Chapter 62: Sakura Airi, Attempting to Clear Reality Like a Game
A couple's date!
Could it be that Hiyori-san wants to go on a date with Keima-kun?!
No, no, no! Hiyori-san and Keima-kun haven't known each other for that long. They couldn't have developed to that stage yet! They shouldn't have! Absolutely not!
Although Sakura Airi kept telling herself this in her heart, the more she thought about it, the more she cared. What exactly was the relationship between Shiina Hiyori and Katsuragi Keima?
Airi didn't dislike Hiyori; in fact, she thought Hiyori was a very good person, somewhat similar to herself. But why did she ask Keima out? Hiyori was beautiful, gentle, and although she seemed a bit lazy at times, she was much more "sunny" compared to Airi herself. To Keima, what kind of existence was Shiina Hiyori?
Airi's level of distress was rising exponentially!
"No, no, no, Keima-kun and I are just friends, just friends... He and Hiyori are also just friends! Just friends! This isn't something I should be worrying about..."
As Airi muttered to herself, she took out her terminal and posted a few photos to her blog—quite a few more than usual.
"This way, it'll be easier for Keima-kun to see my updates..."
Despite telling herself not to care, her thoughts snapped back to Keima in an instant. Speaking of which... she really needed to understand Keima-kun better!
Today's mix-up with the game was so embarrassing. But Keima-kun was truly gentle; he didn't blame her at all and accepted it happily. Earlier, he was the only one who noticed her mood... Today, he was so handsome...
No, stop thinking about that!
With the intent to understand Keima better, Airi clicked into his blog, having no intention of hiding her visit record.
"Keima-kun updated his posts again... Eh?"
Airi's eyes were quickly drawn to a paragraph in the article.
[Some people are surely curious how I achieve such a fast conquest speed.]
[To conquer someone, you must know everything about them.]
[By any means necessary, you must learn their favorite foods, colors, books, movies—even down to the minute and second of what they do every day.]
[Not only that, but as the first step of conquest, you need to appear before them frequently. Whether it's a good impression or a bad one, making them remember you is more important than anything else.]
[Once the seed is planted, you need to water it constantly; sooner or later, it will sprout.]
Below the paragraph, a schedule for various in-game characters was posted, precise down to the minute. This was the core of conquest as summarized by Katsuragi Keima.
However, these words gave Airi an epiphany.
"No wonder Keima-kun is so gentle...
I... my understanding of Keima-kun is indeed not enough...
I only know he likes playing games, and that's it. I don't know what he likes to eat, drink, what movies he watches, what books he reads, what songs he listens to... I don't know any of it!"
Airi clenched her right fist tightly, as if she had made a firm decision in her heart.
Perhaps this strategy would work for her too.
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.
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"You're like a bugged game! You Bug-Demon!"
In Keima's dormitory, he was yelling hysterically at Elsie. Everything that happened today had left him utterly speechless. During the day, he nearly died of exhaustion in P.E. class; at noon, Elsie made him "Demon Cuisine" in the most literal sense. And then tonight, that happened.
"Waaaah, I was doing it for Kami-nii-sama's own good!" Elsie said aggrievedly. "Isn't Kami-nii-sama low on points? So I thought if I cooked, I could reduce Kami-nii-sama's burden!"
"Then could you please just make normal food..." Keima sighed. Seeing Elsie's tearful face and knowing she wanted to help, he couldn't bring himself to say anything more. "You won't need to trouble yourself anymore; I can save a huge amount of points from now on."
"Eh? Why, Kami-nii-sama!"
"I reached an agreement with the Chairman."
"What is a Chairman?"
"..."
Feeling utterly helpless, Keima explained everything that had happened in detail.
"I see! So not only did you save a ton of points, but you don't have to worry about the class exams anymore?" Elsie's eyes went wide as she looked at Keima with worship. "As expected of Kami-nii-sama!"
"That's right. This will save a lot of trouble."
Keima felt a headache just thinking about the troublesome people in his class. It was exactly because of people like them in the real world that he disliked it so much.
"But, Kami-nii-sama, Kami-nii-sama... waaaah, are you going to abandon me?!" Elsie suddenly looked at him with teary eyes.
"Huh?"
"If you don't care about the class grades, won't I fail easily? Waaaah! If I get expelled, the whole world will be destroyed, waaaah!"
"I know, I know. Didn't I say I would tutor you?"
"As expected of Kami-nii-sama, you're the best!" Elsie seemed to think of something. "Then... what about the study group?!"
"Don't worry, the study group will continue," Keima replied.
The members of the study group were his mission targets. Although in Keima's philosophy, "multi-threading" wasn't a wise move and could sometimes lower favorability, he was just starting out. This was a method to get closer to others. He could maximize his presence in front of the targets and learn their preferences. The study group provided exactly that platform.
Besides... Keima obviously couldn't let his targets be expelled.
Come to think of it, among his targets, Sakura Airi and Hasabe Haruka had grades that weren't exactly great. Airi's performance in various subjects was mediocre, and she wasn't very quick-witted. Haruka was extreme; she excelled in subjects she liked, but her weak subjects were a tragedy. If they failed even one subject, they'd be expelled. Both carried significant risks.
