December 30th, 4:00 PM.
"Mhm~ Ah—"
His consciousness gradually returning, Shido slowly sat up straight and stretched forcefully.
"What ti is it..."
Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, Shido looked around groggily. Around him, Yuzuru and Kaguya were leaning against each other on the sofa, fast asleep and letting out soft breathing sounds. Deeper in the room, Natsumi was curled up in a chair like a squirrel, sleeping soundly. Even Origami seed to have reached her limit and was sleeping with her head resting on her work desk beside him.
It was no wonder. You have to understand, they stayed here almost without sleep or rest, grinding out over sixty pages in just two short days while maintaining quality. Normally, it wouldn't be strange if it took a month or two to finish a manga like this.
Precisely because of this, when the manga was finished at noon, they didn't even have ti to cheer and celebrate. Everyone, like marionettes with their strings cut, collapsed and fell asleep instantly.
"...Everyone, thanks for your hard work."
With a bit of gratitude, Shido whispered his thanks. He gently pushed back his chair and stood up, trying his best not to make a sound.
"Hm?"
Feeling sothing slip off his shoulder onto the chair, Shido looked down and saw a dark-colored blanket.
(Who put this on ?)
Shido wondered. Then he noticed that it wasn't just him; everyone had sothing similar draped over them.
Except for one person who wasn't present.
(I see...)
Faintly guessing who covered them with blankets while they were asleep, a wave of warmth surged in Shido's chest.
Focusing his attention slightly, he could faintly hear the continuous clacking of a keyboard coming from the hallway outside the room.
Shido tiptoed, avoiding making any footsteps that might wake everyone, and sneaked out of the room.
Opening the door, Shido saw—the brown haired girl sitting cross legged on the hallway floor, her back against the wall. A laptop was placed on a folding table, she wore white earphones, and her amber eyes stared intently at the screen while her fingers rhythmically typed on the keyboard.
"Yutsuki, it's easy to catch a cold sitting in a place like this."
Shido couldn't help but smile bitterly in exasperation.
"Yo, Shido, you're awake?"
Hearing Shido's voice, Yutsuki wasn't very surprised. She paused her work slightly to greet him.
"Mhm, just now."
Shido nodded, sat down next to Yutsuki, and asked curiously.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, I was just making a promotional PV for our manga."
"Promotional PV?"
"Mhm."
Yutsuki nodded, clicked on a video file in the folder, and explained.
"It's taking the manga drawings Natsumi and the others finished, using editing software to cut and edit them into a video, and uploading it online. No matter how well a manga is drawn, if the promotion isn't good enough, sales won't increase."
"Oh... I see! Wow! It moved, it moved! That's amazing! Yutsuki, look, the characters are moving like an ani. And these special effects, they're explosively cool!"
Shido couldn't help but marvel with sparkling eyes. Honestly, watching the manga they worked so hard to draw co alive as if endowed with life, that feeling could only be described with the word "moved."
"Well, it is for promotion after all. Besides, I'm not the only one who worked hard."
Seeing Shido's exaggerated reaction, Yutsuki chuckled. She took out one earbud and leaned towards Shido.
"Y-Yutsuki? What are you doing?"
Seeing her suddenly close the distance so proactively, Shido's heart raced. He reflexively pulled back a bit and asked nervously.
"Shido, you're overreacting. I just want you to listen to this."
Yutsuki smiled bitterly and placed the earbud in Shido's ear.
"Is this... Miku's song?"
Hearing the familiar singing voice in the earbud, Shido raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Mhm. I specially asked Miku to prepare a new song for our manga over these two days."
Yutsuki nodded with a smile and clicked open the upload page for this video.
"Not just Miku, but Yoshino, Kotori, and Tohka have also been promoting it everywhere while we were holed up in the room rushing the manuscript. Thanks to her, the view count skyrocketed the mont the video was uploaded online."
[Miku-tan's unpublished new song? Shut up and take my money!]
[Even if it's a trash work, just for this new song by Miku-tan, I'm definitely buying it!]
[Tomorrow is Comic Con, I didn't expect such an incredible dark horse to erge at a ti like this.]
[A very comfortable art style, looks like it's worth looking forward to.]
[Is Appreciators going to start drawing manga? Are they actually a hidden god-tier artist?]
[Idiot, didn't you see the credits list the team na Ratatoskr at the end? Appreciators only participated in the video editing.](TL:Appreciators is yutsuki's alt account for reviewing stuff, read encore 1's 'yutsuki's idolater' for more detail)
[With this level of quality, are you trying to put us MAD creators out of business?]
[Newbies these days are monsters www]
"Wow! It's really popular."
Seeing the heated comnts online, Shido couldn't help but say in surprise.
"Well, actually the people at the Fraxinus also helped a lot with post-production, otherwise I couldn't possibly have finished it in such a short ti. Also, although the PV view count is high, how many people will actually co to buy it is a different story."
Yutsuki shrugged and answered. But for sothing like sales volu, naturally, every little bit fought for counts.
"No, even so, it's still quite amazing. Eh? Wait—"
Suddenly noticing sothing amiss, Shido looked at Yutsuki in confusion.
"If this PV has already been uploaded, then what were you doing just now, Yutsuki?"
"Ah, about that~"
Closing her laptop calmly, Yutsuki turned her head away slightly, dragged out her words, and spoke mysteriously:
"A secret weapon to deal with Nia."
"Oh, what is it?"
