"Eh?"
Shimazaki Yuna choked up and froze for a moment, not knowing why Kira Yoshikage had said those things.
Yet Kira Yoshikage continued muttering to himself in a low voice:
"I learned one thing from my short life—"
"The harder people work, the more likely they are to be fired because of unexpected circumstances, rendering all their previous efforts meaningless. Unless they transcend the worker!"
"Sorry, I don't really understand." Shimazaki Yuna shifted her stiff body.
Kira Yoshikage's expression turned solemn:
"It means I don't want to work for someone else anymore!"
He had made up his mind. He would transcend the worker and become a noble flexible employment personnel!
As long as he was flexible employment personnel, he would never become unemployed, and the peaceful life he longed for would never be disrupted.
Among flexible employment personnel, the easiest and most stable profession was that of a light novel author.
For a successful light novel author, the speed at which they made money was no slower than robbing people, and there was no risk involved. Robbing money from otaku was much safer than robbing a bank, and they could even make more.
Besides, he had some experience with "writing."
"Miss Shimazaki."
Kira Yoshikage raised his head and looked at the girl before him. "As payment for saving you, would you be willing to be my illustrator?"
Based on Shimazaki Yuna's seemingly frightened, tearful voice, Kira Yoshikage had assumed she would refuse.
So he had prepared a backup plan. Pink Panther floated in midair, calmly watching the girl.
"Okay."
Shimazaki Yuna's voice was so soft that even Kira Yoshikage almost failed to hear it.
"If it's you, anything is fine."
What Shimazaki Yuna didn't know was that all of this had come from the idea Kira Yoshikage had conceived after learning that she was an artist.
As everyone knew, whether a light novel was well written wasn't the most important thing. The key was whether the illustrations were good.
For the largest audience of light novels—the vast otaku population—
as long as the quality of the illustrations was high enough, buying toilet paper and getting illustrations as a bonus wasn't out of the question.
Conversely, even if the light novel itself was excellent, it still wouldn't become popular if the illustrations were terrible.
And as an artist, Shimazaki Yuna was undoubtedly qualified.
As for whether he could write one decent volume of toilet paper, wasn't that something anyone with hands could do?
"Excellent."
Although the girl's answer surprised him, Kira Yoshikage still smiled in satisfaction and extended his hand toward her.
"Let's get acquainted again. My name is Kira Yoshikage. I'm sixteen years old and unmarried."
"Unmarried?"
A blush spread across Shimazaki Yuna's little face. Was he hinting at something? But she quickly concealed her feelings and asked cautiously:
"Um~, what kind of work does Kira-kun want to write?"
Kira Yoshikage answered naturally:
"Something ordinary would be best. Something that wouldn't attract any attention."
"Eh?"
Shimazaki Yuna froze for a moment. Wasn't everyone usually hoping for the highest possible quality?
Although she was an illustrator rather than an author, didn't most light novel authors aim to win awards?
Besides, wasn't the genre usually decided first?
Chapter 7: Dio Brando: Please Turn on Your Microphone and Communicate
"Um..."
Shimazaki Yuna hesitated before asking, "Which publisher does Kira-kun want to submit to?"
Japanese light novels had three major giants, and each giant had a representative genre as its main area of development.
Therefore, which publisher Kira Yoshikage preferred to submit to could also determine his genre to some extent.
"It's not important."
"But..."
Shimazaki Yuna hesitated, but eventually swallowed her words and changed her question.
"Then, what is Kira-kun's goal? The Silver Prize? Or the Incentive Prize?"
Normally, the three major publishers each held novel awards specifically for newcomers.
For example, the awards held by Dengeki Bunko were the Dengeki Novel Award, whose prizes ranked from highest to lowest as follows:
The Grand Prize, Gold Prize, Silver Prize, and Incentive Prize.
Shimazaki Yuna assumed that Kira Yoshikage had no confidence in winning, which was why he had said he wanted something "ordinary" at best...
"It would be best not to win anything."
Kira Yoshikage's answer once again exceeded Shimazaki Yuna's expectations. She couldn't help reminding him softly, "But winning an award comes with prize money. You look like you're short on money, Kira-kun. Besides, publishers generally prioritize publishing award-winning works. If you can't win..."
Shimazaki Yuna paused. If he couldn't win an award, he might not even qualify for publication, let alone make money.
But those words were rather hurtful, and Shimazaki Yuna couldn't bring herself to say them.
Kira Yoshikage fell silent. What she said was true. After thinking for a moment, he spoke:
"Then the Incentive Prize. The Silver Prize would be fine too."
The Grand Prize came with a three-million-yen reward, the Gold Prize one million yen, and the Silver Prize five hundred thousand yen.
As for the Incentive Prize, its reward was only one hundred thousand yen. It was purely an encouragement award, and that amount could only be considered a token reward.
If he wanted to avoid attracting attention, the Incentive Prize was clearly the most suitable—
Incidentally, the prize money for each award was fixed.
