Please, You Have to Join My Team!

Impressive, My Big Sis Guanghua

Jerry had received emperor-level treatment at Gokō Ruri's house, and Miyauchi Hiyage had no doubt that this treatment would continue improving over the next few days.

After all, the weekend was just around the corner. Aside from some girls with diaries who would choose to ambush him at Kasumigaoka Utaha's fan signing, there would definitely be plenty of girls trying to find a breakthrough through Jerry.

"New mouse, old news," Miyauchi Hiyage sighed after waking up the next morning and sensing how many times the girls had talked about him the previous night.

"But tomorrow's the weekend again. I can't just stay home doing research. It's time to find some people to shoot videos with."

Having gone more than half a month without filming any cheesy videos, Miyauchi Hiyage really did miss the days when he had ruled Asahigaoka like a mountain king.

He even occasionally dreamed about those scenes.

After all, diary-writing was work. Making videos was life.

"Still, that restaurant review video I had planned won't be easy to pull off. Even if I film it, I'll have to let Guanghua handle it. I'd already gotten in touch with someone from Totsuki... I wonder if Guanghua is reliable."

Because of his Pure Yang Body, Miyauchi Hiyage knew that his unusual physique would sooner or later be noticed, so he had already begun carefully crafting a new persona for himself.

Continuing to make such ordinary videos would clearly hurt that persona.

"So, this weekend, I'll just shoot something related to urban legends."

Before his transmigration, he had watched quite a few paranormal streamers whose gimmick was exploring haunted houses. Because of certain well-known reasons, though, most of them had eventually been banned.

But Japan clearly had far fewer restrictions in that regard.

The only thing he needed to worry about was that the paranormal streamers from his previous life had merely been putting on a show, whereas in this world, people could actually encounter strange things.

Still, Miyauchi Hiyage looked at himself.

Pure Yang Body.JPG.

What would even be interesting about having him shoot this sort of video?

"Guys, this place is perfectly safe. All these so-called paranormal incidents are fake. You must believe in science." Was he supposed to make some debunking science video like that?

As expected, he needed to find some hardworking laborers to provide the entertainment. He could just show up to save the day at the crucial moment.

But where was he supposed to find suitable laborers?

Miyauchi Hiyage flipped through his notes, selecting potential candidates from works that existed in this world, but no matter how he searched, he could not find many suitable choices.

He could not exactly drag Satou Kazuma over before he had even been transported to another world.

That guy would certainly provide plenty of entertainment, but if he ran into some ghost and got scared to death on the spot, Miyauchi Hiyage, as the person filming the video, would be responsible.

He needed to find someone with a sufficiently strong mental fortitude.

"Forget it. There's no rush. I can try Sakakibara Kouichi first. Before he transfers to Yomiyama North and faces the 'dead one,' I'll give him a little taste of intensity here in Tokyo."

Miyauchi Hiyage muttered this softly, already placing Sakakibara Kouichi in the category of "people to be victimized."

Before school even ended that day, he found Sakakibara Kouichi and told him about his idea.

Sakakibara Kouichi did not refuse.

After all, Miyauchi Hiyage seemed like a decent person and was one of his only friends in this class.

Besides, he had nothing to do over the weekend, so after thinking about it briefly, he agreed.

He still remembered that when Miyauchi Hiyage had first enrolled, he had declared in front of the entire class that he would make a movie like The Shining.

He wanted to see what gave Miyauchi Hiyage the confidence to say something like that.

And this would become his second completely wrong decision since entering high school, following his introduction on the first day of school where he had told the whole class that he liked horror movies.

After school, Miyauchi Hiyage called Miyauchi Guanghua, whom he had barely contacted in the past week, and asked whether she wanted to come over for dinner that night. He also wanted to ask what she thought about filming videos.

What surprised Miyauchi Hiyage, however, was that Miyauchi Guanghua, who normally could not walk away whenever food was mentioned, actually hesitated.

"Do you have something going on tonight?"

"Ah, it's because of Mahiru. You know, that super pretty girl who lives next to me. Her cousin, who has been living in London, is returning to Japan today."

"Mahiru said she wanted to prepare a lavish welcome-home dinner for her cousin, so she asked me to help pick her up. I'll probably be eating dinner at Mahiru's house tonight."

What Miyauchi Guanghua said over the phone left Miyauchi Hiyage dazed for a moment.

London.

Cousin.

He had only casually guessed that Shiina Mahiru and Shiina Mashiro, who shared the same surname and were both blonde, might be distant relatives.

He had not expected it to be true, and now Shiina Mashiro was even going to move into Shiina Mahiru's home.

Did that mean everyone in this world with the surname Takanashi was related by blood too?

Miyauchi Hiyage shook his head.

In any case, it seemed that the plots of both Sakurasou Dormitory and The Angel Next Door had completely fallen apart.

The pet girl who should have moved into Sakurasou Dormitory was now moving in with her "angel" cousin.

And since his sister Miyauchi Guanghua had taken over the original protagonist's room, was she now holding the script that had originally belonged to that protagonist as well?

In just two weeks, they were already calling each other by name and had arranged to pick someone up together. It seemed his big sister Guanghua and Shiina Mahiru had become quite close.

So were two school romance anime about to be forcibly turned into a brand-new light yuri comedy by his tomboyish big sister Guanghua?

Impressive, my big sister Guanghua.

Muttering this to himself, Miyauchi Hiyage said no more. He merely reminded his sister not to keep troubling Shiina Mahiru and to help take care of her cousin more in the future.

He did not get involved.

After all, both Shiina Mahiru and Shiina Mashiro had a chance of being chosen by the diary, so he would let his big sister scout things out for him first.

