"Let's go, I'll help you over."
Izumi Sora grabbed the gyaru senpai's arm.
"No..."
Shikiya Yumeko tilted up her pretty face. Her skin was pale, and because she had been in a dark environment, she was experiencing hypothermia and a clouded consciousness. She mumbled:
"Sora... carry..."
Carry my foot! Do you know that men and women shouldn't be so intimate!
We're at most ordinary friends. How do you have the nerve to ask a boy to carry you!
It was very clear.
The gyaru senpai and Elf shared a similar trait: a remarkably weak sense of shame.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear clearly."
"Carry..."
"Too heavy, can't carry."
Izumi Sora ignored her request, silently supporting the gyaru senpai, and walked towards the student council.
A moment later.
Izumi Sora arrived at the door of the student council office. He let the gyaru senpai lean against the wall, then raised his hand and knocked.
"Please come in."
Tia's voice came from inside the student council.
Izumi Sora pushed open the door and saw the girl with straight bangs sitting behind the desk, writing furiously. Her posture was upright and meticulous.
"Eh, is that Izumi-kun?"
Seeing Izumi Sora standing outside, Tia's eyes lit up, and she stood up happily.
"Tia, I brought you a present."
"A p-present?"
Tia widened her eyes, her heartbeat involuntarily accelerating rapidly.
(Why is Izumi-kun giving me a present?)
(What kind of present?)
(C-Could it be that he wants to...)
(I'm sorry, I only want to study hard right now. I'm not considering other things for the time being!)
Tia's pretty face quickly flushed red. As she was considering how to refuse, she saw Izumi Sora reach out and pull the limp gyaru senpai, who had been leaning against the wall, into the office.
"Here you go, Yumeko-senpai is immobilized again."
Tia: "..."
So the present is Yumeko-senpai?
You should have made that clear beforehand, idiot!
"Mmm..."
Shikiya Yumeko tilted her head in confusion:
"Tia... is blushing?"
"I am not, I am not." Tia hurriedly raised her hands to cover her cheeks, stammering. "I just choked on my drink earlier... Izumi-kun, please help Yumeko-senpai to the sofa."
"Okay."
Izumi Sora agreed, placed the gyaru senpai on the sofa, and then looked at Tia:
"Those two delinquent girls didn't cause you any trouble, did they?"
"Izumi-kun doesn't need to worry." Tia quickly shook her head, not taking it to heart. "The school has already punished them. They definitely won't dare to bully anyone anymore."
"...Anyway, tell me if anything happens."
Izumi Sora nodded slightly. After chatting for a bit, he took his leave.
The day passed in a flash.
After school.
The girls gathered at Izumi's house again, working hard for the final completion.
7:30 PM.
The game was finally finished.
"Good job, everyone."
Looking at the familiar game interface on the computer screen, Izumi Sora finally smiled.
More than a month of hard work had finally blossomed and borne fruit today.
"So much code actually turned into a playable game in the end. It feels so unbelievable," Anna murmured softly, holding up her phone and snapping photos continuously.
Elf covered her chest with her right hand, her eyelashes trembling gently:
"I don't know why, but my heart feels so satisfied."
Angel-sama's voice was gentle:
"That's called a sense of accomplishment."
"Onii-chan, will this game really be fun?" Sagiri muttered softly, crossing her arms and standing beside Izumi Sora. "I still want to read the light novels Onii-chan writes."
As long as Izumi Sora continued writing light novels, she could help draw the illustrations.
Compared to Sunflowers and Peashooters, Sagiri clearly preferred slightly more lewd works.
"There's no rush for light novels right now. We'll talk about that after the game is released." Izumi Sora reached out his right hand and rubbed Sagiri's small head. "You only know if a game is fun by experiencing it yourself... Sagiri, want to try it out?"
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Sagiri was taken aback.
Seeing everyone's gaze fall upon her, Sagiri involuntarily grew nervous and hurriedly hid behind Izumi Sora.
"No, let someone else play."
If it weren't for returning in the second playthrough, Sagiri would definitely be hiding in her room right now, completely terrified of being with so many people. Even now, playing a game under the watchful eyes of others still felt super embarrassing.
"Let me do it, let me do it."
Yamada Elf quickly raised her right hand, her eyes sparkling brightly:
"This is the first game Sora has made! Such an important 'first time' will be accepted by me."
Yanami: "..."
Shiina Mahiru: "..."
"Onii-chan~"
Sagiri quietly puffed out her pink cheeks. She reached out, tugged at Izumi Sora's hem, and tilted up her small face:
"I regret it, let me play."
Izumi Sora was expressionless: "It's too late to regret now."
