[TSSIM] Chapter 448: New Manga

"...I remember putting it on my computer desk's bookshelf... I can't believe you actually found it."

Homura looked at the folder in Honoka's hands, dumbfounded.

"Hehehe..."

Honoka scratched the back of her head.

"I noticed this is the same kind of folder Homura-kun used last time, so I thought maybe this was Homura-kun's script or draft for the new game. You did mention having a new game today."

"Nah, not really..." Homura said, chuckling. "I've got all of that tucked away safely. Anything you find on my computer desk is pretty much related to my manga."

Upon hearing this, the girls all went silent, exchanging glances.

Tucked away safely?

Regardless, Honoka didn't care much about that and simply wanted to know what was inside the folder.

"Then tell me, Homura-kun!"

"Hmm?" Homura looked puzzled. "Didn't you see the name on the folder?"

"Eh...? I didn't realize it had a name…" Honoka paused briefly before muttering softly. 

"Seriously, Nee-chan..." Yukiho sighed tiredly.

"Let's see... wow, it's a long name!" Honoka exclaimed, staring at the name on the folder. "'WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us? (SukaSuka)'..."

"Uhh... it really is long…" Kotori remarked, taken aback by the long name.

"Wait a sec!" Elf suddenly stood up, her eyes wide. "I know that name! It sounds kinda familiar!"

"I remembered! It's the one Nii-san mentioned before—the manga with the super long name!" Sagiri chimed in, her reaction similar to Elf's.

"Why the big reaction?" Hanayo asked with a puzzled expression.

"Because we heard about this name two months ago…" Eriri explained, though she seemed just as interested in the manga as the others.

"Homura-kun, is it a manga or a game?" Megumi couldn't help but ask.

Every piece of work Homura brought out seemed to have a certain magic to it, and so far, they had never been disappointed.

"It's a manga, but it won't be serialized for the time being since I'm planning to use it to take over The Promised Neverland when it ends later." Homura answered with a slight smile. "By the way, if you want to read it, go ahead. I remember there are drafts for the first two chapters in that folder."

"Ahh, it really does say chapter one and chapter two here..." Honoka pointed out.

"Alright, you all can go ahead and read it while I draw."

Homura spoke while taking the drawing tools from Honoka's hands, ready to start working on the highly requested continuation of Love Live!'s alternative story.

Seeing that Homura had already begun drawing, the girls exchanged glances and guided Honoka to the middle of the room, pulling out the manga drafts to pass around.

'WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?'

As the title suggested, it was a story set in an apocalyptic world.

Five hundred years after humanity's extinction, the main character, Willem Kmetsch, the only surviving human, woke up from a frozen state and encountered a group of cute fairies.

"What a prologue…"

Utaha suddenly focused, captivated by the prologue.

However, not just her, everyone also clearly felt the same.

...

"I once vowed I would always be with him, and being able to make such a vow made me incredibly happy."

"I once thought I liked this person, and having such feelings made me incredibly happy."

"He once told me that he would definitely make me happy, and hearing him say that made me incredibly happy."

"He shared so much happiness with me, so I can say for sure… right now, no matter what anyone else says, I'm definitely the happiest girl in the world."

...

"Such beautiful lines…"

Hanayo gazed dreamily, feeling overwhelmed with happiness as she read the words aloud.

"If it were just the words, they'd be really beautiful, but with the illustrations…" Elf murmured with a complex expression. "It becomes tragically beautiful…"

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Eriri remarked, her expression slightly grim.

"Is it another tear-jerker...?" Nanami asked while glancing at Homura, but couldn't read anything from his expression.

"Quite possibly..." Nico replied, a bit more serious.

"What should I do...? I'm hesitant to read it, but I really want to..." Kotori said, her face a mix of emotions.

She was scared she might become emotional and burst into tears, yet her desire to read the manga was overwhelming, especially since it was Homura's manga.

"Just read it." Homura chimed in with a smile. "You've already seen the prologue, so how can you not keep going? As the saying goes, you have to finish what you start, even if it makes you cry."

Upon hearing his words, the girls exchanged glances, realizing they were no longer conflicted.

Homura's intention was clear—his manga was ready to pull their heartstrings!

As a result, they decided to read.

After flipping through the prologue, the plot jumped ahead, and they understood that it was a flashback rather than a continuation.

However, didn’t this mean that the earlier scene in the prologue was something that would happen in the future?

Such a thought made the girls' spirits plummet.

Seeing their expressions, Homura smirked, wondering if they would still be so eager to read his new manga next time.

Shaking his head slightly, he continued drawing, illustrating the moment when Honoka decided to leave Muse, creating a rift between the group, all the way to the final scene of the auditorium filled to the brim.

By the time he finished his drawing, the girls had finished reading the two chapters of the manga.

If adapted into anime, those two chapters would amount to about one episode, yet their feelings about it were a bit complicated.

Besides the tragic and sorrowful prologue, the rest was surprisingly filled with warmth, even sprinkled with many funny moments.

If they didn't understand the underlying meaning behind this narrative style, that would be one thing, but who could possibly miss it?

Even Mashiro, who usually wasn't familiar with this kind of narrative style, could sense that the happier the earlier scenes were, the more heartbreaking the later ones would be.

Yet, they wanted to see more.

They wanted to see, wanted to see, and really wanted to see!

They were so curious about what kind of trials Chtholly Nota Seniorious, a girl who had already touched their hearts, would face, and what experiences would lead her to say those lines in the prologue.

"Why is the color different?"

Mashiro turned her head to Homura and asked with a confused expression.

Different color?

What she meant was obviously Chtholly's hair.

Yes, Homura put a lot of effort into this manga because this time he was drawing a full-color manga, and there wasn't even a single black-and-white page!

Needless to say, Chtholly's hair played a crucial role in the story.

As a result, the reader didn't even need dialogue; just watching the gradual change in her hair color was enough to bring them to tears.

Clearly, the impact of this single visual expression spoke volumes!

"If I tell you, won't it be a spoiler?" Homura chuckled.

Mashiro: "…"

In an instant, her little face scrunched up.

She had been curious, but after hearing Homura's response, she didn't want to know anymore.

After head-patting Haru's little head, Homura pushed the manga draft he had just drawn across the table.

"Okay, everyone, you have two choices now..." Homura held up two fingers. "One, of course, is to read this alternative story of Love Live! that I just drew... and two..."

Homura paused, raising an eyebrow at the girls, his mouth forming a smirk.  

Seeing this, the girls felt a surge of frustration, wanting to hit someone.