How to raise a random guy's wife

Chapter 282 This is a Lie

A man and a woman facing each other.

The girl's face was flushed, her body trembled slightly, and glistening tears welled up in her eyes...

It's a scene that perfectly captures the feeling of "youth is so wonderful."

In just a short while, several people had passed by, looking at them with a mixture of envy, jealousy, and undisguised hatred, as if to say, "Can't these social butterflies just die already?"

However......

The reality, however, was completely different from what they thought.

Eriri was...furious.

"Eriri?" Aki Tomoya looked at her in surprise. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Eriri gritted her teeth. "You're asking me what's wrong?!"

"Is it because of the first half of what I said? I'm really sorry about that, but my point is the second half. I mean, you're really amazing!" Aki Tomoya explained somewhat flusteredly, "Even without my help, you've already grown into a very talented illustrator."

That little follower has grown into an excellent artist. Even with my critical eye, I can't deny the excellence of that CG.

Witnessing Eriri's growth from doodles to producing excellent works, Tomoya Aki feels a sense of accomplishment and melancholy as his child grows up and he becomes busy with work.

So the moment he finished playing the Ruri route, he burst into tears.

Eriri... has become so amazing.

The joy at the other person's growth, the growing distance between them, mixed with the emotions evoked by the storyline, brought tears to my eyes.

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Eriri felt an urge to tear Aki Tomoya apart. "What do you mean even without your help... what did you do to help me?! You kept saying my plot wasn't as good as Shiho's, my passion wasn't as good as Izumi's, you kept negating me, so why are you saying this with such a relieved look on your face now?!"

"No... my point is..."

“Whatever your priorities are,” Eriri said, fighting back tears, “you’re telling me what you truly think, aren’t you?”

"I..." Aki Tomoya wanted to say something, but he saw a figure approaching.

"Ku...Ku Sei...?" Aki Tomoya had never seen Kobayashi Ku Sei like this before. Kobayashi Ku Sei's gaze was fixed on him, and the veins on his neck were clearly visible.

He charged through the jungle like a tiger hunting its prey, baring his white fangs to bite off the throat of his prey.

Just as Kobayashi Sora rushed in front of Aki Tomoya, a shout rang out.

"Sky Blue!"

Eriri gripped Kobayashi Sora's clenched fist tightly, "No..."

She shook her head violently, and the tears in her eyes broke free and shattered on the ground.

"Eriri!" Kobayashi Sora practically spat out the words, "Now you still want to..."

"Let him go," Eriri pleaded, clinging helplessly to his arm. "Please..."

Eriri wasn't very strong; even if she used all her strength to grab Kobayashi Sora's arm, Kobayashi Sora could still break free.

but......

Kobayashi Sora took a deep breath. "You can go now."

Aki Tomoya was somewhat at a loss, "Empty..."

"roll!"

"..." Aki Tomoya subconsciously took a step back and turned to leave.

"Now you can let go, right?" Kobayashi Sora sighed. "But I have a girlfriend."

Eriri let go, wanting to laugh, but with all her might, she could only manage a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"You're laughing like you're crying." Kobayashi Sora tugged at Eriri's sleeve. "Let's go, everyone's waiting for you."

"Ah."

-

"You must be Kasumi Shiko, right?"

“…I was just about to ask you something,” Kasumigaoka Utaha said, looking at the woman who greeted her, “Who are you?”

Kasumigaoka Utaha, attending a doujinshi convention for the first time, found that all the work had been done by people arranged by Kobayashi Sora. So she leisurely strolled through the hall, where a large number of people and supplies were coming and going. As a result, in the passageway that led her back to the club booth area, an older-looking stranger struck up a conversation with her.

Normally, Kasumigaoka Utaha wouldn't like to have close interactions with people, and she would just say "I'm busy right now" and leave in a hurry. But this time, she stopped and stared at the other person.

It looks somewhat familiar.

The woman appeared to be around thirty years old, rather short, with a slender figure, and her long, wine-red hair was tied back, giving her a somewhat languid air.

Based on her extensive experience of staying up all night, Kasumigaoka Utaha believed that the other person was probably also the type with a chaotic sleep schedule.

The woman smiled. "There are some die-hard fans in the organizing committee who support you so much that they'll attend your autograph session—I just heard that from them."

"fan?"

