ideologies. In every sense of the word, they were "enemies."

Ayanokouji held a white pawn and a black pawn in his hands. After shuffling them out of Kitagawa's sight, he extended both fists.

"Left hand."

Kitagawa pointed, and Ayanokouji opened his left palm to reveal the white pawn.

That meant Kitagawa would play white and take the first move.

During the game, neither of them spoke, letting time pass in silence. In the empty room, the only sound was the clack of black and white pieces moving on the board.

"I used to think no one stronger than me would appear there. Everyone called me the only success story of the White Room. I was their standard of perfection."

Mid-game, Ayanokouji began to ponder more frequently. His tone was as flat as ever—boasting, perhaps, but with a detached confidence that made it seem ordinary.

"I don't even understand why I'm so good at chess. Maybe it was just from playing too many games with Sakayanagi. Learned it instinctively."

Kitagawa replied with his usual dry humor.

As the game progressed into the mid-phase, Kitagawa began to accumulate a steady advantage. Ayanokouji managed to hold on into the endgame, but he couldn't reverse the tide. Staring at the board, unable to find a move to escape check, he quietly set down his piece.

"I lost."

He didn't seem frustrated at all. In fact, he accepted defeat with surprising calm.

"You don't even feel a bit of frustration?"

"Emotions like that aren't very useful."

Ayanokouji slowly shook his head.

"Let's begin the next match."

Kitagawa stretched theatrically, rolling his wrist and knees.

"How about a short break? Every time I finished a match with that guy Matsuo, I always felt sore all over. And this was a match against someone of your level."

Hearing the familiar name, Ayanokouji's tone shifted ever so slightly.

"Alright. Let's take a break."

He recalled something the butler Matsuo, who had long sought to help him escape the White Room, said just yesterday:

"If the other side asks for a break, feel free to take one."

"Is there any benefit to agreeing?"

"That boy escaped the White Room before you did."

Ayanokouji turned his golden eyes toward Kitagawa, curious about the other boy's past. But in this heavily monitored setting, it wasn't appropriate to ask directly.

Roughly thirty minutes later, the two changed into fitted combat suits and faced each other at the center of the arena.

"Please go easy on me."

"Likewise."

Ayanokouji glanced at Kitagawa in surprise.

"Your fundamentals seem a bit off."

He was being polite. Unlike chess, where a person's level can only be determined mid-game, in combat, Ayanokouji could already spot at least three weaknesses: weak lower body, underdeveloped forearm strength in the right arm, and an unstable center of gravity.

The moment the sharp starting signal blared from the overhead device, Ayanokouji exploded forward with blinding speed, appearing in front of Kitagawa in an instant. He didn't know if the boy had deliberately left an opening, but he wasn't going to waste such a perfect chance.

His right hand turned into a blade and struck hard at Kitagawa's most vulnerable point—his neck.

"One hit?"

"Again."

...

Ayanokouji blinked and refocused on Kitagawa, still standing across from him.

"Please go easy on me."

"Please go easy on me."

As soon as the signal blared again, Ayanokouji lunged in, whipping a roundhouse kick straight at Kitagawa's head.

Kitagawa instinctively blocked with his arms, but the impact still forced him back several steps.

Taking advantage of his unstable footing, Ayanokouji launched a flurry of straight punches aimed at Kitagawa's torso. Though Kitagawa tried to defend, several solid hits landed.

Pain shot through his nerves and reached his brain. Gritting his teeth, Kitagawa searched for a counterattack opportunity, but before he could react, a heavy hook punch slammed into his jaw.

"Again."

...

When Kitagawa made the first move, Ayanokouji sidestepped a sweeping kick with ease. Twisting his torso, he countered with a powerful roundhouse that struck Kitagawa's shoulder and knocked him back.

Off balance, Kitagawa stumbled. Ayanokouji charged forward like a bullet, aiming for his nose—a vulnerable spot that, even with slight damage, would trigger the body's involuntary reaction: tears.

