WebNovels

Chapter 149 - Chapter 149

"Since that's the case, how about this I'll teach you to play 'Fantasy World' and make you a priest so our party can have a proper healer… ahem, no, I mean so you can become a priest to bring salvation to all." Riku stifled a laugh, put on a solemn face, and said it with perfect seriousness.

With that grave demeanour, a different scene took shape in Gabriel's mind.

Riku rested a hand on her shoulder and, with a sacred, solemn air, declared:

"Gabriel, I have high hopes for you. I entrust the task of saving the world to you."

"Please teach me!" In an instant, Gabriel's expression turned just as solemn; a faint holy radiance seemed to glow behind her as she clasped her hands before her chest, full of compassion.

The sight nearly made Riku break into laughter.

Maybe Gabriel would have fallen into online games and manga even without his meddling, but personally guiding her down that path was way more fun.

Leading a pure angel into "fall" is an obligation befitting a demon king, isn't it?

"Ahem. Since you're asking so sincerely, I'd better teach you properly." With a "promising child" air, Riku patted Gabriel's fragrant shoulder, then turned to head out. "Come with me."

"Yes!" Gabriel followed, utterly earnest.

As for buying furniture or the fact that school started the day after tomorrow, Gabriel had tossed those right out of his mind.

"Nii-chan, who is she?" In Shiro's room, Shiro frowned at Gabriel peeking about behind Riku and asked.

"Hello, you're Riku's little sister, Shiro-chan, right? I'm the new tenant in 505, Gabriel Tenma White. You can call me Tenma or Gabriel," Gabriel greeted politely. Riku had already mentioned Shiro to her.

"That's not what I meant." Shiro glanced at Gabriel, then looked back at Riku. "Why'd you bring her into our room?"

"Well, Gabriel's interested in Fantasy World, so I'm going to teach her," Riku said, ruffling Shiro's hair and blinking, barely holding back a grin.

"You're awful." Shiro instantly saw through Riku's plan to lure this girl into the game and snarked.

"Shiro, our party only has Ako Tamaki as a priest, and she's got like a ninety-something percent chance to heal the enemy or the monsters. I think we need another priest," Riku said, utterly straight-faced.

"Hmph." Shiro huffed, pouted, and didn't call him out. In the end, this was just his bad sense of humour. "Um, excuse me…" Gabriel looked a bit flustered at the brother and sister. Why was there a sudden sense of unease?

"Gabriel, sit here. I'll teach you," Riku said, patting his own chair with a smile.

"O-okay." Gabriel, a little tense, sat down in Riku's computer chair.

"First, this game is…" Riku leaned in from behind, his head by Gabriel's right shoulder, their faces practically touching. He took her small hand and set it on the mouse, then began a very "serious" explanation.

"Um…" Gabriel's cheeks flushed at Riku's proximity, her heartbeat quickening. She wanted to say something, but there was no opening; she could only let him continue.

"Nii, such a flirt," Shiro muttered.

Meanwhile, Gabriel was gradually drawn in by the game's backstory. A continent in peril, monsters rampant, clichéd, perhaps, but deeply stirring to an angel like Gabriel.

"How tragic," Gabriel said sadly. By the time she'd heard the whole setup, her eyes were damp.

Step one: achieved.

The corners of Riku's mouth lifted.

"Here's where you create a character." Guiding Gabriel's hand on the mouse, Riku finally got down to business.

By now, Gabriel wasn't resisting much and let Riku take the lead.

"Choose a class priest. Pick a nice name," Riku said, letting go of her hand.

"I'll just use 'Gabriel,'" she said firmly, blinking away the last of that moisture.

"Character creation complete. Let's enter the game." After helping her finish the face and appearance settings, Riku took her into the world.

The priest tutorial was simple: basic controls, then how to use Holy Light to heal.

Gabriel had a blast with it, running around healing everyone, savouring the joy of saving NPCs over and over.

Before long, her mana bar was empty.

"Huh? Why won't Holy Light cast?" Gabriel turned back to Riku, still flushed with excitement.

"Holy Light costs mana. At level one, your mana's limited," Riku replied with a grin.

"Ah! I see." Gabriel looked crestfallen, not sure what to do.

A pop-up appeared with the membership recharge screen.

