Kuroda-san
Hello?
Hojo-kun.
Oh, Kuroda-san, what's up?
Crunch time has begun.
Huh? What?
You don't understand me?
I'm putting you on lockdown.
Huh?
L-lockdown?!
Shut Away in Summer
I'm putting you on a death march. You won't even sleep until you're done writing.
No way!
I'll be there soon.
A death march?
Lockdown?
No...
Crap!
Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!
Ow!
It's alright.
There's no way she's--
Now, Hojo-kun.
It's the beginning of the end.
Zetsubou to kakki wa hitoe Despair and energy are one and the same
Jinsei wa hakanakute Life is short
Kusubutte irarenai We can't stay like this forever
Dakara arukidasou So let's start walking forward
Yukedo hatenai kono michi o What are you moving towards
Nani o hoshite susundeiku On this endless road?
Mizu o motome samayou you ni You won't get anywhere with hope without desire
Yoku no nai kibou ni mirai wa nai As if you're wandering looking only for water
Monogatari no algorithm The pilgrims pursue
Tadoru junreishatachi The algorithm of the story
Mune ni yadoru sono shin'nen ga The faith in our hearts
Death march wo ikinokoru sube Helps us survive this death march
Imagination no flow The imagination flows!
Junsui no mama ja iranai kanaetai dattara You can't stay pure if you want your dream to come true
Furenai unmei wo egakidasou Let's create an impossible fate
Tada matteitatte tsumannai It's boring just waiting around
Sou kanjiteitan janai That's how you felt, right?
Yume wa jibun de ubaitsukamu diamond Your dreams are a diamond you have to take for yourself
Chousen no turn It's our turn for challenge
Jounetsu no zone The passionate zone
Tomo ni tatte Let's stand together
Fumidashite mezasu kouya wo Take our first steps as we aim for the wasteland
H--
How did you even...
I'm Hojo-kun's friend.
Oh, hello there!
Security my ass!
Calm yourself, Hojo-kun.
I won't force you to be alone.
I'm comin' in!
Thanks for having us!
Huh, so this is Hojo's place.
E-excuse the intrusion.
Um, what's going on--
Your comrades who will spend the long night with you.
Huh?
You guys...
We're also here to supervise.
But doesn't everyone have their own work to--
I brought my notebook.
It's good for me to keep track of progress as it happens!
I've got nothing better to do!
But, but, this has gotta be inconvenient for you, Yuki.
Huh?! No, uh,
I can sketch stuff anywhere...
U-um. Here...
You can do it!
SAFE BIRTH CHARM
T-thanks.
You have 48 hours.
Write, write, and keep writing.
Y-you can't force this all of a sudden...
C'mon, time is passing one second at a time.
Get to it. Hurry up.
No leaving without permission!
Crap!
Crap, crap, crap!
I'm not gonna make it if I keep this up!
But if I write three times my normal pace, I can...
No, I can't!
I've just gotta get out of here, quick!
The window!
Maybe I could use this to get down.
Boy trapped in burning building
Yes, hello?
Hey, Ser Hojo! Yes, hello?
Hey, Ser Hojo!
I heard you got put on lockdown!
Hosokawa-san!
Nice, nice!
It's one of the writer's thrills!
No, that's a bit much.
Um, how can I get outta--
Oh, that's right! Um, how can I get outta--
Wanna know the most efficient way to beg in times like these?
Hosokawa-san
That's right!
Hello?
Sorry, boss! It's me, Buntarou!
Could I get an order delivered right away?!
While you're at it, could you help me get--
Sorry, but I can't do that for ya. While you're at it, could you help me get--
Sorry, but I can't do that for ya.
Huh?
I heard from your doctor that you're not allowed to eat ramen.
So no ramen until you get better!
Huh?! What are you talking about b--
Atomu told me everything.
Why?
Why, Atomu?!
I thought we were friends!
I'm sorry. I had a hard time going through with it.
But there's nothing I can do.
This is my job!
I'll be taking this.
No!
We'll be turning off the Internet as well.
You will endlessly wander through the Amazon, only to discover that many hours have passed...
Has that ever happened to you?
B-but what if I need to look something up!
Use this.
"Right then, as if someone had broken through a pane of glass..."
CRASH! Right then, as if someone
CRASH! Right then,
"...as if a huge chandelier had fallen..."
No leaving without permission!
It's jumping, it's jumping!
C'mon, hurry up and catch it!
It attacked me!
What was that? What a strong punch...!
Man, this is really getting me going!
What the hell? Man, this is really getting me going!
Don't worry about that, Bunta.
I can't!
I just can't think of anything!
