Original God, But the Chat Group

Li Yue still looked at Eriri with a smile. Seeing his smile, Eriri felt deeply conflicted, but in the end, she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes.

"I... I understand. I'll do as you ask."

After saying that, Eriri seemed to have used up all her strength. She slumped back in her chair, utterly dejected, and lowered her head.

"But at least... not here..."

Inside the dessert shop, the only possible place left was the restroom—the very place Kasumigaoka had once experienced it.

Li Yue said nothing. He simply stood up and walked straight out of the shop. Eriri hurriedly got up with her laptop in her arms and followed him out of the dessert shop.

He's probably taking me to a hotel. Eriri followed behind Li Yue as she walked, feeling as though she had completely given up resisting.

No, she had not truly given up inside. As she followed behind him, she walked while crying out in her heart.

Anyone, please save me! Save me!

Though she had seemingly stopped struggling, deep down, she still longed to be saved.

Unfortunately, no one came to save her. She followed Li Yue all the way, and before long, she saw him enter a shop.

Standing outside, Eriri looked up at the sign.

A Manga Cafe? He actually chose this place! He wouldn't even go to a hotel?!

This was also the sort of place that appeared in doujinshi. Those tiny booths separated by wooden partitions had practically no soundproofing. Doing that in a place like this was just too...

Yet Li Yue had already gone inside. Looking at the entrance to the Manga Cafe, Eriri felt as though she were staring into a dark abyss capable of swallowing everything. She really did not want to go in. She wanted to move her feet and leave, to find someone who could save her.

Move, Eriri. Aren't you best at running away? Run away this time too!

But just as she tried to move her legs and leave, a large hand grabbed her arm and dragged her straight into the Manga Cafe.

The girl ultimately lost her chance to escape.

Eriri was pulled directly into the Manga Cafe, then immediately dragged into a booth.

"Wait, that's too fast!"

Seeing Li Yue's impatient look after being dragged into the booth, Eriri cried out. But after shouting, she quickly covered her mouth. Her voice had been too loud—it would attract the attention of people in the neighboring booths!

"Can't be helped. If we don't hurry, it'll get dark."

Huh? What time was it now?! Were you going to do it for that long?! I'll die!

Li Yue pulled Eriri's laptop from her arms and placed it on the booth's table, then pressed the power button.

"Take off the mask and sunglasses first. There's no need for them in here."

"Ah... okay!"

Eriri obediently removed her mask, sunglasses, and hat, letting her golden long hair spill down.

"What's the boot password?"

"Huh?"

Rather than touching her first, he was going after her computer first?

"Forget it. You do it yourself."

Li Yue pushed the laptop in front of Eriri. She was a little dazed, but she still raised her hand and tapped out the boot password. The laptop opened.

"Alright, let's begin. Open Office, probably, then I'll dictate and you write—no, you type."

"Huh? Type?"

Eriri did not react at first. She replayed what she had just heard from Li Yue: open an Office document, then have her type.

"Type... type what?"

Was he making her write some kind of pledge? Or something else?

"A light novel."

Li Yue looked completely serious, then glanced at Eriri in confusion.

"What else did you think I brought you out for?"

Eriri opened her mouth as she looked at Li Yue. In the end, she lowered her head and placed both hands on the keyboard.

Is this some new humiliation play?

By evening, Eriri was walking home with her laptop in her arms, swaying with every step.

After pushing open the door, she found her mother standing in the entryway, arms folded, waiting for her.

"Mom?"

"Eriri, where did you go? Why are you only coming back now?"

Sawamura Sayuri looked at Eriri's appearance and asked.

"Did you go meet Tomoya?"

Eriri had gone out in casual sportswear, so she had definitely gone to see someone she knew. In Sayuri's eyes, aside from Akise Tomoya, there was no one else Eriri would meet dressed like that.

"No..."

Eriri wanted to say no, but then she thought of Li Yue's blond hair and changed her answer.

"Yes, I went to see Tomoya."

Hearing that Eriri had gone to see Akise Tomoya, Sawamura Sayuri sighed helplessly.

"Eriri, did you argue with Tomoya again?"

