Chapter 37: The Ten Great Talents, an Explosive Start!
Card 6: A tiny figure wandering the world, surrounded by wealth, beauty, and power— enjoying everything one could ever desire.
[Child of Luck (Mortal)]: You possess extraordinary luck. Opportunities fall into your hands, dangers twist away at the last second, and you naturally rise toward the top of the mortal world. But you can never defy the laws of nature, nor can you escape mortality. In this world, your lifespan will never exceed one hundred years.
Why... why is my lifespan limited... Heh, I am not a god... I am just a human...
Card 7: A tiny figure covered in fur, transforming into a tiger, then a lion, then other felines.
[Meow Meow Meow!!]: You can freely transform into cats, lions, tigers, and other felines, possessing their strength.
Meow meow! Meow! Meow meow meow!! (I am a big tiger!)
Card 8: Still a tiny figure, palms pressed together, catching a sword between them.
[100% Sword Catch] : No matter what kind of sword it is, you will definitely catch it between your palms.
I catch! I catch! I catch! Hey? Why are you using an axe?! Ah!
Card 9: A graveyard slowly writhing and expanding.
[I Am Just a Grave]: You will become a grave with self-awareness, and you can even expand to make yourself stronger.
I really am just a grave!
Card 10: A tiny figure, laughing one moment, crying the next, sorrowful the next...
[Personality Control]: You are born with the ability to control others' personalities, switching them at will, and even developing the ability to make others generate more personalities for you to manipulate.
Ice Kaguya, Chunni Kaguya, Yandere Kaguya, clumsy-cute Sora, dominant Shoko, Queen Bocchi, loyal-puppy Kazusa, enchanting Yukino, soft and sticky Yukino... Muehehehehe…
***
And with that.
All ten cards were revealed.
Haruka was dumbfounded.
T-t-t-this...
Damn you, Love Simulator! Are you sure you didn't switch careers from another genre?
Look at all this stuff!
Does this have anything to do with romance?
If I had these, I could enter a supernatural plot in minutes!
But.
But are these really useful for me to complete the simulation and get a Perfect evaluation?
If the genre shifted into a Supernatural anime, Haruka would probably be very happy right now.
Unfortunately, this world didn't seem to have any superpowers.
So...
"I can only choose carefully."
Among the ten Talent Cards, they all looked impressive, but few were actually useful.
Among the remaining six.
[Evil Charisma]: Although it was good, it wouldn't work.
Was he supposed to rely on this thing to forcibly make Shoko and the others fall in love with him so they wouldn't seek death?
He dared to bet that if he did that, the final evaluation absolutely wouldn't be good.
Moreover, this talent had a flaw. Looking at the final words and the description... this damn thing was a bit like Tomie!
He'd be crazy to choose this unlucky thing.
Then...
[Misfortune Companion]: Also remove.
It cannot change misfortune that has already occurred.
In other words, Shoko Nishimiya couldn't recover her hearing. Moreover, this thing didn't eliminate misfortune; it attracted it. When the time came, he would be the unlucky one. Even if it was weakened by half, his hearing would probably end up like Shoko's, requiring hearing aids.
In that case, the ending probably wouldn't be bad, but it wouldn't be good either.
He likely wouldn't get a Perfect evaluation, so wouldn't it be meaningless?
So, pass!
Then...
Haruka looked at the four talents: [Willpower Breakthrough], [Past and Present Lives], [Child of Luck (Mortal)], and [Personality Control].
He fell into deep hesitation.
Then.
He eliminated [Personality Control].
Although he really wanted to go "muehehehehe," he couldn't.
He really couldn't.
The remaining three...
Haruka's gaze lingered on the [Child of Luck (Mortal)] card for a long time.
This Talent Card... he really, really wanted it...
It perfectly matched the pursuit he had always held... but...
Finally, with immense willpower, he looked away.
