Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Volume 15 - Avatar Incarnation (1)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hah, nothing beats wandering around outside like this."
"What kind of life was I even living last year..."
"This academy would be way too harsh without clubs, seriously."
It was definitely tough that you couldn't go out without a proper reason.
Like it was some kind of boarding school cram academy or something, not even letting you leave freely.
Well, our club president was the type who got antsy if he couldn't head out whenever he wanted, so we ended up going out more often than you'd think.
"Wait, weren't we out here to submit your manuscript?"
"Ah, that cafe over there from last time had amazing stuff."
"Aren't you hungry? I wanna eat first before we start."
"...Ria, seriously."
"I'm all for it!"
"I don't mind either."
Times like this really showed how different their personalities were.
I liked lounging around eating too, but I would've submitted the manuscript first since I wanted to push up the release date for the comic.
Ria, on the other hand, was the type to detour for food the moment the thought hit her.
Well, it was closer than the exhibition hall anyway.
"I'll have the strawberry cream cake."
"Rozaria really loves strawberries, huh. Hmm, then I'll go with chocolate..."
"Oh, crepe!"
Orca ordered a massive special crepe, and Yuria randomly picked pizza.
I always thought this every time we came here, but it was no joke—proper quality for a high-end cafe catering to nobles.
The level was on par with famous Earth cafes, which was honestly impressive.
"Mmm..."
"Whew, hitting a free period every Wednesday is the best. Should we plan next semester the same way and keep one day open?"
"Sounds good. Orca, it's tasty and all, but scarfing it down like that gets it all over your mouth. Ladies who do that get called uncouth."
"My mom does this all the time, though? Then she tells Dad to wipe it off, or sometimes asks for a kiss."
She just drops that on us like it's nothing.
Rozaria looked a bit flustered and said that was fine at home, not outside.
I was newly struck by how wild Orca's family life must be...
"Hmm, Orca. But that's your mom wanting to have sex with your dad..."
"Yuria!"
Doesn't this girl have any filter when she says stuff like that!?
Orca, knowing there was no malice behind it, just kept grinning and munching her crepe.
That line from earlier was still making my head spin.
"Why? It's the truth."
"It's the phrasing..."
"Then she's luring him in to lick the cream off her lips with her tongue, leading to a steamy makeout that turns into intense sex..."
"Get off the sex topic!"
"Isn't it sex? Mom's always horny for Dad."
The real wildcard might actually be Orca, who I thought was the victim here.
Rozaria and I just sighed in disbelief at these two with zero sense of shame.
Orca said her parents only dropped the restrictions after she became an adult.
What the hell happened in that short time between then and starting school?
"Nom nom..."
"She's eating well even through all that. Is the pizza good?"
"Yeah. Want some, Kali?"
"Nah. Feels too heavy."
I figured something like this—bitter coffee with sweet chocolate cake—was just right.
Well, if I'd had a tangy fruit drink, I might've snagged a bite.
Eating it now would just ruin this healing vibe I had going.
"I wanna see Rozaria's piece soon too."
"I told you, it's a secret until the final version's done."
"Tch... You showed Kali."
"What I saw wasn't the final either. That's why I'm waiting too."
I was curious myself how Ria had refined it.
She must've nailed it, acting all confident and not showing us yet.
Though it made me a little anxious.
"Ah, Kali, you don't draw anymore? Seems like you're always just doing paperwork."
"Me? Well... I do have to."
It was a headache since I hadn't released anything publicly.
I'd already gone through enough hassle submitting my previous work in secret.
Yuria asking like that suggested no one had caught on, at least...
"Don't pressure him too much. That's kinda the vibe we went for with the club anyway."
"Ah, wasn't trying to pressure. Just thought the drawing I saw last time was cute."
"...I'll think about it."
Honestly, nothing was jumping out at me for an SD-style piece.
My personality and tastes didn't lend themselves to plain slice-of-life stuff.
I needed something like Ria's, mixing in some LD elements, but without that, it felt lacking.
