Living in the bubble economy of Tokyo, I became a literary giant through lotteries.

Welcome!

Guan Gufeng stood up reflexively and looked towards the door.

A cold wind carrying snowflakes rushed in, and a figure walked in against the light of the street lamp, the hem of a long down jacket swaying gently.

She walked into the light.

Underneath the down jacket was a dark blue business suit, and her hair was casually tied into a ponytail, hanging down her back.

Black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, beneath which lay a face that was impossible to look away from.

It wasn't the kind of beauty that was carefully crafted; it was as clean as a freshly washed white shirt.

Guan Gufeng was stunned for a moment.

It wasn't because she was pretty, although she was indeed pretty, but he felt like he'd seen that face somewhere before.

"Hello," she said cautiously, her voice like spring water flowing over stones, "Is the manager in?"

"The manager went home." Guan Gufeng snapped out of his daze. "I'm the new night shift employee."

"Oh, I see..." Her gaze swept over the shelves behind the cashier, and she hesitated for a moment. "Then could you please heat up a discounted boxed meal for me?"

He glanced at the oden pot again and said, "Another egg and two pieces of radish, please."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

Guan Gufeng deftly took out the lunchbox, put it in the microwave, and at the same time used long chopsticks to pick out the egg and radish from the oden pot, put them into small paper cups, and poured the soup over them.

Please enjoy your meal.

"Thanks."

She took the tray, walked to the table by the window, and sat down quietly.

Guan Gufeng returned behind the counter and continued writing his novel.

The pen nib scratched across the paper, and half an hour passed quickly.

"Kirito, are you really going to stay alone like this forever?" Argo's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible sadness.

"In this game, you can't survive alone. One day, you'll need someone else's help. And one day, someone else will need your help."

I still didn't turn back.

He simply said:

"...I don't need any partners."

He was engrossed in finishing the fourth chapter when something flickered in his peripheral vision.

He turned his head to the side.

A face appeared in front of him, less than thirty centimeters away.

"what!"

Guan Gufeng suddenly leaned back, almost tipping the chair over. He braced himself against the counter with one hand and instinctively used the other to protect the manuscript paper on the table.

"Miss...why do you walk so quietly?"

Sachiko Kamachi stood in front of the counter, her expression somewhat resentful.

"I called you several times, but you didn't respond." She paused, her gaze falling on the manuscript paper on the table. "Are you this focused when you write?"

Guan Gufeng took a breath and straightened the chair.

"Excuse me, have you finished eating?"

"I'm done eating." Her gaze was still on the manuscript paper, as if she wanted to say something, but was a little embarrassed.

There was a two-second silence.

"Um..." She pointed to the manuscript on the table, "Can I take a look at the beginning? I started reading from the beginning of Chapter 4, 'One month after the game began, two thousand people have died.' The later plot is very interesting, and I want to see what came before."

Guan Gufeng blinked, hesitated for a moment, then tidied up the manuscript, clipped it together, and handed it to her.

"Sure, but..."

"Please settle the bill first," Sachiko Kamachi said, taking a few coins from her wallet and placing them on the counter. "Six hundred and fifty yen, right?"

Guan Gufeng glanced at her with some surprise and nodded.

"Let me introduce myself." She pushed the coin towards me, extended her hand, and said, "My name is Sachiko Kamachi, and I work at the nearby Daiichi Real Estate."

Guan Gufeng half-held her hand; her fingers were slightly cool.

"Guan Gu Feng"

He lowered his head to count the coins, but something clicked in his mind.

No wonder he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

This name may be unfamiliar to most people, but she has a more well-known name.

Sakai spring water.

The theme song of "Detective Conan", the ending theme of "Slam Dunk", and those songs he listened to on repeat countless times during his studies abroad in his previous life, such as "Don't Give Up" and "Good-bye My Loneliness"...

He remembered that she was discovered by a talent scout on the street in 1988 and joined the agency, but she had not officially debuted yet. During the day, she worked at a real estate company and occasionally went to the recording studio to practice at night.

I never expected to meet you here.

"Sekiya-san?" Sachiko Kamachi tilted her head when she saw him looking lost. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Guan Gufeng put the coins away and handed over the manuscript. "Please read carefully, the paper is a bit thin."

Sachiko Kamachi took the manuscript, her eyes lighting up like a child overjoyed to receive a gift.

She looked at the unsweetened cola that Guan Gufeng had left on the table and asked curiously.

"Is this low-sugar version tasty?"

Guan Gufeng thought for a moment and carefully considered his words: "Well, compared to sugary cola, sugar-free cola."

"Iced cola tastes even better."

Kamai Sachiko: "..."

She didn't take Guan Gufeng's advice. She paid for the same Coke, turned around and walked back to the table by the window, opened the Coke, sat down, and turned to the first page.

Guan Gufeng went back behind the counter, picked up his pen, and suddenly found that he couldn't write anything.

His gaze kept drifting towards the window.

Not because of her face, well, not entirely.

He wondered what the future national superstar's reaction would be if she read his novel in a convenience store late at night.

