People who were not participating in the game could observe the entire situation clearly from the specially built spectator stands surrounding the maze.
From above, the layout of the maze was fully visible—the winding paths, overlapping corridors, hidden intersections, and sudden dead ends all laid bare.
Every movement inside was exposed to the audience's eyes, turning what should have been a simple water-gun game into an entertaining spectacle.
Akira Fujimiya was placed in a group together with Yukinoshita Yukino, while Hiratsuka-sensei had been grouped with Kawasaki Saki — Although they were on the same team overall, they entered the maze from two different entrances, approaching from opposite sides.
On Isshiki Iroha's side, four girls moved together through the maze in a tight formation — Ebina Hina naturally walked at the front, her pace steady and cautious, while Isshiki Iroha followed closely behind with a bright, playful smile. Yuigahama Yui and Miura Yumiko trailed after them, whispering to each other while laughing softly, clearly treating the entire activity as a casual summer game.
Meanwhile,
Inside another corridor, Yukinoshita Yukino and Akira walked side by side.
Compared to the others, they were not paying attention to their surrounding at all. Their pace was relaxed, their steps unhurried, as if they were simply taking a walk rather than participating in a competitive event.
Yukinoshita Yukino was very calm because she already knew something very important.
As long as Akira was with her, the maze itself posed no real challenge.
No matter how complicated the routes were, no matter how many intersections they passed, Akira would remember every single one without fail.
"Yukino," Akira suddenly spoke, his voice echoing faintly in the narrow corridor. "Aren't you going to ask me a question?"
Yukinoshita Yukino lifted her hand and gently brushed her hair behind her ear, her expression composed as usual.
"I already know you can remember every route," she replied coolly. "There's no need to ask you about directions."
"That's not what I'm talking about," Akira said, turning his head to look at her with a meaningful smile.
Yukinoshita Yukino immediately understood what he meant. Her steps slowed slightly, and a faint blush crept across her cheeks.
"I won't ask you about that kind of thing," she said firmly, though her voice lacked its usual sharpness.
Akira leaned closer and lowered his voice deliberately. "You know, Yui can do some things that you can't," he whispered, "and I like that very much."
"You—!" Yukinoshita Yukino glared at him sharply, her composure cracking for just a moment.
Akira merely smiled at her reaction, his expression relaxed and unapologetic.
Yukinoshita Yukino turned her head away in irritation, her ears visibly red.
"Just kidding," Akira added calmly. "Yukino-chan, still have a lot of room for improvement. And I'm always ready to help~."
As he spoke, he reached out naturally and took her hand. His grip was firm yet gentle, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Baka!" Yukinoshita Yukino snorted softly. Despite her words, she didn't pull her hand away.
While the two of them were speaking quietly, trouble had already found the other group.
Kawasaki Saki and Hiratsuka-sensei had unknowingly stepped into a narrow intersection when water suddenly sprayed toward them from multiple directions.
"Damn it!" Hiratsuka-sensei shouted, gripping her toy water gun tightly.
"S-Sensei, let's retreat first!" Kawasaki Saki said hurriedly, instinctively stepping back.
"Yes, try to evacuate to a safer place!" Hiratsuka-sensei continued, her voice ringing out as if she were commanding troops on a battlefield.
Kawasaki Saki glanced at Hiratsuka-sensei, who was crouched slightly with a serious expression, aiming her water gun with full concentration.
For a brief moment, Saki wanted to tell her not to take the game so seriously, but the words never left her mouth.
.....
At the same time,
Akira led Yukinoshita Yukino through a different exit of the maze. Using his flawless memory, he guided her effortlessly around multiple turns, moving silently until they emerged directly behind Isshiki Iroha's group.
By the time they noticed something was wrong, it was already too late.
"Eh! —wait, behind us—!" Isshiki Iroha barely had time to react before water came spraying toward them.
Hiratsuka-sensei, having heard Iroha's voice closed by, rushed over with Kawasaki Saki.
The two sides unintentionally surrounded Isshiki Iroha's group from both directions, plunging the narrow corridor into complete chaos.
Water splashed everywhere.
Both teams firing at each others!