It worked perfectly.

As Kitagawa's vision blurred, Ayanokouji delivered a fierce uppercut to the chin.

For the third time, Kitagawa collapsed onto the ground.

"Oi, again."

-------------------------------------

To be honest, I once experimented with how many layers deep I could stack dreamscapes.

The result? When the number of dream layers reached four—a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream—I could barely retrieve my consciousness from the innermost level. Worse, after that failed test, I lost a significant portion of my memory. It was like a section of tape had been physically removed—clear, irretrievable blanks.

After contacting Matsuo Eiichirou through his connections, I confirmed that tomorrow I would have exactly one chance to weave a dream shared between myself and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

To ensure a victory, I set the number of dream layers to...

Ninety-nine.

Of course, weaving a dream of just a physical fight between two people was much easier than constructing an entire world. But even so, ninety-nine layers was beyond my limit.

And yet.

Back when I was trapped in Sakayanagi Arisu's dream within a dream, I noticed something. I had three recurring nightmares about Ichinose Honami:

First: I watched as she committed theft, helpless to stop her. That sin followed her all through high school, binding her like a shackle.

Second: Ichinose accidentally stabbed and killed me with a knife. She was not only prosecuted but mentally collapsed.

Third: The earliest one—I saw her family targeted by an unknown force. Her mother lost her job, Honami was expelled for shoplifting, and in despair, her mother died at home in a charcoal-burning tragedy.

Only after waking did I realize...

Those were the endings if I failed to rebel against the White Room.

So even if it's just to avoid that worst outcome, I have to defeat him here—to secure Honami's future, and her family's.

...

Kitagawa Ryo had lost count of how many times he'd been knocked down.

Or rather, he could barely remember why he was standing here—why he was fighting this guy... what was his name again?

From the fourteenth layer onward, memories had begun to fade. The precious recollections of his time with Ichinose Honami over the past few years slipped through his fingers like grains of sand.

"You seem to know my fighting style well. Did you research me beforehand?"

After exchanging several rounds, Ayanokouji asked calmly.

"Maybe my body just remembered... after getting hit so many times."

Kitagawa kept his gaze locked on Ayanokouji's movements while assuming a fighting stance.

By the twentieth fall, he could endure Ayanokouji's first three attacks.

Now, he could even find moments to launch his own counters early on.

[Tenacity (Purple): Perseverance, effort, and never giving up. (The foundation of success)]

"Hah..."

Kitagawa licked his dry lips.

"Again."

[Talent: Combat Mastery (Green) Proficiency maxed, upgraded to Combat Expert (Blue)]

On his thirty-third fall, Kitagawa landed his first solid blow on Ayanokouji.

Channeling power into his right hand, he seized a small gap when Ayanokouji dodged a whip kick and landed a heavy punch on his shoulder.

But Ayanokouji didn't seem to feel pain. The next second, he reset his stance and slammed a heavy fist into Kitagawa.

Kitagawa widened his eyes, dropping his weight low. But Ayanokouji moved like a ghost, stabbing sharp jabs at Kitagawa's head with rhythmic precision, followed by a crushing elbow to his chest.

"Gah..."

As the white light dispersed and Kitagawa faced Ayanokouji once again, he felt a stinging sensation flooding his brain for the first time.

Ayanokouji seemed to notice something was off.

"You okay? The match is about to start."

Kitagawa pressed hard on his temples. The girl's face in his mind was becoming hazier.

"Yeah. Let's begin."

He shook his head and dodged Ayanokouji's attack out of sheer habit.

That guy had greeted him kindly seconds ago, but now came at him like a storm.

Ayanokouji often used real attacks disguised under left-handed feints. Kitagawa widened the distance while dodging and searched for openings. Every other part of his brain had grown numb; only timing—when to strike or dodge—still functioned.

There was no time to blink. He calculated the angle to counter the incoming left kick, but was instead struck hard in the upper right abdomen by Ayanokouji's high-speed right leg.

