Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"I feel like she's someone who would be more comfortable living alone."

"What a strong woman..." the boy sighed inwardly.

"Actually, my dad called me a few days ago. Besides asking how I was doing, he also talked about his own things."

"He might get married next year because the woman is getting older and doesn't want to wait any longer."

"He didn't tell his mother the news, but I think even if she did, she would only be sad for a while."

"She won't change her mind."

Tomatsu Yuka's tone wasn't sad, perhaps because she had already accepted the fact.

It could also be because she has found a new anchor in her life.

"So living separately might be the best thing for my mother and me."

"After all, we are not the same kind of people, and we are not suitable to live under the same roof."

The girl smiled serenely; she was ready to embrace her new life and looked forward to it with great anticipation.

Matsueda Jun looked at the jasmine tea in front of him. Pure white buds floated on the tea soup, carrying a rich and distinct jasmine aroma.

He felt the teacup in his hand was a little heavy.

At lunchtime, the two walked out of the literature museum under parasols and went to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

"What would Chun-kun like to eat?"

The boy sitting opposite me looked at his phone and said, "You order first."

The girl looked at the waiter beside her, "Then please give me an omelet rice set meal first..."

The sounds around him became muffled, and Jun Matsue frowned subconsciously as he looked at the messages on the screen.

"Matsueda-kun, are you free this afternoon? Can we meet up?"

The boy's gaze moved upwards, landing on the contact's name.

It is indeed Yamami Maki.

But why would my senior suddenly want to meet him?

Didn't she keep her distance during our previous conversations?

As Jun Matsuoka recalled the two withdrawals, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

"Tsun-kun?" Tomatsu Yuka's voice approached. The boy put down his phone and met the girl's questioning gaze.

"Why are you frowning?" she asked with concern, her eyes gentle and bright.

"It's nothing," he said, looking out the window. "It's just that the cicadas are a bit noisy."

As the rain and wind subsided, the cicadas that had been nestling in the swaying shadows of the trees, untouched by the storm, began to chirp and hum again.

The boy picked up the menu on the table and said, "I'll have the pork cutlet set meal."

"Please wait a moment, everyone." The waiter bowed slightly and hurried towards the kitchen.

Tomatsu Yuka pushed the iced water in the restaurant in front of the boy. She rested her chin on her hand and turned to look at the dazzling spot of light at the entrance of the store, which looked like a pool of gold leaf melting on the ground.

"It's getting hot again."

Jun Matsue took a big gulp of ice water. "That's how summer is. It doesn't get cool even when it rains."

The boy chewed on the ice cube in his mouth; he usually only did this when he had something on his mind.

Before he could reply to his senior's message, he picked up his phone again and typed a few words.

"Is there a problem?"

The message was quickly marked as read, and the boy stared at the pure white background of the chat box.

"I think I've seen that system you guys were talking about."

The ice cube in her mouth shattered with a crisp sound as Tomatsu Yuka, who was editing a status update on her phone, looked up.

"What is Chun-kun looking at?"

"...I'm looking at the municipal announcements in Mitaka." Jun Matsueda swiped open the chat window and clicked on the government news that popped up in the message bar.

"The drainage system over at San-yingtai is having problems and will need to be repaired for a while."

If Tomatsu knew that her senior was contacting her, she would probably explode.

"There are quite a few places in Suginami Ward that need repairs too, I hope they can be fixed soon." The girl chimed in, then lowered her head to edit her relationship status.

The boy immediately replied to Yamami Maki's message, "You were simulated by the system? You're not kidding, are you?"

"Is Matsueda dating both Mochizuki Haruka and Tomatsu Tomoka at the same time?"

The shards of ice between his teeth emitted a chill, and Matsueda Jun pursed his lips.

"It really is true..." the girl quickly sent another message.

“Matsue-kun, I dreamed about so many things, so many things, and they were all related to you.”

"When can we meet? I have so much to tell you."

After typing the message with trembling fingers, Yamami Maki, sitting in the school library, looked up, her tired gaze falling on the clear sky outside the window.

Last night's torrential rain seemed to have swept away all the cumulus clouds, leaving the sky in Bunkyo Ward a clear blue that made one feel open and expansive.

However, the girl's eyes were unfocused. She had just woken up from her midday nap and her mind was still not clear, which is why she sent a message to Matsueda Jun without thinking twice.

In fact, Yamami Maki hadn't slept well these past two days—every time she fell asleep after meeting Matsueda Jun on August 1st, she would have incredibly vivid dreams.

From the moment Jun Matsueda and Yuka Tomatsu broke up after the summer vacation until she found Jun Matsueda at the psychological counseling center, the intermittent scenes spanned the entire four years of university life that she had not yet experienced.

Even after waking up from the dream, the boy's haggard and tired face, the last thing she saw, still lingered in her mind.

“Why did Jun-kun become like that…” Yami Maki clenched her hands and crumpled the papers pressed on the table.

Why is it that in my dreams I can only watch him turn into that?

The girl's attention was drawn to the thing blocking her view of the sky.

It was a semi-transparent panel, simply standing in front of me, moving as my gaze shifted.

