What a twist! The loser heroine!

Just as he was lost in thought, Xiao Ju suddenly tugged at his sleeve.

When Wen Shui turned around, she found that Kihara Hanako, the editor of Komari whom she had met in Nagoya before, had come up in front of the three of them.

"Ah, Chika, you're here!" As soon as Editor Kihara saw Komari, she rushed over and hugged her tightly. "I'm exhausted these past two days, let me hug you—"

Xiao Ju looked helpless: "Kihara-nee, didn't we already hug her yesterday...?"

"Don't even mention yesterday~ Toyohashi said they want to change the slogan again, which means I have to work overtime again. It's such a hassle." Editor Kihara's bitter expression appeared for a moment and then disappeared: "But with Chika by my side, I can overcome any difficulty!"

After hugging Komari for a while, Kihara, the editor, seemed to have replenished Chika's energy and transformed back into her image as a strong career woman, turning to look at Wen Shui.

“I remember you were Wen Shui’s classmate last Sunday, right?” she said.

"So you still remember me."

Wen Shui was somewhat surprised.

"It's hard not to remember," Editor Kihara glanced at Komari. "After all—"

"Kihara-nee!" Komari interrupted Kihara, her face flushed.

"Ah, sorry sorry."

Editor Kihara smiled and apologized, then gave Wenshui a meaningful look.

[Huh? After all what? Why are you looking at me like that?]

Wen Shui was taken aback, but the editor, Kihara, did not offer any further explanation.

She turned to look at Wen Shui Jia Shu, who was standing quietly to the side, and asked, "I was just about to ask, who is this cute girl over here?"

"Hello, nice to meet you. I am Yoshiki Wenshui."

Yoshiki bowed slightly and introduced himself politely.

"Ah~ You must be Wenshui's younger sister?" Editor Kihara said with a smile. "My name is Kihara Nohanako, and I'm Chika's editor."

After speaking, she looked at Yoshiki with shining eyes: "Yoshiki is cute too! But I'm a Chika fan, so sorry?"

Faced with Kihara's strange remarks, Yoshiki kindly said, "It's okay, Yoshiki also thinks Komari-senpai is very cute!"

"Wow! I never expected Yoshiki-chan to be an accomplice—"

Seeing that Kihara was about to excitedly pull her sister to form some strange organization called "Little Mariko is the best in the world," Wenshui quickly spoke up to stop her.

"Um, editor Kihara? Ms. Kihara!"

"Hmm? Is something the matter, Numizu-kun?" Editor Kihara seemed to snap out of her reverie.

"Didn't you say you were going to help Xiao Ju with her makeup?" Wen Shui pointed to her watch. "It's been a long time. Is it still possible to make it in time?"

Editor Kihara's eyes widened in surprise, then he slapped his forehead and laughed heartily, "Haha, I was so excited to see Chika that I forgot."

"I really forgot..."

"I didn't initially plan to have Chika wear makeup, since she's already very cute. But Toyohashi is going to do a TV interview, so we had to make it look more formal."

As Kihara, the editor, took Komari's hand and bid farewell to the Wenshui siblings, "We'll be going now."

"See you at the booth, warm water," Xiao Ju said softly.

"I'll be there in a bit."

Watching Komari and Kihara leave, Wenshui looked at her younger sister.

He suddenly realized something.

"Yoshiki, your brother is going backstage at the autograph session soon, but I feel unsafe leaving you alone outside."

It's my fault, the plan was too rushed. I should have had Yoshiki bring a friend from junior high school...

He looked at the increasingly dense crowd around him and said uneasily, "Brother didn't think this through. It's my fault. Otherwise... shall we sneak in?"

Yoshiki gently shook his head: "It's not your fault, brother. Don't worry, Yoshiki will take good care of himself—"

"That won't do! There are so many people here, what if something happens?"

"Fine, let's just do it this way..."

Wen Shui immediately took out her phone, intending to send a message to the student council president to see if she could do him a favor and let Jia Shu go directly to the backstage of the booth.

Suddenly, a fair hand grasped his wrist, its touch icy cold.

"No need to trouble yourself... President..."

As a deep shadow descended, a familiar, strange voice sounded beside me.