Thump.
Yamada Elf plopped down on the chair, grabbed the mouse, and clicked [Start Adventure].
The next second.
A zombie hand suddenly burst out of the dirt, accompanied by a terrifying sound effect, giving Sagiri a fright.
Izumi Sora looked over speechlessly: "That's the hand you drew yourself."
Poke poke poke—
Sagiri extended a finger, poking Izumi Sora's waist repeatedly, muttering softly:
"Even if it's something I drew myself, suddenly seeing it is still scary."
The game loaded successfully.
Next was the tutorial phase.
"Hehehe, this is the setting I wrote..."
Seeing the tutorial text on the screen, Yamada Elf swung her short little legs happily, operating the game according to the instructions.
Plant a Peashooter, collect the falling sunlight, plant a Sunflower...
The camera panned out, and several ordinary zombies staggered over.
Pop pop pop~
The planted Peashooter started spitting peas.
"That's the voice I recorded!"
Yanami Anna shouted happily.
"Wall-nut, Wall-nut."
Yamada Elf frantically planted a Wall-nut.
A zombie arrived in front of the Wall-nut and made an eating motion.
Crunch crunch~
The eating sound effect played from the computer.
"Ah, that's the sound of me eating potato chips." Yanami Anna crossed her arms over her chest, the ahoge on her head swaying gently, her smile exceptionally bright and radiant. "To actually hear my own voice in a game, it feels so magical."
In comparison, Kuroneko gave her evaluation from a higher perspective.
"The art style is bright, and the zombies are okay... Elementary school students probably wouldn't be scared either. But looking at it now, it doesn't seem very attractive."
Izumi Sora was quite calm: "Don't rush, play a little longer and see."
He had sufficient confidence in the mini-game that once swept the globe.
A moment later.
Elf was quickly defeated.
[THE ZOMBIES ATE YOUR BRAINS]
"What's this." Yamada Elf puffed out her pink cheeks, very unconvinced. "I was careless just now and didn't dodge. Let's do it again."
Izumi Sora said from the side:
"I'll copy a version for you tonight. Take it back and play it slowly. Let the others try it out first."
"Alright."
Yamada Elf reluctantly stood up.
"My turn, my turn."
Yanami Anna couldn't wait to sit down.
If it were any other game, Yanami wouldn't be very interested. But a game made together with Sora felt like their own child, so of course it was super exciting.
For the rest of the time, the girls took turns playing the trial version, and they all gave it highly positive reviews.
Even the well-traveled and most critical Kuroneko felt the magical charm of this game, involuntarily becoming immersed in it.
"Sora, Sora, the game is finished, so next is the release phase, right?"
Yanami crossed her arms over her chest and looked up:
"I remember going to an anime convention in middle school. There were so many people selling homemade games at the convention back then. There's an anime convention coming up soon, should we participate?"
"Eh, an anime convention?"
Yamada Elf's eyes lit up, and she quickly raised her hand:
"I want to go play! I've never been to an anime convention before!"
Shiina Mahiru gently pursed her beautiful lips: "I haven't been either."
"Going to play is fine, but let's forget about selling the game at an anime convention." Izumi Sora interlaced his fingers, naturally having considered this beforehand. "Steam has a support program for indie games, we can sign up for that."
Sagiri raised her small hand: "We can also find game streamers to try out the game. Big streamers have many loyal fans, the promotional effect is very good."
Kuroneko: "Finding big streamers for promotion costs a lot of money."
Elf: "We can record gameplay videos ourselves and upload them to NicoNico."
Yanami: "We can also promote it to our friends."
Listening to the girls' discussion, Izumi Sora's gaze was steady, neither rushed nor impatient.
The hardest part of making a game is not knowing its future and prospects.
But Izumi Sora was very certain that Plants vs. Zombies, even without much promotion, would ultimately become a massive hit.
"It's almost 9:00 PM." Angel-sama checked the time, her voice gentle. "Let's call it a day."
"What, it's already so late?"
Yanami looked down at her phone, startled:
"Going home, going home."
Angel-sama turned to look at Kuroneko:
"Ruri-chan, your house is very far. Why don't you rest at my place for the night and go back tomorrow?"
Gokou Ruri replied softly:
"I have to hold a black magic summoning ritual when I get back, I'm sorry."
There was no helping it.
Kuroneko was very particular about her bed. If she changed places to sleep at night, it was highly likely she would toss and turn, unable to sleep. The feeling of insomnia is super uncomfortable.
Izumi Sora stood up and looked at Kuroneko: "I'll walk you back."
