How to raise a random guy's wife

“We lost the moment we tried to surpass her. Akane Akasaka has Akane Akasaka’s abilities, and Eri Kasumi has Eri Kasumi’s strength.” Kobayashi Sora chuckled. “Only when Eri Kasumi stopped taking Akane Akasaka as her goal did she truly shine with a brilliance that could rival the Multimedia Queen, a brilliance unique to Eri Kasumi.”

Chapter 967 Pretending

Hirai scoffed, "Are you trying to teach me how to do things?"

“No,” Kobayashi Sora corrected, “I’m teaching you how to be a person.”

"Kobayashi Sora," Hirai's gaze was unfriendly, "now that things have come to this, do you still want to maintain your old attitude? Very well, that's exactly what I want to see. I will..."

"Huh?" Kobayashi Sora looked puzzled. "The same old routine? I feel like I've become much gentler now, isn't it obvious?"

“…I retract my previous statement,” Hirai corrected, “You are even worse than before.”

If Kobayashi Sora was simply assertive back then...

Now, he's just more of a jerk.

"Alright, enough chit-chat." Kobayashi Sora said seriously, "You win. Take whatever you want, poach whoever you want, do whatever you want."

"What do you mean?"

Was I not clear enough?

"Passive resistance?" Hirai shook his head. "That approach won't work on me."

"Um... wait a moment, let me adjust." Kobayashi Sora coughed twice. "Cough cough! RER is my life's work, don't even think about taking a single bit from me. Even if it means our lives are cut short, I will fight you to the death!"

Has anyone ever told you that your acting skills are bad?

Kobayashi Sora answered truthfully, "I rarely act."

"So you're mocking me, trying to provoke me and make me lose control of my emotions." Hirai picked up the cup of coffee in front of him. "Unfortunately, I've endured this for nine years, and I won't lose control at this moment."

“Um…” Kobayashi Sora opened her mouth.

"Let's stop this pointless provocation." Hirai shook his finger, signaling Kobayashi Sora to shut up, and slowly took a sip of coffee. "The outcome was already decided when you resorted to such low-level tactics. I was delusional to expect a suitable counterattack or an unexpected move from you... I overestimated you, constantly demonizing your image in my memories, which led me to have unrealistic fantasies about you. You can continue with those pointless tricks, but I won't let you interfere anymore. I'll make sure everything proceeds according to plan. Think carefully about what you really want to say."

“Um…” Kobayashi Sora pointed to the coffee cup, “I just spat in it.”

"puff!"

Kobayashi Sora had already dodged in advance, saying, "Just kidding."

A vein bulged on Hirai's forehead. "Do you think you're funny?"

“I think there’s only a little bit of humor,” Kobayashi Sora replied, “It’s mainly romance.”

What exactly do you want?

"I want to resolve this matter and end it quickly," Kobayashi Sora chuckled. "What about you?"

"I also......"

"Don't rush," Kobayashi Sora interrupted him. "Think it over carefully before you answer. Do you want to take back Malz, or do you want to prove that you are better than me? Do you want to defeat me, or do you want to surpass me? Or do you not want your nine years of hard work to be in vain? Or do you want to give an explanation to your past self? Or do you want to prove something to others?"

Hirai wanted to take a sip of coffee, and raised the cup halfway up, but then remembered Kobayashi Sora's joke and put the cup down again.

Kobayashi Sora said earnestly, "For a long time, I was like you now, constantly striving towards a goal, hoping that the final result would be what I wanted. But no matter how hard I tried, the result I wanted never really came true."

“I understand.” Hirai smiled, but his eyes were icy cold. “You’re saying that when I set my goal on defeating you, I lost the ability to defeat you. So my life is meaningless, my past efforts are meaningless, everything I’m doing now is meaningless, and my future plans are meaningless. You’re trying to persuade me to give up now and cut my losses, right?”

“You’re going a bit too far.” Kobayashi Sora was worried about Hirai’s mental state. “When you take Akane Akasaka as your goal to surpass, Eri Kasumi can’t possibly surpass Akane Akasaka. But the effort she puts in during that process has allowed Eri Kasumi to grow, which is why she has the influence she has now, which is no less than that of Akane Akasaka.”

"In the end, you just want to negate what I'm doing now, hoping I'll stop and stop making things difficult for you, right?" Hirai shrugged. "To put it bluntly, you're powerless to change my actions, so you can only hope I'll stop on my own—do you think I'm that naive?"

“You were really naive back then… but that’s not the point.” Kobayashi Sora tapped her forehead lightly. “Because I saw a reflection of my past self in you, I wanted to resolve this situation in a gentler way, so as not to hurt you. It’s a pity that even if I am warmed by the power of gentleness, it doesn’t mean I can become a gentle person.”

gentle?

