Multi-Anime, Kira Yoshikage Desires a Peaceful Life

"Eh?"

Shimazaki Yuna choked up and froze, unsure why Kira Yoshikage was saying this.

But Kira Yoshikage continued muttering to himself in a low voice:

"I learned one thing from my short life—"

"The harder you work, the easier it is to get fired due to unexpected circumstances, losing everything you've built. Unless—Transcend the Worker!"

"Sorry, I don't really understand." Shimazaki Yuna shifted her stiff body.

Kira Yoshikage's expression turned serious:

"What I mean is—I don't want to work anymore!"

He had decided. He would transcend the worker and become a noble Flexible Employment Personnel!

As long as he was a Flexible Employment Personnel, he would never lose his job, and the peaceful life he craved would never be shattered.

And among Flexible Employment Personnel, the easiest and most stable profession was Light Novel author.

For a successful Light Novel author, the speed of making money was no less than robbery, without any risk—taking money from Otaku was far safer than robbing a bank, and even more profitable.

Besides, he had some 'writing' experience.

"Miss Shimazaki."

Kira Yoshikage looked up at the girl before him. "As payment for saving you, would you be my illustrator?"

Based on Shimazaki Yuna's trembling, fearful voice, Kira Yoshikage thought she would refuse.

So he had a backup plan. The Pink Panther floated in midair, calmly watching the girl.

"That's fine."

Shimazaki Yuna's voice was so soft that even Kira Yoshikage almost missed it:

"If it's you, anything is okay."

What Shimazaki Yuna didn't know was that this idea had come to Kira Yoshikage the moment he learned she was an artist.

As everyone knew, whether a Light Novel was well-written wasn't the most important thing—the key was how good the illustrations were.

For the largest audience of Light Novels, the vast Otaku community, As long as the illustration quality was high enough, buying illustrations with toilet paper as a bonus was perfectly acceptable.

Conversely, even if a Light Novel was brilliantly written, if the illustrations were lackluster, it wouldn't take off.

And as an artist, Shimazaki Yuna was undoubtedly qualified.

As for whether he could write a passable roll of toilet paper? Wasn't that something anyone with hands could do?

"Good."

Though surprised by the girl's response, Kira Yoshikage showed a satisfied smile and extended his hand to her:

"Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Kira Yoshikage, 16 years old, unmarried."

"Unmarried?"

Shimazaki Yuna's face flushed a faint red. Was he hinting at something? But the girl quickly masked her feelings and asked cautiously:

"Hmm~, what kind of work does Kira-kun want to write?"

Kira Yoshikage answered very naturally:

"Preferably something ordinary, attracting no attention at all."

"Eh?"

Shimazaki Yuna froze. Usually, didn't everyone want the highest quality possible?

Even though she was an artist, not a writer, Light Novel authors almost always aimed for awards, right?

And wasn't the genre usually decided first?

Chapter 7: Dio Brando: Please Open the Mic and Communicate

"Um,"

Shimazaki Yuna hesitated and asked, "Which publishing house does Kira-kun want to submit to?"

Japan's Light Novel scene had three giants, each with a representative genre as its development domain.

So which publishing house Kira Yoshikage leaned toward would also determine his genre to some extent.

"It doesn't matter."

"But..."

Shimazaki Yuna started to speak but held back, changing her question: "Then, what is Kira-kun's goal? The Silver Prize? Or the Incentive Prize?"

Typically, the three major publishing houses each held dedicated novel awards for newcomers.

For example, Dengeki Bunko hosted the Dengeki Novel Award, with prizes ranked from highest to lowest:

Grand Prize, Gold Prize, Silver Prize, Incentive Prize.

Shimazaki Yuna thought Kira Yoshikage simply lacked confidence in winning an award, which was why he said, "It'd be best to be perfectly ordinary..."

"It's best not to win an award."

Kira Yoshikage's answer once again caught Shimazaki Yuna off guard. She couldn't help but whisper a reminder, "But winning comes with prize money, and Kira-kun looks like he's short on cash, doesn't he? Besides, publishers basically prioritize works that have won awards. If you can't win..."

Shimazaki Yuna paused. If he couldn't win, he might not even qualify for publication, let alone make money.

But those words were a bit harsh, and Shimazaki Yuna couldn't bring herself to say them.

Kira Yoshikage fell silent. That was true enough. After thinking it over, he spoke:

"Then the Incentive Prize will do. Or Silver Prize."

The Grand Prize's prize money was 3 Million Yen, the Gold Prize was 1 Million Yen, and the Silver Prize was 500,000 Yen.

As for the Incentive Prize, the prize money was only 100,000 Yen—purely a participation award. That amount was just a token of encouragement.