Laughter, startled cries, and playful complaints echoed through the maze.
In the end, there was naturally no winner.
No one was spared.
Even Akira's clothes were completely soaked, water dripping from his sleeves as he lowered his water gun with a helpless smile.
Despite that, everyone was laughing.
They had all enjoyed themselves.
By the time the game ended, it was already lunchtime.
...
Inside the restaurant—
The group of girls gathered together in the restaurant, sitting around a long table while discussing what to do for the rest of the afternoon.
Erina Nakiri and Hisako Arato exchanged glances before Erina spoke up. "We're planning to go to the indoor swimming pool."
Hisako Arato nodded in agreement and added, "Would you like to come with us, Yukinoshita-san?"
Yukinoshita Yukino thought about it for a moment before responding. "I'll go," she said, then paused slightly. "I'll invite Sakurajima Mai as well."
Sakurajima Mai had a good relationship with Yukinoshita Yukino, and after receiving the invitation, she accepted without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Yuigahama Yui discussed things with Miura Yumiko and Ebina Hina before clapping her hands lightly.
"How about playing water volleyball?"
Yuigahama Yui also speak with Isshiki Iroha, Nishimiya Shouko, and Tadokoro Megumi, inviting them to join.
She glanced briefly toward Kawasaki Saki and Akira but didn't step forward to invite them.
As for Akira, the group of girls simply ignored him altogether.
Akira himself had no intention of going to the indoor swimming pool with them.... Not now atleast.
Hiratsuka-sensei looked quite interested in the swimming pool, but when her gaze landed on Akira, her face turned slightly red.
She quickly looked away, clearly worried that Akira might go along and tease her again.
After lunch, the girls gathered their things and left together.
Only Akira and Kawasaki Saki stayed behind.
"Saki," Akira said seriously, "bring the laptop over. You're responsible for taking notes. I want to talk to them about work."
"Yes," Kawasaki Saki replied immediately. She understood that Akira was about to discuss serious matters, so she hurried back to the room to retrieve a laptop and a notebook.
Once everything was prepared, Akira initiated a video call.
Sada Kana accepted the call almost instantly. She had clearly prepared in advance, as numerous documents were already open on her screen.
"There are currently four animation projects in production," She reported calmly. "Including works handled by Flash Animation and Future Animation. Several more projects have also been added to the planning stage."
"In addition to Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Romantic Comedy, anime adaptations of manga and light novels are progressing steadily."
{T/N: Romantic comedy is the original anime, it is not OreGairu, }
She continued explaining that even if some staff from Flash Animation's three production teams were reassigned, the company would still be able to maintain three ongoing productions—Madoka Magica was nearing completion, and many graduates from Flash Animation School had already joined the workforce.
Combined with staff recruited from other companies, Flash Animation currently had more than enough manpower.
"As for Future Animation," Kana added, "although there's only one production team, their enthusiasm is extremely high. Their first animation has already received recognition from Tamura Wakaka. This is a very good start."
"The success of their first work will determine the future of Future Animation Studio."
After listening carefully, Akira gave several clear instructions.
Before traveling, he had already stated that he would conduct irregular video calls during summer vacation and might even visit the company in person.
Because of that, Kana Sada (The manager of Flash Animation company), Kanae Takahashi (The manager of Third animation studio,under Flash Animation), Hanada Yui (Future Comic Publishing House), Hayama Riko (Hoshiyuu Agency, the voice agency) and Kamihara Kei (Idol Company) didn't dare to treat his words lightly.
Kana Sada, in particular, was thoroughly prepared.
After the call ended, Akira asked a maid to bring him a cold drink. Once he took a sip, wetting his throat he initiated another video call—this time to Hanada Yui.
The waiting time was slightly longer.
When Hanada Yui finally appeared on screen, she apologized immediately. Akira waved it off, not minding it at all.
Hanada Yui was managing far too many things by herself: Future Comics Publishing, the video website/platform, the gaming company, and countless other matters.
They began with Future Comics Publishing.
"Manga won't change too much in the future," Hanada Yui explained. "The number of readers will increase, digital manga will become more popular, and many outstanding manga artists and light novel writers will emerge. This will lead to a large number of best-selling works."
