Where there's a will, there's a way. If successfully escaping the yandere was possible, spending a few years in prison wouldn't be that big of a deal for Haruki Kaito.
Thinking this, Haruki began his tedious and monotonous day.
When midnight struck, the time when the daily simulation count reset, Haruki lay in bed and immediately started the third simulation.
[Third simulation beginning... Good luck.]
[Day 1: You spend the day with extreme caution. After school in the afternoon, you buy a camera and take it home, meticulously setting it up.]
[Day 2: You engage in intimate interactions with female classmates at school, deliberately drawing Moriyama Shiori's attention. This leads to her ambushing you on the way home from school in the afternoon.]
[You bring Moriyama Shiori home. The moment she reveals her true nature, you immediately grab a weapon and fight back. Due to thorough prior preparation, you successfully counter-kill her. However, killing for the first time leaves your mind unsettled for a long time.]
[Day 3: You turn yourself in at the police station. Even if not acquitted, this can minimize your sentence to the greatest extent.]
[Day 4: Turning yourself in, combined with the pre-recorded evidence video, leads to your acquittal on grounds of self-defense.]
Having successfully counter-killed the yandere and being acquitted, Haruki Kaito felt he had found a way out at this point in the simulation. But unexpected twists always come so abruptly.
[Day 6: Having experienced your new life for less than two days, you are suddenly haunted by the ghost of the already-dead Moriyama Shiori, preventing you from sleeping.]
[Day 7: You spend money to hire an exorcist to drive away the evil spirits, but it is utterly useless.]
[Day 8: Your mental state worsens.]
[Day 9: Your mental state worsens.]
[Day 10: Your mental state worsens.]
[Day 11: Your mental state worsens.]
[Day 12: Your mental state worsens.]
[Day 13: Your mind completely collapses. You choose to take poison and end your own life, dying in despair.]
[You died.]
[Third Simulation Ended]
[Simulation Duration: Thirteen Days]
[Rewards Obtained: Simulation Coins X13]
[Summary: You are clever, but there are always phenomena in this world that science cannot explain.]
The simulation ended. Returning to the real world, Haruki Kaito began to question life itself.
Having meticulously planned everything and successfully achieved his goal, only to be mentally tormented to the point of collapse by a ghost...
At this point, Haruki started to suspect if the System was intentionally blocking all his escape routes.
Can't escape, can't kill. The only way for Haruki to survive seemed to be submitting to the yandere.
But he couldn't accept it. It felt like his life was being controlled, with no semblance of freedom.
When fate throws a difficult problem your way, what would you do?
Choose to give up, or try every possible method to solve it?
Haruki Kaito would choose the latter. If he chose the former, his outcomes would be only two: death, or surviving but living a life like a walking corpse.
Although the latter also carried the risk of death, at least he would have tried.
Being easily crushed by reality and giving up—what difference would that make from being a useless bum?
Moreover, Haruki had the System. Although the System had reminded him more than once not to escape the yandere, it never said he was destined to fail.
So, Haruki, who hadn't even slept by dawn, began studying the System. He soon unlocked a new function.
The new function was the so-called System Shop, where many items could be exchanged using the simulation coins he obtained after each simulation.
It's worth noting that within the System Shop, Haruki could also view Moriyama Shiori's character panel.
[Yandere Character Panel]
[Name: Moriyama Shiori]
[Age: 16] (Initial: 16)
[SAN Value: 80] (Initial: 80, Max: 100)
[Favorability: 60] (Initial: 60, Max: 100)
[Yandere Value: 120] (Initial: 120, Max: 120)
[Interest 1: ???] (Observe and unlock independently)
[Interest 2: ???] (Observe and unlock independently)
[Interest 3: ???] (Observe and unlock independently)
[Current Evaluation: Hopeless]
This wasn't the first time Haruki had seen this panel. However, different from in the simulation world, he could see several lines of notes below the panel now.
[SAN Value: The yandere's rationality/sanity value. If SAN value reaches zero, it triggers the 'Axe Ending.' When SAN value is below 10, try to restore it above 30 within a day. The rate of SAN value increase/decrease depends on the levels of Favorability and Yandere Value.]
[Favorability: When the yandere's Favorability is above 90, the probability of triggering the 'Axe Ending' is zero (except when SAN value hits zero). When the yandere's Favorability is below 10, it will trigger the 'Axe Ending.']
[Yandere Value: When the Yandere Value is below 100, the yandere will no longer kill indiscriminately. When the Yandere Value reaches zero, it means the host has successfully saved a lost soul.]
Three lines of notes explained the three numerical values of the yandere to Haruki.
Each value had different characteristics, and they were interrelated. Among them, the line "[Yandere Value reaches zero, it means the host has successfully saved a lost soul]" caught Haruki's extreme attention.
Yandere Value, as the name suggested, should indicate the severity of the yandere condition. The lower the value, the closer to normal; the higher, the more terrifying.
If a yandere's Yandere Value reached zero, it meant they would no longer be a yandere.
So, if Haruki could just reduce Moriyama Shiori's Yandere Value to zero, wouldn't that be equivalent to successfully escaping the yandere?
Indeed, the System was always the greatest reliance for every transmigrator. Haruki Kaito finally understood the meaning of this saying.
Besides Moriyama Shiori's character panel, the System Shop also contained various items with different effects.
[Tracker / 15 Simulation Coins]
[Cooldown: None]
[Effect: Track the yandere's location]
[Description: Upon use, you will immediately learn the yandere's location.]
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[That Fateful Kiss / 30 Simulation Coins]
[Cooldown: Two Days]
[Effect: Restore the yandere's SAN Value]
[Description: When the yandere's SAN Value is below 10, you can restore it to 50 by gently kissing her.]
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[Alarm / 10 Simulation Coins]
[Cooldown: None]
[Effect: Avoid the 'Axe Ending']
[Description: When the yandere's SAN Value falls below 30, it will immediately alert the host.]
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[Six Flavor Rehmannia Pill / 5 Simulation Coins]
[Cooldown: None]
[Effect: Enhance the host's physical fitness]
[Description: Strengthens tendons and bones, improves health, extends stamina. Specifically treats lack of confidence.]
"Is this Six Flavor Rehmannia Pill for real..." Haruki Kaito couldn't help but twitch the corner of his eye. However, these items did seem quite useful.
Exchanging these items required simulation coins. After the previous three simulations, Haruki obtained a total of 30 simulation coins—not a lot, but not a little either. Most items in the shop were within his reach.