Chapter 26

They followed behind Kitakami Yoru, some whispering to each other, others arrogantly hurling insults and mockery.

Kitakami Yoru pretended not to hear, keeping his head down and quickening his pace down the stairs.

At this moment, outside the school gate.

Eriri, the ace of the Art Club, walked alone, quietly watching the stream of students leaving school ahead.

She hadn't gone to the Art Club today because she had some things on her mind and wanted to find her dear little sister, Izumi Sagiri, to pour her heart out.

The next second, an ordinary otaku wearing black-rimmed glasses with hair slightly covering his eyebrows rushed past not far from Eriri.

“Tomoya...?!”

Eriri opened her mouth in surprise, subconsciously about to call out to her childhood friend, Aki Tomoya.

25: Genshin!

Because he was a major internet influencer, Aki Tomoya had been specially admitted to Shuchiin Academy, just like those sports prodigies.

Shuchiin Academy advocated for diversity.

In the Maple Country, being an influencer was even considered an emerging profession that could lead to immigration.

Of course, tuition and such were all the same; they were just permitted to enroll.

If grades were too poor, they would still be advised to withdraw.

Eriri parted her soft, pink lips, but eventually closed them as she watched Aki Tomoya run further and further away.

However, her gaze followed Aki Tomoya’s movement, finally landing on Kasumigaoka Utaha!

Originally, Eriri thought Aki Tomoya was in a rush.

She hadn't expected that he was actually going to greet Kasumigaoka Utaha!

“Tomoya, you idiot!”

Eriri stopped, feeling somewhat angry, and stomped her feet hard, cursing under her breath.

Running past her and ignoring her was one thing, but he even ran off to find that woman, Kasumigaoka Utaha.

“Do you really want to be with her that much?”

“Damn Tomoya, you jerk, go die!”

Eriri puffed up her cheeks in anger and quickened her pace to chase after them.

She couldn't take it anymore!

Before, on March 20th, her birthday.

Aki Tomoya had clearly agreed to her invitation to go out together.

As a result, she had waited full of anticipation for Aki Tomoya to celebrate her birthday, only for him to rush through it, give a perfunctory celebration, and leave.

It made Eriri excited for nothing for several days, leaving her with no choice but to go find her dear little sister, Izumi Sagiri, to spend it with.

As it turned out, on the way to Izumi Sagiri’s house, Eriri saw Aki Tomoya—who had brushed off her birthday—shopping with Kasumigaoka Utaha.

At that time, Eriri had angrily gone up to demand an explanation.

And then, she got even angrier!

Being assigned to the same group as Kasumigaoka Utaha for the field trip, they disliked each other, and because of what happened that day, they had started arguing.

On Eriri’s cute face, her expression was twisted in a pout as she recalled the events while hurrying to catch up.

However, before she could catch up, Aki Tomoya said a few words to Kasumigaoka Utaha and ran off in a hurry again.

“Damn it, jerk!”

Eriri stopped like a deflated inflatable doll, watching Aki Tomoya run into the distance.

“You clearly said you’d protect me when we were kids, but you couldn't even be bothered with my birthday. It makes me so mad!”

“Tomoya, if I ever encounter danger one day, you’ll definitely come to save me, right?”

“Honestly, you dead-otaku, you jerk...”

“I will never forgive you!”

Eriri cursed in her heart, feeling both indignant and a little jealous, her mood sinking to rock bottom.

If she were the heroine in a doujin, in this state, she would easily be taken advantage of, and the fake protagonist would regret it with tears, yet be helpless to do anything.

When Kitakami Yoru came out to the school gate, there were already very few people left.

Walking on the street in front of the school, just around the corner ahead was a bustling commercial district, and the station was at the end of the commercial street.

A Honda Fit drove past Kitakami Yoru, with Kirisu Mafuyu as the driver.

Kitakami Yoru clenched his fist, then relaxed it.

“Kasumigaoka Utaha, Shinomiya Kaguya, Kirisu Mafuyu...”

“Without a doubt, these three bad women all targeted me during the field trip; they are all bad women.”

“If I follow my reasoning, the culprit is a girl, and the goal is to take revenge on Kasumigaoka Utaha and me?”

“Or, I am simply an unlucky victim caught in the crossfire.”

“If so, will a gold treasure chest appear above the culprit’s head?”

“I haven't discovered any gold treasure chests above males; it seems they can only appear above females...”

Kitakami Yoru lowered his head in thought, turning the corner into this bustling commercial district.

Usually after school, students from Shuchiin and some nearby public schools would come here to shop and hang out.

The noise on the street made it impossible for Kitakami Yoru to calm his mind and think.

Simply put, Kitakami Yoru took out his phone and started scrolling through news to kill time.

He wasn't in a hurry, especially since tomorrow was the weekend, with two days off.

After walking about a few hundred meters, Kitakami Yoru passed by a bookstore.

However, this bookstore primarily dealt in light novels, various manga, ACG culture merchandise, and games.

The storefront was large, and the transparent glass was plastered with posters of popular anime and light novel beauties.

Kitakami Yoru paused for a moment, scanning the new arrival and discount signs placed outside the shop.

After hesitating for a tiny bit, he walked inside.

The first thing Kitakami Yoru saw was a life-sized standee of a character named Raiden Shogun from the currently super-popular game called “Genshin.”

He hadn't played it and wasn't very interested in such games; he heard it was ()().

However, not having played it was one thing.

Kitakami Yoru could basically name all the characters inside.

The reason was that the modeling and artwork were too erotic.

Kitakami Yoru had seen his fair share of Genshin doujins.

He had also heard that some girls in Shibuya and Harajuku engaged in compensated dating would cosplay as Genshin characters to drive up their prices and disrupt the market.

Giving it a faint glance, Kitakami Yoru walked toward the other side.

Just as he left, a blonde girl wearing a Shuchiin uniform in a gyaru style walked in and immediately started measuring the Raiden Shogun standee with a ruler.

Kitakami Yoru didn't see it; he arrived at the light novel section, picked up a discounted old book, *Fantasy Demon Blade Chronicles 1*, and started flipping through it casually.

A little while later.

Kasumigaoka Utaha turned from the side into this row of light novel shelves and saw Kitakami Yoru, who was obese, very conspicuous, and squatting on the ground.

“How unlucky, how could I run into him?” Kasumigaoka Utaha furrowed her slender eyebrows, her displeasure written directly on her beautiful face.

Anyone would be unhappy running into a disgusting, dead-fat-otaku who stalks you, stares at your thighs in heat on the spot, and is suspected of stealing your pantyhose and panties.

“Kasumigaoka Utaha?”

Kitakami Yoru noticed something unusual out of the corner of his eye, turned, and looked up.

“Unlucky!” Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't give Kitakami Yoru a pleasant look and rolled her eyes directly.

“Do you have evidence to prove that I did it?”

The anger in Kitakami Yoru’s heart surged up; he threw down the light novel in his hand and strode in front of Kasumigaoka Utaha.

He remembered the gossip from classmates in the classroom on the school forum and the graffiti on his desk.

It was only the first day!

“No, but you staring at my thighs and drooling, that can’t be fake, right?” Kasumigaoka Utaha was stunned for a moment, looking at Kitakami Yoru, whose build was vastly different from hers.

If a Kitakami Yoru of this build were to press down on her, she definitely wouldn't be able to move at all.

After saying that, she took a small step back.