What a twist! The loser heroine!

As she said this, Tsukinoki-senpai sat down at the laptop with Komari to prepare to edit the manuscript for the latest volume of the light novel.

"Hehe, I used to really enjoy lively gatherings."

Himegami took out two light novels she had borrowed from her bag, put them back in the isekai category, then turned around and glanced casually at Masato Tenai, whom she had never met before, sitting at the table.

"However, I've recently become quite fond of quiet."

She pulled a light novel with a romantic comedy theme from the bookshelf, then walked over to Wen Shui, sat down, and quietly began to read.

The fragrance of flowers is fragrant.

Wen Shui glanced at Himegami Karen beside her; she seemed to be engrossed in a novel.

[I never expected someone as outgoing as Himegami to join the arts club. It's unbelievable that someone so sociable would join such a laid-back group.]

"..."

"Didn't editor Kihara say he wanted to revise this part of the dialogue? I suggest—"

"I...I understand. This...this should be changed to—"

The faint sound of keyboards and hushed conversations could be heard from time to time in the club office. Looking in the direction of the sound, Xiao Ju was focused on revising the manuscript of the third volume of "Yin Jiao Lian" while Yue Zhi Mu was assisting her in writing.

The literary society remained as calm as ever.

Even Tian Aixing, who had only been here for a short time, seemed to be infected by the atmosphere and immersed in the novel.

only--

Why am I the only boy in the student union office?

Wen Shuihe looked around and suddenly noticed this extremely serious problem.

[President Tamaki, President Tamaki? What are you doing while studying? Are you free? Could you come and save the male-to-female ratio in the club office?]

Knowing that complaining like this wouldn't create a magic circle to summon President Tamaki to the club office, Wenshui could only conclude that the extremely unbalanced male-to-female ratio was due to girls' preference for artsy and artistic pursuits.

He shook his head and refocused his attention on the light novel in his hands.

"Can't We Live Without a Chef?" is a recent top-ten isekai (another world) slow-paced light novel. It tells the story of a protagonist with exceptional culinary skills who, after being abandoned by a hero's party, ventures alone into the demon world to collect ingredients and befriends monsters through cooking.

The book's descriptions and settings of otherworldly food are absolutely amazing.

Wen Shui took out the bookmark she had left after reading it last time and carefully began to read the following plot.

[I never imagined that dragon glands could be used as filters... That's truly amazing!]

Wen Shui, who was reading about how to make sandwich cookies using bananas from the Demon Realm as filling, gradually developed an appetite.

Why do I suddenly smell a fragrance? Am I just imagining things because I was reading too intently?

Leaving the world created by the light novel, Wen Shui turned her head and saw that Ji Gong was taking out a lunchbox from her schoolbag, and the contents of the lunchbox were the source of the fragrance.

“This is…” Wen Shui looked at it curiously.

"The projects for home economics class, didn't the ones that Wenshui and Hakamada made also get praised by the teacher?" Himegami smiled as she took out the animal-patterned cookies from the pink lunchbox and placed them on the lid.

"You probably brought this too, hehe."

"That's true, but—"

The home economics teacher seemed quite open-minded, not forcing the students to leave their finished products in the classroom, but allowing them to take them home voluntarily. So, Wenshui and Himegami, having made their own cookies, naturally put them all into their school bags.

"How can reading and writing be complete without sharing snacks? Hurry up, Wen Shui, bring out yours too~" Himeko waved and urged.

"I... half of mine was taken by Hakamada, so there's not much left. Besides, I remember the club office bought some snacks before."

"Those snacks we bought half a month ago are all gone." Upon hearing this, Senior Moonwood came over to join in the fun, and she immediately noticed the cookies in Himegami's hand.

"Oh, there are cookies too. What, Wen Shui has some too? Hand them over, hand them over!"

"Senior is right, let's share it with everyone!"

"Sigh, I know." Wen Shui had no choice but to obediently do as she was told.

Opening the completely different-looking white lunchbox, Wen Shui placed a few ordinary-looking cookies on the lid. Seeing this, Himegami smiled and nodded.

"Everyone! Let's have some cookies while we study!" Himegami said, standing up and walking to the table, placing the cookies she had made in a spot where all three of them could reach them.

