Invitation.
Sorata couldn't help but think that sharing moments of joy with different people wasn't such a terrible experience, especially as he witnessed the radiant smiles on the faces of Onodera Kosaki and Haru.
However, he realized he had to leave as he was already running late for his dormitory.
Just as he was about to depart, Haru approached him, clutching a pack of sweets she had made as an experiment.
"I made these out of curiosity, so you can have them," she said, her words sounding slightly awkward. Despite that, Sorata managed to suppress his laughter, captivated by her innocent demeanor.
Sorata Kanda had been engrossed in a system update on his computer for an entire day. To his relief, he discovered that 97% of the update had finally been completed.
Eager to take a break from the technological realm, he decided to indulge in his other passion—reading light novels.
As he made his way to school in the early morning, he contemplated finishing a significant portion of the first volume of his favorite series, Re: Zero.
On his way to school, Sorata encountered his friend Tatebayashi, who greeted him warmly.
They engaged in casual conversation, during which Tatebayashi mentioned a notorious group of troublemakers known as Ragnarök.
The name rang a bell for Sorata, triggering memories of another fictional world he had encountered. He recalled a character named Kenichi, who was renowned as the mightiest disciple and possibly related to Miu Furinji's grandfather.
However, Sorata dismissed any concerns about being bullied, for he had never been a victim of such torment.
Besides, he doubted the existence of someone like Shirohama Kenichi in his current reality.
Nonetheless, curiosity gnawed at him, and he wondered if there was a high school in this world similar to the one attended by Kenichi Shirohama—a place he recalled being called "Koryo High School" or something along those lines.
Despite his recent arrival in this peculiar world, Sorata couldn't ignore the stark differences it held compared to the anime-based worlds he had known in his previous life on Earth.
It became evident to him that this world housed a myriad of characters from various anime, albeit with altered settings and circumstances.
Just as he immersed himself in thoughts about this fantastical reality, the ringing of his phone startled Sorata.
Dengeki Bunko Studio flashed across the screen as he answered the call, his curiosity piqued.
The voice on the other end inquired, "Hello, is this Sorata Kanda-san?" Tatebayashi waved goodbye, giving Sorata the privacy he needed to converse with the editor on the line.
It turned out that the call was an invitation to an upcoming award ceremony—an unexpected honor that left Sorata both surprised and intrigued.
Ding Dong!!!
Ding Dong!!!
Sorata arrived in the classroom just in time for the school bell to ring. As he found Nanami smiling at him and having already cleared a seat for him beside her, he thanked her for the timely assistance and sat on the chair.
Along with that, the teacher entered the room as he began the lesson, and Sorata, who was beginning to write the volume 1 ending, joined the regular class.
Until lunchtime arrived and a student entered the room. Onodera Kosaki, one of the top beauties, caught the attention of the majority of the boys as she entered the room.
She turned to see Sorata, who was engaged in his own world's writing and was busy with it. With a chuckle, she walked beside Sorata and tapped on his shoulder.
Before that, when Kosaki entered the class, most of the boys had already started to gossip with each other, as they all knew Kosaki from the next room.
Not that she had ever spoken to any male students in her class; it's just that her cool demeanor and distant appearance may have contributed to the fact that she had mostly female friends in her class.
Ruri Miyamoto, on the other hand, just so happened to be waiting at the gate as she observed Sorata writing something with such intense concentration that she even questioned whether he was just a high school student.
"Sorata-kun."
Hearing the familiar sound, Sorata broke out of his concentration and turned to find Kosaki standing beside him, along with all the classmates looking at him with a weird look.
"Onodera-san, sorry, I was just thinking about something and ended up thinking too deeply about it." He got to his feet and grinned as he glanced at the time and considered eating lunch.
He turned to find that the majority of his classmates were either already eating or had left for lunch.
"Wanna eat and chat? It will be on me."
He turned to ask Kosaki, who turned to look at Ruri Miyamoto.
She was only here to invite him and introduce him to her mother because the previous recipe for the sweet had been so well received by the girl, who had been waiting for them to create more of it.
"No, it's okay. If you aren't busy today after school, I was here to invite you to chat with my mother," Kosaki blushed as she spoke because her classmates' laughter at her actions made her feel uncomfortable.
"Oh, is it related to the sweet from before? Then tell her it is alright to make them given that it is not a recipe from someone else; it is something I created."
These kinds of candies occasionally have names of their own, so even if they were made by someone else, they could not simply change the name for themselves.
Given that she was unable to locate the name of the candy on the internet, Kosaki's mother must have been curious about its name because she chose to ask him about it.
Kosaki felt a little strange about this feeling that had just suddenly sprung up inside of her because of the way Sorata spoke, which made her wonder if he was rejecting her request.
"Please, I think Mother will be really happy if you were to come. Haru wanted to see you again as well," she continued, looking into Sorata's eyes, who at that moment lacked the courage to turn her down and accepted the invitation.
Given that he had nothing to do, he would find time in the lab to send the editorial department a copy of his novel.
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