My Childhood Friend, Who I Made a Promise To Spend the Future With, Dumped Me... But Ever Since I Started Dating a Beautiful Girl From School, My Childhood Friend Has Been Acting Strange - Episode 38

Tōma Suzuki was at an event venue.

The screen set up in the venue began to glow, signaling that the plan, which had been decided earlier at the family restaurant, was about to be executed.

“Huh?! What’s going on?”

Azusa Saori was flustered. She pressed her smartphone to her ear, calling her brother to confirm what was happening.

Meanwhile, Tōma stood facing the screen.

The audience also turned their attention to the screen, stopping in their tracks as they eagerly awaited what would happen next.

“We will now be revealing new information on this screen. Please wait a moment.”

A female staff member, likely an event organizer, announced through the speakers.

A strange tension began to fill the venue.

“So it really is new information?”
“I wonder what it’s about.”
“Well, I hope it’s good news.”

The audience was buzzing with curiosity about the upcoming announcement.

However, when the information was finally revealed, those present would soon find themselves in despair.

“But wait a second. I checked just now, and there’s no official notice about anything like this. What the heck is going on?”

Saori seemed to have verified the situation but remained confused.

“Tōma, do you know anything about this?”
“Not really. Besides, didn’t you say you didn’t want anything to do with me? You were the one who insisted we shouldn’t get involved with each other.”

Tōma spoke with an exasperated expression.

“Th-That’s true, but this is an emergency!”
“And? That’s not my problem. If anything, what you’ve been doing all this time is the real issue.”
“That’s… but still!”
“I’m leaving.”

Tōma turned his back on Saori and began to walk away.

“Wait!” she called out in a slightly stronger tone.

“Say something.”
“Saori, you should start paying more attention to your words and actions. You’ve always been able to do whatever you wanted because you come from a rich family. But I don’t have that luxury… Maybe I didn’t have a good eye for people. The old Saori was polite and kind to everyone.”
“People can’t stay the same forever! My brother told me that if I cooperated with him on a new business venture, I’d have a secure future. And to do that, I had to end my relationship with you.”
“I see.”

Tōma vaguely listened to her flustered voice coming from behind him.

“I never wanted to break up with you… I just needed to set a clear boundary. That’s why I said those things—to convince myself to give up on you.”
“So you’re saying the real culprit isn’t you, but your brother?”
“N-No, that’s not it… I just had my own reasons. I wanted you to understand that.”

Saori’s tone softened.

She desperately wanted to portray herself as the victim, doing everything she could to stop Tōma from leaving.

“I don’t actually hate you, Tōma. I really wanted to talk to you, but I forced myself to stay away.”
“But if that led to this situation, then isn’t it your own responsibility?”

Tōma sighed, speaking in a resigned tone, not even bothering to look at her.

He had repeatedly told her not to talk to him, yet she kept approaching him.

He was sick of it.

His face showed clear exhaustion.

They had known each other for a long time, and he had tolerated a lot from her.

But today, that would come to an end.

And that decision would never change.

“Now, we will reveal the information.”

The female staff member’s voice echoed again, and a certain character appeared on the giant screen.

The image displayed was an avatar illustration—undoubtedly the same one that Kamiya Suzuha had been using.

“Could it be an update for that penguin avatar?”
“That character is insanely popular right now.”
“She used to be a minor streamer, but now she’s at the top. I wonder what’s next… Wait, the design looks a little different from her last stream, doesn’t it?”

The audience was excited.

However, some people noticed slight inconsistencies in the design and began questioning it.

“…But there is an imposter at this event.”

This time, the voice was different from the female staff member’s.

It was the voice of Suzuha from when she streamed as a virtual content creator.

“I am actually the real owner of this avatar. Since this morning, the penguin avatar at this event has been a fake. You might not believe me, but I swear, I am the true owner of this character.”

The audience began to stir.

“But I have proof. I want everyone here to hear it.”

After that, a promotional image of a man named Azusa, who claimed to be the representative of CyberTask, appeared on the screen.

Then, an audio recording—previously prepared by Sakurada Tsubaki—began playing.

“What the hell?! Why did you do this?!”

Saori’s furious voice rang out.

“This is the result of your actions, Saori.”
“But… this is too much!”

Tōma could feel the intense anger radiating from her behind him.

“I’m leaving. You should take responsibility for your past actions.”

Without looking back, Tōma disappeared into the crowd.

Saori stood frozen, holding her head in shock, unable to do anything.

“Is this for real?”
“I’m not sure yet… but now that I listen closely, that does sound like Representative Azusa’s voice.”
“Now that you mention it, he did appear in a video on CyberTask’s official site the other day. The voice is pretty similar.”
“Yeah, it does match.”

Some of the hardcore fans of virtual streamers were knowledgeable and quickly grasped the situation.

After the full audio was played, the audience demanded that Representative Azusa appear, pressing the nearby staff members for answers.

That night, social media exploded.

Posts flooded in, labeling CyberTask as an untrustworthy company that stole designs and shamelessly lied.

The timeline was filled almost entirely with discussions about the scandal.

That same night, the comment sections of CyberTask’s virtual streamers’ live broadcasts were overrun with hateful remarks.