"No need." Gokou Ruri crossed her arms over her chest, her small face flushing slightly. "I am the Witch of the Dark Night. The night is my home turf, I don't need you to walk me back."
It was still early, so Kuroneko didn't feel it was a problem going back alone.
Not to mention Yanami, who didn't live far anyway and was fine walking home.
Izumi Sora walked the girls to the door and looked at Mahiru:
"Sorry, I won't have time to run tonight."
"It's okay." Angel-sama looked up, her voice gentle. "There will be plenty of time in the future."
"..."
After seeing the girls off, Izumi Sora logged onto Steam, uploaded various information, and after finishing, grabbed his clothes, preparing to take a shower.
Just as he finished taking off his clothes, the doorbell suddenly rang.
"It's probably Elf..."
Izumi Sora put on his bathrobe and went to open the door.
Who knew that upon opening the door, a girl with long straight black hair came into view.
"Ruri?"
Looking at the girl outside, Izumi Sora was quite surprised.
He thought it might be Elf or Mahiru, or even Yanami, but he never expected it would be Kuroneko quietly sneaking back.
"Did you leave something behind?"
Izumi Sora quickly thought of one possibility.
"I didn't leave anything behind..." Gokou Ruri quickly walked in, looking slightly embarrassed. "When I was almost at the train station, I suddenly felt a bit unwell, and then... and then my tail grew back..."
Hearing this, Izumi Sora looked behind her and indeed saw an elegant cat tail quietly emerging from under Kuroneko's school uniform skirt.
"I forgot to purify the magic power these past few days." Izumi Sora's expression turned serious. "Please let me touch it."
"No." Gokou Ruri covered her chest with both hands and took a half-step back. "A mere mortal, cease your overstepping actions."
As she spoke, the sound of a door opening suddenly came from upstairs, followed by Sagiri's voice:
"Onii-chan, who are you talking to?"
Gokou Ruri jumped in fright and hurriedly looked over in a panic:
"W-What do we do?"
Izumi Sora pointed towards the bathroom, signaling with his eyes:
"Hide inside."
Gokou Ruri hurriedly hid in the bathroom in a panic.
If Sagiri found out she secretly sneaked back, she would definitely be misunderstood, right?
"I was just on the phone with Ruri, she said she left something behind." Looking at Sagiri coming downstairs, Izumi Sora's expression was normal as he held up his phone. "She told me to bring it to school for her tomorrow."
"I see."
Sagiri didn't suspect anything. She arrived in the living room and plopped down on the sofa:
"Onii-chan, I'm hungry, I want to eat cup noodles."
Izumi Sora was speechless: "Eating so late will make you gain weight."
"Impossible, I have a constitution that doesn't gain weight." Sagiri lay on the sofa. "Onii-chan, hurry up and make cup noodles for me."
"If you want to eat, make them yourself."
"No, the cup noodles Onii-chan makes are tastier."
"..."
Kuroneko was still hiding in the bathroom. To avoid any unexpected complications, Izumi Sora turned and walked into the kitchen, quickly preparing cup noodles for Sagiri.
"Here." Izumi Sora handed the cup noodles to Sagiri, preparing to send her away. "Go back to your room and eat."
"No, eating cup noodles in the room will leave a strong smell, right?"
Sagiri picked up the remote control and turned on the TV:
"I'll eat in the living room and go back to my room when I'm done. Onii-chan, go take a shower."
If you eat in the living room, how is Kuroneko supposed to come out?
Don't cause trouble for others!
Since the person was already hiding, she naturally had to stay hidden until the end. Izumi Sora couldn't think of a reason to make Sagiri go back to her room, so he could only turn and walk into the bathroom.
"Don't panic, Sagiri will go upstairs after she finishes her cup noodles."
Looking at Kuroneko leaning against the wall, watching nervously, Izumi Sora softly comforted her.
Gokou Ruri averted her small face, stubborn as always: "I'm not nervous at all."
Izumi Sora extended his right hand toward Kuroneko: "It's a good time to help you purify the magic power now."
"...I'm counting on you."
Gokou Ruri's pretty face flushed slightly as she grasped Izumi Sora's right hand.
The bathroom quietly fell silent.
Their eyes met.
Izumi Sora lowered his voice:
"I suddenly feel a strong sense of déjà vu about the current scene..."
"Don't say it, it's just an illusion."
Gokou Ruri's pretty face flushed crimson, quickly interrupting him.
That night she stayed over due to the rain, she was almost caught by his sister while taking a shower, and at the time she didn't even have any clothes on... The déjà vu was of course strong!
As soon as she finished speaking, Sagiri's confused voice suddenly sounded outside the door:
"Onii-chan, I think I heard the voice of a bad woman?"