Guild Channel—
Shining (Warrior): "I can talk about it..."
Eriri Spencer Sawamura didn't feel like venting about a classmate online was anything out of line. I mean, c'mon, it's not like they knew each other IRL, right? Besides, she was just reporting facts—nothing more, nothing less.
Shining (Warrior): "There's this onee-san in our class, super pretty, top student in the second year, super popular at school."
Shining (Warrior): "And then—on the first day of school, she shows up with this guy, acting all lovey-dovey. Like, totally couple mode. Someone even snapped pics and posted them on the campus forum."
Shining (Warrior): "The guys at school basically exploded!"
Shining (Warrior): "Later, during self-introductions, someone asked about it, and that guy straight-up said he's her child husband. Kasumigaoka's child husband!"
Shining (Warrior): "And get this—it was confirmed by Kasumigaoka-senpai herself!"
Shining (Warrior): "Yep, that's the whole tea."
Eriri dropped a tea-sipping emoji. Report complete.
UMR (Assassin): "Ehhh…? That would definitely stir up drama."
UMR (Assassin): "But wait, child husbands still exist in this era? Seriously?"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Child husbands exist in all eras, UMR-chan. Fufufu~"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Wait, wait… This plot sounds super familiar, doesn't it? (｀_ゞ)"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "'Love Metronome!'"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Ah! Right, that's it! The vibe's the same!"
UMR (Assassin): "I've read that too!"
Gabriel (Priest): "...13"
Poor Gabriel. As the group's resident hard-core gamer, she often found herself feeling left out when the topic veered into novels and romance. RIP.
Gabriel (Priest): "I can't keep up with you normies…"
Shining (Warrior): "Love Metronome?"
Eriri's expression grew thoughtful. That title... she'd definitely seen it before.
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "I'm so jealous! That woman's writing keeps coming true!"
UMR (Assassin): "Wait, what woman?"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "You mean the author?"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "Yeah! The one who wrote 'Love Metronome'—she's the top student in the second year. Touji's onee-san!"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "I even confirmed it with him directly. His name's Touji. It's gotta be him, 100%!"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "EHHHH!?"
Shining (Warrior): "You're kidding me!?"
UMR (Assassin): "I'm shook!"
Shining (Warrior): "No way, this is like... some anime-level coincidence!"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Is the world really this small!?"
Gabriel (Priest): "At last… I can comment. Yes, yes it is."
Yamada-sama (Archer): "This is crazy!"
Shining (Warrior): "Too many things to tsukkomi at once!!"
For Eriri and Yamada Elf, this was a complete overload. Their new game friend turned out to be the crush of someone in their guild, a well-known blogger, and the younger brother of a famed light novel author? Like, how OP is this guy!?
As the clock ticked past 10:30, it was finally time for the night's big event.
Gabriel (Priest): "Let's go AFK in the church and leech XP. Come on, come on!"
Gabriel finally got her chance to be useful and was hyped about it.
UMR (Assassin): "Mass wedding's starting!"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Already at the venue."
Shining (Warrior): "+1!"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "Someday… I hope I can have a wedding with Winter-sensei! (*≧ω≦)"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "...You know he's already someone else's child husband, right?"
UMR (Assassin): "Give it up, Kanikou! Your ship's already sunk!"
Doma Umaru made her avatar walk over to Kanikou and patted her digital shoulder.
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "Child husband… huh…"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "First of all, Japan totally allows polygamy in games, okay?"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "Secondly, Winter-sensei is clearly capable of handling multiple wives!"
UMR (Assassin): "...Baka."
Shining (Warrior): "You're hopeless! Hopeless, I say!!"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "I've never seen someone throw themselves away so enthusiastically…"
Gabriel (Priest): "This is that rare condition called 'terminal lovebrain syndrome.' I can't relate."
UMR (Assassin): "+1 to not relating."
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Kanikou has officially lost it. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻"
...
Crysta Palace, Studio—
Yamada Elf swiveled her chair and opened a browser tab. Curiosity was killing her.
That girl—Kanikou—had declared that Winter-sensei, aka Kasumigaoka Touji, could handle multiple wives. But just how capable was he?
Coincidentally, he wasn't just some ordinary high schooler… he was a food and music blogger.
And in the world of online influence, numbers often speak louder than words. So naturally, Elf-chan did what any modern anime heroine would do—she opened YouTube and typed "Winter-sensei" into the search bar.
Click.
And then—
"Gulp...!" she audibly gasped, nearly knocking over the juice box beside her keyboard.
Her eyes widened like saucers from a shoujo manga, pupils shimmering with disbelief and just a hint of admiration.
"Three... over three million followers!?" she muttered, as though the number had physically slapped her.
Really!? That many!?
Is this Touji-kun seriously that amazing!?
This wasn't just any popular kid—this was a full-blown influencer-senpai!
Yamada Elf had always thought of herself as reasonably accomplished online. Sure, she didn't run a YouTube channel herself, but her Twitter account had a respectable 120,000 followers. That was nothing to scoff at!
"Wait... how many times is that compared to mine...?" she mumbled.
