"Why on earth is she sleeping on the floor?"
Sayuri had heard some noise coming from Eriri's room and walked over curiously. When she peeked in, she saw her daughter fast asleep on the floor, surrounded by an empty drawing board and scattered art supplies.
Shaking her head with a hint of exasperation, Sayuri whispered, "This girl…" She guessed that Eriri had likely been working late and just collapsed from exhaustion. Without thinking too much about it, she picked her daughter up and placed her comfortably on her bed.
After adjusting Eriri's blanket, Sayuri glanced at the empty drawing board and sighed softly. "I wonder if she's struggling with inspiration again…"
As she quietly left Eriri's room, a thought crossed her mind. "Come to think of it, it's been a while since I last saw Ryuji…"
Her cheeks warmed as she remembered their last meeting, and she found herself feeling a bit nervous. She resolved to make plans to see him again soon.
---
Meanwhile…
Ryuji was lounging at home when he suddenly heard a rapid knock at his door, followed by a familiar voice.
"Ryuji! Ryuji!"
Recognizing the voice, Ryuji strolled over to open the door, stifling a yawn as he did so. Before he could greet his visitor properly, Kasumigaoka Utaha all but threw herself at him, her face flushed from running.
"Utaha? What's going on?"
Just then, a system notification echoed in his mind.
"New entry detected from contact with target: Kasumigaoka Utaha. Golden entry available. Load entry?"
Ryuji blinked in surprise. A golden entry from Utaha? This was unexpected. But as intriguing as it was, he pushed the thought aside for now, focusing instead on the clearly exhausted girl in front of him.
"Are you… hurt?" he asked, noticing the faint pallor of her skin and the slight trembling of her hands.
Utaha shook her head with a tired but bright smile. "I'm fine… just a bit worn out."
By now, Mimiko and Nanako, Ryuji's housemates, had come out of their rooms, rubbing their eyes sleepily.
"Utaha?" Nanako asked, surprised to see her standing at the door so late at night.
Utaha gave them a quick nod, acknowledging their presence, but her attention quickly returned to Ryuji.
"Here, let me heal you first," Ryuji said, activating his RCT to treat whatever minor injuries or exhaustion she might have accumulated.
While he worked, the two sisters exchanged curious glances, picking up on the tension and the unusual situation. It was clear that something significant had happened.
Once the healing was complete, Utaha let out a sigh of relief, visibly more at ease. The residual pain from her earlier experience had faded, and she felt much better.
"Thanks, Ryuji," she murmured. Then, with a playful smile, she added, "Guess why I'm here?"
Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "Awakened a technique, didn't you?"
Utaha's smile widened. "Bingo."
The sisters, Mimiko and Nanako, exchanged looks of amazement.
"So, that's why you're hurt?" Nanako asked. "Was it the backlash from using your new technique?"
Utaha nodded. "It's… a bit more powerful than I expected."
Ryuji's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Show me."
Utaha pulled out a tablet from her bag. Under everyone's watchful gaze, she typed a simple sentence on the screen:
"In five seconds, a flame will appear in front of me."
Five seconds later—
Whoosh!
A small flame, about the size of a basketball, flickered to life in mid-air before her. It lasted only a moment before vanishing, but the strain was immediate. Utaha's face turned pale, and she coughed, a hint of blood appearing on her lips.
"Whoa! That's incredible!" Mimiko said, wide-eyed.
Ryuji quickly placed a hand on Utaha's shoulder, activating his RCT again to ease the strain and heal her.
"Your technique… it's like a written version of the Cursed Speech technique," Ryuji observed thoughtfully.
Mimiko and Nanako nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's similar to the Inumaki family's Cursed Speech technique, but it's activated through writing instead of speaking."
Utaha, now feeling a bit more stabilized, grinned. "It's pretty amazing, right? I can make anything I write come true… within reason, of course."
Ryuji's expression turned serious. "Just be careful. Techniques like this come with heavy backlash if overused, especially if you try to do something big. You need to be cautious until you can master the RCT yourself. I won't always be around to heal you."
Utaha nodded, fully aware of the dangers. But she looked at Ryuji with a spark in her eyes, as if to say, I'll work hard to catch up.
Ryuji chuckled, seeing her determination. "Well, there's one downside to this, though."
Utaha tilted her head. "What's that?"
"You probably won't be able to keep writing light novels."
Utaha looked surprised, but she quickly realized what he meant. Since her technique activates based on writing, even something innocuous like storytelling could potentially trigger it.
"Ah… that's true," she said, a bit wistfully. "I guess I'll have to put my light novels on hold."
But then her expression softened, and she smiled warmly at Ryuji. "That's okay. I've found something more important to me now."
Ryuji's heart skipped a beat as he looked at her, feeling the sincerity in her gaze. He didn't say anything, but his eyes softened in response.
Meanwhile, Mimiko and Nanako were watching with a mixture of amusement and resignation. Utaha seemed to sense their presence again and turned, raising her chin slightly in a playful challenge.
"You two have had Ryuji's attention all this time. Tonight, it's my turn," she said with a teasing smile.
The sisters rolled their eyes but relented, heading off to other rooms without a word. There were plenty of vacant rooms in Ryuji's house, after all.
With a soft laugh, Utaha slipped her hand into Ryuji's and led him toward his room. "Ryuji, I'm here to stay tonight."
---
In the early hours before dawn, as Utaha finally drifted off to sleep in his arms, Ryuji opened the system screen, his curiosity piqued by the new golden entry.
"Golden Entry: Curse Script"
The description confirmed what he suspected, Utaha's technique allowed her to alter reality through written words, similar to Cursed Speech but activated through text. It was powerful, versatile, and came with considerable backlash if overused.
"Load Entry?"
Ryuji chose to load it, feeling that even though it overlapped with some of his other abilities, it could still prove useful. There was always some value in adding new layers to his power.
"[Talent entry system]
Host: Ryuji Hoshino
Bloodline: Human
Loaded entries: Soul Devouring [Red], Yin-Yang Eyes [Gold], Presence Concealment [Gold],Tranquility [Gold], Reverse Cursed Technique [Gold], Monster Attracting Physique [Gold], Third Dimension, Dreamwalker [Gold], Physical Strengthening [Gold], Cursed Speech [Gold], Shadow Manipulation [Gold], Malevolent Shrine [Gold], Blackbird Manipulation [Gold], Idle Transfiguration [Gold], Anti-Gravity System [Gold], Horizon of the Captivating Skandha [Gold], Binding Technique [Gold], Curse Script [Gold]Iron Fist [Purple], Combat Intuition [Purple].
Points: 80,120!"
As he scanned through his list of loaded entries, he couldn't help but notice how his powers were steadily expanding.
---
The next morning…
In the Service Club room, Ryuji had just sat down when he heard someone calling his name excitedly.
"Ryuji! Ryuji!"
He turned to see Sawamura Eriri bursting into the room, her face lit up with excitement as she clutched a blank drawing board.
The other members of the club looked up curiously as she approached, seemingly oblivious to their attention.
"Ryuji! I… I've awakened my technique!"
Ryuji blinked, nodding at first, but then did a double-take. "Wait, what?"
Just yesterday, Utaha had awakened her technique. And now Eriri, too?