"Are you there, Akizuki Kōzō-san?"
"The intel you provided was spot on. I sincerely apologize for doubting you before."
The vibration of his phone caught Rokuhara Souta's attention as he lounged on the sofa.
He picked it up and glanced at the screen—"Tokisaki Kurumi" had sent him a message.
After a brief moment of thought, Souta started typing his reply.
Akizuki Kōzō: "I've given you a lot of intel. Which one are you referring to?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "About Itsuka Kotori and Itsuka Shidou, of course. Have you already forgotten, Akizuki-san? You were the one who told me that Kotori was a Spirit just like me, and that Shidou was a boy who could seal a Spirit's powers through 'kissing'... It sounded ridiculous at first, but I didn't expect it to be true."
Akizuki Kōzō: "How did you confirm it? Don't tell me you went straight to Kotori for a fight and got taught a lesson?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Ara ara, Akizuki-san, you're as blunt as ever. But you're right—I secretly investigated that sibling pair, tested them a little with some threats, and suddenly, the little sister somehow regained her Spirit powers and started attacking me. She was incredibly strong, and her regeneration was insane. I had to sacrifice a clone just to escape."
At this point, Rokuhara Souta couldn't help but feel speechless.
This girl sure knows how to play along. She's way too deep into character!
She was even adding extra details to the story!
Seriously, someone using the ID "Tokisaki Kurumi"—how could they possibly not know the protagonist and his sister from Date A Live?
It was worth mentioning that Rokuhara Souta(Luo Xia) was not that Rorschach from Watchmen. He was simply a guy from China, surname Luo, given name Xia—his parents had named him that because he was born in summer.
(TN: Changed it from Luo Xia, from Rokuhara Souta.)
Ten days ago, Souta had picked up a phone without a lock screen.
The phone was strange—when he turned it on, it went straight to a chat app, similar to an online chat group.
At the top of the screen, the app's name was displayed:
"Multiversal Friendship System"
The name alone screamed web novel protagonist cheat.
Oddly enough, there was no way to exit the app, meaning the phone was completely useless aside from running this one program.
At first, Souta didn't think much of it. He figured he had just picked up some weird knockoff device.
That was until a cold, robotic voice suddenly spoke from the phone:
[First Friend Invitation Sent.]
Then, in the chat group, the first contact appeared—"Tokisaki Kurumi."
At that moment, Souta immediately understood.
Oh, it's one of those "selling tea leaves" scams.
(TN: The tea scam, the massage scam and the bar scam and the painting scam are all versions of the same scam, getting you to pay way too much money through intimidation or awkwardness for crappy product or no product.)
In other words—a scammer.
Had scam artists really evolved to this point? They were even handing out functionally useless phones just for bait?
Not to mention, using web novel clichés to trick people—who would even fall for that?
Did they take people for idiots?
Souta didn't throw the phone away.
Instead, he decided to play along, treating it as a way to pass the time.
Since the chat group only had two members, it felt more like a private conversation than a group chat.
To keep up appearances, he even changed his ID to "Akizuki Kōzō."
(TN: Kōyō or Kouzou Akizuki from Oni Chichi MC.)
Now, they were both anime characters.
As their chats continued, Souta quickly realized that this "Tokisaki Kurumi" was a full-fledged roleplay addict. She stayed completely in character, acting as if everything was real.
But come on—she was chatting fluently in Chinese. Who would actually believe it was the real deal?
Of course, Souta wasn't going to ruin the fun by exposing her. Instead, he decided to just play along and indulge in this little make-believe game.
On a side note... this phone's battery life was insane.
It had been ten days, and it still hadn't given a single low-battery warning.
Tokisaki Kurumi: "It was such a close call. Akizuki-san, you're quite the troublemaker. You didn't even warn me about Kotori's strength or her regeneration ability. If I hadn't made it back, you would've lost a beautiful girl as a friend, you know?"
Seeing her message, Souta instantly got into character.
Akizuki Kōzō: "I didn't expect you to be so reckless—to charge in headfirst and even resort to threatening those siblings. Regardless, I miscalculated. My bad."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Oh my? An apology? That's rare, Akizuki-san."
Akizuki Kōzō: "If I make a mistake, I admit it. If I get beaten, I stand up straight. No big deal. Anyway, you only mentioned Kotori—what about Shidou? How did you verify his ability?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "It was simple. That little sister probably thought she'd killed me, so after I escaped, I secretly followed them and observed their daily life. Not long after they returned home, they went on a date. And at the end of it, they... kissed. That's when I saw Kotori's power transfer over to Shidou."
Akizuki Kōzō: "You spied on them kissing?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Yes, and it was quite the passionate kiss. As a man, Akizuki-san, if you saw it, you might have trouble sleeping at night—thinking about things that would make a beautiful girl like me blush."
Souta smirked. Did she take him for some clueless virgin who had never seen a single risqué scene before?
Deciding to play along, he half-jokingly replied:
Akizuki Kōzō: "If I really end up losing sleep and start thinking about those things, Kurumi, as my friend, you'd have to take responsibility. You should give me a kiss to help ease my frustration."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Ara ara, what a bold request. But... considering how much valuable intel you've given me recently, I wouldn't mind rewarding you with a kiss. If it's just a kiss, a clone should be more than enough, don't you think?"
Souta was left speechless.
This girl... What a drama queen!
"You're way too chūnibyō—careful, or you might develop a split personality."
Even as he felt speechless, Rokuhara Souta couldn't deny that he was having fun. It almost felt like he was actually trying to romance Tokisaki Kurumi in a dating sim.
So, he decided to play along and responded enthusiastically.
Akizuki Kōzō: "Alright then. After chatting with you for these past few days, I've grown quite fond of you too. We already call each other friends, yet we've never met in person—wouldn't that be a shame? How about we set a time to meet?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Sure. Even if you didn't bring it up, I would have. After all, I have a lot of things I want to ask you. Why don't we meet this afternoon?"
Oh? You're really taking it this far?
How are you going to smooth things over now?
As Souta pondered this, his fingers instinctively typed out a reply.
Akizuki Kōzō: "No problem. It's the weekend, and I happen to be free all day."
After hitting send, curiosity got the better of him.
She's already agreed to meet—how is she going to keep this roleplay going?
Looks little make-believe game is about to end...
Just as Souta was thinking this, a cold electronic voice suddenly echoed from his phone:
[Tokisaki Kurumi has invited you to her world. Do you accept?]
"...Huh?" Souta blinked. "What happens if I accept?"
[Once the host accepts the invitation, they will be transported to the inviter's side. Additionally, the host will gain unrestricted access to the inviter's world in the future.]
Has this phone's voice assistant been on this whole time?
The speech recognition was pretty damn impressive—it was almost on Siri's level!
But seriously—was the programmer who coded this a hardcore web novel addict? This whole setup was way too chūnibyō.
Wait, could Tokisaki Kurumi actually be an AI too?
"Heh, they're really making this feel real, huh..."
Souta scoffed and sarcastically declared:
"Alright, fine! If you can make Tokisaki Kurumi appear in front of me within seventeen seconds, I'll eat this phone's screen on the spot!"
The moment he said that—
A blinding white light burst out from his phone, engulfing his vision.
For a split second, Rokuhara Souta's face froze in shock.
The entire world seemed to stand still for a moment.
A sensation like being hurled through space and time slammed into his mind like a raging bull, making his head spin.
Souta completely panicked.
PS: If you don't know who Akizuki Kōzō is, then congratulations—you're still a good kid.