Ch.233Web Novel Showdown (4)

Now, the virgin mage who had been consistently ranking first in the competition… was my teacher. I was shocked by this revelation.

“Teacher… so you’re the Virgin Mage.”

That’s all I could say.

“I see. So you were also a writer affiliated with this platform.”

My homeroom teacher was surprisingly calm about it.

Then, he looked at Mika standing beside me.

“She doesn’t seem to be from our school…”

My teacher remarked.

“Ah… this is Mika, a student from Kishi High School.”

I explained.

“GAAAH!!”

At that moment, my teacher clutched his chest.

“A student from another school… dating in a different school uniform… you’re casually doing things I couldn’t even dream of!”

I had inadvertently triggered my teacher’s trauma switch.

At that point, Shotaro quickly intervened.

“Yes, they’re both serializing on our platform…”

Shotaro smoothly introduced us both. As expected of a working adult, his skill at providing seamless explanations was impressive.

“And on top of that… same workplace… discussing creative theories together… and then going on lovey-dovey dates… what a development!!!”

My teacher screamed, almost wailing.

“T-Teacher… please don’t be like this!!”

I immediately tried to calm him down.

But then I sensed something unusual.

WHOOOOSH-!!

An incredible aura surged from my teacher’s body.

“That aura… it’s like that of a swordsman…!”

I unconsciously broke into a cold sweat.

“Shota, what nonsense are you talking about?”

Mika, being an ordinary person, didn’t seem to notice this aura.

Soon after, my teacher regained his composure.

“Hmph. I’ve now shaken off such base jealousy.”

My homeroom teacher smiled while adjusting his glasses.

“Reality… is no longer where I belong.”

My teacher spoke with a serene mind.

“Reality only brings me pain… but thanks to that, I found my direction for writing interesting novels.”

My teacher said with a smile.

“D-Direction…!!”

S-Something doesn’t seem right!!

“Reality is boring. If you do the opposite of what’s boring, wouldn’t it become interesting? That’s why I turned my fantasies—the exact opposite of my reality—into novels. As a result… I obtained the ultimate entertainment.”

An overwhelming aura rose from my teacher’s body.

Yes… it was my teacher’s insane writing skill manifested as energy.

“My life is overwhelmingly boring. So if I write the exact opposite of my life… it becomes overwhelmingly interesting!!”

My teacher declared firmly.

“Ugh…! H-How could this be…!!”

So that’s the realization he came to…!!!

“Hearing your pen name, I can roughly guess what your novel is like. Arigiri. Of course, I’ve read all the works in the rankings. Your novel is… pathetically weak.”

My teacher immediately made a harsh statement.

“What right does a bespectacled, pimply, skinny virgin who’s never even held a girl’s hand have to talk?!”

Mika immediately got angry. She seemed quite uncomfortable that I was being insulted.

While I was happy she was getting angry on my behalf… my teacher wasn’t damaged at all.

“That’s right. My mere existence earns me insults from women… bespectacled, pimply, skinny… correct. I’ve been left behind. However, being abandoned gave me hatred. That hatred is my power!!”

My teacher shouted, raising his hand high.

“T-This is black magic…!!”

He was the very embodiment of the First Orc Black Mage Honey Dan!!

“Arigiri. You’re also writing a harem story focused on wish fulfillment… but that harem isn’t appealing at all. You’re just slightly embellishing your real-life experiences. Since you’re actually living a harem life, your fantasy power isn’t amplified. I acknowledge your skill in writing four consecutive chapters daily… but that’s all there is to it.”

My teacher said, slightly adjusting his glasses. Wait. He’s adjusting his glasses too often.

“Himeno Mika, was it? You also write quite decent novels… but that’s it. You lack the creepiness that goes beyond tender love.”

My teacher immediately attempted to attack Mika as well.

“What are you saying? Don’t act like we’re close when we’re not.”

Mika immediately snapped at my teacher.

It’s scary when a usually languid gyaru suddenly gets angry.

“Ah… sorry.”

My teacher shrank back. Besides… as a virgin, he was inherently afraid of women!!! The unknown is always frightening!!

Yet, he was still sneaking glances at Mika’s overwhelming chest, slender waist, and hips. Deep down, you haven’t given up on 3D, have you… Teacher!!

“Anyway, I’ll be the one winning this competition. I absolutely won’t lose to you.”

My teacher declared firmly.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear, Teacher.”

I replied with a serious expression.

My fighting spirit was rekindled. I had my pride as a web novel writer. My dream was to touch the real-time #1 ranking, even if just for 10 minutes. Being number one was important. I wanted to climb as high as possible.

“Wait… why are you two bonding over this?”

Mika seemed unable to understand our passion.

“W-Well, I’m glad the conversation is flowing smoothly.”

Shotaro fidgeted nervously beside us.

——–

Anyway, Mika and I decided to enjoy the party.

Somehow… the male writers’ gazes were pouring toward Mika. Well, Mika is incredibly beautiful after all. This was the hardship of a man dating a pretty girlfriend.

Mika, ignoring such gazes, snuggled tightly into my arms.