"Heh, mere Mortal luck. Only being able to live in the secular world, bound by so many constraints… I don't care for it at all."
"Besides, if I don't get a good evaluation, I'm afraid there won't be a trace of this thing in the rewards. Then I'd be losing on all fronts."
"Exactly."
After mumbling to himself.
He closed his eyes and quickly selected [Willpower Breakthrough] and [Past and Present Lives].
Subsequently, Haruka began selecting the memories to store in the [Past and Present Lives] Talent Card from the previous simulations.
Then he stuffed them in.
In the first simulation: Just because he didn't mock her, she was grateful, bringing him milk time and again; the note saying "Thank you" left behind when she transferred; his own death from overworking.
In the second simulation: Saving Shoko from delinquents, resolving the misunderstanding with Yumiko Miura, long companionship, her becoming his listener to relieve stress, him learning sign language for her, preparing the Cultural Festival program, Shoko transferring schools, and finally seeing Shoko jump off a building to commit suicide in front of him, leading to his collapse and death from fever.
The memories in the third simulation were the most numerous and critical.
He stuffed them in large quantities: giving courage, helping each other, long companionship, being inseparable, mutual understanding, persuading Shoko's family, him starting a business with Shoko's silent support, then her hearing deteriorating, her family passing away, the situation taking a sharp turn for the worse, her committing suicide in the bathtub so as not to burden him while wishing him a good life, his collapse, working hard for her sake, establishing a charity for deaf-mutes, remaining unmarried for life, and dying alone.
Then the most tragic fourth simulation.
The Alliance of Outcasts, a good start, but his focus was elsewhere, paying basically no attention to this side. In the end, his career wasn't completed, his emotions had no support, he was just ordinary friends with Shoko, and finally, he died alone on the streets of Tokyo. At the same moment, Shoko committed suicide once again.
Stuff all of these in!!
At this moment, to ensure he could stimulate the will of his simulation self and make his will firm enough, Haruka was acting crazily. Tragedy, sweetness—he stuffed it all in at once, without thinking about how the "him" in there would feel.
But there was no choice.
This was all necessary.
This talent was truly too important.
Haruka had already thought about how to use these two talents.
First, [Past and Present Lives] had to be utilized.
Being able to store memories from several simulations was its greatest value.
It should be known that even Haruka himself hadn't obtained too many memories from the simulations.
And within these memories, especially the ones from the third simulation, his feelings for Shoko Nishimiya should have reached a certain level.
Therefore, it could be used in combination with the [Willpower Breakthrough] card!
Haruka already had a rough plan in his mind.
The only concern now was the "step-by-step unsealing" mentioned in the description of [Past and Present Lives]. He didn't know how it would unseal, or what "step-by-step" meant.
This point was critical. If something went wrong or it happened too late, there would be trouble.
However.
Things had come to this point.
Haruka had no choice.
This was the combination with the highest probability of success he arrived at after thinking.
Although it required a bit of gambling—which wasn't good at all; gambling never ended well.
But where in life does one not gamble?
Birth, college entrance exams, career, marriage...
Everyone is gambling. It's just that the stakes are different, the capital is different, and the confidence is different.
Some people have a choice, but some people don't!
So...
Haruka licked his lips.
Face it directly!
Life is just like this!
"I've finished choosing!"
[Talent Selection Complete.]
[Please confirm again. Once confirmed, it cannot be undone.]
"I confirm!"
[Confirmation Complete.]
[Talent Simulation Start.]
***
[Waking up, Monday.]
[You went to school and met your desk mate, Shoko Nishimiya.]
[Seemingly because of your chance encounter over the weekend and your previous experience taking her to the Service Club, she trusts you very much and is very grateful. So, she greets you enthusiastically.]
[The moment you saw Shoko Nishimiya, you suddenly felt a headache.]
[Past and Present Lives slightly taking effect.]
[Some subtle, fragmented memories suddenly flashed through your mind.]
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