I became the emperor in the comic book series.

If we also include the daily rewards for completing the main quest of expanding territory, the net monthly income is 900,000 yen. With this money, it will be much easier to carry out many things and plans.

Just as he was pondering this, the phone rang, interrupting Akira Higashino's thoughts.

Kawasaki Saki, who had been fast asleep, was also awakened by the familiar ringtone of her cell phone. She looked at the man beside her with a complicated expression, and couldn't help but feel her cheeks burning slightly.

She didn't know if she had lost her mind or what, but she actually agreed to something she had never imagined before.

But the man was young and handsome enough that he wouldn't make her feel too disgusted or repulsed in that respect.

"There's still a long time before checkout, why don't you rest a bit more?"

While he may seem caring, there's not much warmth in his eyes; he's just as calm as ever.

Kawasaki Saki avoided his gaze, followed the sound of the phone on the bed, and whispered, "I have a phone."

Chapter Seven: Liang, Paying Homage to the Lord

Kawasaki Saki answered her incessantly ringing phone, without deliberately avoiding Higashino Akira.

Then, Higashino Akira heard a familiar voice on her phone. It was Hiratsuka Shizuka calling, asking Kawasaki Saki why she was skipping school without a reason. Kawasaki Saki gave a vague answer, saying she was feeling unwell.

It turns out that Higashino Akira learned from Hiratsuka Shizuka that she was currently the homeroom teacher of Class F in the second year of Sobu High School. After hearing her complain about how bizarre the students' essays were and how this year's students were even more difficult to manage than when he was in school, he realized what point in the Oregairu storyline they were currently at, which is why he approached Kawasaki Saki.

After Kawasaki Saki hung up the phone, she felt embarrassed to continue observing the man beside her. Leaving directly would seem too inconsiderate, and she was too tired, so she turned around, closed her eyes, and burrowed into the blankets like an ostrich.

Even so, the subconscious tingling sensation at the point of contact with the other person, and the lingering aftertaste of her first experience, still made her feel waves of shame.

"Resign from those part-time jobs later. With me here, you don't need to get bogged down in these repetitive jobs that don't offer growth opportunities."

Kawasaki Saki bit her lip, trying to suppress the strange pleasure that almost made her moan as those large hands caressed her lower abdomen and even gently kneaded her upper body. She responded in a muffled, low voice, "Mmm."

"If you're content with just enough money to live comfortably each month, then there's no need to work harder. But if you want to increase your salary here as soon as possible, I suggest you don't give up learning. The salary levels and growth potential of college students and high school students are different, and this is true even in the outside world."

“I like to see you working hard, so if you can get into university and increase your self-worth, I will be happy to add value to your worth.”

"Perhaps one day, if you are capable enough, you can become my assistant and receive extra bonuses on top of your fixed salary."

Akira Higashino's words are realistic, without any falsehood, and he doesn't want to taint a perfectly good, simple, material relationship with the uncertainty of emotions.

But this method of communication.

Surprisingly, sweet words without any material basis made Kawasaki Saki feel more at ease and more recognized.

Kawasaki Saki didn't say anything more, but shrank even more into Higashino Akira's arms.

Young bodies are always full of vitality and will inevitably attract attention. Higashino Akira is no exception. He also has desires, and at the peak of his youth, he is not lacking in either desire or physical attributes. However, when faced with a young girl who is new to sex, he may not understand romance, but he can still be gentle and considerate.

At least for Akira Higashino, Saki Kawasaki is definitely not a consumable item; she is at least a collectible with considerable potential for appreciation.

Until Kawasaki Saki gradually fell asleep again, Higashino Akira did not take it any further.

In the evening, Kawasaki Saki slowly woke up. Although she still felt unwell, the fatigue from staying up all night and working multiple part-time jobs day and night was completely gone. She felt refreshed and her complexion was much rosier.

She skipped class all day today, and Ms. Hiratsuka even called her cell phone. Her family probably knows about her skipping class, which is quite different from when she usually sleeps in class.

To avoid worrying her family, after taking a shower and getting dressed at the hotel, Kawasaki Saki exchanged contact information and left in a hurry.

Higashino Akira checked out alone, and as darkness fell, he slowly walked away, heading in a dark alleyway away from the crowds, where there were no surveillance cameras or other people around.

"This is it, let's draw it."

As soon as he finished speaking, a large number of light spots appeared out of thin air, gathered in front of Higashino Akira, and gradually condensed into a human shape.

In a moment, the light dimmed and disappeared, revealing a figure inside.

"Two memorials repay three visits, a pair is enough for a thousand autumns."