After hanging up, Miyauchi Guanghua rubbed her chin, feeling that her little brother's words had sounded rather strange.

She really did feel embarrassed about constantly troubling Mahiru, but why did he want her to take care of Mahiru's cousin?

Still, she had never been one to overthink things. After scratching her head without figuring it out, she simply stopped thinking about it.

After cheerfully saying goodbye to several girls in her class she was close with, Miyauchi Guanghua sent Shiina Mahiru another email, telling her that she was leaving for the station now.

Please, You Must Join My Team!

Miyauchi Guanghua had no idea that Shiina Mashiro, whom she was about to meet, would add so much color to the rest of her high school life.

Miyauchi Hiyage, meanwhile, was already prepared to visit his second sister more often in the future and enjoy the drama up close.

And since Miyauchi Guanghua could not come over tonight, Miyauchi Hiyage naturally could not be bothered to go home and cook.

He could just make do at some restaurant. After dinner, he could also look for a location for tomorrow's video.

Beika Town was actually a pretty good place.

After all, in the tiny Beika Town, there was no shortage of murderers or crime scenes.

He could casually find a location where a homicide had once occurred, briefly introduce the case that had happened there, mysteriously mention the ghost stories that had recently spread around the place, and then head inside to explore. That would be about enough.

He vaguely remembered an old Western-style house near his home that had fallen into disrepair. The Detective Boys had once gone inside, treating it as a haunted house, and ended up encountering a case within it.

That would actually make for a very suitable opening.

Explore the mysterious haunted house in Beika Town, where an unsolved case had taken place years ago and which now stood abandoned and empty.

Then, while exploring the haunted house, they would discover signs that someone had been living there and gradually uncover its secrets.

In the end, the truth would come to light. The real culprit behind that murder case from years ago had actually been imprisoned in the haunted house, and the reason he had been held there was—

Having filmed cheesy skits for years, Miyauchi Hiyage had a decent instinct for this sort of thing.

If he could really shoot it like that, the view count would probably soar instantly.

Unfortunately, after investigating, he discovered that the case had been solved last month and had even made the morning news the following day.

Before Miyauchi Hiyage arrived, quite a few resentful ghosts and wandering spirits might have inhabited the place. But after he moved into Beika Town with his Pure Yang Body, that mansion was now merely an abandoned, unoccupied house.

With Sakakibara Kouichi's rather reserved personality, it seemed unlikely that they could make a particularly entertaining video.

Miyauchi Hiyage muttered this inwardly, but he did not care too much.

They could take it slow.

He could start by exploring places where Conan had encountered murder cases, revealing the secrets of Beika Town, Tokyo's most crime-ridden district, before gradually moving on to urban legends.

With the experience of those successful paranormal content creators from his previous life, he would at most need to spend a little more time in the early stages.

With that in mind, Miyauchi Hiyage had finished dinner and was preparing to detour past the old mansion for a quick inspection before going home to write that day's diary when he heard someone pleading in an alley.

"Kaiji-senpai, please help me. I really urgently need money right now. You just need to sign as my guarantor. I absolutely won't cause you any trouble!"

Miyauchi Hiyage, who had been about to leave the alley, immediately stopped and turned toward the source of the voice.

It looked like the back entrance of a convenience store.

Two male employees in store uniforms were talking there. One of them, a young man with a fairly honest-looking face, had just made a perfectly standard ninety-degree bow as he spoke.

In front of him, another young man who looked somewhat unkempt seemed troubled, though not particularly resolute. It looked as if he were about to nod and agree.

Before he could respond, however, Miyauchi Hiyage's warning came from the side.

"A guarantor is the person who has to pay if the other party can't repay the money. Before making a decision, you'd better take a good look at the number on that paper."

In an instant, the honest-looking young man's expression changed.

He straightened up, wanting to see who was trying to ruin his plans.

"You bastard, who asked you to talk? Don't you have any manners?"

Miyauchi Hiyage scratched his ear and instead stepped closer.

"Are you getting flustered because I've hit a nerve?"

"Want me to take a look at that guarantee agreement for you? I know a thing or two about this sort of thing."

As he spoke, he looked at the man called Kaiji.

Why did this Kaiji have the air of a New World god about him? The film version had the same actor.

Ever since obtaining the diary, Miyauchi Hiyage had been constantly battling wits with the heroines of various school-life and idol series.

Among the heroines he had encountered so far, though, only Hoshino Ai and Yotsuya Miko faced future threats to their lives. The other girls lived fairly normal lives.

Among the anime male protagonists he had encountered, Conan had previously been the only one who dealt with all sorts of bizarre murder cases every day and occasionally risked his life in the main story and movies.

Who would have thought that today, simply passing through an alley, he would run into someone who treated risking his life as an everyday occurrence?

Itou Kaiji.

The protagonist of Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji.

Its animated adaptation was titled Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor.

Those two titles alone revealed this guy's character.

A gambling addict, a scoundrel, and someone who could only bring out his full strength in adversity.

And today could be said to be the day that changed Itou Kaiji's life.

Perhaps it was not obvious yet.

If Miyauchi Hiyage had not appeared, after signing this guarantee agreement, Kaiji would have forgotten all about it.

Until a year later, when debt collectors came to him with the IOU and demanded that he repay the high-interest loan the other man had owed for a year, with the interest continuously compounding.

After that, this good-for-nothing gambler would be persuaded by the debt collectors to board that cruise ship filled with desire and sin, formally beginning his legendary yet tragic life.

After recalling Itou Kaiji's story, Miyauchi Hiyage prepared to stop him from signing that guarantee agreement.