What Era Is It, Still Writing Traditional Diaries

At that moment, Shinomiya Kaguya even felt the urge to flee.

However, she ultimately managed to control her embarrassment.

If she ran away now, the influence she had fought for in the group chat yesterday would be completely wasted.

She couldn't run away.

Not only could she not run away, but she also needed to use this picture to cultivate a "down-to-earth" image, further closing the distance between herself and the others in the group.

With that thought, Shinomiya Kaguya gritted her teeth fiercely and decided to just admit to the matter in the group chat.

Then, she messaged Kasumigaoka Utaha in the group chat again, asking if she needed her help.

She now deeply understood what Kasumigaoka Utaha must have felt when she was exposed.

From this moment on, they were truly comrades on the same front.

Damn you, You Know Who! In the name of the Shinomiya Family, I will find you. Just you wait!

As for Kasumigaoka Utaha, the situation was quite different.

Because of what happened yesterday, Kasumigaoka Utaha could feel that the number of times she was discussed and secretly glanced at in class today had increased significantly.

However, she hadn't cared about such things in her first year of high school, otherwise, she wouldn't have openly gone to chat with Eriri Spencer Sawamura after school.

As for the content of her chat with Eriri Spencer Sawamura?

Although some sparks had indeed flown, overall, it had been a one-sided victory for her.

After all, knowing Eriri Spencer Sawamura's tsundere personality, it was too easy for her to manipulate the other party.

She even felt it was unnecessary to bully her so much. Considering how miserable Eriri Spencer Sawamura was in the original story, bullying her further would only invite ridicule from the group members.

After dealing with such a low-level opponent, Kasumigaoka Utaha had originally planned to find that high-level player, Kato Megumi, today to see who she really was.

However, before she could make a move, a notification from the Diary sent a jolt through her.

Could it be that You Know Who, unable to find material for his diary, had simply copied her story again?

Kasumigaoka Utaha quickly took her Diary to the literature club. That was her territory, quiet enough that no one would disturb her.

And as it turned out.

You Know Who was ten times worse than she had imagined!

Not only did he sneak into the school by despicable means, but he even stuffed her personal route manga into the locker of that loser Eriri Spencer Sawamura.

Kasumigaoka Utaha felt her fists clench.

What the hell do you want to do, you bastard?

She had already tested the waters yesterday and found out that Eriri Spencer Sawamura and that Aki Tomoya seemed to have some kind of awkward childhood friend relationship.

If Eriri Spencer Sawamura saw the contents of the manga, who knew what kind of huge trouble it would cause!

Kasumigaoka Utaha could no longer sit still. Forgetting to even check the group chat, she hurriedly got up and ran downstairs.

She had to retrieve the manga before Eriri Spencer Sawamura found it.

In the process of rushing, she unconsciously used some techniques involving ripples.

The people around her only felt that Kasumigaoka, who was usually quiet, was so rushed today. Had she encountered some trouble?

As Kasumigaoka Utaha passed by them at an astonishing speed, they could even faintly hear a sound like electricity.

However, they naturally dismissed it as their own hearing and didn't pay it any mind.

With sparks and lightning, she ran from the literature club to the entrance of the school building.

Facing the hundreds, even thousands, of lockers before her, Kasumigaoka Utaha gritted her teeth and began asking the first-year students passing by about the location of Eriri Spencer Sawamura's locker.

One of the purple-haired girls she asked replied, "I don't know. I'm from Class 1-A. Kato, do you know where Class G's lockers are?"

A certain ordinary girl beside her calmly shook her head, "If Miyauchi doesn't know, then I definitely won't know either. Kasumigaoka-senpai, you should ask someone else."

Perhaps the name Kato restored some of Kasumigaoka Utaha's thinking ability.

She looked at the two girls in front of her.

Upon closer inspection, both of them had appearances above average.

However, the purple-haired girl, Miyauchi, had a tomboyish aura, while the Kato girl, despite her regular features and decent figure, somehow gave off an inconspicuous impression.

If it weren't for the purple-haired girl's reminder, Kasumigaoka Utaha wouldn't have even noticed her presence.

Realizing this, Kasumigaoka Utaha instantly thought that this girl was probably the "boring protagonist" Kato Megumi who would win in the end.

She hadn't expected their first interaction to happen under such circumstances.

Although she had many questions she wanted to ask, now was definitely not the time.

Since she already knew the girl was from Class A, there would be plenty of time later. For now, finding Eriri Spencer Sawamura's locker was more important.

Kasumigaoka Utaha gave Kato Megumi, whose expression was calm, a deep look, said thank you, and turned to find someone else who might know.

Watching Kasumigaoka Utaha's hurried departure, Miyauchi Kouka, with a hint of gossip, pulled Kato Megumi and said, "Yesterday I heard that Kasumigaoka-senpai, who spoke on behalf of the second-years yesterday, has a strange relationship with a mixed-race blonde girl from Class 1-G. Look at how anxious she was just now, could the rumors be true?"

"Tokyo really lives up to its reputation. Are big cities this open-minded about things like this?"

Listening to her deskmate's exclamation, Kato Megumi felt the other person had some strange misconceptions about Tokyo.

But she thought she'd also felt Kasumigaoka-senpai looking at her a bit strangely just now.

Was this what they called "eating from your own bowl while eyeing the one next to you"?

Still, she was mostly unremarkable most of the time. The other person would probably forget about her soon, right?

Chapter 44: The Loser Sage, Eriri

Eriri felt her high school debut was absolutely terrible.

Why had she chosen Toyonosaki Academy in the first place? Wasn't it because that guy was here?

But when classes were assigned at the start of the semester, not only were they not in the same class, but their seats were on opposite ends of the school building. It was difficult to even engineer a chance encounter.

