Tokyo: Oreimo

"intuition."

Ayumi leaned against the window, the afternoon sun streaming in from behind her.

"Although I haven't seen the content yet, judging from the opinions you gave me when you helped me revise the illustrations, your understanding of the visuals is definitely beyond that of ordinary enthusiasts, and your control over the story is probably not much worse."

"You flatter me, Vice President. I've just been looking at a lot of things."

“Too much modesty is arrogance, Takashiro.” Ayumi smiled slightly, but did not press the matter further.

She has her own judgment. The fan art of Amane Reiha that Takashiro Ryouno casually drew that day in the electronics district is still in her sketchbook.

And when Ryosuke helped her revise the illustration of their first encounter on a snowy night, he seemed to know every detail about Ryougi Shiki.

To be able to do that level of skill, Horiuchi Ayumi could never look down on Ryosuke.

'I guess only that idiot guy didn't notice anything, right?'

She glanced at Tian Zhongxue, who was still engrossed in his own world.

Hopefully, the president won't be so discouraged that he'll start to question his existence.

Everyone has their own secrets, and the manga club itself is a place that embraces all sorts of strange people.

"Anyway, we'll see tomorrow." Ayumi stood up from the windowsill, clapped her hands, and said, "That concludes today's club activities. Thank you all for your hard work."

"You've worked hard..." Tian Zhongxue replied listlessly.

...

As the three packed up and left the activity room, the setting sun had already painted the campus a vibrant orange-red.

Tian Zhongxue walked at the front with his backpack, his mouth never stopping.

"Speaking of which, besides you and Takashiro, Asakura will also be there tomorrow. She's a new member this year. You met her at the S;G appreciation event last time. I think she'll definitely become a key member of our club."

"The main force?" Ayumi chimed in from behind, "You mean Asakura, the one who was brought to tears by the S;G storyline?"

"She was moved by the excellent storyline! It shows she has a keen sense of perception! This kind of person is best suited for creative work!"

Ayumi thought about it for a moment and seemed to think that the logic was barely acceptable, so she did not continue to refute it.

"There are two other members, Kobayashi and Okubo, who are in the second year. They don't come to the activity room often, but they will definitely be there for important events like the election."

"Kobayashi and Okubo?" Ryosuke didn't recognize the name.

"Oh right, Takashiro-kun, you haven't met them yet. Kobayashi Yosuke and Okubo Shota are second-year students like us. They're all fans. In short, they're all creating fan fiction. Because of the voting process, the subject matter is kept secret, so I don't know what kind of works they'll be putting forward."

"They all sound quite interesting."

Tian Zhongxue waved his arms and gestured in the air, "This is our manga club! Although there aren't many of us, everyone has their own strengths! Tomorrow's vote will definitely be a great showdown!"

...

After the three parted ways, Ryosuke walked along this familiar route home from school.

He was thinking about tomorrow's election.

Tian Zhongxue's confidence was not without reason. As the president, he knew best the overall style and voting tendencies of the manga club. If his work truly met everyone's expectations for fan fiction, winning was indeed highly probable.

As for his own submission of "Kara no Kyoukai," to be honest, he didn't specifically cater to the tastes of the manga club.

That fan fiction expanded the world of FSN, but its style was closer to the original work in his past life's memories.

This style might seem somewhat obscure to the average reader.

What truly brought this work into the public eye was the animated film that was later made into it.

But Ryosuke didn't care about the outcome. He wrote this fan fiction more to see how many people in the world could resonate with this style of text.

He recalled the feeling he had when he first read "Kara no Kyoukai" in his previous life.

If someone can be moved by these words as he was back then, that will be enough.

Chapter 241, No. D (Combined Chapter)

After Tian Zhongxue and Ryosuke left, the activity room returned to silence.

Horiuchi Ayumi pushed the last chair back under the table, glanced at the empty room, and saw that the setting sun had sunk behind the teaching building, leaving only an ambiguous twilight that tinged the tables and chairs in the activity room with a thin layer of dark gold.

She took out the manuscripts she needed for tomorrow from the locker.

If it's an internal vote, some extra preparation is needed, otherwise it can easily waste time.

