[TSSIM] Chapter 513: Giveaway?

"Homura-niisan... can I ask what that scary liquid really was?"

On the way to the mall, Tsumugi carefully asked Homura.

She had noticed that Honoka and the others had all passed out after drinking that 'liquid', which was why she asked.

"I already told you, that's vegetable juice." Homura shrugged.

"Is vegetable juice really that scary now?!" Ritsu exclaimed in disbelief.

Even though Homura had already said it once, she still couldn't accept the answer.

"Did you put some kind of drug in the vegetable juice?" Mio couldn't help but ask.

'What the hell? A drug?!' Homura's face darkened. "For God's sake, it's just plain vegetable juice, okay? It just tastes so bad that the brain couldn't handle the taste shock, which is why they passed out."

"B-Bad taste?"

Tsumugi and the others stared at Homura, unable to believe that something he made could taste bad.

And so, after a more detailed explanation from Homura, they finally understood.

"Wait, you can control whether something's tasty or not that easily?" Mio said, a bit amazed. "Minamiya-senpai's cooking skills are seriously incredible."

Yui suddenly shivered and looked at Homura with a bit of fear.

"Homuhomu-senpai, you're not gonna make me eat something gross too, right?"

"Nah, don't worry about it." Homura laughed.

"Thank goodness~" Yui patted her chest, relieved.

===

After buying swimsuits and shopping around, Tsumugi and the others decided not to return to the Minamiya residence.

In the end, Tsumugi made a call, and soon after, the Kotobuki family's car came to pick up the girls.

Homura, on the other hand, leisurely started heading home, and once he got home, he didn't seem interested in bothering anyone else and instead pulled out his phone.

[Comment 1: BTW… the alternative story for Love Live got updated last night. Anyone check it out?]

[Comment 2: Hell yeah, I did! I swear I refreshed the page like a hundred times!]

[Comment 3: Bro, the plot was fire, but damn, it was way too short.]

[Comment 4: Bruh, it's just an alternative story. You really expect it to be on the same level as the main one?]

[Comment 5: I mean, at least like half of it? But if the main story drops every two weeks, then this pacing's actually not that bad.]

[Comment 6: With how things are going, the next chapter's probably gonna be the finale.]

[Comment 7: Oh damn, now that you mention it, it's the Love Live tournament, right? Can't freaking wait!]

"I just feel like I should do something..." Homura mumbled, stroking Haru's cat fur.

After thinking for a bit, he headed to the activity room.

"Oh? When did you get back?" Elf asked, not stopping her work.

"Just got back. By the way, I checked online, but there's not much going on, so I'm thinking about doing something." Homura said with a grin.

"What are you planning?" Elf perked up, her eyes sparkling.

"Just gonna chat with the fans and drop some hints." Homura shrugged.

"Doesn't sound like much of a deal." Elf raised her eyebrows.

"Honestly, whenever we release a new work, it's a big deal for the fans, but, y'know, I'm thinking about doing a giveaway."

"A giveaway?"

"Yeah, have the fans guess what kind of manga my new manga is, and then I'll pick fifty people who guess right randomly to get a limited edition of Kanon that comes with a poster of Makoto and her little fox form." Homura said with a smile, looking at the girls who had suddenly stopped what they were doing.

Girls: "..."

"Nii-san... I feel like what you're planning to do is something evil..."

Sagiri frowned, sensing something off about Homura's words, though after thinking about it, she wasn't sure if there was anything wrong.

"Oh, c'mon, stop saying nonsense, Sagiri. It's my way of showing love to the fans. It's not evil at all." Homura waved his hand casually.

At this, the girls all gave him a look, more skeptical than ever.

It couldn't be helped since the more Homura said it, the more they felt like something was off.

What was he really trying to pull here?

"But why Makoto?" Muramasa asked, looking thoughtful.

"I mean, Makoto has both a cute little fox form and a cute human form, so it's perfect—a win-win!" Homura patted his chest proudly.

"But... Makoto's route is the most tragic, isn't it?" Utaha said, her lips twitching. "If they hang that poster in their room and go down Makoto's route..."

"They'll probably end up crying!" Nayuta chimed in. "Just seeing that poster will remind them of her tragic story, and then, tears!"

"I never meant that." Homura shook his head, even whistling to play it off.

Seeing this, the girls were convinced that he definitely meant it like that!

"You know, guessing what kind of manga your new manga is feels like a trap..." Eriri said, seeming to have thought of something. "I mean, this manga's title, WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?... How do you even guess this one?"

"Romance manga, of course." Homura said like it was obvious.

Hearing this, the girls were speechless and couldn't help but see Homura as a demon.

It was only natural.

Considering the female lead would actually die at the end of the story, how could he say WorldEnd was a romance manga so casually?

Anyone reading the manga, expecting some romance where the male and female would ultimately end up together and have a happy life despite the countless hardships they had undergone, was going to cry so hard by the end.

Moreover, what if Makoto's poster was added to the mix?

Needless to say, Homura's giveaway event was like a trap from start to finish, as the questions, the answers, and even the prizes were all a huge pit that would probably kill someone from depression.

In the next moment, Homura added.

"But of course, romance alone was too easy. Giving out prizes like that? Not happening! Let's see... romance, fantasy, apocalypse, drama, wholesome—these were five tags for the manga. When the time came, I'd list every tag that existed for them, and if they picked at least three correctly, they won."

"However, pick one wrong—you lose. Also, each account can only answer once."

Hearing this, the girls thought carefully about how this would play out, trying to see if there was any hidden trick, and before long, all of a sudden, they realized that there really was one.

It couldn't be helped.

Because all the tags were given at once, most people would instinctively pick the ones that usually went together, like romance, harem, and beautiful girls, or maybe fantasy, action, and superpower.

Moreover, considering the rule said to pick at least three and that one would fail if even one of their guessed tags was wrong, anyone who actually wanted the prize wouldn't randomly pick extra tags, so the smartest choice would be to go with exactly three.

However, the problem was that out of the five tags Homura decided for WorldEnd, only one set naturally fit together, which were romance, wholesome, and drama.

Once the winners revealed their answers, what would everyone else think? And as the story of WorldEnd progressed, what would they think then?

Realizing this, the girls looked at Homura, their eyes filled with suspicion.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm not some demon, okay?" Homura shrugged with an innocent expression.

Girls: "..."