NOVEL NEXT Chapter 120: Chapter 120: He Knows
"Are you sure this was shot by Hikari?"
Sakuramiya Saya still found it hard to believe that Hikari, a newcomer to the archery club, possessed such terrifying archery skills.
Sakuramiya Hinata nodded repeatedly. "I'm sure! I saw Hikari shoot this with my own eyes."
"Last time when Hikari came to the archery club for the first time, he also shot three arrows, all hitting the bullseye. Back then, we were still wondering who shot them. Do you remember, Sister?"
"Hikari's archery skills... are they really better than ours?" After repeated confirmations from Sakuramiya Hinata, Saya, who initially said she would mentor Hikari in archery, started to feel complicated.
Initially, she thought Hikari was just an ordinary newcomer who joined the archery club.
Later, she deliberately sought out the club president to arrange for her and her sister to teach Hikari archery. Otherwise, how could the president have suddenly made such a specific request?
Although, on that day, Hikari had explicitly stated that he didn't need anyone to teach him archery. It was the archery club president who insisted on having the Sakuramiya sisters mentor him, and Hikari only accepted because of that.
Back then, Saya felt that Hikari and the club president had already plotted this together, performing a duet.
Because they were beautiful and twin sisters, Sakuramiya Saya had seen too many people try various ways to get close to them.
For instance, using the excuse of learning archery to establish a connection with them was common.
So, when Hikari suddenly requested the sisters to teach him archery, Saya thought he was just like the others—a guy who wasn't really interested in archery but only wanted to get close to them.
Thus, Saya always treated Hikari with a cold face.
But after being saved by Hikari today, Saya started to feel differently, especially because Hikari didn't take advantage of saving her.
If Hikari were that kind of person, he could have leveraged his good deed.
But Hikari didn't show any arrogance or pride. His attitude toward her remained the same as before—indifferent and unbothered.
Hikari didn't use his help or knowledge of her secrets to gain leverage over her, which significantly improved Saya's impression of him.
Now, learning that Hikari's archery skills might surpass hers and Hinata's, Saya felt even more conflicted.
After all, Hikari was clearly so skilled, yet he had remained so low-key.
Saya had even mocked Hikari a few times in the past. Back then, she thought he didn't dare to retort. Now it seemed that he simply didn't bother.
Thinking about this, Saya couldn't help but feel a surge of guilt.
At the same time, her curiosity about Hikari grew stronger.
How could someone so young possess such remarkable archery skills and remain so humble?
With his level of skill, he could easily win prizes or even championships in competitions.
Saya began to feel that she might have misjudged Hikari from the beginning due to her biases.
"It seems I've been wearing tinted glasses to look at Hikari, which caused my prejudice against him."
"Come to think of it, Hikari is really amazing..."
"Not only is he handsome, but he also has a strong sense of justice, and his archery is exceptional. I heard he's also skilled in kendo, able to hold his own against the kendo club president, Miyajima Sakura."
'How could someone like him join the archery club just to get close to us? My assumptions were just baseless misunderstandings.'
'If I weren't already devoted to Hinata and uninterested in guys, I might have fallen for Hikari myself...'
Even as she thought this, Saya couldn't deny the slight acceleration of her heartbeat as she recognized Hikari's extraordinary qualities.
Of course, she would never admit to that.
———
On the other side, Hikari left the archery club and headed straight home.
He was almost at his rented apartment when his phone rang—it was Principal Rikka calling.
Upon answering, Rikka's elegant and cold voice came through.
"Hikari, the female student from today has agreed to receive your counseling."
"Just like last time, meet her at the same café where you met Kisaragi Tomoe."
"By the way, let me remind you—this client is a bit special."
"If it works out, great. If not, don't push yourself too hard."
"Got it," Hikari replied casually.
"I'm busy now; talk later." With that, Rikka hung up.
Hikari gave up his plan to go home, flagged down a taxi, and headed to the designated café.
———
Meanwhile, in the dim staircase corner of the Asou Apartment, three gyaru girls—Ruri, Reina, and Yukina—were staring intently at Reina's phone screen.
They watched the tracking map showing a red dot, representing Hikari, approaching them.
Ruri: "He's coming! Hikari is almost home."
Reina: "Haha! My tracking skills are unmatched I've got him wrapped around my finger."
Yukina: "Reina, you're brilliant this time. We're finally going to catch him and have a party. I'm so excited!"
But as the red dot stopped and moved in the opposite direction, their plan began to unravel...
———
Hikari sat in the taxi, smirking as he recalled their antics. He pocketed the tracker he had removed from his bag, resolved to deal with the trio later.
For now, work awaited.
Looking at Hikari, who was almost at the bottom of the apartment building, the distance between them was no more than 200 meters.
The three flashy girls couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and nervousness, even holding their breaths involuntarily.
200 meters...
180 meters...
160 meters...
150 meters...
Watching the tracker distance displayed on Reina's phone, the three girls silently calculated in their hearts.
However, just as the distance approached roughly 100 meters.
