NEET Receives a Dating Sim System 298 We Have Companions Here!

All his options to grind points or train his stats were grayed out and unselectable. He wasn't even able to cultivate his Spiritual Power.

It seemed that he would be unable to stay here and improve his power level. This wasn't the Room of Spirit and Time, after all.

In the end, he decided to forget about it. He ensured that he was still able to save and load, and that was enough for him.

The second day in Reo Tachibana's soul.

Seiji discovered that those NPCs, both human and nonhuman, could now see and interact with him.

They would react to his presence and even talk to him. There was nothing wrong with the content of their words. In fact, they even appeared to be rather normal.

But whenever Seiji asked them about the abnormalities here—for example why the monorails could fly, or what the strange animal that looked like a mix between a rabbit, cat, dog, and bird was, or what the gray and black shadows everywhere were supposed to be—they would have confused or blank expressions and would be unable to respond.

They were still NPCs in the end. The only change was that they now acknowledged him and could give him some basic responses, which made them seem more flexible and real than before.

This was likely because Reo Tachibana had now gotten re-acquainted with him.

Yesterday, when Reo wasn't acquainted with him, Seiji had only been an outside invader. He wasn't recognized by the NPCs, which was why they had zero reaction no matter what he did.

And this change in them meant that every single living creature in this city was under Reo's influence!

If he opposed Reo, everything in this city could instantly become enemy monsters.

Seiji didn't intend to kill Reo, but he figured there was a possibility that he'd have to do battle with her. It was a part of the persuasion tactic that involved invoking the defeat-means-friendship trope.

In the worst-case scenario, he would have to face off against the entire city, or even the entire soul domain by himself.

How cool would that be… not! There had to be a limit to self-deserved idiocy!!

Seiji really didn't want things to come to that if it wasn't necessary.

He imagined the Iron Man suit of armor again and flew around, inspecting the city.

There were too many abnormalities here. He couldn't even comment on all of them if he wanted to, but what he ascertained was that this enormous city definitely couldn't have been constructed by an elementary school girl like Reo Tachibana!

The mysterious power obviously had a hand in its construction. It was possible that the power was the primary force behind its construction.

'And… could it be that Sensei also had a part in this city's creation?'

This city was most likely created when Sensei established a connection with Reo. Sensei might have unconsciously participated in creating this city!

In that hypothetical scenario, Peach-sensei would also have the power to influence the environment to a certain degree. Being able to influence this environment meant having power here!

This was something very important, and it needed to be confirmed.

After Seiji purposefully went looking for Honey Candy Girl-related things, his suspicions were confirmed. He even saw some of the characters from the story strolling around on the streets!

He immediately struck up a conversation with the characters and took pictures with them in various poses to his heart's content.

Only after he finished did he realize that it was all meaningless because he wouldn't be able to take these pictures outside with him!

'Cough cough, I may have got a little too excited.'

He discovered many things related to Honey Candy Girl, but this wouldn't be able to prove his hypothesis, because they might also have been created by Reo's memories.

He needed some definitive evidence—something that Reo Tachibana couldn't possibly have imagined, something that only Peach-sensei could have created.

He kept searching…

Finally, near the end of the second day, Seiji really did discover what he was looking for.

It was a person wearing a Honey Candy Girl-style costume. He was garbed in extravagant clothing, and angel wings were attached to his back… it was another Seiji!

Next to the fake Seiji was a spectacled version of Editor Yoshizawa, also in Honey Candy Girl-style clothing.

The two of them were standing together outside a supermarket and were waiting for something.

Seiji then saw a version of Mai Houjou in maid attire. She walked out the store holding a large bag of groceries and left together with the other Editor Yoshizawa and himself.

A dazed Seiji watched them for quite a while. When he returned to his senses, he hurriedly flew over to the trio.

He landed in front of the three of them.

"Hello… I'd like to get to know you!"

That night.

Just like yesterday night, Seiji helped Reo with her homework, then played video games together with her.

