Setting that thought aside, after Wise replied to Belle and assured her there was nothing to worry about, Jane, who had been resting in his arms, slowly woke up.
"Oh? So the girl you met before was that Void Hunter? Oh my, I suddenly feel so amazing."
"Why do you say that?"
Wise looked at Jane, who smiled before snuggling closer and wrapping her arms around him again.
"Because I managed to steal a man away from the Void Hunter. Isn't that amazing? Hmm?" Jane looked up at Wise with a seductive smile.
As alluring as she was, Wise resisted the temptation. Jane was already exhausted.
Unlike Miyabi, she didn't possess seemingly endless stamina.
After resting for a while, Jane regained her energy and prepared to leave for work. Before heading out, she handed Wise a key.
"You can come over anytime you want from now on. Just promise me you won't bring other girls here, or at least don't let me know if you do. Otherwise, I'll be sad~ Mwah~"
After parting ways with Jane, Wise's phone rang again. This time, however, the message was from Rina.
She wanted to find a videotape but didn't know its exact title, only parts of its contents, so she asked Wise to help track it down.
Seeing the message, Wise didn't refuse and headed back to the video store.
The moment he walked inside, Belle hurried over, curiosity written all over her face.
"Brother, how did you manage to convince Miyabi's father? I heard the heads of big families are supposed to be really strict and care a lot about scandals. How did he agree to your relationship so easily? Don't tell me Miyabi threatened him with force?!"
"How could that even be possible? And stop bringing things from novels into reality," Wise replied with a light scolding.
Even so, he couldn't help thinking that reality could sometimes be stranger than fiction. After all, novels still needed to follow logic.
As he searched for the videotape, Wise recounted everything that had happened at the Hoshimi Family residence.
Not long afterward, Rina arrived at the store. She wore her usual black-and-white maid uniform, looking as elegant, graceful, and beautiful as ever.
"Hello, Manager. I've come to borrow the videotape as promised~"
"Of course. Here it is, 'Black Phonograph,'" Wise said as he handed her the prepared videotape.
Seeing that, Rina's face immediately brightened.
"Thank you. I'll go process the rental now. Oh, by the way, does your store also rent out VCRs along with the videotapes?"
"I'm sorry, we don't."
Wise's answer immediately made Rina look troubled.
"I see... That's a shame. Victoria Housekeeping doesn't have any equipment that can play videotapes. If I want to watch it, I'll have to rent a VCR somewhere else."
"Then why don't we just watch it here at the store?" Wise suggested.
"Eh? Would that really be okay? It would certainly make finding the song much easier if someone could help me, but... wouldn't that interfere with your work? And..."
Rina instinctively thought of Ellen and Corin.
Would it be inappropriate for her to watch a videotape alone with the person they liked?
"Business can be left to N.18. Besides, checking the contents of videotapes is part of the job."
Seeing that Rina still seemed hesitant, Wise reassured her again. After hearing his reasoning, she found it surprisingly convincing.
'If we're just watching a videotape together, there shouldn't be any problem, right?' Rina thought before nodding.
"Okay, then I won't stand on ceremony~ Please watch it with me!"
[Ding! Target Rina: has increased her favorability toward the host by 5. Her current favorability is now 75. Additionally, 500 Emotional Value has been obtained.]
[Current Emotional Value: 38500]
And so, Wise and Rina watched "Black Phonograph" together in the staff room.
Not long after the tape began playing, Rina suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"Ah, it's this song! I didn't expect to find it after only the third commercial."
"Oh? Looks like we're lucky. We finished much sooner than expected."
Wise was pleasantly surprised, but before he could respond, Rina eagerly asked, "Manager, if it's alright... may I finish watching the rest of the tape here?"
There was a hint of hesitation in her voice, but Wise naturally had no reason to refuse.
"Of course. Don't even worry about it. Though most of what's left is just commercials. Is there anything else you want to watch?"
"Not particularly. It's just... hearing those old commercial jingles again suddenly made me nostalgic. I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm especially good at memorizing commercial jingles~"
Rina smiled as she explained.
"When I was little, my family didn't allow me to watch TV by myself. The only chance I had was for about half an hour after dinner, when we'd watch the evening news together."
"But the news wasn't very interesting to me as a child. Instead, I loved the commercials that came afterward, so my family and I turned them into a little game where we'd memorize the jingles."
Wise hadn't expected Rina's parents to be so strict. Hearing her story, his curiosity was piqued.
"Memorizing commercial jingles? What kind of game was that?"
"To my family, it was a fun way to train our memory. To me, it was simply an excuse to watch commercials a little longer~" Rina replied with an amused smile.
Then, as though struck by inspiration, she clasped her hands together beside her cheeks.
"This is the perfect opportunity. Instead of explaining it, why don't we try it ourselves~ We can tweak the rules a little to match the VCR."
After adjusting the VCR for a moment, Rina stood up and walked over to Wise.
"You'll hold the remote. Pause the video whenever you like, and then I'll recite the next line of the commercial jingle~"
"Those are some really old commercials. Are you really that confident, Rina? Alright then, let's see what you've got."
As soon as Wise finished speaking, the tape began to play, and their commercial guessing game officially started.
For the first round, Wise paused at a random point in the commercial, and Rina effortlessly recited the next line.
It seemed he'd have to make things a bit more challenging.
For the second round, Wise skipped directly to a blank white screen before pressing pause.
"Just a white background. Can you still guess it?"
"Hmm... A screen like this... It's the Captain Cow commercial. That white screen is actually an ocean of milk. Captain Cow floats up from it wearing a hat, and then the jingle begins: Moo-ooh~ I command you, grow up quickly!"
Hearing Rina's answer, Wise was genuinely stunned.
"That... was supposed to be the sound of a cow?" he asked, sounding slightly doubtful.
"Mm-hmm. I didn't make that part up, you know. That's exactly how it goes in the commercial. I was just trying to recreate it as faithfully as possible~"
+- - -+
-[ AD ]-
+- - -+
+- - -+
Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street
+- - -+
✨ 90+ Advance Chapters • Early Access ✨
📚 Read Ahead Here:
[- p - a - t - r - e - o - n . com / DysFiction -]
💖 Enjoying the Story? Support My Work:
[ ko - fi . com / dysfiction ]
+- - -+
📖 Available Novels
🔹 Zenless Zone Zero: The Almighty Incubus of Sixth Street
↳ (Translation)
🔹 Azur Lane: Don't Fight! You're All My Wives!
↳ (Translation)
🔹 Zenless Zone Zero: Death in White
↳ (Original Story — Exclusive Until Chapter 30)
+- - -+