Chapter 184: Kasumigaoka Utaha's Test! Direct Confrontation!
After walking out of the classroom, Ren stood in the hallway, the noise of the class fading behind him. He asked directly, "Are you looking for me?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha gazed at Ren, her dark red eyes sharp and analytical. Her right hand brushed back a strand of her long, black hair as she introduced herself, her voice smooth and mature. "I am Kasumigaoka Utaha, from Class 1, Third Year."
"Oh." Ren nodded, waiting.
"…" Her lack of reaction was... anticlimactic. "Ren-kun, could you come to the rooftop with me? There are some things I'd like to ask you."
"Rooftop…"
Ren couldn't help but recall the scene on the rooftop with Eriri and Megumi, when they had coincidentally run into Kasumigaoka Utaha who had just come up.
His eye twitched, but he still agreed. "Alright."
On the rooftop, the wind was cool, pulling at their uniforms. The two stood facing each other.
Up close, Kasumigaoka Utaha was indeed very beautiful. She possessed a tall, slender figure; a white hairband held back her smooth, long, black hair; and her pupils were a striking dark red. Outwardly, she appeared to be a quiet, serene beauty.
Moreover, she had full, voluptuous curves that her uniform did little to hide, and crucially, a pair of long, perfect legs wrapped in black stockings.
Kasumigaoka Utaha initiated the conversation like a casual chat, a light, testing smile on her face. "Ren-kun, do you like light novels?"
"They're alright. I quite like them."
Kasumigaoka Utaha's eyes lit up, just a fraction. She continued to press, "Then have you read Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day? Or Heaven's Lost Property…?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha rattled off a string of popular, critically acclaimed works in one breath.
Ren already understood what she wanted to ask. He said indifferently, "Yes, those were all published by me."
"???"
This answer stunned Kasumigaoka Utaha. Her original intention was to probe, to test, to judge and guess from his micro-expressions and his words.
She never expected Ren to just... admit it.
Completely unconventional!
Her heart skipped a beat before she anxiously asked, "Are you saying... you are the 'Unheard Flower Name' sensei?"
Ren did not hide it. "My pen name is indeed Unheard Flower Name."
"Ren… Unheard Flower Name… Ren… It really is you!"
Receiving the direct answer, Kasumigaoka Utaha was extremely excited. She never imagined that the sensei who had given her immense help, who had guided her writing, was her own junior!
With a mix of excitement and caution, she asked, "Unheard Flower Name-sensei... do you still remember Kasumi Utako?"
This roundabout question made Ren sigh. He directly stated, "Don't beat around the bush. Kasumi Utako, a junior I communicated with before, whose work is The Metronome in Love. It must be you, Kasumigaoka Utaha."
"..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha's black-stockinged leg twitched, a nervous habit. She felt choked by his directness, and her expression became one of playful resentment. "Sensei, you still like to choke people so much with your words."
Ren patted her on the shoulder, shaking his head and sighing. "It's not that I like to choke people. It's that you're too subtle."
"It was the same when we chatted before, everything was roundabout. I prefer direct communication."
"..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at the hand on her shoulder. She didn't dodge it, but instead furrowed her brows and asked the question she had always wanted to ask, the "knot" in her heart. "Why did Sensei retire?"
Ren blinked. "Can you stop calling me Sensei?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha: "?"
"Look," Ren explained, "you're my senpai in school. I'm your kouhai. And in the industry, I'm your sensei."
"You call me Sensei, and I call you Kasumigaoka-senpai. It's quite strange. Just call me Ren."
It really was confusing when put that way.
Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded slowly and said, "Then... Ren-kun, you can also call me… Utaha."
"Alright, Utaha. Your question is actually very simple. I earned enough money, so I retired," Ren said, shrugging indifferently.
"Huh?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha stared, her mind blank. She hadn't expected the answer to be so... realistic.
Her right leg unconsciously twitched out of habit, and she continued to ask, her voice a little smaller now, "Then... why did Ren-kun stop communicating with me? Is it because my ability didn't meet your expectations?"
This question was her real knot.
Ever since she successfully completed The Metronome in Love under his guidance, Ren had disappeared and no longer contacted her.
She always had many guesses in her heart. The biggest, most painful guess was that she had, in the end, disappointed him.
Ren chuckled, "You're really overthinking this. In reality, you are very excellent. It's that I felt my suggestions were no longer useful to you. In terms of pure writing skill, you are much stronger than me."
These words seemed humble.
