When Watanabe Yu got out of Anbara Risa's car and returned home, it was already evening, the time when the evening glow could be seen.
Tokyo's evening rush hour traffic truly lived up to its name in making one feel suffocated.
After casually tossing his school bag onto the tatami mat, Watanabe Yu sat down, pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket, switched the mode from mute to vibrate, and then tapped open Line, which was flooded with messages.
After glancing at the chat logs in the Class Group, Watanabe Yu's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
That kid Kiriyama Kazuma had completely transformed into Gotham's nightmare—no, wait, a wingman Ace, constantly bragging about himself.
He mused that if web novels weren't so underdeveloped in Japan, this guy would probably brag himself into being a modern-day War God.
So then...
This fellow is truly terrifying!
Watanabe Yu muttered this to himself, then closed the Class Group and tapped into the private chat with Hayakawa Yuki.
They had exchanged Line information in Anbara Risa's car and added each other as friends.
What he never expected, however, was that the very first message Hayakawa Yuki sent was another thank you.
She had already said it countless times at the Police Station and in the car.
He could understand her sincerity and her relief after surviving the ordeal, but she had truly said the word 'thank you' too many times.
It had reached a point where he almost didn't know how to reply.
【Watanabe-san, thank you so much!!(>^ω^<)】</p>Message sent six minutes ago.
Hesitating for a moment, Watanabe Yu lightly tapped the keyboard and responded.
【You're welcome, but if you thank me again, I might have to change your contact name from 'Hayakawa Yuki' to 'Loves to Say Thanks.'】
The message instantly showed as read.
The next second, Hayakawa Yuki's reply arrived as expected.
【Sorry, cat holding head.jpg】
Seeing this reply, Watanabe Yu sighed helplessly, didn't reply further, and instead tapped into another private chat.
Under the Ragdoll Cat avatar, there was a new message sent at three o'clock this afternoon.
【Everything went smoothly】
Clearly, the Saintess's 'resistance operation' had succeeded.
【That’s good】
Watanabe Yu typed out a line of text and clicked reply.
The next second, the message showed as read.
Amemiya Ayana seemed to be playing on her mobile phone as well.
【Why are you replying so late? Don't you always say that the Frost Ogre returns to its lair when the time comes?】
Even through the screen, Watanabe Yu could sense the 'Saintess's' dissatisfaction with him from the other end of the network.
【Ran into a small episode on the way, just finished up and got home now】
He thought for a moment and offered an explanation.
A small episode?
Across the screen, Amemiya Ayana frowned as she looked at the text on her mobile phone.
She always felt that this 'Mr. Ogre' was consciously hiding something.
【Why do I feel like the 'small episode' you mentioned isn't simple?】
Amemiya Ayana thought for a moment, deciding against probing indirectly, and asked directly.
【Yes, I just performed a Replicate: I'm a War God in Tokyo at the subway station, how about that, awesome or what?】
Watanabe Yu gave a reply that was half joking and half serious.
【Keep bragging!】
Amemiya Ayana said that, but her brow showed no sign of relaxing.
The less Watanabe Yu said that last sentence, the stronger the vague premonition in her heart became.
【Has your novel progress sped up at all?】
After hesitating for a moment, Amemiya Ayana chose to change the subject.
It was just that the question she asked was overly foolish, so foolish that she wouldn't even think of asking it in real life.
A one-day interval, writing by hand, and having classes during the day—these three conditions combined essentially guaranteed that there wouldn't be much progress.
Therefore, the so-called 'has the progress sped up at all' was purely just making conversation.
【It has sped up a little, but you know, no matter how fast paper and pen are, they can't get that fast.】
Watanabe Yu didn't overthink it and gave a direct answer.
To him, 'Ayana' being foolish was completely normal; or rather, the fact that he could chat with her for so long meant he was long accustomed to it.
【Right, sorry, I asked a stupid question.】
Sitting by the bed, Amemiya Ayana put down her mobile phone, hugged her slender legs, and slightly curled the rounded toes resting on the quilt.
She turned her head to look out the bedroom window.
The red evening glow had already dyed the entire sky, and the red Fire Cloud made the whole sky look as if it were burning.
It probably wouldn't rain again tonight.
She withdrew her line of sight, lowered her eyebrows, and looked at the large bed beneath her.
Compared to Watanabe Yu's simple tatami mat and quilt, this large bed was undoubtedly much more comfortable and much bigger, eliminating any worry about accidentally rolling out of bed.
But some things cannot be judged purely by their quality.
Amemiya Ayana tightened her grip on her legs, then loosened it again.
At least for her, the tatami mat where he was gave her more peace of mind and allowed her to sleep well.
Hoo.
Amemiya Ayana took a deep breath, her pert chest rising slightly.
The wine-red glow filtered through the glass window, spilling into the room.
She lowered her eyes and buried her head in her knees.
"No matter how fast paper and pen are, they can't get that fast..."
The girl murmured softly.
【Not that much, I need to get busy now, talk later】
After typing this line, Watanabe Yu put away his mobile phone, lightly patted his cheeks, picked up a pen and Manuscript Paper from the side, and continued his replication endeavor.
He had previously tried to use his mobile phone for the novel copying endeavor.
At that time, he figured that typing efficiency must be much higher than writing with pen and paper, no matter what.
After all, typing is definitely faster than writing.
And before his Transmigration, he had heard from some silly netizens that some web novel authors typed on their mobile phones, achieving incredibly fast speeds, no slower than writing on a computer.
But once he actually tried it, he suddenly realized the situation was completely different from what he had imagined.
He couldn't adapt to writing things by typing on his mobile phone; he just felt awkward no matter what.
In the end, he had no choice but to settle for the next best thing and use the most straightforward method for replication.
However, using the most traditional method for replication wasn't without its benefits: first, it deepened his memory, and second, the sound of the pen writing on the paper helped him get into the zone faster.
Of course, if he had a Laptop, he would unhesitatingly use the Laptop.
The efficiency would be much higher, and it would save money on Manuscript Paper.
But speaking of which, the Well-informed and Retentive Intermediate given by System Bro was indeed a whole Grade higher than the Well-informed and Retentive Beginner.
It was the kind of feeling where you don't realize the difference until you compare them, leading to shock.
For example, if the effect of Well-informed and Retentive Beginner was to upgrade his memory from a Notebook to an old-fashioned computer storage disk, then the effect of Well-informed and Retentive Intermediate was a hardware leap, going straight from an HDD to an SSD.
Now, during the process of replicating Norwegian Wood, he could even jump his thoughts from page fifty of the original work straight to page one hundred without interrupting his replication work—a classic multi-threading mode.
And during this replication process, his sense of language and acuity for words were also gradually climbing.
Compared to the rate of improvement in the Modern Literature class, the current rate of improvement was about one-third faster.
The Manuscript Paper was decreasing page by page, yet the speed of Watanabe Yu's hands was getting faster and faster. Aided by Strengthen the Body, his hands felt no fatigue whatsoever, nor did his spirit feel tired; instead, he felt more energetic.
If he continued at this rate, barring any surprises, his progress in replicating Norwegian Wood could speed up even more.
In other words, he was getting closer and closer to having a stable income and escaping poverty!
Thinking of this, the movements of his hands couldn't help but speed up a bit more.
He could almost see a new house waving at him!
2/2
Thank you to Teacher Can Feng Luolei for two Monthly Tickets, Teacher Zongshi Yanbuyouzong for the Reward, and the Brothers for the Recommendation Tickets. Your support is my motivation for writing.