My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 679

Zaimokuza pondered for a moment, then looked up at me. It didn't matter at all; he was so good at looking people up. I really wanted Hachiman to see that. He seemed to like that.

"...Did you overhear my conversation with that man just now?"

"I didn't hear a single word. I have no interest in eavesdropping."

I lowered my eyebrows and smiled shyly.

After graduating from high school, I deliberately stopped smiling like that. I hate this childish part of me. But now, to reassure him, I'm forcing this smile.

"Yeah……?"

However, the woodworker seemed completely unconvinced.

It's probably because I suddenly refused to go to his company, and he thinks the reason lies in his conversation with that man.

"There's no other way. Since things have come to this, I have no choice but to tell you the truth."

Timber stammered, swallowed hard, made up his mind, and widened his eyes.

"Actually, my true identity is...!"

"...You're not a game developer, right?"

"You really did hear that!"

Zaimokuza-kun wiggled his limbs. Although it didn't matter at all, the way he threw a tantrum was so cute. I really want Hachiman to see this; he seems completely powerless against it.

"No, what did that person just say to you?"

I really didn't hear it.

The guy named Sagami chatted with Zaimokuza for a long time. I thought they might be talking about work, so I covered my ears.

but.

"I didn't have time to cover my ears, and I accidentally overheard the first few sentences."

The other party was surprised to see that Cai Muzuo was still at the company at this time.

But game developers need to be so skilled that they eat and sleep at the company before they can be considered truly independent. We're currently in a crucial production phase, so the company lights are still on—that's what my colleague, Zaimuza, said himself.

Combining both, there is only one answer.

In other words, Zaimokuza did not participate in the production of that game.

"That doesn't prove I'm not a game developer! I might be working for a different team!"

Zaimuzai suddenly becomes incredibly cute when faced with unexpected situations; it's almost unfair. Or maybe there's something wrong with my eyes.

I bowed my head and apologized to him, who was in a panic.

"...Zaimokuza-kun, I'm sorry. Actually, I felt something was off in the taxi."

"What did you say⁉"

"Because the car is heading towards Shinjuku..."

I met Zaimokuza on the inner loop of the Yamanote Line.

I saw him in a suit on the train from Otsuka to Ikebukuro.

However, if you want to transfer to the Tobu Tojo Line from Shinjuku, where the company is located, to get back to Ikebukuro, you need to take the outer loop. Taking the inner loop is strange in itself.

In other words, Cai Muzuo did not leave this company.

"If you hadn't made it sound like game developers all holed up in the office, I wouldn't have noticed."

"Ugh, ugh! A Totsuka who tries to reason with people isn't Totsuka! What's with all this talk about the inner and outer circles of the Yamanote Line? Are you even a Chiba native?!"

Zaimokuza-kun has turned into a baby. I really want Hachiman to... no, maybe not...

"……sorry."

I apologize again.

After I started living alone, I became very familiar with the geography of the metropolis of Tokyo.

The frequency of taking the Sobu Line, which leads to the Chiba area, has decreased significantly.

That's how we absorb knowledge we didn't know in high school—and by the time we realize it, we can't go back to that time.

"I'm a salesperson..."

The student in the woodworking seat was groaning while holding a beer bottle.

We returned to the vicinity of the east exit of Shinjuku, the city that never sleeps, and went into the chain store of the izakaya we had just visited, once again indulging in a sea of ​​alcohol.

"I was planning to go straight home from the client's place today. But when I saw the kids, I felt a sense of kinship with them because they were all gamers, so I couldn't help but strike up a conversation with them."

"...I think that's a remarkable level of professionalism."

"But I want to make games! I want to make games so that the world's ordinary people will praise me!"

"Truly unwavering..."

I smiled softly.

The student, surnamed Caimu, said he had submitted several proposals, all of which were rejected.

The man we just saw is a big shot in the development department. He's been asking him for a promotion every day, but he only gets vague answers.

