Chapter Seventy Two I Voluntarily Work Overtime
This meeting with Director Momoka benefited me greatly on an academic level.
Normally, when one mentions "snakes," words like cold and damp tend to come to mind.
But Momoka's tail, which I personally verified, was warm and smooth. The scales were hard yet resilient, overall soft and flexible, making it impossible to stop touching.
The horns on her head were also not as sharp as I had imagined. Instead, they had a rubber like elasticity.
And when those two spots were touched, Momoka's reactions were quite adorable. Her resistance was very fierce. If I had not promptly used the secret technique of "you don't want to get scolded by Rin, right" to make her hesitate, and if Arona had not been protecting me, I might have ended up with several broken bones.
However, that was not even the most interesting part.
To be honest, mentaiko flavored potato chips actually tasted pretty good.
"You bastard adult!" Momoka, with reddened eyes, sniffed as she spat out harsh words. "After doing something this excessive, if you do not over fulfill the work I give you, I will never forgive you!"
"Do not worry. Since I have already accepted the payment in advance, I will definitely give it my all for you, Momoka!"
As I made my guarantee, I casually slipped another chip into my mouth.
Momoka's expression, which had just softened, instantly turned dangerous again. In the end, she repeated that I should go back and gather manpower in advance, and wait for her notice at any time. After that, she kicked me out of her office.
Then it was my turn to worry about this newly added workload.
Just as Momoka said, as a club under the General Student Council, if the council had difficulties, Schale could not possibly remain uninvolved.
What was more, now that the GSC President was missing, Schale could still enjoy authority beyond legal limits and receive allocated funding from the council, rather than being cold shouldered like SRT Special Academy. It was only right that we shoulder corresponding responsibilities and demonstrate sufficient value.
Otherwise, to the directors who held real power, what reason would there be for Schale to continue existing?
No matter how one looked at it, sharing the burden of the General Student Council was a duty I could not shirk.
That said, the attitude of that brat Momoka was far too arrogant. If I did not bully her back on the spot, no, apply necessary correction, I would hardly be worthy of being called a Sensei.
In short, to respond to the upcoming combat commission, I first needed to quickly formulate a roughly feasible plan, then contact the students I was familiar with, and make appropriate adjustments based on the specific situation.
In other words, it looked like today was going to be busy.
Thinking this way, I headed to Millennium to take care of matters that had already been scheduled.
The top floor of Millennium Tower, which had just gone through a disturbance yesterday, with half the security system destroyed and several large holes blasted into the floor, had become completely refreshed after only one night.
But this only showed how advanced Kivotos's construction technology was.
Repairing things quickly and well did not mean the destruction had never happened, nor did it mean the aftermath of the incident no longer existed.
When I arrived at the Seminar office, Yuuka, who was sighing over the property damage list, was the best proof of that.
"Ah… Sensei… you are here…"
Even her greeting sounded listless, which made me, as one of the planners of the incident, feel a bit guilty.
But when I thought again, I felt the main responsibility should lie with Yuuka's superior, and my confidence immediately returned.
"Good morning, Yuuka. And Noa as well."
Noa smiled and said to me, "Hehe, good morning. Would you like something to drink?"
"No need. I will leave after I am done."
At this moment, Yuuka waved toward the pink haired girl sitting at a nearby desk who had long been craning her neck in this direction. "Koyuki, come here. Sensei has something to ask you."
Koyuki blinked, then hope surfaced in her eyes. She quickly tossed aside her pen and paper, dashed over to me, and said excitedly:
"Sensei, you finally came! I knew you would definitely come save me!"
I casually rubbed her head and thought about how she had come up with such an unrealistic delusion.
Maybe my entire body was radiating an aura of reliability that Koyuki's animal instincts had picked up on.
So I kindly asked, "Koyuki, do you think your Sensei treats you well?"
Koyuki nodded repeatedly. "Just get me out of here. Staying here is way too boring!"