If she hadn't already heard about this from Tomatsu Yuka and Mochizuki Haruka, she might have thought she was hallucinating.

Aside from the words "Temporary User 3", there was only one line of bolder, more prominent text on the system panel, its dark red color serving as a reminder to Yamami Maki that time was running out.

Prove to users that you are right.

Chapter 674 The Girl is Full of Determination

On August 5th, the day before the start of autumn, the highest temperature in Setagaya remained stubbornly high at 37 degrees Celsius.

As Yami Maki walked out of the room carrying her handbag, her older sister was playing with a parrot in the living room on the second floor. Watching the girl walk towards the stairs, Yami Ikuka blinked.

"Is Moji going out?"

"Okay." She turned around and smiled. "Let's go to Shibuya."

The woman sat up. "Want me to take you home?"

Maki Yami's family doesn't have servants, and the driver belongs to the company, so the young people mostly drive themselves, unlike the Mochizuki family who travel with maids.

Of course, it wasn't that the Yami family didn't have servants; it was just that Yami Maki's father didn't like the feeling of servants walking around the house, "making the house feel like a home."

"No need, I'll just take a taxi." The girl shook her head. "Didn't you just finish up with things at the Li Agency?"

"Be careful on the road." Yamami Ikuka held the little yellow chick in her hand and winked at her.

"X JAPAN recently released a live album, Maki, please bring one back for me."

"Oh, while you're at it, go check out Denny's studio in Shibuya for me."

Yamami Maki nodded slightly. "Is there anything else?"

"Hmm... let me think." The woman lay back on the sofa, holding up the chirping parrot in her hand.

"By the way, Jun Matsue sent me a message yesterday saying that you don't seem to be getting enough rest lately."

She looked up at the girl at the top of the stairs, her black hair falling to the ground.

"What's going on? And how did he know?"

"..." Yami Maki looked down at the floor in front of her toes. "It's nothing, I just had a dream about him earlier."

Now her dream has ended.

"So you're going to see Songzhi now?"

"Ah."

There was a moment of silence in the living room, broken only by the crisp chirping of birds.

"Don't worry, I won't stop you from seeing him."

Ikuka Yamami released the parrot from her arms, and it fluttered back into its cage.

"Anyway, it was you who wronged him in the first place. If you want to make amends, then go ahead and do it."

"Ah."

"I've always felt that Jun Matsue would be a good son-in-law."

The girl didn't answer this time; only the sound of footsteps on the stairs gradually faded into the distance.

A person went downstairs to change shoes, pushed open the villa door, and heard the distant chirping of cicadas from a temple. Yamami Maki opened her umbrella and walked towards Jiyugaoka Station on the other side.

She had indeed intended to take a taxi, because after waking from that long dream, she was now desperately eager to see Jun Matsuoka.

But taking a taxi would cost a lot of money, so the girl felt she should save some money.

Walking through the bright summer sun and into the bustling station entrance, Yamami Maki looked up at the station name in black letters on a white background.

"Hill of Freedom..."

A somewhat ironic name.

As she boarded the train bound for Shibuya, the girl held her handbag on her lap. She blinked, and a semi-transparent panel appeared, blocking the opposite train window.

Is Temporary User 3 ranked after Tomatsu and Mochizuki?

Her gaze shifted slightly downwards, landing on the large, dark red characters.

Prove to users that you are right.

This user likely refers to a registered user, specifically Songzhi...

After regaining consciousness at noon yesterday, and after an afternoon of chaos and a night of calm, Maki Yami is now able to rationally contemplate the surreal scene before her that only she can see.

So, is this a task assigned to her by the system? The girl gripped the bag strap tightly.

How can I prove to Songzhi that I am the most suitable person to be with him?

...Or should we prove to him that the system is correct?

Maki Yamami looked up at the small, flashing lights on the station map above the tram door, indicating its progress.

In short, I must meet with Jun-kun as soon as possible.

Sitting down in a window booth at the coffee shop, Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone; there were still ten minutes until their agreed meeting time.

"..." He took a deep breath silently, looking out the window at the dense crowd at the intersection, overflowing the zebra crossing on the gray concrete, like the rain that had flooded Tokyo the night before last.

It seems that in TV dramas, all those significant meetings require a background of people coming and going, the boy thought to himself idly.

In order to meet with Yamami Maki today, he specially coaxed Kurusu Yosei and Mochizuki Haruka to take a nap, and even made up an excuse that Sakamuro Ken wanted to play ball with him, so that he could come here alone.

There's no way around it; it's one thing for Kurusu, but Mochizuki would absolutely never allow him to meet his senior alone...

Jun Matsue looked away and picked up the menu on the table.

But in order to understand what his senior had said, he had to come alone.

As if by telepathy, just as she thought of Yamami Maki, the girl with the beige handbag walked into the café. She naturally glanced towards the window and spotted the boy sitting alone.

The girl quickened her pace slightly, ignoring the smiling clerk who was asking her questions, and walked straight over, stopping in front of the booth by the window.

Matsueda Jun looked at the seat opposite him, "Aren't you going to sit, senior?"

Yamami Maki seemed not to hear him, and just stared at him intently, her eyes quickly filling with tears.