"Well...... After all, I just finished writing the outline, and it's hard to relax. ”

"Well, we're going to get the outline pretty fast. But one is an RPG and the other is a Galgame, so there's no comparison. In a word...... Great work. ”

"Hehe~ Anyway, I was relieved that it could be completed before the event. If the outline is slower than the character, who knows what the useless artist will say......"

"Speaking of which, tomorrow's Chronicles celebration will reveal a new promotional video of your work, right?"

“…… What did Sawamura tell you? ”

"To be precise, it was Sawamura who told Lunya, and Lunya told us again."

"Tsk. Are you going to watch it together? ”

"Huh? Is there anything wrong? After all, it's the two of you? Or do you mind the kind of person who is seen as the current status quo by the objects of your previous nong, my nong? ”

"Also, there are no you or me, right?"

Jiang Yu smiled silently, he deliberately adopted that ambiguous statement, and then he pretended not to understand, and deliberately clarified: "Really? I think last year, except for the end of the year, the atmosphere in the club was quite good. ”

The voice on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, only the sound of slight breathing lingered in her ears, and then, she seemed a little helpless and a little annoyed and said, "Junior, you have also learned badly?" ”

Jiang Yu replied with a smile: "Learn from Senior Sister Shiyu!" ”

Hearing this, for some reason, the other end of the phone sighed again, as if he was hesitating about something, but finally spoke: "...... The 'glamorous moment' you mentioned earlier, although it may be true in terms of results. But ......"

The tone was strange, not quite polite or modest. It's as if ...... I don't want tomorrow's activities to be seen by my own group of people.

But it's weird.

In Jiang Yu's impression, the other party is not this kind of hypocritical character at all. Rather, if you leave the club but do not grow at least as expected, it will make you ashamed and flickering in your words.

Shiyu got up from the bed barefoot, walked to the desk in a slightly thin pajamas, and gently stroked the colored paper photo frame with the signature of Hideri Kashiwagi that he had received at some point last year.

She looked at the painting in front of her, which was like a treasure at that time, and thought of the exquisite work that had recently been drawn from the pen of the girl, and she couldn't help but sigh softly.

After settling down, she calmly said to the other end of the phone, "I hope you can accurately understand and understand one thing - that is, Sawamura really cares about you and Simple Plan Software...... She sincerely wishes you success. ”

After saying that, Shi Yu paused, as if giving the other side a time to react.

She believed that the wise boy could understand the underlying emotion, or emotion, in her words.

Then, as she expected, after a brief silence, a slightly nasal "um" with a slightly complex emotion was conveyed.

Shi Yu took a light breath and continued: "However, the current Sawamura is completely different from the one she used to be in the club. ”

"Alas...... Although he still seems to be dull in terms of being a person, he has not made much progress. ”

Jiang Yu's slightly serious expression, which was provoked by the other party's previous unclear words, instantly broke the merit, pulled the corners of his mouth, and said helplessly: "Don't tease people at this time, okay?" Sister Shiyu. ”

"Hehe~"

The girl with long black straight hair who has not been in college for a long time smiled lightly, and her delicate and beautiful face was like a flower containing dew in the morning.

But the next moment, the girl's relaxed expression changed, biting her lip lightly, her eyes flowing, and she didn't know whether it was admiration, admiration, pity, and sadness.

As if she was justifying others, she said in a soft but firm tone: "Junior, you listen to me. Whatever happens, please don't treat her as an enemy, it's enough to treat her as a competitor. ”

Jiang Yu was stunned when she heard this-because, maybe she didn't even notice the girl on the other end of the phone, her voice trembled slightly.

Moreover, the emotional changes between those few sentences are really complicated.

"I hope you can accept her now."

It was a little unwilling and lonely to be next to the talented creator, trying his best to keep up.

"Whether it's you, Lunya, or Po Island...... And Kato, all the same. ”

There is also a faint relief and ...... as a witness to its growth Proud.

……

The next day, the afternoon of the first weekend after Golden Week.

All the members of "Simple Plan Software" gathered in Jiang Yu's apartment to watch the live broadcast of the "20th Anniversary of the Universal Chronicles" on the big screen in the living room during the break of club activities.

Accompanied by those template-like and slightly contrived lines, the guests appeared one by one. And after satisfying the appetite of the audience and the audience in front of the screen, accompanied by the host's high-pitched voice, the scene darkened, and began to play today's highlight, the promotional video about the new work.

