Chapter 1: I am Tom Riddle, Send Money
[I am Tom Marvolo Riddle, a powerful wizard. Due to an accident, my soul has been sealed in this diary. If you are willing to help me break the seal, I will handsomely reward you after I break free and return to the wizarding world to reclaim my fortune.]
Late at night, Kasumigaoka Utaha was lying on her bed in a manner completely devoid of any ladylike grace. Even the loose pajamas she wore could hardly conceal her magnificent figure.
At this moment, she was holding a plain-looking black diary in her hands, a particularly conflicted expression on her face.
This diary had inexplicably appeared on her desk tonight just as she was preparing for bed.
At first, Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't think much of it, but when she casually flipped through the diary, she was astonished to find that no matter how she flipped, she could never reach the last page of this seemingly thin notebook, as if it had an infinite number of pages.
And the only text on the diary so far was what kept her tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
The text in the diary was not Japanese, but English, with a rather classical and elegant font, which added a certain degree of credibility.
"Could it be that wizards really exist? This is truly an unbelievable truth..."
Although Kasumigaoka Utaha was quite confident in her own talents—since enrolling in the private Toyogasaki High School, her grades had always remained first in her year—but...
What on earth was the situation with this so-called wizarding world? What kind of person was this "Tom"? And why had this diary suddenly appeared before her?
But even with so many questions bottled up in her heart, Kasumigaoka Utaha had yet to make any response—faced with such a completely unknown object, who knew if writing on it would trigger some kind of curse or contract.
Maybe tomorrow I should just throw this diary on a park bench and let someone else worry about it?
This thought appeared in Kasumigaoka Utaha's mind, but in the next moment, she shook her head.
No, I'm afraid that the moment I saw this diary, some kind of indescribable contract had already been formed.
Just like how she had clearly tossed the diary aside just now, yet with just a thought, it had reappeared in her hand.
This diary seemed to have already been "bound" to her.
Kasumigaoka Utaha patted her own cheeks. Having reached this point, it was impossible to play dumb. Then there was only one answer—no matter the result, she had to figure out what this "Tom" was trying to do right now.
Kasumigaoka Utaha got up from her bed, sat back down at her desk, picked up her fountain pen, and began to contemplate what she should write for her first sentence to this "Tom".
A friendly greeting? Or a probing inquiry about the wizarding world?
But while she was still hesitating about how to write this first sentence, several large paragraphs of text suddenly refreshed on the diary in front of her.
And to her astonishment, this time the text in the diary was no longer in English, but in the Japanese she was most familiar with.
[Hee hee, just kidding with you all. I hope no one took it seriously, right? There's no way someone would really be holding a notebook, agonizing for half a day, not knowing what to do, right? No way, right?
Anyway, the joke is over, let's get down to business.
First, let me explain the origin of this diary in your hands. To put it simply, it's the cheat I brought with me when I, as a transmigrator, crossed over into this world. As long as I write in the diary every day, I can get some rewards.
As for my identity and name in this world... My mom told me that this world is a dangerous place, and a boy must protect his privacy when he's out and about. So don't even think about looking for me, because I am the man you can never have.
If you absolutely must have a name for me, let me think, "You-Know-Who" might be a rather interesting one.
And you who can see this diary, according to the tropes of the diary-viewing web novels from my past life, should all be the protagonists of your respective stories.
Let me be clear first, I don't know who is looking at this diary right now. It's just that according to my investigation, this world has integrated a large jumble of film, anime, game, and novel works that I saw in my past life. Uh, although it might make you a little uncomfortable to be told you're a character from some work, for me, this is indeed a fact from my memory.
But thinking in a more outrageous direction, it's not impossible that all those memories of my past life in my head were deliberately fabricated by some higher-dimensional being with a sick sense of humor just to pass the time and watch the fun.
Of course, going further down that road would be even more nonsensical, so let's get back to the main topic.
In short, you don't have to worry too much. After all, you are all people with your own thoughts. Those memories in my head are, at the end of the day, just rigid plotlines. The moment you obtained this diary, the plot of the story has probably already deviated.
What I can do is to write down the stories from my memory in the diary as neutrally as possible. You can compare what I write with reality, or you can simply treat it as a pastime to kill boredom.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of impact you, who are reading the diary, will have on the stories in my memory after you understand your own story and the stories of others.
By the way, a friendly reminder, according to the general tropes, although you can't tell others about this diary, those who hold the diary can still communicate with each other. As for how you plan to get along with each other, that's your business.
After all, for me, the clash between the female protagonists of different works also seems quite interesting.
Well then, everything that needs to be explained has been explained. Next, let's enter the pleasant session of flogging a dead horse, oh no, I mean, the spoiler session.
Actually, I really wanted to start with the Second Miss Yukinoshita and Kasumigaoka-senpai, who were extremely popular in my past life's world and were basically dragged into every crossover novel to be tormented.
Speaking of which, the two of them could be considered to hold up half the sky in urban crossover fanfiction.
But according to my investigation, the plots of both of them should not start for another year, and I haven't had any dealings with them yet, so let's put them aside for a while and start with the characters who need to know the plot more urgently.
Among the characters I've investigated so far, the one who needs to be most careful at the moment should be Miss Hoshino Ai, the idol.
I really hope you can see my diary. Although the evaluation of you in my past life's world was mixed, after watching your performance on the internet after I transmigrated here, I personally still hope you can continue to be active as an idol.
At the age of 15 now, you might have already met Kamiki Hikaru. No matter what stage your relationship is at, I strongly advise you to stay away from this scumbag.
Although the manga plot I read in my past life has not yet provided concrete evidence that he is the true culprit who will cause your death in the future, and perhaps there are other masterminds hidden behind him, he is indeed a beast who satisfies his own desires by taking the lives of talented idols and stars.
If you are already pregnant at the moment, please also ensure that your whereabouts are not leaked to anyone, otherwise, that extremist fan in your fan club named Ryosuke will most likely be induced by that mastermind to pose a life-threatening danger to your attending physician and you yourself.
Of course, if you have really reached the stage of pregnancy, I suggest you'd better find a detective to help investigate the true identity of the mastermind.
For my personal recommendation, Mr. Mouri Kogoro in Beika Town, Tokyo, and Miss Shionji Yūko of the Tokyo NEET Detective Agency should both be good choices.
If you choose the former, it's best to visit when the first-grade elementary school student named Edogawa Conan is at home in his office. It would be even better if this little brat could hear the content of your request.
I've estimated that today's diary entry is already over a thousand words. Although there are still many things I want to write, it's getting late, and I have to play with my cutest little sister tomorrow morning, so I'll stop here for today.
I don't know what kind of rewards I'll get today. I sincerely hope they are just some ordinary rewards that won't affect my life too much.]
"You have finished reading the diary for the first time. You have obtained 1 Reading Point."
After finishing reading this refreshed diary, Kasumigaoka Utaha, her expression complicated, seemed to hear a mechanical prompt in her ear.