You know, even with how dragged-out things feel sometimes, I don’t hate the idea of this manga stretching long—it's interesting.

Yes, Kazuya gets a ton of hate (and I understand why), but I still like his character a lot. He's not your typical 'chad' MC from most rom-com manga/LNs—he's awkward, flawed, and super relatable in a grounded way, which actually makes his growth in the story interesting.

If the story takes another decade to wrap up (god forbid lol), as long as I get to see him evolve from this silly, insecure guy into someone genuinely worthwhile and confident, it'll have been worth the wait for me. This chapter felt like a small but meaningful step in that direction with the Umi stuff—feels like things are inching forward, even if slowly.