[Although it took you some time to realize the latent health issues affecting your body in this simulation, there's no need to worry. I will always remind you at the appropriate moment.]
[Ever since getting involved with rock music, you've soaked yourself in alcohol and cigarettes. Expecting to come away without any illnesses would be unrealistic. On top of that, you frequently stay up all night at internet cafés—pulling all-nighters on a regular basis. Even a young person with decent physical resilience can't withstand that kind of long-term abuse.]
So getting tangled up with rock really does wreck your health, huh. Well, that tracks—there aren't many rock musicians who live long lives.
[If the gastrointestinal issues caused by chronic drinking are left untreated, they could easily worsen into something as severe as a perforated ulcer. And that's not your only hidden problem. Respiratory diseases from smoking, endocrine disorders caused by long-term irregular sleep patterns—once all these issues stack together, if you don't adjust in time, your body will become as fragile as a candle in the wind. Reaching the end will then be only a matter of time.]
"So… I don't have the time—or the option—to adjust, right?"
[That's not entirely true. If this were reality, I would of course encourage you to exercise proactively. However, doing so here would very likely shift you away from the optimal ending you can achieve in this simulation. Please choose carefully.]
You've gone this far warning me—you're actually kind of considerate.
"I know. This game was always meant to end with my death anyway. Die early, die late—either way, I'm dead."
The system just sped up that process, pushing him faster toward that endpoint.
[So you entered this fully prepared to face death, didn't you.]
Yes. Gotō Hitori's wish had been there from the very beginning.
To become someone who shines—playing the guitar she loves, without having to flatter anyone, without pretending for the sake of survival, without forcing herself to do things she fundamentally dislikes.
Knowing that, Narumi was determined to win this simulation.
[A wise choice. To reduce your suffering, I will accelerate the upcoming progression. Please tell me—what will your next course of action be?]
There's a saying: if you want the person you like to like you back, you have to become a moody cat, a blustering tiger, a dog soaked in the rain.
Right now was the time to become the fiercest tiger.
[Understood.]
[After becoming an uninvited guest at the Gotō household, your relationship with Gotō Hitori did in fact improve—or rather, her perception of you changed significantly. From then on, she often tolerated your bad temper and your baseless teasing and sarcasm.]
[Yet despite knowing this, you continued to offend deliberately. In fact, once Bocchi loosened her boundaries with you, you became even more overbearing and domineering.]
[After your own band's performances, you would deliberately call out Kessoku Band in front of the audience, using mocking tones to needle their shy guitarist, even going so far as to shout thoughtless remarks at her with near reckless disregard.]
[When relations between the two bands had already become strained, you—a member of a third-rate band—finally received an invitation from an organizer, only to deliberately invite Kessoku Band as your opening act. An act of provocation, if ever there was one.]
[However, frictions like these among underground bands are exactly the kind of thing fans love to talk about. Conflicts between bands tend to push them to produce better work, so audiences generally welcome it.]
[That said, when it comes to technical showdowns between bands, the less skilled side naturally gets booed mercilessly. Whoever's worse ends up humiliated.]
[You, with your mediocre aptitude, and your three bandmates who treat the band as mere recreation, are naturally inferior to Kessoku Band. Yet Gotō Hitori never resisted the pressure or humiliation you imposed on her. On the contrary—she kept retreating and enduring. It seems that because she had seen your softer side, she firmly believed you weren't truly that awful of a person.]
[But no matter how much she endured, someone eventually reached their limit.]
"I mean… even if you have no sense of morality, there should still be a line."
Contrary to expectations, this time it wasn't Bocchi's companions standing up for her—it was Narumi's own bandmates who could no longer tolerate it.
"I… I thought you weren't that kind of person, Narumi. I thought you were just bad at expressing yourself, just tsundere, that's all."
In the dressing room after provoking Kessoku Band yet again and getting booed offstage, Hayama Hayato packed up his belongings with a livid expression, his tone uncharacteristically cold.
"But why do you keep doing things that cause trouble for everyone…? Kessoku Band hasn't done anything wrong to us. Why do you keep holding grudges against them, again and again…?"
"We're teammates. If there's something you can't say out loud, you could at least explain it to us."
Hikigaya Hachiman spoke up after a long silence. He looked calm, but Narumi could still glimpse confusion and displeasure in those dead-fish eyes.
It was only natural they didn't understand him. What he was doing was the kind of thing any normal person would see and think, "What's wrong with this guy? Is he insane?"
And that was exactly the effect Narumi wanted.
Which meant that now, of all times, he absolutely couldn't explain himself.
He felt bad for the three of them—but seeking companionship inside a simulation was questionable from the start.
The people you rely on, trust, even invest emotions in—once you leave the simulation, they might not remember any of it. If that's the case, there was no point putting in the effort to begin with.
"…You guys too. You're noisy."
So Narumi simply turned away irritably, refusing further conversation—lighting another cigarette while coughing.
"…Sigh."
Someone let out a quiet sigh.
"If I'd known you were the kind of scumbag who enjoys tormenting others… I wouldn't have joined this band in the first place."
By the time Narumi finished his cigarette and looked back, all three of his bandmates had already left the dressing room without a sound.
"Bocchi-chan, you can't keep being so gentle with him! We can't always be there to protect you—if that guy humiliates you again, you have to stand up for yourself!"
From the neighboring dressing room came the faint voices of Kessoku Band. Narumi merely smiled faintly, crushed the burned-out cigarette between his fingers—only after truly trying it did he realize he didn't even like smoking; he just couldn't quit yet.
He rummaged through his bag, took out painkillers, and swallowed them with water. The physical pain and fatigue made it difficult to keep up any kind of arrogant façade.
"You look really pale. Want to go to the hospital?"
From the open doorway came a voice he hadn't expected.
A blue-haired girl with a guitar case on her back looked at the curly-haired boy slumped in the corner, taking painkillers, and raised an eyebrow.
"I can take you there, sure—but you're paying your own medical bills."
And in that very moment, Narumi realized something.
The only time he truly wasn't acting as
[a dog soaked in the rain]—
Was a moment seen by Yamada Ryō alone.