If he wanted to avoid drawing attention, the Incentive Prize was the most suitable—

Incidentally, the prize money for each award was fixed.

And if there were two contenders tied for a particular award, a Main Prize and a Sub Prize would be given simultaneously, with the prize money split between them.

For Kira Yoshikage, a transmigrator, coming up with outstanding material wasn't difficult.

Just among the Grand Prize-winning works he knew, there were many, such as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Accel World, The Ancient Magus' Bride, 86—Eighty-Six...

And he knew just as many Gold Prize winners, like Oresuki: Are You Willing to Like Me?, My Girlfriend Is a Tamer, Baccano!...

The Silver Prize winners were even more numerous, such as Spice and Wolf, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Ro-Kyu-Bu!...

In theory, picking any one of the Silver Prize works would guarantee a stable win.

But depending on the world, these works might end up winning 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.

So, the safe approach was to find a work that had never won an award but had been lucky enough to get an anime adaptation—preferably the kind that was a typical "buy the illustrations, get the toilet paper" novel—

After some deliberation, Kira Yoshikage finally settled on two works.

The pioneer of the "buy the illustrations, get the toilet paper" trend, hailed as the Wall of Masterpieces: Infinite Stratos (IS).

And the last power fantasy anime he watched before transmigrating: The Eminence in Shadow.

In a sea of generic isekai toilet paper series, The Eminence in Shadow barely qualified as a premium-grade toilet paper.

The original work's quality was quite average, relying entirely on its illustrations and high-quality anime adaptation to save it.

Shimazaki Yuna had no idea what Kira Yoshikage was thinking. She thought he was hesitating over what material to write and cautiously offered her own advice:

"Kira-kun, the hottest thing right now is isekai-type light novels. If you don't know what to write, why not consider an isekai-themed piece?"

Shimazaki Yuna gave her suggestion very seriously.

For a new author, following trends was often the best choice.

It wasn't guaranteed to be a hit, but getting decent results wasn't too hard either.

Kira Yoshikage suddenly turned his gaze toward Shimazaki Yuna, who was sitting on the bed, making the girl nervous, thinking she had said something wrong.

Yet Kira Yoshikage's expression remained calm:

"No change."

Since isekai was popular, he wouldn't write The Eminence in Shadow. He'd go straight for the Wall of Masterpieces, IS!

As for whether IS would also become the Wall of Masterpieces in this world and thus gain fame—

Kira Yoshikage wasn't worried at all.

At worst, before IS became famous, he could just drop it first, couldn't he?

With the material decided, Kira Yoshikage resolved to start working.

There was still half an hour until 11 o'clock, 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 wrote his pen name—

17 years old, afraid campus isn't violent enough.

Shimazaki Yuna curiously leaned in, her little head resting beside Kira Yoshikage, staring intently at the computer screen.

"Infinite Stratos?"

Shimazaki Yuna furrowed her brows slightly, reading the document's title in her not-so-standard English, and murmured softly:

"Infinite Stratos?"

Shimazaki Yuna was a bit dazed, but suddenly felt her dangling braid brush against something. Turning back, she found Kira Yoshikage staring intently at her.

"Ah, sorry..."

Shimazaki Yuna was startled, looking nervously at Kira Yoshikage. Interrupting someone while they were creating was truly tasteless...

Kira Yoshikage gazed at the girl, his eyes fixed on her hands—white as jade—and his tone softened considerably:

"If you have nothing to do, could you give me a massage?"

His gaze never left those hands, his eyes as tender as if he were looking at his beloved.

"Eh? O-okay."

Shimazaki Yuna hesitated for a moment, then nodded shyly.

The girl walked barefoot behind Kira Yoshikage, her hands gently kneading his shoulders, her voice small and uncertain:

"I've never done this before, so my technique might not be good..."

"Not at all."

Kira Yoshikage's tone remained gentle, his eyes still fixed on the slender, delicate hands resting on his shoulders.

Her hands were snow-white like jade, long and fine, with a faint hint of cherry blossom pink at the fingertips, as if every movement could send a jolt of electric heat. Under the lamplight, the girl's hands seemed to glow with a soft radiance, shimmering like pearls.

Kira Yoshikage's gaze grew even more tender. Lewd as it was, he BOKI'd.

Slap!

"Huh? What was that sound?"

Shimazaki Yuna looked at the desk in confusion. Something under the surface seemed to have suddenly bumped into it—had she accidentally hit her knee?

"Nothing. Keep going."

Kira Yoshikage's expression returned to calm as he said flatly, his hands beginning to fly across the keyboard.

Twenty-five minutes until 11 o'clock. He'd just casually write fifty thousand words.

And so, while enjoying the girl's massage, Kira Yoshikage typed away.