Then she turned her head and gestured to Wen Shui with her eyes to hurry up and serve the dishes.

I wanted to save some for Yoshiki to eat...

With a pained expression, Wen Shuihe put one of the cookies back into the lunchbox, and then followed Himegami to place the cookies on the table.

"Please enjoy your meal~" he said in a monotone tone, pretending to be a restaurant employee who had been working overtime for three hours straight.

"Wow, it smells so good." The vice president of the Tsukinoki club, who usually livens up the atmosphere, immediately chimed in, "Can I eat it? Really? Himegami-san~?"

"It's okay if you finish it all!"

"That's great! Thank you!" Tsukinoki picked up a cookie made by Himegami and put it in her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she made muffled sounds with the cookie in her mouth.

"Hao Hao Chi!" Yue Zhi Mu gently nudged Xiao Ju: "Xiao Ju, have a bite too."

"I...I'll eat later. We're revising the environmental description here..." Xiao Ju said, but her eyes seemed to glance at the cookies on the table intentionally or unintentionally.

Having known each other for so long, Vice President Tsukinoki knew exactly what she meant: "I just can't do anything with you. I'll feed you~ Which one do you want?"

"Then...then it's made with warm water."

Xiao Ju's fingers flew across the keyboard; she was clearly in a crucial stage and couldn't afford to be distracted.

"Okay~ Come on, Xiao Ju, open your mouth."

"Aww."

Seeing Xiao Ju eat the cookies she had made and a seemingly happy expression on her face, Wen Shui nodded smugly and sat back down on the sofa.

Hmph, looks like your cooking skills haven't gotten any worse.

Himegami, on the other hand, looked at the new face in the club office.

“Um…this one…” Her gaze focused on the name tag on Tian Aixing’s chest: “Ma Titian, Tian Ai…”

"I am Tian Aixing from the student council. Nice to meet you." Tian Aixing put down her book, stood up, bowed, and introduced herself.

Himemiya Karen was taken aback by the very polite and well-mannered girl, and then smiled and introduced herself: "Ah, hello, I am a transfer student in Class 1-C, Himemiya Karen, nice to meet you."

"Would you like some cookies, Tian Aixing?" As soon as they met, Himegami skillfully closed the distance with Tian Aixing.

Looking at Himegami Karen, who was approaching with a smile and seemed to radiate an inexplicable light, Tenai couldn't bring herself to refuse. She could only nod cautiously and take a cookie from Himegami's collection.

"Ah...so cute—" she exclaimed involuntarily as she looked at the rabbit-shaped cookie.

“I brought the mold from home, so I was able to make it into this shape. But appearance is secondary, Tian Aixing, you should try it and see how it tastes,” Himegami urged.

Tian Aixing could already smell the aroma of the cookies. She nodded and said, "Then...then I won't be polite."

After taking a bite, before Tian Aixing could even savor the taste of the cookie, there was a knock on the office door, and everyone's eyes turned to the door.

A cool and confident voice then rang out.

"I could hear the lively commotion from afar; the literary society seemed a bit different."

Hibari Hohara, the student council president who had briefly met Wenshui at noon, stood upright in front of the door. She glanced around the club office and nodded.

"I'm here to inspect the club, sorry to bother you."

With that, she walked straight into the club office, startling Wen Shui and the others so much that they didn't dare to move. It was extremely rare for the student council president to personally come to the club office; she usually came to interrogate them. Yue Zhimu had even started planning how to find an excuse to avoid disbanding the club.

"President!!" Tian Aixing, who was still chewing on a cookie in her seat, immediately became embarrassed, not knowing where to put her hand holding the cookie.

"Everyone, please don't be so formal." Fang Huyuan Yun Que brushed his long, wine-red hair with his hand and sat down next to Tian Aixing. "But what's Ma Di doing here?"

"I... I came here to borrow books and read some while I'm at it, while waiting for the door to the student council room to be fixed."

The student council president nodded: "I understand. Let's get down to business then—"

"Senior."

In the entire club, there was only one person whom Hibari Hohara, a second-year student, could call "senior."