Envious stares were directed at me.

But… I also felt hostile gazes aimed at Mika.

“Ah… they’re here too. How annoying.”

Mika said with a languid expression.

“Who are they?”

I asked Mika.

“I… thought it would be nice to date someone in the same profession for my first boyfriend, so I joined a study group. But… there were no suitable boyfriend candidates. So I just casually led them on and then let them go.”

Mika explained.

“Mika… how cruel were you…!”

She trampled on men’s pure hearts!!

“So… do you dislike that? I can be the kindest girl for Shota alone.”

Mika cutely raised her eyes.

“I love it.”

I immediately hugged Mika tightly. Right. Who cares? Even if she’s bad, she’s forgiven because she’s pretty. As long as she wasn’t bad to me, it was fine. After all, how a woman behaves depends on the man.

Taking this opportunity to eat lots of expensive food, I eagerly raided the buffet.

“Hahaha! Shota! You’re eating so aggressively!”

Mika looked at me as if finding me cute.

“It’s free food!”

I exclaimed. Plus, it was a high-end buffet!! I couldn’t resist this.

It would be nice to eat with my homeroom teacher too. Thinking that, I turned my head.

“…….”

My teacher seemed quite uncomfortable at the party. He was just… sitting in a corner, fiddling with his phone while nibbling on food. He wasn’t playing with his phone because it was fun. It was because he felt awkward.

“Teacher!!!”

With love for my teacher boiling over, I immediately ran toward him with a plate.

“Let’s eat together!!!”

I shouted with tears streaming down.

“Shota… you’re really unfair.”

My teacher said, sniffling.

“If you were popular but had a bad personality, I could at least hate you freely… but if your personality is good too, I can’t even dislike you!!”

My teacher immediately accepted the plate.

“Teacher, you’re an otaku too!!! Let’s debate about classic anime!!”

I shouted loudly.

“Ah!! Yes!!! What do you think about Gundam SEED, Arigiri Shota?!”

My teacher immediately put his arm around my shoulder.

“Honestly, it’s overrated!! Didn’t the sequel Destiny already expose its limitations?”

“Whoa!!!! You know your stuff!! Honestly, W is better!!”

“Kyaaaa!!!!!”

Our tastes were almost identical!!

“T-Then what about Fate?”

“Honestly, I enjoyed Zero more than the original! Urobuchi Gen is the best!!”

“Kyaaaaa!!!!”

We immediately formed a hot friendship.

“Wait. Why did you two suddenly become so close?”

Mika looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

But… Mika, you’re an otaku too. Don’t you want to join in?

“Honestly, aren’t people who dislike SEED just hipsters? It seems wrong to stubbornly claim a well-made work is poorly made.”

Mika hesitantly joined the conversation.

This kid… was a SEED fan!!!

A heated debate immediately ignited. From Gundam, we moved on to discussing otaku romance comedies.

The debate about “Who is the true heroine of Oregairu” got so heated that we almost threw plates at each other.

That’s when it happened.

CLUNK-!!

The buffet lights suddenly went out.

“W-What’s this? A power outage?”

“What’s going on? So suddenly?”

People started murmuring.

FLASH-!!

However, it didn’t seem to be a power outage. Lights came on at the stage where the band was performing. Ah, some kind of event? That’s what I vaguely thought.

“Hello, Earthlings.”

An alien wearing a black bodysuit appeared in the center.

A normal person would have thought it was just cosplay, but… I was too steeped in the extraordinary.

There was a 99.9 percent chance this was a real alien.

“I am Victory Man. The strongest in the universe in every aspect.”

The alien said with a smile.

“Everyone here seems to be writers serializing novels. As expected of Earth!! Your cultural level is high!! I’d like to have a competition with you all. Let’s see who can write more interesting novels!!! Let’s have that match!”

The alien who identified himself as Victory Man said with a smile.

“Ooh! This looks like a fun event!”

People chatted nonchalantly.

“Now!! Come up one by one and compete with me!”

Victory Man said with a grin.

“Oh!! Then I’ll go first!!”

One writer stepped forward.

“Hehehe. So you’ve accepted the challenge.”

Victory Man smiled wickedly.

“Well, I’m a veteran writer with five years of experience. I won’t lose in terms of skill.”

He smiled as he stood on the stage.

“The competition category is ‘Web Novel Power’… you agree to that, right?”

Victory Man stared at him intently.

“Ah!! Of course!! Bring it on!!”

He shouted loudly.

Oh, no!!

Shit!! That’s the trigger!! Accepting the challenge activates some kind of ability!! As an otaku, I immediately understood.

“Something’s suspicious!”

My teacher also seemed to have realized something. Yes, as a fellow otaku, he seemed to have caught on. Teacher… truly a man I acknowledge.

“Competition START!!!!!”

With Victory Man’s shout, the area around him transformed like a game screen.

SWOOSH-!

A pixelated monster appeared behind Victory Man.

This was… a Psycho-Robo. Yes, he was a Psycho-Robo user. I immediately sensed he was a subordinate of Pink Beard.