Wen Shui turned her head and found that Shiki-ya-senpai was already very close, looking at her with those milky white eyes. Still dressed in her signature gyaru outfit, she tilted her head slightly and then took a charm from her school uniform pocket—

No, it's not a pendant; it's a badge that says "staff member."

"Use...this one..."

She turned to look at Yoshiki and said softly.

"Uh, is this really okay?" Wen Shui asked cautiously.

"It's okay... The president specifically gave me... a few spots..."

Wen Shui breathed a sigh of relief. He took the ID from his senior's hand and then looked at his younger sister: "Jia Shu, wear this and we can go in together."

Yoshiki's gaze lingered on her older brother and the unfamiliar senior for a moment. She nodded, stepped forward to take the identification, and then asked, "Excuse me, senior, what is your relationship with your brother...?"

Shikiya shifted his gaze from Yoshiki's face to Onami.

She recalled her conversation with Wen Shui during lunch break in the student council room.

After a while, Shikiya-senpai looked at Yoshiki and said softly—

"……friend?"

Yoshiki's eyes narrowed suddenly.

~Thirty-seventh defeat~ Book signing event, part three

"I never expected my older brother to be so popular at school, even having friends in the student council. Yoshiki is so happy."

Yoshiki placed his hands on his chest, a look of relief on his face.

After giving Yoshiki a brief self-introduction, Shikiya-senpai began to lead the way for the two of them. Her sexy outfit and zombie-like strange behavior attracted the attention of many tourists.

Unable to withstand the warmth of so many gazes, she quickly took a few steps back, keeping a distance from her senior.

"I only helped Shikiya-senpai with some small favors before," Wen Shui said to her sister. "We're not really friends."

Before Yoshiki could say anything, Shikiya-senpai, who was walking ahead, paused slightly. She turned around and stared at Onami without moving, her face expressionless, making it impossible to discern her thoughts.

Just as Wen Shui felt a little uneasy under her gaze and was about to say something, the senior student turned around as if by telepathy and continued to lead the way.

Yoshiki carefully observed the reaction of Shikiya Yumeko-senpai. Based on her understanding of her older brother's preferences, Shikiya-senpai could be described as someone who grew up in her older brother's favorite area, which made Yoshiki pay close attention.

Although the senior student behaved strangely and had a taciturn nature, she seemed to pay some attention to her older brother's reactions for some reason—

Could it be that Shikiya-senpai cares about her older brother...?

Yoshiki didn't have much evidence to make a judgment right away, so he just silently added Shikiya-senpai to his watchlist.

Without exchanging a word, the Wen Shui siblings and their senior quickly made their way through the crowd in the square. After showing Shi Lu's student ID and work certificate, the three of them were allowed to enter the art museum by the exhibition staff.

The museum's interior was transformed yesterday by the publisher's staff into a space suitable for a book signing event, with various book signing booths of different sizes and styles arranged according to the museum's architectural layout.

Staff members responsible for organizing the exhibition walked through the corridors, and people dressed in cosplay costumes could be seen from time to time. They were probably professional cosplayers hired by the publisher to promote the work.

"The scale is really big..." Wen Shui was slightly taken aback when she saw such a large-scale event.

Yoshiki explained from the side, "Because this signing event brings together more than twenty light novels that have been made into physical copies."

"Huh? Are there that many?"

"Brother, you can just search it online, right? Besides, you should have mentioned it in the Line group about the event, right?"

"Um... I haven't been checking Line much since yesterday afternoon." Wen Shui scratched her head awkwardly.

Yoshiki's mood dipped slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, it was understandable that his older brother had been busy yesterday afternoon and hadn't had time to check Line messages.

Yoshiki didn't reply, while Shiki-senpai quietly walked over to Onami's side.

The senior student said softly, "Xiao Ju's booth... isn't here... we need to go inside..."

"Huh? Oh, okay."

Following their senior, the Wenshui siblings ventured deeper into the museum. Along the way, Wenshui and his sister frequently exclaimed in amazement at the unique autograph booths.

"Wow, this is 'A Slow Life in Another World Starting from a Dragon Egg,' which is currently number eight on the bestseller list. I didn't expect it to be published as a physical book so soon."

Wen Shui pointed to a booth with an otherworldly style and said.

"Brother, that booth over there is for 'Why My Little Sister is a Demon King,' which Yoshiki recommended before!"

