As lunch break came to an end, the students of Class 1-B slowly trickled back into the classroom.
The first class of the afternoon was Classical Japanese.
And the moment Hayashi Maki saw the tall, curvy beauty in a white lab coat with long black hair walk in, he recognized her instantly—
Hiratsuka Shizuka, also known as "Shizu-cute," the eternally single older woman always being nagged by her parents to get married—but constantly failing at blind dates.
She insisted she was forever 29.
According to rumors, she was still… pure, technically.
But more than any of that, to Hayashi Maki, she always felt like a Onee-san-type sensei—reliable, understanding, and great at guiding her students.
Well, if Kirisu Mafuyu's teaching here, it's not surprising Hiratsuka Shizuka is too.
After sneaking a few glances, Hayashi Maki pulled out his textbook and pretended to pay attention.
Classical Japanese, huh. If you know, you know.
So after listening for a while, Hayashi Maki mentally checked out.
His light novel was nearly done—volume one almost complete.
Thanks to his double stamina, super regeneration, and knowledge of countless works from his past life, his writing speed had improved drastically compared to his former struggling-writer self.
Since the manuscript was nearly ready, it was time to consider submission.
He'd done his research.
There were two major publishing houses in Japan:
Dengeki Bunko, which specialized in isekai and action-adventure light novels and manga.
But Hayashi Maki's story was a stock-trading, school-romance, youth comedy. Definitely not a fit.
So that left only one option:
Fushikawa Bunko.
They focused on school-romance titles, and their breakout hit, Love Metronome, had sold over 500,000 copies of its first volume.
With his target publisher decided, the next step was picking an editor.
Fortunately, editor emails were public online.
After class, Hayashi Maki opened his laptop to check.
The moment he spotted the name Machida Sonoko, his eyes lit up.
She was the editor for Love Metronome and worked directly with its author, Kasumigaoka Utaha.
Getting in touch with her meant… maybe I'd get to meet Kasumigaoka Utaha herself.
For Hayashi Maki, who wanted to contract beautiful girls as followers, this was the perfect opportunity.
With that decision locked in, Hayashi Maki could barely contain his excitement.
Before he realized it, the class ended.
Hiratsuka-sensei left the room in a hurry after assigning homework.
Hayashi Maki yawned and slumped onto his desk, bored.
Then he remembered—
Wait, I still have an in-game wife online.
He perked up, opened his laptop, and logged into the game.
Right as he logged in, a message from the priest character "Ako" popped up in rapid fire:
"Darling Innocent-kun, you're finally back! I was so scared you abandoned me! I've been waiting for you every day!"
"…Uh." Hayashi Maki stared at the over-the-top message, speechless.
Then he checked her login status—
Damn. Dozens of hours. She hadn't logged off at all.
She's seriously addicted.
Hayashi Maki's in-game name was Innocent Hayashi, hence the "Innocent-kun."
He sighed and typed a reply:
"Sorry, Ako. I had a cold these past few days and couldn't log in. You really shouldn't stay online so much—make sure to rest, okay?"
She responded instantly:
"Okay! I knew it! I knew you wouldn't abandon me, darling~ ♥"
"Wanna do a quick dungeon run? I've got class soon, so only one game."
"Yup! Let's go!"
They ran a dungeon together. Hayashi Maki played along, humored her a bit, then logged off.
Please let her really be Tamaki Ako from Netoge no Yome…
If it turns out my in-game wife is actually some dude, I might throw up.
Shutting the laptop, he mentally shifted gears. One more class left today.
The final period of the day was outdoor P.E.
Everyone changed into short-sleeved gym uniforms.
The P.E. teacher, Tanaka, was a massive, muscular guy who led them through warm-ups before asking the class president to bring out the volleyballs.
He told everyone to team up freely for volleyball drills.
And this—this was where friendship really mattered.
If you didn't have any friends, group activities like this became painfully awkward.
Hayashi Maki was about to ask Hayama to team up—
But that guy was already laughing it up with Tobe Kakeru. Of course.
Tobe had glued himself to Hayama the moment the teacher finished speaking, leaving Hayama with no polite way to say no.
Left with no options, Hayashi Maki turned toward a guy who radiated lonely energy—dead fish eyes and everything.
"Hey, Hikigaya-san. You're alone too. Wanna team up?"
Hikigaya Hachiman had been sighing as he watched his friend Totsuka go off to laugh with other classmates.
Surprised at being approached, he blinked—but agreed quickly.
"Sure. I don't mind."
Seeing him agree, Hayashi Maki smirked.
Of course, there's a reason I want to get close to Hikigaya Hachiman…
His little sister, Hikigaya Komachi, was adorable.
And I'm not missing out on contracting top-tier waifus.
If the opportunity comes up—
Whether it's "stepping up"… or "signing a contract"…
He was going to make his move.