“Watanabe Yu, come in first.”
Watanabe Yu took out the key he had been holding halfway, inserted it into the lock, turned it slightly, and opened the door.
Since the person was already standing at the door, he couldn't suddenly change one's mind about taking her in, could he?
【Prize money has been issued, 100,000 Japanese Yen 】
The cold mechanical voice sounded, and the mobile phone in his pocket vibrated gently as well.
However, he wasn't in a hurry to pull out his phone to check; instead, he stepped into the entrance hall first, bent down to take out a brand new pair of men's slippers from the shoe locker, and then turned to place them in front of Amemiya Ayana. “These are new, make do with them.”
“Thank you, Mr. Watanabe.”
Amemiya Ayana nodded slightly and thanked him politely.
“Can you drop the ‘Mr.’? It always sounds a bit strange.”
Watanabe Yu squatted down, changed into the slippers, and put his leather shoes into the shoe locker as he did so.
Amemiya Ayana’s excessive politeness was no different from when they chatted online.
It was just that for him, he truly disliked such excessive politeness and polite remarks; their essence was to deliberately draw a clear boundary line using so-called 'distance' and 'coldness.'
“Um, Watanabe-san?”
Amemiya Ayana tilted her head, changed her nickname, then placed both hands on the back of her skirt and slowly squatted down to change her slippers.
“...That works too, I guess.”
Watanabe Yu turned around and walked along the narrow corridor into the living room, which could also be called the bedroom.
The apartment he rented was only twenty square meters.
In these twenty square meters, he had to fit a stove for cooking, a bathroom with separate wet and dry areas, and the bathtub that Japanese people almost obsessively require. If the living room and bedroom weren't combined, he didn't know how he would have designed the space.
After casually tossing his school bag aside, Watanabe Yu sat down on the tatami mat that had several patches on it.
These patches were ones he had added after his transmigration. If he hadn't patched them, the tatami mat would have shown several clear holes.
As for the walls covered in dirt, mold, and dampness, the energy-saving light with insufficient brightness, and the small crack on the ceiling, he could only say he did his best; he had done all the cleaning and repairing he could.
But the original living conditions were what they were; no matter how hard he tried personally, he couldn't bring about a change comparable to being 'brand new.' At best, the room went from being thoroughly rotten to not quite so thoroughly rotten.
It’s like feelings; when you want to fix things, it’s usually too late, and regret will still be there.
So, he needed to find a way to speed up the copying novels work.
If he stayed another half a year in this place that was basically a live-action set where you could almost hear a cat meow and think of 《Kayako from The Grudge falling in love with me》, he was afraid he would truly rot along with it.
Watanabe Yu sighed, withdrew his line of sight, took out his mobile phone, and checked the message notification from earlier.
It was an incoming transfer alert from the bank.
The text message showed that his bank account had received a salary transfer of 100,000 Yen.
This was much safer than a part-time job.
He muttered to himself in his heart.
A month ago, to earn an extra two thousand Yen in 'prize money,' the 'Watanabe Yu' had swapped a week's shifts with a colleague, changing from the day shift to the night shift. But before he could even warm up the two thousand Yen he received, he was transported to a different world by the Great Transport.
So, for safety, he really needed to stay far away from large vehicles in every sense of the word.
“Ayana, are you hungry?”
Glancing at the time, Watanabe Yu turned his line of sight toward Amemiya Ayana, who was looking around the corridor.
Considering her status as a Young Miss, she probably hadn't seen such a small house before; this was a learning experience for her.
“No.”
Amemiya Ayana withdrew her gaze from surveying the surroundings, moved gracefully to the side of the tatami mat, took off her slippers, and sat down properly on an old zabuton nearby.
“Then we’ll eat later.”
Watanabe Yu clicked open his mobile phone browser and habitually searched for keywords from his memory.
Although the internet was a bit slow, making him wait a while, the search results were quite satisfying to him.
He had to admit, this parallel world setting, which was exactly the same as the novels he had read before his transmigration, was fantastic.
It was just a bit regrettable that he hadn't listened to many Japanese songs or read many Japanese novels.
And due to his limited understanding of Japanese culture, his own memory capacity, and the fact that he could only write with a pen, his replicate progress had not been ideal.
Take 《Norwegian Wood》, for example; it’s been a week, and he’s only finished one-tenth of it so far.
But, there was also good news.
Given the quality of the works in his memory, obtaining a comfortable amount of funds was not a problem.
Of course, if this Perfect Life System were a bit more capable—for instance, by casually granting him shares in a major corporation or land in Minato, Tokyo—then he could skip the laborious option of copying novels and start enjoying life immediately.
—《Reborn: I Became a Tycoon in Tokyo》 or 《After Transmigrating, I Became a Landlord in Tokyo》
But regrettably, for the time being, such thoughts could only be realized when he fell asleep.
Therefore, without knowing if this Perfect Life System would explode gold coins later on, for now, he still had to obediently grind away.
First, replicate those works and secure a stable income!
Then, consider changing residences, buying a house, and moving toward financial freedom step by step.
He couldn't keep relying on the meager living expenses sent by 'Watanabe Yu's' parents, who were living frugally in Okinawa, could he?
How could a transmigrator be confined by poverty!?
“Watanabe-san, aren’t you going to ask me?”
Seeing Watanabe Yu playing with his mobile phone by himself, showing no intention of starting a conversation, Amemiya Ayana took the initiative to open the topic of conversation.
“Ask you about what?”
