Ch.100Spaceship Raid (2)

The next morning at 5 AM.

I got up right away. Turning off the alarm within seconds so as not to wake my girlfriends was just an added detail.

‘I’m tired…’

Honestly, I was tired. I couldn’t remember sleeping more than four hours lately.

“Mmm… Shota?”

Just then, Umi opened her eyes. She must have been sleeping lightly since she had to get up early with me to go to the kendo dojo.

“Ah. Go back to sleep. I just have some work to do.”

I said with a smile. That’s right. The funds for our club activities came from the money I earned writing web novels. I had to write every day to keep up with the serialization schedule. Besides… as Shota, Eri’s brother, I needed to publish daily to keep my work at the top of the rankings.

In the end, web novels were my main job… that’s what it meant.

After finishing my serialization in the early morning, I planned to go straight to the kendo dojo for training.

“Oh. Then I’ll make you some coffee right away.”

Umi got up and headed to the kitchen.

“Ah. Thanks.”

I smiled at Umi as I spoke.

Umi made coffee and handed it to me. Even in summer, I never drink iced americano. That was my principle.

“Thank you.”

I sipped the coffee and began writing my web novel.

Churning out one episode per hour was nothing for me. What I was writing now was an isekai story that I could write with my brain turned off, and if I just followed the popular plot developments, an episode would come together quickly. Plus, I had the experience as a writer from my previous world. If nothing else, I was confident in my productivity.

Only after writing about three episodes did I come back to my senses.

As I closed my laptop, I noticed Umi staring at me. Her face was strangely flushed.

“Ah… Umi. You’ve been waiting? You could have done something else.”

I said to Umi. I thought she would have been on her phone as usual.

“Well… looking at my phone isn’t fun these days. I just… prefer watching Shota’s face when he’s concentrating…”

Umi said with a blush.

“Really… Umi. You always know just what to say!”

I immediately leaned forward and kissed her.

“Ehehehehe.”

Umi broke into a big smile right after receiving the kiss.

“Um… Shota. It’s almost 7 now. Should we wake everyone up… have breakfast and then go to the dojo?”

Umi suggested.

“I guess it’s about that time.”

Sunlight was streaming in from outside. Thanks to that, light fell upon my girlfriends in bed. They looked incredibly holy and sacred. Well, my girlfriends are goddess-level beautiful.

“Let’s shower first.”

Umi said.

“…Together.”

She then added one seductive word.

“UMIIIII!!!!”

I immediately embraced her.

“SHOTAAAA!!!!”

Umi also got caught up in the mood and threw herself into my arms.

“Ugh… so noisy.”

Because of our loud shouting, Taiga got up, cursing.

“Really… now even Umi occasionally shouts so loudly that it startles me…”

Eri also woke up. As a bonus, she showed her housewifely side by immediately folding her blanket and tidying up her sleeping area.

After everyone was up, I took them all to the bathroom. Since there were three roommates, waiting in line for the bath would delay our morning schedule. We just all bathed together, and while bathing, we also got intimate. When naked men and women embrace while washing, such things are inevitable. Especially for young people in their prime.

While we were all eating breakfast together, Eri suddenly spoke up.

“By the way, Shota. The Toshin Cup ends this Saturday, right?”

Eri neatly placed food on a spoon and held it out to me.

“Yeah.”

I answered while accepting what Eri was feeding me like a baby bird.

“My brother says he has something to tell you. Keep next week free.”

Eri said.

“Ah… Shotaro-san.”

Honestly, I was a bit nervous.

My professional instinct was telling me something. First, kiss the ass of the high-ranking PD. That was ingrained in me.

“You know the publishing company my brother works for, Kadokawa? They have a private beach and villa. He says we can use it. We just need to bring barbecue ingredients, and everything else is free. And since it’s a private beach, there are no other visitors except staff. Isn’t that great?”

At that moment, Eri made a shocking statement.

“No waaaay!!!”

“R-really?!!”

Umi and Taiga immediately occupied both of Eri’s shoulders and started massaging them.

“Hehehe. Praise me more.”

Eri said, naturally triumphant.

“Is… that okay? We’re outsiders.”

I asked about that point. In today’s society… people are sensitive about such privileges.

“Oh. The company has been having trouble with the villa being abandoned except in special cases anyway.”

Eri explained.

“Special cases? What are those?”

“Well… apparently they lock up lazy writers there to build up a stockpile of work?”

Eri said.

“………”

Lazy writers are everywhere, I guess. Japan or Korea, people are similar everywhere.

“Surely… that villa must be haunted by the spirits of many writers.”

I muttered.

“And Shota isn’t an outsider anyway.”

Eri raised a finger as she spoke.

“You’re an author with an exclusive serialization contract with my brother’s company, right? You can hold your head high.”

