"And even if the game becomes popular, so what? It would just be the icing on the cake. The industry might recognize that the up-and-coming popular writer 'Kasumigaoka Utaha' can also write game scripts, people might be amazed for a moment, and then it would be over."
"The risk and reward don't balance out at all. Eriri, if you were in my position, would you join such an insignificant game club?"
"Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, I'm in my third year of high school. I have the pressure of getting into college. Although I'm a genius and have always had excellent grades, even a genius can't get good grades without enough time."
"Eriri, 'The Strange Dream Chronicles,' college entrance exams, and the game club—I can only choose two of these three. If I try to juggle all three, I'll definitely end up neglecting one. I'm a genius, not a god; I can't do everything perfectly."
"Eriri, you persuaded me to join this game club before, and I agreed. But now, I've changed my mind and want to quit. That's my problem."
"So I'm giving you the choice—whether I should stay or leave."
"Eriri, you don't have to worry. You just need to make a decision, and I will follow through. As for the consequences, that's my problem, not yours."
"Now, it's your turn to choose, Eriri."
Kasumigaoka crossed her arms and calmly looked at Eriri.
Eriri looked up at Kasumigaoka, her sea-blue eyes filled with an overwhelming mix of emotions.
She looked at Kasumigaoka as if she were seeing her for the first time.
After a long pause, she lowered her head and muttered, "Kasumigaoka, you're really sly. You haven't actually given me a choice."
Yes, this was a blatant scheme. The moment Kasumigaoka sincerely shared all this with her, it was clear that Kasumigaoka had already made up her mind to leave the club.
The so-called choice was just to spare her feelings.
And as for actually choosing to make Kasumigaoka stay? That would be too cruel! It wasn't something a decent person could do!
Making someone gamble their future just to repay a favor—she couldn't do that.
"I understand. I'll give you my answer tonight." Eriri got up to leave, her slender figure exuding a deep sense of defeat.
Kasumigaoka, her expression cold, gazed out the window. Her unchanged face made it hard to tell what she was thinking.
After a moment, a faint sound interrupted Kasumigaoka's thoughts.
She turned her head to see Hoshimi had quietly returned to his seat. "Hoshimi, why did you take so long?"
"I came back a while ago, but when I saw you talking with someone, I didn't want to interrupt. That was Eriri, the classmate you mentioned, right?"
"Yes," Kasumigaoka responded, then asked, "What do you think? Is she pretty?"
"Very pretty." A faint glimmer of something flickered deep in Hoshimi's eyes.
"Is that so? Are you interested in her?" Kasumigaoka stared at Hoshimi, her wine-red eyes uncharacteristically devoid of any emotion.
"..." Hoshimi didn't say anything, just looked back at Kasumigaoka.
After a long moment, Kasumigaoka looked away. "Hoshimi, you'd better not get any ideas about her. She's complicated, already has someone she likes, and her family's background isn't simple. She's not someone you can mess with easily."
"..." Hoshimi raised his right hand and silently made an "okay" gesture.
To be honest, Eriri entered the dream world even earlier than Kasumigaoka...
Given how deeply he and Eriri were entangled, they probably knew each other far better than Kasumigaoka imagined. After all, Eriri was simple, easy to see through, and easy to deceive...
"Let's go, Hoshimi. We're going to see a movie," Kasumigaoka said, getting up and heading for the door.
"Okay," Hoshimi replied, getting up to follow her.
As he looked at Kasumigaoka's swaying figure in front of him, Hoshimi's gaze involuntarily dropped to her hips.
Come to think of it, Eriri's hips are quite similar to Kasumigaoka's...
Even though Eriri is half a head shorter than Kasumigaoka, with a much slimmer figure and waist, their hip sizes are almost the same.
For Kasumigaoka's body proportions, it's already like "hips wider than shoulders, surpassing even a living goddess." So what does that make Eriri?
Could this be what it feels like to experience the joy of a "god-king"?
Thinking of this, Hoshimi's expression became a bit strange, and he suddenly felt a strong urge to reunite with Eriri.
But not now. He had to wait until Eriri's interactions with Kasumigaoka became rare before meeting her, to avoid Eriri connecting the dots between him and Kasumigaoka.
"Hoshimi, what are you thinking?" Kasumigaoka, who had just finished paying, noticed that Hoshimi's expression seemed a bit odd, as if he was longing for something...
"Nothing, Utaha. Let's go, didn't we say we were going to watch a movie?"
"..." Kasumigaoka stared at Hoshimi for a moment, then silently took his hand and walked out.
She roughly knew what Hoshimi was yearning for, but it was too soon; she wasn't ready for that yet.
After a few more dates, once she got more used to Hoshimi in real life, she would consider taking things to the next level.
"Utaha, is the cinema far from here?"
"Not far, there's one nearby."
"Oh, what movie are we watching? A romance?"
"An animated film, directed by Makoto Shinkai, just recently released. Do you know it, Hoshimi?"
Hoshimi suddenly understood. "It's that 'Your Name' movie, right? I've been seeing ads for it all over the internet lately. I was planning to watch it this weekend."
"Really?" Kasumigaoka glanced at Hoshimi, and with seeming nonchalance, said, "Going to the movies alone? You must be in a good mood."
"Well, I was interested~ If I want to see it, I'll go. It has nothing to do with being alone." Hoshimi deftly brushed off Kasumigaoka's probing.
As if he'd ever go alone. Originally, he planned to take Yukino to a private theater to watch "Your Name" this weekend.
But it was nice to watch it early with Kasumigaoka now too. When he takes Yukino this weekend, he can focus entirely on teasing her.
Suddenly, Hoshimi remembered something. He squeezed Kasumigaoka's hand and asked, "Utaha, is the nearby cinema a private one?"
"No, it's a public theater."
Hoshimi's eyes flickered. "Utaha, how about we go to a private cinema instead? A little farther isn't a problem."
Kasumigaoka, guessing what Hoshimi was thinking, firmly said, "No! We'll go to the nearby one; it's closer."
Hoshimi shrugged and resignedly said, "Alright."
Private cinemas are more secluded and don't have surveillance cameras, so you can be a bit more... free.
Public cinemas have cameras, and there might be people around, making it harder to do anything.
But if it's just kissing or something small, it shouldn't be an issue...
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