Two famous beautiful girls in the school, plus a strange face that was equally beautiful.
One beautiful girl was enough to attract attention, but now that three were sitting together, the curious and gossipy gazes in the cafeteria never ceased.
Then, they naturally noticed the remaining plain-looking girl among the four.
Eh?
There's actually another quite pretty girl there?
Although she wasn't as dazzling as the other three, sitting with them, her looks didn't seem inferior by much. Why hadn't they noticed such a girl in school before?
As a person with little presence, it was also the first time Kato Megumi had felt so many curious gazes. Even with her calm personality, she was a bit unaccustomed to the current situation.
Better finish eating and leave quickly.
Moreover, this Kasumigaoka-senpai's target wasn't her; she could feel that.
Kasumigaoka Utaha only came to greet her because of this new transfer student, Suzumiya Haruhi.
As an inconspicuous passerby character, she should return the stage to these dazzling protagonists as soon as possible.
Therefore, after Kasumigaoka Utaha sat down and greeted her, Kato Megumi focused her attention on the lunch in front of her and didn't react further.
However, Suzumiya Haruhi was not a person who could stay quiet.
After Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri arrived, she had been observing these two.
The former was a friend of that Miyauchi Hikage, and the latter treated the inconspicuous Kato Megumi beside her as a love rival?
Comparing the two, Suzumiya Haruhi decisively chose the latter.
Miyauchi Hikage was her deskmate. Although he only said two sentences to her all morning—even when she asked about those videos, he just said a few simple words and tactfully refused her idea of joining in to film videos together.
Suzumiya Haruhi planned to take some time to watch all the videos this guy had filmed, observe them from behind for a while, and finally forcibly join their filming team in a manner that Miyauchi Hikage couldn't refuse.
After joining the team, she would use her ability to seize the right to speak in the team step by step, finally turning Miyauchi Hikage into her underling!
So there was no rush with Miyauchi Hikage, and Kasumigaoka Utaha wasn't an important character either.
It was better to figure out the subtle relationship between Eriri and Kato Megumi first.
Thus, Suzumiya Haruhi decisively opened her mouth and asked the two about school matters.
She hated these meaningless exchanges herself, but she also knew the necessity of such communication. Usually, she didn't have any ideas in this regard, so she didn't need to compromise herself for anyone.
But when facing things she was interested in, this little reluctance was nothing at all.
Eriri knew that Kasumigaoka Utaha came for Suzumiya Haruhi, and out of curiosity, she was also somewhat interested in this transfer student.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, sensing Suzumiya Haruhi's inexplicable enthusiasm, was on guard, so she maintained her attitude and indifferently guided the topic to things Eriri was more interested in.
Like drawing and 2D culture (ACG).
Suzumiya Haruhi was the type of person who could say a few words on any topic and never cared about the opinions of those around her.
That frank attitude vaguely made Eriri feel the aura of her childhood friend from her.
She shook her head quickly.
Aki Tomoya only showed such an attitude when discussing ACG topics with people.
But the girl in front of her dared to speak her mind boldly regardless of the content. Her tough attitude towards her own views was even firmer than Aki Tomoya talking about 2D culture.
However, Eriri didn't dislike this personality; in fact, she was a little envious.
After all, she couldn't state her views so frankly. According to Kasumigaoka Utaha, she "deserved to become a golden-haired losing heroine."
Eriri certainly wanted to oppose Kasumigaoka Utaha's evaluation, but after reading that novel, didn't she know that if the plot really developed like that, she might really act according to the actions in the novel?
Therefore, she wanted to change her fate of becoming a losing heroine and make changes in her first year of high school.
It was just that habits formed since childhood were not so easy to change.
What she thought in her heart now was to be frank, but when she actually spoke, she was still as duplicitous as usual, which could be called the most standard tsundere trope.
Just thinking of this, Eriri subconsciously turned her gaze to the other side.
