Chapter 29: Sakura Airi Is Self-Capturing
Sakura Airi soon calmed her heart and sat back down at her computer desk, opening her blog to browse.
As a popular internet idol, the photo she had just posted immediately received a large number of likes and comments.
[User 2231] "Miss, you look so beautiful!"
[User Strolling in the Rain] "Shizuku-mama!"
[User 28913289] "This face is too authoritative!"
Looking at the ever-growing praise in the comments, the corners of Sakura Airi's mouth couldn't help but curl into a slight arc.
Just then, she noticed one particular comment.
[Anonymous User] "Two days later, I saw you up close again today, Shizuku. Do you know? Being by your side makes me so happy~"
Seeing this comment, the smile on Sakura Airi's face gradually stiffened. A subtle sense of discomfort crawled into her chest, and she couldn't help but recall the events of the day.
The shop clerk's somewhat lecherous gaze.
However, she quickly calmed down and pushed the comment to the back of her mind. She had seen too many similar comments before. Most of them were just talk.
Sakura Airi then closed her blog and opened the website's recent trending rankings. She sometimes checked the updates of other bloggers to learn photography and outfit coordination tips. The top rankings were mostly lifestyle bloggers—beauty, cooking, fashion—and they were usually familiar IDs. The most popular bloggers on the site were generally a fixed group.
But as she scrolled down the rankings, she noticed a somewhat unfamiliar ID.
[Nickname: God] [Category: Games/Electronics] [Signature: I am the God of AVG games (I will not reply to any comments or private messages; if you want a walkthrough for a specific game, leave a message in the comments; specializing in AVGs)]
This bold and chuunibyou-esque ID made Sakura Airi curious. She clicked into the homepage; although the follower count wasn't massive and certainly couldn't compare to hers, for an account created only a few days ago, gaining this many followers was quite impressive, and its recent popularity was high.
Sakura Airi stared at the account creation date.
It was the same day school started.
Was it a coincidence?
The "God of AVG games" description pulled at her confidence. Although Sakura Airi didn't play games and wasn't entirely sure what "AVG" meant, she vaguely remembered hearing the term somewhere.
Wait a minute... could it be?!
When Katsuragi Keima and Horikita Suzune were talking this morning, she had overheard a few things. At the time, Keima was rapidly editing something on his terminal.
Could it be a blog?
Driven by intense curiosity, Sakura Airi opened "God's" content. There weren't many updates—just two game walkthroughs. She didn't understand what these were, but she clicked in to take a look, and was soon drawn in by the content.
"God's" walkthroughs weren't simply about helping players clear a game.
He segmented the different heroines of the game individually and analyzed their personalities very seriously—what they liked, what they hated, what type of girl they were—as if they were living right beside him. Not only that, the blogger extracted the essence of the different heroine storylines; while preserving the core of the tale, he expressed the delicate emotions between the protagonist and the heroines without being wordy.
Such powerful expressive ability was something even professional writers might find hard to match. This wasn't just a walkthrough; it was more like a youth story.
Even without playing games, Sakura Airi was captivated by the stories. She read a lot without realizing it, and her heart even began to flutter. For a fleeting moment, she even felt an impulse to fall in love.
Sakura Airi took a deep breath, calmed herself, and looked at the comments section.
[Anonymous User] "You are my God! Best walkthrough on the net!"
[User 3249877] "Writing in blood to beg God-sama for a guide on WHITE NOeSIS: Story of the Memories that Tell Lies, please!"
[User King of the Harem] "How does the author maintain such high quality and high output? Just how many livers does he have?"
She focused her gaze on the blogger's ID once more.
God.
This ID, this genre... and this creation date...
This is definitely Katsuragi Keima!
If... if she just hit the "follow" button, it should be fine, right?
Sakura Airi had set her privacy permissions so that followers couldn't see the bloggers she followed; only the account owner could see. Keima shouldn't be able to tell she was Shizuku. He probably didn't even know who "Shizuku" was; he only focused on the gaming circle. And since his follower count was growing so fast, her follow notification likely wouldn't be noticed.
"Katsuragi-kun..."
For the first time, Sakura Airi felt a strong sense of curiosity toward another person, and even a sliver of anticipation.
.
.
.
"It rose to 42%?! What's going on, God-sama! Do you have a clone technique?! Is another God-sama actually out on a date with Sakura-san right now?"
At this moment, in Katsuragi Keima's dormitory, Elsie couldn't understand what was happening at all.
"This is called 'self-capturing.' It sometimes happens with girls who have delicate sensibilities."
Keima didn't pay much attention to it. He just picked up his terminal and spoke slowly, preparing to edit the walkthrough for another game he had just cleared.
Just as he opened his blog homepage, several system notifications popped up, including recent visitor records and new followers. Due to the popularity of his guides, Keima's ranking among new bloggers was skyrocketing; it was only natural for his exposure and follower count to increase.
[User 123] followed you.
[User I am Mizuki Kaya's dog (Practice-diving)] followed you.
[User Shizuku] followed you.
Keima gave it a brief glance and was about to start editing.
Wait.
He seemed to have seen a somewhat familiar ID just now.
Shizuku? Sakura Airi?
[User Shizuku] browsed your updates at 18:11.
[User Shizuku] browsed your updates at 19:17.
[User Shizuku] entered your blog at 20:11.
[User Shizuku] just browsed your updates.
Sakura Airi had set her privacy so followers couldn't see her following list... but she had forgotten one thing.
The visitor records left on someone else's blog are not hidden from the owner. In Keima's eyes, Sakura Airi had entered his blog multiple times.
'Has this girl found out that I am 'God'?'
Well, Keima hadn't planned on hiding it in the first place.
He then clicked on Sakura Airi's blog homepage.
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