Fantasy World had one notably scummy bit, almost like those old browser games. During the new player tutorial, it would pop up the membership screen.

"Recharge for membership and get these bonuses…" That said, it wasn't as coercive as those notorious browsers; if you didn't pay, you could still play.

"Membership…?" Gabriel stared at the game screen, conflicted. The hand holding the mouse trembled; she turned and looked to Riku for guidance.

"Gabriel, top up. Without paying, how can you get stronger no, how can you save people?" Riku gave her a thumbs-up, grinning.

"I understand." Taking a deep breath, Gabriel operated the mouse. Thanks to renting such a cheap place, her budget still had room; a basic membership shouldn't be a problem! This was for saving people. Mother would surely forgive her.

Soon, Gabriel had purchased a basic membership and received a handful of items very useful to beginners.

"Not bad, not bad. A promising pupil, you've grasped the essence of 'Fantasy World' in one go: paying makes you stronger." Riku praised.

"I used to be an honour student, you know," Gabriel replied with quiet pride.

From there, Gabriel quickly forgot about the money. Under Riku's "guidance," she played to her heart's content.

Riku even handed her a bag of potato chips.

Only after four hours did Gabriel reluctantly leave Riku's place to take care of real-world matters.

It wasn't that she wanted to stop her basic membership simply capped her daily fatigue time at four hours.

"You're a demon." Shiro looked at him with undisguised disdain. Watching him personally turn a purehearted girl into a gaming addict was… a lot.

"Shiro, this is a good deed. I opened a new door for her, let her be her true self." Riku calmly grabbed a handful of Gabriel's leftover chips and popped them into his mouth as he countered.

"Whatever makes you happy." Shiro yawned, padded over to her bed, and flopped down. "I'm tired. Nap time."

Riku nudged the A/C a degree warmer, pulled a light blanket over Shiro, then sat back at his desk.

"Time to do real work." He opened his writing app for the first time in a while, rubbing his chin in thought. Since he'd promised Sagiri and Rie to write a new book, he had to take it seriously.

"Title first," Riku muttered.

"Let's go with Between the Little Gardens." He typed the name in one stroke. This time, he planned to set the story against the "Little Garden" backdrop and write something new. Not a copy of Problem Children, but a fresh tale drawn from his own firsthand experience and deep knowledge of that world.

Soon, the room filled with the rhythmic clack of keys accompanied by Shiro's soft, even breathing as she slept.

-

An hour later, Riku had finished the full proposal for Between the Little Gardens and printed it out.

He headed over to Sagiri's place and showed the proposal to her and Rie.

"Amazing."

"Nii-san, this is seriously incredible." Rie and Sagiri stared in awe. Even from the proposal alone, the scope felt grand and the settings intricate.

Usually, a sprawling world and complex systems just give readers a headache—and often contradict themselves. But this proposal was crystal-clear, leaving only admiration and anticipation.

"Between the Little Gardens will sweep the whole media. It might even be more jaw-dropping than Demon Interlude." Rie said, impressed.

"Nii-san, I'll give it my all." Sagiri felt a sudden press of responsibility. Riku was simply too good; even at her current first-rate level, she worried she might not be worthy of his new book.

"Don't overthink it. I believe in you, Sagiri." Seeing her nerves, Riku patted her head with a chuckle.

"Mm! For Nii-san, I'll draw the very best illustrations!" Sagiri's eyes steadied again. She clenched her small fists as if to cheer herself on.

After chatting a while longer, Riku returned to Shiro's room, sat at the computer, and pulled up a certain phone number, the one from seven years ago, for his editor in charge.

His phone showed nearly a few hundred missed calls over those years. Terrifying.

"If I call out of the blue now, my editor-san is going to want to kill me." Riku rubbed his nose, muttering.

At a tasteful café near Kadokawa Bunko, two women were chatting.

One was a poised professional in her thirties, dressed in a black suit with a neat black bob radiating competence.

She was Kadokawa Bunko's deputy editor-in-chief, Sonoko Machida. Sitting across from her was a young woman.

Ink-black hair draped to her waist, a white clip pinning a touch of brightness in the waves. She wore a pale blue dress with a soft, light-blue jacket.

What drew the eye most were the black-stockinged legs beneath her short skirt: straight, long, and elegantly shaped, the kind that makes timelines freeze and heads turn.