Then there was the woman staring at her during the opening ceremony.

Was having big breasts and a good figure all that impressive? Daring to look at her like she was a puppy made her furious just thinking about it.

And someone had even quietly asked her during lunch break what her relationship was with that woman?!

If she hadn't been thinking about maintaining her image in front of her classmates since she had just entered high school, she would have already revealed her true nature and started cursing privately.

But even worse things were just beginning.

After school on the first day, she had originally planned to visit the art club.

Who could have known that as soon as she walked out of the classroom, she would run into Kasumigaoka Utaha waiting for her at the classroom door?

Not only did that woman call her name directly, but she also expressed her intention to have a private chat.

Eriri was completely uninterested in an invitation from a stranger. She originally wanted to ask this woman what exactly she wanted, in front of all the classmates, telling her not to bother her.

But then that woman said, "A friend of mine told me she really likes your work, so I wanted to see what kind of person you are," which made Eriri swallow her words.

She wasn't sure if the "work" the woman mentioned referred to her normal creations or something else.

Normally, she wouldn't overthink things. After all, besides her parents, the only other person who knew her identity as Kashiwagi Eri was that guy, Aki Tomoya. There was almost no possibility of exposure.

But the expression on the woman in front of her looked rather improper no matter how she looked at it.

In the end, Eriri gritted her teeth and took the initiative to suggest they talk in the open space behind the teaching building.

An empty classroom was out of the question. She hadn't figured out what this woman wanted yet, so an outdoor space was much safer.

At least if something happened, she could run.

Afterward, under the watchful eyes of the surrounding onlookers, she led Kasumigaoka Utaha to the open space behind the teaching building.

And once they reached a place where no one else was around, the first thing Kasumigaoka Utaha said broke her down.

"Teacher Eriri, although this is our first meeting, I suppose I can count myself as one of your fans. I really like those lewd drawings you create."

Hearing this, Eriri instantly wanted a do-over in life.

This woman really knew her identity as Kashiwagi Eri, but where on earth did she find out?

Who was the mole that leaked her biggest secret for no reason!

But this was something she absolutely couldn't admit.

She immediately became flustered and retorted to Kasumigaoka Utaha, "Wh-what are you talking about? I... I don't understand at all!"

"I'm still just a high school student. How could I possibly draw such shameless doujinshi!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha, having easily obtained new information, didn't show any inappropriate expression. Instead, she put on a look of regret.

"Did I mistake you? But my friend told me your real name was Eriri, didn't she?"

"It's slander, it must be slander! How could I possibly be Kashi... cough, anyway, you must be mistaken. I'm just an ordinary high school student!" Seeing the confusion on Kasumigaoka Utaha's face, Eriri quickly chimed in, almost blurting out her alias in her haste.

Kasumigaoka Utaha almost couldn't maintain her composure.

Truly, the loser sage. Just a casual remark could elicit so much information.

Then, Kasumigaoka Utaha showed a look of realization.

"I'm sorry, maybe I remembered incorrectly. My friend told me two names back then, and I got them mixed up. Since you're not her, are you perhaps that Eromanga Sensei?"

"Speaking of which, I've followed both of your works... Hmm, if I had to compare, I personally prefer Eromanga Sensei's work. After all, those slightly hazy, borderline suggestive illustrations really leave more room for imagination."

Listening to Kasumigaoka Utaha's words, Eriri's fists instantly clenched.

As a professional, she naturally knew of Eromanga Sensei, a veteran illustrator who had been active for over a decade. Her specialty was those borderline lewd illustrations. At her peak, almost every illustration pushed the boundaries of what publishers would allow.

Honestly, if compared to Eromanga Sensei at her peak, she naturally couldn't measure up.

But in recent years, many people in the industry had speculated that Eromanga Sensei might have changed.

After all, even managing to retain a third of her former peak skill was considered good for the current Eromanga Sensei.

At least Eriri felt her current skill level was no worse than the other artist's. It was just that she hadn't yet considered officially transitioning from a fan-fiction creator to a professional manga artist or illustrator.

Who knew that the woman in front of her actually thought she was that Eromanga Sensei and even stated she preferred Eromanga Sensei's work to her face.

What "hazy, borderline suggestive feel"? She, who drew R18 doujinshi, had been deep in the ocean for who knows how long. And you're talking to me about "borderline"?

Who would be so bored as to read borderline content in a serious R18 book!

Eriri suppressed her anger and denied the other person's words again.

"I'll say it again, I'm not Eromanga, nor am I Kashiwagi Eri. I have no idea what you're talking about. If you have nothing else, I'm leaving. Don't bother me with this kind of thing again."

With that, Eriri intended to make a quick escape. She needed to find out who had leaked her identity.

Then, Kasumigaoka Utaha's voice, like a death-calling demon, made her break out in a cold sweat.

"Teacher Eriri, I don't think I ever mentioned the name Kashiwagi Eri from beginning to end, did I?"

Damn it, I slipped up.

Eriri's heart tightened.

After all, Eriri and Eri only differed by one character in pronunciation. Seeing Kasumigaoka Utaha confidently call her "Teacher Eriri" and directly compare her to Eromanga, Eriri had subconsciously assumed the other party already knew her identity, but was unwilling to admit it herself.

Now that she had torn down the fig leaf of Kashiwagi Eri herself, any further pretense would make her look like a clown.

She turned around and walked back to Kasumigaoka Utaha with an unfriendly gaze.

Since this woman already knew, she wouldn't pretend anymore.

"Who told you? Did you spread it further?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha, looking at Eriri who had just exploded in front of her, also stopped playing along.

"Not many people know your identity. Who do you think it was?"