Chapter 154: What a Delightful Development
Since the high-intensity activities they tried in the morning hadn't yielded any particularly interesting reactions, Hayashi and Erina decided to skip the "thrill rides" and instead slowed their pace, turning their attention to more leisurely attractions.
After finishing lunch, the two first watched a decently reviewed movie, then headed to the botanical garden for a stroll. As they admired the flowers and plants, they couldn't help but mock the ridiculous plot points in the film.
Next, Hayashi and Erina went on to ride the Ferris wheel and the merry-go-round—incidentally, Hayashi had initially refused the merry-go-round outright, but Erina kept insisting until he reluctantly agreed. With a stiff expression, he found himself surrounded by a crowd of children and girls while Erina laughed heartily beside him during their merry-go-round ride.
"Damn it, I feel like everyone around us is taking photos with their phones!" Hayashi grumbled. "Am I going to end up on the front page of some forum tomorrow, labeled as 'The Legendary 30-Year-Old Man Riding a Merry-Go-Round'?"
"Pfft—"
Erina burst into laughter, leaning against Hayashi as she tried to suppress her amusement. "Not necessarily! Maybe the comments will say, 'A 30-year-old riding a merry-go-round must have such a girlish heart!'"
Hayashi immediately slumped onto the ground by the seaside, then turned his head to look at Erina beside him and said, "I don't want that to happen!"
Erina was laughing so hard she could barely stand straight, which only made Hayashi more annoyed. He reached toward her waist and declared, "Behold, the execution of justice! Tickle attack—"
"Eek!"
Erina nimbly dodged forward, evading Hayashi's assault, then stuck out her tongue at him. "Can't catch me~ You can't catch me~ La la la~"
"Grrr!"
Hayashi deliberately put on an exaggerated angry expression and lunged toward her, waving his arms. "Stay right there!"
"Nah nah nah, only an idiot would stay put~" Erina stuck out her tongue again and dashed ahead, her light, melodious laughter trailing behind her. The passing tourists couldn't help but smile knowingly at the sight.
Ah, young love—how wonderful it is…
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"Eww—"
Alice felt as though she had just taken a huge bite of dog food—coated in intensely sour powder on the outside but stuffed with saccharine sweetness inside—leaving her with a mix of sourness, sweetness, and overwhelming fullness!
She vigorously rubbed her arms, then stared in horror at Erina, who was currently chasing and play-fighting with Hayashi. In disbelief, she muttered to herself, "That's Erina!? That's really Erina!? No way, this can't be real, right!?"
Good heavens above!
This wasn't just something that would "shock Alice for a whole year"—this had shaken her to the point of questioning her entire existence.
Is love really that magical?
Could it truly transform the stern, unsmiling, perpetually serious Erina into this sweet, girlish version of herself!?
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...
After a good while of playful roughhousing, Erina "accidentally" ended up cornered by Hayashi against a wall, prompting him to let out a sinister chuckle.
"Heh heh, finally caught you—"
"Eek! Y-you, what are you planning!?"
"Keh keh, my fair lady, why don't you take a guess at what fate awaits you now that you're in my clutches?"
"N-no, don't…"
"Don't? Ha ha ha! I've heard that line way too many times!"
"Waaah, someone save me—"
"Go ahead and scream all you want—no one's coming to rescue you!"
"Help! Help!"
"Pfft—cough cough—"
Hayashi, who had been playing a little role-playing game with Erina just a moment ago, completely lost his composure. He turned his head away and burst into a fit of violent coughing before looking back at Erina, who was doubled over with laughter again, and asked in disbelief, "Wait, where the hell did you learn that!?"
"Huh? Don't you remember?" Erina blinked, then grinned mischievously. "Last time I was playing with your phone, I went through your QQ Zone and saw it there."
"Hah?" Hayashi froze, then let out a helpless chuckle as he pinched Erina's cheek. "How bored were you to go digging through my QQ Zone? I haven't used that thing in years!"
In Hayashi's hazy memory, he had frequently used QQ Zone before graduating high school, but after college, he rarely touched it—now, he couldn't even remember what was left in there.
"Well, I was bored, so I scrolled through it for a bit~" Erina's eyes curved into crescents as she leaned in closer with a sly grin. "But thanks to that, I found some really good stuff!"
Good stuff?
Hayashi stared at her blankly, tilting his head as he tried to recall what "good stuff" could possibly be in his QQ Zone—maybe some old Cold Rabbit memes he reposted back when QQ Weibo was still a thing?
Seemingly amused by his confusion, Erina giggled and pulled out her phone, opening her photo album. "Look at this—"
Hayashi leaned over curiously and saw a screenshot:
"I will always love Tokai Teio: My soul has already departed from this world."
