Once the contract terms were settled, the atmosphere between them became even more relaxed.
Machida Sonoko, still curious about the story itself, leaned forward.
"Twilight-sensei, which heroine is your favorite? And in the end… who will the protagonist choose?"
She knew full well that asking would spoil the fun, but she couldn't help herself.
Hayashi Maki's mouth twitched.
That question was about as personal as asking about his kinks.
After all, he was the author—who the protagonist chose was entirely up to him.
He smiled and threw the question back at her.
"Machida-san, why does the protagonist have to choose?"
Sonoko had her reasoning ready.
"Because love is selfish. Sure, I'd hate to see the others end up as 'losers,' but in real life people have to choose. Your characters will graduate high school, go to university… and that's when the decision would have to be made."
She wasn't wrong. From a realistic standpoint, that's exactly how it would go.
But this was a light novel.
Readers came here to have fun. And if a story could give them moments of genuine emotional connection on top of that, they'd happily stick around.
So Hayashi Maki answered casually, "…Why not just have them all?"
"…Huh?"
Sonoko stared at him, wide-eyed, swallowing before she spoke again.
"You mean a harem ending? You'd make the protagonist a shameless player?"
Didn't think you were that type, Sensei…
Hayashi Maki quickly waved his hands. "I mean an open ending. Let the readers decide for themselves. Whoever they like most, they can imagine the MC chooses her. And if they start arguing over it? Even better—instant buzz for the series."
It was basically a stock-trading-style story; he couldn't just make the MC collect everyone like he could.
An open ending was the perfect middle ground.
Sonoko stared at him, speechless.
"…You sure you're not secretly an editor? You've got the marketing playbook down. If you ever wanted to join my company's PR department, I'd hire you on the spot."
"Well, as long as you get it. Anyway, just keep writing—I need the next part!"
She was already hounding him for pages.
Hayashi Maki sighed. "I told you, I can't write non-stop. I'm not a machine."
Sonoko laughed. "Haha, I'm kidding. Just showing you how much faith I have in your work."
Hayashi Maki rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, it still feels like you actually want to lock me in a room to write forever."
She smirked. "Come on—what editor doesn't pester their authors?"
As the conversation shifted, they grew more familiar with each other.
"So, Hayashi Maki-san, you're still in high school? And… you go to Hakuo Academy?"
Sonoko's expression turned oddly curious when she learned that.
"Yeah. Why?" Hayashi Maki didn't get why she was surprised.
"Hmm… do you know Kasumigaoka Utaha? She's pretty famous at your school."
"Never met her. Honestly, on my first day I got hit by a car and missed the opening ceremony. I only got out of the hospital a few days ago—haven't met any of the 'famous' students. Why, is she really that well known?"
Hayashi Maki kept his tone deliberately clueless.
Sonoko's lips curved in a small smile. "Very. And I think you'd find her oddly familiar. She's actually one of my light novel authors. I have a feeling you two will meet someday."
She couldn't help but wonder—what would Utaha think if she found out a guy had basically written her into a book… and made something even better than Love Metronome?
The thought made her grin.
"Twilight-sensei, I'll leave you to your writing. I've got to get back and start prepping the promo campaign. We'll be in touch."
"Mm. See you, Machida-san."
Before leaving, she quickly exchanged private contact info with him.
Hayashi Maki finished his coffee, took one last appreciative look at the maid café girls' long, pale legs, and got up to leave. That's when he noticed a folded slip of paper in his pocket—with a phone number on it.
He let out a helpless laugh.
My charm really is wasted on this world…
Apparently one of the maids thought he was handsome enough to slip him her number.
Yeah, that had to disappear fast. If Mahiru saw it, she'd definitely think he was flirting behind her back.
Leaving the café, he headed straight for the convenience store where he'd worked yesterday.
The manager there was Saionji Youko—formely named Inou Youko.
Her father was Sawagoe Tomaru, the School Days universe's final boss.
A shameless man. In that world, almost every major heroine had some direct or indirect tie to him—many were his actual children.
The guy was basically the embodiment of evil.
And Hayashi Maki, as a self-proclaimed demon, couldn't let someone even more dangerous roam free to threaten the girls.
Which meant… he had to deal with him.
~~~
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