The Shocking Eunuch, Reborn as a Literary Girl

Chapter 9: Let's start collecting rice today!
No, don't misunderstand.
It's not the kind of thing that makes you gasp in awe at first glance and then exclaim, "Wow, what is this? How can it be so beautiful?"

That would be too extravagant.

However, compared to Umehara Amane's originally low expectations, which were practically nonexistent, the content presented before her was indeed quite presentable.

The opening plot is very ordinary.

The story revolves around a female protagonist who works at a convenience store, only to be unexpectedly taken away by an out-of-control truck after a day's work.

Then, the goddess in charge of guiding reincarnation appeared and said to the protagonist, "The other world is currently severely underpopulated. If you are willing to be reincarnated into the other world, then I can grant you a special ability."

Having had enough of being humiliated in the real world, the protagonist agreed without hesitation.

And so, the protagonist was reincarnated as "Aria," and with the ability to "check some prophecies about the future once a day through the system," she began her life in another world.

There's nothing particularly interesting about this opening.
Really do not have.

It's just a very formulaic isekai (another world) novel plot.

The classic case of being hit and killed by a large truck.

Then comes the classic saying: "If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll be chosen based on your abilities after you die."

Even the opening is so formulaic it's almost retro; even the worst isekai novels these days rarely use such a terrifying premise.

However, despite this formulaic and unoriginal beginning, Umehara Amane inexplicably kept watching.

That's just how I feel.
While there's nothing particularly amazing about it, it's just the right amount of visual interest and feels quite natural.

Compared to what my sister wrote before, the simplest, most direct, and most obvious change is probably this:
"The writing seems to be making better sense now?"

"My writing isn't as bad anymore."

"No more pointless chatter."

Both the text itself and the pacing of the plot are quite enjoyable to read.

It will make you want to keep watching.

"Did my sister write this?"

Due to her stereotypes about her older sister, Umehara Amane found the quality of this novel somewhat unbelievable at this point.

But thinking about it carefully...
It's not entirely incomprehensible that someone could write an article like this.

After all, two years have passed since then.

During these two years, while working as a Vtuber, my sister also pursued other hobbies.

It seems reasonable that I crammed on a lot of novels during this period and improved my skills.

"So it wasn't that you were overestimating yourself, but that you actually made significant progress before trying to write novels." Umehara Amane's eyes slowly shifted from doubt and confusion to admiration for her older sister. "As expected of my sister."

However, she wasn't happy for long.

There are just too many light novels with the isekai (another world) reincarnation theme on the market right now.

Especially on websites like "Let's Become a Novelist," isekai (another world) novels are as plentiful as stray dogs on the street.

The number of works is increasing dramatically, but the number of readers has not changed much.

The result is more intense competition.

To make a name for yourself and attract attention in the "reincarnation in another world" genre, simply "looking decent" is not enough.

My sister's novel, at present, can be said to have no highlights, it is simply "solid".

Solid subject matter, solid writing style, and solid narrative rhythm.

While the first chapter is readable, it doesn't offer anything particularly compelling.

Fortunately, although it wasn't particularly engaging, it also didn't present any reading difficulties, making it easy to naturally progress to the second chapter.

If this can be achieved, then it can be considered a success as the opening chapter of a novel.

We'll have to wait and see how things develop.

"Sister, can you do it?"

With a sense of anticipation that was hard to describe, Umehara Amane continued reading the story.

The two subsequent chapters of the existing story do not cover complicated topics.

Overall, it maintained the same solid writing style as at the beginning, with nothing unexpected happening.

After the protagonist transmigrates, he arrives in a completely new family.

This family consists of a father, a mother, and a younger sister; their financial situation is somewhat difficult.

After gaining an initial understanding of the situation and having some simple daily interactions with his adopted younger sister in this world, the protagonist then tries to use the special abilities he has acquired.

That is, "once a day, you can use the system to query some prophecies about the future."

However, to her surprise, the prophecy she received this time was that "your family will be killed in three days."

Despite receiving the prophecy, the protagonist faces the problem that the character she transmigrates into is an ordinary person with no fighting ability whatsoever.

We must come up with a solution before then.

"The answer may lie in tomorrow's prophecy."

With the protagonist uttering this line, the story temporarily comes to an end.

After watching the whole thing.
Umehara Amane chose to uphold the original verdict.

"It's surprisingly quite interesting."

"Ordinary, without any exaggeration, is interesting."

Indeed, after reading the first three chapters, there wasn't anything particularly remarkable about them.

The subject matter and plot development are not particularly novel.

However, the story is quite complete and provides readers with the basic motivation to keep reading.

How will the protagonist use the abilities they've acquired to gain some benefits?
Without any fighting ability, how will the protagonist face the "bad prophecy"?

The younger sister is also portrayed as very cute, allowing readers to empathize with her and feel a desire to protect her.

After these basic settings and event setups were largely completed, the protagonist's statement at the end of Chapter 3, "The answer may lie in tomorrow's prophecy," successfully whetted Umehara Amane's appetite.

The overall pacing is very natural and tight, and the plot progression also gives readers like Umehara Amane some basic sense of anticipation.

It's written so maturely that it's hard to believe it was written by my own sister.

This is not the level a beginner should have.

It's more like the work of a professional novelist who writes novels regularly.

While such content might seem somewhat dry and unambitious to a professional novelist, making one think, "You clearly know how to write novels, but what you produce is just this formulaic stuff?"

But you should know that just two years ago, what my sister wrote was still at the level of an elementary school student's composition.

To have progressed to the point of being able to write "old stories that are quite appealing" in just two years is already quite impressive.

