"Money...?"
"That's right! Most clueless humans out there blindly worship the wealthy—it's practically a religion at this point."
There's an old saying: when you've got money, everything you say sounds like wisdom; when you're broke, even the truth sounds like excuses. Most of the time, a person gets surrounded by a crowd not because their arguments are especially logical, but because in a world where everyone's struggling to get by, people who flash enough material wealth can say pretty much anything and still find admirers and believers.
"Of course, for you, Kurenai, the best part is that once you have money, reading people's hearts becomes super simple. Because most people will greet you with a big smile—and those people? They're almost always after your wallet!"
Inside, Kohaku-nee watched this whole speech with a mix of amusement and exasperation. If you can't read people's hearts, just magically transform everyone's motives into a single box labeled 'greed'? That's completely backwards logic...
But surprisingly...
"I see..."
Original Kurenai-chan accepted this twisted reasoning without much resistance.
Because here's the thing—most people don't actually want to understand the why. They just want a method that works. It's like those bandwagon stock investors who don't want to hear why a certain stock might go up. They just say, "Tell me what to buy and I'll buy it." It's a form of avoidance—shortcutting the whole thinking process.
She had asked, "What should I do?" and Kuroha Akira answered, "Get rich."
That was crystal clear. As straightforward as it gets.
So naturally, following that logic, Tashiro Kurenai started wanting to become a rich person.
And that's exactly how she walked right into the trap Kuroha Akira had dug for her.
Just like when he'd guided Shirai Shiori into becoming his proxy last time, Kuroha Akira once again revealed his true intentions. He gave a sincere bow—head lowered, respect shown—and extended the invitation one more time.
"So, to get rich... please come be Shion's manager! With her leading the charge, we're definitely going to make a ton of money!"
The truth was, Kuroha Akira's main goal had never been to "enlighten" her. He wasn't a therapist. He couldn't cure someone's social phobia with a few pep talks. He just wanted Original Kurenai-chan to give up on the whole suicide idea and then sign on as Shinomiya's manager—even if that meant using twisted logic and questionable life philosophies.
"That girl Shion is exceptionally pretty, her voice is amazing, and she works incredibly hard... I really believe she's going to become a famous voice actress someday."
But after hearing that, Tashiro Kurenai lowered her head. Her gaze started wandering, unable to meet Kuroha Akira's eyes. Her shoulders hunched inward slightly—like she was trying to take up as little space as possible, like a side character trying not to get screen time.
"But... being a manager means I'd have to stay in contact with so many people... I don't have the confidence to do that... If my mistakes ended up holding back Shion's career... I'd never be able to forgive myself..."
Kuroha Akira immediately raised his hand, cutting off her spiral before she could fall deeper into that inferiority complex pit.
"No, Kurenai. I think you're overthinking this. You don't have to do the stuff you can't do. If you don't want to interact with people, then don't."
"Th-Then how could I possibly be a manager like that?!"
"Just like right now. Everyone plays to their strengths. The job of talking to people and figuring out who's trustworthy? That goes to the mature version of you—Kohaku-nee."
"But if that's the case...!"
Tashiro Kurenai's expression grew anxious, flustered. She wanted to argue, but Kuroha Akira cut her off.
"I know what you're thinking. You feel like you're dumping your work onto your other self, and that makes you feel guilty and apologetic toward her, right?"
"Uh... uh..."
"The way I see it, this is still a sign that you're treating her like an outsider. Why would you feel guilty about throwing your problems at another version of yourself?"
"I...!"
"Of course, this isn't just your issue. Accepting help unconditionally makes people uneasy and guilty—especially for you, Kurenai, since you don't trust humans to begin with."
So Kuroha Akira directed his next words to the personality inside.
"I know you can hear this too, right? The mature Kurenai. I get that you're doing this for her own good, but here's the thing—you're not some kind of gacha system. You can't just hand out benefits one-sidedly. Even systems make you complete quests before giving out rewards. How can you just give everything away for free?"
"System...?"
Original Kurenai-chan looked confused. But Kohaku-nee—having listened to audio web novels in her past life—immediately understood what he meant.
Seeing her other self go to such extremes this time had genuinely scared her. Because Kohaku-nee had no way to forcibly take back control of the body. And back then, no matter what she said, her other self couldn't hear her—she'd shut her heart tight. All Kohaku-nee could do was watch, burning with anxiety.
If Kuroha Akira hadn't arrived in time... the consequences could have been irreversible.
So at this moment, she also started to reflect. Maybe there was something wrong with their "self-interaction" method. Two personalities helping each other—for the individual Tashiro Kurenai as a whole—clearly wasn't working out.
"Since you have your own independent will, don't spoil her unconditionally," Kuroha Akira continued. "That's exactly why she feels like she has nothing to pay you back with—except giving you her body."
"So here's my suggestion: you should start charging for your help. For example, if you work two days for her, then you get to demand one weekend day for yourself. A fair transaction."
This idea was actually the same pattern Kuroha Akira himself was using right now. It was how he interacted with all the girls around him. A transaction model that didn't weigh on anyone's conscience.
Each takes what they need. Nobody owes anybody. Worry-free. Unrestrained.
Original Kurenai-chan's eyes lit up at this.
"I think that could work...! That's great! I won't be mistreating my other self anymore!"
"Well then, you two can work out the details yourselves."
"But... um, I still have one question... If I push all the work to my other self, and then also give her weekends off as a reward... then if I switch careers to be a manager, won't I have literally zero time for myself?"
"It won't be that bad. Aren't there things that only the younger you can do?"
"Things I can do... Well, my current job is super tiring and difficult, but at least I can still use my skills. My other self hasn't done makeup in years because she's blind, so only I can do that part... But I really can't think of anything I could do as a manager..."
And there it was.
This was her real reason for not wanting to resign—no matter how hard or exhausting the job got. It wasn't about losing income. It was about losing that last bit of value. She was terrified that if she switched careers to become a manager, she wouldn't be needed by anyone anymore. That's why she'd been avoiding Kuroha Akira. That's why she'd eventually spiraled into those extreme thoughts.
In other words... as long as he helped her find her own value, she would agree.