"Special report!"

"Two years have passed since Chronicle X.II."

"A New World, a New Adventure, a New Epic"

"Coupled with a new lineup of deluxe productions, we present you with a new Chronicle of the Universe"

What then emerged in the video one after another was the hype words that appeared one after another to cover up the lack of editing materials in the first promotional film, arousing the sense of expectation of the audience at the venue and the audience watching the live broadcast.

"Project Marz, Red Vermilion Project"

As this line emerged, there was a gradual noise of drumming in the venue, which seemed to indicate that some of the intuitive people had already sensed the true face of the aforementioned "luxury production lineup".

"Setting/Story Original Story, Character Original Story, Akasaka Zhuyin"

At this point in the video, the entire venue erupted in enthusiastic cheers, as if echoing its sensational reaction, and the picture was gradually rendered by gorgeous images.

If nothing else, it's time for the artist to perform.

Lun also subconsciously held his breath, his eyes locked on the screen. Michiru, who was on the side, shrugged his shoulders slightly exaggeratedly, sighed with some regret and said, "What...... I didn't see the name of Kasumigaoka-senpai and Ozawa Village. ”

It seems that for her, no matter how beautiful the picture is, it is not as good as seeing the name of the person she knows appear on the screen.

For others, though, it's the next drawing that is the focus of attention.

Jiang Yu exhaled softly, trying to keep his mood calm, and secretly thought: At this time, it is time to reveal the mystery of those strange and disturbing words at the end of Senior Sister Shiyu's phone call yesterday, right?

He can indeed understand the emotions expressed by the other party, but when he doesn't know the ins and outs of the matter, he can't guess the hidden meaning of the other party's words.

The broadcast screen suddenly became brighter after a little dimming. The first thing to appear is a close-up of the black-haired young man who looks like the male protagonist.

The fierce and gentle expression seems to be able to find a little bit of the murderous taste of the murderous taste that has spent years in regret and finally found a way to save the assistant he calls "Christina" by himself, and crosses the world line and the paradox of time, and implements the rescue plan with "himself".

…… Of course, Jiang Yu will have such thoughts in his mind, perhaps out of some nostalgia and some smug thoughts.

In addition, although the style of painting has become more polished, and the lines of the characters have been subtly improved compared to before, it is undoubtedly the brushstrokes of Eiri Kashiwagi, who made the "Gate of Destiny Stone" with them at "Simple Plan Software". What's even more interesting is that this close-up is full of momentum, which is completely comparable to the last few original pictures of the game that received countless accolades at last year's Winter COMI.

He looked at the screen without blinking, and exclaimed in a low voice: "Wow, it's like a fake painting~!" This is 100% the handwriting of Eiri Kashiwagi, without any impurities! ”

The so-called absence of any impurities is probably from the line drawing, to the stroke, to the coloring, all of which are completed by the pear by itself.

On the other side of her, a handsome young man with light brown hair looked at the painting in front of him, his eyes flickering.

Lun also exhaled a long breath, unable to tell whether he was relieved or lonely, and nodded in response: "Yes......"

Megumi Kato pursed her lips tightly, and on her ordinary and cute cheeks, she gently climbed up with a touch of happy melancholy, and muttered, "Yes...... The painting of the pear pear. ”

Jiang Yu didn't have much emotion, and after admiring the progress of Ying Lili in his heart, he began to look for the information that Senior Sister Shiyu tried to tell him last night.

Next came the long-haired blonde character with the style of a heroine.

"The heroine is a blonde ......"

"But her long hair is down!"

"There must have been something between the two of them......

The girls talked about a little gossip among themselves, and it seemed that just from the appearance of the main characters, there was a faint hint of the inside story that made people break out in a cold sweat and stay away.

Next, everyone can no longer comment on the characters that appear one by one. Because when the video is played back and the camera switches to the supporting characters in turn, the shorter the time allotted to each picture, and it is difficult to even recognize the characteristics of the characters.

Jiang Yu and Iori let out a soft sigh at the same time, and Lun also frowned, a little unclear about what Marz and Akasaka Zhuyin were thinking.

Because in terms of promotional films, this is definitely not possible, no matter how much the characters are prepared, if they do not leave an impression one by one, the publicity cannot be called a success.

