A newbie's anime life diary

Although Machida Sonoko had told her that she had discovered another talented high school writer, Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't take it to heart. Only she knew how much effort she had put in to get to this point, starting from winning the newcomer award.

Looking at Yukiteru, Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled and said, "I really didn't expect that the person Sonoko-nee was talking about would be my junior."

Beneath her seemingly beautiful smile lay a hint of scrutiny directed at Xuehui.

Chapter 16 Surprise

"You flatter me, senior. You are my senior in this field, and I still need to learn more from you." Yuki's humble attitude pleased Kasumigaoka Utaha. She had originally thought that Machida Sonoko would be an arrogant person if she praised someone like that, but she didn't expect her to be so approachable.

Was he faking it?

"Sister Sonoko has praised you highly. I also came here this time to see the novels of my peers. I wonder if that's alright?" Kasumigaoka Utaha said. Machida Sonoko only had the first three chapters given to her by Hiratsuka Shizuka. Being a person of professional ethics, Machida Sonoko did not show the manuscript to Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was not a member of the company, without the original author's consent. Therefore, she had to come in person.

"Yes, yes, the original manuscript!!!" Machida Sonoko remembered her purpose this time. As long as the quality of the other party's novel was still the same, she would immediately sign the contract. She had already shown the first three chapters to the editor-in-chief, who had also given her the order to sign this author.

Urged on by Machida Sonoko, Hiratsuka Shizuka handed the two printed copies of the manuscript to Machida Sonoko and Kasumigaoka Utaha before belatedly calling the waiter to order.

After a while, the drinks were served. Xuehui casually sipped his iced coffee, watching the person in front of him who was focused on the manuscript of the novel, while Hiratsuka Shizuka was idly flipping through her phone. Today, she was only there to accompany him and could not play any role, or rather, everything was already a sure thing.

Machida Sonoko had already read three chapters, so after receiving the manuscript, she flipped through a few pages and continued reading.

Kasumigaoka Utaha was seeing Yukiteru's novel for the first time. The first thing that caught her eye was the title "Sword Art Online." There was no pen name indicated; instead, she simply used the name Hiratsuka Yukiteru, probably because she hadn't decided on a pen name yet.

'A battle novel?'

Kasumigaoka Utaha thought to herself that this was a completely different type of novel from the ones she wrote. Although she would read some novels of this type to broaden her knowledge, to be honest, action novels were not her cup of tea, and she was not very good at writing them.

But as she read on, she was somewhat surprised. Although it was indeed a combat novel, to be precise, what Xuehui wrote was an online game novel, and a very advanced one at that, a fully immersive online game novel that had just proposed a theory.

The beginning of the first chapter didn't captivate her much, but as she read on, she discovered the novel's first major highlight.

A game of death.

All players are trapped in this virtual reality game called [Game Name], unable to exit. If a player dies in the game or is forcibly disconnected outside the game, their brain will be damaged by a microwave device inside the game helmet, leading to their death.

To escape, you must conquer each level of the game until you reach the 100th floor and defeat the final boss.

It's not just a simple game world, but a world where players can die, depicting their despair, hope, struggle, failure, and conflicts. All of these are well presented through this world.

It's a game, but it's more than just a game; it's the story of these characters struggling to survive in this world.

The unconventional ideas and completely different style captivated Kasumigaoka Utaha, drawing her into this fantastical world. Her eyes followed the words, and her hands involuntarily turned the pages, eager to know what would happen next.

As time went on, Yukiteru realized that Kasumigaoka Utaha was completely captivated by him.

Suddenly, he felt a slight tremor in the ground.

"Earthquake? No, could it be..." Xuehui paused slightly, looking at the girl in front of him.

This woman seems to have a habit of shaking her leg? Xuehui, who used to often shake her leg while listening to highly addictive songs, clearly identified the source of this tremor.

Looking at Kasumigaoka Utaha's wide eyes, Yukiteru could tell that she was unsettled. Well, she was probably thinking about the middle part of the first volume, about that character who had a short appearance in the first volume but played a major role in the development of the protagonist, Sachi.

Sachi's story is written in reverse chronological order. One part shows him having sweet moments with Asuna, and the next part reveals his dark past. He found this sudden change hard to accept when he first read the original work.

On the other hand, Machida Sonoko, a seasoned editor, performed much better, showing little emotion, but the occasional glimpses of emotion in her eyes reassured Yukiteru.

Both of them were fast readers. After finishing their coffee, they checked the latest industry news on their phones and read the comments from netizens on the forum about the latest anime series. Then, Machida Sonoko and Kasumigaoka Utaha put down their manuscripts.

"Phew..." Machida Sonoko let out a soft breath and looked at Yukiteru, saying, "I was originally thinking of checking if there were any parts of this first volume that needed to be revised, but it seems I was overthinking it. But I have a question."

