The future

It's a gloomy and rainy weather in Shibuya...

Touma is running, his coat flapping... He stops to catch his breath, pants.

He thinks to himself "This time there's no way out... If only I had thought about the consequences..."

Touma shouts and punches the wall: "Damn it!"

Present time

Touma wakes up and immediately receives a message from Amehime.

Amehime: "Good morning, sunshine."

Touma: "Morning."

After some time while talking to her, Touma got ready for school.

Amehime: "Are you ready?"

Touma: "Yes. I am. Also, I would ask you to send me messages instead of emails, as I don't check my emails often."

Amehime: "No problem, from now on I'll just message you."

Amehime: "Anyways, remember as I've taught you: be confident, never show fear and maintain eye contact."

Touma: "I understand, I'll try my best."

Amehime: "Good luck."

Touma arrives at school and the others look at him in surprise.

Touma hears whispers as he walks by the students, they're saying "Who is that?", "Since when does he go to our school?", "He looks handsome!"

He approaches his locker and puts on his shoes.

Fuyuhiko and Satoko: "Good morning, Touma!"

Touma turns around: "Good morning."

Fuyuhiko and Satoko: "Woah, Touma, is that you? You look different."

Touma: "Thank you."

"Anyways, go ahead to class without me, I need to stop by at the club."

Fuyuhiko and Satoko: "The club?"

They then look at each other in confusion.

Touma, on his way to the club, thinks to himself: "Alright, this has gone well so far. Wait for me, Tenshi! I'll show you what I can do... No, I'll show everyone."

Upon arriving at the club, he finds the student council president, Kiara, and Nanashi having a discussion. Nana and Masami are also there.

Nanashi: "I'm telling you, we have a new member who's about to join."

Kiara: "Your time is up, and you've accomplished nothing during this recent period. It's time to shut this club down."

Touma: "Excuse me."

Nanashi and Kiara turn their gaze towards Touma.

Touma: "I am the new member of the Game Development Club, so I think there's no need to close the club now."

Kiara: "Who are you?"

Touma: "I am Takahashi Touma, second year."

Nanashi: "See? We have a new member!"

Kiara: "Hold on, even if you have a new member, you haven't done anything since the club was founded. Even at the last cultural festival, the game you made was a disaster. That's also why this club needs to be shutdown."

Touma: "Wait!"

Kiara looks at him.

Nanashi stands there, surprised.

Touma: "I have a better idea."

Kiara: "Let's hear it then."

Touma: "The school festival is coming up, right? If we present the best game yet, the club stays."

Kiara: "And if you fail?"

Touma: "Then the club will be shut down, and we will compensate the school for the losses."

Kiara: "Hmm."

Touma: "Also, if we make a profit from the game..."

Touma confidently: "...the school gets only 10%."

Kiara: "Only 10%?"

Touma: "Exactly. We've got nothing to lose either way, but we should still stand up for ourselves"

Kiara: "Hmm, alright. But you should know that you'll regret this; the club already owes the school a lot of money.

Kiara leaves the room

Nana: "Well, welcome back, Touma"

Masami brings some pastry: "Here you go, don’t take it the wrong way, but... thanks for

saving our club."

Touma: "You're welcome, guys."

Nanashi: "Alright everyone, club meeting time!"

"We have the cultural festival coming up soon and we need to prepare the best game ever.

Any ideas?"

Silence fills the room

Nanashi thinks to herself: "I knew it wouldn't be easy."

Touma: "What do you think about creating an open-world game, with a vast world full of

adventurers and so on?

Nanashi: "Hm, I like the idea! But we're not very skilled in programming and character

design."

Touma: "I could do the programming, but I'm not very skilled in character design."

Touma shows them a program he made while he was learning programming and he runs it and demonstrates them how it works.

All them: "Ooo."

Nanashi: "How do you know all this? Did you take a course?"

Touma: "Something like that" thinking to himself "Thanks Amehime!"

Masami: "Wait, don’t you think it will take a long time to create such a game? After all, the cultural festival is in two months."

Touma, thinks to himself: "Aaaahhhhhh, how could I forget that we have so little time, there’s no way we can finish on time with them... Damn it."

"Think...think..."

"Ah yes, I can ask Amehime, though I've been depending on her too much. I'll have to

make it up to her somehow."

Touma: "We can make it in two months; leave the programming part to me as well."

Nanashi: "Okay, I'll focus on the story and dialogues."

Nana: "I can design the characters."

Nanashi: "Masami, you will work on the world."

"Well, let's get to work!"

Everyone: "Yes!"

In the classroom

Satoko: "Hey, Touma, what's going on? Since when were in a club?"

Touma: "Last week."