Eri seized the opportunity to boost her boyfriend’s confidence. Really… what a precious girl.

“My brother said he has something to talk to you about there. Something about introducing you to people from other industries.”

Eri said.

“Other industries…”

Isn’t a writer just supposed to write? Do I really need this? I couldn’t help thinking. No decent writer I knew was big on networking. Most writers who posted on social media hourly for social connections were hacks. It was proof that person had way too much time on their hands.

“These industry people… are they women?”

Taiga seemed concerned about an unexpected aspect. Jealousy was rearing its head.

“What does it matter if they’re women or men? Shota loves us, right? It’s not like the harem members will increase at this point.”

Umi said with a gentle, benevolent smile.

Huh? This was different from the usual Umi. She seemed more… confident. Being cherished by me had boosted her self-confidence.

“Well, I don’t know their gender. Anyway, he says it’s important. Make sure to keep next week free, okay?”

Eri smiled and hugged me.

And so, as planned, we would be going to the beach next week. For free.

‘But… it feels wrong to exclude Sasitsu.’

I thought about inviting Sasitsu later.

——–

Anyway, today I trained at the kendo dojo again.

Clang!! Claaang!! Claaaang!!

Since I was now familiar with using Kiryu Second, we minimized basic training. The special training proceeded with continuous sparring with Gonzaemon.

Claaaang!!

Using Kiryu Second, I succeeded in temporarily pushing Gonzaemon back.

‘One minute…’

Thanks to becoming familiar with Kiryu Second, I was used to counting time internally. The time limit was still 3 minutes even with training.

“Hnnnngh…!!”

I immediately disengaged Kiryu Second.

Shiiiiink!!!

1.5 seconds. That’s how long it took me to change forms.

I had achieved the feat of reducing it by about 0.5 seconds.

Claaaang!!

After delivering one big strike, I backed away to regulate my breathing.

———

After an hour of sparring, under Asuna’s orders, we all decided to take a break.

“By the way… to get this strong in just one day… did you train or something?”

Gonzaemon asked.

“No… I was resting.”

I said, scratching my head. Well, I did train in my dreams, but saying that would make me sound crazy.

Fighting a life-or-death battle against a group of trolls trying to kill me with killing intent would do that. I couldn’t help but get stronger. My practical combat sense had improved dramatically.

A workshop running in dreams, how sweet.

“Really… incredible talent.”

Then, Gonzaemon looked at me straight.

“At first… I was aiming for you to just qualify, but I need to adjust the goal a bit.”

Gonzaemon patted my shoulder with burning ambition.

“Since you’re entering anyway!!! Aim for the championship!! Shota!!!”

Gonzaemon shouted loudly.

“Of course!!!!! I’ll bring back Saito Kana’s head!!!”

I immediately joined in the atmosphere.

“No… you shouldn’t bring back her head.”

Umi objected, but we deliberately ignored it. It’s just an expression. Just an expression.

———

After finishing today’s training, Umi and I returned home together.

After relaxing at home for a while, we prepared to tackle the dungeon. I suddenly felt guilty about hiding the truth from Eri, but… there was no choice.

‘Eri is a normal person after all…’

In the original work, she was just “Umi’s Friend #1” and never awakened her psychorobo abilities. I couldn’t let Eri get involved in dangerous situations.

For now, we decided to appease Eri as much as possible until we went to the dungeon.

Only after being intimate with Eri did she reach her physical limit and fall asleep.

“Let’s go then, guys.”

I said to Umi and Taiga.

“Yeah. I’ve been annoyed seeing those things floating around every night. Let’s make them disappear.”

Taiga said.

“Shota. You have to protect me properly, okay?”

Umi seized the opportunity to maintain her position as the vulnerable heroine.

“Sure. Just click-click with your healing from a distance.”

I said to Hyeji… no, Umi.

“The word ‘click’ is forbidden!!”

Umi immediately flared up with healer sensitivity.

———–

Anyway, we headed to the meeting place at Central Park.

Hisssssss!!

Smoke was coming from all directions. It looked almost like a black magic ritual.

Sasitsu was there, engaged in a fierce battle with mosquitoes while burning mosquito coils all around. This guy… really hates mosquitoes.

“Ah. You’re here.”

Sasitsu finally came to his senses and spoke to us.

“Yeah. Let’s try tackling the dungeon. I’ve prepared all the necessary equipment.”

As always, I took charge of giving orders. Sasitsu didn’t seem to have any objections to that. He liked wearing the hat of leadership, but his lack of desire for power was appealing. He was truly only interested in maintaining his cool-loner concept. That was his real madness.

“Ooooh!! Let’s go!!!”

Umi immediately raised her hand.

And so, the dungeon conquest began.