Uchiha Ryo: "So, Bocchi-chan, you really like eating in this kind of place?"
Gotou Hitori: "...Eh, well..."
"And, Bocchi-chan's dream is to become a popular guitarist. That's great."
Gotou Hitori sat on the ground, looking up at Uchiha Ryo beside her.
"Uchiha-kun... do you think I can do it?"
Just as Uchiha Ryo was about to speak, Gotou Hitori suddenly curled up and hid in the corner, then peeked out towards the hallway.
Over there, three female students were chatting.
Gotou Hitori: "It's her!"
Following Bocchi-chan's gaze, Uchiha Ryo saw a cute girl with red hair.
"Who's that?"
Gotou Hitori lowered her head. "Someone who's completely different from me. She's cute, athletic, and adored by everyone... Kita-san..."
Uchiha Ryo glanced at her. "You know her, Bocchi-chan?"
Gotou Hitori: "I don't... It's just that Nijika-san said she was looking for a vocalist and guitarist, and I heard that Kita-san can play the guitar."
But... but for someone like me to invite her?! Bocchi-chan didn't dare to talk to strangers at all, let alone invite them.
Uchiha Ryo stood up. "Then go invite her."
"Eh? Who, me... me?!"
Gotou Hitori shook her head frantically, but was pulled up from the ground by Uchiha Ryo.
Toyogasaki, Class 1-B. Standing at the door, Gotou Hitori looked in terror at Uchiha Ryo, who was leaning against the hallway wall behind her.
"I... I should go?"
Uchiha Ryo nodded. "This is your business. Don't you want to overcome your social anxiety, Bocchi-chan? Take the initiative to try and talk to others. This is your chance."
Gotou Hitori took a deep breath. Okay! It's just talking to someone! I can do it!
She pushed open the back door of the classroom. The red-haired girl inside was quietly reading a book.
Gotou Hitori: "...."
Kita Ikuyo noticed the person at the door, but seeing that she had no intention of speaking, she continued to read.
One minute later....
Kita Ikuyo: "Um... you're Gotou-san from Class A, right? Are you looking for someone?"
Gotou Hitori: "....I... I... I."
Bocchi-chan really wanted to turn her head and look at Uchiha Ryo, because that might give her a shred of courage.
And Uchiha Ryo... did not disappoint her expectations.
Uchiha Ryo grabbed Bocchi-chan and walked into the classroom. "Kita-san, she has something to ask you."
After saying that, he put Gotou Hitori down and turned to leave.
Gotou Hitori looked blankly at the confused Kita Ikuyo, then at Uchiha Ryo's retreating back.
I guess... I have to say it!
Gotou Hitori: "Ki...."
"Hmm?"
"I'M SORRY!!"
Gotou Hitori rushed out of the classroom as if fleeing for her life—
Uchiha Ryo, who had been waiting in the hallway, gently touched his forehead. It seems it's impossible to make Bocchi-chan confident in such a short time...
Uchiha Ryo shook his head. He wouldn't bother with the fleeing Gotou Hitori or the chasing Kita for now. Instead, he went to the clubroom where Aki Tomoya and the others had been.
But just as he walked in, he felt as if a cold war had broken out here.
"What's going on?" Uchiha Ryo quietly came to Kasumigaoka Utaha's side.
Kasumigaoka, while reading her book, glanced at Eriri sitting there and Aki Tomoya opposite her.
Aki Tomoya had once again tried to invite Eriri and Katou Megumi today, and had been rejected by Eriri.
And so Aki Tomoya had dejectedly muttered, "So you were lying when you promised to make a game with me. As expected, only the 2D girls won't deceive me."
This quiet complaint, however, had sent Eriri into a rage.
Lied to him? What had she been polishing her art skills for since she was a child? Wasn't it for their childhood dream?
I waited for you for so long, but in the end, you only thought of me because of Katou-san? After thinking about it, I still agreed to your request. But you used me as capital to recruit others, and in the end!
You still didn't remember the promise from back then, you were just immersed in your own 2D world!