There are five portions in total.

The ones are from Tanaka Middle School, Misaki Asakura, Yosuke Kobayashi, Shota Okubo, and Ryosuke Takashiro.

"Make copies first."

She muttered something to herself, then carried the stack of manuscripts to the copy room at the end of the corridor.

The activity room for the manga club is on the second floor of an old club building. One of the fluorescent lights in the corridor has a faulty connection and flickers every few seconds, making a faint buzzing sound.

Ayumi was already used to this environment, and her steps did not falter at all.

The door to the photocopying room was unlocked.

She pushed open the door, turned on the light, and placed the five copies of the manuscript on the photocopier one by one.

One serving, two servings, three servings.

She stopped when she had made the fifth copy.

No, it wasn't that she stopped; it was just that in the few seconds while waiting for the machine to spit out the paper, her gaze naturally fell on the white-covered printed paper.

The Garden of Sinners has no author.

She was indeed somewhat curious about this work.

Because she had previously drawn a painting that she was satisfied with under Ryosuke's guidance, she developed a strong desire to explore the figures in the painting.

'Even if it's a god, I can kill it right before your eyes.'

What kind of person could deliver such lines?

Ayumi took the last photocopy out of the paper output slot, stacked it with the previous three, and turned to leave.

She stopped again when she reached the door.

"Anyway, I'm not participating in the voting."

She whispered this sentence.

Then, tucking the stack of photocopies under his arm, he pulled out the original manuscript of "Kara no Kyoukai" from the top.

"It's just the beginning, it doesn't count as a leak, right?"

She turned to the first page.

...

Once you start watching, you can hardly stop.

She leaned against the doorframe of the copy room, turning the pages one by one.

It wasn't until I read the entire manuscript in one go that I came back to my senses.

The sunset outside the window has disappeared, replaced by the moon.

"It's too short...."

Horiuchi Ayumi muttered something to herself and put the manuscript away.

The original manuscript provided by Ryosuke only had three chapters, clearly indicating that it was an unfinished story.

But this did not deter Ayumi's interest in reading on; in fact, the first three chapters left her wanting more, especially the third chapter, 'Residual Pain'.

"Rather than calling this a fan fiction of FSN that borrows the world view, it's more accurate to say that it expands upon the original work..."

On her way back to the activity room, Horiuchi Ayumi kept replaying what she had just seen in her mind.

This is not your average fan fiction.

She had read Tian Zhongxue's novels and most of the fan fiction available on the market.

Most of these works share a common characteristic: they attempt to replicate the style of the original work or use the characters from the original work to tell a plausible story within the framework of the original.

But this manuscript is different.

It's discussing something completely different.

The three simple chapters provide a clear understanding of the setting. In other words, even if you're not a fan of FSN or haven't played it, you should be able to understand it.

Through reading, Ayumi also understood why the character named 'Ryougi Shiki' was able to say that line.

Because she possesses eyes that can see the very essence of everything.

Directly to the devil's eye.

I can't control it.

The words in my mind seemed to come alive, gradually piecing together a picture.

The black and white colors intertwine, blurring the outlines so much that they are indistinguishable, yet they possess a power that surpasses any of her meticulously drawn line art.

Horiuchi Ayumi clutched the manuscript tightly in her arms and walked quickly toward the activity room.

Their pace quickened, and finally they started running.

......

The distance from the copy room to the activity room was only about fifty steps, but Ayumi felt like she had run for a long time.

My heart was beating too fast, not from exhaustion, but from the way the words I had just read were transforming into images in my mind at an uncontrollable speed, vying to burst forth from my fingertips.

This feeling was very unfamiliar to her.

She drew for nearly three years, from high school to her first year of university, and drew at least a thousand pictures.

Some were copies, some were originals, some were hastily completed to finish club assignments, and some were drawn on a whim, getting up in the middle of the night to draw.

But never before have I felt such a sense of panic, as now, simply because I finished reading a text, that "if I don't draw those images right away, they will be lost forever."

She pushed the door to the activity room open abruptly, and it slammed against the wall with a dull thud.

She ignored the door that was still shaking slightly, walked straight to her seat, pulled out a chair, and sat down.