Kotori Minami was, at heart, a costume enthusiast.
Whether it was stage outfits, maid uniforms, or cosplay costumes, she loved them all.
So the moment she saw the maids accompanying Izumi, her eyes immediately sparkled.
The elegant uniforms were simply perfect.
At that moment, Rita stepped forward with impeccable grace.
"Welcome, honored guests."
"We are members of Izumi-sama's maid corps."
"These refreshments were prepared at Izumi-sama's request."
"Please enjoy yourselves."
With flawless etiquette, she placed trays of sweets and fragrant black tea before the girls.
Eli Ayase's eyes lit up instantly.
"So elegant..."
Not only Rita, but every maid standing behind her carried the same refined bearing.
They looked like a perfectly trained elite household staff.
The members of μ's couldn't help but stare in admiration.
As expected of Izumi-sama...
Even his maids were extraordinary.
Their gazes soon drifted back toward the man himself.
...
At that moment, Izumi had completed the final stage of his work.
Every regional network throughout the world had been connected to the Root.
At the same time, teleportation gates had been established throughout major cities.
With everything complete, he immediately pushed an official announcement across the newly unified network.
The response was explosive.
Countless people rushed online to verify the news.
And they quickly discovered it was true.
Networks that had once been isolated were now connected.
Websites previously inaccessible could now be viewed freely.
Information flowed across worlds without barriers.
For ordinary citizens, it was a revolutionary change.
The biggest surprise, however, was the teleportation network.
People living in distant regions suddenly realized they could travel to Dimensional City whenever they wanted.
The discovery sent waves of excitement throughout the world.
...
After finishing his work, Izumi finally turned his attention back to his guests.
By then, the girls had already become friendly with the maids.
Rita handed him a cup of black tea.
"Thank you."
Taking a sip, Izumi turned toward Kayo.
"Kayo-chan, why did you bring everyone here?"
The question naturally fell to her.
After all, she was the one who had escorted them.
Kayo shook her head.
"It wasn't really my idea."
"Tsumugi-san and the others wanted to thank you personally."
The moment she finished speaking, the girls stood up.
Ritsu Tainaka immediately jumped forward with a grin.
"Thanks for the eighty-eight million points, bro!"
"Ah, wait!"
"I mean, thank you, Boss!"
Izumi nearly spat out his tea.
"..."
The atmosphere instantly became awkward.
That line sounded far too much like a livestream donation response.
After a moment, Izumi sighed.
"Honestly, instead of performing on the street, you should probably become streamers."
"You'd earn far more points."
"It'd be a waste not to."
His gaze settled on Ritsu.
This girl had a natural talent for entertaining people.
If she started streaming, she would probably become popular overnight.
Ritsu blinked.
"I've thought about it too."
"But Mio says we don't really have anything interesting to stream."
"Besides singing, what else can we do?"
"We can't fight monsters or anything."
"And there isn't even a streaming platform here."
She spread her hands helplessly.
After the worlds merged, many old internet services had vanished.
Various systems from their original worlds had disappeared completely.
A livestream platform simply didn't exist.
Hearing that, Izumi paused.
"...Good point."
He rubbed his chin.
"Now that I think about it, the online economy is pretty underdeveloped."
"People can spend points in the official marketplace, but there aren't many ways for users to exchange them online."
Suddenly, an idea occurred to him.
Snap.
He snapped his fingers.
Two figures instantly appeared beside him.
"Huh?"
A visibly annoyed Astarte's former overseer—no, rather, Asagi Aiba? No, in this story's naming convention—
Aiba Asagi frowned.
"I was in the middle of an experiment."
"Why did you drag me over?"
Lala, meanwhile, immediately threw herself onto Izumi.
"Hehe~"
"Did you need us for something, Izumi-kun?"
Izumi chuckled and patted her head.
"Yeah."
"I wanted Asagi's opinion."
He explained the issue with online point transactions and the lack of streaming infrastructure.
After listening, Asagi froze.
Then she slapped her forehead.
"...Right."
"I completely forgot about that."
"I actually planned to build those systems ages ago."
"But I got distracted by research."
She looked genuinely embarrassed.
"It's not a difficult problem."
"I can implement everything immediately."
While individuals could spend points through the official system, there was currently no user-to-user online marketplace.
That limitation had been overlooked.
Asagi quickly sat down and summoned a massive virtual display.
Countless windows opened simultaneously.
Her artificial intelligences immediately joined the work.
Streams of data flooded across the screen.
Watching her begin coding at terrifying speed, Izumi nodded.
"In that case, add livestreaming functionality too."
"And while you're at it, recreate some of the common internet services from ordinary worlds."
"Most online content here is still pretty limited."
Asagi nodded while typing furiously.
"Got it."
Then she suddenly paused.
"Wait."
"You connected every network yourself?"
"I was planning to ask you about that."
"How did you manage it?"
That part genuinely surprised her.
The network problem had existed for years.
Yet Izumi had solved it in a single afternoon.
Without answering directly, Izumi snapped his fingers.
A portion of authority flowed into Asagi.
Her eyes widened.
"The Root...!"
"I see now."
"Using the Root as the central server."
"That's actually genius."
Now everything made sense.
...
As she continued working, Asagi suddenly glanced toward the gathered girls.
Then she looked back at Izumi.
A teasing smile appeared on her face.
"By the way..."
"Why are there so many girls here?"
"Found another group you like?"
"Honestly."
"Can you stop collecting women everywhere you go?"
"Are you sure you can keep up with all of them?"
The room immediately fell silent.
Several girls instantly turned bright red.
Kotori.
Tsumugi.
Mio.
Even Eli.
Every one of them froze in embarrassment.
After all...
Considering what Izumi had explained earlier about those stories from other worlds...
Asagi's teasing sounded far more dangerous than it should have.
And judging from the amused smile forming on Izumi's face—
Things were only about to get more awkward.