"Please speak, Sister Yuanzi."

“The first volume spans two years, so there should be a lot of stories to write about, but you just skipped over them. Also, it feels like there are fewer characters appearing.” Yuanzi directly voiced her doubts.

Xuehui smiled and said nonchalantly, "These are not problems. I have already thought about the content. The main characters who will appear in the story later will appear in the second volume. I did not put them in the first volume mainly because of the length. The stories of a few main characters would take up the entire content of a volume, so the first volume can only focus on the main storyline."

“That’s fine,” Machida Sonoko nodded and said, “However, the story of this death game ends in just two volumes. As a light novel, isn’t the content a bit too little if it’s to become a big hit?”

Xuehui held up a finger and shook it, saying, "Although this world has ended, the problems within it will continue into the future and will be interwoven into the very end of the story. So the length is not an issue. As long as we can get a contract for publication, the subsequent content will naturally unfold smoothly."

"It seems Yukiteru-kun is very confident?" Machida Sonoko looked at him with a smile.

"I still have some confidence in my story," Xuehui said without any modesty; he was indeed full of confidence in the novel.

Nodding, Machida Sonoko looked at Kasumigaoka Utaha beside her and said, "Utaha, you've finished watching it too. What are your thoughts?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at the manuscript in her hand, paused, and then said, "This is the first time I've seen this type of light novel. The concept, writing style, and plot control are all excellent. I'm really looking forward to the day this novel is published. However..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha paused deliberately, looked at Yukiteru and said, "I didn't expect you to like doing things differently, my junior. You killed off a female character in the first volume, and she was a very attractive one at that."

"Ahem... well, it's for the plot, it's for the plot," Xuehui explained somewhat awkwardly. Indeed, in recent years, it's rare for light novels to kill off female characters directly. Even if they're not part of a harem, they're at least supposed to be around the protagonist. Unlike Xuehui, who had clearly developed a certain relationship with the protagonist, only to die just like that.

"Yes, it's necessary for the plot. Although there's nothing wrong with doing it this way, I still don't want any more important female supporting characters to die later on. Readers these days are quite sensitive, you know," Kasumigaoka Utaha said, making Yukiteru feel a little embarrassed.

At this moment, Machida Sonoko chimed in: "The content of the novel is absolutely fine, no problem at all, and even exceeds my expectations. So, Yukiteru-kun, I sincerely invite you to sign a contract with Kadokawa Bunko, and we will be responsible for the publication and distribution of your novel. Is that alright?"

Xuehui agreed without hesitation, saying, "Of course, I'm very happy to be able to work with Kadokawa Bunko and such a professional editor as Sonoko-nee."

The goal of signing the contract has finally been achieved.

Chapter 17 Troublesome People

"Hehe~ That's really great. Besides Xiaoshi, I have another ace writer. Congratulations! By the way, Xuehui-kun, you and Xiaoshi will be colleagues from now on, and you'll also be students at the same school. You should communicate more in the future. Xiaoshi's novel just released its third volume, and she's working on the fourth and fifth volumes. She's been having some trouble with them lately, so I brought her here hoping you could give her some ideas."

Upon hearing Machida Sonoko's words, Yukiteru was stunned. This was a difficult situation, because:

I've never read any of Kasumigaoka Utaha's novels!

Although Kasumigaoka Utaha's novel "Love Metronome" published under the pen name "Kasumigaoka Utako" is very popular online, Yukiteru, who is completely bad at this type of novel, never thought of reading it.

As it turned out, what I feared most came to pass today; I ran right into Kasumigaoka Utaha's line of fire.

Seeing Yukiteru's embarrassed expression, Kasumigaoka Utaha's originally cheerful face revealed a dangerous smile: "Junior, although I haven't said it before, you should know my pen name by now."

"Um...yes, Yuanzi-nee mentioned that you were the gold medalist in the last Kadokawa Newcomer Award. I also did some research on Kadokawa before, so I already know that you are Kasumi Shiko-sensei."

"I see..." Kasumigaoka Utaha still looked at Yukiteru with half-closed eyes, "Your novels are so well-written, I feel ashamed of myself. You must know a lot about light novels too. I wonder what kind of novels you like to read..."

"Ahem... Senior, you don't need to keep arguing. Well, I really haven't read your novels. I've never read a single romance light novel before, so they're not within my personal taste." Faced with Kasumigaoka Utaha's chilling smile, Yukiteru was too lazy to argue anymore. So what if it's anal? What's there to be afraid of?

We can always just admit defeat!

Isn't it good to be alive?

Why care about saving face? Getting entangled with this kind of woman is just too much trouble, okay?

Although the other person is very beautiful and sexy, and also has the added attribute of being an older female student, Yukiteru really doesn't have any thoughts about that right now. The mission with Hiratsuka Shizuka alone has been troubling him for a long time. It's fortunate that his system has been issuing some childish missions lately, none of which require any action, let alone missions to seduce someone. Otherwise, he would definitely be jumping up and down cursing.

