At the same time, Toru Kitahara sat on the sofa, feeling the rush of cool air.
Air conditioning was truly a great civilization.
He had a feeling that this summer was going to be unbearably hot.
If only some injustice would fall upon the heavens, letting June snow a little.
He had ordered takeout for lunch, and the greasy flavor was starting to get to him. Suddenly, he found himself missing the bento Hitori Gotoh had been making for him every day lately…
"Every bite has such a strange flavor. How does she even make it?"
Gotoh's cooking was so delicious that Toru Kitahara even entertained the idea of hiring her as a housekeeper. Eating takeout every day was no way to live.
Forget it.
He adjusted his mood, ready to refresh himself with a new simulation.
The aftertaste of the last one had been so strong that it had taken him nearly a month to fully separate the virtual from the real.
Now, though, he felt confident. In the next simulation, he would become a merciless grinding machine, and in the process… spoil—no, curse—no, love another girl.
[Welcome to the Game of Life Simulator]
[Please choose your profession for this run—]
[1: Explosive Drummer (To become a demon, or a god, lies in the turn of your mind)]
[2: Pianist at Sea (Sir, let your notes dance with the waves. Note: this profession has a unique worldview)]
[3: Violinist (You haven't tried a bowed instrument yet. Why not give it a go?)]
[4: Random (An unknown fate. Choosing this will increase your evaluation by 120% this run)]
Toru Kitahara did not pick immediately.
Instead, he used the talent card he had obtained last time, then checked his attributes.
[Talent: Peerless]
So the next stage after "Unparalleled Genius" was "Peerless."
No one else in the world—seemed reasonable enough.
[Notice: Your talent has reached the minimum requirement for unlocking a new feature.]
[You have unlocked—Speedrun Mode.]
Speedrun?
Huh, just how fast?
[Mode (Speedrun): Your learning speed increases tenfold, comprehension speed increases twentyfold. In return, once the simulation begins, you will randomly contract a fatal disease. Note: this disease cannot be cured by your own abilities. NPCs within the simulation will not be affected.]
[Remaining tries: 2 (reaching evaluation rank X or higher adds +1 try)]
"Ten times, twenty times…"
Toru muttered aloud. This was insane.
And wait—X wasn't even the maximum rank? Did that mean god-tier skills weren't the end of a single simulation?
How exactly did this evaluation system even work?
Even after three runs, Toru Kitahara still had no idea. It was all mist and fog.
Shaking off his thoughts, he switched on Speedrun Mode. If he had unlocked a new function, he had to try it.
At worst, he wouldn't mess with any girls this time and would just focus on training.
Alright, time to pick a profession.
He looked through them one by one.
Explosive Drummer…
Drums were part of jazz. If it were just "drummer," Toru had ideas, but with "explosive" slapped on, who knew what kind of difficulty that implied.
Pianist at Sea, with the theme tied to the ocean and a note about a unique worldview—probably meant actually drifting on the sea playing piano.
Violinist. This one was simple. As long as you had hands, you could manage.
As for the random option, Toru could only say the risks outweighed the rewards. Purely random, and the bonus was only 20 percent higher? A normal person would never pick that.
So the question was—
Should he charge in recklessly, or play it safe?
After some thought—
[Game Start.]
[Late May. You have chosen your lifelong goal: Violinist.]
[You have gained buff: Heaven-Jealous Talent (Learning exp ×10, Comprehension speed ×20)]
[You have gained debuff: Pancreatic Cancer (The so-called King of Cancers. Less than 10% five-year survival rate, high surgical death rate, extremely low cure rate)]
Well, wasn't that something.
Even Toru Kitahara, who had already died young once, felt this disease was the most terrifying thing imaginable.
Like having death carved right across his face.
So it seemed—this time he could not look for a wife.
Doomed in five years, he might as well avoid getting girls involved. No point in making his paper wives cry.
If he had twenty years, sure, a romance or two would be fine. But if it was only three to five years, then any romance would just be playing with a girl's feelings, plain villainy.
Next, time to set up training. He would lay down the foundations, then enter full immersion.
[Your current weekly plan is as follows:
Violin fundamentals.
Violin fundamentals.
Violin fundamentals.
Violin fundamentals.
Violin fundamentals.
Violin fundamentals.
Violin fundamentals.]
Since his stress limit had increased to 120, Toru always started by pushing himself.
He pressed confirm.
[Monday, clear skies. After school you practiced the violin, gaining skill—Violin Performance LV.1]
[Tuesday, overcast. Using your previous music theory knowledge, Violin Performance LV.1 exp +300]
Hm? 300?
That meant—
[Skill—Violin Performance LV.3 (0/2000)]
Level 3 in just two days?
Apologies. It seemed he had underestimated geniuses.
Heaven-Jealous Talent was this ridiculous, huh…
Even with a lucky crit to exp, jumping two levels in one go was terrifying.
No wonder some professions in the simulation seemed absurd, like "one person equals a full symphony orchestra."
Toru Kitahara thought—
If Heaven-Jealous Talent could become permanent, mastering over a dozen instruments would not be hard at all.
[Wednesday, sunny. Your heightened state of mind propelled your violin skills forward. Violin Performance LV.3 exp +1000]
Toru was speechless.
If not for the fact that this Speedrun Mode limited him to three years and only a few tries, he would pick it every single time!
[Thursday, light rain. Not in the mood to practice, you enjoyed life instead, gaining insight into the value of ordinary days. Violin Performance LV.3 exp +1000]
[Skill—Violin Performance LV.4 (0/6000)]
Level 4 already?
Not even a full week and level 4? Sure, the exp crits were hidden perks from his past simulations, but still, this was excessive.
[Friday, rainy. You practiced violin basics at home. Even though the fundamentals meant little to you now, through the idea of "reviewing the old to learn the new," you grasped a personal style from an ordinary score. Congratulations, you have gained trait: Focus]
[Focus: Experience gain efficiency +20%]
Leaning back against the sofa, Toru Kitahara let himself savor the thrill this new function brought.
So good.
This was way more exhilarating than any extreme stress training method.