Chapter 1870: Chapter 1868: Aki Tomoya’s Sigh (Everything’s So Damp After the Rain)
Up to this point, Fang Zheng’s actions at the Third Coordinate Point could be considered wrapped up for now. Next, as long as the players collected all those sliced-up core intel, Fang Zheng could start the reconstruction work for the Third Coordinate Point.
However, there was still one problem bothering Fang Zheng.
Even the landlord’s family runs out of grain someday!
Fang Zheng signed a whole bunch of Little Misakas, rebuilt the Wasteland World—these all burned Divine Power, okay? Otherwise, with just that bit of juice from the Core Reactor, even if you could change the world, there’s no way it would be so instant and dramatic, like someone flipped the Acceleration switch!
Not to mention he even brought the players into the Wasteland World...
Right now the amount of Divine Power Fang Zheng had was already close to the red line. If he didn’t figure out a way to patch the deficit, who knew when he’d suddenly go straight into the red. So Fang Zheng decided to use this chance to find a place to do a good round of burning. One way or another, he had to farm a wave first!
But where was he going to burn?
He opened the Dimensional Codex and looked at all those Dog Food Worlds on it, feeling a bit torn. Last time the dog food burn was a triple combo: Transformers, Superhero, and finally a Full Sky of Gods and Buddhas. But that time it had been a system-issued quest. If Fang Zheng had to pick a Dog Food World to burn on his own this time... it felt a bit like leaving everything up to fate.
Of course, if you asked Fang Zheng, ideally he’d like to find something like a Superhero world again. That way he wouldn’t have to think too hard—just go in and torch all of North America. Anyway, they’re Americans; being used as his dog food was already considered recycling waste, right? Letting them live was just a waste of resources.
Unfortunately, something this random wasn’t up to him to fantasize about. And for some reason, Fang Zheng kept having this feeling that this damn thing was going to screw him over again.
Hmm... maybe he should use this chance to go back to the Heavenly Dao Palace and take a look. He hadn’t contacted anyone else for a while, they were probably all worried sick by now. Since things here couldn’t be finished in a short time, and didn’t require him to personally handle them, Fang Zheng decided to just give himself a vacation and head back to the Heavenly Dao Palace first.
Previously, he couldn’t leave because at that time the Heavenly Dao Palace’s only connection to the Third Coordinate Point was through him. But now that he had his clone Kurumi helping out, Fang Zheng naturally didn’t have to handle everything himself. So, after saying a few words to the others, Fang Zheng temporarily left the Third Coordinate Point and returned to the Main World.
At the same time, in the Game World...
"Is it here?"
A girl with red hair done up in a bun and wearing a Toyosaki school uniform stared wide‑eyed at the dilapidated, dim apartment in front of her, unable to believe it. She checked the address on her phone, then compared it with her surroundings. The whole apartment building looked filthy and chaotic, covered in dirty graffiti, and from outside she could even hear some kind of singing drifting over from who‑knew‑where.
"...Does Tomoya-senpai really live here?"
Muttering under her breath, the Red-Haired Girl carefully walked up to the second floor, came to a certain door, and lightly knocked.
"Tomoya-senpai, it’s Chumi Hodashima. Are you there?"
"........."
However, there was no response from inside the door. The only thing she could hear was the noisy singing blasting in from the alley outside—"He must really love you, makes me look like nothing, breaking up only took him one minute flat..." Of course, Chumi Hodashima couldn’t understand a word of it.
"Tomoya-senpai?"
Even though deep down Chumi Hodashima really didn’t believe Aki Tomoya would live in a place like this, she still called out softly, then reached out to gently push the door—what surprised her was that the door wasn’t locked at all, and it swung open with just a light push.
"Tomoya-senpai?"
Chumi Hodashima called Aki Tomoya’s name again in a low voice as she walked in.
"I’m really sorry to intrude..."
Apologizing as she went, Chumi Hodashima stepped into the room, and what greeted her eyes was pitch‑black gloom. It looked like not a single ray of daylight had made it into this place. Huge piles of trash were scattered everywhere at random, making the whole room look like a garbage dump. She could even smell a faint stench in the air.
"Tomoya-senpai, are you there?"
Chumi Hodashima walked further in and casually closed the door behind her, shutting out the hoarse wailing from outside—"How can I blame you for making mistakes, I’m the one who gave you too much freedom..." Then, step by step, Chumi Hodashima made her way deeper into the room. Through the hallway, she could see the kitchen not far away, cluttered with unwashed dishes and stacked‑up instant noodle cups everywhere. To be honest, Chumi Hodashima absolutely could not believe this was Aki Tomoya’s room.
It wasn’t until she passed through the hallway and entered the room on the other side that she finally saw, to her shock, a man sitting there with his back to her, staring at the computer screen and letting out a "hehehe" laugh.
The man’s hair was a bird’s nest, his whole body bloated like a fat pig. He was wearing a T‑shirt printed with a cute anime girl. Right now he was sitting with his back to Chumi Hodashima, staring at the Bishoujo game on the monitor, while the speakers around him were piping out shrill moans that would make anyone blush.
"Um... Tomoya-senpai?"
