In that instant, their gazes intersected.
From the young man's perspective, her features were quite perfect. Her eyes were a rare sapphire blue, like gems under sunlight—clear and bright. Her face had a touch of baby fat that didn't detract from her overall beauty but instead added a touch of girlish cuteness.
She stood there waving her hand with a brilliant smile. Combined with the school uniform she wore, her whole being radiated the youthful energy of a female high school student and the girl next door.
Without a doubt, this was a beautiful girl who would amaze anyone who saw her.
But Kiyono's focus was entirely on another aspect.
Blue hair, lively, big appetite—these tags combined to form a familiar name.
"Yanami..." Kiyono muttered with subtle emotions.
Yanami Anna, sixteen years old, the heroine of a certain romance work. Cheerful and outgoing with high emotional intelligence, she single-handedly transformed the internet keyword "Old Eight." However, this heroine's position was...
A losing dog.
The type who sits at the same table as Sawamura Spencer Eriri.
In short, Yanami was that classic childhood friend character used as a foil for the talented, beautiful, and busty heaven-sent type in most romantic comedies.
After learning the true identity of the girl before him, Kiyono took a sharp breath and finally understood the system's sinister intentions.
He was certain in his heart—this simulation's heroine was Yanami.
Someone else's childhood friend.
A childhood friend who was devoted to someone else.
Wasn't this hinting for him to hurry up and do NTR!
"But I choose to refuse."
Kiyono's expression was impassive.
Even if this was just a simulation, even if following the system's instructions could get him tempting rewards... Kiyono had his own principles and his own desired way of living. This despicable act of satisfying himself by destroying others' happiness was something he would absolutely never do.
Perhaps having once committed sins with NTR doujinshi meant he could no longer call himself a pure love warrior, but if facing this evil system, he would once again don his armor with passion and hope, raise his banner high, and crusade against the NTR traitors!
Besides, he was already having trouble with basic survival—how could he have the mind to interact with beautiful girls? Even if he did interact with them, what then? Should he make them support him?
Things like campus life, youth, romance, and dreams that moved the heart—as depicted in novels and manga—had nothing to do with him. Right now, he just wanted to survive in this city.
So the most important thing was still to quickly earn money and grind skill proficiency to improve himself!
This was the correct way to approach the simulation!
As for the losing dog miss before him, he wished her happiness.
With this thought, the various emotions Kiyono had felt upon seeing a two-dimensional heroine dissipated considerably. His expression became increasingly indifferent. Then he skillfully entered his waiter role, walked to Yanami's table, and opened the menu...
Yanami Anna recently felt like she had become the legendary heroine.
The reason for this feeling was—
[Welcome to the Beautiful Life Simulator.]
While eating dinner that evening, this unfamiliar voice suddenly rang in Yanami's mind, making her eyes widen. She almost spat out the fish she had just put in her mouth, but in the end, she couldn't bear to waste that piece of meat. After carefully chewing and gently licking her cherry lips, she finally had time to ponder what this thing was.
"Could it be that I suddenly awakened a superpower?"
She wasn't unfamiliar with light novels and manga, so she easily thought in that direction. However, faced with this temptation that most high school students couldn't resist, the girl still patiently finished her meal, ate some more snacks and a piece of soft candy, then finally sat on her little bed to seriously and earnestly study this so-called simulator.
[In the simulation, you will encounter the male protagonist, intertwine with his life, and walk toward the future together. There will be sweetness, sourness, dreams...]
"M-male male male male protagonist!?"
Even though she was alone, when it came to such matters of the heart, the girl still stammered and shouted like a manga heroine, her cheeks burning bright as fire.
Like most young girls, she already had someone in her heart.
That person was her childhood friend, Kusunoki!
Childhood friend... what a wonderful phrase that made one's lips curve upward just by saying it. A childhood friend was running to the school gate after classes to wait for someone to walk home together. A childhood friend was the understanding that didn't need words to know each other's troubles. A childhood friend was...
"So this male protagonist must be my childhood friend!"
After all, she was the protagonist now, so the simulation must be about the person she liked!
Thinking this, Yanami could hardly wait to press the simulation start button and begin sweet interactions. However, she retained some rationality and asked curiously:
"What's the specific gameplay of the simulation?"
[For example... you can project your consciousness into the simulation world, enjoy the deliciousness of food while not worrying about gaining weight in reality.]
"I want to play!"
She shouted without hesitation.
Yanami's eyes sparkled with brilliant starlight as she stood up entirely.
She had fantasized about such things countless times. Now that her dream was within reach, she had to consider whether this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
The next moment, she heard the sound of the simulation beginning.
[On your first day after transmigrating to this world, you contemplate what you should do.]
[Soon, you think of your childhood friend whom you secretly love. You want to live a happy couple life with him. Full of confidence, you prepare to confess to him and start dating.]
[After pondering for a moment, you give up.]
Evening.
After the dismissal bell rang three times, the evening breeze swept across the entire campus.
The sea of trees undulated in the wind, birds took flight from the treetops and rode the wind back to their nests. The sun's afterglow coated the school buildings with a thin layer of gold, and the warm sunset light stretched the students' shadows long and slanted.
This scene evoked thoughts of youth.
However, sitting in the classroom, Yanami wasn't paying attention to this scenery. She propped up her chin with both hands, her expression serious.
She had originally planned to conduct a lightning war, directly using her charm to capture her childhood friend. She had always believed her advantages were great—besides, this was all simulation anyway, and weren't simulations for doing things you didn't dare do in reality!
But after her consciousness was projected, she chickened out. After three minutes, she decisively chose to give up.
