Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 125, Section 1: "Author, it's time for the interrogation."

It was late August, the end of summer, and the weather was still very hot after I returned to Kobe.

The room on the third floor of the Starry Night Cafe is separated from the sweltering heat outside by only a glass window.

Masumi's bed was four times more crowded than usual, with four girls crammed in.

The original owner was forced onto a cushion on the floor, helplessly watching the four people who had taken over the bed, their cheeks pressed together, staring at the screen on the laptop.

“Masumi-nii… how could this be…” Chiai murmured.

"Tsk tsk, I knew Masumi-kun was just pretending to be serious, but to write such explicit content in a novel, oh my."

Mami had a mischievous smile on her face as her finger slid down the mouse. Haiyue reached out and grabbed her arm, saying slowly:

"So many words... slow down... I can't read them all..."

“Masumi…” Kurokawa Mio’s expression was complicated as she subtly unbuttoned two buttons on her shirt collar.

"..."

Masumi took a deep breath and sighed with worry, "Aren't you four hot crammed into one bed?"

"Suddenly changing the subject is very suspicious, Masumi-kun."

Asami stroked her chin and gave Masumi a meaningful glance.

"Wait a minute, your novel also has four female protagonists, right? You don't mean you want to..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chiai's cheeks flushed an unbelievable red, and she waved her hands in front of her face. "Masumi-nii! Polygamy is illegal in Japan, and it is in Peru too!"

“That’s right.” Kurokawa Mio nodded seriously, her gaze fixed on him: “Masumi only needs me.”

“I’m not that bored.” Masumi shook her head. “Besides, my novel should have five female protagonists.”

The sound of the door opening came quietly.

"Sister Mami, aren't you four people crammed into one bed? Isn't it hot?"

Rinne slowly walked into the room with a tray containing drinks for six people and arranged the cups on the table.

"Has Rinne read Masumi-kun's novels?" Mami asked.

"The original text isn't there, but I read that post."

As she said this, Rinne glanced at Masumi without any particular meaning.

The post she mentioned was on a social networking forum discussing light novels, titled "The most repressed author in the history of the 'Become a Great Writer' forum, what does it mean when the novel is filled with words like 'breasts' and 'buttocks'?"

The post, as the title suggests, introduces a web novel about reincarnation in another world on the website "Let's Become a Great Writer".

The novel had previously remained relatively unknown, fluctuating between 3rd and 40th place on the daily overall rankings, but it had a stable readership. The person who posted the thread was one of the novel's readers.

In the chapter updated on the night of August 14th, for some reason, a large number of words such as "breasts," "hips," "legs," and "feet" appeared in the text, and they were not normal descriptions of appearance, but were randomly embedded in the text.

For example, "C-rank adventurer" was changed to "C-cup adventurer", "beautiful shrine maiden" was changed to "beautiful-footed shrine maiden", and when introducing the new kingdom, the previous sentence still emphasized "magic power", but the next sentence became "the society with a large bust".

Since the "Become a Great Writer" website does not accept submissions of erotic novels and has a clean style, and the new chapter of the novel is quite different in style from the previous two volumes, this post was born.

Topics such as "the most repressed author in the web series", "meaningless breast and buttock words", and "the author's unbearable loneliness at night" spread through communities like Discord, attracting a large number of readers to the website to watch.

The novel's ranking rose rapidly as a result.

That's right, this novel was written by Masumi Miyazawa, the young owner and barista of the Starry Night Cafe.

Thinking of this, Masumi couldn't help but sigh.

He discovered this on the afternoon of August 15th.

While waiting for the fireworks festival to begin at the hotel, Masumi, as usual, opened the "Let's Become a Great Writer" website and was surprised to find that her novel's ranking on the bestseller list had risen.

To date, it has been forwarded more than 2 times, achieving overwhelming reach.

Considering that I originally only had around a thousand real readers, the novel's popularity was undoubtedly due to this post.

Of course, every cloud has a silver lining. Comments like "I originally came here just for fun, but the novel turned out to be surprisingly good" and "After reading the first volume, it was hilarious. The slice-of-life parts reminded me of Konosuba" started appearing in the book review section.

Each time the page is refreshed, the number of readers and points will increase.

Even after the hype dies down, the work will likely remain firmly in the top ten of the daily overall rankings.

So... what exactly is going on here?

Masumi downed the barley tea in her glass in one gulp, as if she were drinking beer.

"So, what are you thinking?" Rinne tilted her head and asked expressionlessly, "Write that kind of content."

"The night of August 14th was the time when the six of us stayed together at a hot spring hotel in Kyoto."

Her tone remained calm, but it subtly exuded a chilling coldness.

