Chapter 370

Machida Enko was overjoyed.

"Well... I guess it's not feasible yet."

"Eh~ why?!"

Machida Enko let out a mournful cry.

"Because... this inspiration of mine is aimed at a specific audience, so I need to finish writing that part."

Kasumigaoka Utaha closed her eyes shyly.

She had forgotten how she got home; her memory before taking a shower was limited to being downstairs with that person...

Damn it! They just stole my first kiss so suddenly! I was supposed to be the senior...!

She patted the soft pillow in her arms forcefully, as if someone's face was etched on it. But the more she patted the memory, the more crimson her body became.

My mouth feels sweet, and my heart feels sweet too. Could this be...?!

"What sound... is it from a specific object? What is it?"

Machida Enko, unfazed by the strange noises she made, asked with puzzlement.

"You know I've been working on a dating sim recently, right? It's the sequel to that one."

She flung the wretched pillow from her arms and smashed it against the wall, then smoothed her hair and explained to her.

"You're making a sequel? Is it selling really well? I thought you'd start a new book after the game was finished~"

On the other end of the phone, Machida Enko leaned weakly against her ergonomic chair, her voice feeble.

"Well~ it's only been a few days since it was released, and sales are so-so because there wasn't much promotion, but judging from the feedback from players who have already bought it, it's pretty good -- by the way, haven't you played it? I already gave you a copy."

"Ugh~ I don't have time to play! I'm swamped with work, and I'm sleeping at the office again tonight. I've already bought the energy Drinks..."

Machida Enko took a bottle from the pile of energy Drinks and coffee on the table and weighed it in her hand.

"Speaking of which Talent is also in the game development team, right? And he's the overall coordinator and manager. How is it that he can manage to make games and also handle writing here at the same time!"

"Ah~ Ah--I don't want to hear that name--!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha jumped and lay face down on the bed, covering her ears and making a buzzing sound.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Machida Enko perked up, jumped up, and asked gossipy, "What happened between you and Talent?"

"... nothing."

"You're kidding me! Something must have happened! What?! A bestselling romance novelist is finally going to fall in love?!"

Machida Enko was very interested and stopped urging him to open the book.

"I knew it! No girl could resist a guy as outstanding as Talent! It would be such a shame if you didn't seize this opportunity, Xiaoshi! You'll never get another chance like this!"

"I'm hanging up!"

"Huh? Wait..."

After the busy signal ended, Kasumigaoka Utaha sat up, tossed her phone aside, and sat down at her Computer Desk.

She wasn't lying about one thing: right now, she's bursting with inspiration and the desire to express herself!

However, these all pertain to that particular side quest in the game.

"Hehe! Hehe~! Wahahaha...!"

"In order to avoid meeting Yukiho as much as possible, the male protagonist transferred from the Faculty of Political Economy to the Literature Club, where he met a senior who gave him a lot of help—who would Mirai become his beautiful boss when he worked part-time at a publishing house!"

"He possesses an even greater work ethic than him, having also begun writing for the industry during his student days, and even published works such as Light Novel..."

"In his third year of university, Sakurazono Saito, who was beginning to consider his Mirai career path, took a part-time job at a publishing house whose name also contained the character 'Sakura'. Little did he know that this was where their destinies would meet!"

[Note: In the original work, this publishing house is called Kaisakusha.]

"Finally, I learned that Mari... it would sound better if it were changed to Shiri, right? It would also be more poetic... So it's settled!"

"Finally, it was revealed that Shiri chose this publishing house because its name contained the character 'Sakura'..."

"..."

As soon as she turned on her computer and sat down in front of the document, she was enveloped in a dark and intense aura, completely oblivious to everything around her.

With a fingertip at its extreme point, it hurtled forward at a rapid, almost shattering speed, like a series of cracking sounds!

Two hours later, she finally finished revising the original plot outline and got up to stretch.

"Whew~ That feels so good! It's true what they say, you still have to work at times like this!"

She closed her laptop, collapsed onto the bed, and planned to play on her phone for a while before brushing her teeth and washing her face.

But as soon as she turned on her phone, her eyebrows furrowed and her face darkened.

In her moment of oblivion, besides Machida Enko, someone else in her meager network of relationships sent her messages—that person was Aki Tomoya.

She sat up, her brows furrowed, hesitated for a few seconds, then opened the page, which read:

[Senpai Utaha...^YiO7[BashijiV'Liuqun... Do you have a boyfriend yet?]

Kasumigaoka Utaha's red eyes widened in shock for a few seconds, but with her brain, the greatest scholar in Toyonosaki's history, she quickly figured out what had happened.

At this time, for this content, there is only one answer.

Is he around here tonight? No, is he waiting for her? Because she hasn't been paying much attention to him lately?

If Sakurakoji Talent saw this message, he would probably be surprised. Was it because he had just kissed her and let his guard down, or was his presence so inconspicuous that he hadn't been noticed immediately?

Soon, she relaxed her furrowed brows, and her mind, which had been somewhat confused, became clearer than ever before.

The issues she had been unconsciously avoiding are now so clear and easy to understand.

Without further hesitation, she pressed the Keyboard and typed, as if bidding farewell to the past:

[Yes, so please don't contact me again, An Yi. I'm afraid he'll misunderstand.]