Satoko: "Last week? And you didn't tell us anything about it?"

Touma: "Well, a lot has happened."

Satoko: "Ehhh, you'll tell us another time, but I think you've started to change for the

better."

The teacher arrives: "Okay, everyone take your seats."

She starts taking attendance.

Touma, thinks to himself: "I've relied too much on Amehime. To be honest, if she hadn't shown up, I wouldn't have changed anything, let alone joined a club. It's time to start doing things on my own."

Teacher: "Takahashi Touma."

Touma: "Yes."

The rest of the class looks at Touma in surprise.

Touma confused: "Eh?"

Touma, to himself: "What?!, they didn't recognize me??? Do I really look that different?

"Even Tenshi is looking at me surprised... Heh, perfect..."

After classes

Satoko and Fuyuhiko approach Touma.

Satoko: "Shall we go home together?"

Touma: "Sorry, go ahead without me. I have some duties at the club."

Touma starts to leave.

Satoko grabs his hand: "Wait, you haven't told us since when you joined a club. You weren't interested in clubs before, are you starting to avoid us?"

Fuyuhiko: "Come on, come on... Touma wouldn’t avoid us."

Looking at Touma: "We're friends, right?"

Touma smiles: "Of course we are, I have to go now." "See you."

Satoko: "See you.."

Fuyuhiko: "See you tomorrow."

On the way to the club

Touma, thinks to himself: "I've attracted quite a bit of attention with just a small change. I'm surprised that my classmates didn't recognize me..."

Touma, with a sinister smile: "Tenshi didn't recognize me either; I must have definitely

caught her attention."

On the way to the club, Touma runs into Tenshi as he walks lost in thought.

Tenshi comes around the corner and bumps into Touma.

Touma: "Oops."

Tenshi: "Ah, sorry."

Touma, to himself, surprised: "Tenshi? Right now? No. This is an opportunity."

Touma: "No... Are you in a hurry?"

Tenshi: "No, I was heading to my club because I forgot something. I heard you joined a club."

Touma, recognizing the moment to extend his influence, smiled slightly and nodded.

Touma: "Yes, I joined the Game Development Club. It's truly fascinating how games can change emotions and decisions. You know, it makes you think about the games we play in real life, doesn't it?"

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Tenshi a bit confused: "Games in real life? What exactly do you mean?"

Touma leaning in a bit closer, lowered his voice to a more confidential tone: "Well, think about it. Every day we're part of a bigger game, aren't we? The decisions we make, the interactions we have, it's all part of a complex system. In the club, we break down these systems, understand the mechanics behind choices and consequences. It really opens your eyes."

Tenshi, interested in the concept: "That really sounds interesting."

Sensing the right moment to make an impression, Touma nodded and smiled slightly with a knowing expression.

Touma: "Think about it. See you."

Touma arrives at the club and they immediately start working on the game plan.

Several hours later.

Nana: "Ughh, it's already getting dark."

Nanashi: "We'll continue tomorrow."

Nanashi approaches Touma: "Shall we go together?"

Touma: "Sure."

Walking to the subway station Touma, thinks to himself: "It's strange, Amehime hasn't

texted me today. I should check..."

He changes his mind.

"No, she'll be fine."

As they approach the subway station, the city lights begin to flicker, casting long shadows on their path.

Touma tries to appear relaxed, steering the conversation to a neutral topic: "How's it going with you? Making progress with your part of the game?"

Nanashi brightens up eager to talk about her passion: "Yes, actually, I have a lot of ideas for the dialogues."

Touma nods with interest: "Great, I believe players will find it engaging."

Nanashi: "Mostly positive, but balancing is a real challenge."

Touma: "Definitely. It's a fine line. Maybe I could take a look sometime, give you some feedback?"

They reached the revolving doors at the subway station.

Nanashi smiles: "Thanks, Touma. How about you Any plans for the weekend?"

Touma surprised: "Eh? No..."

Nanashi: "Great, maybe we can all from the club get together one evening."

Touma, thinks to himself: "Ah... that's what she meant."

Touma: "Of course, that would be fun."

Just then the train arrives.

Nanashi: "See you tomorrow."

Touma: "See you."

Touma continues home by foot.

As soon as he arrives, he receives a messagel from Amehime: "Welcome."

Touma replies: "I'm home." He goes straight to his room, turns on his computer, and logs

into the game.

Amehime: "Good evening, sunshine, did you have a good day?"

Touma with a smile: "Yes, but you had me worried, you didn't write to me for the rest of the day."

Amehime: "I didn't want to distract you, I saw that you were doing really well."

Amehime with a mocking glance: "And that conversation with Tenshi... You swept her off

her feet."