'Cringe-worthy chuunibyou quotes!? And in fucking Leet Speak!?' Hayashi's jaw slowly dropped as he turned his stiff neck to look at Erina, who was grinning like a little devil beside him. "Y-you… this… I…" he stammered.
Delighted by his reaction, Erina nodded smugly and swiped to the next screenshot. "And this one—"
"I once had the sun, but because it lived, the moon had to die."
"And this—"
"Even the most badass Chopin couldn't play the sorrow in my heart."
"WAAAHHH—"
Pain. So much pain.
Hayashi let out a wail even more agonized than Kaneki's, clutching his face with his left hand as he cried, "WHY DID YOU FIND THESE!? AND WHY DID YOU SCREENSHOT THEM!? WAAAAHHH!!"
Clearly, Hayashi's cringe-induced meltdown was exactly what Erina had hoped for. She burst into laughter. "HAHAHA! Hayashi, I never thought I'd see the day you'd suffer like this!"
As for why she took screenshots? Well, she learned from the best—after all, Hayashi's phone was packed with hundreds of embarrassing screenshots of his meme-loving group chat friends.
This, my friends, is what you call karma.
"Blackmail material… and in Leet Speak…" Hayashi crouched on the floor, covering his face with both hands. "Right now, I desperately wish I could borrow Dialga's power to go back in time and strangle my chuunibyou past self!!!"
"HAHAHA—"
As Erina's delighted laughter filled the air, Hayashi… was officially in full self-destruct mode.
Today's result: Hayashi's crushing defeat.
Exposing past embarrassments is truly devastating.
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Thanks to the exposure of his cringeworthy middle school phase, Hayashi sulked for quite a while before finally recovering.
Erina suppressed her laughter and said, "Alright, let's head back~"
"Hmph—"
Hayashi turned his head away in annoyance, crossing his arms and mimicking a certain anime character as he huffed, "Delete all that stuff right now, or I'm ignoring you—I can't believe I still had those things saved! Damn it!"
At the same time, Hayashi made a mental note to clear out his entire QQ space the moment he got a chance to return to his own world—not a single post left standing!
"Fine, fine—"
Erina, who had only been teasing him, promptly emptied the embarrassing photos from her album right in front of Hayashi and even thoughtfully cleared the recycle bin before asking with a chuckle, "Happy now?"
"That's more like it."
Hayashi grinned in satisfaction. Glancing up at the sky, he said to Erina, "It's getting late. Let's go back."
"Mhm—"
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"They're leaving, they're leaving!"
Upon noticing Hayashi and Erina heading toward the exit, Mana quickly nudged Hisako beside her and urged, "Hurry, get ready!"
"Right, right!"
Hisako snapped out of her daze and hastily turned to Yunyun. "Yunyun, standby! When I say 'go,' start the rain immediately!"
"Got it!"
Yunyun nervously gripped her staff and nodded vigorously.
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"What the hell…"
Hayashi pulled Erina under the hotel's awning, staring speechlessly at the torrential downpour before them.
From the first bolt of lightning to the first clap of thunder, and then to the sudden deluge—the entire sequence took less than twenty seconds, perfectly embodying the term "downpour."
"Hayashi—"
Erina, her hair slightly damp, lowered her phone and sighed. "The driver says the car's engine broke down—apparently, it got jolted by the thunder just now."
"Ugh—"
Hayashi immediately facepalmed. "Well, we're screwed. There aren't even any taxis around here now."
When the rain first started, Hayashi and Erina had taken their time sheltering under the awning, unconcerned about competing with other tourists for cabs since they had their own car. But now…
One glance was enough to confirm their fate—totally doomed.
Erina also wore a helpless expression as she watched the relentless rain. "Judging by how hard it's pouring, it probably won't stop for hours."
Hayashi rubbed his temples, then glanced back at the hotel behind them. "How about we just book a room? No point running back in this rain, right? Let's stay here overnight and wait it out."
"Sure." Erina shrugged indifferently. Dabbing her hair with a tissue, she headed toward the front desk. "Might as well take a shower since my clothes got wet. We can use the room's dryer afterward."
"Alright." Hayashi nodded. He walked side by side with Erina into the hotel lobby and approached the front desk. "Hello, could we get two rooms, please?"
"Just a moment, let me check the available rooms." The receptionist glanced at Hayashi and Erina, clicked her mouse a few times, then looked up again, blinking. "We only have one double room left at the moment. What would you two like to do…?"
Hearing this, Hayashi and Erina couldn't help but exchange glances.
Was this some kind of cliché light novel development?