I am very thankful to tomas faifer for joining my pateron.my new Patreon link is patreon.com/forbiddenlust69 and also i will give extra chapters for every 150 power stone
The next day, morning.
Ryusei Kiryu woke up at 5:30 AM as usual.
He brushed his teeth, washed his face, went out to warm up, and started his morning run.
Twenty minutes later, Ryusei Kiryu passed by the convenience store again and saw the AE86 with the "Fujiwara Tofu Shop" livery parked there.
Fujiwara Takumi was really punctual.
Fujiwara Takumi was moving tofu and looked up to see Ryusei Kiryu.
He remembered the customer who gave him chewing gum yesterday, so he nodded to Ryusei Kiryu in greeting.
Ryusei Kiryu also nodded and smiled at him.
Leaving the convenience store, Ryusei Kiryu continued running.
It wasn't until an hour later that Ryusei Kiryu returned to his apartment building and took a shower.
While eating breakfast, Ryusei Kiryu took out his phone and searched for news about Cat's Eye.
Sure enough, Cat's Eye's operation last night was a success.
It seems the fusion of the multi-anime world did not affect Cat's Eye's storyline… Ryusei Kiryu looked at the news, and his brow suddenly furrowed.
"Wait, why does the news report say that Jinbo Art Museum lost two paintings? That's not right, is it?"
Chapter 19: A Young Man and Woman's Mutual Affection
Ryusei Kiryu carefully read the police announcement in the news twice.
It indeed stated that Jinbo Art Museum lost two paintings last night.
One was the painting Cat's Eye mentioned in its preview letter during the day that it would take.
The other was a completely unrelated painting, not even exhibited in the same gallery.
Because the police did not see anyone last night, they only discovered the paintings had been swapped during a routine inspection later on.
Although the police immediately increased manpower and searched the entire art museum, the result was still nothing.
Therefore, the announcement did not contain any information related to Cat's Eye.
The police don't know if Cat's Eye is male or female, tall or short, fat or thin, young or old… Ryusei Kiryu put his phone aside, peeled an eggshell, and pondered with his head down.
From the looks of it, his initial guess was wrong.
The fusion of the multi-anime world still affected Cat's Eye's storyline, causing some unknown changes.
Could it be that Cat's Eye, while stealing the painting, accidentally discovered another painting belonging to their father, so they stole it as well?
Or were there others fishing in troubled waters, stealing the painting and framing Cat's Eye?
The phone on the table rang once.
Ryusei Kiryu glanced at it.
He saw it was a good morning message from Katsura Kotoha.
Not just Cat's Eye, but Katsura Kotoha was also greatly affected by the fusion of the multi-anime world.
She not only lost her androphobia, but even the flaw of [bad at cooking] was gone; instead, she became very skilled at cooking.
The current Katsura Kotoha can be considered the standard image of a "Yamato Nadeshiko."
Ryusei Kiryu put the peeled egg aside, wiped his hands, picked up his phone, and replied with a good morning message to Katsura Kotoha.
After breakfast, Ryusei Kiryu put on his backpack and left for school.
He left at about the same time today as yesterday, and arrived at the subway station at about the same time as yesterday.
Therefore, he took the same subway train as yesterday.
Ryusei Kiryu specifically chose the same car he was in yesterday and walked to the window seat.
When the subway reached the next station.
Ryusei Kiryu saw a familiar girl's figure on the platform through the window glass.
It was Katsura Kotoha.
As soon as she got on, she looked in his direction.
Upon seeing Ryusei Kiryu, her eyes immediately lit up with a kind of joyful radiance.
Ryusei Kiryu waved at her and said with a smile, "Come quickly."
Katsura Kotoha didn't hesitate much and nodded, "Mhm."
When she came over, Ryusei Kiryu, like yesterday, propped his hands against the window, leaving a safe space for Katsura Kotoha.
Ryusei Kiryu slightly lowered his head, looked at the girl in front of him, and said, "What a coincidence, Classmate Katsura Kotoha, we meet again today."
Katsura Kotoha looked up and met his gaze for a moment, then shyly lowered her eyes and whispered, "Mhm, what a coincidence, Classmate Ryusei Kiryu."
She didn't tell Ryusei Kiryu that she had actually deliberately caught this subway today, just to see if she could run into Ryusei Kiryu again.
Of course, Ryusei Kiryu also didn't tell her that he had also deliberately chosen this subway, also wanting to see if he could run into Katsura Kotoha again.
Both of them had their own little thoughts, and they just happened to align.
Ryusei Kiryu knew Katsura Kotoha was relatively introverted, so he took the initiative to start a conversation, guiding it towards common topics.