"That vampire-themed visual novel will definitely be a masterpiece once it's finished. Although the development team currently consists of just me and a part-time worker..."

Cai Muzuo wasn't lying to me. His name does appear in the staff credits of several games.

They were simply using the identities of marketing and sales personnel.

"Aren't you satisfied yet?"

I held the empty cup in my hand and twirled it.

"In a broad sense, it is indeed related to games. If you perform well, you might get praised by others."

"That won't do!"

The wood-carrying stool roared loudly and slumped onto the table.

"...That would be tantamount to giving up."

He spoke his next words very softly. He held his head in his large hands and mumbled intermittently:

"I've said before that I wanted to be a game developer, and I've made a lot of big promises, and I've had people clean up my messes. I want you to... see it come to fruition."

I think the person he really wanted to showcase his achievements to was probably not me.

We are all staring at the same person—the same illusion.

"As long as you believe in yourself and persevere to the end, you can achieve it. I've known that for a long time."

"...Zaimokuza-kun."

"Therefore, I am determined to realize my dream..."

His voice grew fainter and fainter, disappearing into the air.

It sounds like the voice of a thirty-year-old man, exhausted by the monotony of his life. Just like someone else.

We must be too close to the sun.

Too close to him, so to this day I still hold something huge in my heart, circling around the same place.

Like the loop line, like the Yamanote Line.

We can't go anywhere.

We drank until we were completely out of it.

They chatted happily about small memories from their high school days, sharing mostly silly things they did back then.

"Looking back now, the girls in the Service Club were actually quite cute... I really didn't know how to appreciate them..."

"You? Don't you know how to cherish?"

Which girl in that group do you like?

"It sounds like a topic we'd talk about before bed during our graduation trip..."

"Because back then, you were portrayed as a prince who seemed to have no sexual desire. But boys usually have some interest in girls."

"secret."

I burst out laughing. The world he saw was quite different from the world I saw; it was indeed rather interesting.

"Oh right, I think we're having a class reunion soon."

"...How come I didn't know...?"

"Hmm, oh, well. Oh, but... what if the postcard was sent to your hometown?"

"Really... It doesn't matter, I'm not going anyway."

"I think so too—"

I never want to see them again, not even if it kills me.

"I understand. I understand perfectly."

"--Really?"

Our expressions instantly turned serious, and we saw the same color in each other's eyes.

We were lying, both my classmate Zai Mu Zuo and I were.

In order to erase it immediately, we deliberately steered the conversation back to the past.

"So who is it?"

"what?"

"Who do you like? The high-difficulty Yukinoshita? Or the safer Yuihama? Or perhaps the upset Isshiki? Or maybe...?"

"secret!"

"Ahhh—I really want to live a teen romantic comedy! I want someone to tell me they want my life!"

"Hehe, yeah—I really want to experience what a teen romantic comedy is like."

My classmate, Cai Muzuo, said the same thing several times, and I patiently agreed with him.

Perhaps we two birds of a feather are just licking each other's wounds through this.

When I stepped out of the store, the sun had already been high in the sky for quite some time.

The biting winter wind stole the warmth from the alcohol. We rubbed our squinty eyes and pulled our coat collars tighter.

"...The Marshal wants to sleep."

"real."

"Complete sacrifice".

"That's right."

At this time of day on the holiday, the underpass connecting to the station was nearly deserted. We walked together, engaging in a conversation that seemed to have no meaning.

"--ah."

Suddenly, the student named Cai Muzuo stopped in his tracks.

I followed his gaze and saw a mother and daughter.

I don't know the mother, but I remember the child.

"That one from yesterday..."

It's that child from the tram. Does she live around here? Or perhaps her mother works the night shift?

"...She can go out in the morning too."

I murmured, and Zaimokuza frowned. The vampire theory was definitively refuted.

No, of course I never believed it in the first place.

We live ordinary lives. In this world, there are no legendary figures, no fantastical conflicts—and teen comedies are no exception; you experience nothing like that.

"There's nothing we can do."

"Is there no other way?"