Sayuri could tell at a glance from Eriri's attitude that she had argued with Tomoya again. This child's personality was still so stubborn and awkward. If she kept being this way, what would happen?

"Alright, Mom. I'm going back to my room first."

Eriri changed her shoes, lowered her head, and walked around Sayuri, intending to return to her room.

But halfway there, Eriri stopped and asked Sayuri a question.

"Mom, do you know what it means when someone records another person's daily life, then makes that person turn it into a light novel?"

"What's that? Some new humiliation play you came up with?"

Sayuri immediately assumed her daughter had come up with some new doujinshi scenario. She even imagined a girl being humiliated, then forced to draw the process of her humiliation into a doujinshi to sell. As Eriri's mother, her imagination was equally impressive.

"It's nothing. I'm going back to my room."

After returning to her room, Eriri put her laptop on the desk and opened it. Looking at the Office document still open on the screen, her expression became complicated.

She had originally thought Li Yue had called her out to make a move on her directly, but he had not. Instead, he had chosen to train her—yes, train her!

She had spent the entire afternoon typing! She had not even left the booth to use the restroom!

"Do you want to take a break? Like going to the restroom?"

"Can... can you wait a little longer?"

That was clearly hinting for her to go to the restroom and do that kind of thing!

And during the whole process, Li Yue had even gotten her a cup of juice!

"Come on, come on. You must be thirsty after typing all this time. I ordered you a juice."

"I... I... thank you..."

There had to be something in the juice! There had to be!

And he kept urging her to drink it. Since she was already holding it in and did not dare go to the restroom, that made her feel even worse!

"Finished it? Want another cup? It looks like refills are available here."

"No... I've already had enough..."

Is this some new kind of play? After realizing I'm deliberately delaying going to the restroom, he's making me drink more water so he can watch me suffer through a holding-it-in play!? Then he'll make me give in and ask to use the restroom myself? This is a humiliation scenario even I never thought of!!

But that was not all. What was she typing? Touma Kazusa, a genius piano girl from an ordinary family who was exceptionally talented at piano? Ogiso Setsuna, a rich young lady who secretly liked playing guitar? A-karing, whose presence was faint but whose voice was lovely? And Kitahara Haruki, who wanted to form the greatest band?

Even Eriri could tell that these four characters were clearly based on Kasumigaoka, Kato Megumi, herself, and Akise Tomoya!

And even if you were going to use them as inspirations, why did Ogiso Setsuna have to be flat-chested?!

That entire afternoon, Eriri followed Li Yue's instructions and typed out an entire volume. Her fingers ached from pressing the keys before she was finally allowed to rest. Yet she did not dare relax at all. She did not even dare go to the restroom, because she could not be sure whether Li Yue would follow her in and seize the chance to start some kind of play!

Only after Li Yue left with the first volume sent to his phone through email did she dare use the restroom.

Although Li Yue had not made a move on her that afternoon, Eriri understood that this was his interest. He would slowly train her. This kind of Blondie was an advanced-grade Blondie. He would not make a direct move. What he loved most was slowly training people into the shape he wanted!

Kasumigaoka must have gone through the same training. That was why she had followed him away immediately when she saw him that day. It was a memory engraved into Kasumigaoka's body!

The afternoon's holding-it-in, along with that light novel based on her life over the past few days, was clearly meant as a warning to her!

This was humiliation! A completely different, new method of humiliation! Blondie had investigated everything about her thoroughly. He knew she was an artist who specialized in humiliation, which was why he deliberately used this method to train her! Until he molded her into the shape he liked, he would not lay a hand on her. He would only patiently stand by, watching her struggle with a pleased gaze, until she finally surrendered on her own!

For the next while, Li Yue would keep coming to find her and put her through all sorts of humiliation play! Thinking about the dark days ahead, Eriri's heart was filled with despair.

While Eriri was despairing over her future, Li Yue, who had obtained the first volume of the novel, had already returned to Teyvat. The first volume Eriri had helped type was now stored on his phone.