The red dot on the tracking map suddenly stopped moving, remaining stationary for more than half a minute.
Initially, Reina and the other two girls thought Hikari was merely stopping by a convenience store to buy something.
But after waiting for quite a while.
They noticed the red dot not only stopped for several minutes but also started heading in the opposite direction.
Seeing this, the three girls couldn't sit still.
"What the hell! Why is Hikari-kun running farther and farther away?"
"Wasn't he almost home? Why isn't he coming back to the apartment?"
"Could it be that he got tricked by some bad women halfway?"
"Let's go, let's find him quickly! Drag him back here to start the party."
The three girls rushed out of the Asou Apartments, completely abandoning their ambush plan.
After running a few steps, Reina suddenly noticed that the red dot representing Hikari had stopped moving again.
She excitedly pointed to a dense patch of grass up ahead, saying,"Hikari-kun has stopped! He's hiding behind those bushes!"
Was he avoiding them after noticing their presence, or perhaps... relieving himself behind the bushes?
The three girls exchanged glances, their lips curling slightly as a mischievous gleam flashed in their eyes.
Then, like kittens stalking prey, they pounced towards the bushes together.
"Gotcha, Hikari-kun!"
"Don't hide, Hikari-kun!"
"Found you, Hikari-kun!"
The three girls leapt behind the bushes, shouting loudly to give Hikari a scare.
But they were soon dumbfounded to find that behind the bushes, there wasn't a single person. It was completely empty except for a Samoyed dog, sticking out its tongue and staring at them with a look that seemed to say,'What idiots!'
"WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!"
After barking a few times at the seemingly silly long-armed female monkeys, the Samoyed, sensing a dangerous aura, decided to flee.
The three girls, staring at the empty bushes, raised their heads and exchanged confused glances, their faces blank.
Reina scanned the grassy area, quickly walking over to pick up a thumb-sized tracking device from the ground.
She quickly realized what had happened. "My tracker was discovered by Hikari-kun. He threw it here. That's why it stopped moving."
Yukina looked exasperated. "Huh? Then where's Hikari-kun? Did he already head home?"
Reina pulled out her phone, glanced at a newly received message, and reluctantly showed it to the other two girls.
"I have something to do, won't be home today. Don't wait up, just go back first." — Hikari.
Seeing this message.
Ruri lost her composure. She opened her bag, taking out a pile of rather inappropriate items.
She cursed loudly, "ARGHHH! I even prepared things like tail plugs and bells, planning to go all out with Hikari-kun tonight, and now he's run away again. I'm so pissed!"
The other two girls also took out items like Okamoto 0.01 and sildenafil from their pockets, angrily throwing them to the ground. [T/N: Google it if curious 🤪]
Then, the trio helplessly hugged their heads and cried bitterly. While skillfully cursing Hikari with "virgin hexes," they headed towards their familiar curry pork cutlet shop, where they were already regulars.
———
Hikari sat in a car, slowly putting down the phone after sending the message to Reina.
Seemingly imagining the scene of the three girls sobbing helplessly, Hikari allowed himself a slight smile.
Closing his bag, from which he had just removed the tracker, Hikari felt a bit speechless.
Originally, he had planned to check whether the items in his bag were sufficient for this psychological counseling session.
But unexpectedly, he discovered a flashing red tracker.
The moment he saw it, Hikari immediately guessed it was another prank by Reina and the girls.
If he weren't busy, he would definitely have given them a lesson about respecting others' privacy.
However, work was a priority, and earning money was essential.
With professional integrity, Hikari decided to let it slide this time and focus on his part-time job.
Temporarily putting aside the issue with the three girls, Hikari began to think about today's psychological counseling session.
Principal Rikka had mentioned earlier that she was busy and didn't tell him which female student needed counseling today, leaving it for him to figure out.
Now, Hikari pondered who the counseling target might be this time.
It definitely wasn't Kisaragi Tomoe.
Because Tomoe had already exchanged contact information with him and agreed to reach out whenever she needed counseling.
Moreover, just a few days ago, Hikari had chatted with Tomoe. She had initially planned for another session this week.
However, due to upcoming exams, she was too busy studying and had no time to leave campus.
She had promised Hikari that after the exams, she would contact him again to release all her accumulated stress at once.
Recalling his memories from his previous life, Hikari speculated that the second counseling target should be a dark-skinned track-and-field athlete.
He couldn't recall her name but vaguely remembered the general counseling storyline.
[After so long, we have a new novel guys. Congrats 🎉 🎉 🎉
Title— God Eater Sequence : The Devourer
Synopsis—
In a post-apocalyptic world where light of day has been devoured into extinction, there exists sequence ability awakners who fight against divine scourges and keep the last stand of humaity alive. But for ordinary people, survival means clinging to the strong—or being trampled underfoot.
Qin Siyang, once just another struggling survivor, awakens the Devouing Sequence—a power that allows him to devour divine remnants and grow stronger without limits. From scavenging in the shadows to standing at the top, he will carve his own path in this brutal world.
A feast of gods has begun. And Qin Siyang? He's starving.]
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