My body's gotten all stiff,
so maybe I'll lay down and think for a little bit.
No no, I'm not going to sleep or anything!
I was just gonna lie down and let the blood rush to my head, to get all my thoughts together!
And hey, don't they say that a little light stretching can help you get moving?
I won't sleep, nope.
But I'll set an alarm just in case.
I won't sleep, of course.
Stretching, stretching.
I took a super long nap!
I hate it! I hate this young body that falls asleep as soon as I lie down!
How foolish we are! I can't believe we fell asleep!
For your supervisors to fall asleep...
I passed out, too.
Me too.
Me too! Me too.
We were gonna jump out and scare you, but once we got hidden we fell asleep!
Things don't look good at this rate.
We must put our next plan of action into place as soon as possible.
Your next plan of action?
For now, please write five times faster than your usual rate, Hojo-kun.
There's no way I can do that!
Then how about ten times?
Why is it going up?!
But what should we do about that?
Oh, that.
B-but he's already refreshed.
C'mon, let's do it.
We got it all ready and everything.
That's true.
Huh, what?
Welcome home, Master!
Huh?
Welcome home, Master!
No, that's not what I'm confused about.
Welcome to Maid Cafe Don't Touch Me, Master!
You obviously do not fit in.
This is our Home Service, Master!
We prepared this for you to try and change up the mood.
You went through all that...
However, falling asleep before putting it into action was not part of our plan.
You did all this for me?
I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, guys.
Don't blame yourself, Hojo-kun.
We imprisoned--
Cough, cough.
We're supervising you but fell asleep on the job.
Imprisoned? Did you just say imprisoned?
Alright!
Okay, Master, we're gonna give you a massage!
Huh, wait--
Nooo, don't touch the maids, Master!
You're touching me, you're touching me!
I wanna touch, too!
Don't touch me!
Then I'll try.
I'll say the magic words for you.
You have 29 hours left.
Your assigned quota is 120 kilobytes.
Which means you must write 4 kilobytes an hour, or 66 bytes per minute.
If you write three characters per second, you can pull off a miracle.
She comes right out with the dirty talk...
Sorry 'bout the wait, Master!
I-it's...
Well, it's a mantis shrimp...
It's a present from my dad. It's fresh!
Why'd Masurao choose this of all things?
Mantis shrimp have lots of nutrients that help with recovering from eye strain.
So that crash I heard earlier was...
Who knew cooking could be so violent.
This was the first time I'd made something that didn't require
boiling water and waiting three minutes, so I was quite surprised.
Huh.
Hey, Tori-chan, let's do it together!
B-but...
It's fine, it's fine!
Ready, go!
Yummy, yummy, food, be yummy!
Kyawa-kyawa pon!
Yummy, yummy, food, be yummy!
Moja-moja pon!
Kuroda-san's putting some weird powder on it!
It'll make you feel good.
Feel good?!
A white powder?!
Is this legal, huh?!
Please don't say things that can be easily misconstrued.
It's just an amino acid supplement.
S-she's doping me!
C-crap...
Is it day or night?
Energy
Don't tell me it's already the second morning?
No, no, there's no way.
No, I'm seriously in trouble!
I can't come up with words at all!
Crap, crap, crap!
I'm definitely screwed if I keep this up!
Will it end? No, it won't.
Wait, am I gonna meet my end before the text?
I've gotta--
Just for a little while.
Did you just sit down on the bed?
Nope, I didn't!
I see.
Why are you standing?
Um, uh,
I thought I'd try working standing up, like Hemingway!
I see. Work hard.
Um, hey!
You went to the bathroom an hour ago.
I gotta secure my escape r--
I mean, I have to go, I can't help it!
Be careful. Coffee makes you need to pee more.
If you spend all your time in the bathroom, you won't have time to write--
Yeah, yeah.
YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!
Um...
Do we really have to go this far?
I hear that a cornered man will show ten times his usual strength.
This is for Hojo-kun's own good.
I see...
You're right.
Please!
Open the door!
Let me out!
I can't! Let me out!
Not until you're done writing!
Please, just let me take a bath!
I'm soaked with sweat and tears!
A bath will just sap the strength right out of him, so maybe we shouldn't.
I'll let you wash your face.
I'll bring you a hot towel later, so please.
You're mean, you're the devil!
Just let him take a bath!
Yuka?
It's not like he's skipping work. It's just a bath!
I'm all for it, but...
If he doesn't power through it now, the rest of the schedule will keep slipping backwards.
Worst case scenario, we'll end up having to delay our release date and--
Why can't we do that?
Huh?
Um, well--
Bunta's working hard!