Because it was all too real! Scary!
"There will be many opportunities in the future. No need to rush. Dating is just a natural progression anyway. And who knows, maybe he'll confess to me first!"
For now, let's eat first!
[You don't have the courage to confess, but you do have the courage to eat together. You invited your childhood friend to eat together. He refused because he's been busy with club activities lately. You didn't mind too much and left school to search for food on the streets alone.]
Entering a ramen shop.
Entering a dessert shop.
Yanami had apparently broken free from the chains of nature suppressed in her heart, directly transforming from a modern cute female high school student into a high priestess of gluttony!
The blue-haired girl walked down the night street with takoyaki in one hand and her fair, delicate cheek cupped in the other, her face full of happiness, with pleasant pink flowers continuously blooming above her head.
Simulator, I adore you!
In her admiration, Yanami suddenly paused, put down the takoyaki in her hand, and shifted her gaze to a corner by the roadside—there, there was a young man with a bowl in front of him who seemed to have nowhere to go. She blinked, originally wanting to give him some money, but when she looked down and felt her wallet, she had already spent all her pocket money for today.
So she could only leave helplessly.
[The second day, you ate sushi. The sushi was bought from a very ordinary food cart, cheap in price, but you ate it happily.]
[The third day, you ate oden, picking only vegetarian options.]
[But that night, as you lay in bed about to fall asleep, you suddenly woke up startled. You touched your little belly, then clenched your small fist with a determined expression: "Yanami, oh Yanami, how can you be so depraved! You absolutely can't eat like this tomorrow!"]
The next day, the blue-haired girl walked into a family restaurant she had long admired with a serious expression.
"This is really the last time!"
Comforting herself thus, she felt increasingly relaxed as she came to her seat and began calling for a waiter.
Family restaurants specialized in a rich variety of dishes—from Western-style fries and burgers to gyoza and pork cutlet rice bowls, from Italian ice cream to Japanese sweets, even relatively dark flavors like matcha, roasted tea salt, and soy sauce.
This buffet-like variety of choices was obviously Yanami's heaven.
While thinking happily, she suddenly sensed someone standing in front of her.
Yanami instinctively looked up and saw a young waiter in a white shirt and black bow tie smiling at her.
"What would you like to eat?"
The young man opened the menu on the table and took out his own notepad and pen.
Girls deeply in love rarely cast their gaze upon other males, and Yanami was no exception. But at this moment, she clearly remembered this person's appearance—perhaps because of that spring-breeze-like smile, perhaps because of those crystal-clear eyes, or perhaps because of the inexplicably pure aura about him...
"This passerby is quite distinctive," Yanami muttered quietly. For a moment, she almost thought she was in some low-key, elegant Western restaurant. Even the background music automatically switched from pop songs to Mozart's piano pieces in her mind, and her mood inexplicably became tense.
She suppressed the small strangeness in her heart and energetically began ordering, only stopping when the waiter's eye twitched almost imperceptibly.
"Please wait just a moment," the waiter maintained his smile throughout.
"Such good service attitude," Yanami sighed, watching the young man's retreating figure.
A delicious meal was quickly served.
After beautifully finishing her meal, the blue-haired girl hooked the receipt with her finger and bounced like a forest deer to the front register.
Under the gentle gaze of the cashier, she pulled out her wallet.
But the next moment, the girl's expression inexplicably froze.
She opened her wallet.
She made a sound of confusion.
She looked back and forth through it.
Finally, her expression became 0v0.
"This development... No, no way, I clearly remember bringing money today..."
Under the cashier's gentle gaze, the blue-haired girl began to sweat. What should she do now? Call her parents and Kusunoki for help?
So embarrassing! No matter what she chose, it would be so embarrassing!
Yanami covered her head and let out a silent scream in her heart.
The girl's unusually stiff behavior also caught others' attention. The cashier's gaze changed from gentle to strange, nearby customers also turned their gazes toward her, and some people, seeing the girl's exquisite appearance, were restlessly trying to approach and strike up a conversation... after all, this was a rare opportunity.
On the other side, Kiyono, who had also noticed this scene, was slightly stunned... If he remembered correctly, this seemed to be the starting event of some sweet and sour campus story?
But...
Where was the male protagonist?
Kiyono looked left and right but didn't see Yanami's beloved childhood friend or her classmate... which meant there was currently no one to be the sucker... no one to help her pay!
Not only was there no one to help her, but there were quite a few men with ill intentions trying to chat her up.
So what now?
Just ignore it!
After all, he wasn't the one who was embarrassed!
This thought flashed through his mind, but seeing the blue-haired girl's helpless, teary-eyed appearance, he suddenly clicked his tongue softly.
At this time, Yanami, who had successfully become the center of everyone's attention, could no longer endure it. She quickly pulled out her phone and made a desperate call to her parents.
But when the call connected, she froze completely in place.
"What? Dad, you still have an hour before you get off work?"
"What? Mom, you're at Grandma's house and can't come over right now?"
Heh, heh heh heh...
The girl let out a soulless laugh into the phone, already imagining the tragic future of 'female high school student sent to police station for dining and dashing.'
She fell silent, trembling, her finger moving across the phone screen before stopping on 'Kusunoki's' contact, but she just couldn't press it.
What to do, what to do!
Someone save me!
—Just then.
"Miss, if you forgot to bring money, you can choose to work part-time at the shop to pay off your debt."
A voice as gentle as flowing water suddenly rang in her ears. The waiter who had left quite an impression earlier walked up to her.
Yanami's eyes widened.
Part-time... work?
Could it be that this was... helping me!?