🎉🔥 Special Announcement! 🔥🎉
To celebrate with everyone, I'm giving a 30% OFF discount on my Patreon for all $10 and above tiers — but it will only last 7 days starting today! ⏳🎁
👉 Use code AUG20 to redeem this limited-time offer. Don't miss out! 🚀
💬 And guess what? Our Discord server is now live! 🎉 Join the family, connect with other readers, share your thoughts, and hang out together:
👉
📚 Fanfiction lovers — unlock more than 15 advance chapters and get ahead of Webnovel readers on my Fanfiction Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/Forbidden_lust
🎨 Art fans — see your favorite female leads brought to life in exclusive, stunning artwork on my Art Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/PixLust
⏰ Remember, the discount lasts only 7 days — grab it now and enjoy extra chapters + join the community today! ❤️
~~~~~~~~
Chapter 12 — The Arcade and the Award
"It's been approved." Ryuo Tenshin exported the intention contract from his phone and held it up. "We'll know the final result by the end of the month."
"It's approved already? That's… kind of fast." Yuiga Mizuki sounded surprised, but relieved. Approval was good news no matter how quickly it came.
Mizuki glanced at his clothes. "Onii-chan, when you go to sign the contract…aren't you going to change? You can't wear a school uniform to a signing like that."
Ryuo paused with a radish in hand, a little speechless. He didn't own a proper suit; their family couldn't afford one. Besides, he'd learned the etiquette: there would probably be a small public event tied to the formal signing to rouse interest in the new work.
"Don't overthink it," Ryuo said, slicing. "I'll sign under a pen name. Whether I win the award is another matter. Even if I do, I won't show my face at the event."
Mizuki blinked, puzzled. Didn't her brother crave recognition? There were kids at their school who had debuted as light-novel authors. Their sales weren't huge, but they loved the attention.
But Ryuo had always been different. He could be petty and tease people over small things, but when it mattered he was steady and dependable. As the internet saying put it, when things are dangerous, he's the safest; when things are safe, he's the most dangerous. At least, that was true when Saki Kawasaki was around.
---
The next few days settled into a good, steady rhythm. Ryuo studied, tended the oden stall, teased his childhood sweetheart, and occasionally argued about novels with Kasumigaoka Utaha online. It wasn't dull — each day felt like it mattered.
At the end of April, exhausted from study, Ryuo finally invited Hachiman Hikigaya and Saika Totsuka to the arcade. To his surprise, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza was already there.
They clustered around the fighting-game cabinets. Ryuo swept through match after match, barely losing a life. The others watched in stunned silence — and when Hikigaya finally squeezed out a narrow win, he insisted on treating everyone.
Ryuo relaxed with a can of Max Coffee — a local specialty from Chiba. Zaimokuza crouched at a pachinko machine, eyes narrowed as if calculating the ideal angle to drop a coin.
Suddenly, Hikigaya's phone buzzed. He read the message aloud:
> "The Dengeki Newcomer Award, the most-discussed and prestigious selection, officially opens tomorrow!"
"Dengeki Novel Award?" Hikigaya frowned. He turned toward Zaimokuza. "Hey, didn't you say you were preparing a manuscript? How's it going?"
Zaimokuza's face flushed. He'd talked big about an isekai about a samurai traveling to another world, promising that they'd critique it together — but he hadn't actually started. The sudden reminder made him press the coin button by accident; the coin clattered uselessly into the tray.
Ryuo, who had been half listening, had a small, inward start. He'd checked the second-round list a while ago. Your Lie in April was on it — not at the top, and not the bottom, somewhere in the middle. It looked mediocre beside other entries, but the order didn't equal ranking, so he'd let it lie.
Zaimokuza tried to recover his pride with a dramatic sigh. "My Yoshiteru Samurai's Journey to Another World is almost finished," he declared, then added in a low voice, "but this year's contest is fierce… even Yamada Elf is entering — she's rallying fans on her livestream!"
Ryuo blinked. An established author entering the newcomer contest was odd, but not against the rules. It was a reminder of how unpredictable these competitions could be.
Hikigaya and Totsuka exchanged glances and read Ryuo's face. About a month ago, Ryuo had declined their invitations — saying he was helping a friend submit a manuscript to Dengeki Bunko. They'd suspected then that he was quietly submitting his own work. They hadn't pressed him on it, but now they wondered if his manuscript had been knocked out in the first round.
The Dengeki Award was cutthroat. Even talented writers could be eliminated early. Ryuo had never looked overconfident; otherwise he wouldn't have been so secretive.
So, in a wordless pact, Hikigaya and Totsuka decided to spare him an embarrassment. "Ahem, Ryuo, we've got something to do. We'll head back," Hikigaya said lightly. "Here, keep our remaining coins. Play a while longer."
Ryuo waved them off, puzzled but undisturbed. If he'd known what they'd been thinking, he'd probably have teased them for overcomplicating things.
Left on his own and slightly bored, Ryuo drifted to the crane-game corner. He wasn't expert at the prize machines, but he wanted a penguin plush for Mizuki. Try after try, the claw slipped at the last second.
"This machine's broken — the claw always loosens," he muttered.
A girl in a red beret who had been watching stepped forward. "Let me try."
She slid a coin in, moved the controls with deft and assured motions, and — on the very first attempt — the penguin tumbled into the chute.
Ryuo stared. "May I ask who you are, onee-san?" he asked, surprised.
She smiled and pointed to the arcade leaderboard. Her name crowned the top spot.
End of the chapter
Usual power stone goal 200= extra chapter