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Leo didn't know the exact trigger for the sudden influx of points, but he wasn't about to question a windfall. Gaining currency while eating hotpot and singing was the ultimate dream.
[Target: Aki Tomoya. State: Deep Depression. +300 Points.]
Internal Monologue: Keep crying, golden boy. Papa needs a new pair of shoes.
That night, the gaming session ended early. Utaha logged off before midnight, citing the third-year mock exams scheduled for the next day. Even though she had already secured an early admission recommendation to Waseda University, her pride as a top student wouldn't allow her to slack off. She treated exams like raid bosses—she didn't just want to win; she wanted a flawless victory.
Left alone, Leo continued his passionate brawl with random players on the European server, exchanging cannon fire until the early hours of the morning.
The Next Day.
When Leo arrived at school, the first thing he saw was Aki Tomoya. The boy looked like a zombie. His skin was sallow, his eyes were dull, and he radiated an aura of misery so potent it was almost visible.
Leo watched him shuffle down the hallway with a sense of gloating, but also calculation.
Internal Monologue: He looks ready to quit. That's a problem. I've only milked about 2,000 points out of him. If the tool breaks before the job is done, I lose my revenue stream.
Leo needed to stabilize the situation. And to do that, he needed to understand the other side of the equation: Eriri.
After School: The Club Room.
When Leo and Megumi arrived at the Audio-Visual Room, the atmosphere was split down the middle.
On one side sat Kasumigaoka Utaha, radiating triumph. She was typing away on her mechanical keyboard, a smug smile playing on her lips.
"Senior," Leo said, dropping his bag. "How was the exam? Did you survive?"
Utaha flipped her hair, the movement sharp and confident. "Is that even a question? First place is guaranteed. I could have aced that test while sleepwalking. High school curriculum is... quaint."
She had already self-studied most of the first-year university syllabus. For her, high school tests were like asking a calculus professor to do long division.
On the other side of the room, the vibe was very different.
Eriri Spencer Sawamura sat in front of her easel. Her canvas was blank. She held a paintbrush in her hand, but it wasn't moving. She was staring into the middle distance, her usually vibrant blue eyes looking glassy and unfocused.
Megumi, ever the observer, noticed the anomaly immediately. She drifted over to Eriri's side, her footsteps silent. She waved a hand gently in front of the artist's face.
"Eriri-san?" Megumi asked, her voice soft and flat. "You don't look well. Are you feeling sick?"
Eriri flinched, snapping out of her daze. "Eh? Ah... no. I'm fine. Just... thinking about composition. I got a little engrossed."
Her smile was forced. It was brittle, like cracked glass.
Leo observed from his seat. So, the damage is mutual. Tomoya is a wreck, and Eriri is distracted. They definitely had a fight.
He didn't intervene directly. Prying now would only make Eriri defensive. Instead, he sat down and opened his laptop. He wasn't in the mood to write, so he connected his tablet.
Let's knock out another illustration, Leo decided. Volume 2 is already written in my head. I might as well reduce the workload for the layout team.
He sketched for a while, the scratching of his stylus adding a rhythm to the room. After twenty minutes, he paused and turned to Utaha.
"Senior," Leo asked casually. "Tomorrow is Friday. Do you have any plans?"
Utaha slowed her typing. "Plans? Not really. I've been wrestling with the new manuscript. The shift from romance to urban fantasy is... taxing. My efficiency has dropped."
"Writer's block?"
"Not a block, exactly," Utaha sighed, rubbing her temples. "It's friction. I know what I want to write, but finding the right words to describe the action sequences takes time. I'm overthinking the choreography."
"Sounds like you need a reset," Leo suggested. "Staring at a screen all day rots the brain. How about we go out tomorrow? A change of pace."
"A change of pace..." Utaha mused. She stopped typing, tapping her chin with a perfectly manicured finger. "I suppose my editor isn't breathing down my neck yet. And getting some fresh air might help clear the mental fog."
She spun her chair around, her eyes landing on the depressed blonde girl in the corner.
In the original timeline, Utaha and Eriri were bitter rivals, constantly at each other's throats. But in this world, Leo had disrupted the flow. They weren't enemies; they were just teammates who hadn't quite bonded yet.
Utaha saw Eriri's slumped shoulders and recognized the look of creative and emotional burnout.
"I'm in," Utaha said, a mischievous glint entering her eyes. "But let's make it a group outing. Eriri looks like she's about to wither away. Let's drag her along."
Leo smiled. Utaha was sharper than she let on. She was offering an olive branch to her teammate, and conveniently, this played right into Leo's hands.
"Good idea," Leo agreed. "Eriri! Megumi! Clear your schedules for tomorrow afternoon. We're going on a field trip."
Eriri looked up, startled. "Hah? I didn't agree to—"
"It's a club activity," Leo lied smoothly. "Mandatory attendance for inspiration gathering. No objections allowed."
Internal Monologue: Let's get the band back together. I need my points farm operational again.