Watanabe Yu put down his phone and met Amemiya Ayana’s line of sight.
At this distance, illuminated by the setting sun streaming in from the window, he could clearly see the expression on Amemiya Ayana’s face.
“How I found Watanabe-san’s home, and why I ran away from home.”
Amemiya Ayana hesitated for a moment before finally saying these words.
【The young lady has posed a question to you; perhaps this is an excellent opportunity to rapidly increase your favorability 】
【Grinding away copying novels, how can that compare to directly clinging to the thigh of a Young Miss for faster results? 】
【So, how should I answer? 】
“What’s there to ask? If you want to say it, say it; if you don’t, don’t.”
Ignoring the line of text on his retina, Watanabe Yu frankly stated his inner thoughts.
That long string of romance prompts earlier had already revealed seven or eight tenths of the reason for her 'running away from home.' The rest, based on his usual chats with 'Ayana,' would just be a classic wealthy clan dispute drama.
This kind of plot is extremely common in domestic golden time slot family ethics dramas; they could easily film seventy or eighty episodes.
By watching just a few, one could generally figure out the turmoil and general tropes involved.
As for how she found his home, that was even simpler. For a family in Japan that could afford a Maybach, finding a person shouldn't be difficult.
【Prize money has been issued, Well-informed and Retentive （Beginner ）】
【This character's reward uses have been exhausted; please wait for the next refresh 】
Hearing the mechanical voice suddenly ring in his ears, Watanabe Yu felt his scalp first freeze as if touched by ice, and then his thoughts instantly became clearer.
Saying one thing but meaning another is outdated, System Bro!
However, the effect of this Well-informed and Retentive was quite good; not only did it take effect immediately, but it could also trace back to the past.
The text in his mind that had been somewhat vague before, requiring guesswork and context to fill in, instantly became clear.
If he proceeded at this pace, the replication speed for 《Norwegian Wood》 could increase significantly.
If he worked hard, to the extent that his pen sparked, he might finish in about three more weeks.
“I don’t want to accept my family’s arrangements, so this is the only way I can resist.”
Amemiya Ayana lowered her eyebrows.
“Does that make me the cuckold?”
Watanabe Yu picked up an apple from the small square table, not expecting that after transmigration, he would end up riding a ghost fire.
“What is a cuckold?”
Amemiya Ayana asked with some confusion.
Watanabe Yu was saying things she didn't understand again.
“You can understand it as the person in a romance movie who obstructs the male and female lead from getting together, the one who steals the love interest. However, generally speaking, such people only desire the female lead’s body.” Watanabe Yu raised his eyebrows. “Do you want an apple?”
“I want a small piece.” Amemiya Ayana looked at Watanabe Yu. “Watanabe-san, do you like my body?”
“You look so awesome, so of course I like it.” Watanabe Yu picked up a fruit knife, cut a small piece of apple, and handed it to Amemiya Ayana. “Here.”
“Thank you.” Amemiya Ayana thanked him, took the apple, and those watery eyes looked straight at Watanabe Yu, with a hint of hesitant yielding in her eyes. “Then, do you want it, Mr. Watanabe?”
“Is your next sentence going to be about how pure you are?”
Watanabe Yu took a bite of the apple, turned away as if seeing nothing, pulled out writing paper and a pen from a bag nearby, intending to continue replicating a portion of 《Norwegian Wood》 before he got hungry. “By the way, Ayana, can you cook?”
“I am indeed very pure.” Amemiya Ayana pursed her red lips. “As for cooking, I can learn.”
“Alright, then it looks like I can’t slack off. Please bear with me regarding the taste.”
For him, a transmigrator, he didn't know Japanese cuisine; Chinese cuisine was a must.
Currently, he lived alone and didn't want to change, nor did he plan to.
And then there was...
Watanabe Yu raised his line of sight and looked at Amemiya Ayana quite seriously. “I don’t know the specifics of your situation, and I have no intention of prying into your secrets in that regard.
“But what I do know is that if you had truly run away from home, that car wouldn't be parked downstairs.”
He didn't say it too bluntly, but he knew Amemiya Ayana should be able to understand what he meant.
He understood clearly that her staying here was just going through the motions, a way to show her attitude and stance to her family, so there was no need for her to test him like this, and he was too lazy to respond to such flirtatious testing.
His good brother before transmigration was hooked by a female player and turned into a cuckold this way.
Not only did he lose a lot of gold coins through the back-and-forth, but when his friends, including him, tried to advise their good brother to stay away from that woman, even presenting evidence, the good brother could still say things like, ‘She’s not that kind of person.’
Just watching it felt terrifying.
So, Wu Ji’s mother’s words were truly right: the more beautiful the woman, the more she lies.
Not to mention, the system’s assessment of Amemiya Ayana was—a highly ambitious Young Miss.
She’s beautiful and ambitious; if she bites the hook, won't he be strung up like a cuckold, with his guts pulled out?
“I’m sorry.”
Amemiya Ayana lowered her eyebrows and apologized sincerely.
“You’re just too sensitive.”
Watanabe Yu gave her an out, redirecting his attention back to the paper spread out before him.
He knew very well that the 'Ayana' he knew from the Internet was just the tip of the iceberg of the real-life Amemiya Ayana.
The her online was real, and the her right now is also real.
It’s just that people are inherently complex.
Especially when it involves the intersecting keywords of family, Young Miss, and wealthy clan disputes, it becomes even more so.
After slightly adjusting his state, he resumed his great work of replication.