When it came to what kind of villain role he should play, Souta only had a rough idea.
As for the finer details, he hadn't prepared… no, more accurately, he wasn't good at creating such character settings.
So he planned to entrust this job to KuroNeko.
KuroNeko's ability to write novels was pretty bad.
Her works were often buried under piles of overly detailed setting documents.
Not only were the components needlessly complicated, the descriptions were also ridiculously exaggerated.
The perfect example of "settings matter more than the story."
Other than a tiny group of hardcore setting enthusiasts, most readers who encountered such a wall of info-dumps would lose interest immediately.
Which was why, for three years in a row, not a single one of KuroNeko's submissions had ever made it into a final selection.
Her dream of relying on royalties to help with household expenses was nothing but a fantasy.
She simply didn't understand what readers actually wanted to see.
However...
Souta wasn't asking KuroNeko to write a novel about him.
So even if she was a terrible writer, it didn't matter.
What he wanted her to do was take his current powers as a base and design a strong, over-the-top, chuunibyou-style villain.
More of a setting-driven character.
And for that, KuroNeko, with her chuunibyou streak and obsession with elaborate settings, was the perfect fit.
She was terrible at pacing, narrative, and flow.
But character design… even if he didn't know how good she really was, it had to be better than his own attempts.
With that in mind, he sent her a private message.
Souta: "Miss KuroNeko, I'm coming over soon. I truly look forward to our duel."
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "???"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "Wait! God, didn't we already cancel our duel?"
Souta: "I thought about it afterward. I still can't accept being ranked below you in the group. No matter what, I need to settle this."
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "…"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "You've been buttering me up all this time, haven't you? You knew my identity from the start, didn't you?"
Souta: "Oh? So you want to come clean?"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "I've read every group announcement. Since I'm considered a character from your side, that means you definitely know I'm actually just an ordinary person."
Souta: "What are you saying, Demon Lord?"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "…"
Souta: "Alright, I'll admit it. I did know. But since you seemed to be enjoying yourself, I played along."
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "As a god, that's way too cruel! You've put me in a terrible spot!"
Souta: "Oh? Are you sure it was me? Have you forgotten about Altair? She praised you far more than I ever did."
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "Altair really was over the line!"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "What should I do now? Do you have a way to deal with this? Those star spirits, spirits, magi, espers… what are their tempers like?"
Like someone clutching at a lifeline, KuroNeko typed frantically, sending messages one after another.
Souta: "Them? Most of them have killed before."
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "…"
Like a bolt from the blue!
Her last shred of hope shattered.
She was doomed. Completely doomed.
The group prevented fatal attacks, but aside from that… nothing was off-limits!
And what if someone took their anger out on her?
She had to think about her family's safety too.
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "Please! Can you keep my secret, that I'm just an ordinary person? Stop inviting me to gatherings."
Souta: "I could, but I can't just help you for free, can I? Shouldn't you give me something in return?"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "But I don't have anything you'd want! My family is poor, you know that."
Souta: "Aren't you beautiful? Heh, you get what I mean?"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "…"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "I can't believe you're that kind of god! Impossible! You can't come here. None of you can. I can just ignore you all!"
Souta: "That ostrich mentality won't help. Here's a reminder, you know Shiroyasha, right? She's loaded with points. With just 500 she could buy a travel card and visit your world with ease. If I tell her your secret, what do you think would happen?"
Silence.
A long silence.
Minutes passed with no reply from KuroNeko.
"…Did I go too far with the joke?"
Staring at her name on the screen, Souta reined in his mischief.
Souta: "Sorry, sorry, I was just messing with you earlier. Honestly, whether you keep up the Demon Lord act or not doesn't matter. Everyone in the group has good tempers. Even if you're exposed, no one will do anything to you. As group leader, I'll make sure you stay safe."
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "…"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "That was too much! You nearly scared me to death!"
Souta: "My apologies. As compensation, how about I give you a cheat? Since you call yourself a Demon Lord, wouldn't you like to feel like a real one?"
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "Really!?"
Souta: "Of course. But I can't just hand it over that easily. You'll need to do me a favor. Help me design a character."
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "A character? Don't tell me… the villain role you're going to play against Altair?"
Souta: "Oh? Smart guess. Exactly that."
Souta: "I have a lot of requirements. Too much to type out. Are you free now? We could talk face-to-face."
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "Face-to-face? Let me think about it."
Souta: "Relax, I won't do anything to you. With so many women in the group, if I were a creep, I'd already be ostracized and hunted down. Besides, I promised you power. To pay that reward, a face-to-face meeting is necessary. Unless you don't want it, meeting is inevitable."
Of course, the payment part could wait, and everything they'd discussed so far could have been handled over a video call.
The real reason he suggested meeting in person was to open a channel between their two worlds.
After all, he was quite interested in the world of "Oreimo."
On the other side, KuroNeko stayed silent for a long time.
She was probably weighing whether or not to send an invitation.
Thinking about how none of the women in the group ever showed hostility toward Souta, how well everyone got along…
In the end, she made what was, for her, a bold decision...
she agreed to meet.
Chiba's Fallen Angel, KuroNeko: "Alright. Give me a moment, I'll send you an invitation."
Soon, Souta received the system notification.
But he didn't accept right away. Instead, he first created an Apple phone, loaded it with all the necessary files.
This was for KuroNeko.
Only after finishing did he accept the invitation.
In an instant, a flash of white light engulfed him, and his figure vanished from the apartment.
PS: Couldn't add chapter for a few days since life threw a gut punch. I'll update more tomorrow since I'm busy today. Maybe throw a few more chapters than usual to make up