Abstract: As calls to center lived experience in higher education intensify, so too do concerns about the ethical, emotional, and structural risks involved in integrating real-life narratives into pedagogy. This study introduces Simulated Lived Experience (SLE) as a novel pedagogical modality that leverages the immersive affordances of learning environments like the metaverse to approximate systemic conditions of marginalization without reproducing trauma or requiring emotional labor from marginalized individuals. Drawing on critical pedagogy frameworks and affect theory, the research explores how SLE enables learners to engage with ethical discomfort, narrative complexity, and affective dissonance through the enactment of virtual selves. A qualitative design was employed, with data collected via semi-structured interviews from 12 participants who engaged in metaverse-based simulations portraying exclusionary dynamics related to disability, race, and institutional access. Thematic analysis generated four key findings: (1) virtual simulations evoke affective authenticity but also ethical unease, (2) embodied disorientation fosters structural insight, (3) narrative authorship and representation are ethically contested, and (4) discomfort acts as a catalyst for critical reflection. The study concludes that while SLE cannot replace lived experience, it can function as a powerful epistemic mediator when designed collaboratively, approached reflexively, and grounded in epistemic care.