My daily life in various anime crossovers can't possibly be this sci-fi.

The best way to prove a suspect innocent is to find the real killer.

Similarly, if you want someone to stop liking someone else, the best way is to make them like someone else.

...This analogy seems a little inappropriate, but it doesn't matter, the principle is the same.

The "important friend" Jiang Jinghua was communicating with earlier was most likely one of the girls in that group. The fact that she was so proactive suggests their relationship is definitely more than just ordinary.

Eriri Sawamura pondered.

If we could pair those two up, that guy wouldn't need to have any more designs on me. And the strange scenarios my mom conjured up herself have also fallen apart without me even realizing it…

It was absolutely flawless.

Eriri Sawamura's lips curled up, revealing a smile of triumph.

Now that the strategic goals have been determined, the next step is to formulate specific action plans.

The key to matchmaking is creating a positive impression on both parties. Based on my past experience, Jiang Jinghua seems to have no problem pleasing women, and he's also quite attractive. In this situation, if I could further emphasize his strengths from a woman's perspective, the effect should be quite good.

Of course, the prerequisite for this operation is that I must establish a good relationship with that "important friend" so that my words will have a real effect.

Therefore, following this line of thought, the most important thing I should do next is...

Eriri's right hand flew up and down on the touchscreen once again.

"'Important match,' you mean Saturday's Love Live, right? Can I go to the venue and join the fun then? I've recently become a little interested in these kinds of things."

Jiang Jinghua responded quickly.

“I would love to. They would be happy if the number of fans increased.”

Eriri Sawamura put her phone away with satisfaction.

Phew, if that's the case, then everything will be fine...

All that's left to do is wait patiently for the weekend to arrive.

……

Nighttime, in Sawamura Eriri's bedroom.

Armed forces are disarmed; home-based mode is liberated.

Eriri Sawamura changed back into her usual light green oversized tracksuit, letting her delicate, art-like golden twin tails fall loosely down her back. She slumped aimlessly among countless empty drink cans and a chaotic jumble of books and doujinshi, her eyes glued to the laptop screen in front of her.

The group that Jiang Jinghua has been paying close attention to lately is called "Muse," a name that seems to originate from some ancient Greek mythology. As one of the thousands of idol groups registered to participate in Love Live, it can only be considered an ordinary existence.

That's not surprising at all. If Jiang Jinghua really manages to hook up with some top-ranked popular idol, then Sawamura Eriri might actually suspect that he's been possessed by some transmigrator from another world.

"……what?"

With the intention of just browsing and gaining a little more understanding, Eriri Sawamura opened Muse's homepage.

However, the scene that came into view gave Eriri Sawamura a feeling of disorientation.

"What the heck... is this a cartoon character?"

Looking at the nine figures in various poses on the huge main visual on the homepage, Eriri Sawamura suddenly became a little confused.

Although the real photos accompanying the promotional page on the homepage show that the nine people look remarkably similar to their cartoon counterparts, there are still significant differences between the cartoons and the real people.

There's also a promotional video attached to the homepage...

It lasted for eight minutes.

Moreover... that was a promotional PV for a genuine idol anime.

Eriri Sawamura stared at the screen in disbelief.

The animation is simply impeccable; it looks almost identical to real 2D animation produced by a major studio...

Wait a minute. This looks like it was created using 3D-to-2D rendering. For those involved with the foundation, this is practically beginner-level technology.

Eriri sighed, whether out of regret or a sense of relief, it was hard to tell.

"Transmedia Academy Idol Project"... This animation truly lives up to this description.

Judging from the promotions on their homepage, μ's seems to have plans to adapt their first performance as a nine-member group into an animated series and release it online... Wow, this is practically an idol anime!

...and so on. It seems like I have a shortcut to quickly get closer to these nine people.

Eriri Sawamura swiftly pulled out her phone and answered Jiang Jinghua's call.

"Hello? Sawamura-kun, what's up?"

"It's about μ's." Eriri Sawamura cut straight to the chase, as always. "Do they need a new illustrator? If so, I might be able to help out with the illustrations a little when I think it's appropriate."

"Huh? Is that so?" Jiang Jinghua's voice on the phone sounded a mix of surprise and delight, though surprise was clearly more prominent. "Illustrators are indeed in high demand! If you, Sawamura-kun, are willing to help, that would be wonderful! We can discuss the payment details another time..."

"Don't mention anything about compensation," Eriri Sawamura said. "If we talk about compensation, it would make it seem like I'm working for you, wouldn't it? I don't mean that at all. I just help out occasionally in my spare time."

“Even so, I would like to express my gratitude to you on their behalf,” Jiang Jinghua said.

……represent?

"It seems their relationship is even closer than I imagined," Eriri Sawamura thought.

This makes it seem quite easy to match him with one of them.

Despite this, Eriri Sawamura did not feel much joy after hanging up the phone.

...As expected, it's probably because this wasn't something to be particularly happy about to begin with.

...But if you know it's not a big deal, why are you so concerned about it?

Eriri Sawamura remained completely unaware of this.

Forget it, stop thinking about all this nonsense.

The next action plan is as follows: After meeting them on Saturday, we will start to find ways to get closer to them and make a preliminary judgment on which of the nine people Jiang Jinghua has the best relationship with, and then make further decisions based on this...

