MTLNOVEL Chapter 150
Yuko Ibuki had a plan ready. She took out her phone and opened a photo—one of Yuuki Minami’s family.
“I found it on your Instagram,” the girl said.
Nao Asano, who had been flustered earlier, quickly got an idea for a lie from Yuko’s method. She said, “I saw it on Twitter.”
Instagram and Twitter are popular social apps in Japan. Instagram is similar to Xiaohongshu, while Twitter is akin to Weibo. Compared to “friend circles,” Japanese people prefer sharing their lives on these two platforms.
His predecessor, as someone yearning for a rosy youth, Yuuki Minami had been deeply addicted to these apps for a long time. Since he only posted trivial things, he hadn’t thought to clean up his account.
Incidentally, the virtual streamer who drained his living expenses and savings was also someone he discovered on Twitter.
Yuuki wasn’t surprised by their responses. What did surprise him was Kazumi Chitose.
The girl looked at her two rivals in astonishment, frustrated that she hadn’t thought of checking Yuuki’s other social media accounts to dig up his past.
The topic passed, and the three girls turned their attention back to the photo.“Is this your cousin in the photo?” Yuko Ibuki asked, following up on Kazumi Chitose’s earlier words.
“I’m curious too,” Nao Asano said, looking into Yuuki’s eyes.
Kazumi Chitose nodded, equally eager.
“Well…” Yuuki Minami drew out the last syllable, “it’s a secret!”
Though the three women had distinct personalities, they all shared the same sentiment at that moment: frustration over Yuuki’s secrecy. The truth felt like an unpredictable ticking time bomb, keeping them on edge.
“Getting too close to little girls is a crime, but if it’s just someone who looks young, there’s no problem at all,” Yuko Ibuki said with a pointed tone.
“It’s not like that! There’s a huge age gap between us.”
Deciding to end the conversation, Yuuki turned to Nao Asano. “Weren’t you going to help me clean my room, sis? Or were you just here to dig up gossip?”
The thin-skinned older girl blushed with shame and stood up. “I’ll go tidy the bathroom.”
Yuko Ibuki had more to say, but hearing the word bathroom made her think of the bathwater the boy had just soaked in.
The doll-like girl stood up. “I’ll help.”
Seeing the two of them rise, Kazumi Chitose quickly followed suit. “I’ll help too.”
The apartment’s small bathroom couldn’t accommodate three people, so Nao Asano soon found herself squeezed out and began tidying the bedroom instead.
Before long, Yuko Ibuki and Kazumi Chitose finished cleaning the bathtub. One dusted while the other organized the closet.
Unable to ignore his conscience, Yuuki begrudgingly did a bit of work as well, carrying the futon to the balcony to air it out.
The narrow apartment couldn’t withstand the four-person onslaught. In no time, its defiance and dust were vanquished, leaving behind a meek, orderly, and sparkling clean space.
Standing in the seemingly unchanged yet subtly refreshed apartment, Yuuki Minami looked at the three women in front of him and fell into deep thought.
Not even in his previous life had he ever managed to bring three women home at once!
“It’s almost noon. I’m heading out,” Yuko Ibuki announced, getting up first.
She realized that staying in Yuuki’s apartment with the other two wouldn’t help her make progress in their relationship. She had more important tasks to handle.
Like figuring out how to break up her mother and her current boyfriend, introduce Yohei Nakajima to her mother, or perhaps visit the private Lilian Girls’ Academy to find the girl in the photo.
“I’m leaving too,” Kazumi Chitose said, following after Yuko. She had no particular plan—she just felt the need to digest everything that had happened this morning.
After the two left, only Yuuki Minami and Nao Asano remained in the apartment.
Nao Asano had originally planned to invite Kazumi to stay for lunch, but before she could figure out how to say it, Kazumi had already walked out the door.
The apartment door closed, and everything seemed to return to how it was that morning when Nao Asano first arrived. Kazumi Chitose and Yuko Ibuki were merely fleeting visitors. Only she had always been there.
On the balcony, the quilt hanging on the drying rod blocked part of the light, but the remaining sunlight still illuminated the bedroom brightly.
“Let’s go too,” Yuuki Minami said, rising from the edge of the bed. He stretched lazily in the sunlight, his warm, languid voice made even gentler by the light.
Bathed in the sunlight, the boy extended his hand to her.
She took his hand, softly murmured an acknowledgment, and followed behind him.
When it came to the competition in romance, she felt vague and unsure. Yet she had a faint sense that starting today, she had taken a slight lead over Yuko Ibuki and Kazumi Chitose.
Surely, Yuuki-kun hadn’t held their hands before, had he? she thought.
Her mind drifted to what Yuko Ibuki had said earlier: “Don’t tell her.” Yes, she decided, this small lead should be kept a secret.
Her little thoughts rippled gently in her heart, like a soft breeze brushing across the water’s surface, creating delicate, glimmering waves.
But those waves were quickly swallowed by rising tides of emotion. After stepping out of the elevator, the dazzling sunlight and the surrounding crowd made her nervous.
She clung tightly to Yuuki Minami’s arm.
After walking Nao Asano home, Yuuki stayed for lunch at her place before returning to his apartment alone.
He retrieved the quilt, which had been airing out on the balcony for two hours, and spread it over his bed. The sun-warmed, fresh-scented bedding wrapped around him, filling him with comfort.
He opened the simulation interface.
Continue Simulation!
It was time to explore the future tied to his deal with Shiori Ichinose.
That’s right—a deal, not a plea for help.
While Shiori Ichinose had a solid reputation and was known for her willingness to assist those in need, her help was limited to situations she could resolve easily.
If the problem exceeded her ability to handle effortlessly, she would coldly walk away.
There was no doubt that saving Reina Nakajima’s life required support far beyond what Shiori Ichinose could offer without difficulty.
What kind of response would she give?
[Simulation Starting]
[Remaining Simulation Attempts: 0.5]
[Target: Reina Nakajima]
[Initial Relationship: Mutual Affection]
So, the initial relationship had shifted from unrequited love to mutual affection.
Images of Reina Nakajima’s face flashed through Yuuki Minami’s mind. After the last simulation, his fondness for her had grown significantly.
As he waited for the simulation’s text to appear, his imagination wandered. Could it be that all these simulated targets were hunters disguised as prey? They hadn’t done anything, yet his affection for them kept increasing with each simulation.
This idle thought soon dissipated, and text appeared on the simulation interface.
[It has been one week since you arrived in this world. You’ve gotten to know Nao Asano, Kazumi Chitose, and Yuko Ibuki. You understand that they are all secretly in love with you. You do not intend to choose any of them.]
[You’ve set your sights on Reina Nakajima, the daughter of your homeroom teacher, Yohei Nakajima.]
[However, Reina Nakajima suffers from a severe illness and has only three years left to live. If fate doesn’t change, your relationship is destined to end in three years.]
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