"Yeah, he was shouting at the members' headquarters: 'Eri Kasumi's Utako Kasumi really came!'"

"..." The other person's expressionless face vividly mimicked that fanatical tone, giving Kasumigaoka Utaha a strange and twisted feeling.

"Ah, I won't go around telling everyone, so please don't worry." The woman smiled. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"...Are you also one of the people preparing for the members' meeting?"

"No, I'm just a fan."

This is a lie.

Kasumigaoka Utaha saw through the other party's lie at a glance.

If this person is simply a fan, then their openness in speaking to their favorite author is rather excessive.

Even if they are fans, they are not just ordinary fans.

The other person's tone and attitude were imitating a fan, and they seemed exceptionally easygoing. Even though Kasumigaoka Utaha has a rather difficult personality, she wouldn't act too coldly towards fans... even those who claim to be fans.

This seems to be the other party's goal.

Despite disliking being disturbed by strangers, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt very natural when talking to them.

This feeling alerted Kasumigaoka Utaha.

If you feel very comfortable with someone, then that person's emotional intelligence is likely far superior to your own.

"So, what's up? I should probably head back to the club."

"If possible, I'd like you to sign this... I wonder if that's alright?" The woman took out a beautifully packaged CD case.

It was Eri Kasumi's game—"The Cherry Blossom Promise".

It was supposed to be something I could get at 10 o'clock, which is a little while later when the doujinshi convention officially started.

At this stage, the samples should only be submitted to the event organizing committee and distributed to neighboring booths for public relations purposes; the number of samples leaked is very small.

Kasumigaoka Utaha frowned slightly. "Where did you get that thing?"

The woman blinked. "I used some connections and intelligence networks, you know?"

Chapter 283 is quite lively!

Kasumigaoka Utaha thought of Kobayashi Sora.

If it were him, he should be able to accomplish such a thing by leveraging his connections and intelligence network.

"I really enjoyed playing this long-awaited bishoujo game..." the woman exclaimed. "It brought back so many nostalgic feelings."

Kasumigaoka Utaha frowned even more deeply, "...You've already played it?"

"The beginning is full of agonizing choices, which complements the exhilaration of making those choices later on. In particular, the two storylines have different styles, and you need to play them at least twice to truly appreciate the fun. Although the side storylines are a bit thin, they are well connected and the emotions build up layer by layer, making them equally worth playing."

"You've already tried them all?" Kasumigaoka Utaha stared at the woman. "Are you kidding me?"

"You think it's a joke?"

The story of "The Cherry Tree Promise" has more than two million words, making it a major work for a fan-made game, and it's not something you can play through in a short time.

"...Did you skip all the text and only look at the CG?"

"How could that be? I read the entire plot."

"what?"

"You think I'm lying to you?"

"..."

"People live in a hurry, so this is all they can do."

"...Playing games like that is a desecration of the work."

“Indeed, my way of enjoying the game may not be in line with the creators’ plan. However, I will try my best to make the game process as close to the original as possible.” The woman explained calmly, “When the soundtrack is played for the first time, I have to memorize it after listening to it once. Then, based on the length of the music and the total amount of text in the plot scene, I can calculate the game time required for each scene, and then I can reassemble the timeline in my mind to match the normal gameplay speed.”

What are you saying?

"That way, I can still receive the performance effect that the producer wants to express... Well, this method only works on my personal timeline, and it's hard to explain to others."

Kasumigaoka Utaha stared at her warily, "...I don't understand a word you're saying."

"Anyway, I don't encourage others to follow suit—after all, not everyone can do it."

"So..." Kasumigaoka Utaha wanted to end the conversation, "What exactly do you want?"

"As I just said, I'm simply a fan of Kasumi Shiko."

"That's just a made-up excuse..."

"Also, I'm a fan of Eri Kashiwagi too," the woman added.

Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a chill run down her spine, like the moment a venomous snake stalks her while she's hiking in the countryside—a chilling feeling, yet she can't find where the snake is hiding, leaving her feeling uneasy. "Who... are you?"

The woman didn't answer Shi Yu's question, but instead took a business card out of her pocket and handed it to Shi Yu.

"See you next time, teacher..."

After Shiyu reflexively accepted the business card, the woman seemed to have forgotten about signing it and turned to walk into the crowd.

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked down at the business card.