But in Utaha's ears, they sounded somewhat sarcastic.
He possessed dozens of extremely excellent, best-selling light novels in the industry.
While she, Kasumigaika Utaha, only had one, The Metronome in Love.
Even its sales volume was not as good as his lowest-selling work.
Seeing the change in Kasumigaoka Utaha's expression—the doubt, the faint hurt—Ren already understood what she was thinking.
He told her earnestly, "I'm telling the truth."
His tone was completely serious, making Kasumigaoka Utaha momentarily unsure whether it was true or false.
"But your works..." Works and the achievements they gained couldn't be deceiving, could they?
Ren gently shook his head, self-deprecatingly saying, "Those aren't my works. I just... used them to make money. I even basely changed the protagonists to be modeled after me."
Unheard Flower Name, Heaven's Lost Property… and so on, were all just knowledge he had "transported" from his old world.
They had absolutely no relation to so-called creation.
Transporting to make money, plus privately changing the protagonists... he considered his actions to be quite despicable and selfish.
Although he didn't think of himself as a particularly good person, he wouldn't boast about how amazing or powerful he was.
What was transported was transported; he merely used them as tools to make money.
"..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha never expected to receive such an answer.
Ren's works... weren't his own? But someone else's? Did he... plagiarize? Or use someone else's works?
As a normal guess, it would certainly be like this, and Kasumigaoka Utaha was no exception.
This... this made her somewhat unable to accept it for a moment.
That Sensei whom she revered, whose talent she admired... was actually that kind of person?
Kasumigaoka Utaha was left disheveled in the wind, her mind in chaos.
Ren also saw her thoughts. He didn't clarify, and he couldn't clarify.
He couldn't tell her he was from another world, could he?
Besides, there was no need to clarify. What others thought, what did it matter to him?
Leaving Kasumigaoka Utaha disheveled in the wind, Ren returned alone.
...
Inside the Supernatural Research Club.
Ren had gathered everyone this time.
"Ren-kun, is today something important?" Yukino asked, setting down her teacup.
Ren scanned everyone: Yui, Yukino, Megumi, Eriri, Marin, Yumiko, and Miko.
"Do you want to join my clan?"
"Clan?!"
This term, especially coming from him, had connotations that could lead to... misunderstandings.
Miura Yumiko's earlobes turned slightly red, and she frantically waved her hands. "You... you should ask Yui, Yukino, Megumi, and Eriri about this, right? At most, add Marin!"
She then ran in front of the drowsy Miko and shielded her. "What does this have to do with the two of us?!"
Having been in the club for a long time, Miura Yumiko had already sorted out the complex relationships.
Yui, Yukino, Megumi, and Eriri were all Ren's girlfriends. Marin was ambiguously involved with Ren.
But she and Miko were completely innocent with Ren! Was it too strange to suddenly join a "big family" like this?
They hadn't even had a date or a confession! Wasn't it a bit too hasty?!
Yui exclaimed, "Eh? Let Yumiko join too? Hmm… that's fine! Hehe, this way I can be best friends with Yumiko forever!"
Yumiko twitched her mouth and loudly retorted, "It's not a friend or not-friend issue at all!"
Goodness, she completely misunderstood!
"Cough, cough."
Ren hurriedly explained, "You've misunderstood. What I mean by 'clan' is equivalent to my subordinate force, my family in a way."
"Among my abilities, there is one called 'King,' known as the King of Chronos. I can bestow time-related abilities upon others by incorporating them into my clan."
Bringing up the serious matter, his gaze became solemn. "Because of the appearance of the Ghouls, I feel the world is starting to become dangerous, for all of you."
"Therefore, as members of the club, I think you can join my clan. Having this power can provide an extra layer of security."
In reality, he was mainly saying this for Yumiko and Miko. Ren wasn't worried about anyone else. Even for Yui, he had already made plans for her.
As his women, Ren would not show favoritism.
"So that's how it is…"
Yumiko breathed a sigh of relief, but for some reason, she felt a subtle, inexplicable sense of loss.
"I agree!"
Miko was the first to agree! She had been tormented by evil spirits for years. Gaining superpowers would certainly give her the courage she desperately needed.
Yukino and the others also accepted one after another. They certainly wouldn't refuse.
Especially Eriri and Marin. Ren could probably tell them to wear a small collar, and they would agree.
As for Yukino, after some gentle persistence, she would definitely be fine with it too.
Of course, he wasn't perverted to that extent.
At most... he could play around with some light intimacy when it was just them.
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