Next was the video website/platform.
"Promotion for the food competition has already started," she continued. "Miss Yukinoshita Haruno is responsible for operations and has been extremely helpful. We currently have two confirmed spots for the competition and I'm selecting the third one. Once I find a suitable candidate, I'll send the information to you for final approval."
Finally, she moved on to the gaming company.
"The Madoka Magica game is complete and is currently in trial operation on the video platform. As the first game from a new company, it's received very positive feedback."
"As for Soul Master, Open World, and Fleet Girls, we can only complete two of them at the moment. The open-world project will require significantly more time."
{T/N: Soul master is the gacha like card game, I forgot what name I used instead of soul master, so I didn't change it yet.
Open world is the rpg type game, genshin, honkai, zzz, etc.
Fleet girls, well fleet girls you know about—Azur Lane, KanColle.
For now, I am keeping it like this, in the future i will change it}
Akira felt a bit disappointed when he heard this.
Of the three games, the open-world one was the one he most wanted to play. It had the highest concentration of another world elements. Soul Master and Fleet Girls were decent, but not as appealing as it to him.
However, he understood that excellent games required time.
The gaming company had already been divided into two production teams and was continuously recruiting new staff.
Akira's requirement was simple: complete the two selected games within half a year.
Thanks to the extremely detailed gameplay framework he had provided, a lot of development time could be saved.
With enough manpower, even new teams could complete the projects within that timeframe.
In the future, the animations for Soul Master and Fleet Girls would be produced by Flash Animation.
.....
Compared to Hanada Yui's workload, Hayama Riko's responsibilities were relatively light.
The voice actor programs under Hoshiyuu Agency had already formed a good structure: inviting popular voice actors, talk segments, mini-games, and sponsor acknowledgments.
Although the styles of the programs for new voice actors and unknown voice actors are different, the program effects are all very good.
The video website had already assigned dedicated staff to manage these programs.
Hayama Riko's main responsibility was selecting and arranging voice actors.
The voice actors she chose were all highly distinctive.
For example, Hikigaya Komachi had gradually change from a guest to a regular cast member and had recently begun hosting the program herself.
Akira had no objections to Hayama Riko's arrangements.
With Komachi natural talent, voice acting, acting skill, and rising popularity, she was steadily moving toward becoming a top voice actress.
In addition to Hoshiyuu Agency, virtual idols were also one of Hayama Riko's main focuses.
The agency's own virtual idols, publicly recruited virtual idols, and partnered virtual idols were all developing steadily.
Among them, the partnered virtual idols had strong funding and excellent promotion, and their fan base continued to grow rapidly.
The number of users on the new video website had already exceeded ten million.
Hayama Riko mentioned that her sister had called her specifically to talk about the new video website. She was very pleased to be working with Akira and Yukinoshita Haruno.
For their family, the new video website represented a brand-new direction.
Future cooperation between the two sides would focus on the gaming company and Future comics.
Hayama Riko's sister was extremely generous, mentioning that she had acquired several game studios and was willing to provide assistance at any time.
Which, Akira politely declined.
His plan was already comprehensive enough. There was no need for outside involvement.
When the topic shifted to newly recruited virtual idols, Hayama Riko took out four documents.
"Fujimiya-sama," she said, "these are the newcomers I selected. I think their live broadcasts are very interesting."
"I'll pay attention to them," Akira replied after quickly reviewing the documents that she send in the Email. "The idol agency originally planned to set up a live broadcast space, but they're not interested in virtual idols. You should directly go to Yukinoshita Haruno and select a suitable building to use as a dormitory."
"Their salaries will follow what we agreed on before after signing the contract."
Hayama Riko nodded.
Kawasaki Saki, sitting beside Akira and typing diligently, couldn't help but feel a strange sense of anticipation as she listened to everything.
....
{T/N: I m sorry I was going through heavy fever mostly due to high temperature }
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Bonus Chapter:-
4 Bonus chapter at 100 powerstone
6 Bonus Chapter at 150 powerstone
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Word Count — 2,275