Chapter 159: Yamada-san’s Turn! (Route End)

Shouji Minami felt quite satisfied.

And—

“94 points, huh?”

Staring at the system score, he was genuinely surprised.

94.

That was even higher than the 93 points he got when simulating Chisato Nishikigi and Takina Inoue.

"Isn’t that a little too much, Miss Ryo?"

Resting his face on his hand,

Shouji Minami couldn’t help but reflect.

After all, he had only simulated Ryo Yamada twice.

Once, using a character card.

And this time, through direct simulation.

And yet,

He had already reached 94 points?

That progress was honestly kind of scary.

“94, huh…”

“So does this mean…”

“…Yamada-san now has memories of her ‘happy ending’ too, just like Ichiri?”

Closing the simulation page,

Shouji Minami pondered.

From what he could tell so far—

Direct simulation wasn’t all that different from a regular one.

But…

Since the last simulation results had already changed,

That meant direct simulations had a higher priority level than normal ones.

So, if Ryo Yamada now remembered her happy ending,

That was only natural.

"Well, either way, that has nothing to do with me right now."

Stretching lazily,

Shouji Minami let out a yawn.

Yes.

No matter what,

Memories from a simulation were just that—simulated memories.

They had nothing to do with his current life.

Besides,

It wasn’t like anything unexpected was going to happen this late at night anyway.

Reaching for his phone,

He turned on the screen to check the time.

It was just past 9 PM.

"It’s still a little early, but…"

"With everything going on these past few days…"

Shouji Minami let out another yawn.

Between simulations, the school festival preparations, and everything in between—

He had been running around non-stop.

And with even more festival chaos coming up,

It wouldn’t hurt to sleep early and recharge.

At least that way,

He’d have more energy tomorrow.

With that in mind,

He lay back down, closed his eyes, and—

Ding-dong—

The sudden sound of a doorbell cut through the silence,

Snapping his eyes wide open.

“Hmm?”

Shouji Minami frowned slightly.

It was already past nine.

Who the hell was ringing his doorbell at this hour?

His first guess was his landlord.

But he had already paid his rent in full this month.

There was no reason for them to come knocking.

Then…

Who could it be?

Scratching his head,

A rather absurd thought popped into his mind—

"It couldn’t be… Ryo, could it?"

Maybe it was because the direct simulation was still fresh in his mind,

But he somehow thought of her first.

Of course, just thinking about it made him realize how ridiculous it was.

That was Ryo Yamada he was talking about.

The queen of laziness,

Who hated troublesome things more than anything else.

There was no way she’d show up at his apartment this late at night.

Ding-dong.

The doorbell rang again.

If he didn’t open it soon,

It might bother the neighbors.

Sighing,

Shouji Minami got up, turned on the lights,

And walked toward the door.

Grabbing the handle,

He pulled it open with a smile—

"Who is it?"

"Me."

The simple response made Shouji Minami’s fingers pause mid-air.

Blinking in surprise,

His eyes focused on the figure standing outside.

He stared once—

And then stared again—

Just to make sure he wasn’t imagining things.

A pair of amber eyes met his.

The soft glow of the porch light reflected off her silver ear piercings,

Peeking out from beneath her short blue hair.

Her cool, elegant face—

The kind that made anyone stop and take a second look.

And of course—

That signature beauty mark beneath the corner of her eye.

"Ryo?!"

Shouji Minami blurted out in shock.

Yes.

Standing right in front of him was—

Ryo Yamada.

Ryo Yamada…

Had just shown up at his door.

And in that moment,

Shouji Minami realized something—

His earlier assumptions

Had been completely wrong.

Sure, Ryo Yamada hated trouble.

Sure, she was lazy and didn’t like unnecessary effort.

But—

She was also Ryo Yamada.

And in addition to being lazy,

She was also spoiled rotten by her parents,

With a personality that was recklessly free-spirited and self-indulgent.

A normal girl wouldn’t just show up at a guy’s apartment this late at night.

Among all the girls he knew—

Only Chisato Nishikigi might have the guts to pull something like this.

And aside from Chisato—

There was only one other person who would.

The girl standing in front of him right now.

"Ryo… What are you doing here?"

Shouji Minami asked, eyeing the girl in her black knitted sweater.

"Hmm? What’s wrong?"

Ryo Yamada blinked her cool, amber eyes at him.

"I missed you."

"So I came."

Yes.

She had missed him.

So, she came.

What was so wrong about that?