Don't underestimate that top-ten assessment. As a literary girl and light novel author, even though Utaha Kasumigaoka wasn't particularly interested in mystery novels, she had still read quite a few. Every novel she ranked among the top ten was an exceptional work that had sold extremely well!
And yet, the masterpiece in her eyes had been written by Sogo Doma several years ago. This...
All she could say was that after meeting Sogo Doma, Utaha Kasumigaoka finally understood what a cheat-code life looked like. Her easy mode, compared to a cheater's—
There was no comparison. None at all!
Well, Utaha Kasumigaoka wasn't someone who gave up easily. Though she said there was no comparison, deep down, she had always regarded Sogo Doma as the goal she wanted to surpass—it had nothing to do with any other feelings. She simply didn't want to lose.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have so readily taken Sonoko Machida's advice, setting stories like April and Pancreas aside to focus wholeheartedly on writing a story of her own...
That was why it was no wonder she got angry after hearing Rita's story. Mashiro was indeed a genius painter recognized by the entire world, but in front of her Sogo-kun, Mashiro was just a little brother. Yet Rita had given up painting because she believed that no matter how hard she tried, she could never surpass Mashiro. If she had studied alongside Sogo-kun, wouldn't she have been too scared to even pick up a brush long ago?
Besides, if Utaha herself thought the same way Rita did, then when faced with Sogo-kun—who had written an outstanding mystery novel years ago, perhaps before he had even entered middle school—wouldn't she have had to give up writing too? She had been striving forward with the goal of surpassing Sogo-kun!
Sigh, when