...Uh wait, is it really okay for school idols to date?

Eriri Sawamura discovers that her plan seems to have encountered a rather significant... obstacle.

"...Ugh, this is so troublesome!"

what

Section 95 Chapter Ninety-Five: The Battle of Akihabara by the Muses (Part 1)

Saturday.

Akihabara today can no longer be described with an adjective like "sardine can." In fact, Akihabara is practically an ocean-going freighter container ship filled with canned sardines.

People—or to be more precise, shut-ins—occupied every inch of open space in this otherwise unremarkable electronics district. Heads with receding hairlines, as densely packed as rice in a pot, reached a frightening level, their sheer number comparable to the legendary Great Wall on October 1st.

The CM convention is currently at its most intense stage, and the Love Live! competition is also progressing smoothly. The combination of these two joys has created the dreamlike atmosphere in Akihabara today.

"It's so noisy." Jiang Jinghua frowned as he pushed aside the various sizes of shut-ins around him. "This is just too much..."

The background music, distorted to the point of being unrecognizable due to its excessive volume, combined with the indistinct shouts of numerous otaku, created a road concert of extremely low artistic quality. Jiang Jinghua felt that moving forward in this environment was like letting his ears be raped.

He switched his phone to vibrate mode and put it in his pocket: in this environment, it was impossible to hear the phone ring anyway.

"I said, this is a bit too crowded..."

Standing beside Jiang Jinghua, the girl bobbing with him in the sea of ​​people, was none other than Eriri Sawamura. Even though she was a frequent visitor to Akihabara, she seemed to show surprise at the grand spectacle before her.

"The otaku community isn't exactly a mainstream circle to begin with, and the very definition of its members means they're unlikely to go out often, so a scene with so many otaku that even I'm a little scared... I've really never seen anything like it..."

Although Eriri Sawamura didn't deliberately lower her voice, no one could hear her muttering to herself.

"Sawamura-kun!" Jiang Jinghua shouted from ahead, "Be careful not to lose him!"

"I know, I know!" Eriri shouted at the top of her lungs, almost tearing her throat apart.

Ah...that's why I hate going out!

The venue for the preliminary round teams to prepare is located about 200 meters ahead of where the two are currently standing: given the current terrible road conditions, that's quite a distance. What's more, they'll have to deal with enthusiastic fans handing out flyers, reckless pedestrians, and promotional vehicles that, heaven knows why, can still drive so brazenly on the street in this situation…

It took the two of them almost ten minutes to walk those two hundred meters.

"Wow...he's alive..."

When the cool breeze from the air conditioning in the hall brushed against Eriri Sawamura's sweaty forehead, Eriri, as if reborn, shamelessly stuck out her tongue like some kind of animal.

"Are you alright?" Jiang Jinghua asked upon seeing this.

"It's probably nothing serious. But it certainly wasn't a pleasant experience..." Eriri Sawamura sighed.

“I don’t really care,” Jiang Jinghua shrugged. “I’m used to being this crowded in China.”

Unlike the bustling outside, this clubhouse is primarily a rest area for participating teams. Access to areas beyond the main hall requires security checks and permission from team members, so there aren't many people inside. Combined with the functioning central air conditioning, it's definitely a "pleasant" environment.

Jiang Jinghua showed the security guard at the elevator entrance his phone screen, which was connected to Honoka via video call. Honoka immediately told him the location of μ's lounge and pointed out the way.

I took the elevator up to the fourth floor, and there was no one to be seen in the corridor. But the noise filled the corridor, almost as loud as downstairs.

Jiang Jinghua arrived at the door of "Rest Room 4-2", pushed open the door, and was taken aback by what he saw.

"Although I had heard that there were a lot of participating teams... seeing it with my own eyes still..."

The so-called lounge was not the single room allocated to groups as Jiang Jinghua had imagined, but rather... how to put it, a huge space like a school gymnasium or an indoor basketball court.

“35@＃%！＃%@＃＃￥%……＆@……”

As the saying goes, "Three women make a drama," and "One woman is equal to a hundred ducks."

So... what about hundreds of women?

Hundreds of young women, in the prime of their lives, dressed in a variety of colorful gowns spanning twenty-four time zones, their hair so vibrant it could fill an entire RGB color palette, sat densely packed on the ground before Jiang Jinghua like a spilled basket of beans. Faced with this spectacular scene, resembling either CCTV-11's opera channel or a modern-day intensive duck farm, Jiang Jinghua was momentarily at a loss for words.

He picked up his phone and discovered that the person on the other end of the screen had somehow become Hoshizora Rin.

"Jinghua-jun, meow! We're here, meow!" Hoshizora Rin shouted excitedly on the screen, "That's me waving, meow!"

Jiang Jinghua put down his phone and looked up...

Dozens of arms, piercing the ceiling, were arranged in a staggered pattern in the lounge, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

"So, which arm is yours, Xingkong?!" Jiang Jinghua felt an urge to curse.

Clearly, Jiang Jinghua wasn't the only one in the world who knew to visit the school idols who were about to compete. In fact, besides the idols, the huge lounge was filled with all sorts of people, including parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, classmates, and even friends from other schools like Jiang Jinghua.