Eriri thought of many things. She really wanted to ask Aki Tomoya what he was thinking, what position he had put her in.
But the end of her emotions was not cursing, not venting, but silence....
As Kasumigaoka Utaha relayed the story, Uchiha Ryo looked at Aki Tomoya, who was sitting with his head down.
Otaku. He didn't hate those two simple words, because many people liked to stay at home, including himself.
But some pure otaku had already fallen into a state of frenzy. This was especially evident in a country like Japan, where the 2D world was prevalent.
The otaku crimes in the news might just be happening right around him. Although Aki Tomoya was not as crazy as those people, he was already in too deep to pull himself out.
"Let's have a good talk, Aki Tomoya."
Uchiha Ryo smiled and sat down opposite Aki Tomoya. Since he had already chosen to be on the opposing side, then he shouldn't expect his childhood friend to help him.
What he had to do was not only to make Aki Tomoya give up, but also to open the heart of that tsundere twin-tailed girl behind him.
"Aki-kun, you said you prefer the 2D world, because only 2D girls won't deceive you, right?"
Aki Tomoya didn't speak, but just nodded silently.
Uchiha Ryo: "2D girls indeed won't deceive you. But they are, in the end, not yours... or rather, not just yours."
"It's true that 2D girls won't deceive you. But have you ever thought that you might be deceiving yourself?"
"In your love for the 2D world, you'll be moved by your own feelings, and you'll fall in love with yourself. But in reality, we're not as good as we imagine, nor are we as bad as we imagine."
"I don't know what status you have in the 2D circle, Aki-kun, or what contributions you've made."
"But those people in the virtual world who judge you, who praise or curse you, you're not that important in their real lives."
"You like the 2D world, and so do I. But must you crazily praise it, promote it, and be yourself without any regard for others' opinions?"
Uchiha Ryo took a deep breath.
"We're not a character in some light novel, nor a character in some anime or game! In this world without a protagonist, everyone is real!"
"The 2D world is wonderful, but it depicts many things that don't exist in reality. While you like 2D girls, why must you forget the people in reality?"
"Sawamura-san also likes otaku culture, but she still remembers to maintain her 'young lady' persona in reality. What about you?"
Aki Tomoya gritted his teeth.
"What do you know? A young master from Shuchiin like you, a normie who's liked by girls everywhere he goes! How can you understand ordinary people like us who love the 2D world? The 2D world saved me, and that's enough!"
Uchiha Ryo chuckled, and his tone became serious.
"What makes you think I don't understand?!"
"Being an otaku and a normie aren't mutually exclusive, are they? Isn't that twin-tailed girl over there one?"
"Actually, I was a lot like you back then. I loved the 2D world, I was immersed in the 2D world. But that was a form of escaping reality, a form of self-deception. Because all the wonderful things in the 2D world are hard to experience in reality."
"But I was too immersed and forgot about reality! When I returned to reality, countless pressures came crashing down on me. I could only be forced to fight against life, to work hard just to survive."
"Later...."
Uchiha Ryo didn't continue.
Because later, he had transmigrated. Until he came to this world, this world that was once '2D'.
"Later, I understood that the 2D world will always be a harbor in my heart. But a person must always look to the future, and sooner or later, they must set sail!"
Uchiha Ryo: "Aki-kun, those with different paths cannot walk together. Perhaps you think that what I've said makes no sense at all. Then let's speak with our abilities. And we'll use the method you're good at!"
"One year. Let's take out the games our respective circles have produced and have a competition."
Aki Tomoya left the classroom. But before he left, he still said the phrase he often said.
"I will definitely make the best game!"
Kasumigaoka looked at Uchiha Ryo and suddenly asked with curiosity.
"Hey, Ryo-kohai. He's just a dead otaku. You crush him in every aspect. Why do you still need to compete with him in a game?"
Uchiha Ryo smiled.
"If a cheetah and an antelope compete in strength, the antelope will still be resentful even if it loses, because its strength is not in power. But if the cheetah still wins in a race of speed, the antelope will probably be in despair from its own inferiority...."