Chapter 31: A God-Tier Assist from Elsie!
A string of question marks floated through Katsuragi Keima's mind.
'Why did Shiina Hiyori's affection level increase? It was at 10% the last time we met, right? Could it be that she's started self-capturing too?'
While Keima understood "literary girls" very well, this situation shouldn't be happening. Drawing on his years of Gal-Ge experience, he immediately ruled out the possibility of Shiina Hiyori self-capturing. This type of literary girl, who is poor at socializing, possesses a very delicate mind, but unlike the purely socially anxious Sakura Airi, to significantly increase her affection, one must step into her heart bit by bit and listen to her inner voice.
He hadn't spent much time with Shiina Hiyori; technically, they hadn't even had a direct conversation yet. After exchanging contact information, the two of them hadn't really spoken. This level of interaction was nowhere near enough to trigger a "self-capture" state—unless someone else had taken action.
Keima's mind raced. Come to think of it, if that person on the blog really was Shiina Hiyori, she wouldn't normally use social media so frequently, nor would she have found him with such pinpoint accuracy.
Someone had definitely done something! And the most suspicious candidate was—Elsie!
"Tell me, you went to the library again today, right?"
"That's right! I went to see Shiina-san! She recommended all these books to me!"
"Did you two say anything?"
"Say anything? No, we just had a simple chat. I was even talking to her on my terminal just now!"
"What did you say?"
Keima immediately grabbed Elsie's terminal and opened the chat history between her and Shiina Hiyori.
[Elsie]: Shiina-san, are there any other books you recommend?!
[Shiina Hiyori]: Elsie-san, have you finished the previous books already?
[Elsie]: Finished! I learned a lot!
[Shiina Hiyori]: That's great. I'll recommend a few more then. Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None are both very good!
[Elsie]: Oh! I've heard that name before!
[Shiina Hiyori]: Oh? Elsie-san knows about Agatha too?
[Elsie]: I overheard my Nii-sama mention the name before! (Keima had been seen by Elsie a few times while playing games involving these references.)
[Shiina Hiyori]: Katsuragi-kun? I didn't realize he was interested in those things as well.
[Elsie]: Interested? He knows them inside and out!
[Shiina Hiyori]: Come to think of it, it was Katsuragi-kun who encouraged you to read more, wasn't it?
[Shiina Hiyori]: I'd love to chat with Katsuragi-kun again if there's a chance! Also, you and your brother really do get along well, Elsie-san!
[Elsie]: Nii-sama is the person I admire most! And soon, he'll be the person all the women in the world admire!
[Shiina Hiyori]: Haha.JPG
"..."
Reading the chat log, Keima's face turned a shade of beet red. Having those words typed out was just too embarrassing! In the subsequent messages, Elsie had practically spilled everything about Keima, including the website walkthroughs.
[Shiina Hiyori]: (Screenshot.JPG) This person called "God" is Katsuragi-kun, right?
[Shiina Hiyori]: Katsuragi-kun's writing is really good. Even someone like me, who doesn't know much about games, found it fascinating.
[Shiina Hiyori]: In a way, novels and games are the same; they are vessels for stories. If it means experiencing different stories, I'd like to learn more about them when I have the chance.
"Just as I thought. That person really is Shiina!"
Keima sighed. It was indeed Elsie's doing. Perhaps because Elsie mentioned his deep knowledge of the subject, Shiina Hiyori's affection for him had increased significantly.
If 100% affection is defined as a complete capture: 80% is love, 60% is having a crush, 40% is high importance, and 20% is being viewed as a friend. At the very least, in Shiina Hiyori's eyes, Keima was now a friend with whom she shared common interests.
In reality, Keima wasn't interested in novels; in his eyes, books were the most inefficient medium of communication.
—However, seeing as Shiina Hiyori seemed to be getting interested in games, he would reluctantly acknowledge her for the time being.
"Kami-nii-sama, is there something wrong with the chat history?"
"Forget it. Nothing's wrong."
Keima handed the terminal back to Elsie, then took several books from his desk and piled them in front of her. "Since you like reading so much now, finish all of these first."
They were all textbooks.
"Kami-nii-sama?!"
"No resting until you've finished!"
"Understood!!!"
.
.
.
The next morning.
Keima arrived at the classroom as usual, returning to his seat while playing his game.
"Good morning, Katsuragi-kun..."
A voice, so faint it was almost inaudible, sounded beside him like a passing breeze. This was the first time Sakura Airi had taken the initiative to greet someone—though an average person might not have heard it.
"Good morning, Sakura-san."
Keima responded softly and sat down, immersing himself in the game world, appearing no different than usual.
Airi turned her head slightly—a tiny movement—but her gaze focused on Keima through her lenses.
'Katsuragi-kun is the same as always today. No difference, no strange behavior. It seems... he hasn't discovered my true identity. Last night, he probably only followed me because of Shizuku's charm.'
At this thought, Airi breathed a long sigh of relief, yet felt a tiny flicker of disappointment—not toward Keima, but toward herself.
"Thank you for last night, Sakura-san."
Suddenly, Keima spoke to her, his eyes still fixed on the game.
"Eh? Katsuragi-kun, what are you thanking me for?"
"Yesterday, Sakura-san followed my account, so I followed you back."
"Eh? EHHH!"
Airi's eyes went wide, her blue pupils flashing with an expression of shock.
"That blogger named Shizuku is you, right? I don't know much about that field, but you're really amazing, Sakura-san. Your follower count is huge."
Keima put down his handheld and shifted his gaze to Sakura Airi's face.
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