The Interview

For several days, she had even waited early in the morning along Nodoka Haramura's route to school, but not once did she encounter her.

"Not only is Nodoka Haramura here, but such a stunningly beautiful girl has also appeared—this is a huge story! Yamaguchi-san, let's go over there and get an interview!"

The female reporter excitedly called out to the middle-aged man beside her, who was holding a camera, before quickly weaving through the crowd toward Eriri and the others.

Meanwhile, five high school girls who had just entered the venue were left somewhat baffled by the scene unfolding before them.

"What's going on? Why did everyone suddenly rush over there?" A petite girl with short hair asked curiously, looking toward the gathering crowd.

"Could it be that someone famous showed up?" A gray-haired girl wearing glasses mused thoughtfully, then turned to a beautiful girl with her right eye closed, standing beside her. "Captain, should we go take a look?"

"Yes, let's go," replied the one-eyed beauty with a gentle smile.

These girls were the team from the prestigious Kazekoshi Girls' High School, representing Nagano Prefecture.

The one with her right eye closed was Mihoko Fukuji, the team's captain. The others were Kana Ikeda, Miharu Yoshitome, Sumiyo Fukabori, and Seika Bundou.

Unlike Kiyosumi High, which lacked a structured mahjong program, Kazekoshi Girls' High School specifically recruited students with mahjong talent. They even had an internal ranking system to determine the final lineup for the national competition.

Although they didn't make it past the county preliminaries last year, coming in second, they had won the tournament the year before. As a result, their team enjoyed considerable popularity, and it was common for them to be under the spotlight as soon as they entered. But today, Eriri had completely stolen their thunder.

When Mihoko Fukuji and her team made their way through the crowd, they saw Eriri and her group surrounded by reporters and students.

As soon as Mihoko caught a clear glimpse of Eriri and the others, she froze, then immediately broke into a delighted smile.

While Eriri's appearance left her astounded, what caught Mihoko's attention even more was the relatively inconspicuous presence of Hisa Takei.

Mihoko had heterochromatic eyes—her left eye was brown, and her right eye was blue. To avoid drawing curious or judgmental stares, she kept her right eye closed most of the time. However, three years ago, after a match with Hisa Takei, she was complimented on how beautiful her heterochromatic eyes were. Ever since, she had been deeply moved by Hisa's words and had eagerly looked forward to meeting her again.

Now, three years later, they had finally reunited.

...

"Nodoka-san, I'm Junko Nishida from Weekly Mahjong TODAY. I'd like to ask, is this stunning young woman beside you also one of Kiyosumi High School's starting players for their first county preliminaries?"

Junko Nishida, the female reporter who had rushed to Eriri's group, looked at Eriri and Nodoka with excitement.

In her hands were a small notebook and a ballpoint pen. Beside her, the photographer Daisuke Yamaguchi was snapping photo after photo of Eriri and Nodoka.

As for Saki Miyanaga and the rest of the group, they were completely ignored.

"Hello, Ms. Nishida, long time no see," Nodoka Haramura greeted the 'familiar face' she hadn't seen for a year, then took Eriri's hand and said, "Eriri will not be participating in the national tournament."

"Really? That's such a pity," Junko Nishida remarked with some disappointment.

She had originally thought Eriri was one of today's competitors. Given her unparalleled beauty, Eriri would undoubtedly be a major headline. Even if her mahjong skills were mediocre, her stunning looks could more than make up for it.

Unfortunately, reality did not align with her expectations.

However, the regret on Junko's face quickly disappeared, replaced by an expression of renewed excitement. Staring intently at Eriri, she said, "But meeting such a beautiful young lady today has made this trip worthwhile. Your name is Eriri, right? Such a lovely name. Would you mind if I conducted a brief interview with you?"

Eriri glanced at Nodoka, who was leaning close to her side, and replied with a smile, "Well, considering it's for our dear little Nodoka, I suppose it's fine."

While Eriri had never accepted media interviews in the Saekano world, she didn't mind appearing on camera alongside Nodoka here.

After all, she wouldn't be staying in this world for long. Perhaps her presence would even become an urban legend after she left.

"Fantastic!" Junko exclaimed excitedly. Around her, other magazine reporters were eagerly watching, pens poised on notebooks, ready to jot down anything Eriri said.

After taking a moment to calm her excitement, Junko asked Eriri her first question.

"Hello, could you first tell us your full name?"

"Of course. My name is Eriri Spencer Sawamura," Eriri replied with a light laugh.

As long as the questions weren't intentionally provocative or excessively intrusive, Eriri had no problem answering them.

Junko nodded enthusiastically. Just learning Eriri's full name felt like a significant scoop.

Her expression shifted to one of curiosity as she asked, "Judging by your name and appearance, are you a mixed-race individual, Sawamura-san?"

"That's correct," Eriri confirmed openly with a nod.

At this point, Junko finally asked the question she was most curious about: "May I ask about your mahjong skills?"

"Well, you can ask Nodoka about that~," Eriri replied with a playful smile, turning to look at Nodoka beside her. She also lightly pinched Nodoka's hand as she spoke.

Hearing Eriri's response, Junko instinctively shifted her gaze to Nodoka.

Feeling Junko's expectant gaze, Nodoka responded directly, "Eriri's mahjong skills are very strong."

Whether Eriri's fundamental skills were excellent or not, when it came to supernatural mahjong abilities, no one could match her.

"Really? To receive such high praise from the champion of last year's National Junior High Mahjong Individual Tournament, her mahjong skills must be remarkable. In that case, why isn't she participating in today's preliminaries? Wouldn't that significantly increase the chances of advancing?" Junko asked, her eyes brimming with curiosity.