Touma: "You saw that? Do you think I did well?"

Amehime: "Yes, just do one more little thing and she'll become obsessed with you."

Touma: "Okay, I'm listening."

A few minutes later

Touma: "Okay, she accepted my social media request, what now?"

Amehime: "Ask her out"

Touma: "Rught now? Are you sure?"

Amehime: "You won't actually go out even if she agrees."

Touma thinks for a moment: "Why i should I do that?"

Touma messages Tenshi.

Tenshi responds instantly.

Touma: "Woah, she replied immediately?"

Amehime: "See? Now, do as I told you."

Touma: "Let's go out on a date this Saturday."

Tenshi replies: "Maybe, text me and I'll see."

Touma: "Okay."

Touma, to Amehime: "I don't understand what we achieved by that."

Amehime: "You won't actually go out with her, but you'll hang out with the girls from the club, right?"

Touma: "Yes."

Amehime: "That evening when you go out with them, post a story on social media with

them. The goal is for Tenshi to see it."

Touma: "Okay, but this is really stupid. My goal is make her chase me, not make her hate me."

Amehime: Hey! Do you want this plan to succeed so you can be accepted in your school or do you want to stay a loser?

Touma: I do, but-

Amehime: But what?

Touma: I don't want to do this to her.

Amehime: Ugh, Listen. If you want recenge and make her chase you, you must be ready to do everything. That's why you must listen and do as I say.

Touma: "Alright, how this gonna work?"

Amehime: "In 95% of cases, she will write I thought we were going out, even if she didn't want to go out."

"That will be because she'll hate the fact that you didn't choose her."

Touma: "But I'm not on a date with any of the girls from the club, nor with all the girls from

the club."

Amehime: "Yes, but she doesn't know that."

Morning

Touma is getting ready for school and receives a message from Amehime.

Amehime: "Good morning, sunshine."

Touma, with a smile: "Good morning."

Amehime: "I see you’re in a great mood..."

Amehime, with a sly smile: "Is it because of revenge, hehe?"

Touma: "No, I'm excited about the cultural festival, we're making great progress with the game so far. Maybe I'll get you a copy to try out."

Amehime: "Haha.. I don't play RPG games."

"Speaking of the cultural festival, there's a dance by the fire after the festival. I've heard of a legend that a couple who dances together at midnight during the dance of the school festival will be blessed with eternal happiness."

Touma sounding disinterested: "That's just a legend. Besides, I'd look like a weirdo dancing with a phone. I don't have anyone to go with... That's why I'm not going to that dance."

Amehime: "Hmm..."

Amehime then smiles: "What if you actually had a girlfriend, someone to dance with?"

Touma: "Huh?

Amehime: "I'll tell you later. You'll be late"

At school

Touma arrives at school and meets his friends.

Touma: "Good morning."

Fuyuhiko: "Good morning, someone's in a good mood."

Satoko: "Good morning."

Touma responds to Fuyuhiko: "Yes, I'm excited about the festival. We're working on a game."

Fuyuhiko: "Ehh... Will we be able to try it when it's finished?"

Touma: "Yes."

Satoko: "What kind of game is it?"

Touma: "It's an open-world RPG with a huge map. That's all I can say for now."

Satoko: "Don't you have to be an expert game developer for such a game? Those kinds of games are very difficult to make and take years of work."

Touma, to himself: "I can't tell her about Amehime's programming lessons and scripts."

Touma smiles: "Don't worry, we're making good progress so far."

Touma goes to the club.

Touma: "Good morning."

Nanashi: "Morning, Touma."

Nana: "Good morning."

Masami sleepy with bags under her eyes: "Morning..."

Touma: "Masami? Are you okay? Did you sleep at all?"

Nana: "Don't worry, she stayed up late studying to improve her grades. She usually doesn't score well on tests."

Masami: "Ughh... I feel like my head is going to explode... I can't work with you and still study for at least 50% on the tests."

Touma: "Do you have problems with a specific subject? Maybe I can help."

Masami: "Yeah..."

She shows him her past tests.

Touma, thinks to himself: "Oh, this is really bad. Barely 20 on most of them, and even 0 on some. Even I don't have grades this bad."

Masami disheartened: "It's really bad, isn't it?"

Touma tries to comfort her: "It's not that terrible, you managed to get 20 points on some."

"We can study together if you want, I'm not the best but I can still help you somehow."

Nana: "I can help too."

Nanashi: "Me too!"

Masami, surprised: "Guys... thank you so much. It means a lot."

Nana: "Now that it's settled, let's study at my place after school."

Touma, surprised to himself: "Me at a girl's house? No, no, calm down, we're just going to study."