"A Maiden's Heart (Passion)?"
Lying under the covers in his room, Minami furrowed his brows at the notification floating before him, lost in thought.
This Maiden's Heart item. It had only appeared after he parted ways with Kita Ikuyo.
And with the added note: Passion—
It wasn't hard to guess.
This item was clearly related to Kita Ikuyo. But...
"What exactly does this item an?"
Minami flipped over, sat up beside the heated table, propped his face up with one hand, and tapped the Maiden's Heart (Passion) in his inventory with the other.
As soon as he touched it—
A description popped up.
[Maiden's Heart (Passion): An unknown item. Perhaps, when collected in sufficient quantity, it will trigger so unknown effect.]
[Note: Due to its special nature, this item cannot be activated with Points.]
Minami read the description.
It wasn't as clear-cut as most of the other items.
Instead—
It was full of vague, suspicious wording.
An unknown item?
So unknown quantity?
Triggers so unknown effect?
A series of cryptic hints.
Minami couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
In reality, putting aside the whole 'unknown item' thing—
The one thing he did understand was that for the Maiden's Heart to take effect, he needed to collect more of them and judging by how he had obtained this one.
It wasn't hard to figure out.
He probably had to collect them from his other simulation targets.
Or rather...
It might not even be limited to simulation targets.
Minami furrowed his brows and shook his head.
After all, Kita Ikuyo technically wasn't one of his official simulation targets.
Yet, he had still managed to obtain a Maiden's Heart from her.
So, thinking in reverse—
Could he also collect Maiden's Hearts from people like Ijichi Nijika or Inoue Takina, who weren't part of the simulation?
More importantly—
Why had none of his previous simulations ever resulted in him obtaining a Maiden's Heart?
Why had it only appeared after this particular simulation ended?
Minami pondered.
Then, suddenly, his eyes lit up with realization.
"Could it be... that?"
Sothing clicked in his mind.
Without hesitation, his fingers danced across the simulation screen.
And then—
His movents stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
His hand slowly ca to rest.
"This has to be it, right?"
He murmured to himself as he stared at the simulation log.
And what he was staring at—
Wasn't anything else—
But the special reward he had received after completing the Matsuzaka Satou simulation.
[Special Reward xxxx: A unique reward granted only to the simulation host after achieving an almost perfect ending.]
[This item possesses unknown and special abilities. Use it wisely, and perhaps everything will go exactly as you wish.]
More vague, cryptic descriptions.
Another mysterious item.
Minami refused to believe that this Special Reward xxxx was completely unrelated to the Maiden's Heart.
In fact—
He was almost certain.
That this reward was ant to be used as a tool to collect Maiden's Hearts.
The biggest problem was—
"I can't take it out like other items."
Minami tapped on the simulation screen repeatedly.
For example, when he had received the Regrets of Life: Guitar from the simulator—
He could just open his inventory, click on it, and it would instantly appear in his hands.
He had no idea how it worked—
But the fact was, he could physically retrieve items from his inventory.
However—
This Special Reward xxxx was different.
Every ti he tried to click on it—
A notification would pop up:
[Retrieval failed]
Minami had already spent quite so ti investigating it.
But after repeatedly failing to extract the item—
He had no choice but to give up.
However...
"This ti, it involves Ikuyo and the others."
Minami stroked his chin.
Even though collecting the Maiden's Heart hadn't resulted in any noticeable changes in Kita Ikuyo's behavior. Even after chatting with her through LINE later and confirming that she still acted exactly like her usual self, Minami still wasn't going to let his guard down.
After all, this involved his simulation targets.
Naturally, he had to stay alert.
"First things first... I should probably stop using the simulator for now."
Minami stared at the simulator screen, murmuring to himself.
That's right.
Temporarily stop using the simulator.
This was sothing he had already been considering for a while.
After all, he already had nine wives.
If the simulator kept adding more...
Even he might struggle to manage it all.
Most importantly—
The more he used the simulator, the more he realized how deep and unbreakable his bonds with his simulation targets had beco.
Even if they accepted the idea of him constantly bringing new girls into his life—
Even if they had no complaints about his so-called harem ending of happiness—
He couldn't just keep indulging in their affection while hurting them at the sa ti.
Because even if they didn't say it out loud. Every new girl ant they had to share a little more of his love and for a girl who truly loved him, that had to be hard to accept.
It was just human nature.
Not to ntion, the simulator itself had started acting up with all these weird chanics.
So of course, Minami had to limit its use for the ti being.
Of course, if the ti ca when he needed to exchange points for a Universal Healing Pill or so other critical item—
He would use the simulator without hesitation.
That much was certain.
But aside from that...
"Until I figure out exactly what this thing is... I should probably avoid interacting with my simulation targets for a while."
Minami narrowed his eyes at the simulator screen, murmuring to himself.
Over the past six months, with all the tutoring sessions—
The band's overall grades had improved significantly.
At the very least, they shouldn't have any trouble with the upcoming final exams.
And as for Shinjo Akane, Futaba Rio, and Matsuzaka Satou—
Their emotional states and personal issues had improved considerably as well.
Even if he distanced himself for a while, they should be fine.
As for Nishikigi Chisato and Inoue Takina—
He was even less worried about them.
Chisato had already signed the marriage registration, which ant her situation was stable now and Takina had always been obedient and easygoing. As long as he explained things properly, she would listen to him without question.