There was a prerequisite condition after all.
I withdrew my earlier assumption. If Koyuki really did have sharp instincts, she would not be completely indifferent to the expressions of the two girls behind her who had overheard our conversation.
"In that case, would you be willing to help me with a small favor?"
"What kind of favor?"
I took out Momoi's game console and handed it to her. "Could you help take a look at the password for this file?"
Instantly, visible disdain appeared on Koyuki's face. "Cracking again… so boring…"
What do you mean again? Who are you expressing dissatisfaction toward?
After taking the console, Koyuki glanced at it once, then casually entered a string of complex characters and said indifferently:
"All done."
As she spoke, she handed the console back to me, displaying "password correct."
Honestly, this could already be considered a superpower.
"So, Sensei, where are we going to play next?"
"Koyuki," I sincerely explained to the girl still immersed in her fantasy, "first of all, thank you very much for your help. Secondly, it is not that I do not want to take you out to play, it is just that the situation does not allow it."
"…Eh?" Koyuki's smile froze.
"The Seminar's work is so busy, Yuuka and Noa are both working hard. If you were the only one to successfully sneak away, what do you think your seniors would feel?"
Cold sweat broke out at Koyuki's temple.
"Think about it," I said earnestly. "If that happened, would there still be a place for you in the Seminar in the future?"
"Hiss."
Koyuki sucked in a breath of cold air, cautiously turned her head to glance at Yuuka and Noa, who were wearing smiles of unclear meaning, then snapped back around, looking panicked.
I asked gently, "Do you still want me to take you out to play?"
"I do not want to, I do not want to!" Koyuki shook her head desperately, then raised her voice. "Sensei, you should go! Do not tempt me anymore! I still need to help my seniors finish the work!"
Even though she said that, Koyuki's face looked completely on the verge of tears.
I comforted her softly. "Alright. Once you finish being busy during this period, as long as you do not cause any more trouble, I will definitely take you out to play."
Feel honored from the bottom of your heart. This was a date invitation that countless students in Kivotos dreamed of, personally proposed by me.
However, Koyuki looked at me strangely. "But if that is the case, what would we even need the Sensei for?"
…Huh?
Forget it. Pink hair waifus are just like that. I am magnanimous and will not argue with a mere Koyuki.
"Yuuka, Noa, Koyuki said she is voluntarily working overtime."
"…Huh?" Koyuki stared in shock.
Yuuka said gently, "Yes, I heard that."
Noa nodded after finishing writing in her notebook. "It has all been recorded."
"I… I…"
Koyuki stammered for a long while, but in the end did not dare to offer even a single rebuttal. She could only let two lines of tears fall. "Yes… I… I am voluntarily working overtime… sob…"
Look how happy the child is, crying tears of joy.
After saying goodbye to the girls, I hurried straight to the Game Development Department.
Because of yesterday's attack, even though they had been bailed out of the reflection room, the members of the Game Development Department were still confined to their club room and were not allowed to go out freely until this evening.
When I pushed the door open, I was slightly surprised to see that Arisu was not playing games as usual, but was sitting at a low table, writing briskly on paper.
Momoi, Midori, and Yuzu were also busy at their computers.
Perhaps yesterday's failure had instead given them motivation. I felt a bit relieved.
When they saw me arrive, the girls all put down what they were doing and greeted me.
After briefly responding, I curiously walked over to Arisu. But when I saw what she had written, I could not help feeling stunned.
[I, Saiba Momoi, feel deeply regretful about the mistakes made during this subjugation operation, and have summarized the following reasons… I, Saiba Momoi, hereby swear that in my future adventure journey I will absolutely not make the same mistakes again. If I violate this oath, then I ask all of you who act as supervisors to deprive me, Saiba Momoi, and Sensei of all opportunities to be alone together…]
"Hehe, Sensei, amazing right?"
Momoi said proudly to me. "Arisu barely needs any thinking time to write reflection letters herself. Asking her to help write them for us is way more efficient than writing them ourselves!"
