Chapter 21: Lonely People Should Definitely Start a Band.

Staring at the panel, Minami Yuuki rubbed his chin.

Asano Nao had issues with her self-perception? No wonder she lacked confidence despite being a beauty.

[Asano Nao took the pen and paper you handed her and carefully gave herself a score of seven. Under your gaze, she changed the seven to six… then to four… and finally to two.]

How could it be just text? How can such an interesting setting be without memory scenes!

Minami Yuuki thought to himself.

Soon, a scene flooded his mind.

It turns out you can actually request it actively!

He closed his eyes and immersed himself in the memory.

At the Asano residence, after finishing tutoring, Minami Yuuki pulled his suitcase and knocked on the door.

Asano Nao joyfully came downstairs to open the door and welcome him.

Upon their long-awaited reunion, she wanted to lean on Minami Yuuki's side, smelling the scent of the young man.

But her excitement vanished when she saw Minami Yuuki's face. The boy's burning eyes stared at her, his expression serious.

She stopped in her tracks, slowly retreating and hiding behind the sofa.

Minami Yuuki grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up.

"I know I was wrong," Asano Nao trembled as she handed over a bank card.

She thought she had messed up during the video call, and Minami Yuuki had come to hold her accountable. Her eyes filled with tears, hoping that money alone would atone for her mistake. She didn't want to lose her little finger, nor did she want to pierce her own arm.

Minami Yuuki had no idea what she was imagining. He placed the bank card aside, took out pen and paper, and handed them to Asano Nao.

Asano Nao immediately started writing.

I haven't even said what I want you to write. Why are you starting to write already? Minami Yuuki was puzzled.

He walked behind Asano Nao to see what she was writing.

"I, Asano Nao, due to my own actions, have decided to cut off my left little finger. Any injuries I sustain are entirely voluntary and not coerced by anyone..."

"...Although I don't know what misunderstanding you have, sister, I don't intend to preserve your little finger in a glass jar, nor do I want your money."

Asano Nao was stunned, "Then what is it?"

"Giving you a pen and paper was to ask you to rate your own appearance."

"It's not because of the mockery at cram school?" Asano Nao nervously looked at Minami Yuuki.

"No, quite the opposite, many people were envious of you."

"That's wonderful! They are really kind people!"

Asano Nao sighed in relief and turned the paper over, preparing to complete Minami Yuki's task.

Rating her own appearance…

She would rather cut off her little finger, she thought in despair.

"Hurry up and write, sister. Out of ten." Minami Yuuki held her shoulder, preventing her from running away.

Under his pressure, Asano Nao slowly wrote down a number—7.

Seeing Minami Yuuki frown, Asano Nao quickly drew a circle over the "7" and wrote "6" beside it.

"Are you sure?" Minami Yuuki tilted his head at her.

With trembling hands, she changed the "6" to "4."

Minami Yuuki remained silent, and Asano Nao sobbed and changed the "4" to "2."

To prevent her from going into negative numbers, Minami Yuuki took the paper and looked at the number, asking, "Sister, what do you base your rating on?"

If it were up to him, Asano Nao would definitely score a 9 or even a 10. In Minami Yuuki's memory, only his former crush Ichinose Shiori could rival Asano Nao in looks.

Why did Asano Nao think she was only a seven? Even lowering it to two?

His question seemed too sharp. Asano Nao squatted on the ground, pressing herself against the back of the sofa, as if trying to hide in the gap between the sofa and the floor.

She turned her head to glance at Minami Yuuki, then quickly averted her gaze, looking at the dining table, the floor, the ceiling light, and then at Minami Yuuki again. Her eyes were like a timid rabbit, wanting to jump into Minami Yuuki's arms, but afraid of being disliked by the boy, so she jumped around the boy, got a little courageous, rubbed against the boy's feet, and then hurriedly retreated.

After her gaze wandered twice, Asano Nao nervously spoke, "I guessed from Instagram."

Instagram, a photo-sharing social app.

"Sister, you judged based on selfies posted on Instagram?" Minami Yuuki suddenly understood.

So that's it!

Asano Nao stayed at home all day and rarely saw other women. She could only judge other women's looks through the internet, through photos and videos on social media.

If it were twenty years ago, this method would be accurate, as photos generally reflected a person's true appearance. But in today's age of rapid technological advancements…

Not to mention the development of makeup techniques, just using photo editing tools could make pictures look entirely different from the person.

Comparing herself to overly edited online photos, of course, would create the illusion that there were many beauties!

However, Minami Yuuki had one more doubt.

He asked, "Even judging by online photos, seven is still too low. Sister, if you just take off your glasses and sweep aside your bangs, you can compete with those highly edited photos."

Asano Nao's eyes widened, "Isn't that considered plastic surgery? That's not allowed!"

...How did taking off glasses and adjusting bangs become plastic surgery?

"Besides, truly beautiful people don't post photos online, so what's on the internet are just ordinarily pretty girls!" Asano Nao continued.

"...May I ask, why wouldn't truly beautiful people post photos online?"

"Because..." Asano Nao's face turned red, "They are all the mistresses of the powerful!"

You're even a conspiracy theorist!

[It turns out, Asano Nao compared her unadorned appearance with highly edited online pictures, leading to her lack of confidence.]

[You didn't correct her. As long as your therapy progresses smoothly, Asano Nao will understand as she interacts with more people.]

[You spent the rest of the summer at the Asano residence, often accompanied by Chitose Kazumi for study sessions.]

[One evening, Asano Nao, having stayed up late gaming and napping until now, groggily came downstairs and ran into Chitose Kazumi.]

[Having prior online meeting experience, Asano Nao was nervous but didn't flee. She quickly greeted Chitose Kazumi and strategically moved to the kitchen.]

[Chitose Kazumi, having heard from you about your cohabiting girlfriend, had already sensed Asano Nao's presence through details like utensils and cups during her stay at the Asano house. But seeing Asano Nao come downstairs, she still felt disappointed.]

[You invited her to stay for dinner. As you expected, she agreed and walked into the kitchen to help Asano Nao.]

[You believed Chitose Kazumi to be a kind girl, somewhat introverted and plain, a lower-tier version of Asano Nao. She didn't betray your trust. At the dining table, you saw Asano Nao visibly relax.]

[At your suggestion, they exchanged LINE contacts. You added them to a group chat named "Asano House Small Team."]

[You constantly steered conversations in the group. By the end of summer, Asano Nao could chat with Chitose Kazumi alone. Chitose Kazumi, who played some popular games on her SWITCH, had no other friends, so Asano Nao often played online with her.]

[The therapy progressed a bit further, making you very happy. You thought it was time to develop a branch of the therapy.]

[Besides encouraging Asano Nao in friendship, you also planned to encourage her in work.]

[In the internet age, one can work without leaving home. Asano Nao, being a shut-in, was well-versed in light novels, manga, anime, and games. After careful consideration, you encouraged Asano Nao to write a light novel.]

[For the novel's theme, you chose…]

[1. "Let's Have a Bittersweet Youth Romance!"]

[2. "Time to Get Hit by a Truck-kun and Reincarnate in Another World!"]

[3. "Lonely People Should Definitely Start a Band!"]

[4. Free Simulation]