After the little girl went to sleep, Seiji told Mayuzumi about what he'd discovered earlier that day.

Mayuzumi was shocked to hear this.

The people in the picture that she had drawn for Seiji had actually come alive in this world!

Seiji showed her the pictures he'd taken on his cellphone as evidence.

In the pictures were the versions of Seiji, Editor Yoshizawa, and Mai, dressed in exactly the same clothing that Mayuzumi had drawn them in. They were all smiling in the photograph and standing next to the real Seiji.

"When I took this picture, I was filled with indescribable joy," Seiji said, chuckling. "Even though I know that they're all puppets with no actual minds of their own, I was still happy. That's because their existence proved something to me. They mean that although this domain may be Reo's, this entire city doesn't belong to her! It's partially yours, Sensei! We have companions here!"

Mayuzumi stared at Seiji's cell phone screen for a long while, her eyes flickering with light. After living in Reo's world for such a long time, she had come to believe that she was truly alone.

She never expected that somewhere in this city existed clear evidence of something that she, not Reo, created.

Reo had watched Honey Candy Girl before, but she had definitely never seen the private picture Mayuzumi drew of Seiji and his friends.

That meant it was impossible for Reo to create it. It must have been her creation!

Even if they were only puppets, they were still her companions.

"I only met 'Seiji,' 'Saki,' and 'Mai,' but according to them, the others…'Hoshi,' 'Chiaki,' 'Mika,' 'Kaho,' and 'Mayuzumi' are all here as well, and they're all good friends. Just like in that drawing."

"We are all here in this world.

"We are your strength.

"We are evidence that you have strength here, and your strength definitely isn't limited to just us!

"In this city, there are so many Honey Candy Girl characters. I believe that as long as you, Sensei, resolve yourself and reignite your spirit, you'll definitely be able to summon and control them!"

'Because they were yours to begin with.' Seiji nonverbally communicated that to Mayuzumi with his eyes.

Mayuzumi understood and received his message.

She started smiling in a moving, lively manner.

So she wasn't alone all this time after all. Those characters that she poured her heart and soul into in real life existed in this world.

'They are my companions, my strength…' Mayuzumi reflected.

She felt like the grayness in her heart had suddenly become a lot more vivid and colorful.

"Thank you for telling me about this, Harutkun."

Seiji smiled. "It's what I should've done. Sensei, I recommend that you should try to meet as many of them as much as you can and try to influence them. You need to steal the power to control them away from Reo and then find even more characters… basically, gather as many characters as possible in order to create combat strength."

"The basic method to do it is… through the power of your imagination! Imagine that they're our companions, that they'll fight for us, and stand against all enemy monsters. Think of them as small teams that have excellent cooperation with each other, and later we can even create medium-sized and even larger teams…"

"At any rate, use your imagination to influence and control the characters, so that you can summon them and lead them in battle when it becomes necessary!"

Mayuzumi listened attentively, her eyes shining with a confident light.

Imagination… as a manga author and artist, she had confidence regarding this.

Seiji suddenly recalled something. "Right, Sensei, you also need to use imagination to equip yourself as well! Try it just like me. Imagine some iron armor that can greatly increase your combat ability as well as protect you."

"Sensei, you should do this in order to make yourself stronger. I'm able to do all this thanks to a spell that allows me to wield the power of my imagination in the soul realm, and Sensei may be able to do this as well thanks to the mysterious power within your body… although it's not certain, you should at least try."

Seiji didn't yet understand the workings of the mysterious power, but if a little girl like Reo Tachibana could use it to create an entire city, Peach-sensei… would probably be able to do something with it as well.

"Imagine myself becoming stronger…" Mayuzumi mulled it over.

"Yep, imagine yourself equipping weapons and armor, or even a transformation." Seiji then had a sudden flash of inspiration. "For example, transforming into the legendary existence from the Night of One Hundred Demons, Blue Lantern Ghost!"

"Blue Lantern Ghost?" Mayuzumi blinked at this.

Chapter end