Kiryu Household.
Right now, Yazuki was playing an online game.
Through pay-to-win tactics and posting bounties, he was scouring the entire map, hunting down the crossdressing player who had scammed him.
That person had been trapped in a safe zone and hadn't dared to leave for quite some time now. The moment he stepped out, someone would immediately report it.
During this chase, Yazuki even managed to bribe one of that guy's teammates, who backstabbed him from behind—successfully killing him once. Unfortunately, nothing good dropped from him.
Still, Yazuki had to admit that guy was quite the smooth talker. Some top players had actually been charmed by him.
As more and more people gathered in the PvP zone, Yazuki decided to call it a day.
His guild's vice leader, [UMR], messaged him saying her "brother" was calling her to eat, and if she kept playing, her pocket money would be reduced.
(T/N: Umaru Douma??)
Why was it written as "her?" like that?
Because this [UMR] also claimed to be a girl—but seriously, how many girls are actually obsessed with online games day in and day out? So Yazuki figured it was very likely another crossdresser.
In fact, there were already several in his guild who'd been exposed, but of course, he never pointed it out.
After all, this vice leader had been pretty helpful so far.
Life is hard—don't expose the truth~
[UMR]: Well then, Guild Leader~ Bye-bye~
[Yazuki]: Mm, bye-bye~
[UMR]: Wait, Guild Leader.
[Yazuki]: ???
[UMR]: I saw you chatting with a guild member before, and you said you had the limited edition of Urban Hunter: Lightwheel, right?
That message was full of cute emoji. It was clear that the person on the other side was dying to get their hands on that game.
No doubt about it—they wanted to borrow it.
[UMR]: Please let me play it! Let me play it! Let me play it! Let me play it! Let me play it...
Don't spam the chat, jeez.
Then, a little horn icon popped up on the chat window—voice message incoming. After hesitating a bit, Yazuki clicked on it.
"Guild Leader, pleaaase~ Let me play it~ Let meee plaaay~"
The voice was clearly a girl's—sweet and pleasant to the ear. It even had a bit of a spoiled, cutesy tone to it? Or maybe more like a child throwing a tantrum?
But was it really a girl? Suspicious. Very suspicious.
Yazuki couldn't help imagining a hairy dude using a voice changer to act all cutesy. The thought made his whole body shudder.
"Sorry, I got a little carried away just now. Guild Leader, could you lend it to me for a week? I'll return it in perfect condition. If not, I can also buy it from you for twice the black market price."
Another voice message—this time much more graceful. It sounded like a well-bred young lady from a prestigious family.
After a moment of hesitation, Yazuki thought about how [UMR] had always been dependable and helpful in the game.
[Yazuki]: Alright, send me your address. I'll mail it to you.
As for meeting in person to hand it over? No thanks.
Just earlier, he read some news about a meetup between online friends. A guy pretending to be a girl online lured another guy out, and then—bam—stabbed him with a fencing sword. Turns out, the fake girl was actually gay.
Better safe than sorry.
[UMR]: Okay! The address is....!
Message sent immediately.
With that, Yazuki logged off the game for the day. Time to read some novels. As for Ikaros—hm? Asleep?
That surprised him a little.
Ikaros didn't really understand the concept of sleep. To her, "sleeping" was the same as "shutting down," which frightened her. Yazuki had worked hard to explain it all, and she only half-understood it in the end.
So not knowing what else to do, she had simply sat beside him, watching him play games. At some point, while he wasn't paying attention, Ikaros had leaned against his shoulder and fallen asleep.
She seemed to be sleeping soundly. Probably wouldn't wake up easily, right?
Carefully testing a few movements, he eventually picked up her soft body in a princess carry, brought her to her room, and gently laid her on the bed, covering her with a blanket.
Moonlight poured in through the nearby window, casting a silvery glow over Ikaros and making her look dreamlike and beautiful. Her completely defenseless appearance stirred something inside him.
"Good night, Ikaros~"
He gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand and whispered softly before leaving the room.
After Yazuki left, the sleeping angel's lips moved slightly, murmuring a name. But it wasn't Yazuki's current name, nor his name as the Demon King—it was a name connected to Ikaros in some other way.
In the living room, Yazuki didn't immediately move on to the next thing. Instead, he was deep in thought—thinking about how he could improve his drawing skills.
To be honest, after seeing the quality of that fan-made fourth chapter, he had been seriously shaken.
His own progress came from copying and refining based on memory of the original plot. But the other person had created original content with a consistent storyline and art style—and they had done it quickly. Yazuki had to give them props.
So what goal should he set for himself now? Maybe he should just start accepting a large number of commissions and push himself hard.
Just then, his phone rang—it was from Eriri, who he had just recently removed from his blocklist.
He answered the call. A video window immediately popped up.
Oh, it was a video call?
"Doggy~ Did you miss me...?"
That last syllable turned sharp, because Yazuki had gone completely dumbstruck.
The video showed Eriri—in a yukata that was completely open at the chest, revealing a large area of moist, pinkish skin. She was lying on her side, holding her phone, and seemingly reaching to tap something with the other hand.
"Who missed you? I clicked it by accident, you—"
Before she could finish yelling at him, Yazuki hung up. Then he promptly re-blocked the dumb blonde.
Time to hit the shower—and take an R18 galgame into the bathroom to immerse himself in that world.
Some hilltop mansion, the bedroom of a certain lewd artist.
"Haah~ That felt so good~"
A content sigh escaped the lips of the blonde girl with cute little fangs as she collapsed onto her soft bed.
Her skin, exposed from the yukata, was rosy and radiant. She had just taken a bath, and her entire delicate body smelled sweet.
She rolled around on the bed like a child. Then she heard a sound—it was a phone dialing.
She fumbled around and found her phone. Apparently, she had accidentally called that idiot. She was just about to hang up when he actually picked up.
"Doggy~ Did you miss me...?"
Totally punch-worthy words, but right after saying them, something seemed... off.
"Who missed you? I clicked it by accident, you—"
Before she could finish, she heard the busy tone. He had hung up.
Something felt off. Right—he seemed to have a nosebleed before hanging up. Who knows what kind of nonsense he was up to?
Jeez.
A gust of wind blew through the open window, making her shiver slightly. She realized her yukata had completely come undone—the sash had come loose from all her rolling around.
She quickly fixed it.
Wait a second... That was a video call, right? And based on that guy's reaction...
At that moment, the blonde girl's face turned beet red—almost steaming. Both embarrassed and furious.