Hayashi Maki quickly decided on the type of story he wanted to write.
He didn't plan to plagiarize outright, but he could borrow settings, scenes, and plotlines from excellent works.
After all, those stories didn't exist in this world. Even if he stitched things together like a Frankenstein, no one would accuse him of copyright infringement.
He spent two hours writing an opening before stopping, still eager to continue.
The title he chose was:
"There's Nothing Wrong with a Love Story about a Childhood Friend and a Senpai."
Heh—he'd reused Eriri's secret ero manga background, and Kasumigaoka Utaha's "beautiful senpai and light novel author" setup.
Then the two heroines form a game development club at the male lead's request and begin competing for his affection—resulting in a romantic comedy full of drama and chaos.
Finally, in a twist of bad taste, the male lead ends up with a random side character, and the two heroines become "losers in love" who eventually develop feelings for each other… and go full yuri.
"Uhh… why does this feel weirder the more I think about it?"
"This kind of ending would totally get me flamed…"
Still, controversy is popularity too. He'd focus first on creating a sweet and sour rom-com to make some money.
As for the scandalous ending, he'd save that for the final volume.
Besides, there was no guarantee it would even make it past the editor.
Once he figured out the story, he stopped worrying about whether Eriri or Utaha would die of secondhand embarrassment if they saw characters with similar backgrounds to their own.
Next came the author name.
"What should I call myself?"
Got it.
"Let's go with Kurosora Twilight."
No deep reason—he was once deeply moved by a game called Heavens Burn Red and took inspiration from that.
Since this world didn't have those famous works, now was the time to use his memory to shock the novel world.
Of course, his true purpose wasn't literature.
It was to shock beautiful girls, approach them, gain their trust, and contract them as followers.
Currently, he only had one way to gain followers:
Get them to agree to let him do whatever he wants.
And that night, Shiina Mahiru, in a moment of despair, had really agreed—thus becoming his follower.
If he had used force alone, the contract wouldn't have succeeded.
So to gain followers, it was best to work on both mind and body—win them over emotionally and physically.
Even the follower interface of his demon panel had a hint:
[Unlock Shiina Mahiru the angel's emotional wounds. Promote harmony in your garden of followers, and your super recovery ability will grow again.]
Isn't this basically locking in his future path? Definitely a compassionate guy in the making!
While Hayashi Maki was writing furiously, preparing to rock the novel world—
Shiina Mahiru had just finished eating.
After her meal, she lay in bed, browsing her phone.
Her contact list had only two names:
One was her homeroom teacher, Kirisu Mafuyu.
The other was the caretaker, Kujikawa Koyuki.
Her parents? She had deleted them.
There was no point keeping their numbers—those two never called her on their own.
Even if she called them, she'd only hear: "I'm busy with work."
They never wanted to talk longer.
Time and again, she had expectations. Time and again, they let her down.
Her heart, which had pretended to be strong, was already covered in scars.
And yesterday, learning the truth behind their coldness had completely shattered her.
She gave up.
She realized that in her family, she was an extra. No matter how hard she worked to be excellent, her parents would always see her as an eyesore.
If that's the case, she didn't want to go back to that house.
But… should she really stay here?
She had originally lived here quite peacefully.
But when she thought of the pervert next door, a conflicted expression crossed her face.
Her feelings toward Hayashi Maki were complicated.
On one hand, she was angry that he had taken advantage of her emotional breakdown to take her body.
On the other hand… she felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.
"Is it because he said he cared about me that night…?"
Thinking about his rogue-like, fiery kiss, Mahiru's delicate face flushed again.
Redness spread all the way to her ears.
Her blushing cheeks made her look even cuter.
"Tch! I'm not allowed to think about him. He's a pervert!"
Any normal high school boy, seeing a beautiful girl sitting sadly in the rain, would have offered her an umbrella.
But Hayashi Maki?
He deliberately lured her into saying depressing things, then immediately carried her off to "use" her.
The more she thought about it, the more she fumed. Her cheeks puffed up.
Since she had called in sick, she spent a long time spacing out in her room.
Unknowingly, night fell again.
Hayashi Maki stretched.
"Finally done with today's writing."
He had written a third of his rom-com featuring the tsundere blond twin-tail and the black-stocking senpai. He'd write more tomorrow.
He took a sip of water to moisten his throat, then headed to Mahiru's door and knocked.
"Shiina-san, are you asleep?"
No response.
"Mahiru, are you asleep?" He tried using her first name.
Next second—click—the door opened a crack, revealing an angry-looking girl.
"We're not close enough for you to call me by name, perverted opportunist."
Hayashi Maki gave a sheepish smile.
"I thought you were asleep."
"Hmph! If you have something to say, say it. I want to go to bed!"
She kept the door open just a crack, clearly on guard in case he tried to barge in.
"I can't sleep. I want to sleep with you…"
"GET LOST! You pervert—I'll call the police!"
She shut the door in his face, cheeks burning.
"That bastard! Wasn't it enough that he bullied me this morning? Now he's harassing me at night too?"
"I seriously hate him. I have to move!"
Despite being rejected, Hayashi Maki wasn't mad.
Because Shiina Mahiru was already his follower.
And such a contract? It could only be broken by death.
So to him, Mahiru was already his future wife.
Being turned away by his wife? No big deal.
In fact, the more dramatic her reaction, the more it showed how much she cared about what had happened between them.
That was a good sign.
Some things—once there's a first time, there will be countless more.