I'll post an extra chapter every 400 Power Stones. Good luck with that!
Goal for the next extra chapter: 89/400
####
POV: Third Person
'Damn, I almost got caught.' When Kyo suddenly ran after her, the girl panicked. He was fast—very fast. So fast that even the people nearby were startled by his speed.
She ran as fast as she could, pulling off her mask and hood before tossing her coat away.
After that, she sat down near two men who were smoking behind a shop and started fiddling with her phone. Kyo ran past her and the two men without suspecting a thing.
The two men looked at her as if she were strange.
But before they could ask anything, she got up and left.
She took out her phone and began typing in her "journal":
[He left the house to go out. He stopped at a restaurant and then headed toward a nearby market. He did not act suspiciously at any point.]
After writing that, she sighed and walked toward a car parked nearby.
Inside was a man in the driver's seat.
"Did you find anything?"
"Nothing. I've been investigating him for days and haven't found anything relevant." The woman in the car suspected that the boy was the author Aoi Haruki.
How did that suspicion begin?
After the publisher repeatedly refused her requests for an interview with Aoi Haruki, she grew irritated. So she made a decision: she would uncover the author's true identity. No one had ever investigated it that deeply before.
After some digging, she found a man.
Robert Evans. A foreigner.
A man who had been seen with Masayuki Kuroda, one of the main editors at the company that publishes Overlord.
The woman had already spoken to him once—only to have her request for an interview with Aoi Haruki rejected rather aggressively for some reason.
But…
After investigating further, she discovered that Robert worked a regular job and always came home late. There was no way he could be Aoi Haruki.
However, she also found out that Robert Evans had a son who had recently turned 13. At first, she refused to believe that a 13-year-old child could have written something like Overlord and become such a famous author.
He would have had to start writing Overlord at four or five years old.
That simply didn't make sense to her.
So she began investigating Robert's wife.
But after looking into her, the only thing she found was that Haruna had been a model in the past and now worked at a foreign company.
So she reached a conclusion: that 13-year-old child wrote Overlord…
—or it was someone she hadn't been able to find. Someone connected to Robert, but only loosely, making it impossible to uncover any meaningful information.
And since Kyo Evans was the only remaining person she still suspected, she began investigating him.
She discovered that he was a model who had done some work for a famous brand, and also learned—through a friend—that he was participating in the filming of a series directed by Takumi Hayashida, a well-known director.
The series hadn't even been publicly announced yet.
The woman began to believe that maybe the author really was that boy.
He was too intelligent. His grades at school were perfect. He was extremely capable in everything he did.
But she still wasn't certain.
'If I publish an article about him without proof, I'll definitely get fired.'
"But why are you so determined to find out who Aoi Haruki really is?" the driver asked.
"Because I'm curious. Isn't that enough?"
"…"
Even if it ruined Aoi Haruki's life, she didn't care.
She wanted to be the first to uncover his true identity. If that happened, her career would undoubtedly reach a new level.
The woman smiled widely, revealing her yellowed teeth, and the car sped off.
As the car drove through the streets, she sent a message to someone.
[Did you find anything?]
A short while later, a reply came.
[I managed to get my hands on an interesting email.]
[Send it to me right now.]
####
POV: Kyo
I walked through the market with a basket and picked up everything my mother needed. After that, I paid using my phone and left the store. When I stepped outside, that unsettling feeling of being watched had disappeared.
Still, I decided not to walk around alone.
I sent a message to Daiki.
[Can you come pick me up? I think someone might be following me. I'm at the market—]
I sent him the address, then messaged Rina explaining the situation. I told her it might be some obsessed fan. I didn't ask her to have the company handle it or anything—I just explained what had happened.
A little while later, Daiki arrived.
This time, I got in and sat in the passenger seat.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. There was someone suspicious following me, but I couldn't figure out who it was. They might still be nearby, so I decided to call you and wait inside the market."
"I see. That was a good call. It could be a stalker or something like that. You should tell Rina about it."
"I already did."
"Alright. Should I take you home?"
"Yes. After I drop this off at home, I want to go somewhere else. My father's birthday is next month—I want to prepare a surprise for him."
"A surprise?" Daiki smiled. "Mind telling me what kind?"
"A pretty expensive one. I'm sure he'll like it."
As the car approached my house, Rina got in touch.
Her message read:
[Leave this to me.]
After getting home and handing the groceries to my mother, I told her I was going out again with Daiki and would be back soon.
Then we headed toward an expensive store located a bit far from my house.
When we arrived, Daiki asked, "Are you sure you have enough money to buy something here?"
"Of course," I replied. "I'm richer than you think."
####
Read 8+ more chapters on my patreon!
/KyoHaruhi
By subscribing to my Patreon, you can suggest works for the protagonist to recreate!
Next Chapters: Chapter 60 - Aston Martin Tokyo. / Chapter 61 - Buying a Car / Chapter 62 - I want to talk to you. / Chapter 63 - I love romance. / Chapter 64 - Success similar to Overlord.