Her mind blanked. Math wasn't exactly her strong suit, and numbers this big might as well have been kanji written upside down.
She gave up calculating and instead scrolled through Touji's channel.
There were gorgeously shot restaurant reviews, warm narration accompanied by mouthwatering dishes, and... music.
Songs with soothing vocals.
"Huh? Is this... sung by him?" she blinked in disbelief. "...And this one too!?"
The voice matched.
Not only could this guy write, blog, and photograph, but he could also sing?
Back in the guild chat—
The group hadn't cooled down. If anything, it had become more chaotic.
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "Shining, which school are you at? Maybe I'll transfer there ♪~"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "Yamada-sensei, where do you live? I want to pay a visit! Just a friendly neighborly hello!"
UMR (Assassin): "...This is getting kinda scary."
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Exactly! Please refrain from full-on stalker mode, Kanikou-san!"
Shining (Warrior): "Please be a rational fan, okay? Rational! R-A-T-I-O-N-A-L!"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "I am rational...! (｀へ´*)ノ"
UMR (Assassin): "No, you're not, baka."
Shining (Warrior): "I'm not trying to be mean, but… Kanikou, I feel like you're a walking danger flag. Be careful you don't get stabbed—"
Shining (Warrior): "Ah, typo! I meant played! Haha~ typo!"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "...I feel like that wasn't a typo. But I'll let it go."
And then she dropped a bomb—
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "Actually, I already confessed two days ago."
Shining (Warrior): "???"
UMR (Assassin): "Whaaa!? Really!?"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "I even said I'd be fine being a second wife... but I was still rejected."
Yamada-sama (Archer): "...This is truly a tragic shoujo manga arc. (PД`q｡)"
Gabriel (Priest): "Tragic! Truly heart-wrenching!"
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Kanikou, can I ask… what do you look like?"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "I think I'm cute. Very cute! And my figure's not bad either! I even sent a selfie when I confessed! But still, he rejected me. Said I didn't understand the real him behind the scenes..."
Yamada-sama (Archer): "...He used that line to reject you? Oof."
UMR (Assassin): "Then why is he chatting with you so casually now? Hmm? Seems fishy..."
Shining (Warrior): "Come to think of it, he chats with a lot of girls at school too."
UMR (Assassin): "Is our precious Winter-sensei a flirt!?"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "He's not! I swear! When we talk, I'm always the one initiating the ambiguous stuff. I'm chasing after him—hard."
She continued:
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "Also, about those girls Shining mentioned—he told me about them. One of them is a total shut-in. Incredibly reserved, almost never leaves her room. Makes you want to care for her! The other one just returned from overseas, carries a pillow around, and sleeps wherever she goes. Total airhead-type!"
Kanikou (Shield Warrior): "The airhead tried to form a Nap Club, but no one joined. Winter-sensei felt bad, so he helped her find members—including the recluse. Even pulled in his own little sister too. Said he wanted to help friendless girls find companions. Isn't that... kind of amazing?"
Eriri (Shining) remained quiet for a moment.
"The part about the recluse is true... the rest, well, I'm not sure," she admitted.
Yamada-sama (Archer): "Hearing it like that... he sounds like a good person now?"
UMR (Assassin): "Yamada, you're flip-flopping so fast I'm getting whiplash."
Yamada-sama (Archer): "I'm just basing it on the facts, okay!?"
UMR (Assassin): "Mmm… I'll tentatively retract my previous suspicion. For now."
—
As the event wound down, one by one the players logged off.
All except Gabriel, who stubbornly stayed online to grind a few more levels.
Kani Nayuta—our beloved Kanikou—turned off her computer, letting out a long sigh. She stretched her back with a little "yaaawn~," rubbed her tired eyes, and stumbled toward the bathroom.
After a quick splash of cold water to her face, she returned to her room and collapsed onto her bed, arms spread wide like a starfish.
So much had happened tonight.
The biggest surprise?
All the active members in the guild were girls around her age.
And not just any girls—two of them were intimately connected to Winter-sensei. One was his classmate, the other his next-door neighbor. Next-door, can you believe it!?
She hadn't even asked him where he went to school, or where he lived, and yet—fate was drawing them together bit by bit.
Just knowing his name, just knowing he existed nearby, made her feel like she'd taken one massive leap forward.
Ever since that heartfelt rejection, her affection hadn't wavered. If anything—it had grown.
Because the Kasumigaoka Touji she saw wasn't just talented… he was also kind, thoughtful, and dependable.
Every day, every little message he sent in their chats, filled her dark world with a little more color.
He'd describe food with such passion it felt like she could taste it. He'd write about music in a way that let her hear it even before pressing play.
And sometimes—just sometimes—he added words that painted emotions, vivid and tender, like watercolor blooming across a white page.
Despite being a shut-in who refused to step outside… she felt like she was becoming something else.
A socialite?
A dreamer?
No…
Just someone hopelessly in love.
Kani Nayuta—alias Kanikou—hugged her pillow tightly to her chest.
"I like you, Winter-sensei... more and more..." she whispered.
And with that, she drifted off to sleep, her cheeks still faintly flushed.