127. Megumi Kato’s Worries

The next morning, although the alarm hadn’t gone off yet, Jiang Yu’s internal clock, honed over roughly two weeks, roused him from his heavy sleepiness.

Come to think of it, even before this life—and except for exam months—his previous self had enjoyed a leisurely college life. Wasn’t he an otaku back then? He recalled many nights spent gaming and watching anime until dawn... So how did his biological clock become so irregular?

Despite these thoughts, Jiang Yu yawned, turned off the alarm early, changed his clothes, and headed to the bathroom.

“Do I really have to prepare breakfast again? Such a hassle...” He stretched lazily, pondering why other girls seemed to have maxed out their cooking and housekeeping skills.

And his own sister? Maxed out in gaming skills? Jiang Yu clicked his tongue, abandoning any further comparison.

After breakfast, Jiang Yu waited by the door as usual for his sister, Ume Doma, to change clothes. Descending the stairs together, they ran into Nana Ebina, who was waiting by the front gate as usual.

Jiang Yu greeted her with a smile, but received a startled, timid look in return, like a frightened rabbit. He awkwardly lowered his hand, which had frozen mid-air, then chuckled lightly to ease the embarrassment. Soon, the three of them, chatting happily, started along the now-familiar path to school.

After parting ways at the intersection, Jiang Yu continued toward Toyonoki Academy, mulling over whether the coloring of his materials from last night needed adjustment. Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

“Hey! Morning, A-Yu!” came a cheerful voice.

“Ah, it’s Renya. Good morning. Thanks again for your help yesterday!” Jiang Yu smiled warmly, not at all annoyed by the interruption.

“Hey! By the way, why didn’t you reply to my messages last night? Which work are those fanarts from? And what’s with those old-school RPG-style illustrations?” Renya asked, waving his hand to dismiss any concerns about the unanswered messages and then firing off a series of curious questions.

Jiang Yu had ignored Renya’s earlier queries and subsequent messages after receiving the materials last night.

“Uh… just think of them as my practice pieces. They aren’t from any game worth spreading around,” Jiang Yu replied, somewhat troubled by Renya’s nonstop chatter. After a moment’s thought, he chose to be vague, deciding not to reveal that these were concepts for another game he intended to create.

Renya raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. “So these are fanarts for a game?”

“Can you not always pick up on the keywords so quickly?” Jiang Yu muttered silently, suppressing an eye-roll.

Just as he struggled to steer the conversation elsewhere, a familiar voice spoke from beside him.

“Good morning, Renya, Jiang Yu.”

It was that sometimes so plain it made you laugh, sometimes so plain it made you feel incredibly at ease voice.

Turning his head, Jiang Yu smiled at the bob-haired girl in the matching school uniform. “Good morning, Kato.”

---

Once the three arrived in the classroom and had just sat down, hanging their bags on the right side of their desks, Jiang Yu looked up to see Renya, who had been animatedly chatting all the way to school, now sprawled on his desk like a defeated fish.

Shaking his head with a smile, unsure what Renya had gotten up to at Sawamura’s place yesterday, Jiang Yu took out the folder of materials Renya had given him and began considering the coloring issues.

“Jiang Yu, what are you looking at?” came Kato Megumi’s voice from behind.

Jiang Yu instinctively closed the folder and turned around, meeting her curious gaze. He smiled awkwardly and answered vaguely, “Nothing much…”

Kato sighed softly, noticing his clearly reluctant expression and chose not to press further. Instead, she spoke somewhat sadly, “I always feel like I’m different from everyone else in the club.”

Seeing the usually composed girl suddenly show such an obvious emotional shift, Jiang Yu was surprised and a little at a loss.

Scratching his head and wanting to say something, he swallowed the words repeatedly. After several attempts, he finally said, “No, that’s not true…”

Kato shook her head and explained seriously, “In the club, you handle planning and have your own light novel to worry about; Renya, though he often seems like a hopeless otaku, is very proactive when it counts; and both senior Kasumigaoka and Sawamura have jobs besides club activities.”

“Looking at it that way, even though I joined the club, I don’t really know what I can do…” Kato concluded, her tone tinged with disappointment.

“Well... Ume doesn’t really have much to do either, right? So Kato, you... uh, shouldn’t feel too bad?” After thinking for a while, Jiang Yu tried to comfort Kato by bringing up Ume, who was similarly idle in the club and more like a forced member than an official one.

Right after saying this, Jiang Yu wanted to slap himself. What nonsense was he spouting?!

Naturally, although Kato didn’t show it explicitly, her expression darkened further.

“Ah… um… right! Didn’t you just ask about this? These are concept and material images for another game I’m working on,” Jiang Yu said awkwardly, attempting to change the subject. He reopened the folder and spread it before Kato, explaining.

Kato’s mood didn’t stay down for long; she quickly composed herself. Wondering why she had opened up to Jiang Yu today, she decided it was probably because he was sitting nearby.

Hearing Jiang Yu’s explanation, Kato grew curious. She pressed her finger to her lower lip, unconsciously making an almost cute expression. “Another game?”

“Uh... well... cough, cough, basically, I’m using an open-source engine and handling the entire project by myself—from script to original art and scenario. It’s an indie game I’m developing solo,” Jiang Yu said, trying to steady his rapidly beating heart after being momentarily charmed by Kato.

“So these are…” Kato pointed at the open folder in front of her, where a character design of the protagonist, Viola, was displayed.