Hirai recalled Kobayashi Sora's previous behavior, "Calling 'gentle' an obnoxious provocation?"

"Is this how you see it? It seems I'm not suited to a gentle approach after all." Kobayashi Sora sighed with some regret. "Let's stick to the method you're more familiar with."

Gone was her previous pretense; Kobayashi Sora's eyes narrowed into crescents, and her upturned lips resembled those of a snake ready to devour its prey.

"First of all, while the activities of virtual idols are indeed unreliable, they are not as fragile as you might imagine. Only a large-scale uproar can truly destroy a virtual idol; most of the time, it's just a passing storm. I have thirty-two contingency plans for such situations, but I'm currently using less than eight. Even if a virtual idol does run into some problems, they can still remain with RER and continue working behind the scenes."

"Secondly, while Kasumi Eri's production team was indeed privileged, this privileged team achieved results that all other production teams combined couldn't match—why shouldn't they have privileges with a box office of 20 billion? Does your company's top salesperson receive the same treatment as an ordinary employee? Even Kasumi Eri had a trial-and-error process before utilizing substantial resources, and only took further action when the feedback was sufficiently positive. Other production teams have the same right to experiment and fail, and can receive more resources after success. Every production team wants Kasumi Eri's treatment, but not every production team is Kasumi Eri."

"Finally, many of the situations you mentioned do exist. For example, RER is too large now, and I can't fully control it. Because of Kasumi Eri's privileged treatment and other management issues, many people have accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction, which can be easily ignited by just a small spark." Kobayashi Sora opened her mouth, revealing her white teeth. "So... welcome, little spark."

Chapter 968 The Correct Method

Hirai's pupils contracted sharply, and he was momentarily transported back to nine years ago.

Even as a teenager, he displayed a level of rationality and wisdom far exceeding that of his peers and even his elders. He confidently accepted the task entrusted to him by his father, preparing to face off against another idle teenager to prove that his abilities were enough to earn more trust and support.

Hirai gathered information and formulated a plan. After confirming his advantage, he regarded this confrontation as a cruel judgment, waiting for the poor man to helplessly accept his fate.

Then......

He saw a smiling fox.

But Hirai wasn't worried; even the most cunning fox is still just a fox.

Until the fox tore off its fur, transforming into a cold python, slowly and methodically slithered closer, gradually tightening its body.

Hirai could even feel the terrifying sensation of the fine scales scraping against his skin, and the terrifying power hidden beneath them.

With each heartbeat, the python coiled itself tighter.

Even as he suffocated, the scarlet tongue continued to lick his cheek.

And now, the python has reappeared.

Right in front of him.

"You..." Hirai gritted his teeth, "You did this on purpose?"

“Even if I give all the production teams the same chance to try and fail, there will still be people who are dissatisfied. There’s nothing I can do about it, it’s human nature, and I can understand. It’s harder to see others make money than to lose money myself, I have that feeling too.” Kobayashi Sora understands this very well. “There are many other similar feelings, people hate the job they do, and after working for a long time, everyone has resentment in their hearts. These feelings can’t be controlled, but they can’t be ignored either, because if they accumulate too much, it will cause big problems. They need an outlet for their emotions, and I need to streamline the staff.”

"You want to use me to lay off employees."

“It’s a selection process,” Kobayashi Sora corrected. “RER has developed too smoothly so far, to the point that many people have developed a distorted perception of themselves.”

"So you want to fire them all?"

“If it were in the past, I might have actually done that, but now I’m not the president of RER, and I basically have no presence in the company. The good atmosphere that has been built up over a long period of time cannot be ruined by me alone, and I don’t want to ruin it.” Kobayashi Sora lightly tapped her coffee cup. “When a company has a big problem, it’s perfectly normal for employees to seek other opportunities. But to stop working and interfere with colleagues’ work just because the company has some minor difficulties, causing projects to stop, is a bit unreasonable. I can tell you clearly that I will not fire any employees, nor will I stop others from poaching them. I don’t need to worry about the bad apples being placed in other companies.”

"Do you think they can still work with the same peace of mind as before after this?" Hirai asked, unwilling to give up. "And then there's the stock market turmoil..."