"Yeah, no solid ideas popping up yet. If I draw something, I'll show you guys."
We wrapped up our cafe chat naturally like that, then headed to the exhibition hall to submit Rozaria's manuscript.
Even on a weekday, this place was packed.
While Rozaria chatted about her samples and such, we started browsing to see if any new works had popped up.
"Oh, Yuria's pieces climbed higher. Makes sense—it's that good."
With the academy's help displaying her old portfolio too, seeing them side by side at the top was a sight.
Even with totally different coloring styles, you could tell it was the same artist and characters—that unique charm was awesome.
Broken yet alluring beauty was the pinnacle.
"Totally! Yuria's art is super pretty!"
"Thanks."
Besides that, the comics section caught my eye instead.
A ton of unusually thin comic books had gone up this time.
They were bigger and wider, but single-color covers with low production values.
'They're cutting costs, slashing prices here too to make them dirt cheap.'
These magazine-like comics held about the length of one episode from my "Happiness Comes from the Heart."
Most were short, punchy stories—mostly lewd ones that delivered a clear vibe.
It felt weirdly like browsing a doujin market, stirring up some nostalgia.
At this rate, won't "thin book" start meaning "lewd book" here too?
"Oh, these have potential."
A few could've even gone in the academy's comic section.
Even as one-shots, plenty had decent stories.
Thinking about it, everything starts short and builds up slowly.
In this world, I jumped straight to long-form, so no wonder there were more weird long ones.
'Wasn't something I expected, so unavoidable.'
It got resolved unexpectedly too, so maybe it balanced out?
Anyway, most new standout works were around that level.
The real difference? A massive surge in crazy big-tit pieces that were rare before.
A very welcome trend, if you ask me.
"Whoa, art with Yuria-sized boobs everywhere now."
"Personally, I think Orca-size is perfect."
"Eh? Why? Bigger's always better, right?"
"Uncomfortable. Sweat pools under them, gets hot."
Thank goodness the academy uniform left the underboob exposed.
Otherwise, she'd need a mana-cooled bra or something, she grumbled.
Makes sense—even in those revealing academy uniforms, I saw sweat dripping last time.
Big tits do look steamy.
"For solo play, you gotta suck your own nipples, right? Orca-size makes that comfy. So that's ideal."
"Oho..."
How do they just chat about this stuff anywhere?
Sometimes it's almost admirable.
You girls are the best.
"Ah, done?"
"Yeah, a little gift for you guys."
"Whoa!"
She'd asked for four sample copies of "Pink Diary for One Alone."
With "0th print" stamped on the few copies, it'd be super rare, huh?
Well, probably no one here obsessed over editions yet anyway.
"Ah, hold on. Lots of my pens are busted—need to restock."
"Ah, let's swing by that shop too then."
I hadn't checked in a while, so I browsed for new stuff while we all headed to the art supply store.
Yuria was explaining tools to Orca and hanging out, while Rozaria bee-lined for what she wanted.
Hm, no standout new screentones or screentone pens.
'Most can be faked with control over the old ones... No need to haul more academy junk.'
Seemed fine skipping purchases this time.
Browsing for anything else special, I spotted something like printed art copies.
"What's this?"
Priced a tad higher than regular prints.
The smeared colors suggested it'd look bad on detailed art.
Expensive, but why the low quality...
"Oh?"
Turned out it was like attachable stickers.
Sure, you could glue regular prints full-on, but...
This had printed color on the back too, so it'd look cool on glass or whatever.
Tech wasn't great yet for full use, but...
If it evolves, it'd become those perfect stickers I knew.
Bought one to test—adhesion was crazy strong, unlike what I remembered; wouldn't peel easy.
Different material from paper, waterproof too...
"Ah, dissolve it with this liquid to remove."
Applied it and it vanished effortlessly—no big issue.
This could be useful, I thought, then a planned work popped into mind, making me hesitate.
Wouldn't this be perfect material for merch on that one?
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