Third-grade student Tsukinoki Koto sat up straight.

"Is it about club activities..." Tsukinoki asked tentatively.

“That’s right.” The student council president held up a finger: “Given the current situation, it’s difficult to arrange ongoing activities for the Arts Club. The club has only just managed to gather five members, and recently one of your members has been busy with important matters—”

Fang Huyuan glanced at Xiao Ju, who was still engrossed in her work.

"Therefore, I have decided to postpone the requirements for the arts and literature club activities," she said.

Upon hearing this, the vice president breathed a sigh of relief.

"I understand, thank you very much." Senior Yuezhi nodded in thanks.

"Wen Shui mentioned Xiao Ju's autograph session to me at noon." The president tapped the table with his finger: "Recently, the school committee has also put forward some requirements for the student council's activities, so I plan to do something about this autograph session."

"The specific details should be finalized in the next day or two, at which time we may need to discuss them with you again."

The president glanced at his phone.

"Ah, the door lock has been changed."

She stood up: "Then without further ado, I'll take my leave. Tian Aixing, please come to the student council room with me."

"Okay, okay!" Tian Aixing was about to stand up, but her gaze fell on the book "Ancient Capital" in her hands, and she hesitated for a moment.

Is it because you've gotten to an exciting part and are worried about forgetting your reading progress?

Wen Shui immediately realized this, stood up, and placed the bookmark he had just taken down next to Tian Aixing.

"Use this. Mr. Kawabata's books aren't often borrowed. You can continue reading them next time you come."

Wen Shui said with a smile.

Himegami and Komari's eyes locked for a moment.

"Okay, thank you." Tian Aixing quickly placed the bookmark on the page she hadn't finished reading, then put the book on the table and nodded her thanks to Wen Shui.

"Then I'll leave first."

The two representatives from the student council hurriedly left the club office, leaving behind the four members of Wenshui, each with their own thoughts.

"Ugh, the student council members are so difficult to deal with."

Noticing the silence, Senior Moonwood took the initiative to start a conversation. She took a cookie from the warm water cookie bag, took a bite, and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, the warm water cookies are pretty good too."

"Thank you for the compliment," Wen Shui said with a smile, putting the book "Ancient Capital" that Tian Aixing hadn't finished reading back on the bookshelf.

"However, what exactly does the student council want to write about the autograph session?" Himegami asked curiously.

“I don’t know either…” Yuezhi sighed, “But I know very well that Fang Huyuan won’t do anything reckless, so the autograph session shouldn’t be affected too much.”

She gently touched Xiao Ju's fluffy hair.

"Once the book signing is over, the manuscript for volume three should be approved, right? You should take a good break, little boudoir-chan."

"Uh-huh."

~Twenty-fourth defeat~ On the way home from school

As the sun sets, the time after school passes quickly.

Half an hour before the school closed, Wen Shui picked up her schoolbag and walked with Xiao Ju on the road to the school gate, which was illuminated by the sunset.

Although Shilu High School has all sorts of clubs, in fact, most of the students are members of the Going Home Club. At this time, apart from the playground where shouts can still be heard, there are only a few students wandering around the campus.

"Warm, warm water." Seeing that no one was around, Xiao Ju gently tugged at the corner of Wen Shui's clothes.

"what happened?"

"Today's cookies are delicious."

"Thank you for the compliment." Wen Shui smiled. "It seems the manuscript is progressing well today?"

"Yes, Editor Kihara is free today, and he'll be working with me on the revisions." Komari nodded. "At this rate, we should be able to send the third volume for review before the weekend."

"Sigh~ Isn't that very fast?" Wen Shui asked in surprise, "Does it mean it will be released together with the book signing event?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ju immediately explained, "No, no, we'll only release a preview at the book signing event. Editor Kihara said we need to maintain the buzz from the signing event for a while before announcing the new volume."

"I see, that's a very commercial approach." Wen Shui nodded. "But Xiao Ju, your novel is very popular, so you shouldn't have to worry about sales."

"Hehehe, to be honest, I didn't expect my first book to be such a success." Xiao Ju chuckled sheepishly. "I was originally planning to write another book first to build up my popularity..."