He's working, and working, and suffering for it, right?
He can't help it!
Don't get me wrong, Kobayakawa.
We're not trying to bully Hojo-kun.
Then let him!
Working hard and not shirking off are both major principles of our work.
There's no point in doing this if we don't produce a product.
Battling hard within a restricted time period is what pros do.
I know, but...
However...
Some still reach their limit, even while on lockdown.
Then...
A present?
Yes.
When he's finished writing the script, I'd like to give him a present as a reward.
For example, we could let him play the newest dating sim as much as he liked.
Or the newest yaoi game!
A reward?
Hey Bunta, if we were gonna give you a reward, what would you want?
I wanna sleep for 36 hours.
Reward or not, you can sleep when you're done!
It doesn't have to be a physical thing, right?
Then why don't we give him a kiss!
A-a kiss?!
Stop it. You're being indecent.
Bunta!
You back to life yet?
Yup.
Yuka!
Thanks.
It's nothin'!
I wonder if I can make it outta this alive.
Huh?
I dunno, like...
I never thought I'd be driven into a corner like this, and...
It's kinda tough.
Like you guys don't trust me.
Sorry.
I mean, it's my fault in the first place--
W-we trust you!
I don't really understand what Kuroda-san was saying, but...
But I think everyone trusts...
that you can do it, Bunta!
O-of course, I do, too!
I trust you.
I mean, like, I'm gonna take responsibility and pour my soul into your script!
So you can leave it all to me!
So...
Splash?
Bunta!
I told you a bath was a bad idea.
Um, do you think it's not a good idea after all?
Yeah.
I don't know if I can take much more, either.
I'm at my limit.
You're right.
We'll have to find another way.
I'll do it.
I'll write until it's done.
I'll definitely finish it!
Hojo-kun...
Good work.
Crap, I fell asleep!
But I finished!
No leaving without permission!
Master...
Good morning. Looks like you finished.
Ah, yeah, somehow.
Just as I expected of you, Hojo-kun.
You finished 2 hours earlier than I'd expected.
Oh, no, it's not a big deal.
Kuroda-san?
Um, what's wrong?
N-nothing!
Bunta!
Bunta, good work!
Senpai, good job!
Congrats for dragging yourself outta the pits of Hell!
You finally finished!
You guys...
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
If you hadn't been there for me, I, I--!
Jeez, you're always so quick to cry, Bunta.
I-I'm not crying!
You totes are!
Oh, that's right!
Here's a present, Bunta!
Big Yokurt
This?
Really?
Hey, you said you liked it!
Yeah, when I was really little!
Man, this really takes me back!
It's really good.
H...
Hey,
I'm glad I'm working with all of you.
I'm glad we're making a game!
I know we're in for some rough times ahead,
but this time, I'm gonna work hard to help you!
Really, thank you all!
Sorry to jump ahead all of a sudden, but...
Huh?
I'd like you to write the script for the drama CD and the short novel.
I'll need five different kinds.
I also need you to pay for the maid outfits as well.
Huh? What?
Wait, you mean...
They're for store exclusives.
You have three days.
Wha?!
Hojo-kun,
the beginning of the end is still quite far off.
What?!
Atarashii sekai tobikome mirai ga yonderu Jump into the new world, our future is calling
Yasashiku yorisottettai I want to gently be by your side
Kimi no yume ouensasete Let me support you and your dream
Chotto jiman dekiru mono Someone who doesn't have
Nan ni mo motteinakute Anything they can be proud of
Ki ga tsuitara shita bakari On cloudy days when they realize
Mitsumeteta no cloudy days They've only been looking at the ground
Sonna uyamuya shiteiru I want to change
Futoumei na kimochi wa ne That wavering, murky feeling
Jibun datte ni kaete hoshii Into a shout of "I can do it!"
Hajimete zukushi de When I'm first starting out
Tomadoi darake dakedo I'm full of so many doubts
Watashi mo onaji da yo It's the same for me, too
Atarashii sekai tobikome mirai ga matteru Jump into the new world, our future is waiting
Hikari ni mitasareta toki motomete Pursue a moment full of light
Gamushara ni ikeru shunkan sono saki ima da yo The present awaits us after this frantic moment
Yasashiku yorisottettai I want to gently be by your side
Dakara issho ni ganbarou So let's all work hard together
Kuroda-san.
Wh-what is it?
Nothing, I just wanted to say your name.
That's a line that sounds like it came straight from a plebian couple that just started dating.
Oh, that's the Kuroda-san I know.
Huh?
Nah, I was just thinking you were acting kinda weird lately.
I'll make you write enough for two novels!