She was actually serious…
Twenty minutes later, just as Soyo was getting impatient and debating whether to open the door to check what in the world Chihiro was up to, the door finally swung open from the inside.
And standing there in front of her was—
Am I looking into a mirror?
Soyo rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Just as she reached out to touch Chihiro’s face, the other girl dodged with a look of pure disdain.
“Ahem… I’m just curious. How did you manage this?”
“Manage what?”
“I mean, how the hell are you so good at all these random skills? Are you some kind of internationally wanted criminal or something?”
Hearing that, Chihiro rolled her eyes and scoffed.
“Do criminals on the run look this good?”
“Well, if you put it like tha—”
“Careful. Any insults directed at me are technically insults directed at yourself.”
“…Fine. You look very pretty.”
Soyo flashed an almost painfully forced smile, teeth clenched.
But she had to admit—now that she was seeing the results for herself, she understood why Chihiro had come up with such a ridiculous plan.
Even she had trouble spotting any immediate differences.
The only real discrepancies were things unrelated to appearance—little habits, mannerisms, and how they carried themselves.
“Is this really necessary? Something about this just feels… off.”
Soyo had a weird sense of foreboding.
Like if she agreed to this, she’d be opening Pandora’s box—but she just couldn’t quite figure out why.
“You’re worried I won’t be convincing enough? No worries. My mimicry skills are top-tier. I can even do voice acting, so you don’t have to worry about my pitch being off.”
“That’s… not really the issue here.”
“But don’t you treasure your old friends?”
Still wearing her usual casual outfit—one of the more budget-friendly sets in her wardrobe—Chihiro, now sporting a tea-brown wig, flopped onto the living room couch.
Sighing, Soyo followed and sat across from her, waiting for an explanation.
“If you really want to stop those four from forming a band, you will end up hurting Tomori and Taki in the process, right?”
“…Will I?”
“Of course you will. Lies always get exposed eventually. And let’s be real—you’re a rich-kid honor student from Tsukinomori. You probably find lying to people difficult, don’t you?”
“……”
Sorry to disappoint you.
Soyo would’ve felt guilty if Chihiro had said that with any malice.
But it was clear she had meant it sincerely.
Which just made it all the more awkward.
“Damn. I really let her down, huh?”
“See? Even thinking about lying to your old friends makes you uneasy. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have hired me to do the dirty work.”
“…You do have a point.”
“That’s where I come in.”
Chihiro stretched out lazily.
“You can continue living your normal school life. Tsukinomori is far from RiNG and Haneoka. As long as you don’t go looking for me, our cover won’t be blown.”
“At the same time, you can focus on swaying Wakaba Mutsumi while keeping her away from us.”
“Let me think this through…”
Soyo carefully considered the plan.
But something was nagging at her—one huge detail Chihiro hadn’t brought up.
Sakiko.
From her past life’s experience, Sakiko had actively avoided Tomori and the others.
The only reason she even knew about the new band and had shown up at their live performance was because Soyo had spent so much time persuading Mutsumi to act as the middleman.
How stupid was I?
She had worked so damn hard to convince Mutsumi to bring Sakiko to the venue, only for that move to backfire spectacularly.
“And there’s another bonus to this plan,” Chihiro added. “You get to wash your hands clean of it afterward.”
“…Huh?”
Soyo didn’t get what she meant at first.
But then it clicked.
“Once the job’s done, or if I do get exposed, I can just say I did it on my own.”
“I can pin my motives on my relationships with Anon and Raana. And let’s be real—no one would find it surprising if I pulled a stunt like this.”
“After all, I’m just a scam artist. If a fraud tricks people, well… isn’t that just in character?”
“Chihiro…”
Something about those words made Soyo feel… off.
Guilt?
Pity?
She wasn’t sure.
“So, does this mean you’re going to increase my pay?”
“…Are you seriously just trying to milk me for cash?”
Whatever lingering sentimentality she had instantly evaporated.
Rolling her eyes, she admitted, “But fine. Your plan does make sense.”
“If this all works out, I’ll find an excuse to ask my mom for some money as your bonus.”
“Wow. Way to scam your own mother.”
“It’s for you—wait, no, that’s not the point!”
With their deal finalized, Soyo told Chihiro to hurry up and remove the disguise.
As impressive as it was, it was genuinely unsettling to watch a near-identical version of herself moving around her house.
Later, as they sorted out Chihiro’s room and luggage, Soyo noticed something in her suitcase.
A guitar case.
“You play guitar?”
“Yeah, kinda. Probably a bit better than my sister. But I get too into it and end up being that annoying bandmate sometimes.”
“……”
Soyo’s lips twitched.
She wasn’t even going to comment on what ‘a bit better than Raana’ was supposed to mean.
But then—
A thought struck her.
“Wait. Can you play bass?”
“Uh… it’s basically the same thing, right? Think I can learn it in time?”
“……”
Soyo rubbed her temples.
She was actually considering whether it was possible for Chihiro to learn bass on short notice—when suddenly, the girl in front of her slapped her thigh dramatically and gasped.
“Oh, crap! I completely forgot something! This is a huge problem!”
“What?”
“I—I can’t do a fake cutesy voice!”
Soyo’s face twisted like she had just swallowed a bug.
Chihiro, staring at her expectantly, scooted closer.
“Teach me. I’ll figure out the bass thing later—this is way more urgent.”
“You have got to be kidding me!”
—
This is a fan translation of 素世同学，恭喜你被我优化了 by 杰克喵. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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