"After all, reflections should really be written by oneself…" Midori muttered.
I fell silent for a moment and met Arisu's innocent gaze. "Um… that is indeed very impressive… Momoi, have you looked carefully at what Arisu wrote?"
"Ah, I did read Arisu's own one. Aside from some wording being a bit stiff, it could totally be an exact replica!"
…Could Arisu be doing this on purpose?
"Um… then why don't you take a look at what Arisu wrote on your behalf?"
"Oh oh, it is basically done, right? Let me see…"
Momoi leaned over with great interest. Her pupils shrank, and she shouted, "Arisu!?"
The robotic girl tilted her head in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"What are you writing here?"
"Eh? I just wrote according to Momoi's parameters…" Arisu recited. "Expressing the determination to stake everything, an attitude of deep reflection, containing sincere and profound emotions, and making it obvious at a glance that it was written by Momoi…"
Setting everything else aside, she had indeed satisfied every single condition.
Momoi was left speechless.
Midori said quietly beside her, "As expected, AI writing does come with risks…"
After that insignificant interlude, I told everyone the good news that the G.Bible password had been successfully cracked.
First came a moment of silence, then cheers of excitement. Finally, the girls suppressed their nervous excitement and connected the game console to the television screen.
"Almost no one knows what is inside G.Bible. But according to a super amazing game creator who was the last to see it… it is about secret techniques for developing games. A miracle that feels like everyone knows, yet no one really knows."
Momoi said, "I want to know what that is too."
"Mm…" Midori nodded. "To make the best game."
"That is right. As long as we can make it, everyone will be able to keep staying here in the future." Momoi paused, then said quietly, "If we fail… Yuzu will have to go back to the dormitory and be forced to see people she does not want to see."
So Yuzu's social anxiety and withdrawal came from her classmates?
Could it be… bullying…?
I didn't ask rashly.
"Please do not worry," Arisu encouraged them when she saw the others' low spirits. "Even if pushed into a desperate situation for a time, the protagonist party will definitely rely on perseverance to find a turning point and achieve a comeback. That is how games always develop!"
Momoi nodded heavily. "Yeah! That is right, it will definitely be like that! We will make the best game! Then, let us begin, Arisu!"
"Mm! G.Bible… It is on!!"
As Arisu pressed the confirm button, a line of text appeared on the television screen.
[Welcome to the world of G.Bible.]
The girls all swallowed unconsciously, their eyes fixed on the changes on the screen.
["What makes a game 'the best'?"
There are innumerable answers to such a question. Quality, popularity, vivid storytelling, impact, innovative direction...]
[All are aspects in the best of games.
However, they are mere byproducts derived from the greater truth.]
[There is only one secret to making the best game.]
[And within this G.Bible, that truth is hidden.]
[The only truth of making the best game, the secret method…]
[I will tell you now.]
As everyone's anticipation climbed to its peak, new words appeared on the television screen, one character at a time, after the text was cleared once.
[LOVE...
VIDEO....
GAMES]
Momoi pondered. "Oh oh… it is just like a game's opening animation!"
Midori hesitated. "I-is that so?"
[LOVE VIDEO GAMES.!]
Seeing this line repeat, the girls looked at one another.
Yuzu could not help speaking up. "…Could it be that this is already the end… no, that is not what it means, right?"
Midori asked again, "D-did we run into a bug somewhere?"
Momoi tried pressing buttons to adjust the settings, and sure enough, new text appeared.
[The reason you pressed this button is because you suspect the file is damaged, or that something is wrong, that some error has occurred… you are thinking that, right.]
[However, no error has occurred.]
[Regrettably, this is the conclusion.]
[Just LOVE VIDEO GAMES!!!]
At this point, all of G.Bible's contents finished playing.
A moment later, after repeated confirmations that there was no mistake, a heart rending wail echoed through the Game Development Department's activity room:
"We are finished aaahhh!"