Tokyo Soft Rice King.

I imagine that my life will enter a new phase at that time.

Chapter 396 Sleeping in the morning, waking up in the afternoon, and at night...

January 2nd.

All the year-end activities are over, and New Year's Day has passed. What follows is a leisurely winter vacation with few plans.

However, winter break in Japan only lasts for one month, and school starts again in February, so scenes of students spending Valentine's Day at school are often seen in school-themed anime.

Kuroba Akira used to wonder why they were still in school in February. Shouldn't they be on winter break in February? He only learned later that Japan has a so-called 'third semester'.

After the third semester comes spring break, which usually starts in mid-March and is a short two-week holiday, essentially a plus version of the May Day holiday.

Then came early April, when new students enrolled... At that time, Kuroba Akira and the others would also be moving up to their second year.

Soon it will be cherry blossom season again, and Kuroba Akira will soon have been in this world for a full year.

Looking back, this year feels neither long nor short. At least I've done a lot, met a lot of people, and even learned the 'secret of the world'... The result wasn't the world of longing that Little Busters built before their death, which relieved Kuroba Akira.

If all of this was really just a fantasy before he died from overwork, Kuroba Akira felt that he would definitely fall into endless emptiness, and he might as well just die.

But if everything is true, it also means that he really lost his virginity and developed intimate relationships with many girls, making his interpersonal relationships a complete mess... No, maybe not that messy? After all, they all point the finger at him.

If it were me when I first transmigrated, I would never have believed that I would turn into this grotesque mess... Kuroba Akira thought to himself, this is the kind of wild thinking that comes with being in a sage's state.

"Once you lose your integrity, you really do become more and more casual..."

For example, right now, Kuroba Akira is sleeping in Hongxiang's room, covered by her quilt, using her pillow, and next to the pillow are the warm spellcasting materials she changed out of that morning... a set of original underwear and hot, stuffy stockings.

Just looking at this scene, anyone would think that Kuroba Akira is a pervert doing filthy things in a girl's room, or a gigolo being kept by a woman...

But he had legitimate permission from the room's owner, Hongxiang, to use everything in the room at will... including herself.

Unfortunately, the gentle and kind older sister is no longer by my side... That's right, she went to work.

Being an entertainer and their manager is such a hectic job, almost year-round without a break. They have to go back to work right after New Year's Day, so they went to the agency early in the morning.

Because Shion is about to debut, Hongxiang, who is in charge of debut-related matters, is also extremely busy.

However, Kuroba Akira didn't have this problem, so after seeing Shion and Hongxiang off, he went back to sleep for a while.

Although he only slept in the bed for two nights, plus the one from a long time ago, that makes three nights... Kuroba Akira didn't have trouble sleeping in the bed and slept very soundly.

To be precise, he slept in Hongxiang's room for a whole morning and night. On New Year's Day, neither of them slept, but instead worked together until the sun was fully up in the morning before they finally fell asleep in each other's arms.

It was already New Year's Day afternoon when the two of them got up.

Afterwards, Kuroba Akira and Hongxiang took a bath together. In the middle of the bath, they switched to Xiao Honghong, saying that it was to train Xiao Honghong and let her try to scrub Kuroba Akira's back.

Then Kuroba Akira and Daikou Kaori were surprised to find that Xiaohong no longer had any resistance or rejection towards men... Of course, Xiaohong might just not be averse to Kuroba Akira.

So, at Da Hongxiang's urging, Xiao Hong, suppressing her embarrassment, used her own body towel to wipe Hei Yuming's entire body, not just his back. In return, Hei Yuming also helped her wash twice, from the outside in and from the inside out.

As for why it's twice, it's because it got dirty in the middle, so it needs to be washed clean again.

They have the same body, but because of their completely different personalities and characters, the experiences they have are vastly different.

Da Hongxiang is open-minded, inclusive, and responsive, while Xiao Hong is shy, timid, and hesitant. The contrast between the two is so stark that Hei Yuming can't stand it, and Xiao Ming's younger brother keeps vomiting.

So everyone says that a large part of it is the experience of opening up to each other, and Akira Kuroba thinks that's really true.

However, starting from the end of the year, whether passively or actively indulging in desires, Kuroba Akira also suffered from exhaustion and fatigue, so on January 2nd, he slept until the afternoon before finally getting up.

