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Chapter 23: Loser Immortal Eriri Spencer Sawamura
At this moment, Kaguya Shinomiya even had the urge to escape.
But she forced herself to remain calm. If she ran now, all the influence she had built in the group yesterday would crumble. No—she couldn't run. Instead, she would turn this humiliation into an opportunity. With enough composure, even shame could be repurposed into strength.
She gritted her teeth and typed, openly acknowledging the "photographer picture" and even @Kasumigaoka Utaha to offer her help.
Now, she understood Utaha's situation far more clearly. Both of them had been exposed, both forced to swallow their pride. From today on, they were comrades—bound by the same bitter rope.
Damn that Mysterious Person, she thought, her nails digging into her palm. In the name of the Shinomiya family, I swear I'll find you. Just wait.
---
For Kasumigaoka Utaha, the day was unfolding very differently.
Thanks to yesterday's chaos, she could feel eyes lingering on her in class—furtive whispers, curious glances. But Utaha wasn't rattled. If she cared about gossip, she would never have openly approached Eriri Spencer Sawamura the day before.
Their talk had been amusing, almost too easy. Eriri's tsundere bluster was child's play to manipulate. Utaha almost pitied her—almost. After all, the "loser dog" had already been pitiful enough in the original story. Crushing her too thoroughly here might even be boring.
What Utaha really wanted today was to probe Kato Megumi, the quiet girl with hidden depth. But before she could make a move, the diary's notification appeared.
Her stomach dropped.
No way. He didn't—he wouldn't—
Heart pounding, she fled to the literature clubroom, her sanctuary, and opened the diary.
Her worst fears were confirmed.
The Mysterious Person had not only infiltrated Toyosaki disguised as a maintenance worker but had placed her own IF route manga into Eriri's shoe locker.
Utaha's fists trembled with fury. What the hell are you playing at?
If Eriri saw that manga, the fallout could be catastrophic. She and Tomoya already had that awkward childhood-friend tension. This would pour gasoline on a fire Utaha didn't need.
She couldn't let Eriri get to it first.
Without hesitation, she bolted from her chair, Ripple energy sparking faintly as she sprinted through the halls. Students turned in surprise as the usually composed Kasumigaoka flew past, a faint crackle of static in her wake. They whispered, puzzled, but dismissed it as imagination.
By the time she reached the rows of shoe lockers, her chest was tight with panic. Hundreds of wooden doors stretched out before her—too many, too little time.
She stopped a pair of passing first-years.
"Do either of you know where Class 1-G's shoe lockers are? I'm looking for Sawamura."
The purple-haired girl blinked. "I don't. I'm from 1-A. Kato, do you know?"
The other girl—plain at first glance, so unremarkable she seemed to blend into the corridor—shook her head. "If Miyauchi doesn't know, then I certainly don't, Kasumigaoka-senpai."
The name struck Utaha like lightning. Kato…
Her gaze sharpened. Yes. Ordinary features, soft presence, but a strange quality that made her nearly invisible unless pointed out. That had to be her—the heroine who quietly stole the spotlight in Saekano.
Not the time. She filed the realization away.
With a curt thank-you, Utaha hurried off again, scanning the rows.
Behind her, Miyauchi Kouka tugged Kato Megumi's arm and whispered loudly, "Yesterday I heard Kasumigaoka-senpai has a weird relationship with that blonde girl in Class 1-G. Did you see how anxious she was? Maybe the rumors are true! Tokyo really is wild."
Kato sighed softly. "You're overthinking again."
But her mind lingered uneasily. Kasumigaoka-senpai's gaze, sharp and appraising, had brushed against her in a way she couldn't quite name. Almost… interested.
---
Meanwhile, Eriri Spencer Sawamura felt her high school life was already crumbling.
She had enrolled in Toyosaki because of him. And yet their classes were at opposite ends of the building, their paths rarely crossing. Worse, that woman—Kasumigaoka Utaha—had stared at her during the ceremony like she was some sort of stray puppy.
And now, whispers. Classmates asking about her "relationship" with Utaha. Disgust twisted in her chest.
If not for the need to maintain her image in front of her new peers, she might have already exploded in curses.
And then came the final insult.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, waiting for her at the classroom door, calling her by name, requesting a private talk.
Reluctantly, Eriri had agreed, dragging Utaha to the back of the building where at least she could escape if things went wrong.
But the first words out of Utaha's mouth shattered her composure.
"Eriri Spencer Sawamura-sensei," Utaha said with an almost sweet smile. "I'm one of your fans. I really like the erotic illustrations you draw."
Eriri's heart stopped.
She knows. She knows I'm Kashiwagi Eri.
But how? Who betrayed her?
Her cheeks burned hot. "Y-you… what are you talking about? I don't understand at all! I'm just a high school student—I'd never draw that kind of shameless stuff!"
Utaha tilted her head, feigning regret. "Really? My friend told me your real name is Eriri Spencer Sawamura."
"That's slander!" Eriri snapped, panic cracking her voice. "It's not true! I'm not Kashiw—" She bit her tongue too late, nearly blurting it outright.
Utaha's eyes gleamed with amusement. As expected of the Loser Immortal. One careless push, and she spills half her secrets herself.
"I see. Then perhaps I was mistaken. Maybe you're not Kashiwagi Eri at all… perhaps you're Eromanga-sensei?" Her voice was silky, playful. "I follow both your works, after all. Though if I had to choose, I think I prefer Eromanga-sensei. The subtle, suggestive touches… they linger longer in the mind."
Eriri's nails dug crescents into her palms. Suggestive? Subtle? She'd been drowning in R18 for years. Suggestive was for amateurs. Rage boiled in her chest, but she forced it down, snarling through clenched teeth:
"I'll say it again. I'm not Eromanga-sensei, and I'm not Kashiwagi Eri. If you've got nothing else, I'm leaving. Don't bother me again."
She turned sharply—
And froze.
"Funny," Utaha said softly behind her. "Because I don't recall ever mentioning the name Kashiwagi Eri."
Eriri's blood ran cold.
Her secret, torn from her own lips. The mask shattered.
Utaha's smile curved, calm and merciless. "Not many people know who you really are, Eriri. So tell me—who do you think leaked it?"
End of the chapter
(A/N) = 150 power stone=1 extra chapter and so on and all extra chapter will be released on Sunday