[Kashiwagi Eri: Isn’t this pretty obvious? Random pop-up invitations to join groups are almost always scams. Damn it! I just finished the draft and didn’t even get the chance to save it!]
[Yakumo: Eriri, you wouldn’t want people finding out that you draw humiliation doujinshi, would you?.jpg]
[Yakumo: Come to think of it, I’ve read your doujinshi too. For real.jpg]
So this chat box could even send memes.
Yakumo spent a while experimenting with the chat channel and, combining what the two of them had said, finally reached a conclusion.
Apparently, his system really did come with a chat group.
The Hydro Archon had already exposed her own identity.
She was obviously Furina.
As for Kashiwagi Eri, that had to be Eriri.
And judging from Furina’s comments, the current conversation in the World Channel was essentially a temporary chat session, while there was also an invitation to join a permanent chat group afterward.
In that case, the official chat group members corresponded to…
The Guild system.
Yakumo opened the Guild panel and discovered that there was already one member inside.
Once again, it wasn’t a real name, but a username:
[Farming in Great Yan]
He glanced back at the World Channel.
Eriri was still furiously flooding the screen with messages like:
“Scumbag!”
“The worst!”
“Pervert!”
“Anyone who uses a pop-up chat window just to harass people is absolute trash!”
And so on.
[Farming in Great Yan: Miss Eriri… or should I say Miss Kashiwagi Eri? Please calm yourself. What exactly is a “doujinshi”?]
[Kashiwagi Eri: It’s… uh…]
In front of her computer, a girl with messy golden hair hanging loose around her shoulders scratched her head in frustration.
She had been staying up late to finish a doujinshi for an upcoming convention.
She had only just completed the line art when the chat window suddenly popped up.
It startled her so badly that she reflexively clicked the X in the upper-right corner.
For some inexplicable reason, the drawing program hadn’t even asked whether she wanted to save.
It had simply closed.
All the line art she’d worked so hard on had gone straight to hell.
With anger boiling in her stomach, Eriri had immediately started firing off insults without hesitation.
But the next message from the group member called Farming in Great Yan(?) made her fingers stop.
How was she supposed to explain what a doujinshi was?
And seriously, what era was this person living in?
There were still people who didn’t know what a doujinshi was?
Were they some ancient fossil living in the middle of nowhere?!
While thinking about how she should answer, Eriri unconsciously glanced through the chat history.
Then she froze.
Her username being Kashiwagi Eri was one thing.
But how did the person called Yakumo know her real name?
When had her identity been exposed?!
[Yakumo: Uh… is there any chance you’d believe me if I said I’ve genuinely read your doujinshi before? Sawamura Spencer Eriri?]
He actually typed out her full name!
Eriri recoiled in her chair.
How the hell had her identity been exposed?!
She hadn’t even been selling doujinshi for that long!
How had someone already dug up her identity?!
[Kashiwagi Eri: H-How do you know that?!]
The moment she sent the message, Eriri regretted it.
No matter how she looked at it, that line sounded exactly like the beginning of one of her own doujinshi plots.
Wouldn’t Yakumo’s next message be something like:
“You wouldn’t want people finding out that you draw doujinshi, would you?”
Wait.
He had already said that!
[Yakumo: Believe me or not, I’ve read a light novel where you, Kasumigaoka Utaha, Aki Tomoya, and the others are the main characters. I’ve also watched the anime adaptation. Once something gets adapted into an anime, I probably don’t need to explain the rest, right?]
[Yakumo: Wait. I think I just found a new function. Join the group. I’ll send it there.]
While chatting, Yakumo continued fiddling with the system.
After searching around for a while, he discovered that it even had a built-in web browser.
And it actually worked!
He entered a URL into the address bar and was taken directly to a search engine.
[Kashiwagi Eri: I joined. If you dare lie to me, I’ll cry to my dad and make sure you regret it!]
[Yakumo: Yes, yes. I know better than to mess with a diplomat. Here, this is your wiki page. If the link doesn’t work, I’ll try sending screenshots.]
Yakumo dropped the link into the Guild Channel.
Eriri’s username had now appeared on the Guild panel.
For some reason, Furina had joined as well, although she was currently lurking without saying anything.
The link Yakumo sent was to Moegirlpedia.
The page contained fairly comprehensive information.
Eriri forced herself to keep reading despite the fear building inside her.
The first section really did describe things she had already experienced.
But the later section…
That was her “future.”
[Yakumo: By the way, have you guys started making the game yet? Does this count as spoiling your future?]
[Kashiwagi Eri: Who are you calling a losing heroine?! What’s wrong with twin tails?! Why should twin tails plus childhood friend mean I deserve this kind of treatment?!]
[Yakumo: Huh? You’re surprisingly calm about the whole “being a light novel character” thing. Normally, wouldn’t most people care a lot about finding out they’re a character in a novel or anime?]
[Kashiwagi Eri: Hmph! Why would I care about something that insignificant? It’s not like someone else gets to decide what I’m having for dinner tomorrow!]
Of course she cared!
She was literally trembling!
Just like the wiki said, she took tremendous pride in being Tomoya’s childhood friend.
That identity was practically one of the pillars supporting her heart.
And yet according to this thing…
She straight-up became the losing heroine?!
And why did that woman Kasumigaoka get a successful ending in her alternate route, while Eriri’s alternate route got axed?!
She didn’t want to believe any of it.
But the page had full-body character art of her!
Not only full-body art, but anime designs and light novel illustrations too!
If this wasn’t real, just how long would someone have had to stalk and monitor her to draw all of this?!
And the page also had pictures of everyone else.
All she’d need to do was verify some of the information later, and she’d know whether it was true.
If someone actually possessed enough power to monitor all of them to this extent, couldn’t they use that ability for something more worthwhile?
They went through all this just to write a light novel?!
[Farming in Great Yan: It appears your discussion has come to an end. Hopefully it would not be too impolite for me to interrupt now.]
[Farming in Great Yan: I cannot say that I understood much of what you were discussing, but I am glad to see that you have reconciled. My name is Shu. Mr. Yakumo, may I ask whether you have heard that name before?]
In Dahuang City, a horned woman with a wooden hairpin holding up her hair watched the translucent screen floating in the air before her with great interest.
Her eyes were filled with curiosity.
Compared to Eriri, Shu found Yakumo’s explanation much easier to accept.
The reason was simple.
The screen before her was inexplicable enough on its own.
No one except her could see it.
She didn’t even need to physically operate anything.
As long as she thought of what she wanted to say, words would be entered into the strange interface called a “chat group,” allowing her to communicate with the other members.
This impossible phenomenon, combined with Eriri’s reactions, made Shu trust Yakumo’s claims considerably more.
Besides, considering the abilities of her younger sister Dusk, it wasn’t as though she would immediately assume Yakumo was making everything up.
[Yakumo: ?! Holy shit, Mama Shu?!]
The calm smile Shu had been wearing nearly collapsed when she saw that message.