True Education: I Have a Life Simulator

[CG Unlocked: As If an Old Friend Returned]

[As If an Old Friend Returned: The fantasy of a "perfect boyfriend who'll never return" is even more exhausting and repulsive to the girl than the tragedies of reality.]

[Would you like to read this prologue CG scene? (It may help your upcoming gameplay.)]

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Karuizawa Kei had always been proud of her "almighty" childhood friend. While some children might idolize their parents as omnipotent figures in their early years, to Karuizawa Kei, Kitagawa Ryo was far more impressive than her mom or dad.

For instance, Karuizawa's parents would never fly into a rage and fearlessly brawl with a group of boys who bullied her. Even when she brought up how her classmates disliked her at dinner—at a time when she didn't even understand the word "bullying" and was just swinging her chopsticks trying to explain—it always ended with, "Let's just eat first."

Only after dinner would she finally blurt out all the awful things that had happened. The girls wouldn't talk to her; the boys made faces at her when they passed. She couldn't take it anymore.

"If it's just one or two people who don't like you, it's not worth worrying about. You can't expect everyone to like you," her father said calmly behind a newspaper.

"But it's not just one or two—it's a lot!"

She flailed her arms in a big circle to show how many, stamping her feet in frustration. "Even if I apologize, it doesn't work."

Children are taught to seek help from their parents when faced with problems. But when Kei finally mustered the courage to speak up, all she got was evasion.

"Did they hit you?" her father asked, stroking his chin.

"No, but they mess up my desk and pencil case, step on my hand when I'm picking things up, stop talking when I come over, laugh extra loud when I get a wrong answer in class, and dump all the cleanup tasks on me before running off to play…"

She ticked off each offense with her fingers. Seeing no end in sight, her father nodded vaguely and stood up for work.

"I see."

Kei tilted her head, pouting. See what? She hadn't even finished explaining.

She didn't get it. Would her parents only take action if someone hit her in the face?

So strange, she thought.

Karuizawa Kei was a strong-willed, competitive girl. Before entering school, she believed everything could go her way. Everyone would love her, and she could do anything.

But school and growth changed that. Kei found herself mediocre—neither top of the class nor best at sports. Just an average girl. She began to lose her place.

"I thought Mom and Dad would be… angrier," she mumbled to Kitagawa Ryo at the sandbox, where he was building a "castle" that looked more like stacked blocks.

"They always say they love me, call me their precious daughter, but won't even listen to me properly. It's like I say I love hamburg steak and they say, 'Eat more greens.'"

She poked the sand with a twig and asked, "Are your parents like that too, Ryo?"

"Hmm?" Kitagawa paused. "I don't know. I've never met them."

He scratched his head awkwardly. "Grandpa raised me. He says they can't come see me yet."

Kei nodded, stunned. "Oh… I see."

They kept playing until sundown. Kitagawa's stern-looking grandfather came to pick him up, eyes sharp as blades.

The next day, the sandcastle had already been trampled by a stray cat. But that was fine. They could always build it again tomorrow.

Kei tried to change herself. She became someone who could say "I'm sorry" smoothly, hoping each apology would erase the wall between her and others like magic.

But she learned the truth: apologies run dry. When saying sorry became too easy, people lost interest. What they really wanted was to humiliate her, to feel superior.

She realized this in fifth grade and stopped apologizing for things that weren't her fault. That defiance led to more bullying—real, physical bullying—but Kei no longer turned to her parents for help.

Kitagawa and Kei went to different elementary schools. His was much fancier, but that didn't matter. At that age, everyone looked the same in uniforms and backpacks. After school, they all played on the same streets.

After hearing Kei's struggles, Kitagawa declared, "I'm transferring to your school."

Kei was stunned but agreed without thinking. She didn't know if it was possible, but she wanted it.

And somehow, the very next day, Kitagawa joined her class.

When he stood at the blackboard writing his name, Kei felt safe—like a castle had descended from the sky.

Within a week, he got into a fight with four boys, beat them all, and stood beside Kei proudly. They weren't hurt badly—just shocked. Kitagawa said:

"Teachers always prefer to keep things quiet. They'll call it 'kids being kids.' So I was just roughhousing with some classmates."

Under his protection, Kei survived the rest of elementary school. In their graduation photo, she stood beside him, secretly holding hands. That thrill stayed with her for years.

She enlarged that part of the photo, framed it, and placed it on her desk.

But then came middle school.

Kitagawa was leaving—his parents were taking him overseas. Not just middle school, but maybe high school and college too.

The worst part? Within two weeks of separation, they lost all contact.

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After entering middle school, Karuizawa Kei immediately became the center of attention in her class. Boys around thirteen or fourteen were already beginning to show signs of adolescent affection and the ability to notice differences between girls and boys. With her cute looks, Kei was quite popular when she first enrolled.

"Don't you think the boys in class are just so annoying, Karuizawa-san?"

Someone in the girls' group started a conversation, and Kei nodded in agreement.

"Ah... yes."

As if they'd found a common topic, the girls gathered around and began gossiping about the boys—those with dull minds and piercing stares. For the more precocious girls, boys at this age seemed like monkeys bursting with excessive energy, always jumping around and being a nuisance.

"But Tomoda-kun from the next class seems nice. He's polite and good-looking too."

Another girl chimed in with a grin.

"Wow, I didn't expect Yuu to go for that type. Tomoda looks like he could be blown away by a breeze. If you two ran into danger, you'd probably have to carry him on your back."

The girls chatted about their preferences and exchanged intel—this was their way of forming social bonds. By assigning labels to others based on casual conversation, they began constructing their social map. True familiarity and understanding came later; first, they needed to memorize everyone's defining features.

"What kind of boys does Karuizawa-san like?"

Everyone turned their eyes toward Kei, who felt a bit flustered. Just then, another girl answered for her.

"Karuizawa-san had a childhood friend back in elementary school. I heard he even got into a fight for her."

The girl, Uehara Emika, bore some resemblance to Kei. She smiled as the attention turned to her.

"Looks like none of you are from the same elementary school. That incident was a huge deal back then."

"Whoa, really?!"

"What was the boy like? Was he hot?"

"Fighting for a friend sounds kinda cool."

The girls, full of energy, bombarded Kei with questions.

"Uh, Ryo is studying abroad now."

Kei awkwardly explained the situation, but the word "abroad" only piqued their curiosity further.

"But he might transfer here too. He transferred to my elementary school just for me."

Although it had been nearly two months since she'd last heard from Kitagawa Ryo, Kei stubbornly clung to her narrative. She even started to regret why Uehara Emika had brought this up. Still, under the girls' expectant gazes, she began painting a picture of Ryo.

By the end of the week, nearly everyone in the class knew that Karuizawa Kei had a super handsome boyfriend studying overseas who might transfer back just for her. This bombshell earned her a kind of strange reverence from her classmates—an odd respect fueled by curiosity that grew stronger with each passing day. The girls, especially, were obsessed, almost like bloodthirsty insects wanting to crawl into her veins to discover deeper, darker secrets.

This curiosity morphed into a strange aura. Kei felt as though she had been pushed onto a pedestal. Stories about her were embellished and spread like legend. Though flustered, she couldn't help feeling a little proud.

Thus, within just one week of starting middle school, Karuizawa Kei became the center of the girls' social circle. Even without Kitagawa Ryo at her side, she seemed to have escaped the fate of being bullied.

And Kei was thoroughly enjoying it all.