Pain and impact overwhelmed his body and nerves instantly.

Instinctively bending to relieve the pain, he left himself open.

Ayanokouji surged forward, slammed his knee into Kitagawa's throat, and pinned him to the ground.

"You lost."

He said it like stating a fact.

"Yeah."

"Then once more."

Kitagawa spat two mouthfuls of blood on the floor.

From the sixtieth attempt onward, he tried trading blows—taking hits to deal hits. He grew desperate to make Ayanokouji bleed. The brutality of their fights escalated.

[Talent: Combat Expert (Blue) Proficiency maxed, upgraded to Martial Artist (Purple)]

From the eighty-seventh match, Kitagawa calmed down. He gave up the self-damaging strategy and started seeking weaknesses in Ayanokouji's techniques.

Ayanokouji launched a fierce kick aimed at Kitagawa's gut.

By now familiar with Ayanokouji's rhythm, Kitagawa dodged like a programmed machine and launched a sweeping kick at his chest.

Ayanokouji twisted away and closed in like a shadow, driving a straight punch toward Kitagawa's chin. Kitagawa, unfazed, flipped his left hand to grab Ayanokouji's wrist and punched at his eye socket.

At this point, neither of them held back.

Ayanokouji leaned back and kicked upward at Kitagawa's throat.

At the same moment Kitagawa's punch landed on Ayanokouji's eye socket, that kick shattered his larynx.

Gritting his teeth...

"Again."

...

"Didn't expect Ryo to win the chess match that easily."

Ichinose Honami didn't understand chess well. Unlike Sakayanagi Arisu, who was still hunched over studying the endgame board, Honami only cared about one thing:

That Kitagawa Ryo had won.

"Next is the fight, huh."

Sakayanagi finally finished simulating how she would have played in Ayanokouji's shoes. She stretched and looked at the screen.

"They're already... inside the dream, huh."

Honami gazed at the boy leaning against the wall with closed eyes and took a deep breath.

"Ninety-nine times."

"What ninety-nine times?"

Sakayanagi blinked in confusion.

"Before he left today, Ryo told me. He was giving himself a hundred chances."

"That means he wove ninety-nine layers of dreams."

"You're insane! Why didn't you stop him?!"

For the first time, Sakayanagi's purple eyes trembled with disbelief. Though Kitagawa once fought a thousand dream chess matches with her, it was over nearly a year. Not in a single night.

"Because I believe in him."

Honami smiled softly. She was worried, yes. She was pained. But she believed in Kitagawa Ryo's judgment.

"And if he loses all his memories again?"

Sakayanagi forced her tone steady.

"It'll be fine."

Honami pressed her fingers to the screen, as if to stroke his closed eyes.

"Our memories don't need a vessel. We are the vessel. When he sees me, and I see him, we will remember. Our time is fused together."

She placed her hands over her heart in prayer.

"I just have to wait for his victory."

[Talent: Tenacity (Purple) proficiency maxed. Upgraded to Talent: Perseverance (Gold)]

[Perseverance (Gold): Grit your teeth and endure. (You possess this great quality.)]

[Talent: Dreamweaver (Gold) has exceeded usage limits. Temporarily unavailable.]

Kitagawa Ryo opened his eyes.

"Let's begin."

"Let's begin."

The match was decided.

[Story CG: The Ultimate Masterpiece - Complete]

[When you next open your eyes, what you see first is undoubtedly her long waist-length hair, the color of gold-dusted pink. Beneath her fringe are sapphire eyes, sparkling with disbelief and joy. A faint scent of green citrus drifts to your nose.]

[You wave at her.]

["Hey there. Nice to meet you?"]

["Nah, forget pretending to have amnesia."]

[You smile and pull her into your arms.]

"I'm back, Honami."

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[This simulation lasted two years and 128 days. You may select one talent to retain, which will automatically apply in your next simulation.]

[Congratulations. Hidden Ending Achieved: Salvation]

[Salvation: Then let us promise this—from now on, we walk far, together.]