Staring at the man’s back, Chumi Hodashima fell silent for a moment, then finally decided to speak up. She had already steeled herself—if this person wasn’t Aki Tomoya, she’d turn around and run immediately.
"Eh?"
Only then did the man, completely absorbed in his PC game, seem to notice something. He turned around to look at Chumi Hodashima standing there, and then froze on the spot.
"...Chumi?"
"Eh? Tomoya-senpai?"
Hearing the man’s hoarse voice, Chumi Hodashima was stunned. She stared at his stubbly, greasy, fat face, that bulging belly, and the jeans that had sagged down to his knees...
"Yaaah———!!"
Seeing this, Chumi Hodashima immediately covered her face and turned around, and only then did Aki Tomoya react. He hurriedly scrambled to his feet, trying to pull up his half-peeled jeans. But with a body as plump as a fat pig, he couldn’t keep his balance and went "bang!" as he pitched forward, his head slamming hard into the table before he passed out without a sound.
"Uwaaaah!! Tomoya-senpai, pull yourself together!"
Along with Chumi Hodashima’s shriek, the door that had been left slightly ajar slowly opened again, and a new song flowed in from outside.
"My most beloved lover, hurt me the deepest, why did you love someone else behind my back......"
It was only after quite a while that Aki Tomoya slowly woke from his faint. Feeling the cold touch on his forehead, he couldn’t help but let out a groan, and at that sound, Chumi Hodashima, sitting beside him, cried out in relief.
"Tomoya-senpai, you’re awake? How is it? How do you feel? Do you want me to call an ambulance?"
"Ah, no need, thank you, Chumi......"
Aki Tomoya slowly sat up, glanced at his clothes, now properly back on, and showed a rather embarrassed expression.
"Sorry, you had to see that."
"No, but......"
"Why did you come looking for me?"
"Because......"
Hearing Aki Tomoya’s question, Chumi Hodashima hesitated for a moment, then still opened her mouth to speak.
"I heard from my brother that you and Senior Kato broke up, and that you even moved away from over there...... What on earth happened? Why did you break up with Senior Kato? Tomoya-senpai, what exactly is wrong with you?"
There was one more reason Chumi Hodashima didn’t say out loud: after learning the two had broken up, she was extremely shocked and finally decided to go ask Eiriri about it. But she hadn’t expected Eiriri to instead warn her, "I didn’t expect that guy to be such a huge pervert either. It’s really a good thing Megumi broke up with him. You’d better stay away from him too, or nothing good will come of it."
This had really taken Chumi Hodashima aback. She truly hadn’t thought Eiriri would say something like that, and judging by her attitude, it even seemed like she’d already completely cut ties with Aki Tomoya?!
Chumi Hodashima knew at least a little about the relationships between Aki Tomoya and those girls. No matter how she tried, she just couldn’t picture why things would have blown up like this between them. But Eiriri refused to say another word on the subject (since it involved Kato Megumi’s personal privacy), so the worried Chumi Hodashima had no choice but to come to Aki Tomoya herself to ask what was going on.
But what Chumi Hodashima never expected was that she would end up seeing something like this!
Just what happened?!
"Tomoya-senpai, what on earth is with you... why?"
Looking at the Aki Tomoya before her, Chumi Hodashima simply couldn’t reconcile this with the person in her memories. She couldn’t imagine why he’d become like this. But when Aki Tomoya heard her question, his expression suddenly changed, and then... he just covered his face and started crying.
"Don’t ask, Chumi, it’s all me, it’s all my fault...... Uuuuu, I’m useless, I’m completely useless!!!"
"Tomoya-senpai? What are you even saying? Tomoya-senpai?"
Listening to Aki Tomoya’s reply only made Chumi Hodashima even more confused, but Aki Tomoya would no longer say anything. He just covered his face and sobbed. Later, he even started smashing his head against the wall with everything he had!
"Bang bang bang!!!"
"Tomoya-senpai, get a grip!"
Watching Aki Tomoya slam his head against the wall like a madman, Chumi Hodashima was at a complete loss, with no idea what to do. But after finishing with the wall, Aki Tomoya grabbed a beer can next to him, popped it open in one go, and chugged it down in great gulps. Then he simply closed his eyes and collapsed back down onto the floor, starting to snore again.
"Tomoya-senpai?"
That sight gave Chumi Hodashima a real scare, but once she heard Aki Tomoya snoring, she finally let out a breath of relief. Even so, the doubts deep in her heart only grew heavier.
What on earth had happened? Why had Tomoya-senpai become like this?
If Senior Zemura won’t tell me anything...... then I’ll just have to go straight to Senior Kato herself!
With that thought, Chumi Hodashima gripped her phone tightly and stood up.
"Sorry, Tomoya-senpai, I’ll be right back."
Having said that, Chumi Hodashima hurriedly turned and left. She didn’t know why Kato Megumi had wanted to break up with Aki Tomoya, but Chumi Hodashima believed that as long as Kato Megumi saw the state Aki Tomoya was in right now, she would definitely have a change of heart!
Very soon, Chumi Hodashima left the shabby apartment, closed the door behind her, and quickly ran downstairs. Behind her, the song was still echoing.
"Happy breakup, I wish you happiness, you can find someone much better......"