"So, is that Sawamura-san's crush?"
Suzumiya Haruhi's words instantly made Eriri shudder all over.
Oh no. Because of the personality shown by Suzumiya Haruhi, she recalled the breakdown of her relationship with Aki Tomoya because she wasn't frank enough, causing her to subconsciously glance over there.
Perhaps that glance just now allowed this transfer student to see something.
But is this something that can be asked directly in this place?!
Instinctively, Eriri waved her twin tails and strongly retorted: "Impossible, how could I like that guy!?"
Who knew that Suzumiya Haruhi didn't care about this at all, but turned to ask Kato Megumi instead.
"So, do you know that boy, Kato-san?"
Kato Megumi nodded calmly: "It should be Aki-kun. Hikari... a friend in my class told me some things about Sawamura-san. He is Sawamura-san's childhood friend."
As the "heroine" of the manga Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, since Kato Megumi agreed to let Shiina Mashiro draw the manga heroine based on her, even if she didn't feel she was qualified to be a heroine at all, she would still pay attention to the situation of that manga.
Shiina Mashiro wouldn't take the initiative to talk about these things, but Miyauchi Hikari valued that manga very much, so Kato Megumi learned about the general characters and plot.
Precisely because of this, she knew the reason for Sawamura Spencer Eriri's rather subtle reaction when meeting her recently, and she didn't take it to heart.
After all, it was just a story created based on real people.
She had no interest in Aki Tomoya, who promoted ACG in class all day. If he really invited her to join some game club to make games with him now, she would probably refuse.
After all, she was having a good time staying in the News Club with Miyauchi Hikari.
This was actually a club recommended to Hikari by Miyauchi Hikage.
After all, Miyauchi Hikari was interested in everything. When filming videos in Asahigaoka back then, she also liked to squat behind him and ask questions.
Now letting her join the News Club could more or less vent her strong desire for gossip. And since she had some photography and on-camera experience, joining the News Club was reasonable.
Although Kato Megumi had no ideas of her own, at Miyauchi Hikari's invitation, she formed a news partnership with Miyauchi Hikari and joined the News Club together. Their usual club activities involved exploring various novel things after school under Miyauchi Hikari's curiosity, and writing some news drafts to cope with club tasks.
Kato Megumi was very satisfied with this slightly lively school life, so she naturally wouldn't think about making games with others.
And compared to games, she now preferred lying in bed, watching the case analysis videos filmed by Miyauchi Hikage with both fear and anticipation.
Especially the recent one about Yuko-san from Seikyou Academy. She watched this case from half a century ago, combined with the local school supernatural rumors about Yuko, several times.
Let alone those viewers, even she wanted to interview Miyauchi Hikage to see if the ghost of Yuko-san really existed.
Unfortunately, even Miyauchi Hikari didn't know what Miyauchi Hikage was tinkering with, and when talking about these things, he always seemed evasive, which actually increased Kato Megumi's suspicion.
But Kato Megumi was not a curious person. It was normal for friends to have secrets. As long as the two could maintain their current relationship, it was fine.
Back to the present, having her childhood friend relationship exposed frankly by Kato Megumi, Eriri's face turned slightly red. This matter was actually a secret in school.
But Kato Megumi had a good relationship with Shiina Mashiro. Naturally, Kato Megumi knew about the manga Shiina Mashiro was going to draw, so it wasn't strange that she knew about her relationship with Aki Tomoya.
Compared to the matter of Aki Tomoya being her crush, the childhood friend relationship was nothing to hide.
She lowered her head slightly and nodded gently.
"Indeed, we are childhood friends, but there were some conflicts before, so the relationship is not very good now."
Suzumiya Haruhi didn't know what happened to this guy in the past.
But she was somewhat interested in the relationship between that Aki-student and these two girls. Did that Aki-student also notice the inconspicuous Kato Megumi and become friends with her?
But facing Suzumiya Haruhi's questioning, Kato Megumi shook her head gently.