Of course, compared to Elsie, they were practically geniuses.
Keima shook his head helplessly and pulled out his task cards.
[Name: Hasabe Haruka] [Favorability: 20%]
He had only really had significant contact with Haruka today, and he had gained a decent amount of favorability. She was the type who went by "vibe"; if she felt you were on her wavelength, she'd form a bond at light speed. If not, it was trouble. Fortunately, in Haruka's eyes, Keima was a positive type.
[Name: Sakura Airi] [Favorability: 88%] [Favorability: 89%] [Favorability: 90%]
"Kami-nii-sama! Airi's favorability is soaring! Is it because of what happened tonight?"
"Mm. Once you enter Sakura Airi's inner heart, she will gradually be conquered," Keima said.
The unexpected events of tonight had drastically accelerated progress. But even before that, Keima had noticed something was wrong with her. It wasn't just because of him; it was like she was worried about something else.
Combining the anonymous comments on her blog, Keima had guessed her identity and the potential stalker's behavior. That's why he didn't leave after she gave him the gift, but followed her instead.
'Airi's level of obsession is no less than that of my own fans...'
Keima looked down at his terminal. Notifications kept pushing through.
[User Shizuku] viewed your status at 21:12.
[User Shizuku] viewed your status at 21:17.
[User Shizuku] entered your blog at 21:40.
[User Shizuku] just viewed your status.
Keima pursed his lips, put down the terminal, and looked at the other cards. Horikita Suzune and Kushida Kikyo had no changes. Suzune was a good start; progress would speed up later. Kikyo's side had hit a bottleneck. Keima didn't know what her true side looked like, but he was certain her past was closely linked to Suzune. Perhaps by conquering Suzune, he could dig out the truth. Or he just needed the right timing.
He flipped the next card. Kamuro Masumi was still at zero; they had just met. However, Keima had noticed her tailing him tonight. Was it because of Sakayanagi Arisu? Fortunately, she shouldn't have seen anything regarding Elsie or the demon.
[Name: Sakayanagi Arisu] [Favorability: 10%]
Looking at Arisu's favorability, Keima narrowed his eyes.
"Eh! Is that the Sakayanagi from today?" Elsie asked curiously. "Didn't she only have a tiny bit this morning? How did it jump to 10%?"
Keima knew the reason. Kamuro must have told Arisu about tonight, likely accompanied by a massive misunderstanding—much like the Chairman's misunderstanding of him. Arisu's increased favorability suggested one thing: she was definitely not a "good" person. Rather than affection, it was more like her expectation and curiosity toward him.
"I hope I don't run into any more trouble later."
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The next day, at noon.
After packing his things, Keima left his room. Shiina Hiyori was already waiting downstairs.
"Good morning, Keima-kun."
Due to Hasabe Haruka's "disruption," the way they addressed each other in the study group had changed. This was a happy turn of events for Hiyori. She knew that close friends addressed each other by their given names, but she didn't know how to initiate such a thing.
'Haruka-san really was a big help.'
However, when she said his name, Hiyori's voice was indeed a few notches quieter.
"Good morning, Hiyori. Have you been waiting long?" Keima looked at the girl before him.
With long silver hair, purple eyes, and skin as white as snow, Hiyori looked like an elf out of a fairy tale. Because it was the weekend, students didn't have to wear uniforms. Hiyori had changed into an outfit completely different from usual: a dark dress over a light-colored sweater, and grey tights instead of knee-high socks, making her legs look even more slender and straight.
Keima had left thirty minutes early, but Hiyori was earlier still.
"No, no, I just arrived as well!" Hiyori replied with a smile.
In reality, after going back last night, Hiyori had been incredibly excited for today, even suffering a bit of insomnia. She had never had the experience of going out on a weekend with a friend—or even a classmate. Though she was the one who invited him, the difference between a weekday and a weekend was significant in her heart. She hadn't had very close friends before. Keima was the first. She felt she absolutely couldn't make a friend wait for her, so she arrived early.
She hadn't expected Keima to arrive early as well.
"I'm sorry for inviting you so suddenly yesterday, Keima-kun."
"No, I should be the one apologizing. I had things to handle last night that delayed us; instead, I'm taking up your time on the weekend."
"Not at all! It's just that after playing the game, there were so many things I didn't know and wanted to understand, so I wanted to find you. I felt these things were best discussed in person." Hiyori's amethyst eyes projected a serious gaze toward Keima.
"Then let's go to the coffee shop first. I haven't really been there much."
"The coffee there is delicious, and you can stay as long as you like."
Keima and Hiyori began walking toward the cafe.
However...
Behind them, someone was tailing them stealthily. Like a thief, she hid behind a corner, only poking her head out to watch Keima from a distance.
Sakura Airi.
"I-I have to find out Keima-kun's preferences!
I have to know what Keima-kun is doing every moment today!
I-I'm not here because I'm worried about Hiyori-san at all!"
Airi muttered to herself.
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