129. A Long-Awaited Club Activity (After a Three-Day Hiatus)

However, just as Jiang Yu was lost in thought, he caught a glimpse of Tomoya Aki not far away, watching him with an inscrutable, half-smile on his face.

Seeming to notice that Jiang Yu had spotted him, Tomoya silently mouthed the words: "O-me-de-tou!"

Congratulations? Congratulations on what, you idiot! Jiang Yu felt a surge of impotent rage and could not help but flip him the middle finger and roll his eyes. Soon after, the bell rang, and everyone in the classroom returned to their seats, waiting for the teacher to arrive.

...

During the lunch break, Jiang Yu nibbled on the straw of the wheat tea he had just bought, frowning as he stared at the open sketchbook in the center of his desk.

"Like this... like this... but... if I do it that way..." Jiang Yu muttered to himself.

Megumi Kato, who had also gone downstairs to buy lunch, returned to the classroom to find him in exactly this state. She pursed her lips; although she felt that some of her behavior this morning was a bit out of character for her usual self, she did not feel restrained or shy, maintaining her typical, indifferent expression.

"Is Jiang Yu-kun still pondering the problem of that—um... mate-rial?—you mentioned?" Megumi asked while inserting the straw into her carton of coffee milk.

At the very least, to Jiang Yu, Megumi seemed no different from usual. He replied, "Ah! Kato, you've come at just the right time. This is your training plan... ahem, I mean, your study guide."

"First, you need to determine whether you truly want to master this skill, or if you're just looking for a quick fix to finish the game. The difference in your goal will largely determine the depth and breadth of what you need to learn."

Megumi was taken aback, instinctively taking the piece of paper Jiang Yu handed her. It was covered in a dense list of courses and books—C (C Programming Language) → Data Structures → Computer Networks (Fundamentals of Computer Networks) → ... a path that seemed to stretch on into infinity.

After scanning the paper for a moment, Megumi said with a slight headache, "Then... let's go with the quick fix..."

"Uh... alright." Jiang Yu, who had been prepared to lecture her on the greatness of the technology and its wide-ranging applications in real life, felt his expression freeze at the answer that was the exact opposite of what he had imagined. He could only nod sheepishly.

Draining the rest of his wheat tea and letting out a long sigh, Jiang Yu said seriously, "Then, what you need to master, Kato, is some basic C/C++ and the scripting language for the game engine itself. A scripting language is based on the compiler it runs on, which is..."

Before Jiang Yu could enthusiastically continue explaining what a "scripting language" was, Megumi interrupted with a subtle expression: "Um, I feel like Jiang Yu-kun really becomes quite long-winded when talking about a field you're good at... Is the essence of a creator really the same for everyone?"

"The essence of a creator?" Jiang Yu blinked, repeating the last few words Megumi had said.

"...Just like how Aki-kun can't stop talking once the topic of otaku culture comes up?" Megumi added, sounding a bit uncertain.

So, Tomoya counts as a creator in your eyes? Although he really wanted to tease his friend like that, Jiang Yu held his tongue and changed the subject instead: "Ahem, well, I'll bring some basic books for you tomorrow. Ah—but don't be in too much of a hurry; you can take your time reading them. After all, I'm fairly free these days."

Well, he probably still had some self-awareness regarding whether someone actually wanted to keep listening to him.

Megumi nodded lightly and said in her usual flat tone, "Then I'll leave it to you, Jiang Yu-kun."

Jiang Yu waved his hand with a smile to show it was no trouble, then refocused his attention on the sketchbook on the desk, returning to his thoughts on coloring.

Seeing this, Megumi didn't disturb him further. She returned to her seat, tore open her bread package, and began to eat her lunch.

...

After the afternoon classes ended, Jiang Yu closed his annotated sketchbook, stood up to stretch, and began packing his things.

Glancing at the clock, which showed it was only 3:30 PM, Jiang Yu couldn't help but sigh, "What a paradise," before picking up his bag and preparing to leave.

Just as he was about to reach the door, he was blocked by someone. The person leaned their back against the doorframe, looked at Jiang Yu, and laughed: "Don't you plan on attending club activities, A-Yu?"

Naturally, the only person in Jiang Yu's circle who would do such a thing was Tomoya Aki.

"...Given our current progress, it doesn't really matter if I'm there or not, does it? Besides, you know I have to go home to cook for my sister, and I have a part-time job in the evening."

"Even if you don't have much work as the lead programmer right now, you have a heavy responsibility as the director, don't you, A-Yu?!"

With that, Jiang Yu received a sharp retort from Tomoya.

"Ah... you win. I've only been skipping club activities because I've been busy lately... Fine, fine, let's go to the clubroom."

With that, Jiang Yu headed straight for the audiovisual room—the place everyone had unofficially designated as their clubroom, even though it hadn't been approved by the school, nor had the club itself been officially registered.

Tomoya clenched his fist in a "plan accomplished" gesture and followed closely behind Jiang Yu.

...

"Oh my—if it isn't our long-lost underclassman~"

After entering the classroom, the first thing to greet Jiang Yu was the mocking tone of their black-hearted upperclassman. This was followed by...

"Tsk—so you're still alive~" This came from Eriri, who, despite having seen him just yesterday, joined Kasumigaoka Utaha in teasing him in perfect sync.

"...Setting aside Kasumigaoka-senpai, we only saw each other yesterday, didn't we, Sawamura-san? And if I recall correctly, I was here last Thursday, too. Has the definition of 'long time no see' become this broad for you, Senpai?"

Jiang Yu slapped his hand against his face in defeat, sounding rather helpless.

"Sawamura-san looks so radiant today. Could it be because she was 'nourished' by our underclassman yesterday?"

The person who chimed in was, as usual, making suggestive, crude jokes. Though, whether it was his imagination or not, Jiang Yu felt that there was a hint of genuine irritation in her words.

"W-w-who... y-yesterday, Tomoya was there too!" Eriri still didn't seem used to Kasumigaoka Utaha's way of speaking; whenever the topic skirted the edges of such things, she would turn into a stuttering mess.

And she's a doujin artist herself...

"Oh my~ Sawamura-san, your boldness is truly beyond my expectations~ I suppose Tomoya-kun and our underclassman have reached that age as well."

Kasumigaoka Utaha continued in her flippant tone, though this time, she had included both Tomoya Aki and Jiang Yu in her insinuation.