After arriving at school and walking to the school building, Yuki separated from Ryou Yamada. Ryou Yamada was in her second year of high school, so she was on a different floor from Yuki. After saying goodbye to Ryou Yamada, Yuki quickly returned to his classroom.
At this time, Tobiichi Origami was already sitting next to his seat. After greeting her, Tobiichi Origami asked Yuki about the person he went to see last night. Regarding this, Yuki had nothing to hide, so he directly showed Tobiichi Origami a few photos he had taken of Ryou Yamada.
Seeing Ryou Yamada's somewhat revealing attire in the photos, Tobiichi Origami gave Yuki a calm look and said:
"Yuki, do you like this style? Then I'll wear this type next time."
Quickly, Tobiichi Origami shifted the topic.
"Ahem, alright, alright."
Yuki coughed and nodded gently.
At the same time, Eriri also arrived in the classroom. She had originally wanted to go up and greet Yuki, but seeing Yuki chatting with his deskmate Tobiichi Origami, she decided against it and gloomily returned to her own seat.
Compared to Eriri, Kitagawa Marin appeared much more open and natural. She bounced over to Yuki's desk and cheerfully greeted Yuki and Tobiichi Origami.
"Good morning, Yuki-kun, Tobiichi-san."
"Mhm, good morning, Marin."
Yuki smiled in response.
During lunch yesterday, Kitagawa Marin had asked Yuki to change how he addressed her. Compared to calling her "classmate," this felt more intimate. Yuki naturally accepted this. Hearing Yuki call her Marin, Kitagawa Marin's face immediately bloomed into a flower-like smile.
"Mhm mhm mhm!"
Tobiichi Origami on the side also greeted her.
"Good morning, Kitagawa-san."
After a brief chat, class time soon began. After several classes passed, it was soon time for the last class of the morning.
Just as Yuki was feeling bored, a chat group notification suddenly sounded in his mind.
[Alert: Masked Star has joined the chat group!]
[Alert: Devourer's Daughter has joined the chat group!]
Two messages about newcomers joining drew Yuki's attention. Opening the group messages, he quickly saw everyone welcoming the newcomers.
Saeko: "Welcome, newcomers, to our big family!"
Seitenshi: "Newcomers, if you have any questions, you can check the announcement! I recently improved it again!"
Huaizhu: "Welcome, welcome!"
Artemis: "I never expected new members after such a long time!"
Marika: "With newcomers, I guess I'm considered an old-timer now!"
Yuki: "Welcome, newcomers."
Masked Star: "Hello, everyone. Is this real? A chat group across myriad worlds, and everyone's from different worlds? Not some kidnapping or something?"
....
Eminence in Shadow World.
In a modern school, sitting inside a classroom, was a girl with long black hair and delicate features, her red eyes wide. At that moment, her expression was slightly astonished.
Her name was Nishino Akane, a beautiful high school girl. Not only was she exceptionally good-looking, a popular award-winning entertainment star, but she was also quite popular at school, deeply liked by teachers and classmates. Moreover, her family was superior; her father was a well-known local entrepreneur, making her a chaebol heiress.
Yet, this perfect, multi-talented beauty had almost been abducted as a child. Fortunately, security guards had discovered it in time and thwarted the attempt. She had been spared from a kidnapping disaster. Later, she developed psychological trauma from the incident and consciously wore a mask in her interactions. Even now, in high school, she still couldn't shake off that shadow.
Today, suddenly receiving the chat group join notification in her mind, the girl was initially very wary. She thought she might be encountering kidnapping or something similar. However, after being silent for a few minutes, she found the prompt still existed. Driven by curiosity, she chose to agree.
After agreeing, she joined the group, read the group announcement, and roughly understood what kind of group this was.
Saeko: "Kidnapping? That's strange. Why would the newcomer ask that?"
Seitenshi: "How could we possibly kidnap anyone? Everyone here is very friendly!"
Athena: "This goddess thinks the newcomer probably experienced some trauma in the past, which is why she associated this with kidnapping."
Nishino Akane: "Uh... how did you know?!"
Saeko: "As expected of the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena. To guess that just like that."
Nishino: "Athena? As in the Greek goddess Athena?"
Seitenshi: "That's right! Though she's an Athena from another world!"
Seeing this, Nishino Akane's expression was filled with shock. Gods actually exist in the world?! This is an extremely important discovery! But hearing the other mention gods from other worlds made Nishino Akane calm down a bit.
Nishino: "I was indeed rude earlier, facing all you deities. (Apologetic bow)"
Huaizhu: "Hehe, but you're mistaken. There are indeed deities here, but not everyone is a deity!"
Marika: "Correct. For example, the strongest person in the group isn't the goddess from just now, but the only male in the group, Mr. Yuki."
Yuki: "Ahem, hello there."
Nishino: "Hello! Mr. Yuki."
Nishino: "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Nishino Akane. Nice to meet you all."
Upon hearing the name "Nishino Akane" and connecting it with "Child Star," Yuki quickly thought of the work called Eminence in Shadow.
The male protagonist in this work was a complete chuunibyou pretentious jerk. All day long, he thought about chuunibyou, wanting to become the "Eminence in Shadow." Every day, he acted as "Shadow," showing off, while he himself was obsessed with getting beaten up and acting like a bystander. Despite having powerful strength, under his real name, he pretended to be bullied in various ways. In the shadows, he transformed into "Shadow" to show off. Truly a master of "playing the pig to eat the tiger."
Anyway, when Yuki had watched this work before, he could only say it was so awkward it made him curl his toes. But, to be fair, the girls in it were quite good. Back on Blue Planet, when he watched it, it was also for the sake of the girls.
After everyone introduced themselves, they started chatting.
Raiden: "You seemed very concerned about kidnapping earlier. Can you tell us about it?"
Nishino: "Sure. It was like this..."
Then, Nishino Akane explained her family background, her child star background, and the incident from childhood where she was almost abducted. After hearing it, everyone could understand why she had been so agitated.
Saeko: "I see. Something that happened in childhood can indeed easily leave psychological trauma."
Seitenshi: "True. It's like being bitten by a dog when you're little; even when you grow up, you might still fear dogs."
Nishino: "Yes... I always feel I'm being too weak."
Devourer's Daughter: "What does it matter? As long as you become stronger yourself, you won't have to fear anyone bullying you!"
At that moment, the other newcomer also spoke up.