"Liang greets the lord."

The familiar Mandarin reached my ears.

"Prime Minister, please rise! There's no need for such formalities!" Higashino Akira quickly stepped forward and helped the other man to sit up straight.

It's all settled, everything's settled!

One shot and gold! A historic top-tier performance!

He's still an all-around genius. Zhuge Liang, who looks like a middle-aged man, can work for at least another few decades with the help of modern medical technology!

With Teacher Xiao Liang by my side, how could I possibly be inferior to that Liu Shan?

"Having the Prime Minister is better than having a million soldiers!"

Akira Higashino sincerely exclaimed that even a million-strong army couldn't withstand firearms and the fact that unregistered people had difficulty getting their identities sorted out, but with Zhuge Liang, things were different.

I could change my surname right now and go and create four great Hans!

"You flatter me, my lord. The position of prime minister is now a thing of the past. Since I have been summoned, I am concerned for the ruler. From now on, please just call me by my courtesy name, Liang."

"Hmm, that works too..."

Seeing that his new lord was at least someone who could listen to advice and didn't give the impression of being an unworthy ruler at first glance, Kongming felt much more at ease.

This encounter was truly bizarre and fantastical, like a dream.

However, since he had answered the call, Kongming did not intend to be perfunctory. Although the past was behind him, at least he could stay in the future and take a good look at this era for his old friends.

"Now that our lord's great cause is just beginning, it is precisely the time when he needs capable men. I fear that I alone cannot support the army. However, an army cannot move until its supplies are ready. I wonder if our lord has any plans, how much military supplies have been raised, and how many capable men are available?"

Kongming attempted to clarify the current situation for the new lord and discuss important plans together.

However, when Akira Higashino scored gold, his initial fervor for meeting a legendary figure cooled down.

"There's no rush. We have a general idea, but we're not in a hurry to implement it. As for whether it's complete or not, we won't discuss that for now."

"Right now, Kongming, the most urgent thing is for you to understand the present world, learn the local language and common sense before we can discuss anything else."

"As for capable people, in the early stages of starting a business, quality is more important than quantity. I have Zhuge Liang, who is far superior to ten million others!"

"Ah, am I the only one here?" Kongming was a little confused, and suddenly felt a slight pain in his liver.

"Hey, in this day and age, we value lean and efficient troops and don't follow the usual path."

Higashino Akira put his arm around Kongming's neck, looking like two good buddies, and led Kongming out of the alley. "Besides, once Kongming understands more about this era and the current situation, he'll know why having too many people isn't necessarily a good thing."

After all, we can't just start by saying that what we're going to do is secretly establish a country in another sovereign state, use someone else's resources to lay eggs, and eventually take over the magpie's nest, can we?

Faced with his lord's words, Kongming could only smile wryly and resign himself to his fate.

Passersby were amazed by the lifelike Zhuge Liang and many approached him to ask if they could take a photo with him. However, since Zhuge Liang did not understand Japanese or what taking a photo meant, Higashino Akira politely declined.

Instead of taking Kongming home, Higashino Akira found a hotel near the language school, booked a room for him, prepaid a month's room fee, left him a lot of cash, told him to rest well, and said he would come to see him again the next day before leaving alone.

On my way home, I also bought a scratch-off lottery ticket.

Chapter Eight: We'll use buying

There's no rush to scrape it off.

Akira Higashino bought scratch-off lottery tickets simply as an exploration of whether the way the system's daily monetary rewards were obtained was influenced by his own behavior.

He had received 10,000 yen twice in the past two days. The first time was when a senior from his school club sent him a message informing him that he had sold a piece of work. The second time was when a junior high school classmate he hadn't contacted for seven or eight years and who wasn't actually very close to him suddenly added him as a friend and transferred 10,000 yen to him, saying it was to repay money he had borrowed and then forgotten about.

Back in junior high, Higashino Akira didn't have a cell phone, let alone any social media accounts. Heaven knows how many people this classmate had to ask to find his account and add him as a friend, since even Higashino Akira barely remembered that he had borrowed money from that classmate.

These methods might be acceptable once or twice, as they can provide a reasonable explanation for the source of the monetary rewards. However, if this continues in the same way, outsiders might notice something amiss.

As long as he doesn't give himself away, Higashino Akira doesn't think anyone will know he has a cheat code, but it's still necessary to take the initiative and try to expand his abilities just in case.

When I got home, the living room lights were still on, and I could hear the sound of a TV program playing from the entrance. When I walked over, I saw a girl in pajamas on the sofa, hugging a pillow and dozing off.