Hearing Yutsuki's words, Shido couldn't help but be a bit curious.
"I can't say it right now. Let's leave it as a surprise for her."
"Oh..."
Although he still felt an itch of curiosity in his heart, since Yutsuki had no intention of showing him, he didn't push it. He placed his hands on his knees and stood up from the floor.
"Well then—next. I'll go buy so things to prepare dinner for everyone. Yutsuki, you should go rest quickly too."
"It's fine. Pulling an all-nighter of this level is a piece of cake for ."
"No."
Guessing that Yutsuki would answer like this given her personality, Shido sighed helplessly and spoke with feigned strictness.
"Yutsuki, don't you often ask everyone to maintain a regular daily routine? Then is it okay if you don't lead by example yourself?"
"So you're using that against ..." Yutsuki scratched her hair in annoyance. Seeing Shido's firm attitude, she hesitated for a mont before nodding in compromise.
"I understand. I'll go rest after I finish this. Rember to contact Kotori to send soone to watch the house, and rember to wake up when dinner is ready."
"Mhm, I got it."
Shido nodded, put on his coat and scarf, confird he hadn't forgotten his phone, keys, and wallet, then put on his shoes and prepared to head out.
"Shido, be careful on the way."
Hearing the voice from behind, a faint smile appeared on Shido's face.
"Mhm, I'm heading out."
——————————
At the Shopping District
(Hmm... what should I make for dinner? Curry? Hamburger steak? Tempura?)
Strolling past the shops in the shopping district, Shido thought seriously. Although those were good choices, he wanted to try challenging a different dish today.
(Hmm... I can't think of anything. Whatever, I'll go buy the discounted ingredients at the supermarket first.)
Today was Saturday, exactly the day for supermarket discounts. Although he hadn't decided on tonight's nu yet, as the house husband in charge of the kitchen, Shido had no reason to miss this event.
"Oh oh. Found you! I've waited for you for a long ti! (Chinese)"
Just as Shido was about to head to the supermarket, an unfamiliar woman suddenly ran over, said an incomprehensible phrase, and intimately took his arm.
"Eh?"
Shido was instantly bewildered by this sudden turn of events.
"U-Um... is there sothing you need?"
Shido asked in confusion.
The other party didn't speak, but just placed her finger against her red lips in a shushing gesture.
(Uh... not even a basic explanation?)
Shido looked at her speechlessly, feeling very troubled.
(But then again, so big, so soft...)
Even through the thick fabric, the plump, tender, and soft sensation wrapping around his arm was deeply imprinted in Shido's mind.
(About the sa size as Yuzuru, maybe a bit less than Miku and Reine... No, no, no! What am I thinking!)
At this mont, several fashionably dressed n walked over. They were generally around twenty years old, probably university students in the city.
Seeing the pose of Shido and the woman, they clicked their tongues in disappointnt.
"Tch, she really did have a boyfriend waiting."
(I see, hitting on girls.)
Glancing at the woman beside him, Shido thought to himself. He was wondering what big incident had happened, turns out he was just being used as a shield.
After all, having been inoculated by Nia a few days ago, he didn't hold any expectations. A beautiful stranger suddenly throwing herself into his arms—only Tonomachi would have such delusions fueled by adolescent impulses.
"Is that really her boyfriend? Looks a bit young, and his outfit doesn't look like he's going out on a date."
"Maybe she likes younger guys."
"Well, even if it's fake, there's nothing we can do. If she's going this far, she's clearly rejecting us. Pestering her anymore would just be embarrassing."
"Failed to hit on her, damn it! Let that kid have it cheap."
Originally, Shido was worried about getting involved in so trouble. Fortunately, the other party didn't seem to be unreasonable thugs. Even if they realized Shido was just a passerby, they didn't deliberately make things difficult for him. After grumbling a few words, they left disappointed.
"Phew..."
Seeing them leave, the woman sighed softly, let go of Shido's arm, and said with a smile:
"Thank you, handso. Although being hit on makes happy, being surrounded by so many guys when I'm alone is indeed a bit scary. (Chinese)"
"Ah?... Y-You're welco..."
Although he didn't understand what the other party was saying, judging by the atmosphere, she was thanking him, so Shido answered sowhat hesitantly.
Only now did Shido have a chance to take a good look at the woman before him.
Her height should be considered tall among girls, only slightly shorter than his 170cm. Her jet-black long hair cascaded to her back, curled at the ends. Her neat and beautiful facial features gave a steady and virtuous impression, yet her smile carried a hint of liveliness and innocence.
She wore an off white woolen coat over a solid black open collar shirt. The harem pants perfectly accentuated her long, slender legs, and the black Dr.Martens shoe further highlighted her tall figure, making her look incredibly stylish and elegant.
A very fashionable, mature woman. Shido couldn't help but sigh with emotion. No wonder those guys earlier hit on her.
"Oh? What's wrong, handso, staring at so intently. Don't tell you want to hit on too? (Chinese)"
Seemingly noticing Shido's gaze, the woman's eyes shifted, and she looked at Shido with a wicked smile.
"Eh? U-Um..."
Because he didn't understand what she was saying, Shido instantly felt flustered.
(What exactly is she saying... A foreigner? But it doesn't sound like English? Um... Chinese?)
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Shido hesitated for a long ti before swallowing hard, putting on an awkward smile, and opening his mouth:
"Ni... hao... "
"—Pfft!"
Hearing this, the woman instantly couldn't hold back, turned her head away, and burst into laughter.
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