Chapter 7
"I'm sorry, I was wrong!"
He bent down and bowed to apologize, and this series of actions was so smooth that Keigo Atobe almost couldn't react.
"Master, what happened?"
The maid who heard the noise came hurriedly.
"Nothing. Go down to the warehouse and squeeze another glass of bitter melon juice."
"Yes, Master."
The highly qualified maid did not raise any questions about the scene before her, but just quickly went downstairs to squeeze juice as instructed.
"How long are you going to keep doing this?"
After being splashed all over, Atobe Keigo, who was in a bad mood, pulled at the clothes that were stuck to his body, and his tone naturally sounded not so good.
"I'm truly sorry, President Atobe. I will compensate you for the price of this dress."
Nakamori Akimi stood up obediently and apologized again in a sincere tone.
"Hmph, I'm not so poor that I can't even afford a piece of clothing." Atobe Keigo's expression brightened slightly. He raised his chin towards the house and gave a direct order, "Go in."
Nakamori Akimi immediately took a few steps back.
"Have you finished reading all the information?"
Atobe Keigo did not go in and still stood outside the door.
"We still have information on a pair of doubles players from Shitenhoji left."
"...Those two people are not important." Atobe Keigo's expression twisted for a moment, as if he was reluctant to mention them. "Do you have any questions after reading this?"
"Yes, but why do I have to watch you for the bitter melon to work? Can't you just drink it yourself? It's only effective 24 hours later, and you wrote on it that you want to meet or video chat every day, but that's too much trouble. Isn't there any other way?"
Although he wasn't willing to meet or video chat with someone he didn't know every day, Keigo Atobe still felt subtly uncomfortable when the other party expressed this reluctance. But before he could show it, the extremely efficient Shimokura arrived with freshly squeezed bitter melon juice.
"Master, the bitter melon juice you requested."
Under Nakamori Akimi's gaze, Atobe Keigo lifted the cup of bitter melon juice and drank it in one gulp. The bitter liquid snaked down his throat, and his temples throbbed under the pungent bitterness. He put the cup down in silence, supporting his forehead with one hand.
"I'm going to change my clothes first. You stay here to clean up the floor."
He silently watched Keigo Atobe drink a glass of bitter melon juice, and silently watched him change clothes. Finally, Akimi Nakamori met the eyes of Shimokura who stayed behind.
She smiled slightly and gently closed the study door. The room was silent and Nakamori Akimi returned to his previous bored and dazed state.
After a long wait of half an hour, Keigo Atobe finally came back with the scent of roses.
Nakamori Akimi had never smelled such a strong rose scent on anyone in her life, and she had reason to suspect that he had sprayed a bottle of rose-scented perfume on himself.
"Huh? What's that un-gorgeous expression of yours?"
Looking at Nakamori Akimi's frowning and breath-holding expression, Atobe Keigo sat down on the office chair with a calm expression.
"I've never smelled such a pure rose scent before, so I'm a little shocked."
Such a poor excuse naturally caught on to Atobe Keigo at a glance. He snorted in disdain, "Or do you want to smell the bitter melon?"
"No, roses smell great. I love roses." Nakamori Akimi, fearing that past issues would be brought up, immediately changed the subject. "Let's discuss how to restore the world to normal."
"As you can see, this is an otome game world. Tsukishima Sakuramu, as a player, has already completed three rounds of the game. Now it's time for the fourth round of the Hyotei line." Atobe Keigo, who had spent the night cramming his knowledge of otome games, explained with remarkable ease, "Logically, players who were captured in the previous rounds wouldn't retain any memory of being captured, and wouldn't even recognize the players in the next round. But you also saw Fuji's unusual behavior yesterday."
"You mean, Fuji Shusuke retained the memory of being captured for some special reason, so this game has a bug. So is the mission we are going to complete related to this? After completing it, will the world return to normal?"
Based on the information provided by Keigo Atobe, Akimi Nakamori made a reasonable guess.
"That's right." Atobe Keigo gave her an appreciative look. "You should have seen that due to a programming error, this game world based on us was projected onto reality, causing the real and virtual worlds to overlap. To restore normalcy, we need to understand the cause of the error and correct the program."
"Correction procedures?" The image of Fuji Shusuke being beheaded by a knife flashed through Nakamori Akimi's mind. "It's too bloody, isn't it?"
"What are you thinking about?" Atobe Keigo frowned. "The system hasn't told me the solution yet, but it's definitely not what you're thinking. What you need to do now is to get close to Fuji and figure out the cause of the program's disorder."
"...Me?" Nakamori Akimi pointed at himself in disbelief. "Shouldn't we be together?"
"This matter cannot be discovered by Tsukishima Sakuramu. I need to continue playing the role of being conquered, so I can only rely on you openly."
"Strategy? Tsukishima Sakuramu hasn't been conquered yet? Aren't you guys childhood friends?"