The Wenshui siblings strolled among the various autograph booths, exclaiming in surprise. This puzzled Shikiya, who was standing beside them.

"Wen Shui... and your sister... both like reading novels...?" she asked softly.

“Oh, right.” Wen Shui nodded and said, “My love for reading novels was cultivated by Jia Shu.”

“I see…” Shikiya glanced at Onami, then at Yoshiki.

The three of them kept walking and soon arrived at the museum's central courtyard. Wen Shui had some impression of this place; when she was in junior high school, several schools had organized a joint trip, and the final stop was this spacious courtyard of the art museum.

Its area was large enough to accommodate dozens of junior high school classes, so it was naturally chosen as the location for the exhibition of important works. The display cases that originally held the artworks were removed and replaced with three huge display stands.

Wen Shui glanced at the poster and realized that these booths corresponded to the three works that won the gold and silver awards this time.

"Another world setting and a mystery/crime investigation style..." Wen Shui admired the characteristics of the other two works for a while, then focused her attention on the last display stand.

The poster hanging high reads "Silver Award Winner: 'Even in the Dark, We Still Have to Fall in Love,'" and this is Ju Jingyi's autograph session booth.

With a campus theme and accented with lawns and flowers full of horticultural club flair, it gives a vibrant first impression. Passing through the tall iron gate that the props team somehow managed to get their hands on, and walking on the carefully prepared replica campus pavement, even a long queue is unlikely to make anyone feel impatient.

At the end of the replica school road was a makeshift shed covered by a black curtain, obscuring the view inside. Students from the props team, dressed in Shilu school uniforms, were going in and out of the shed, making final adjustments.

The students in the reception group were also making preparations. Wen Shui spotted Himegami and Hanami at a glance. The 12K group sat side by side on a bench brought from the school. The publishing staff were doing makeup for the girls in the reception group.

The boys, on the other hand, paid more attention to their appearance. Hiroto Sakurai from the student council was talking to several boys about some arrangements, including Sosuke Hakamada, whom Nukumi knew, and President Tamaki.

Beside the iron gate serving as the entrance, Hibari was exchanging words with an adult in a suit. They were holding a document covered in text, which was probably a speech they would be using later.

"Shikiya-senpai!"

A not-too-loud exclamation came, and the three of them looked at the source of the sound. They saw Ma Titian Aixing walking aggressively from the president's side.

Tenai pointed anxiously at Shikiya-senpai's school uniform, which was not worn according to school rules at all. She first glanced at the student council president who was talking about serious matters not far away, and then lowered her voice.

"The autograph session starts in an hour! Please wear your school uniform properly! What if we get filmed by the TV station?!"

"Well...I know..."

Shikiya-senpai nodded, then raised her hand and began to straighten her school uniform. With her slightly stiff movements, something that was already tightly bound by the uniform began to stir.

Upon seeing this, Tian Aixing's pretty face quickly turned red.

"Senior! What are you doing in public?! Your chest... your chest...!"

"Wen Shui, you're not allowed to look!"

"I wasn't watching!"

As Wen Shui said this, he blushed slightly and looked away, only to meet his sister's thoughtful, clear gaze. Startled, he quickly explained to Jia Shu.

Shikiya-senpai held the bow on her school uniform and tilted her head slightly.

"But...it was Tian Aixing...who asked me to organize the school uniforms...?"

"It's me, it's me! Ah, it really is—" Tian Aixing grabbed Zhixiwu-senpai's hand angrily and pulled her towards the small tent: "Senior, come backstage with me quickly, I'll help you tidy up! Just don't do it here!"

Yoshiki watched the two student council members leave, and said with a smile, "The upperclassmen at Ishiru are all very unique."

"Haha, indeed..." Wen Shui laughed awkwardly, "Let's hurry up and meet at the booth."

Yoshiki nodded, and the brother and sister began to walk towards the iron gate at the entrance of the booth.

At this moment, Fang Huyuan, the former president of the association, finished discussing the plan with the school committee members at the entrance. After handing the documents to the adult, she began to inspect the preparations of the entire booth.

"Sigh, it's always the same." The president muttered to himself, frowning. "The preparation time is still insufficient..."

She looked around and saw the Wen Shui siblings walking towards the iron gate.