[During the cultural festival, she accompanied her bandmates to perform on stage.]
[The students shouted her name...]
[You stood below the stage, watching her sing... sing... sing...]
[Until she collapsed directly.]
"Collapsed?" Toru observed the simulator screen.
Inside, Kita had fallen on the stage. The crowd below shouted anxiously, and a teacher began maintaining order.
[Half an hour later.]
[Kita regained consciousness. It seemed her body was fatigued due to too-frequent recent practice.]
[Hearing this news from passersby, you felt somewhat relieved.]
[The next day.]
[Kita came to your house in her maid uniform. While she was preparing lunch, you told her to take it easy and not push herself too hard.]
[Kita shook her head slightly, saying she was fine.]
"Why do I feel like this simulator is trying to 'stab' me emotionally?"
Toru, as the culprit who had ruined the lives of several girls, understood this trope well.
It's just the old 'eternal regret' routine; he was already familiar with it.
[This year, you still maintained a facade of friendship.]
[You couldn't comprehend what 'friendship' was, much less romance. You only knew that Kita was very important to you, among the top three most important things in the world.]
"Top three?... Not that high, maybe around the eleventh spot."
Toru didn't have many people he cared about, so this ranking for Kita was actually excellent.
Although he often joked that Kita was a yandere, that he should stay far away from her, and that they should break off their friendship, Toru never actually did so.
The brief blocking on Line only lasted a few hours before he unblocked her.
"Blocking on Line doesn't send a notification, so Kita-san probably doesn't know, right?" Toru thought the matter was highly confidential.
Of course, he didn't realize that as a popular, jūshi kōsei (JK), Kita had many ways to test if she had been blocked.
[Entering the new semester.]
[Kita's conflict with her family showed signs of escalating. She stubbornly wanted to pursue her band dream, but her family disagreed.]
[You could only record these matters in your diary and wait for your future self to figure out a solution.]
[Every family has its own difficulties. As her classmate and friend, it was hard for you to help her.]
[In the spring, some rumors circulated at school.]
[You and Kita became the school's rumored couple.]
[Kita had no intention of clarifying the matter.]
[You went along with her.]
[A certain ambiguity developed between you... but it only lasted for one week.]
[In the end, the obstacle in front of your romance was not cruel society, not a difference in mindsets, not the length of time, nor geographical distance—]
[The biggest obstacle was, instead, your memory.]
"Wow, being obsessed with love is truly terrifying."
Even Zhao Yun said back then, "A great man worries only about achieving no glory, not about being wifeless."
Taishi Ci said, "A great man, born in a troubled world, should raise a three-foot sword and establish an immortal achievement."
Furthermore...
"A great man lives between heaven and earth; how can he long remain subservient? If you do not abandon me, I, Bu, wish..."
Ahem, forget that last quote.
[In the second year of high school.]
[A matter, neither big nor small, occurred—]
[Kita ran away from home.]
[After thinking it over, she decided to live at your house.]
[The fact that Kita had fallen out with her parents surprised the members of Kessoku Band, and you were equally surprised.]
"Running away from home... that's a problem I can actually help solve in reality."
Parents who believe a dream has no future are likely motivated by two reasons—
Low social status.
Lack of money.
Meeting one criterion allows the profession to be considered a goal.
Meeting both makes it a perfect profession.
"Playing rock music has low social status, and you're not guaranteed to earn money..."
Toru recalled the experience of his first simulation with Kita.
Remember that time? When Kita studied piano, dreaming of the International Chopin Piano Competition, did her parents object?
No, they didn't.
It can be summarized, perhaps not strictly, that musical instruments are often viewed by ordinary people as having a hierarchy of nobility.
[Kita lived in your house for half a year, and only when her parents finally relented did she return home.]
[For that half-year, you always went to school together, leading to even more serious rumors at school.]
[Misfortune is what happiness relies upon; happiness is what misfortune hides within.]
[During the height of the rumors, a miracle occurred.]
[Due to the long-term interaction, you could remember Kita. The memory reset cycle increased from one week to one month.]
[When Kita learned this news, a joyful expression appeared on her face.]
[She said that if things continued this way, perhaps you could return to normal and even make friends other than her.]
[You also believed that one day, you could express the affection in your heart for her.]
[To date, be in love with, and marry her as a normal person...]
[If only.]
"Hey, are you starting?"
Toru's earlier premonition had come true.
Seriously.
Trying to "stab" me emotionally, are we?
[If only...]
[Her body began to show some abnormalities.]
[Intermittent fever, general fatigue, and constant distraction during band practice and work.]
"Since the simulator specifically mentioned it, it must be a serious illness..." Toru pondered.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia?
Acute myeloid leukemia?
Or perhaps pancreatic cancer?
"If I still had my god-tier medical skills, I could heal her with a simple move."
Toru didn't expect the simulator to use a combination punch...
It wouldn't stop until it caused him pain.
"If it's leukemia, I'll first see if I can find a suitable bone marrow match. If not, there's always a backup plan."
[Kita didn't take these things seriously at first, only treating it as a common cold.]
[But one day, she collapsed halfway through cooking a meal at your house.]
[You took a day off and brought Kita to the hospital...]
[After the examination, Kita's white blood cells showed an abnormality.]
[Specifically...]
"Alright, say it. I've already guessed." Toru's expression was calm.
In his years as a doctor, what situation hadn't he seen?
[It is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, with a severe clinical presentation. Adults have only a 30% survival rate.]
"The probability of survival is quite high; there's no need to worry too much." Toru stroked his chin.
This disease is not as difficult to handle as Shio's condition back then.
One condition involves naturally low immunity, unable to resist viruses.
This one is still relatively common.
"Just to be safe, should I try a new thing?"
Speaking of which, Toru developed a new training method based on the knowledge in his mind.
It can speed up the operation of the mind.
I wonder if you've seen Accel World...
It's similar to that.
Its basic source is the mechanical ascension method obtained in the fifth simulation. In the future of that simulated world, 99.9% of humans entered the virtual world, leaving only robots to maintain the operation of society. Their research on the human brain far surpasses the current world by hundreds of years.
[Extreme Brain Power Training Method: Temporarily increases thinking speed by 1000 times. Cannot be used for long periods. Otherwise, it will lead to irreversible brain death.]
Trying to stab me?
Sorry, no way.
"I won't let you die, Kita-san."
If someone must die, it will be me first!
At worst, we'll be buried in the same grave. We'll run towards each other.