After school.
With no club activities, Toru Kitahara returns home quickly.
Bored and lounging on the sofa, he prepares to start his second simulation.
[Welcome to the Game Life Simulator] [Please select your profession for this game—] [1: Phantom Thief of Hearts (Infiltrate the palaces of the mind, stealing sinful desires, hence known as the Phantom Thief of Hearts)] [2: Virtuoso Musician (Heh heh heh (maniacal laugh)—A solitary performer needs no companions, a one-person symphony orchestra)] [3: Bassist (~Rock is all about smoking, drinking, and womanizing! Yeee, that's so rock 'n' roll!~)] [4: Random (Unknown fate)]
Phantom Thief of Hearts? The description alone sounds pretty tough.
Virtuoso Musician? If Toru understands correctly, this requires mastering all orchestral instruments? Is that even humanly possible? Even with his confidence, he doesn't think he can handle every instrument.
After some thought, he picks option 3.
As someone who's trained in piano since childhood with solid music theory, bass shouldn't be too hard. Though, the description's "smoking, drinking, and womanizing" is full of stereotypes.
[Game Start] [Two weeks into your first year of high school, with nothing to do, you set your life's goal: Bassist.]
A 3D game interface appears before Toru.
It displays an image of the school, with option buttons popping up on the side: Attributes, Schedule, Study, Exercise, Outings, Invitations, and more.
More than a gal game, it feels like a life sim, doesn't it?
Think Emperor: Rise to Power, Princess Maker, Wuxia Chronicles, NEEDY GIRL OVERDOSE, Uma Musume, or… Slave Girl Sylvie—cough, that last one's a bit off.
Typically, you plan in weekly cycles, but if that's too slow, you can set monthly or yearly plans.
Once a schedule is set, the simulator notifies the player of events that occur.
Special events even come with dedicated CG scenes—pretty generous.
In his last playthrough, Hitomi Goto's confession was one such random event.
Toru first opens the attributes to check his stats for this life.
[Current Attributes] [Knowledge: 88] (Somewhat lacking) [Courage: 121] (Can stand alone) [Dexterity: 81] (Clumsy) [Consideration: 61] (Not very caring) [Charisma: 91] (Average)
One-word review: Trash.
Even with the bonuses from his last life, these stats aren't great. But considering the average person's attributes hover around 50, Toru feels pretty good about being nearly twice as capable.
That Consideration stat, though, is a bit of an eyesore.
In his last simulation, abandoning Hitomi Goto in college meant he had no chance to raise Consideration later, basically gimping his character. No "pentagon warrior" achievement for him.
How to start this time?
Stick with the six-day study, one-day rest rhythm?
Let's check stress.
[Stress: 0]
Easy enough—higher stress lowers learning efficiency and can cause side effects. Toru learned this the hard way last time.
Adjusting his schedule later on made his stat growth much smoother.
Alright, let's plan.
Toru opens the schedule page, browsing options, and finds bass practice under hobbies.
[Your weekly schedule: 1. Bass Practice. 2. Bass Practice. 3. Bass Practice. 4. Bass Practice. 5. Bass Practice. 6. Bass Practice. 7. Sleep.]
He confirms.
[Monday, Sunny. You practice bass at home after school, gaining skill: Bass Playing LV.1] [Tuesday, Overcast. You practice bass at home after school. Bass Playing LV.1 EXP +5] … [Sunday, Light Rain. You rest at home all day. Stress 40 → 20]
Not bad, not bad.
Toru checks his skill list.
[Skill: Bass Playing LV.1 (25/100)]
About 30 EXP per week. At this rate, three weeks to LV.2.
If a lucky event triggers, EXP could crit, multiplying a few times for a big jump. But Toru hasn't fully cracked the crit mechanic, having only played once. He's still a noob with the Game Life Simulator.
"Maybe skip high school quickly." Toru rubs his chin, considering the feasibility.
Last time, he fast-forwarded through high school, maxing photography to LV.5, the cap for regular skills.
Beyond that are four special tiers: Professional, Master, Grandmaster, and Godly.
Let's keep going.
[Your weekly schedule: 1. Practice. 2. Practice… 7. Go shopping.]
This week, Toru tweaks the rest day. From last time, he learned that constant sleeping triggers a permanent "Sloth" debuff, reducing learning efficiency by 5%.
[Monday. You review past music theory, gaining unique insights into bass. Bass Playing LV.1 EXP +55] … [Saturday. You notice your long, nimble fingers and distinct knuckles make bass playing surprisingly smooth. Bass Playing LV.1 EXP +80]
There it is—an EXP crit event!
Toru's in a good mood.
He's noticed crits are influenced by existing skills. His piano training gives him robust music theory and dexterous fingers, like a support card in Uma Musume.
[Skill: Bass Playing LV.2 (80/300)]
Progress slows a lot. Five EXP per day means ten weeks—over two months—to max it.
Annoying.
Can't it go faster?
[Sunday's sky is gloomy. You like this weather, silently reciting a poem from the Man'yoshu: Faint thunder, cloudy skies; may the rain come and keep you here. Your good mood sharply reduces stress. Stress 60 → 30.] [That night, strolling through bustling streets, you spot a blue-haired bassist performing an impromptu set nearby.] [Prompt: You've triggered a special event. Enter?]
Toru clicks confirm.
His consciousness dives into the simulator.
◇
"Wow, she's good."
"She looks so young."
"Why's she got a blade of grass in her mouth?"
Toru follows the crowd's chatter, looking at the girl in question.
Her expressionless, delicate face is focused as she plucks the bass strings. That cool, aloof vibe on her pretty little face—
Toru makes up his mind.
This life's wife? It's you!