Just like the promotional video of the previous world "Dark Souls 3", whether it is the puddle of mud, the giant with fire all over his body, or the hip-hop dance troupe (fog) with a long sword and a pointed hat, it is quite impressive.

And this promotional film is like ruining the artist's painstaking work, squandering the materials in his hands.

"Huh? Odd...... Odd...... Strange ......"

But just when everyone was puzzled, he suddenly whispered the same word to the sea, and his voice trembled for some reason.

Lun also heard the prestige, and asked suspiciously: "...... going to sea?" ”

He raised his head in a timid expression and a timid tone, as if he had suddenly faced something indescribable, and was infected by the mysterious whisper, and said in a whisper: "These pictures ...... Is it all connected? ”

"Pick it up in ...... Together? ”

Iori repeated the sentence softly, her eyes suddenly lit up, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned upward, as if she had seen some diluted treasure.

And when he went to sea, he still seemed to be a little confused, and the rest of the people seemed a little anxious: "Look at the background part! It's definitely going to be together! ”

Hearing this, Jiang Yu began to look at the background of the flickering paintings - it seems that it can really be spliced together?

In his mind, he recalled last night's words of Senior Sister Shiyu again-

"No matter what happens, please don't treat her as an enemy, just a competitor."

"I hope you can accept her now."

- Enemies? Competitor? Acceptance? The current English pear?

Jiang Yu's thoughts gradually became dazed, and he could only subconsciously chase the flickering pictures with his eyes.

Except for the Hajima brothers and sisters, the rest of the people present also had similar expressions.

The pictures in the picture are displayed, followed by the hype words that have been used in this era of information explosion.

"There are more than forty playable characters!"

"An intricate heavyweight plot!"

At the same time, the close-up of the character once again switches with the words of this sentence until the end......

"Oneworld Chronicles X.III. is scheduled to be released this winter"

At the same time as the last hype word appears, a main visual image is shown on the screen.

There was a loud drum noise from the auditorium that was even louder than it was just discovered that the planner was Zhune Akasaka, but I don't know if it was because of the "scheduled release this winter" or because of the mystery hidden in the main visual image.

As the sea said, this is a "complete" picture.

It's not that there are as many as forty character design drawings, but that there are forty well-depicted characters in one drawing.

It's neither a set picture nor a character standing picture.,It's just an original painting.,It's also forty plot CG.。

Each character is drawn all over the body, and each character has its movements.

Men and women with different expressions talk to each other in one picture, laugh at each other, look at each other unpleasantly, hook each other's shoulders and backs, chase each other...... Just a picture seems to be able to weave into one story after another.

"Is this Eiri Kashiwagi......? Do I have to be compared to this person......? ”

Going out to sea is shivering.

It's not just the language, it's the body.

And no matter how you look at it, it's not a trembling of fighting spirits.

Her face, which was always cheerful, positive, and daring to challenge, turned pale.

Iori came back to her senses from the impact of the main visual image, looked at her sister at her side a few times, and frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed.

It seemed that he had thought of something interesting, and there was even a faint smile on his face.

It's a pity that no one has the spare time to pay attention to his expression now.

Jiang Yu, who was still in a state of distraction, suddenly felt that the hem of his clothes was gently pulled. He slowly turned his head to look at his sister's worried face.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the next moment, Mashiro, who had been in the corner without any sense of existence since the group of people got together, suddenly stood up and walked straight back to his room.

The sound of the door opening and closing finally broke the air that seemed to be about to freeze.

On TV, the first promotional video of "Chronicles Worldwide" has been played, but even when the head of Marz's side comes out and starts talking about some games, the scene still can't be quiet for a long time.

At this moment, the mood of everyone gathered in this small apartment.

Joy, fear, unwillingness, loss, confusion, pain, worry...... And so on.

Putting aside the influence of Yinglili's painting, which can be called a "mural", Jiang Yu raised his head, and just wanted to say something, but he was met with a pair of bright eyes that seemed to crush sadness.

The girl who changed back to Bobo's hairstyle last month has no focus in her eyes, and she seems to be staring at this side, but it doesn't seem to be.

"Jiang Jun ......"

Her voice was something Jiang Yu had never heard before.

"What the hell is this...... What is it? ”

It was the loneliness and sentimentality of being left behind by a friend.

And, for his friend's refusal to understand his anxiety.