"Well, the protagonist of this national mahjong tournament is our dear Nodoka, after all. I'm just here as a spectator," Eriri said casually, wrapping her arms around Nodoka Haramura from behind in front of all the cameras.

The close and intimate scene between the two was instantly captured by countless cameras, undoubtedly set to spread across magazines and the internet soon.

"Sawamura-san and Haramura-san seem to have a really good relationship," Junko Nishida remarked with a cheerful smile, watching the two beautiful girls embrace each other.

Then, shifting her attention to Nodoka, she asked, "Haramura-san, with Sawamura-san placing such high expectations on you, how far do you think Kiyosumi High School can go in this national tournament? Or do you plan to focus on the individual competition?"

"How far we can go?" Nodoka's eyes sharpened with determination as she replied without hesitation, "Our goal is, of course, to win the national championship!"

"It seems Haramura-san is full of confidence. We'll be eagerly anticipating Kiyosumi High School's performance in the upcoming matches."

After a few more casual questions to Eriri, Junko concluded the interview.

...

Amid the lively competition venue, time flowed steadily, and soon it was 9:00 a.m.

"The first-round matches are about to begin. All schools' vanguard players, please proceed to your assigned rooms."

As the broadcast announcement echoed, the first match of the preliminaries was finally set to commence.

"It's finally time for the main event!" Yuuki Kataoka, holding a burrito in her right hand, struck a confident pose with a thumbs-up.

Earlier, when Kazue Takei and Mako Someya registered for the competition, the matchups were determined through a drawing of lots, and the order of play was also recorded during registration.

As in the original timeline, Yuuki Kataoka would serve as the vanguard, followed by Mako Someya as the second player, and Hisa Takei, the club president, as the middle player.

However, unlike the original, Nodoka Haramura and Saki Miyanaga's positions had been swapped.

After extensive practice, the team unanimously agreed that Nodoka's mahjong skills surpassed Saki's. Thus, Nodoka was assigned as the anchor, the final player, while Saki took on the role of vice-captain, playing in the penultimate round.

"Good luck, Yuuki. We'll be cheering for you from the observation room," Hisa Takei said with a warm smile.

The rest of the group also offered words of encouragement, including Eriri.

"Leave it to me!" Yuuki declared loudly. With that, she sprinted off toward Room E, where her match would take place.

Watching Yuuki's retreating figure, Eriri and the others turned and headed toward the observation room.

The observation room was a spacious, enclosed area with a large display screen mounted on the wall. The screen showed a live feed from Room E, while the right side displayed the point totals of the four competing schools.

Each school started with 100,000 points, and the team with the highest total after five rounds would win. However, if a team's points dropped into the negative, they would be eliminated early, ending the match before all rounds were played.

About five or six meters from the display screen were rows of soft seats arranged in a tiered formation, ensuring an unobstructed view no matter where one sat.

At the moment, more than half of the seats in the observation room were unoccupied. Attendees sat scattered throughout, with the front three rows and several other rows in the middle completely empty.

Since none of the first-round players were particularly well-known, there weren't many spectators present to watch the match.

Takei Hisa led Mako Someya and the others straight to the empty seats in the third row. Just as Nodoka Haramura was about to follow them, she was pulled by Eriri, who took her to sit right in the middle of the front row.

When Takei Hisa, Mako Someya, Saki Miyanaga, and Kyoutarou Suga settled in their seats in the third row, they quickly noticed Eriri and Nodoka sitting alone in the center of the first row.

"Ah, Haramura-san and Eriri are sitting over there. President, should we go join them?" Saki Miyanaga asked Takei Hisa, noticing the "isolated" pair in the front row.

Unlike in the original story, Saki Miyanaga did not have any special feelings toward Nodoka Haramura. Her only goal in participating in the national mahjong tournament was to face her sister, Teru Miyanaga, in a match.

When Nodoka had initially recruited her into the mahjong club, it was with this promise. Furthermore, Nodoka's attention was already entirely focused on Eriri, so there was no spark of romance between Nodoka and Saki.

By now, their relationship could only be described as good friends and clubmates.

"Let's stay here," Takei Hisa said, glancing at Eriri and Nodoka with a mysterious smile. "We shouldn't disturb them."

Saki, oblivious to the subtle dynamic between Eriri and Nodoka, nodded. But Takei Hisa had already noticed something unusual.

While their relationship might have seemed normal before, something had definitely changed. Takei Hisa suspected that something significant must have happened between them the previous night to cause this shift.

"You're right, President. If we go over there, we might just end up annoying them," Mako Someya added with a chuckle.

"Alright," Saki conceded, giving up on the idea of sitting in the front row.

As for Kyoutarou Suga, the ever-clueless "toolman," he could only watch the exchange in confusion, entirely oblivious to the undertones that Takei Hisa and Mako Someya had picked up on.

Meanwhile, in the front row, Eriri and Nodoka sat close together, their heads leaning in to share quiet whispers. Their hands were interlocked, fingers entwined in a way that spoke volumes about their relationship.

Despite their intimacy, they didn't ignore the screen displaying Yuuki Kataoka's ongoing match.

On the screen, Yuuki and the other three players were already seated, their tile walls neatly constructed and ready. They waited for the official start signal to begin the first round of the match.

Although Yuuki was not a complete novice at mahjong—she had participated in the team competition of the national junior high mahjong tournament during her third year of middle school—her weakness in mathematics severely hindered her ability to calculate points accurately.

As a result, she rarely considered point differentials during gameplay.

This limitation was precisely why she had been chosen as the team's vanguard. In a typical setup, the strongest players of a team were usually assigned the roles of vanguard and captain.

Under normal circumstances, the optimal lineup for Kiyosumi High School would have been Saki Miyanaga as the vanguard and Nodoka Haramura as the captain.

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