Moreover, although the plot is cheesy, the older sister has taken the idea that "a cliché story can be just as good if it's well-written" to the extreme.

It's like how everyone knows the Kamen Rider heroes will transform every year, but people still tune in to watch it every year without fail. It's not just innovative content that audiences will accept.

Audiences are always looking forward to seeing their favorite story tropes reinterpreted in a better and more ingenious way.

'Could it be that my sister has evolved during this time?'

Thinking about this, she felt a little excited.

So, I quickly clicked on the novel's comment section.

Unsurprisingly.

Perhaps because everyone's expectations were low and they were skeptical of Umehara Chiya's abilities, they were all shocked after actually reading the novel, which was actually quite good.

"Huh? Is this really a novel written by 'Arisa Yuki'? No, this doesn't look like something a beginner would write."

"Although you can probably guess how the story will develop, the writing style is quite good."

"It couldn't have been ghostwritten, could it? It's completely different from what I imagined."

"I can't believe this is something a beginner could write on their first try."

"Oh no, I'm really looking forward to seeing how the protagonist will resolve the current crisis."

"Could she really be a child prodigy?"

Aside from praising Umehara Chiya's writing as quite good, some people have begun to settle scores with those who cyberbullied Umehara Chiya yesterday.

"Didn't a lot of people say yesterday that everything she writes must be garbage? There was even a 'well-known novelist' in it."

“Originally, the public opinion shouldn’t have been so great. It was mainly because a ‘well-known novelist’ published a sharp commentary on the forum that many of her fans went to make a fuss.”

"Just a bunch of rabble who only follow the crowd."

Although I didn't think she could write anything decent at first, it was just a normal judgment based on common sense.

But she still felt a little confused as to why some people were criticizing her.

Does not being able to write a novel mean you can't write one?

Or is it because you used to be a VTuber, so you can't switch careers and try writing novels?

"If this is garbage, then the stuff written by that 'famous novelist' is also garbage. I'm not saying this article is particularly good, but I really think they're about the same level."

"To be honest, I've never thought that Little Bear Xia's writing is that good. If someone really wrote well, why would they be on the forum every day? They'd all be busy with their own things, right?"

It's because she frequently appears in the comment sections of forums and websites that many people recognize her.

In terms of individual volume sales alone, her performance was only average.

"That's right. People who truly focus on writing don't seek validation online every day."

This may be the reason why, even when things have reached a low point, everything is moving upwards.

In fact, it's hard to say whether what Chiya Umehara wrote even represented 10% of her peak performance.

After all, it wasn't conceived or designed much; it was a formulaic novel born purely for the purpose of quickly serving meals.

To say whether it's watchable
That's definitely watchable.

Even in the Japanese toilet paper industry, it is considered to be of above-average quality.

But to say that such unanimous praise is inaccurate...
That's absolutely not the case.

After all, normally, the sales volume and public opinion of this kind of toilet paper are not commensurate.

The better the isekai toilet paper sells, the more likely some readers with a say in the narrative will criticize it.

"With novels like these becoming popular, the light novel industry is doomed."

'Japanese light novels are getting more and more boring; they're all about reincarnation in another world.'

And at this very moment, a toilet paper book written by Chiya Umehara, which is so standard, is now receiving such good reviews.
There is only one answer.

That's simply because they were belittled too much before, and now things have turned around.

Some people are now trying to exonerate Chiya Umehara, and some are even saying, "Maybe she really was a genius girl."

Upon seeing these comments, Umehara Amane jumped up from the table in excitement.

"Everyone's comments are great! This is a huge success!"

"This is a great start!"

After realizing that her older sister had a perfect start, Umehara Amane was excited all day and was distracted during class.

One moment she was thinking, "Is my sister really going to become a great novelist?"

Then I started thinking, "How can the main character possibly continue?"

This feeling kept filling me.

As soon as get out of class ended, she rushed home.

I bumped into my sister in the entryway right outside my house. She had just gotten home from get off work.

The two exchanged a glance, and Umehara Amane excitedly exclaimed, "Oh, that! Sister, your novel is incredibly popular on the 'Let's Become a Novelist' website right now!"

The public opinion is much better than expected, you know?

Chiya Umehara, who had just gotten home from get off work, looked a little tired.

Faced with her sister's question, she gave a forced smile and replied weakly, "I know."

Umehara Amane felt sorry for her older sister.

But the wonderful state of affairs still made her excitement overwhelm everything else.

Even though I know my sister might be very tired right now and might not be in the mood to talk to me about these things.

But she still asked, "So, sister, have you thought about what you're going to do next? Are you planning to submit your work to the paperback station?"

"With your current skill level, getting your work accepted by the paperback publisher shouldn't be a problem! Once you win the newcomer award and your novel is published, you'll truly become a novelist! And you'll be able to earn royalties!"

"Sister, you're amazing! You do everything so well! Whether it's being a Vtuber or a novelist!"

Seeing her younger sister's excited expression, Umehara Chiya sighed helplessly and explained:
"If I were to submit my work to a document library, getting it approved would definitely not be a problem. However, the time it takes for a document library to go from publication to receiving revenue is just too long."

"I need a lot of money right away, so I don't really have much hope of getting this."

Upon hearing her sister's words, Umehara Amane's mood immediately shifted from happiness to panic.

"Then what should we do? Should we borrow money first? Tell them you'll earn the money soon and pay it back quickly, you'll definitely be able to borrow it, right?"

Umehara Chiya simply smiled confidently.

"It's ok."

"Although making money through document reposting seems too far-fetched, I have other ways to monetize my current reputation and popularity before that happens."

"Tonight, I'll start collecting rice immediately."

(End of this chapter)