The Sawamura Household
"Eriri? Eriri?" Sayuri stood in the living room, softly calling out to Eriri upstairs.
"Mm… What is it, Mom?" Eriri walked out of her room in pajamas, rubbing her eyes.
"Your editor is already calling my phone now, you know."
"Ah… Just ignore them, Mom. I already said I'm not drawing anymore. I've moved on…" Eriri waved her hand dismissively.
"You weren't joking about what you said the other day?"
"In Hakuto's mind, I'm not some doujin artist…" After saying that, Eriri turned and walked back to her room, leaving Sayuri standing there alone.
Sayuri sighed and slapped her forehead in frustration, looking completely defeated.
Ever since Hakuto gave Eriri a counseling session, she hadn't been slacking off like before.
At first, Sayuri had been thrilled—finally, the money she spent was worth it!
But the next moment, Eriri told her she was quitting doujin work.
That completely shocked Sayuri!
After all, drawing doujinshi had practically become an irreplaceable part of Eriri's life!
And now she was suddenly saying she'd stop? At first, Sayuri thought her daughter had finally "moved on," since Eriri had mentioned that idea long ago.
But Eriri's actual response was: "I'm done. Doujin manga and that stuff won't appear in my life anymore!"
Hearing that, Sayuri nearly collapsed on the spot.
Although Eriri wasn't in a slump anymore, a new problem had emerged...
Sayuri had asked her why she was doing this. The answer she got was—
"In Hakuto's mind, I'm the elegant daughter of a wealthy family who sits on her balcony reading classical novels and sipping tea…"
The hell? Sayuri really wanted to roast her.
Who was this person she was talking about? That wasn't her at all!
Tea? Classical novels?
Sayuri truly felt like her daughter had lost her mind... seriously gone crazy...
At first, Sayuri thought it was just a phase, but now it really seemed like Eriri was genuinely trying to change—into the person Hakuto imagined her to be.
Sayuri had privately asked Hakuto what really happened that day...
"Hey, Hakuto... can big sis ask what exactly you said to comfort Eriri that time?"
"Huh? I didn't say anything special. Why?"
"No big deal... it's just that now Eriri suddenly wants to wash her hands of doujinshi and act like some graceful young lady…"
"Hmm? Huh? What? I think I can guess why…"
"Then can you tell big sis?"
And so, Hakuto explained the full story to Sayuri.
From Sayuri's point of view, her daughter had never once mentioned the name "Kashiwagi Eri" to Hakuto…
Sayuri had been dumbfounded when she learned that.
But she also understood why her daughter was suddenly trying to change her persona.
Turns out... she'd fallen into another mental trap.
Right now, Sayuri honestly wanted to slap her daughter a few times and knock some sense into her!
How could it be almost autumn and she was still stuck in spring fever!?
Seriously, what an investment.
Sayuri started thinking maybe her daughter was destined to grow old alone…
At this point, Sayuri didn't even have the face to ask Hakuto to help anymore. She decided to take things into her own hands and "CPU" her daughter herself.
And if that didn't work, then just let fate run its course. Growing old alone wasn't such a big deal…
Worst case, Sayuri could just work hard and have another kid...
Meanwhile, on Hakuto's side, he was still trying to come to terms with the news that he would die in a few months.
Even though he knew, there wasn't much he could do—caution was his only option.
Unlike Shunsuke, Hakuto couldn't stay behind the scenes. He had to move under the watchful eyes of certain people.
Otherwise, those people might target the ones around him.
And he couldn't just hide. He couldn't run away forever—sooner or later, he would have to face it all…
"Maybe I should secretly protect Otosaka Yuu. That way, at least I'd have a resurrection coin to use…"
"Oh right, I should go buy some accidental life insurance first. That way, at least there'd be some money to claim…"
Then Hakuto suddenly realized, "Wait a second—I'd be dead! What would be the use of money then!"
He really felt like he was drowning in money... but that was also a side effect of his ability. Still, he'd always loved money since he was a kid!
(눈_눈)... Utterly speechless...
Hakuto felt like one day he might actually die because of money...
He pulled out his phone and looked at his bank account, which had a balance of over 40 million. He stared blankly at the screen…
Damn it. Even now, he still didn't know what to do with all that money.
Or maybe… What Hakuto really liked wasn't money itself, but the process of earning it?
After all, if it were just about the money, he could walk into a casino with his power and make more in an hour than he had in over a decade…
But Hakuto didn't want to do that. And even if he did, he'd probably donate all the money to an orphanage…
After all, he came from one himself...
"Damn it. Why am I being so pessimistic?! It's like I'm already dead or something…" Hakuto shook his head.
He liked money—maybe because it was the closest thing to omnipotence in this world.
For over a decade, there wasn't a problem he couldn't solve with money. And if there was, it just meant he didn't have enough.
But right now, money was probably the most useless thing—his life… no, Otosaka Yuu's life was the real priority.
Because even if Hakuto died, Otosaka Yuu could still keep leaping.
But if Otosaka Yuu died… then it'd really be over.
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