After Albedo had begun drawing the illustrations and character designs, Li Yue figured he needed to arrange the text as well. So he went to the world of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, intending to find someone to help type it. This was also why he wanted to avoid Kasumigaoka. After all, the novel's plot was a remake of the events from the Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend world.

Although, thanks to the Chat Group, he could read Japanese, understand Japanese, and make others understand him when he spoke, and although the Chinese characters he wrote would most likely automatically translate into Japanese in other people's eyes, that did not stop him from being too lazy to write the novel himself. Typing was exhausting, alright?

So he came up with an idea: have Eriri ghostwrite it! Just like when he had Hu Tao ghostwrite for him back in Liyue. He dictated, and she wrote! Throughout the process, Li Yue deliberately activated Heart Listening, a rarely used authority from his dream powers, to listen to Eriri's thoughts. Then he intentionally said things that sounded perfectly normal but would create unnecessary misunderstandings in Eriri's little head, making her constantly wage battles of wits against thin air!

Watching all sorts of play scenes continuously unfold in Eriri's imagination, including scenes of her rolling her eyes, Li Yue felt this was even more exciting than reading doujinshi! It was practically no different from watching Eriri livestream herself!

As expected of Kashiwagi Eri-sensei. She really was skilled at humiliating herself!

"With that, the first volume's content is done, and Albedo is drawing the illustrations too. All I need to do now is wait for Albedo to finish the artwork, then submit it to a publisher."

"As for the publisher, I'll choose the one used by the senior. When she sees it, she'll definitely be delighted, right? Hehehehe~~"

Subway, Zhongli, Question Marks

After leaving a deep impression on Eriri, Li Yue did not return to the world of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend for a while, nor did he run around elsewhere. Instead, he brought Nahida back to Liyue, because the appliances Kasumigaoka had helped him buy had arrived, and he needed to install them in Liyue.

At Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Zhongli looked at Li Yue, who was bustling around installing all kinds of things he had never seen before. Then he looked at Nahida, who was tilting her head up and staring at him intently with wide eyes. Zhongli fell into thought.

Looking into those bright, spirited eyes, Zhongli considered things for a moment before deciding to strike first and prevent his identity from being exposed.

"Hello. My name is Zhongli. I am a consultant at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor."

"Hello, I'm Nahida."

Nahida rested both hands on the tabletop.

"I'm Li Yue's daughter."

???

A string of question marks could not help but appear over Zhongli's head.

The moment he saw Nahida, Zhongli recognized who she was: the current Dendro Archon.

But why was the Dendro Archon not in Sumeru and instead following beside Li Yue? Now he had received his answer, but the answer made him turn into a subway old man staring at a phone.

What the hell?

From Nahida's introduction, Zhongli could tell that she, like him, had chosen to hide her identity. As for why she was hiding it, he had not visited Sumeru in five hundred years, so he did not know. Gods had their own ideas, after all. But what was this about directly becoming Li Yue's daughter?

"Li Yue's daughter?"

Zhongli tried to confirm her identity again.

"Yes. Li Yue said I was an orphan, so he decided to adopt me."

Nahida used the words Li Yue had spoken when he adopted her to explain herself to Zhongli. She was very excited. She had met the oldest among the Seven Archons, the Vago Monarch with the richest experience in governing, the most ancient god! And according to Li Yue, he and the Vago Monarch were good friends who even lived together, practically making them family. It was truly astonishing for a god—Li Yue actually had such a relationship with the Vago Monarch!

With such an ancient god at her side, she would surely be able to learn abundant experience about being a god! Then she could become a qualified god!

Nahida looked at Zhongli with incomparable anticipation, while Zhongli fell successfully silent after hearing her words.

He could not help turning to look once more at Li Yue, who was outside installing the Solar Panel. No, how had this happened?

He remembered Li Yue saying that he had gone to Mondstadt. Why had he returned from a trip to Mondstadt with Sumeru's Dendro Archon? Could it be that Sumeru's Dendro Archon had been vacationing in Mondstadt?

"Li Yue approached me without knowing who I was."

Perhaps feeling that Zhongli did not quite understand, Nahida kindly offered another explanation.

"Mm, it was the same for me."

Zhongli understood what Nahida meant. Turning back, he gave her the same answer.