Even though there was no air conditioning in the room, Masumi felt a chill run down her spine. Of course, it wasn't just because of Kamishiro; there were also other girls staring at her.

"Masumi-kun, you were spying on us, weren't you? You deliberately waited until we were all asleep before you went to sleep."

Asami, speaking with the air of a detective identifying a murderer, asserted with absolute certainty:
"Saying that 'having desires' doesn't equate to 'indulging in unrestrained desires' is really just a matter of being adept at risk assessment and self-preservation, and not daring to break the law, Masumi-kun!"

"That's right, Masumi-nii is so mean." Chiai pouted, seemingly expressing her dissatisfaction. "You weren't like this before!"

"Masumi...h..."

Those blue eyes stared straight at him, the gaze piercing his face. Yes, jellyfish do have stinging cells too.

Of the girls, only Kurokawa Mio's gaze remained firmly fixed on the novel's webpage, and she murmured in a low voice:

"The word 'breasts' appeared 82 times, but 13 of them were C-cups. Who are the other 69? It's a headache... As for the legs, they're mostly described as full-figured... And regarding the descriptions of the feet, there's no crimson nail polish... Sigh, I should have just slept naked..."

Then, as if belatedly arriving, she shifted her gaze and fixed it on Masumi, her expression revealing her genuine displeasure.

"Ah—Masumi-kun is really enjoying himself, leisurely writing a novel while admiring our exposed skin~" Mami sighed meaningfully.

"The room booking went wrong, and we had to squeeze into one room. Wasn't that something you and the boss agreed on? It was all part of planning this wicked scheme."

That's utterly slanderous.

Masumi hugged her arms, looking a bit annoyed. "Don't talk nonsense. The problem with the booked room was really just an accident."

"Also, it's clearly because you guys have such bad sleeping habits, one after another sticking up to me, forcing me to write novels to distract myself, and I'm trying my best not to look at anything else."

"Ahem." Faced with his frank words, Mami coughed lightly, turned her face away, and scratched her ear, saying, "About this, it is indeed our fault, but I shouldn't be the worst one, right?"

No, you're the worst one. Masumi thought to herself.

Not only did he put his leg on top of me, making me feel incredibly heavy, but he also kicked my face with his foot. The worst part was...

Masumi touched her lips, then quietly exhaled.

Before her, Qian Ai's face turned as red as a boiled octopus, and she lowered her head and remained silent.

"..."

Therefore, the self-examination should proceed as follows...

"Wait a minute, Masumi-kun!"

Ms. Mami turned her face back to him, staring at him with a questioning look. "Putting everything else aside, sleeping with five girls, and so close together, don't you feel anything at all?!"

"Well, for the average man, it's impossible to say he feels absolutely nothing, after all, I also have sexual desire..."

"Hmph! I knew it." Mami wore a matter-of-fact smile.

"...Let me finish." Masumi said helplessly, "But as I said before, having desires and indulging in lust are two different things. Besides, we're friends. You're willing to trust me and let me sleep next to you, so of course I can't do anything outrageous that would damage that trust and relationship. That would be irresponsible—"

Masumi spoke earnestly and eloquently, delivering a long and impressive speech, only to be dismissed by Mami with a casual "Oh, right."

"Okay, okay, I know Masumi-kun is a trustworthy and responsible guy." Asami said dismissively, "A responsible maniac?"

"Please don't give me a nickname without my permission."

“Masumi… you don’t have to be so responsible.” Kurokawa Mio quietly lowered her eyelashes and murmured.

"By the way, Masumi-kun, if you had an irreversible relationship with a girl, would you take responsibility?"

Masumi nodded without hesitation: "Of course."

"As expected, Masumi is the best when it comes to being responsible." Kurokawa Mio looked up, her eyes shining.

"..."

"Is my interrogation over now?" Masumi sighed helplessly. "I need to start revising the novel."

He doesn't want to be known as "the most repressed author in history" for the rest of his life, so it's better to change it as soon as possible before more people see it, even though it seems that most of the readers who are supposed to see it have already seen it.

"Oh, please go ahead."

Masumi placed the 20,000 yen secondhand laptop on the table, logged onto the "Become a Great Writer" website, and put her fingers on the keyboard. However—the room window was open for ventilation, and hot air blew in, blowing a few strands of hair onto her neck and making her skin itch.

“I mean…” Masumi rubbed her temples, “When making revisions, there’s no need for everyone to crowd around and watch.”

Five girls surrounded her from behind, their eyes fixed on her. Masumi felt she could barely withstand their intense gazes.

"Question, Masumi-kun—who is the first Lostbelt in this chapter?"

Lostbelt?
So that's how it is, the words were distorted.

"..."

"It should be Kurokawa."

"We won!" Kurokawa Mio uttered the word with a sense of triumph.