If two competitors were evenly matched for a particular award, both a Main Prize and a Sub Prize would be given, with the prize money divided equally between them.
As a transmigrator, it wasn't difficult for Kira Yoshikage to come up with outstanding genres.
He knew many Grand Prize-winning works alone, such as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Accel World, The Ancient Magus' Bride, and 86—Eighty-Six...
He also knew quite a few Gold Prize winners, such as Oresuki: Are You Willing to Like Me?, My Girlfriend Is a Tamer, and Baccano!...
There were even more Silver Prize winners, such as Spice and Wolf, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, and Ro-Kyu-Bu!...
In theory, he could pick any Silver Prize-winning work and win an award without a hitch.
But given that this was a different world, those works might receive higher awards.
Kira Yoshikage's expression was utterly calm. He would rather do nothing than do something wrong.
If he won the Gold Prize or even the Grand Prize, it would undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to his peaceful life.
Therefore, the safest method was to find a work that had never won an award but had fortunately received an anime adaptation—preferably a typical work where people bought the illustrations and got toilet paper as a bonus—
After some thought, Kira Yoshikage finally settled on two works.
The first person to create the concept of buying illustrations and getting toilet paper as a bonus, Infinite Stratos (IS), known as the Wall of Masterpieces.
And the last power-fantasy anime he had watched before transmigrating: The Eminence in Shadow!
With toilet paper from the Isekai genre everywhere, The Eminence in Shadow! could barely be considered quality toilet paper.
The original work was fairly ordinary, and it had been carried almost entirely by its illustrations and excellent anime adaptation.
Shimazaki Yuna didn't know what Kira Yoshikage was thinking. Assuming he was hesitating over which genre to write, she cautiously offered her advice.
"Kira-kun, Isekai-type light novels are the most popular right now. If you don't know what to write, why not consider an Isekai story?"
Shimazaki Yuna offered her advice very seriously.
For a new author, following popular trends was often the best choice.
It might not necessarily become a hit, but achieving decent results wouldn't be too difficult.
Kira Yoshikage suddenly turned his gaze toward Shimazaki Yuna, who was sitting on the bed, making the girl nervous as she wondered whether she had said something wrong.
However, Kira Yoshikage's expression remained calm.
"I won't change it."
Since Isekai stories were popular, he wouldn't write The Eminence in Shadow! Instead, he would directly choose the Wall of Masterpieces, IS!
As for whether IS would also become the Wall of Masterpieces in this world and gain fame—
Kira Yoshikage wasn't worried in the slightest.
At worst, he could simply drop IS before it became famous.
Having decided on the genre, Kira Yoshikage decided to start working.
There was still half an hour before eleven, so he could at least write an opening.
He turned on the computer and created a new document.
Renamed: Infinite Stratos
After thinking for two seconds, Kira Yoshikage entered his pen name—
Seventeen Years Old, Afraid the School Isn't Violent Enough.
Shimazaki Yuna leaned forward curiously, resting her little head beside Kira Yoshikage's as she stared intently at the computer screen.
"Infinite Stratos?"
Shimazaki Yuna slightly furrowed her brows and read the document's title in less-than-standard English, murmuring softly:
"Infinite Stratos?"
Shimazaki Yuna was slightly dazed, but then she suddenly felt that her lowered braid had brushed against something. When she turned around, she found Kira Yoshikage staring intently at her.
"Ah, sorry..."
Shimazaki Yuna was startled and looked nervously at Kira Yoshikage. Interrupting someone while they were creating something was truly rather uncouth...
Kira Yoshikage gazed at the girl, watching her fair, jade-like hands, and his tone grew much gentler.
"If you have nothing to do, could you give me a massage?"
His gaze remained fixed on those hands from beginning to end, and his eyes were as gentle as if he were looking at his lover.
"Eh? Okay, okay."
Shimazaki Yuna froze for a moment before nodding shyly.
The barefoot girl walked behind Kira Yoshikage and gently kneaded his shoulders with both hands. Her voice was soft and somewhat lacking in confidence.
"I've never done this before, so my technique might not be very good..."
"That's not true."
Kira Yoshikage's tone remained gentle, his gaze fixed on the slender hands resting on his shoulders.
Her hands were as white as jade, long and delicate, with a faint cherry-blossom pink showing through her fingertips. It was as if every movement could bring a powerful electric stimulation. Under the lamplight, the girl's hands seemed to radiate a soft glow, sparkling like pearls.
Kira Yoshikage's gaze grew gentler still. Although it was extremely lewd, he got an erection.
Smack!
"Eh? What was that sound?"
Shimazaki Yuna looked toward the desk in confusion. Something beneath the desktop seemed to have struck it. Had he accidentally hit his knee?
"Nothing. Keep going."
Kira Yoshikage's expression returned to normal. He spoke faintly, then began typing rapidly on the keyboard with both hands.
There were still twenty-five minutes before eleven. He could just write a simple fifty thousand words first.
And so, while enjoying the girl's massage, Kira Yoshikage typed away.