Unaware of—and frankly unconcerned with—what the Yukinoshita sisters might be thinking, Narumi continued his steady, ordinary routine. He never slacked off, whether it was attending club activities or showing up to his part-time job on time.
After all, the one tangled up with them was the novelist "Narumi Tōru" from the simulation. What did that have to do with the perfectly average, unremarkable male high school student Narumi Tōru in reality?
Even though he retained the memories and emotions associated with that experience, his simulated self had been someone emotionally detached, someone who had never really understood what love was to begin with. Influenced by that, once he stepped away from that environment, he found that he didn't actually feel much lingering attachment to either of the Yukinoshita sisters.
Besides, what occupied his thoughts right now was the work he had just posted on the forum. If it could be read by more people, he might even seriously consider submitting something to a writing contest.
"I'm a man who's going to become the king of rookie light novel authors. Women are a hassle." (bushi)
In any case, too busy to worry about romance, Narumi Tōru endured what felt like an eternity of waiting—until one noon, he finally refreshed his feed and saw Kashiwagi Eri-sensei's new release.
It was a 48-page short doujin manga, adapted from a short story posted on the forum. Kashiwagi Eri had thoughtfully pinned the original work's link in the comments, and the moment the new piece went live, the number of likes and comments began skyrocketing at a visible pace.
So this is the influence of a top-tier creator…?
Narumi narrowed his eyes slightly and read through the entire manga from start to finish. He had to admit it—Kashiwagi Eri's precise depiction and masterful composition absolutely crushed the majority of commercial manga on the market. And this was just a passion project she'd done for free. Her drawing skill was downright terrifying.
What's more, despite being a doujin artist, she hadn't stuffed any random R18 content into a pure-love story. Ten thousand points for that alone.
After finishing the manga, Narumi clicked the pinned link in the comments. After a brief load, the page jumped straight to the forum post.
The original work, which had only garnered a few thousand impressions as of yesterday, had seen its traffic double within just half an hour after Kashiwagi Eri's adaptation—its views and reads continuing to climb at an exponential rate.
Naturally, the novel's comment section was now full of Kashiwagi Eri's loyal fans stopping by, alongside many readers drawn in by recommendations and traffic, offering high-quality plot analyses. In no time at all, lively discussion filled what had once been a nearly deserted post.
To have his work seen by so many people, talked about by so many strangers—to have the story he'd poured his heart into and the emotions he wanted to convey acknowledged and affirmed by people he'd never met—
"This feeling… it's honestly amazing."
The joy unique to being a creator surged up inside him. The curly-haired boy grabbed a bottle of "fat-otaku happiness water" from the fridge and gulped it down, and when he returned to his desk, even his steps felt lighter.
There was no doubt that Kashiwagi Eri's derivative work had played a crucial role in spreading Narumi's story. In just one night, the original post's views broke past the hundred-thousand mark, with new comments appearing every second.
[Such delicate emotional portrayal… the hazy feelings between adolescent boys and girls are sketched out with such simple strokes]
[Still can't get enough after finishing it—I reread it over and over… add a bit more detail and this could totally be adapted into a pure-love movie, right?]
[Does anyone get how hard this hit?? I cried so much my damn contacts shifted 😭]
[Author keeps stabbing us with knives, my stomach hurts—can we get a happy-ending parallel world pls??]
…and countless other shares and comments besides.
Receiving this much feedback for the first time, Narumi patiently read through each reader's response one by one. By the time he finally scrolled to the bottom of the comment section, he'd once again stayed up deep into the night.
Not long ago, he'd submitted hundreds of thousands of words to editorial departments only to be ignored outright, his manuscripts returned without a second glance. And now, a piece he'd written in a single night was receiving such overwhelming and positive responses—it was hard not to feel a little lightheaded.
That future simulation he'd once thought completely unreliable had actually allowed him to shine in the field of novel writing, something he'd always wanted to pursue.
Alright. If that thing ever asked for user feedback, it probably deserved a five-star rating.
Feeling thoroughly satisfied with the results, Narumi sent a message thanking Kashiwagi Eri via private chat. After all, she'd worked purely out of passion; without her help, so many people would never have noticed his story.
Naturally, he also logged into rr14 to thank the net-friend [Childhood-Friend Victory]. Even though the guy kept cheerfully repeating things like "No need to thank me, no need to thank me—just a small favor," Narumi still ran dungeons with him for several hours afterward.
This time, he didn't complain about the guy's gameplay even once.
Narumi never expected to become an overnight success. A short story written in one night reaching over a hundred thousand views and hundreds of comments was already more than enough for him. From here on, he'd keep creating whenever inspiration struck, steadily moving forward step by step.
That night, although he once again didn't fall asleep until the early hours, he slept unusually soundly.
As the boy met Duke Zhou again in his dreams—
In a room on the other side of the same city.
In a dim bedroom, the only light came from the harsh glow spilling out of a computer screen, barely illuminating one corner of the room. Curled up tightly in front of the monitor sat a long pink-haired girl, scrolling her mouse, her entire body radiating the gloomy aura characteristic of a shut-in.
A serialized manga she'd been following—about a group of high school girls forming a band—had just reached its final chapter. The emptiness that flooded her heart after a beloved work ended drove her to mindlessly browse other manga.
Eventually, the cursor wandering across the webpage stopped on the cover of Kashiwagi Eri-sensei's new work.
"…?"
She wasn't familiar with the author, but drawn in by the beautiful art style, the girl hesitated for a moment—then clicked into the manga's opening page, one she normally would have ignored.
Ten minutes passed in a blink.
"...…!"
After closing the page, the pink-haired girl sat there in silence for a long while. As if struggling to hold her emotions in, she forced her body to stay still—then finally stood up from her chair.
And picked up the guitar hanging in the corner.