After sending the message, she blocked him, deleted him from her contacts, and headed to the bathroom outside the room.

In any case, the relationship between the two has become clear, and she is now Sakurakoji Talent's...

Chapter 384 You have committed a crime.

Someone, completely unaware of what was happening in a place two districts away, was currently fast asleep, needing to conserve his energy for tomorrow morning's events, even if it was just a short nap.

Especially now that he's been ambushed, he needs to catch up on his sleep.

Even someone who prides himself on being invincible cannot escape the laws of physics and biology.

Human beings have their limits...

So, after taking a shower, drying his hair, and resting in the living room to warm up, he sent the well-fed and energetic Ouka Mai out of the house.

Another reason she wasn't immediately kicked out was that she said she wanted to wait for her driver to arrive and hoped he could let her stay a little longer.

"By the Talent, why do you have women's clothing here that I can wear?"

Touching the luxurious fabric of her body, Ouka Mai asked in confusion.

I was originally thinking of having him take out his men's clothes—preferably ones he had worn before—so she could experience the feeling of wearing matching outfits.

To her surprise, he simply pulled out a women's outfit of a similar size and tossed it to her, leaving her somewhat dumbfounded.

But in a sense, how can this not be considered matching couple outfits? After all, he wore them...

"..."

Sakurakoji Talent didn't dare use the same excuse he used to deal with Kawaragi Momoka, because she had actually met her younger sister.

There was no way around it; the height difference between her (167cm) and Ogura Asahi was smaller than the difference between her and Kawaragi Momoka, so the clothes fit her perfectly—it was just that the bra size was a bit different, so he didn't take them.

... No wonder she has a model's figure; she's almost as good-looking as Scummy Pink-haired Girl.

Honestly, if I actually took it out, there would be no way to cover it up.

"What women's clothing? It's just some unisex clothes. I bought a size too small last time, so I couldn't wear it. I never thought it would come in handy now."

He came up with a reason in a second without even blinking.

"Oh, I see. That's a real pity..."

Ouka Mai frowned regretfully.

"..."

Without asking what her regret was, he neatly folded the clothes she had been wearing and stuffed them into his pocket.

What he has in abundance here are clothes and clothing bags of all brands.

When the time was up, he grabbed her and threw her into the hallway, made her kneel on the ground with a grin, then slammed the door shut with a loud "bang!" and went back to his room to sleep.

Although they didn't develop a relationship like Shiina Mahiru and the others tonight, there's no doubt that the cunning Ouka Mai has brought them one step closer.

But because he didn't see her off, naturally, he didn't know what happened afterward.

After being caught and put down in the stairwell, Ouka Mai got up, dusted off her clothes, and nonchalantly pressed the elevator button.

While waiting for the elevator, she licked her alluring red lips, as if something still lingered on them.

Suddenly, she remembered that one of her close friends was here. Thinking about why Senna Ajisai and the others had come before, she touched her face with her fingertips and thought for a moment before deciding to go and see her.

I wonder if she's off work and home yet...

I had planned to go downstairs and ask the staff if they knew where Koto Satsuki was, but I didn't expect that the person on duty here would be someone I knew.

"Auntie? What are you doing here?"

Ouka Mai stared in astonishment at the young and beautiful woman at the front desk, her voice filled with surprise.

The woman in the uniform with light purple hair standing before me was none other than Koto Satsuki's mother.

Her expression betrayed her confusion. On one hand, she hadn't been the one standing there when she arrived before; on the other hand, the clothes she was wearing were clearly the uniform here...

"Oh my gosh~ Isn't this True Wei?!"

When Qin's mother saw her, she raised her hand in surprise and greeted her.

"What?! You came here to play with Satsuki- chan? Eh, but you look like you just came down from up there?"

"Ah, ah, I just went to Talent's place, and now I'm about to go see Satsuki... By the way, Auntie, what brings you here?"

"Huh? Didn't Satsuki- chan tell you?"

Qin Mu spun around in place, showing her a figure that was no less impressive than hers.

"I've recently started working here too? I was invited by Talent... Ah, should I call him Talent Young Master now?"

"Hmm~ I didn't expect him to be a young master like True Wei! That really surprised me!"

"Oh, I see..."

Ouka Mai's eyebrows twitched, feeling a strange emptiness at the fact that she didn't even know such a thing.

The feelings have faded; now Satsuki doesn't even tell me things like this anymore...

And his Talent too! Why didn't you tell me about it?! Did you think there was nothing to say?

"Um, Auntie, where is Satsuki now...?"

Suppressing her slightly complicated feelings, she asked her.

"Hmm? Satsuki's off work now. That child should be reading in her room."

Qin's mother tilted her head, not understanding why she didn't just ask her own daughter.

"Oh, did you two have a fight?"

She tried to guess.

"Haha... it's not really a conflict. I think we can make up quickly, just like before, so don't worry."

"Hmm! I believe you two, True Wei Kazusa Satsuki. After all, you're both such cute and well-behaved kids! And Satsuki really likes True Wei too~ It's impossible that she's really angry with you."

"Okay! Then I'll go to your house and bother you for a bit. Goodbye, Auntie!"

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the apartment door.