Kaguya Houraisan stared blankly at the man standing before her.
A chill ran down her spine.
Somehow, she had a very bad feeling about this.
"W-Wait! Let me go!"
"Don't come any closer!"
This was absurd!
She had only exchanged a few words online, yet somehow Izumi had reached through the connection itself and dragged her here.
Looking at her frightened expression, Izumi smiled mischievously.
"Oh?"
"Weren't you acting pretty bold a moment ago?"
"Hahaha..."
Without another word, he casually restrained her powers, leaving the immortal princess unable to use her usual abilities.
At that moment, Kaguya felt no different from an ordinary girl.
"W-What are you trying to do?"
"I'm warning you, this is a crime!"
"Damn you!"
"I knew it! You've been plotting something all along!"
The moment panic set in, Kaguya's mouth immediately went into overdrive.
Izumi raised an eyebrow.
"I wasn't interested before."
"But now that you've said that..."
"You've made me curious."
Kaguya froze.
"W-What does that even mean!?"
Unfortunately, the more she protested, the wider Izumi's grin became.
The immortal princess immediately regretted every word she had said.
...
News of the incident spread across the Dimensional City at astonishing speed.
A streamer had provoked a powerful being online...
...and had literally been dragged away through the network connection.
The story became famous overnight.
As a result, countless keyboard warriors suddenly became much more cautious online.
After all, Dimensional City was filled with powerful individuals.
Who knew how many people possessed abilities similar to Izumi's?
If they accidentally offended the wrong person, someone might actually appear at their doorstep moments later.
That was a terrifying thought.
What happened afterward remained a mystery.
For several days, Kaguya didn't appear online at all.
When she finally returned to streaming, she looked oddly absent-minded.
Nobody knew what had happened.
And more importantly—
Nobody dared to ask.
Thanks to the newly established network, live streaming rapidly became one of the most popular activities in the city.
Kotori Minami and the members of the Light Music Club began broadcasting regularly.
They showed viewers the scenery around the Sephiroth Tree and shared their daily lives.
At the same time, countless new streamers emerged across the world.
As for Izumi—
He was living his dream.
Watching streams.
Watching anime.
Relaxing all day.
It almost felt like he had returned to his previous life.
...
One afternoon, Kotori came looking for him.
The scene that greeted her left her speechless.
Izumi was lying comfortably on a beach chair under the sun.
Potato chips sat on one side.
Ice-cold cola on the other.
Ram and Rem stood nearby acting as attendants.
Floating in front of him was a livestream.
And on the screen—
A beautiful silver-haired girl.
Elaina.
Kotori's lips twitched.
"Izumi-kun!"
Hearing her voice, Izumi finally turned his head.
"Oh, Kotori."
"What brings you here?"
"Taking a break from streaming today?"
Even as he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Elaina's broadcast.
Kotori couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed.
Actually...
She had come specifically to see him.
"I-I wanted to ask you something."
"Hm?"
Izumi finally looked at her.
"What is it?"
"Just say it."
"There's no need to be shy with me."
The next moment, he casually waved his hand.
Before Kotori could react, her body floated forward uncontrollably.
"E-Eh!?"
A second later, she found herself sitting directly beside him.
Kotori's face instantly turned bright red.
Ram and Rem exchanged subtle glances.
Their expressions became increasingly complicated.
Master... are you really just going to skip every step and go straight to this?
Kotori, meanwhile, was completely flustered.
"U-Um..."
"I-I'm not ready yet..."
Izumi rolled his eyes.
"Ready for what?"
"Weren't you already one of my people?"
"Did you forget?"
Kotori froze.
Her mind immediately recalled those stories Izumi had shown her before.
Could he seriously be referring to those?
Her brain completely stopped functioning.
Seeing her reaction, Izumi chuckled and gently patted her shoulder.
"Just be honest with yourself."
"You like me, don't you?"
Kotori opened her mouth.
She wanted to deny it.
She wanted to say:
No.
That's not true.
You're imagining things.
But for some reason—
The words wouldn't come out.
At that moment, Ram and Rem's voices sounded from nearby.
"Nee-sama"
"Master is openly abducting an innocent girl."
"His shamelessness has reached a whole new level."
"Indeed, nee-sama."
"But compared to how shameless he already is, this isn't surprising anymore."
"We couldn't stop him even if we wanted to."
"That's true."
"Master really is hopeless."
The twins' merciless commentary echoed through the garden.
Meanwhile, Kotori's face turned even redder.
And Izumi?
He simply sat there, completely unbothered by their criticism.
As shameless as ever.