"Why don't you go to sleep if you're sleepy?"

The sudden noise startled Miko Yotsuya awake. She turned around and saw Akira Higashino casually draping his long trench coat over the sofa. "Welcome back, Onii-chan. There's still hot water in the bathroom. Just microwave the food in the fridge..."

Upon hearing this, Higashino Akira suddenly looked at her with a serious expression. "So you were waiting for me to come back?"

Miko Yotsuya didn't respond, afraid of being seen as trying to take credit or acting like an immature child who can't stand being alone without an adult.

Seeing the girl staring at him nervously and silently, Higashino Akira paused for a moment and said, "You don't need to wait for me to come back. I've only been staying here more frequently lately. I have other places to stay. When I'm out and about, I might just stay in the school dormitory or somewhere else for one night. Even when I come back to stay, there isn't necessarily a fixed time."

"Feel sorry."

Miko Yotsuya's voice was somewhat low, indicating that she was feeling very disappointed.

It wasn't as easy as I thought to get along with him. I'm sorry to have disappointed you, Mom.

Get some rest.

"Ah."

Yotsuya Miko obediently got up, put down the pillow, and walked towards the bedroom.

"Oh, right." The voice of that 'older brother' suddenly sounded from behind, "Thank you."

Yotsuya Miko's eyes widened immediately, and she turned around to look at him in disbelief.

Higashino Akimasa took a small sip of warm water.

"If you don't go to sleep now, you'll be late for school tomorrow. I won't let you get away with lying when the school calls."

Is he a tsundere?

Yotsuya Miko muttered a subtle complaint, and the disappointment in her eyes vanished instantly, making her feel much more cheerful.

Beautiful Mom!

"Right? Jianzi and Xiaoming are both good kids. Good kids can get along well as long as they are a little frank with each other."

"You did a great job, Miko."

The wife, unseen by ordinary people, smiled with relief, watching tenderly as her daughter passed straight through her body and walked into the bedroom.

In the living room, watching two burly men with full beards wrestling on TV, Higashino Akira was speechless and couldn't help but want to make sarcastic remarks.

What are these things? Do female high school students these days like to watch such hardcore shows in their private lives?

After turning off the TV, Akira Higashino went into the bathroom to wash up. To be honest, he had already slept a lot during the day and was not sleepy at all now.

At exactly midnight, Akira Higashino scratched off the scratch-off lottery ticket he had bought and checked the information on it.

The money plus 20000 yen can be exchanged when you go out to run errands at dawn.

My phone also rang almost immediately afterward with a notification that the transfer had been received.

[Dreaming of becoming a rich woman in Tokyo: That junior is here again, and she bought another calligraphy copybook from you. Congratulations, junior, your net worth has skyrocketed, doubling in value!]

[Higashino: Do ​​I still have calligraphy practice books?]

[Dreaming of becoming a rich woman in Tokyo: It's like those draft papers you kept from practicing calligraphy—they got bought.]

[Higashino:...]

[Dreaming of becoming a rich woman in Tokyo: Speaking of which, it seems she really does have a crush on you, Higashino.]

[Higashino: Why do you always contact me in the middle of the night?]

[My dream is to become a rich woman in Tokyo: because I've already sold my daytime hours to life.]

[Higashino: Good night. ]

[Dreaming of becoming a rich woman in Tokyo: A man who doesn't understand romance!]

The lottery ticket costs 20,000 yen, plus the calligraphy practice book costs 20,000 yen, making a total of 40,000 yen.

Although the latter is somewhat subtle, the idea of ​​proactively expanding revenue channels and giving the system more options for its efforts has indeed been effective.

After all, you can't just sell drafts every day, can you?

Where do all these drafts come from? Besides, these things need to be thrown away regularly. If you really want them, you can just say so and take them. There's no need to spend money on them.

What a strange junior!

The next morning, Higashino Akira got up early and left the house almost one after the other with Yotsuya Miko, who was going to school.

While it was still early and there weren't many people doing business, Higashino Akira went directly to the bank to apply for a mortgage loan, mortgaging the house he inherited from Old Deng to borrow 75 million yen.

The house isn't that important, but the land has to be bought!

Even if we can't snowball the problem, we can still buy a little bit.

After all, land in Higashino Akira's hands can really generate money.

Having made thorough preparations and arranged a meeting place with the real estate agent, Higashino Akira bought some things along the way and went to the hotel to visit Kongming.

He knocked on the hotel room door, and it opened quickly. Kongming had been waiting for a long time, dressed neatly.

"Greetings, my lord."