For example, calligraphy.
This was also his hobby in his previous life.
"Classmate Katsura Kotoha, are you interested in calligraphy?"
Katsura Kotoha honestly replied, "As for calligraphy, I practiced for a few years…"
Actually, her mother, Katsura Manami, forced her to practice calligraphy.
She herself didn't have much passion for calligraphy.
Besides that, there were also various "aristocratic courses" such as ballet, musical instruments, and swordsmanship.
These heavy courses had always left her breathless.
It was for the mother's promise that she would no longer be forced to study various extra courses that Katsura Kotoha worked hard to get into Sakakino Academy.
But at this moment, Katsura Kotoha looked at the smile on Ryusei Kiryu's face, a smile that seemed to say, "I can't believe you also like calligraphy, that's great," and she suddenly felt a little grateful to her strict mother.
Thanks to her mother's coercion, she can now talk to Classmate Ryusei Kiryu about calligraphy.
The subway was about to arrive at the station.
Katsura Kotoha was a bit reluctant.
"Classmate Ryusei Kiryu, I'm getting off."
"Wait."
"Hmm?"
"I'll show you another magic trick."
Ryusei Kiryu extended his hand in front of her, opened it, closed it, then opened it again.
A piece of chewing gum appeared in his palm.
"Eh?!"
"How was it?"
"Amazing!"
"Here, have some candy."
Katsura Kotoha reached out and took the candy from his palm.
"Thank you."
Ryusei Kiryu smiled as he saw her off the train, waved goodbye, and then looked at his system wallet.
"0 gold coins, 1 silver coin, 31 copper coins."
"Mhm, today is another day of making money."
--
Tonosaki Academy.
During the first class, Eriri was somewhat distracted, looking at the blackboard.
As an honor student, she could grasp the knowledge in the textbook by reading it herself, without needing to listen attentively in class.
A whole day has passed. Why hasn't that guy told me the title of that light novel yet?
This feeling of being held captive is really uncomfortable.
Amidst the boring wait, class finally ended.
A group of girls immediately gathered around Eriri's desk and excitedly began discussing the "big event" that happened last night.
"Did you see the news? That Cat's Eye thing!"
"Of course I did! It's so amazing, they actually took the painting just like the preview letter said."
"The Metropolitan Police Department is really as incompetent as ever!"
"Cat's Eye is just too amazing, okay! I bet this must be Kaito Kid's new alias!"
"Ah ah ah! Lord Kid!"
Eriri glanced at this group of girls with abnormally excited faces, feeling that they probably had some serious issues.
That Kaito Kid is just a sneaky thief, what's there to admire!
But she couldn't openly show her thoughts, so she could only smile and agree.
Sigh, it's really boring to be with these girls.
--
First-year E class at Tonosaki Academy.
At this time, most of the students in the class, like those in other classes, were gathered together, enthusiastically discussing the "Cat's Eye painting theft incident" that happened last night.
Except for Ryusei Kiryu and Kato Megumi.
Ryusei Kiryu knew Cat's Eye's true identity and the purpose of the theft, while Kato Megumi was simply not interested in such matters.
Today was Wednesday.
Ryusei Kiryu got up and walked towards a window seat in the back row of the classroom.
Aki Tomoya was chatting about "Cat's Eye" with one of his few good friends in class, Yoshihiko Kamigou.
"Aki-kun, there's something I need your help with."
Aki Tomoya looked up at Ryusei Kiryu and said, "Oh, Classmate Ryusei Kiryu, do you need to borrow a textbook again?"
Ryusei Kiryu shook his head and said with a smile, "It's not about borrowing textbooks, it's something else. I heard Aki-kun seems to know a lot about computers?"
Aki Tomoya scratched his head and said, "Oh, that… I actually only know a little bit about everything…"
He wasn't a computer expert, but he possessed the practical skills necessary for doujin creators.
Because he played games and made videos, he knew how to assemble computers.
Because he made MADs and promotional materials, he was skilled at video editing.
He was also extremely good at gathering information online, a "human search engine," just to quickly find rare information, bug reports, and doujin resources for various games and anime.
Ryusei Kiryu looked at him and said, "It's enough that Aki-kun understands. Here's the thing: I want to assemble a high-performance computer, but I'm not very familiar with the hardware market, so I'd like to ask someone knowledgeable to give me some advice."
Aki Tomoya pushed up his glasses and said, "I see. May I ask what Classmate Ryusei Kiryu's purpose for assembling the computer is? And what's your budget?"
"It's mainly for video editing. As for the budget, it's about 200,000 Japanese Yen. Is that enough?"
"That's plenty!"