[The final stretch of time.]
[You maintain the same rhythm as before.]
[There is no list of last wishes.]
[No reckless indulgence.]
[No earthshaking, sensational acts.]
[Every morning, you say "good morning" to him.]
[Then you wait for dusk.]
[You wait for the dawn of the next day.]
[In the final few years, Toru finally stopped creating, gradually releasing the music he had composed, stirring up quite a commotion.]
[You begin to reminisce about the past.]
[Within such ordinary days.]
[You realize that signs of aging have appeared on you.]
[Vampires are not incapable of dying. When they begin to dwell on the past and no longer look forward to the future, they slowly step into the cycle of death.]
Somewhat romantic.
A kind of romance unique to long lived beings.
[Wrinkles appear on your face. Time begins to erode your once supple skin. Your beautiful silver white hair loses its luster and grows dim.]
[You no longer need to consume blood.]
[You begin to need sleep.]
[You can leave traces in photographs.]
[You grow more and more like a human, becoming fragile beyond measure.]
[Over the past several hundred years, you looked down on humans, yet decades ago, you fell in love with a single individual among them.]
[Toru barged into your heart without permission, filling your lonely soul.]
[You do not know when it began.]
[Your gaze started to follow his movements, your heartstrings tied to him.]
[You do not know when it began.]
[In your eyes, there is only him, no room for anything else.]
[You no longer regret meeting him.]
[You are no longer afraid of death.]
[Five years later.]
[Toru's body gradually weakens.]
[He looks at your aged appearance, recalls the past, and finally stops breathing in happiness.]
[That same year, having lost the bond in your heart, you follow him a few months after your husband's passing.]
[Your story ends here.]
[Simulation complete.]
"It's over."
The vampire became human.
She left the world together with her beloved.
This should count as a good ending, right.
Kagarino Kirie exited the simulation space, lay down on the bed, and felt a wave of emptiness in her heart.
The first half of the story was filled with fantasy, the middle felt like some kind of risqué novel, and the later part carried a sense of romance.
[Game over.]
[Settlement in progress.]
[What joy is there in life, what pain is there in death?]
[Joy and sorrow alike return to dust.]
[Human emotions are a wondrous poison for long lived beings.]
[Once they understand what emotions are, they step into the end of life.]
[Simulation evaluation this time x (absolutely brilliant).]
[You have completed a special achievement: Natural Death (as a long lived being, you naturally died at the end of the simulation. Settlement reward +100%).]
[Due to your outstanding first performance, the player may choose four out of the following six options as rewards.]
[1. All memories of this simulation (they will be slowly implanted in the form of dreams and will not affect the player's personality).]
[2. Weak Vampire Constitution (physical attributes x2, lifespan permanently extended by 50 years. Note: no blood craving, unable to use innate vampire spells, eyes will turn rainbow colored).]
[3. Charisma Constitution (base charisma x2, greatly increased attraction to the opposite sex).]
[4. Professional level piano performance (a level difficult for ordinary people to reach).]
[5. Toru favorability +50 (applies to reality).]
[6. Money 1 billion yen (overwhelming spending power).]
It seemed there was no difficulty in choosing.
But.
"How exactly does this favorability work?" Kirie was very curious about this.
The simulation could actually interfere with reality?
"Forget it, as long as it works."
She did not think about it further.
"I choose 1, 2, 3, and 5."
She would find some time to rekindle things with Toru.
With 50 favorability added, winning him over would be effortless, right?
————
[Simulation complete.]
"It's finally over."
Toru stared at the ceiling, silent for a long time.
He felt a sense of emptiness.
The previous eight simulations.
Strictly speaking, the wives he married, whether it was Nijika, Ryo, or Hitori, or Kita Ikuyo, they could not really be considered fictional wives.
After all, they could be frequently encountered in reality.
Kagarino Kirie was different. As a special NPC in a mod, after parting ways, the next meeting would require waiting ten years for the mod's cooldown to end before experiencing it again.
By then, Toru would probably already be married in reality.
It was just unknown who the wife would be.
"It's getting harder to choose."
The more simulations he went through and the more girls he met, the harder it became for Toru to decide.
Everyone was very cute.
Could it be that he wanted them all?
In the next simulation, maybe he would try the harem route, bringing everyone from the Kessoku Band into his harem.
[Game over.]
[Truth is ugly, glory is decayed. Life is like a dream or an illusion, like a fleeting bubble.]
[Like a kaleidoscope, merely surrendering to transient desires.]
[How did the player feel about the first experience with supernatural settings?]
[You have triggered a special achievement: Abyss of Desire (lust).]
[Fall, fall. The abyss of desire welcomes your arrival. Evaluation bonus +100%.]
[Simulation evaluation this time ex+++ (after 480% bonus, original evaluation ex+).]
[In view of the player's perfect performance, you may choose seven out of the following nine options as rewards.]
[1. Super god level piano performance (heavenly sound, enough to bridge the boundary between life and death, awakening those who sleep without waking).]
[2. Stress limit increased by 20 points.]
[3. Reproductive ability enhancement (removes reproductive isolation between different species).]
[4. Elixir of immortality (developed by alchemists, a drink that grants immortality to ordinary people).]
[5. The wedding ring of you and your wife (contains her undying love for you. A collectible with no practical use).]
[6. Mental power doubled (a powerful will capable of piercing solid stone).]
[7. Talent breakthrough card (rare item, only has a very small chance to appear when the evaluation is ex or higher).]
[8. Physical attributes doubled (the capital for revolution).]
[9. Learning speed permanently +30%.]
"This time it's really hard to choose."
This was the first time Toru encountered a situation where he did not want to give up any reward.
Everything was useful.
Especially that talent breakthrough card. Toru's luck was honestly pretty bad, so a low probability reward like this really could not be passed up.
He also did not want to give up the wedding ring. Like the little fox photograph back then, missing it might lead to regret for a lifetime.
Besides that.
"Should I pick reproductive ability enhancement?" Toru began to think.
He might encounter all kinds of chances in the future. If there were dragon girls, elf girls, beast ear girls, and he could not have children, would that not be tragic?
Wait, why did it feel like he was sprinting wildly in the direction of some degenerate emperor.
…
After thinking for a long time and making some trade offs.
"I choose 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8."
The reason for this choice was simple.
There was no urgent lack of stress capacity for now.
The increase in learning speed was not significant enough.
That would be it.