"I haven't spoken to Aki-kun since school started. He probably doesn't even know my name now."
She looked at Suzumiya Haruhi, thinking that the matter of the manga didn't seem suitable to tell this girl she just met, even though the manga had passed the newcomer award and would be officially serialized in next week's weekly magazine.
But after the modifications by Miyauchi Hikage and Shiina Mashiro, the character settings in the manga had changed a lot. Especially the male protagonist—aside from the setting of loving 2D culture and being childhood friends with Eriri, there was almost no shadow of that Aki student in other aspects of the character setting.
At least in Kato Megumi's eyes, rather than saying it was Aki Tomoya, it was more appropriate to say it was a shrunk-down version of Miyauchi Hikage. Even if people noticed it after the manga was released, it should be difficult to associate it with Aki Tomoya.
However, since Kato Megumi didn't explain the reason, there was another person at the table who knew the situation better and was willing to explain.
"Actually, it's because of a novel based on us that hasn't been released to the public," Kasumigaoka Utaha used the explanation she used to coax Eriri again, while also constantly observing Suzumiya Haruhi's attitude.
"Although that novel is just a fantasy novel based on our personalities, I have to say that the guy's description of our personalities is quite accurate, so Mashiro wants to adapt this story into a manga."
Kasumigaoka Utaha said this, then looked at the increasingly embarrassed Eriri: "However, Eriri is quite tsundere and was stimulated by that novel recently, so please keep these things secret, Suzumiya-san."
Suzumiya Haruhi's eyes became brighter and brighter.
A group chat formed by enthusiasts, a mysterious and unknown creator, writing the group members into a novel to mess with their mentality, and now it's going to be adapted into a manga.
Why does this sound so interesting!
Moreover, Suzumiya Haruhi subconsciously felt that the so-called group chat and that mysterious guy might be the person she was looking for.
She stood up abruptly, grabbing Kasumigaoka Utaha's hand with shining eyes: "I also want to join that group chat. Can you help introduce me, Kasumigaoka-senpai?"
Facing Suzumiya Haruhi's super strong execution power, Kasumigaoka Utaha also realized that this girl was completely different from the girls she knew in the past.
This is too direct.
However, she didn't dare to pull Suzumiya Haruhi into the group chat.
Because that chat group not only had the diary's shielding mechanism, but Suzumiya Haruhi herself was too dangerous. If she broke through the diary's shielding mechanism and joined the chat group, heaven knows what unknown impact she would cause to the chat group using her power.
She could only state that the group chat was no longer recruiting new members externally. If a new member wanted to join, it had to be approved by more than half of the group members.
Then, by promising to bring that novel to show Suzumiya Haruhi when the time came, she barely managed to appease Suzumiya Haruhi.
And seeing that she had almost pasted the diary to the other party's eyes, yet the other party had no feeling at all, Suzumiya Haruhi felt a little disappointed in her heart.
It seems that she is indeed not a diary holder of the same batch as me.
But the more she thought about it, the more she felt that the woman in front of her must have something to do with the diary.
After all, that "Voldemort" said in the diary that those who owned diaries should be the protagonists of their respective stories.
And now Kasumigaoka Utaha took out a novel with them as the protagonists. Even after an explanation, Suzumiya Haruhi could guess by intuition that there must be something wrong here.
So what happened between that Voldemort and these girls in the past month?
Following Suzumiya Haruhi's thought, her diary, which had been silent for a long time, finally issued its first commission to her on its own initiative.
[Detected that the second batch of diary holders has made offline contact with the first batch of diary holders and raised suspicions. Special Commission is now open.]
[Special Commission:
1. Maintain your own secret and do not let the first batch of diary holders confirm your identity (The longer you hide, and the more times you contact the first batch of diary holders, the higher the reward).
2. Independently discover the dail
y tasks of the first batch of diary holders and complete their daily commissions before they do.]