As for the three spellcasting materials... let's just consider them as substitutes for the 1HP limited collection, since there's no true 1HP collection anyway.

Because Hongxiang wasn't wearing any clothes after taking a bath, and the bleeding wasn't much and was wiped away in time, there was no blood-stained fabric left behind.

After stuffing it into his pocket, Kuroba Akira got up, stretched, folded the blankets, and took a quick shower.

After regaining consciousness, Kuroba Akira dried himself off and went back to his room. He found no one there, but there were two extra suitcases and a lot of girls' personal belongings.

There was a wonderful fragrance in the room... Even though it was my own room, it felt like the room had changed owners after just one day.

For example, the clothes rack was filled with sailor uniforms and gymnastics outfits from Shirayuri Girls' High School, but they weren't for Ziyin; they were for Haruka. You could tell from the size that they were meant for the girls from Da Lei, and they would be too tight for Ziyin.

Then there's a racing swimsuit, which is obviously Haruka's, after all, she's the swimming club's highly anticipated ace newcomer... However, she's about to give up, and the reason is still her man.

Kuroba Akira still felt a little regretful, because Haruka definitely didn't join the swimming club after entering high school. She must have been swimming since junior high school, or even since elementary school, otherwise her skin wouldn't have been tanned to such a noticeable and sexy bronze color.

It's a club activity that I've persisted in for so long... Although it doesn't mean I'll stop swimming altogether, suddenly having to give up my obsession with competitions, stop focusing on results, and just treat it as a regular hobby, is not something that Kuroba Akira can easily change.

It's like losing motivation for a hobby; it quickly becomes shaky due to emptiness, and you start to wonder, "What's the point of continuing to swim?" You might even lose the hobby altogether.

If Haruka really gives up swimming in the end, Akira Kuroba will feel very sorry... It's definitely not because he wanted to see her wear this racing swimsuit, absolutely not!

The key is that Kuroba Akira actually has a way to salvage the situation...

That's right, it can only be exchanged after it's used again.

If Ziyin's S-rank talent, Lightness and Flexibility, were transferred to Qingxia, Qingxia would gain genius-level physical attributes.

Swimming is a sport that requires a lot of flexibility, which allowed Qingxia to thrive and compete for the podium.

Some might say, what's the point of achieving something by borrowing someone else's talent?

It's like using cheats in a game. Even if you beat the game on the highest difficulty, it doesn't count as your skill. You'll just feel bored and empty.

Kuroba Akira used to think the same way, but now he feels that the two should not be confused.

Because life is not a game. Games can be restarted an infinite number of times, but life is different. If you miss a chance, there is no second chance... Well, there might be a second chance, but it is an extremely low probability event. Even the great god Huang Quanjin has only resurrected a handful of people so far.

In other words, it's at least a one in a billion chance, which is even lower than the chance of being chosen as a child.

Furthermore, for those who were already living in this world, Kuroo cannot revive them, so they only have one life, which makes sense.

In short, in a life that can only be lived once and cannot be repeated, Akira Kuroba felt that making the most of everything and achieving his goals at each stage might not be noble, but it was not despicable either.

In reality, everyone is eager to rely on connections and curry favor. Even if you use someone else's talent, at least you put in the effort yourself, so it's ultimately your own achievement, right?

As long as it's not achieved by stealing talent, that's fine.

Yes, the key is to obtain Shion's consent beforehand, and it's not a permanent transfer, but just a temporary loan of her talent.

After hearing Mr. Kobayashi's amazing idea, Kuroba Akira also thought that since the gods of the future could rent out their abilities, couldn't talented people also rent out their talents?

Of course, the number of slots for exchanging talents is limited. Kuroba Akira can only exchange three pairs of talents at the same time, and one of them is occupied by the sisters Makoto and Makoto for a long time, so only two slots are left.

Using only these two locations to carry out talent leasing business is destined to be a small-scale business with low returns, but Kuroba Akira didn't expect to make money with this ability, he was just thinking about 'disposing of idle talents'.

A talent that is completely unnecessary for one person may be the most needed talent for another.

At present, Shion doesn't really need to use her agility and flexibility. She only uses it for H-scenes, mainly to strike various super-flexible poses and recover her stamina. It's not very useful for her work.

What is merely icing on the cake for Ziyin, may be the key talent that transforms Qingxia.

Moreover, after acquiring talent, one can discover interests that were never there before.

