"Ah, that's great...!"
Kani Nayuta was extremely excited. She hadn't thought that her work could bring such great emotion to her senior.
No, it wasn't that she hadn't thought about it, but rather that she lacked that kind of confidence!
Even a beautiful girl who had cultivated invincible confidence through creation still lacked confidence when meeting the person she had always admired.
This confirmation greatly encouraged her current inner self.
Kani Nayuta was very happy to receive his high praise.
Beside her, Senju Muramasa twitched her lips, a little envious.
But they could all understand that after reading silver season, it was hard not to be moved, and shedding tears was not uncommon.
After discussing silver season, next was Senju Muramasa's fantasy demon blade chronicles.
Compared to others who placed more emphasis on emotional expression, her work focused on character development and battle scenes. Every character in the novel often appeared as if in person, unfolding a unique battle before their eyes.
"Muramasa, there's no doubt you've surpassed me. fantasy demon blade chronicles is indeed superior to my Demon Slayer."
Izumi Chihiro also praised her.
The superior replacement was truly worthy of the name!
If he only had Demon Slayer, he might never be able to shake off that title.
"No, no such thing! Chihiro's work is still..."
Senju Muramasa, who was usually indifferent to praise, actually stammered at this moment.
"There's no need to be humble now."
Izumi Chihiro walked over and patted her shoulder, comforting her, "Don't underestimate me, this won't hurt me. My pride isn't that fragile."
"I... I understand."
Senju Muramasa mumbled.
After seeing that the others' attention had shifted, her gaze fell on the spot where she had just been patted, and she couldn't help but reach out and feel the same spot.
Another day ended.
The exchange conferences in the following days were mostly the same. During the day, they sunbathed or swam on the beach, and in the evening, they discussed books. Yamada Elf, in order to get more valuable feedback, even bought several complete sets of her own works and had them sent over by sea-boat for everyone to read at their leisure.
It must be said, this was somewhat self-deprecating.
Compared to the others' sharp tongues, his frank critiques were far too gentle.
Everyone stopped pretending and just started criticizing!
"What kind of thing did you write?"
"Is this what they call 'toilet paper' work? I've really learned a lot."
"Please, Teacher Yamada, understand the concept of creation first! Your writing is truly at an elementary school student's level, isn't it?"
"You want to surpass Teacher with this? You can't, you don't have the ability, you know?"
"Heh heh, is this Miss Elf's creative ability? I originally thought millions in sales meant some level of skill... like this, forget about surpassing seniors, it won't be long before you lose to Kasumigaoka Utaha Sensei, then after losing to Kasumigaoka Utaha, you'll lose to Black Cat, and then there'll be nothing left to lose~!"
These words heavily struck Yamada Elf's mind. Even with Miss Elf's usual overconfident personality, she was so disheartened that she lay down for an entire night and morning before recovering her spirits.
Under the parasol, Izumi Chihiro was flipping through a manga while enjoying the sea breeze, feeling utterly at ease.
"Hmm? Miss Elf, you've resurrected?"
Suddenly, he heard footsteps and turned to confirm.
"Hmph! You make it sound like I'm already dead! How could I, this young lady, be so easily defeated? I didn't care about their words at all!"
Yamada Elf returned to her usual speaking attitude.
"Then why were you so disheartened this morning that you didn't even come out for breakfast?"
Izumi Chihiro retorted.
"Uh, that was just a strategic adjustment!"
Yamada Elf paused before thinking of a response.
She moved another beach chair and lay down right next to him. Seeing him flipping through manga, she took out her phone from her room and started playing a mobile game.
"You can play mobile games at a time like this, huh?"
Izumi Chihiro couldn't help but ask.
"If you can read manga, of course I can play games!"
Yamada Elf turned her head and said.
"That makes a lot of sense..."
He nodded.
Unconsciously, several hours passed.
The sea and sky merged into one, bathed in golden light.
As the sun began to set, the sunset by the sea had a different kind of beauty.
"What a beautiful sunset!"
Kani Nayuta had just been playing by the sea with Sagiri for a while, and upon coming ashore, she saw such a sight and couldn't tear her eyes away.
"Click."
Yamada Elf pressed her phone's shutter, preserving this scene.
"Oh right, how could we not leave a trace of such a view?"
Kani Nayuta suddenly realized, rushed into the house, and took out her phone.
"Senpai, let's take a photo! We must preserve these beautiful memories!"
She reached out and grabbed his wrist, inviting him with a sweet tone.
What's wrong with just taking a photo?
Izumi Chihiro, of course, nodded in agreement.
"Click."
With one arm around his shoulder, Kani Nayuta held up her phone and took a two-person selfie under the sunset, just like collecting a CG from a gal game.
The others couldn't just sit idly by; seeing this, they all gathered closer.
"Ni-san, I want to make memories with Ni-san too!"
"Chihiro, let's take a photo together."
"It's a rare gathering, you can't possibly miss me, can you?"
...
"Let's just do it together!"
Yamada Elf suddenly declared with conviction, "As a memento of the exchange conference, all participants should leave behind some memorable 'memories.'"
The two-person photo turned into a group photo. Although Kani Nayuta was a bit indignant, she understood that there was nothing she could do.
No one wants their rival to get a head start!
On the shore.
Everyone stood together, even Mashiro was called out from her room, all for the purpose of completing this 'grand reunion' photo.
Setting up the tripod and configuring the self-timer, Yamada Elf quickly rushed over, only to find that there was no suitable spot, as Izumi Chihiro's left and right sides were being squeezed.
"I want to be with Senpai!"
On one side was Kani Nayuta, who had been holding on tightly from the start, and no one could contend with her. On the other side was Kasumigaoka Utaha, who skillfully used her height and weight advantage to successfully deal with other rivals.
"Sensei, is this the family photo you imagined?"
A ticklish voice came from his ear, and the air became humid.
It was clearly that woman again; she loved these teasing little gestures.
"Humans have their limits."
Izumi Chihiro said calmly.
"That's not an answer, you know."
Kasumigaoka Utaha's expression was meaningful.
Suddenly, Yamada Elf squeezed in from the front, found a gap, wrapped both arms around the spot Kasumigaoka Utaha had previously occupied, and then flashed a toothy smile.
"Cheese ~"
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💯 PS = 2 bonus chapter