"That should take care of everything."
After ntally going over everything once more and confirming that his reasoning was solid.
Minami was just about to call Ijichi Seika to request so ti off and avoid contact with the band for a while.
But then—
"Minami!"
BANG!
The door to his room slamd open and before he could even react—
A figure with dark blue hair suddenly lunged toward him.
She moved so fast that by the ti Minami could even process what was happening—
A short-haired girl with a completely expressionless face was already sitting in his lap.
"Ryo?! What the hell are you doing?!"
Minami frowned at the overly intimate gesture.
He had literally just decided to avoid the girls for a while.
And yet, here she was.
Yamada Ryo.
Seriously.
No matter what—
She always managed to do sothing completely unexpected.
She was the one person he could never predict.
He had just made up his mind to keep his distance—
Yet here she was, completely ruining his plan.
Minami shook his head and instinctively tried to push her away.
But Ryo didn't seem to mind at all.
Instead—
She curled her long, black-stockinged toes slightly, warming them near the kotatsu, and spoke in her usual calm, lazy tone.
"You're being really proactive today, Minami."
"Which eye of yours saw being proactive toward you?"
Minami couldn't help but retort.
Ryo, still expressionless, suddenly had a faint blush on her cheeks.
Then, in a slow, lazy voice, she muttered—
"This is the first ti you've touched so much, Minami."
"...Have you considered the possibility that I'm just trying to push you off of , Yamada-san?"
"Minami wouldn't do sothing like that."
Ryo flat-out rejected his claim.
"..."
Minami.
Wow. Thanks for having so much faith in .
For a mont, he was completely speechless.
But he wasn't about to give up on his goal.
So, once again, he tried to push her off.
When that didn't work—
He sighed and spoke up.
"Ryo."
"What?"
"Whatever it is, we can talk about it later. First, get off of ."
Minami spoke in a negotiating tone.
"..."
"Don't pretend to be silent."
"I got it."
Hearing his words, Yamada Ryo finally, albeit reluctantly, stood up from his lap.
"Hahh..."
Feeling the weight lift off his body, Minami let out a long sigh of relief.
He glanced at Yamada Ryo—
The short-haired blue girl simply stared at him curiously, showing no signs of anything out of the ordinary.
Seeing this, he relaxed a little.
It seed like physical contact alone wasn't an issue—
There wasn't even a system notification about collecting a "Maiden's Heart of Love."
Just as he was about to say sothing—
[System Notification: Host has collected Maiden's Heart of Love (Devotion).]
"Huh—?"
A stunned syllable escaped his lips.
At the sa ti, his gaze instinctively snapped to the system ssage in front of him.
Maiden's Heart of Love...? Devotion?
It only took him a second to realize—
It had co from Yamada Ryo.
He turned to look at her.
Unlike Kita Ikuyo's warm and open love,
He knew without a doubt—what Yamada Ryo felt for him.
From the very first simulation with Gotoh Hitori to the later simulations with Nishikigi Chisato and even through Futaba Rio and Matsuzaka Satou's scenarios. Every single ti he interacted with other girls in the simulator—
She was always there.
Every simulation.
Every route where Yamada Ryo appeared.
Every mont where she silently watched over him, offering help when needed—
Even in reality, she was the first girl who knew he liked other won and the first to openly support him.
If he had to sum up her feelings in a single word—
It would be "Devotion."
Thinking this, Minami quickly stood up and walked over to Yamada Ryo's side.
"Ryo, how do you feel? Are you okay? Do you feel any discomfort?"
Once again—
He had accidentally collected another Maiden's Heart of Love.
So, of course, he had to ask her directly about how she felt.
"Do I feel uncomfortable...?"
Hearing his sudden and seemingly random question, Yamada Ryo blinked in mild surprise.
Then, under his intense gaze—
She slowly nodded.
"Yeah, I do."
—What?!
Hearing her response, Minami's eyes widened.
"Where? What's wrong?"
Could it be—
That collecting her Maiden's Heart of Love had caused so kind of physical reaction?
He suddenly felt a little nervous.
And then—
"Mm. Since I didn't absorb Minami's energy in ti, I feel weak all over."
Seeing his serious expression, Yamada Ryo matched his tone and responded with a completely deadpan face.
"..." Minami.
No...
He stared at Yamada Ryo, who was seriously talking nonsense, and fell into silence.
Wasn't this just her usual self?
There was no difference at all.
Feeling speechless, he shook his head, as if trying to clear the ss of thoughts tangled in his mind.
Minami was honestly confused.
If collecting a "Maiden's Heart of Love" didn't have any effect on Yamada Ryo,
Then what was the point of it?
Did he really have to gather all of them—
Only then would he finally understand, as the Simulator Lady had suggested, the true purpose of this special item?
But to truly collect them all...
Did that an collecting the hearts of every single one of his wives in the simulation?
Minami couldn't quite figure it out.
Yet before he could ponder further,
The slight frown on his face was instantly noticed by Yamada Ryo.
The short-haired blue girl—who seed to care about nothing—
Lightly furrowed her brows.
Then, without hesitation, she stepped forward, tilted her head up to look at him, and asked with genuine concern:
"Minami, what's wrong? Do you feel unwell?"
For the first ti ever,
Her voice was gentle and delicate.
Whether in the simulation or in reality,
Yamada Ryo was always the first to sense sothing was off with him.
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