Clinging to Ichin's arm, Utaha rubbed her temples after listening to the summary of the first part of the main storyline. "You really picked a sharp theme this time."
"That's what makes it interesting, right?"
"It is interesting. This is an issue that's practically unavoidable in Japan. A lot of people have experienced it, even those who are now celebrities in the entertainment industry—many faced it back when they were students."
"You didn't, right, Utaha?"
Utaha nodded. "You know the classmates we had. None of them were the type for that kind of behavior. I might have been reserved, but I wasn't exactly the weak type. From what I've gathered, this sort of thing hardly happened in our second year. However, I heard from others that it happened to some in their third year. As for the first years... that's harder to say. There might have been incidents or maybe not."
"First years, huh?"
Ichin's mind immediately wandered to Yukinoshita Yukino, the quiet and independent underclassman.
Seeing his expression, Utaha read his mind. "You're thinking of Yukino?"
Ichin didn't deny it and nodded. "Her personality is even more challenging than yours. If you're just too lazy to engage with others, she flat-out rejects people. Combined with her blunt way of speaking, there are very few people her age who would willingly accept her."
"In the end, it's just childish behavior from those students," Utaha said directly, not holding back. "They can't stand seeing someone better than them. Especially someone like Yukino, who's cold and doesn't like socializing—she's a perfect target for gossip and slander. At least she has Eriri with her now, so that probably helps a little."
Though Utaha's words were straightforward, there was truth in them.
Ichin also believed that Hiratsuka Shizuka was likely keeping an eye on things from behind the scenes. With the teacher's fiery temper, if any student crossed the line, it wouldn't be Yukino who ended up hurt.
Still, Yukino probably didn't care much about what went on around her.
Utaha didn't ask Ichin to continue talking about the plot. Stretching lazily, she said, "I'm going to take a bath. Want to join me, Ichin-kun? There's still plenty of time before the livestream starts."
"Yeah, we've got time," he agreed.
It wasn't even 11 p.m. yet, and the Sony livestream wouldn't start until 2 a.m. There was still plenty of time to kill.
With that, Ichin gladly accepted the invitation, and they soaked in the bath together.
What happened during the bath didn't need much explanation—imagination would suffice.
When they returned to the bedroom, Utaha lay down lazily on the bed, wrapped in a blanket and ready to sleep. She wasn't about to stay up with Ichin until the middle of the night—it'd leave dark circles under her eyes.
Since starting her relationship with Ichin, Utaha had drastically adjusted her sleep schedule. Unless she was struck by an unstoppable wave of creativity, she always went to bed before midnight.
Seeing Utaha lying on her side, cocooned in a blanket and watching him, Ichin smiled. "Will my livestream disturb you? I could go to the living room instead."
"No need for that now. I think I'll be asleep in no time," Utaha yawned, rubbing her eyes.
The bath had thoroughly exhausted her. Compared to Ichin, who regularly worked out, Utaha's morning runs still left her with below-average stamina.
The only thing Utaha could be happy about was that with all the exercise she'd been doing, her weight had been well-maintained—there were even signs of a slight decrease. Recently, she even felt that her waist had become a bit slimmer.
Ichin, sitting at his desk, was browsing news about today's Cologne Game Show and looking up reviews for Hollow Knight. Utaha quietly watched him, her eyelids growing heavier and heavier as sleepiness set in.
Before long, Utaha's breathing became slow and steady.
Ichin glanced at her and, after confirming she was asleep, turned off the computer. He grabbed the laptop and headphones from the room and headed to the living room to stream the upcoming press conference there.
Even though it was late at night, Ichin had announced the livestream in advance. When he started the stream at midnight, viewers trickled in steadily.
"A late-night stream? Why is it just you today?"
"Where's the girl?!"
"I want to see the employees!"
Since it was just him tonight, Ichin didn't bother speaking in Japanese and switched directly to Chinese.
"Don't expect to see the employees. After work, they went shopping. Our studio will be taking a short vacation in a few days to relax, so I'm the only one streaming today."
However, the viewers weren't satisfied with his explanation.
"If no employees, what about the boss's wife? She can make an appearance!"
During yesterday's stream, Ichin hadn't mentioned Utaha's name, so the viewers referred to her as the "boss's wife."
Ichin chuckled. "Do you even know what time it is? It's midnight here in Japan, okay? The boss's wife is already asleep. Huh? How did we meet? I guess I never told you. She's my neighbor—her house is next door, so of course we got to know each other."
As for revealing his age and other personal details, Ichin avoided it. If he said too much, it could cause unnecessary hype. He preferred that viewers focus on gaming-related topics instead.
Once the studio gained more popularity, he considered doing a behind-the-scenes video to show what it was like working in the game development industry.
Checking the official stream, Ichin said, "It's Konami's live event right now. A new Yu-Gi-Oh! game? I don't play Yu-Gi-Oh! much, though. I've only watched the first three anime series—the ones before 5Ds. Haven't watched anything after that."
Since he had time, Ichin kept Konami's stream running and translated parts of it for his audience while also answering questions from the chat.
> "Why did you decide to study abroad?"
Seeing the comment, Ichin thought for a moment before answering. "It wasn't anything complicated. I mainly wanted to get into game development, so I came here. My grades were decent, and I picked up Japanese pretty quickly. I didn't have much trouble adapting to life here."
> "And you found yourself a boss's wife too, huh?"
> "Does the boss's wife have any single friends? I've been single for 20+ years."
> "I'm not picky—any of the employees will do!"
Seeing the comments, Ichin shook his head with a smile. "You want introductions? Language is already a barrier, so don't get any weird ideas, okay?"
After that, Ichin answered a few more questions, though he remained tight-lipped about the studio's next game project. He hadn't even decided which idea to develop next.
...
❇❇❇
Support me on Patreon - Read Up to 50+ Advanced Chapters There!
patreon.com/RedX43
❇❇❇