After school.
Toru quickly returned home because he had no extracurricular activities.
With nothing to do, he lay down on the sofa and prepared to start the second simulation.
[Welcome to the Life Simulator Game]
[Select a profession for this game——]
[1: Heart Thief (Infiltrate dungeons and steal people's evil desires, known as the Heart Thief)]
[2: Professional Musician (Hehehe (sinister laugh) — A lone musician doesn't need companions; one person is the strongest symphony orchestra)]
[3. Bassist (~ Rock and roll means smoking, drinking, and playing with women! Yee, this is so rock and roll!)]
[4. Random (unknown fate)]
Heart Thief? Just looking at the description, it seems a bit difficult.
As for Professional Musician, if Toru understands correctly, does this profession require mastering all symphonic instruments? Are you sure this is still human? No matter how arrogant Toru is, he doesn't believe he can master all instruments with his current skills.
After thinking about it, he decided to choose option 3.
For him, who had practiced piano since childhood and had solid music theory knowledge, learning to play the bass wouldn't be too hard, even though the job description involving smoking, drinking, and playing with women is quite biased.
[Game starting...]
[Two weeks into your first year of high school, with nothing to do, you decided to set your life goal: to become a bassist.]
A three-dimensional game screen appeared in front of Toru.
It displayed an image of the school, and next to it were many option buttons, such as character attributes, planning, studying, exercising, outings, invitations, etc.
Compared to galgame-type games, if he had to say, this feels more like a life simulation game.
A few simple examples: Princess Maker, Long Live the Queen, Tale of Wuxia, Needy Streamer Overload, Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, Slave Maker: Sylvie... cough, cough, well, that last one's a bit off. (1)
Generally, a week is used as a planning cycle. If it's too slow, it can also be set for a month or a year.
To set a training plan, the simulator will notify the player of what happened during the period.
Especially for emergencies, special plot CGs will even be arranged, which is a very appreciated detail.
During the last playthrough, Toru encountered Hitori Gotoh's confession, which was an unexpected incident.
Toru first clicked on the attributes to check the basic attributes of this life.
[Current Character Attributes]
[Knowledge: 88] (Little knowledge)]
[Bravery: 121] (Capable of acting alone)]
[Dexterity: 81] (Clumsy)]
[Consideration: 61] (Not very attentive)]
[Attractiveness: 91] (Average)]
One word to describe it: Terrible.
These are still the attributes after the settlement bonus from the previous life, but when he thinks that ordinary people basically have all attributes floating around 50, Toru finds these attributes pleasant to look at.
No matter what, his current attributes are almost double those of ordinary people.
However, the "consideration" attribute is a bit annoying.
In the last simulation, Toru left Gotoh behind, and as a result, there was no chance to review the consideration attribute in the later stages of the game. The account was completely wasted, and he didn't achieve a "complete hero" status.
How to start this time?
Should we follow the rhythm of six days of study and one day of rest?
Or should he check the stress level?
[Stress Level: 0]
This value is easy to understand: the higher it is, the lower the study efficiency, and eventually, it may have side effects. Toru had learned this during the last game.
After later adjustments to the plan, his attribute values increased much more smoothly.
Alright, let's start arranging.
Toru clicked on the planning page, searched for projects, and finally found bass practice in the hobbies column.
[Your plan for the current week is as follows: 1. Basic bass practice. 2. Basic bass exercises. 3. Basic bass exercises. 4. Basic bass exercises. 5. Basic bass exercises. 6. Basic bass exercises. 7. Sleep.]
He pressed the confirm button.
[Monday, sunny. You returned home from school, practiced the bass, and acquired the skill: Playing Bass LV.1]
[Tuesday, cloudy. You returned home from school and practiced the bass, gaining Playing Bass LV.1 +5 experience points]
…
[Sunday, light rain. You spent the whole day resting at home, stress 40 → 20.]
Not bad.
Toru clicked on the skill list.
[Skill - Playing Bass LV.1 (25/100)]
Currently, he gains 30 experience per week, and if all goes well, he'll reach level 2 in three weeks.
If he encounters a lucky event during the period, the experience will also produce a critical hit, and the probability will double several times, increasing a lot at once. However, Toru doesn't fully understand the rules of critical hits. After all, he's only played the game once and only has a partial understanding of the game's life simulator.
"How about skipping the high school stage quickly?" Toru touched his chin and thought about the feasibility.
Last time, he quickly skipped the high school stage and trained his photography skills to LV 5. At this level, his overall skills have peaked.
There are four special levels afterward: professional level, master level, grandmaster level, and divine level.
Continue.
[Your current weekly plan is as follows: 1. Practice. 2. Practice ... 7. Go shopping.]
This week, Toru changed his arrangements for rest days. According to his conclusion, if you keep sleeping, the character will be infected with a permanent disadvantage called laziness, and learning efficiency will be reduced by 5%.
[On Monday, you summarized your previous music theory knowledge and gained some unique insights into the bass. Playing Bass LV.1 experience +55]
…
[On Saturday, you discovered that your fingers are long and flexible, with clear joints, and you can play the bass with surprising smoothness. Playing Bass LV.1 experience +80]
A critical hit experience event has appeared!
Toru was in a good mood.
He also discovered some small opportunities for critical hits. For example, the skills the character currently masters affect the critical hit rate. Because he has practiced piano since childhood, Toru has a lot of music theory knowledge, and his fingers are relatively flexible.
An example would be like the support cards in Uma Musume.
[Skill - Playing Bass LV.2 (80/300)]
The improvement speed has slowed considerably. Five points a day, ten weeks, meaning over two months to complete it.
How annoying.
Can't it be faster?
[The sky on Sunday is a bit gloomy. You like this kind of weather and silently recite a poem from the Man'yōshū in your heart: there are weak thunders and the sky is hazy, but waiting for the rain, so I can stay here with you. A good mood suddenly reduces your stress. Stress 60 → 30.]
[That night, you were walking down a busy street and saw a short blue-haired bassist girl performing an impromptu performance not far away.]
[Tip: You have triggered a special event. Do you want to participate?]
Toru clicked Accept.
Soon, his consciousness entered the simulator.
◇
"Amazing."
"She looks so young."
"But why does she have a piece of grass in her mouth?"
Toru, following the conversations of the people, looked at the girl they were talking about.
With a delicate and expressionless face, she strummed the bass strings with concentration.
Looking at this cute face full of frigidity.
Toru made up his mind.
This time, I'll choose you as my wife!
---
(1):
Princess Maker (美少女梦工厂) — classic life-raising sim, raising a daughter.
Long Live the Queen (皇帝养成计划) — raising a princess to survive court intrigue.
Tale of Wuxia (侠客风云传) — martial arts RPG with sim elements.
Needy Streamer Overload (主播女孩重度依赖) — managing the chaotic life of a streamer.
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby (赛马娘) — horse-girl training and racing sim.
Slave Maker Sylvie (奴隶少女希尔薇) — infamous adult game raising sim called "Teaching Feeling".