The sunlight reflecting off the Hoshino estate's windows snapped Ren out of his thoughts, causing him to squint slightly. Turning, he made his way toward the sleek black Phantom parked just outside the family gates.
As he closed the gate, Ren looked at the person stepping out from the passenger side of the car. She gave a slight bow and said, "The car is ready, Ren-sama."
"Hello to you too, Ai," Ren replied with a faint smile.
He gave her a quick glance, marveling at her transformation. How had the once quiet and timid girl become this?
By this, he meant a literal gyaru high school girl. Hayasaka Ai, now a confident blonde warrior, embodied the very definition of gyaru.
Her slightly unbuttoned shirt, colorful painted nails, school uniform jacket tied around her waist, and blonde ponytail swinging at the side of her head screamed bold confidence.
Yet, despite her flashy appearance, she still possessed striking, not-so-modest assets—ahem. A truly beautiful girl whom many admired and would approach if given the slightest chance.
It puzzled Ren why she had taken her mother's role, serving him and his family in her place. She could just use his family influence and drift freely following her own path, well not really much to think about, all people had their own ideas.
As Ren paused to admire Ai's beauty, she too couldn't tear her gaze away from him. 'Just two years,' she thought. 'Goddamn, all the work I put in to become a reliable aide, and he returns looking like that—a true embodiment of an Adonis.'
Reflecting on the past, Ai recalled the moment she learned Ren would return and attend the same school as her. She couldn't have been happier. But when she first saw him after his return, her heart raced.
That night, she hurried home and unleashed her ultimate weapon: a perfect aerosol to ward off potential rivals. 'Humph, I didn't spend the last ten years bettering myself, just to fall behind,' she thought. 'I'll seize every chance I have, even if it means becoming this.'
Coming up with the her current look, she was certain she could scare off maximum amount of potential futre rivals in love, she knew he didn't think much about it, but to her it was much obvious, just how much pull he had just with his looks alone, not taking his family situation into the account, it was whole different beast she couldn't do much about, 'At least I will have a slight chance.'
Shaking her head, Ai opened the rear door and said, "We must go, Ren-sama. School orientation starts soon."
Ren gave a faint smile and slid into the car.
Hayasaka Ai smiled back, closed the door, and swallowed hard, her throat dry. She quickly darted to the opposite side of the car, slipping into the seat beside Ren.
Catching her nervous act through the tinted window, Ren smiled slightly and turned to the driver. "We can go."
The driver, one of the Hoshino family's long-standing bodyguards, gave a subtle nod. Glancing at the back seats through the rearview mirror, he shifted his focus to the road and began driving.
As Ren quiet ride went along he glanced outside the window, looking at the busy strees passing by and thinking about his day ahead, he couldn't back think back to strange things he felt last two days.
Since his 18th birthday in early April, everything had felt oddly distant, as if Ren were watching his life unfold through a screen, like a show. Very strange, he thought.
[Notice: Installation complete. Privilege transfer complete.]
[Welcome, Admin. Please state the name...]
As he turned from the window, something flickered in his vision again. He quickly snapped his head back.
Staring outside, he saw it—not on the window itself, but hovering between the glass and his face: a glowing, translucent box.
[Notice: Installation complete. Privilege transfer complete.]
[Welcome, Admin. Please state the name of the Chat Room, Dimension 001, in progress…]
"What the… what is this?" Ren muttered aloud, startling Ai, who had been sitting quietly beside him, gazing out the window.
"Ren-sama?" she asked, turning to him.
"Ai, do you see this thing on the window?" he said, pointing.
As he turned back around and glanced at her, the glowing box shifted, now plastered across Ai's face.
"…"
dude
"What thing?" Ai blinked, confused. "You mean the new billboards along the road? They're for HoshinEnt's new talent development program. From what my mother says, it's been pushing more mainstream content lately. Over the past two years, the publishing division started offering deals to new manga and novel writers…"
Listening to Ai's calm, monotone explanation, Ren realized she couldn't see the glowing box he was witnessing—nor could he even see her face clearly, as the box was plastered all over her face at the moment.
With a subtle nod, he turned back to the window, focusing on the strange, translucent box hovering in his vision.
[ Welcome Admin, please state the name of the Chat Room, Dimension 001.]
He thought at the lightning speed, all the possible things that could have caused this, only explanation being he turned 18 or his slightly bad sleep last night, and decided to do a simple test.
'What are you?' he asked inside his head.
[Notice: Interface installation complete.]
[Privelage transfer complete.]
[Admin, please state the name of the the Chat Room, Dimension 001]
Ren's brow furrowed. No new information, new aproach, just do as it says,
'Set the name to: Chat Room'
[...]
[...]
[Notice: Are you serious? Admin.]
Ren smirked, finally getting reaction from damn anomaly, he simply nodded.
[Notice: Chat Room, Dimension 001. name changed to: Chat Room]
[Welcome, all features unlocked!]
Sudden pain hit Ren's head, making him jolt, pain all acros his brain coming back all the way his spine down to his toes, he shut his eyes and clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth.
'FFF...frick' he thought, wincing.
Noticing Ren twist in his seat and squeeze his eyes shut, Ai panicked slightly and reached for his hand. "Ren-sama, what's wrong?"
Whooooo…
Ren exhaled deeply, opening his eyes as the pain subsided after about thirty seconds. Turning to Ai, he offered a quick excuse.
"I drank too much black tea yesterday and didn't sleep well. Plus, the coffee this morning might've triggered a slight migraine, I guess."
Ai smiled faintly, seeing through Ren's obvious lie. Years of training under her mother and staying close to the Hoshino family had honed her ability to spot deception. Not minding too much, she reached into her bag and pulled out a half-empty water bottle.
"Drink some water, Ren-sama," she said gently.
Ren glanced at her, shook his head with a wry smile, and took the bottle. Unscrewing the cap, he took a quick couple of sips.
"You play too much, my playful Ai", he suddenly said with a slight smirk, giving the water bottle back to her.
As Ai took the bottle from Ren's hand, his words echoed in her mind, and her thoughts short-circuited. A blush crept up her cheeks, and she suddenly found the car's rubber floor mat fascinating.
That's right, normal Ren would never say things like that, he would simply choose to ignore such things or simply give a slight comment and get to the next topic.
What had caused this change? Ren had already turned back to the window, leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed.
'Goddamn… damn it,' he thought. 'Everything I've felt past few days makes a hell of a lot more sense now.'
Skimming through all the new information that just flowed like a raging river into his mind, he could tell, what the hell happened, it was clear, god damn isekai.