Qian Ai said unhappily, "It's still a long way off."

"What is a C-cup adventurer?" Haiyue asked innocently, tilting her head.

"..."

"Next is this line, 'Don't look at the back of the neck, concentrate on writing the novel.' Who is that?" Kurokawa Mio asked, squinting.

"Tsk, it feels like Masumi-kun is right in front of me when he saw that scene."

"Damn it! Masumi-nii was clearly looking around aimlessly!" Chiai frowned.

Rinne sighed, "It's too embarrassing to be distracted by such a small thing."

"It's you."

"Ok?"

Masumi felt a dull ache in her temples. "As for the back of the neck, it's Kamishiro."

"..."

After a long silence, Rinne turned her face away nonchalantly, saying, "Boring," but a faint blush crept onto her pretty face.

"Masumi-kun, when am I supposed to make my appearance?"

"Me too, Masumi-nii."

"I'm next, right, Masumi?"

"...This is not a novel based on you guys."

"...Found it..."

Haiyue suddenly pointed to the laptop screen and said, her light pink fingertips reminiscent of cherry blossom seashells.

Everyone else's attention was drawn to it.

"This...is me..."

"Jellyfish pattern?" Qian Ai was completely confused.

"It's... underwear..."

"Masumi!?", "Masumi-chan!?"

Kurokawa and Chiai's voices overlapped in the air.

“That was an accident, and I made sure to pull her clothes up properly.” Masumi’s head was throbbing.

"And what does 'fair-skinned and slender' mean?"

Masumi replied with a resigned expression, "Feet."

"who?"

"It's definitely mine," Kurokawa Mio said provocatively. "With Chia's height, can she stick her head and feet out of the blanket at the same time?"

"Of course! I'm not the owner of the fried noodles stall at Hai's House!"

"Chikuwa Daimyojin."

"Orange nail polish, that can't be me..."

"Wait, what was that just now?"

"..."

The girls were chattering away, their noise giving everyone a headache. Was this supposed to be a girls' gathering? It seemed a bit awkward. As the "instigator," Masumi had absolutely no idea how to intervene.

An idea suddenly popped into my head.

“…Seno.” He spoke softly.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Masumi-kun?"

"Hold out your hand, this is for you."

"Hand? For me?" Mami was confused, but still obediently opened her palm.

Upon closer inspection, it is a small, beautifully packaged chocolate candy.

"Wait, isn't it White Day yet?! And I haven't even given Masumi-kun a gift yet, isn't it a bit too early?" Mami exclaimed instinctively, her expression awkward.

"At least wait until next year's Valentine's Day, um... this year's Christmas."

For some reason, she absentmindedly fiddled with the ends of her hair with her fingers.

"What are you talking about?" Masumi sighed, seemingly confused. "It's just ordinary chocolate. Consider it hush money."

This is a gift he saw on social media, with a budget of 1000 yen, that a girl wouldn't buy herself but would be very happy to receive.

In terms of ranking—

5. Bath additives

4. Premium plums
3. Hand care products (hand cream & nail polish)

2.Japanese confectionery

1. Foreign fruits

"Then there's Kurokawa, Chia, and Hanekawa."

Even without him saying anything, the three girls had already spread their palms out in front of him and stared at him in unison.

"Thank you, Masumi-nii!"

"Only one... not enough..."

"I'm so happy that Masumi gave me my favorite chocolate. I will cherish it for the rest of my life."

Kurokawa Mio picked up the chocolate as if it were a precious treasure.

"No, that's not my favorite chocolate. Besides, it's hot, and chocolate melts easily. It's better to eat it as soon as possible."

After distributing the chocolates one by one, the four girls took a little time to slowly finish them, and the air finally quieted down.

Masumi breathed a sigh of relief and placed her fingers back on the keyboard.

"What about mine?"

Rinne said with a calm expression.

"Huh?" Masumi was slightly taken aback and handed the candy to her in a daze.

"Don't you dislike sweets?"

He tried a piece of the chocolate he bought himself, and it was quite sweet and cloying, so he figured Kamishiro probably wouldn't like it.

"Ah."

She nodded slightly at first, then explained casually, "Seeing them eat made me want to eat too."

After saying that, Rinne gently tore open the wrapper, ate the chocolate, hesitated for a moment, then stuck out her pink tongue and licked her fingertips, her movements like a cat, Masumi thought.

Looking out the window, he began to speak:
"That's it."

The cicadas chirped like rain, and the sky remained incredibly clear after the Obon festival, but it seemed even higher and more distant than before.

The faint light of dawn and the coolness of dusk bring a sense of autumn's arrival.

It was at this time that Starry Night Cafe began its autumn operations.

(End of this chapter)