(Author skipped a chapter—original chapter could not be found.)
...
While Nene was happily munching on the breakfast Eriri had brought over, Kyoko, Seraphim, and Sarasvati also emerged one after another from their rooms.
Although Seraphim had become Eriri's servant, she still lived together with Kyoko and Nene, as it was only a door away from the Saekano world.
Sarasvati had also moved out of her original house to live with Kyoko and the others. However, she did not give up her job as the cosplay café manager, nor did she drop out of school, continuing to experience life as a high school student.
Since it was still quite early, Eriri did not hurry to head for Soryu Academy, where Taeko Hiramatsu and Kanami Mihara studied. As for Sarasvati, who was also a Soryu Academy student, she left for school after finishing breakfast.
By the time Eriri finally set out with Eu, Kyoko, and Seraphim toward Soryu Academy, it was already ten in the morning, leaving Nene alone at home to catch up on sleep after her all-nighter.
Half an hour later, Eriri and her group arrived at the academy. Because the cultural festival had opened to the public at ten, the school was already bustling with activity, and Eriri's appearance naturally drew everyone's attention.
Eriri ignored the stares of the surrounding crowd and headed straight toward Class 1-C, where Taeko Hiramatsu and Kanami Mihara were located.
On the way to Class 1-C, they passed through a corridor. Due to the festival, the corridor was filled with people lining up outside various classrooms, making it extremely lively. The moment Eriri and her group of four appeared, the once-noisy hallway instantly fell silent.
If it had only been Eu, Kyoko, and Seraphim, people might have been surprised at their looks, but they would have at most admired them inwardly without changing their behavior. But Eriri was different. Her overwhelmingly perfect appearance and aura instantly left everyone, boys and girls alike, staring in a daze.
The shock of Eriri's beauty was simply too great, leaving them unable to recover for a moment. Only after several seconds did the corridor return to its noisy state.
Holding Eu's hand, Eriri walked at the front, while Kyoko and Seraphim followed like bodyguards. Although she passed close by, not a single person dared to approach her. Instead, everyone instinctively stepped aside, afraid of blocking her path.
At the entrance of Class 1-C, Kanami Mihara—wearing a waitress uniform and a pair of tea-colored cat ears—stood with another cat-eared girl at a table, welcoming guests. Naturally, the commotion in the corridor caught their attention. When they turned their heads, they immediately spotted Eriri's group approaching from afar.
Kanami's face instantly lit up with joy, while the girl beside her, like everyone else in the hallway, froze in a daze.
Ignoring her classmate's reaction, Kanami abandoned her post and ran straight toward Eriri's group. Within seconds, she reached them, speaking excitedly:
"Eriri, you finally came!"
"Mhm, long time no see, Kanami," Eriri replied with a smile, nodding to her.
Watching this exchange, the other girl quickly grew curious, inwardly wondering about Kanami's relationship with Eriri and her companions.
After exchanging a few words with Kanami, Eriri's group followed her warmly enthusiastic lead to the entrance of Class 1-C.
...
As soon as they arrived, the girl stationed at the door greeted them cheerfully:
"Welcome to the Monster Café!"
Eriri smiled at Kanami's words, and that smile alone made the nearby girl's heartbeat suddenly accelerate. A blush spread across her cheeks, and she quickly averted her eyes, no longer daring to look directly at Eriri.
Eriri paid her no mind, instead turning her gaze toward Class 1-C. The outside of the classroom had been decorated with a horror theme. All the windows were covered with black cloth, making it impossible to see inside.
Beside the entrance hung a large signboard. On it were drawings of monsters, and scrawled in red paint were the crooked characters: "Monster Café."
"So your class's cultural festival theme is still a Monster Café, huh? No changes at all."
Because the events of this world had already deviated so much from the original story, Eriri thought the class's festival theme might have changed as well. But it turned out to be the same as in the source.
Kanami tilted her head in confusion at Eriri's last comment. "What changes?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it."
Eriri said no more, and Kanami didn't dwell on it, quickly tossing the thought aside.
"Taeko's inside helping right now. Eriri, wait here a moment, I'll go call her out." Kanami spoke hastily and was about to head for the classroom when Eriri stopped her.
"No need for that. We'll just go in directly. After all, we're guests too."
"That works too—Taeko will be surprised." Kanami nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly.
So Eriri led Eu and the others, lifting the curtain at the door and stepping straight into the classroom.
After the four of them entered, the girl who had blushed earlier finally couldn't hold back her curiosity and whispered to Kanami: "Kanami, are those your friends?"
Without hesitation, Kanami nodded. "Mhm, that incredibly, incredibly, incredibly beautiful blonde girl is Eriri. She's a very, very good friend of mine and Taeko's."