"Believe me, I understand the pain of being a corporate slave better than you do. A crisis of trust is a crisis, but it's also an opportunity. An opportunity for everyone to trust RER more and work with peace of mind." Kobayashi Sora explained, "After losing some people, I will announce a series of projects. These include, but are not limited to, the anime adaptation of One-Punch Man with an extremely luxurious production team, remakes of many RGW games, two new manga, a new work by Kasumi Utako, a game trailer with art design and script by Kashiwagi Eri, adaptations of several works by Kousaka Akane, the release of the final chapter of White Album, an anime adaptation of a virtual idol... RER still needs many people, but I no longer need to focus on things outside of work as much as before, just like everyone at RER doesn't need to worry about the company suddenly collapsing while they are working hard."

"What if I don't poach people?"

"Hmm..." Kobayashi Sora asked in return, "So, how are you going to deal with me?"

Hirai: "..."

“You made three mistakes.” Kobayashi Sora’s expression softened. “First, after defeating you, I have kept a close eye on all your subsequent actions.”

If Kobayashi Sora had said that just now, Hirai would never have believed it, but now...

"Secondly, what made RER develop better and better was not me, but Kasumi Eri, the support of Akane Planning, and the hard work of many employees. It's useless for you to only focus on me." Kobayashi Sora hesitated for a moment, then decided to be more direct. "Finally, you're using the wrong method."

Hirai had finally accepted the defeat that was right in front of him, but now he had to face Kobayashi Sora's denial. "Are you going to continue to humiliate me?"

"Let me finish," Kobayashi Sora said, not really meaning it. "RER's advantage in virtual idols is quantity. With your resources and operational capabilities, you can completely win through quality. If you can cultivate top-tier idols, it will naturally squeeze my revenue. Manga and game creators are more likely to leave RER than virtual idols. You can create your own manga and game websites and attract them with better conditions. As for animation, Kasumi Eri and Akane's projects rely on quality and require a long period of polishing. You can invest heavily in low-cost animation using the production committee model and mass-produce it. You can achieve a qualitative leap through quantity. Isekai themes are a good example. These are the most suitable ways for your rational thinking... if you still have any rationality left."

“I understand.” Hirai’s face showed undisguised exhaustion. “You are not the same person you were back then, and I’m still clinging to the way you used to take revenge on me. The me now is not as much of a threat to you as the me of nine years ago.”

"I didn't mean to be so blunt, but since you understand it yourself, I don't need to deny it." Kobayashi Sora was a little deflated. "I guess I'm not suited to a gentle approach."

“Next time,” Hirai said firmly, “I won’t make the same mistake again.”

"You're still going to continue... Your wife is pregnant, isn't she? There are many things to be careful about in the early stages of pregnancy, such as lifestyle habits, diet, exercise, folic acid supplementation... but the most important thing is being there for her." Kobayashi Sora reminded her, "Compared to dealing with me, you have more important things to do. This sudden move is also to settle our past grievances and then focus on what you should be doing, isn't it?"

“Kobayashi Sora…” Hirai shook his head. “If you didn’t have a precedent of targeting other people’s families, I would have suspected that you were threatening me.”

Kobayashi Sora protested, "This was clearly just gentle concern!"

"I've been saying that all along!" Hirai was even angrier than him. "Your understanding of gentleness is seriously flawed!"

Chapter 969 concludes successfully.

“I feel the problem still lies with you,” Kobayashi Sora pointed out the key point, “You are hostile towards me, so you misunderstood my good intentions.”

“…Fine, whatever makes you happy.” Hirai picked up his coffee cup, then put it down again. “You’re right, I do want to settle things with you. No…” He lowered his head and smiled, “It should be that I want to settle things with myself.”

"For the efforts of the past?"

"I worked so hard for the past." Hirai looked nostalgic. "After that, no matter how well I did, I always thought you would do better than me, so I tried my best to do even better... But even after I did better, I still felt that you would do better than me. And as it turns out, I was right."

"You don't need to be too discouraged."

"Your words of comfort are infuriating; you should just give up."

Xiao Lin Kong Qing: "..."

"It was during this almost self-torturing period that I met her..."

"Um... I'm not very interested in your romantic history. Our relationship is over. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Hirai retorted, "Listen to me carefully! I've finally managed to get this off my chest!"

"Then go back and poach those malicious troublemakers from my company."

"...Then you promise to listen to the whole thing."

Kobayashi Sora considered for a moment, "Let me borrow that person from your company for a few more days."

"You weren't planning to listen to the whole thing, were you?!"

Kobayashi Sora said calmly, "I'm planning to do that now."

"...She likes my serious attitude and my courage to keep pushing my limits." Hirai fiddled with his coffee cup. "But I know I don't have any courage, I'm just stubborn."

Kobayashi Sora looked at Hirai, "..."

Hirai looked at Kobayashi Sora, "..."

Xiao Lin Kong Qing: "..."