Sachiko Kamachi lowered her head, her black-rimmed glasses slipping down to the tip of her nose, but she didn't push them up. One hand supported her chin, while the fingers of the other hand gently tapped on the paper, moving down line by line.

Her expression changed subtly, from the calm she had when she first opened the book.

Then she paused slightly, her fingers moving abruptly as she read "that blue horizontal line," and her brow twitched slightly.

Finally, she became completely absorbed in the moment the "logout button disappeared," and her eyes stopped blinking almost entirely.

She read the part where Kayaba Akihiko appeared very slowly, as if she were savoring every word, especially that classic line.

"This may be a game, but it's not something to be taken lightly."

Time passed second by second. Guan Gufeng glanced at the clock on the wall; it was midnight.

Twenty minutes later, at 12:20 AM.

Her tired shoulders relaxed at some point, and her slightly furrowed brows unfurrowed.

The corners of her mouth even had a slight curve that she herself was unaware of.

Guan Gufeng suddenly felt that there was no need to ask her for her opinion on the novel.

The expression on her face, as if she were captivated by the story, was the best testament to her talent.

……

"Miss Puchi".

No response.

"Miss Puchi!"

"what!"

Sachiko Kamachi suddenly looked up, blinked, and saw Kaze Sekiya standing behind the counter, pointing helplessly at the clock on the wall.

The long hand has already pointed to 0:30.

"It's past midnight," Guan Gufeng said. "You have to go to work tomorrow, right? The trams have already stopped running at this time."

Sachiko Kamachi followed his finger to look at Zhong, and then froze.

"what……"

She let out a soft sigh, her voice filled with undisguised frustration.

"Time flies so fast."

She carefully placed the manuscript on the table, stood up, and began to tidy up her scarf and gloves.

"Um..." she hesitated for a moment, "Guan Gu-san, can I take this back with me and look at it? I'll return it to you tomorrow."

Guan Gufeng shook his head. "There's only one copy of the manuscript. It would be troublesome if it got lost. If you like it, you can come again at this time tomorrow, and I'll bring it with me."

A hint of disappointment flashed across Sachiko Kamachi's face, but it was quickly replaced by understanding.

"It's a deal then." She wrapped her scarf around her neck, pushed open the door, and a gust of cold wind blew in. She turned back, "I'll come tomorrow."

"Miss Puchi".

"Um?"

Guan Gufeng pointed to the open can of cola on the table, "Your cola."

Sachiko Kamachi glanced at the cola, then at Kaze Sekiya, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

"Please have a drink."

Consider this payment for reading your novel.

Then she turned and walked into the snowy night, her ponytail swaying gently in the wind.

Guan Gufeng stood there, watching the figure gradually disappear outside the door. He then looked at the can of cola on the table, unsure whether Puchi Sachiko had drunk from it. After hesitating for a moment, he picked it up and poured it out.

Just like the sugar-free Pepsi of later generations, this version was only good for flushing toilets.

……

At six o'clock in the morning, the store manager pushed open the door on time, carrying two rice balls in his hand, and handed one to Guan Gufeng.

"Thank you for your hard work. Are there many customers today?"

Guan Gufeng took the rice ball, took a bite, and mumbled, "It's alright."

The store manager nodded, put on an apron, and began counting the cash in the cash register.

Remembering what happened last night, Guan Gufeng casually asked, "Manager, do you know a customer named Pu Chixingzi? She's in her early twenties, has long hair, and wears black-rimmed glasses."

The store manager thought for a moment and nodded: "Sachiko, she comes here often. She grabs a quick meal after get off work, sometimes reads comics, and occasionally plays a couple of games with my son."

He paused, a hint of wistfulness in his voice. "But I haven't been coming as often in the last few months; I wonder if it's because I've been too busy with work."

Guan Gufeng hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything more.

He collected his wages for the day from the store manager and went outside.

The snow has stopped, but the ground is covered with a thin layer of ice, so you have to be extra careful when walking.

Back at the hotel, he fell asleep immediately.

……

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Guan Gufeng got out of bed and sat on the edge of the bed, taking a few minutes to reboot his brain after staying up all night.

"When I have money, I'll definitely rent a nicer place," he muttered to himself. "I overestimated my ability to endure hardship."

I washed my face in the washroom area and then strolled around the lobby for a while.

I'm not hungry.

I ate leftover oden all night while working, plus the rice balls the manager gave me this morning.

He decided to go back to his room and write his novel for four hours, then go to the convenience store to continue eating.

At 8 p.m., Guan Gufeng arrived at the store on time to hand over his shift.

The store manager was tidying up the shelves when he saw him arrive, and clapped his hands with a sigh of relief.

"It's up to you. There's no snow today, but we might have a lot of guests tonight."

"understood."

The store manager put on his coat and left, while Guan Gufeng changed into his uniform and stood behind the cashier.

After the snow stopped, Shinjuku's nightlife seemed to have been put on play.

He was so busy during the first half of the night that he barely had time to sit down.

When the flow of customers finally slowed down, he glanced at the clock on the wall.

One o'clock in the morning.

He leaned back against the counter, let out a long breath, and was about to try the delicious sugar-free cola.

Suddenly, the convenience store door was pushed open again, and a familiar person walked in.