For example, after acquiring Makoto's talent, Makoto has become passionate about handmade clothing and has found a new hobby after giving up kendo.

Maybe after Haruka gains the talent of being light and flexible, she might suddenly become interested in rhythmic gymnastics and join a new gymnastics club. High-cut half-body suits are quite sexy. Or if she falls in love with dancing, she might join ballet. Ballet costumes and dance costumes are also very pretty. Or tennis or something... Hmm, tennis skirts are also very cute.

To reiterate, it was absolutely not what Kuroba Akira wanted to see, absolutely not.

Moreover, Kuroba Akira hasn't just been interacting and sleeping with Hongxiang these past two days. On New Year's Day afternoon, when everyone was playing karuta together, Kuroba Akira noticed that Shion's attitude towards Haruka was very friendly, not at all like a love rival, but even a bit like a best friend.

You should know that the icy-cold Miss Ziyin has never given the 'fish-stealing cats' a kind look.

This means that Ziyin is willing to believe that Qingxia is not part of the hostile "stealing cat" camp, but rather a neutral "disciplinary committee" camp.

The fact that she was able to raise Ms. Ziyin's favorability to the 'friendly' level in just one day shows how strong Haruka's social skills are.

The two will continue to share a room, meaning they will become true best friends, so their relationship will definitely get better and better.

Therefore, if it were to lend her talent to Haruka, I believe Ziyin would be willing.

As for the rental fee, let the two of them negotiate it; Kuroba Akira is just providing them with a platform for the transaction.

Kuroba Akira felt it was necessary to mention this to Haruka, so that she wouldn't have any regrets about her once-in-a-lifetime youth.

After putting the three-piece set of red incense into a storage bag, vacuum-sealing it, and storing it in a collection album, Kuroba Akira left the room and went downstairs.

Qingxia was alone in the living room. Black Tail was on her shoulder, and a cat paw was on Qingxia's ear. It seemed that the two were whispering to each other.

When Haruka saw Kuroba Akira coming downstairs, she got up to greet him.

"Good morning, Kuroba-kun. Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, very good."

"Should we eat first? Or take a shower first? Or... should we eat first?"

"The classic three questions...which one would you like me to choose?"

"Of course I hope you choose the third one, Kuroba-kun, but considering that you've already had your fill of fun with Miss Hongxiang these past two days, I think I'd better not presume to be sentimental."

Kuroba Akira scratched his face, looking at Haruka with her dimples and a smile, feeling a little awkward.

Qingxia came to help her restore order in the harem, but the one who first started to disrupt the order was Kuroba Akira, the harem master.

However, Qingxia did say that it was perfectly acceptable for Kuroba Akira to take the initiative. In fact, Kuroba Akira should be able to choose whichever concubine he wanted and sleep with whichever one he wanted, instead of being led astray by girls and becoming increasingly financially strained.

However, Kuroba Akira is currently in a state of sage mode, so he was not swayed by Haruka's teasing.

"Okay, then I'll skip the shower. I took a quick shower after I got up."

“I heard the sound too, and you haven’t dried your hair properly, Kuroba-kun. Come here, let me help you dry it.”

"Oh, thank you."

Kuroba Akira sat down on the sofa, and Haruka went upstairs to get the towel she usually used to wipe sweat when running to dry Kuroba Akira's hair, saying something as she did so.

"Then it's just time to eat. Kuroba-kun, you missed lunch again. You must be starving by now."

"I'm a little hungry. Is there nothing to eat at home?"

"No, Ziyin and Hongxiang left in a hurry this morning, so they didn't make lunch. Xiaoman ate the leftover curry from yesterday. Finally, my mother-in-law said that Aunt Qiuzi, who usually cooks, won't be coming over until the 4th, so she told us to take care of our own meals for the next few days."

It turns out that Akiko won't be arriving until the 4th. No wonder I haven't seen her these past two days.

Well, that's normal. Everyone wants to stay home during the New Year, especially after the incredibly busy and crowded winter CM. They definitely want to take a good rest.

"So, Qingxia, what did you eat for lunch?"

"I haven't had lunch yet either. I was thinking of eating with you after you get up, Kuroba-kun."

"I see. There should be some leftover ingredients at home, right?"

"Yes, I do... but unfortunately, Kuroba-kun, I'm not very good at cooking and can't make a bento as exquisite and delicious as Hitomi's. So let me cheat here."