Bab 33: Chapter 33: Fanbook
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Yuan Yue Academy, Tiqie Mansion.
Deep into the night, Eriina lay on her bed, engrossed in a manga.
Beep beep.
The phone on her pillow buzzed with a message alert. Eriina frowned and opened her phone; it was a Twitter message from a female manga artist friend,
"Hey, Eriina, you free this weekend? Let's go eat some Chinese cuisine together!"
The profile picture showed a cute girl with golden twin tails.
"Chinese cuisine?" Eriina raised an eyebrow. This girl was not only an artist she knew but also the daughter of a British diplomat. They had met at a previous high society event and gradually came to know each other's identities.
Aside from Eriina herself and her attendant, Hizaki, no one knew that the "Divine Tongue" of the Ten Masters of Far Moon had a peer friend from another school.
"Yeah, didn't you know there's a store that's been hotly discussed among otaku tonight? It's at Ameyoko in the Taidong District..."
Reading this, Eriina took a deep breath, and the image of an annoying face flashed before her eyes.
"Is that store Xia's Chinese Restaurant?" she typed, her fingers trembling.
"Yikes, Eriina, I thought someone of your caliber from the Ten Masters wouldn't bother with mere commoner restaurants."
"..."
Eriina fell silent until the girl on the other end urged her again. She snorted softly and typed stiffly, "What a load of crap Chinese cuisine, not going!"
"Eriina, your personality is quite hard to decipher." A teasing emoji with a smirk appeared, and Eriina was secretly annoyed, ready to retort, but then the girl sent another message that made Eriina's heart race.
"Oh, right, I recently finished a short story, want to check it out, teehee."
"Short story?"
Thinking of her friend's hidden true identity, Eriina's cheeks turned rosy.
On the surface, a British diplomat's daughter, a top-tier socialite of Tokyo, recognized as a pretty and wealthy young lady. But in reality, she was a hardcore otaku and a somewhat renowned doujinshi ero artist on the web.
Recalling the beautifully intricate art she had sent before, Eriina's legs moved restlessly on her bed, her eyes showing signs of hesitation.
"So, do you want it or not?" The other side, seeing no reply, asked impatiently.
"No, definitely not!"
"... Really not?" The girl with golden twin tails said, "Be honest, Eriina! Besides cooking, manga and novels are your second passions! As an artist, I feel it's my duty to bring you joy and give you more culinary inspiration!"
"Let's put it this way, this short story is something I specially drew for you, hehe, you'll be pleasantly surprised when you see it!"
At this last message, Eriina's curiosity piqued, and just as she was about to inquire, beep beep, she received a new email with a compressed attachment, over 20 MB, quite small for a manga image pack.
Despite her words of refusal, Eriina skillfully downloaded, decompressed, and opened it on her phone.
"Full color?"
The first image was dazzlingly beautiful, a visual knockout.
Sunset bathed the sky, cherry blossom petals covered the ground, and around them were cherry-colored trees. Two girls, entangled among the petals, caused Eriina's heart to race. On closer inspection, the distinct features of the two girls were all too familiar, making her gasp in shock.
The girl with short red-purple hair was underneath, while the girl with slightly curly golden long hair was on top, in a seductive pose, grabbing the collar of the other's uniform tie, one fair hand teasing open the other's unbuttoned white shirt after removing the coat.
If the girl underneath was half-veiled, then the girl on top was excessively exposed, her skin white as snow, underneath a short uniform skirt, and her black thigh-high socks had slipped to her ankles.
"Hiss..."
Even as oblivious as Eriina might be, she could tell that the scene in the image depicted none other than herself and Hizaki!
"This, this is too much!" Eriina's face blushed like an apple, radiant and almost dripping, her heart nearly stopping as she quickly shut off her phone, breathing heavily on the bed. After a while, she bit her lip, repeatedly muttered "pervert" under her breath, and yet her body obediently unlocked her phone and lit up the screen again.
Beep. The gorgeously illustrated yuri image once again filled the screen.
This time, Eriina gritted her teeth and finished viewing them.
The first image, the second image, the third image...
Eleven in total.
The beginning was fine, but the later content grew bolder, leaving one's heart pounding.
Since they were full-color and for private amusement, the indescribable parts weren't censored. Eriina herself felt dizzy, her nose heating up like she was about to have a nosebleed.
"So, how was it?" Soon, the golden twin-tailed ero artist sent a greeting.
"Good! Very good!" Eriina gritted her teeth.
"..."
In a luxurious villa on a Tokyo slope, late at night, the girl holding a phone at her drawing desk shivered.
"Don't worry, Eriina, it's strictly for private viewing only. I won't upload it online!" The girl remembered the twist of fury on the Divine Tongue's face and quickly replied, "Want me to send a copy to Hizaki?"
"... Golden retriever, are you looking for death?"
The girl sensed the formidable murderous intent from the message and shrank her head, "Oh, I know, I'll keep the draft carefully."
"Whatever, as long as the set doesn't fall into a third-party's hands, you know the consequences!"
After saying this, Eriina took the initiative to change the subject,
"I heard you recently reconciled with that childhood otaku friend?"
"Tch! Who wants to make up with him!"
Now it was the golden twin-tailed girl's turn to be tsundere.
"That's best. Don't hang out with a bunch of commoners all the time. Didn't you attend public elementary and middle schools? Why suddenly switch to Fukuzaki Academy for high school..."
Deep into the night, the long chat began between two golden-haired tsundere girls with quite similar characters.
...
The next day.
Yesterday's heavy rain in Tokyo left the streets wet, and the mid-March weather was still a bit chilly. Yet, early in the morning, the small Chinese Restaurant nestled in the depths of the old shopping street was already surrounded by a crowd of eager customers.
"It's almost nine, still not open?"
"Who knows. I came after reading a tweet from Tianfeng. It's Saturday, so I have time. Might as well wait it out."
This group of patrons shared a common trait,
Young!
The youngest seemed barely thirteen or fourteen, and the oldest looked like college students. They were all avid users of Nico Nico and followers of singers like "Tianfeng" Shuigu Jun.
The mentality of the fans was easy to understand. Whatever their idols strongly supported, they would pay attention to. Not to mention, it was said to be a delicious Chinese Restaurant.
In this world, along with clothing, shelter, and transportation, "food" had been elevated and even sanctified, raising the social status of chefs significantly.
A new trend had erupted online, with heated debates about professions. People rushed to vote, and the profession of chef received a staggering number of votes, far surpassing civil servants and doctors in second and third places.
-- Hadiah diterima