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"So, that's who hasn't arrived yet..."
Gokou Ruri frowned.
"Is it a very important invitation?"
Asakura asked curiously.
"Not that important."
Gokou Ruri said.
But her body honestly sat back down.
Then she began to explain her grievances with the other party.
Gokou Ruri liked games very much; in fact, she loved them. But there were differences between games—at least for 'Super Slimy Heaven Adjustment Arc', which appeared in her hands during the gift exchange, she couldn't bring herself to like it at all.
Rather, in a gathering of strangers like this, who would give something like this as a gift?
"Although the plot branches of this game are not many, each route is very touching, and the character development in it can be said to be among the top three in this series! Moreover, this box is a collector's edition, although its preciousness cannot compare to the first edition, it also adds new character story DLC and easter eggs from the previous work, it's really very interesting!"
Kitagawa Marin excitedly explained.
Alright, case closed.
"Here you go."
Gokou Ruri expressionlessly shoved the game box, whose cover alone was quite unseemly, back into Kitagawa Marin's arms.
"Eh, eh, eh, Kuroneko-shi, don't you want it?"
The blonde hot girl was greatly shocked, her whole body turning a faded gray.
"This won't do, Kuroneko-shi. The rule of exchanging gifts is that you can't return the gift to others. You must accept it whether you like it or not, otherwise, wouldn't this game be meaningless?"
Saori quickly interjected.
"Then I'll exchange with you."
Gokou Ruri handed the box to Saori again: "There's no way to take this kind of thing out, right?"
Asakura originally thought Saori would also resist, but the girl happily accepted it.
"Oh, I wanted to exchange gifts with Kuroneko-shi just now, but I never got to draw it. Now I'm satisfied."
The otaku-dressed Saori happily accepted that masterpiece among eroge and gave the Gokou a Pocky-themed fountain pen that she had drawn: "This way we're friends! Please take care of me, Kuroneko-shi."
"My friends aren't that cheap,"
Gokou Ruri held the fountain pen and met the gaze of the Slowpoke on the pen cap. Perhaps she hadn't received such a direct declaration of friendship before, and her fair little face flushed a faint peach due to shyness, making the girl's tear mole appear even more alluring. She came back to her senses, put the pen back into the bag, and said haughtily: "Besides, the UMR you mentioned didn't even come..."
"Speaking of which, UMR-shi just sent a message... Hmm, let me see..."
Saori took out her phone and scrolled through the messages: "'Air conditioner, seal, fight hard, failed, Now.' Sometimes UMR-shi also sends things that don't make sense."
"No, no matter how you look at it, this is just a declaration of surrender from that guy named UMR because it's too hot and she doesn't want to leave the air-conditioned room, right?"
Asakura retorted.
"I see, Takuma-shi can interpret UMR's language so easily. As expected of Kuroneko-shi's subordinate!"
Saori suddenly understood.
"It's a butler."
Asakura corrected.
"How enthusiastic are you about this setting...?"
Kirino, who was nearby, complained.
"Speaking of which, Kirino is also very beautiful. Do you want to come and play Cosplay with me?"
Kitagawa Marin revived.
"No, that's stupid."
Kirino refused without hesitation, and when she said this, she specifically glanced at Gokou Ruri.
Even without looking at Gokou Ruri's expression, Asakura could feel the girl's blood pressure rise just by standing next to her.
Before Asakura could remind her again that the other party was just an ordinary person and it wasn't worth getting angry with such a person—of course, if it was something like a 'coincidence' where the other party tripped over a stray cat on the way back, he could pretend not to know—Gokou Ruri suddenly showed a strange smile.
"You said earlier that Meruru is a beautiful work describing friendship and bonds, right?"
"So what? If you dare to say bad things about Meruru again, I can argue with you all day here!"
Kirino pointed the long-handled plastic clip (Eva Unit-01 color scheme) in her hand at Gokou Ruri, making clicking sounds.
That was the gift she drew during the gift exchange, and she was mocked by Gokou Ruri for it. Of course, after Gokou Ruri drew the gift prepared by Kitagawa Marin, she was the one being mocked.
"As punishment for your great disrespect, I shall reveal the truth that will make you despair."
Gokou Ruri announced loudly.
"What?"
Kirino's eyebrows furrowed, seemingly realizing something was wrong.
"Meruru... It is said that in the planning stage, its original name was 'Stardust Witch Meruru'... But when it was officially launched later, it became 'Heaven's Retribution Girl Meruru.' Don't you feel something is wrong?"
"No."
Kirino replied quickly: "I don't pay attention to anime news like otaku."
"Guh..."
Gokou Ruri, who was inexplicably stabbed again, twitched at the corner of her eye, but still tried to maintain an elegant smile: "That's because during the planning stage, the director and script supervisor were changed. It is said that the script was almost completely overturned and rewritten, which directly led to the animation modifying its original prefix."
"So what?"
Kirino completely didn't understand what she was trying to express.
"In short, regardless of the original director and script, the two who took over were Maezawa Gen and Urobuchi Gen respectively."
Gokou Ruri said concisely.
"Are they very famous people?"
Kirino was full of questions, but Saori nearby let out a small gasp of 'Huh?'. So Kirino looked at Saori again, clearly trusting the information from this administrator more than Gokou Ruri: "Big one, do you know them?"
"Both of them are quite famous figures in the anime industry,"
Saori thought for a moment and explained in a more easily understandable way: "The former is a baseball enthusiast, and the latter is known as the 'Warrior of Love'."
"What? Doesn't that mean Meruru was made by big names!"
So Kirino relaxed.
"I will remember your composure now."
Gokou Ruri said meaningfully.
"You're being weird..."
Kirino was confused and looked at her discontentedly.
"Instead of that,"
Saori quickly changed the subject: "Although UMR-shi can't come, we can still have a second gathering. Since Kuroneko-shi is interested in ghost stories, how about this...?"
She took out her phone and opened a map app: "Coincidentally, the 'Nonexistent Shrine' from that ghost story can be navigated. How about we all go see it together? With so many people, and it's daytime, even if something happens, it won't be too scary~"
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