Her face was equally striking delicate features and a light, refined makeup that lent her an air of grace and poise: unmistakably a goddess-tier beauty.

"Kasumi Utako-sensei, is the date for the Love Metronome signing okay?" Machida Sonoko asked with a smile.

"Mhm." Sitting across from her, Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded, her leg bouncing at a quick rhythm. It was a little habit of hers whenever she felt unsettled; she liked to jiggle her leg.

She had debuted as a light-novel author with the romance novel Love Metronome. Fortunately, the first volume sold well, and she successfully won a Newcomer Award. A signing event was about to be held.

For a rookie author, it was undoubtedly something to be happy about. But precisely because she was a rookie, excitement came with nerves. She worried that hardly anyone would show up.

"Kasumi Utako-sensei, you don't need to be so tense. The reception to Love Metronome has been good; there won't be an awkward turnout." As someone who'd seen it all, Machida Sonoko naturally read the girl's mood and offered reassurance.

"Machida-san, that sounds like you're raising a flag." At that, Kasumigaoka Utaha took a sip of coffee and quipped. Still, she stopped bouncing her leg, clearly calmer and taking it to heart.

"Hehe, if readers knew you were such a beautiful girl of an author, plenty would come." Machida joked.

"Machida-san, I care about strength, not my face. If they come to the signing just for my looks, I don't need those readers with their brains in their pants." Utaha said without hesitation.

That made Machida roll her eyes. In truth, the "beautiful-girl author" effect could pull in heaps of fans. Unfortunately, the girl in front of her had a very strong sense of pride.

Why is it that so many top authors are not only beautiful girls, but each one has a pride that is strong?

Machida couldn't help muttering in her heart.

"Machida-san, I'm very grateful for all your help, but it's getting late I should head home." Utaha looked out the window; the sun was about to set, dusk coming on. She shook her head as she spoke.

"I see then be care…" Machida nodded in understanding. Utaha didn't live in Ashikaga Ward, but in Nerima. She'd come here today specifically to discuss the signing. And she herself was a first-year in high school; in a few days, once school started, she'd be a second-year. She had to get home before dark. A beautiful girl spending the night out was obviously worrisome.

Only, before Machida could finish, her phone rang.

She could only offer an apologetic look to Utaha, then reached into her bag for the phone.

Utaha, half-risen, sat back down again. At the very least, she should wait for Machida to finish the call and say the rest of what she'd intended before leaving; that was just good manners.

She didn't intend to eavesdrop on another's call, though, and instead took out her own phone and opened LINE.

Then she sent the news about the signing to the online friend who had always encouraged her. In Utaha's view, it was precisely because of his presence that she'd been able to overcome so many difficulties and reach this point.

He was Utaha's only confidant online; his erudition constantly amazed her, even to the point of admiration.

Only this time, Utaha knit her pretty brows. He didn't reply instantly.

In her experience, he was always online and never took more than three seconds to answer.

Ten seconds passed with no reply, and Utaha couldn't help jiggling her leg again. Sharing her joy and finding the other party unusually absent left her feeling a bit deflated.

With a sigh, she put her phone away and looked back at Machida. The ringtone was still going. But when Utaha lifted her gaze, she froze.

She blinked, almost thinking she was seeing things.

In her impression, Machida Sonoko had always been a calm, capable, no-nonsense powerhouse. Now she was staring dumbly at her phone, her expression a tangle of disbelief, delight, anger, grievance so complicated it defied words.

"Um, Machida-san… aren't you going to pick up?" Utaha couldn't help reminding her. In her mind, a flood of possible scenarios bubbled up.

Like… an old boyfriend of Machida's, maybe. Who knew Machida-san turned out to be a woman with a past.

As she let her thoughts spin, Utaha suddenly felt a spark of inspiration and the urge to dash home and write.

"Eh…ah…oh…mm!" Startled by Utaha's voice, Machida fumbled a response, then brought her eyes back into focus and looked at the screen again. The caller display read: "Kuangshao."

In the five years since Kuangshao's debut, the calls he'd actually answered weren't even a tenth of those for other authors.

And in the last two years, she'd placed hundreds of calls; he hadn't picked up a single one. Now, he was the one calling her.

No wonder Machida's feelings were impossibly mixed.

More Chapters