Nakamori Akimi was even more confused. Logically speaking, Kojima Ran was the easiest character to conquer in the game.
"So what if she's a childhood friend? I'm not that easy to capture. Her capture value is only 50 out of 100."
50? You dote on her so much, and you only gave her 50 after sending her abroad? But if she gets the full value, I'll be so happy!
Speaking of Sasaki, it's better for him to go abroad, at least he won't have to face such bad things anymore.
"Okay, okay, but the key is how do I approach him? I don't even know him. I'll probably be discovered if I approach him rashly."
"You don't have to worry about that. Tsukishima Sakuramu just came to me and asked me to organize a three-school training camp. I agreed. It will be in early May. You should prepare and come with us."
So it was Tsukishima Sakuramu who held him back just now? Nakamori Akimi nodded, then suddenly paused.
"Wait, early May, aren't you talking about the Golden Week holiday?"
"Hmm." Atobe Keigo replied nonchalantly, "That should be enough time for you to gather intelligence."
"It's not a question of whether it's enough. The question is, shouldn't we have a holiday during Golden Week? Shouldn't we rest during the holiday? Shouldn't rest mean lying down at home?"
"so?"
Atobe Keigo raised his eyebrows and motioned for her to continue.
"So I protested, can I go at a different time during school?"
"Protests are futile and wishful thinking."
It was these eight words that made Nakamori Akimi come to Karuizawa during the precious weekend, and he brought along Nakamori Rie who insisted on coming along.
"What are you standing there for? I didn't ask you to come here to be a doorman. Go in."
Nakamori Akimi looked to the left at Keigo Atobe's playful eyes, and to the right at Rie Nakamori's infatuated eyes. She had a headache, she really had a headache...
Atobe Keigo's villa in Karuizawa was large enough to accommodate the combined forces of Hyotei, Seigaku, and Rikkai University. After a few brief greetings, everyone went to their assigned rooms to pack their belongings.
Nakamori Akimi and Nakamori Rie were naturally assigned to the same room. Under normal circumstances, she would definitely be happy about it, but things were different now. All she could hear was Nakamori Rie's endless praises for Atobe Keigo. Nakamori Akimi, who was packing her luggage, was feeling nothing but annoyed.
"Ah, sister, Atobe-sama and the others have gone to the stadium, let's go down quickly!"
Rie Nakamori saw the figures gathering on the court from the window, and hurriedly dragged Nakamori Akimi, who had not yet finished arranging his things, out the door. When she opened the door, she happened to run into Tsukishima Sakuramu who came out of the room.
Next to her was a girl from Rikkai University named Miyano Ryo who had come to help. They seemed to be old acquaintances and were chatting happily. When she saw Nakamori Akimi and the others, she greeted them in a friendly manner, but then Nakamori Rie rolled her eyes at them.
Here it comes again, that headache feeling.
Nakamori Akimi no longer hesitated and slapped Nakamori Rie on the back of the head. "I'm sorry, both of you. Rie's brain hasn't been working well lately, and she's been having eye problems."
Such obviously fake words couldn't be more fake even Nakamori Akimi herself couldn't bear to listen to them, but she didn't expect that the two girls opposite her actually believed them and greeted them sincerely.
God, natural?
But soon, Nakamori Akimi saw a "+1" floating above Tsukishima Sakuramu's head.
No, these are the four of them. Who is Tsukishima Sakuramu's capture? No matter who it is, it's scary because they are all women here... Is there a yuri line in this game?
"Sister, why did you stop me just now? You even said that I... that I'm not smart enough." After Tsukishima Sakuramu and the others left, Nakamori Rie rubbed the back of her head aggrievedly, "That nasty woman Tsukishima Sakuramu must be laughing at me in her heart!"
No, she shouldn't be that free.
"Rie, you're too impulsive. Think about it, Tsukishima Sakuramu and President Atobe have such a good relationship now, but you're openly targeting her. Wouldn't that be a slap in President Atobe's face? If Tsukishima Sakuramu plays the victim a little, wouldn't President Atobe dislike you?"
Nakamori Akimi spoke with such conviction that Nakamori Rie was quickly misled.
"Then what should I do? I don't want to be disliked by Atobe-sama, but I don't want Tsukishima Sakuramu to be proud."
While Nakamori Rie was struggling, Nakamori Akimi made the final decision.
"Then ignore her and treat her as air!"
"Well, alright then."
Rie Nakamori hesitated for a few seconds and reluctantly agreed.
"Then sister, let's go to the court now. We can't let Tsukishima Sakuramu and the others get ahead of us!"
Nakamori Rie hurriedly ran in the direction Tsukishima Sakumu and the others had left, while Nakamori Akihiro clasped his hands together behind her.
My dear sister, please be a good girl. I don’t want you to be sent abroad by some domineering boss who says “the sky is cold and the king is broken”.
Akimi Nakamori prayed sincerely.
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