She said it proudly, even piling on adjectives to emphasize Eriri's beauty. Naturally, she didn't forget to introduce Eu, Kyoko, and Seraphim as well. Over the past months, aside from already knowing Kyoko and Eu, both Kanami and Taeko had also met Seraphim and Sarasvati, though they weren't as close.
Hearing Kanami's introduction, the girl's expression turned to envy. "Wow, you actually know such beautiful girls."
Kanami's smile brightened at the praise. "Alright, I won't chat with you anymore. I'm going to join Eriri and the others." With that, she lifted the curtain and stepped into the classroom too.
...
After entering, Eriri and her group didn't go looking for Taeko right away. Instead, they chose an empty table to sit at. The tables were pushed together in sets of four, each covered with a white cloth, with two electric candles placed at the edges.
To enhance the Monster Café's atmosphere, the classroom's main lights were off, leaving the candles as the only illumination. Though not very bright, they were more than enough to light up the tables, and combined, their glow made the room fairly visible.
Naturally, the arrival of Eriri's group drew attention. Though the dim lighting kept her beauty from being shown in full, it was still more than enough to astonish everyone nearby.
Before long, a silver-haired girl in a waitress uniform, also wearing a pair of cat ears, walked over to Eriri and her companions.
"Dear guests, what would you like to order? We have Monster Omelet Rice, Monster Fried Rice, and Monster Instant Coffee."
Hearing the silver-haired girl's words, Kyoko couldn't help but complain: "Only these three? And instant coffee at that? You're really honest about it."
The girl stuck out her tongue playfully. "Hehe, we can't help it. No one in our class can make real coffee, so instant coffee is the only option."
"Fine then, I'll have an omelet rice."
"Got it, one Monster Omelet Rice. What about the rest of you?" The silver-haired girl blinked her big eyes at Eriri, Eu, and Seraphim.
Eriri didn't answer. Instead, she stared curiously at the girl standing beside their table. Over 170 centimeters tall, her long silver hair tied in a high ponytail, her chest and hips even more prominent than Seraphim's, and matched with a youthful, loli-like face—it was the very picture of a cute beauty with a childlike face and voluptuous body.
But Eriri immediately recognized who she was, which explained her odd expression. This girl's name was Ayumi Aikawa, who also happened to be the gender-swapped version of the original protagonist, Ayumu Aikawa.
In the original story, Ayumu became female due to the influence of Megalo. But right now, Eriri was certain that this was Ayumi's true form—not a transformation. Moreover, because Kyoko had joined the chat group, the events had diverged, and Ayumi had never been attacked and killed. She was now just an ordinary human girl.
Since Eriri had no interest in the original protagonist, she had never looked deeply into the details of this world, and so hadn't paid attention to Ayumu's situation. If not for seeing her here, Eriri truly wouldn't have known that in this world, Ayumu was actually female.
As Eriri observed Ayumi, Eu and Seraphim had already placed their orders, leaving only Eriri.
"What would you like to order?" Ayumi asked her directly.
Standing so close, Ayumi could clearly see Eriri's stunning beauty, and though she forced herself to stay calm, her heart was pounding uncontrollably. Seeing that Eriri remained silent and kept staring at her only made Ayumi feel even more flustered, to the point she nearly wanted to run away.
Fortunately, Eriri soon withdrew her gaze. "I'll have a Monster Omelet Rice too."
"Alright, that's three Monster Omelet Rices and one Monster Instant Coffee. Please wait a moment."
After bowing slightly to the four of them, Ayumi hurried away. Just then, Kanami entered the classroom. Spotting Eriri's group, she quickly walked over.
"Eriri, did you already order?"
"Mhm, we did."
"Okay, then I'll step away for a bit. Later, Taeko and I will bring your food over." With that, Kanami also left, heading into the makeshift kitchen partitioned off by black cloth.
After she left, Kyoko frowned and asked Eriri curiously: "Eriri, was there something strange about that girl earlier?"
Sitting across from her, Kyoko had noticed Eriri's scrutinizing gaze at Ayumi. For Eriri to show such an expression, that girl's identity couldn't be ordinary. Yet Kyoko couldn't recall her from any of the memory footage.
Eriri smiled lightly. "That girl's name is Ayumi Aikawa."
"Ayumi Aikawa? Aikawa? Silver hair? Ayumu Aikawa? Don't tell me…" Kyoko's eyes widened in shock, her face filled with disbelief.
"That's right, it's just as you're thinking," Eriri confirmed with a nod.
"Something like this can really happen?" Kyoko muttered in astonishment.
The reason she could guess Ayumi's identity from just a name was thanks to the memory footage. The original protagonist, Ayumu Aikawa, was also a student of Class 1-C, and there was no second Aikawa in the class. The fact that this girl's name was the same except for one extra character was enough proof that Ayumi Aikawa was indeed Ayumu Aikawa from the original.
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