Unfortunately, it's already a bit too late to think that way now.

"Since you've put it that way, junior, could you please read my novel later? As someone of the same age and an author under the same editor, I'd love to have a good chat with you and find some inspiration for the future development of my novel."

Kasumigaoka Utaha said this, and there was no doubt that she had a high opinion of Yukiteru's creative ability, but unfortunately, this person had never read her novel!

She's someone who can write such good light novels. Her own novels, if not hugely popular, should at least have some fame this year, right?

Don't like this type?

There are male readers among my novel readers, and my novel is not a purely female-oriented romance novel, so why be so prejudiced?

She had originally planned to ask her junior classmate to help promote the other person's novel after it was published, but now Kasumigaoka Utaha is going to put that idea aside.

Compared to that person who only met twice but was completely absorbed in anime girls and couldn't offer any advice, this junior author, who has good emotional intelligence but seems to have zero romantic experience, should be able to gain more inspiration.

While Kasumigaoka Utaha was lost in thought, Yukiteru was having a terrible headache. The situation had already developed to this point, and it was unrealistic for him to refuse. They were both authors under the same editor, and he hadn't even read her novels, which was really unreasonable.

After thinking for a moment, Xuehui nodded and agreed, "Since you're so eager, I'll go and buy your novel and read it carefully. To be honest, this is my first time reading a romance novel."

"That's quite an honor, to be able to take my junior's first time." Kasumigaoka Utaha covered her mouth and chuckled, a hint of joy showing in her captivating red eyes.

"While what you said is true, I would be happier if you could finish your sentence." Xuehui said expressionlessly, somewhat exasperated by the other's mouth that was good at saying things that made people think in the wrong way. He guessed that his junior status as both a junior and a junior author had made the other want to play around.

As the two were talking, Machida Sonoko watched with a smile. This beautiful young female writer under her wing was someone she both liked and had a headache about. Her writing was indeed excessively good. Even though it was a romance light novel, it still exploded with amazing popularity under her pen. Although it was partly due to the promotional help of her junior, a well-known online blogger from the same school, Kasumigaoka Utaha's strength was beyond doubt.

What troubled her was that Kasumigaoka Utaha rarely communicated with other authors—no, it should be said that she didn't communicate at all! She was always immersed in her own creative world. Although she reminded her to communicate more with other authors to learn from their experiences, she just couldn't muster any interest.

This time it's good that a new writer of the same age and from the same school has come, and Kasumigaoka Utaha is very willing to communicate with her. This is undoubtedly a good thing for Machida Sonoko, and it will probably also be of some help to the final volume of Kasumigaoka Utaha's novel.

'Of course, it would be even better if those two sparked something.'

The unscrupulous female editor looked at the two of them and thought to herself.

Conversely, Hiratsuka Shizuka's mood was far from calm. Although she hadn't said much during this time, her attention had been subtly focused on the two boys and girls, but her actions were so discreet that even Machida Sonoko across from her hadn't noticed.

Through interactions at school and spending time together at home, Hiratsuka Shizuka increasingly focused her attention on Yukiteru. Especially at home, the house was filled with more energy with the addition of another person. Yukiteru's natural way of interacting and taking care of her made Hiratsuka Shizuka feel extremely satisfied, and her mindset gradually began to change.

She understood her state of mind. Although she knew this change was not good, her inner desires made her continue to indulge in it.

As for how it will ultimately turn out, Hiratsuka Shizuka doesn't know.

The "pleasant" conversation between Yukiteru and Kasumigaoka Utaha in front of her made her happy that Yukiteru had more opportunities to interact with peers, but she also felt a little annoyed.

Unable to do anything but watch, Hiratsuka Shizuka experienced this feeling of frustration for the first time.

After a brief conversation, Yukiteru exchanged contact information with Kasumigaoka Utaha and Machida Sonoko, and agreed to come to the editorial department next week to sign an agreement and discuss promotion and publication plans. Yukiteru then left in a car after taking a seat in Hiratsuka.

Inside the car, Xuehui leaned his head back on the seat and let out a deep breath.

"What's wrong? Are you tired? You should be happy to chat with a top beauty like Kasumigaoka Utaha, right?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked calmly as she drove.

"How could I be happy! I don't want to talk to people like this who are full of ulterior motives. I'm sure there will be a lot of trouble in the future," Xuehui said irritably with his eyes closed.

To be honest, if he had to face Kasumigaoka Utaha, he'd rather face Yukinoshita Yukino. While both can be sharp-tongued, Yukinoshita Yukino's straightforward and earnest personality is practically angelic compared to Kasumigaoka Utaha!

Ah, now that you mention it, I do miss Yukino Yukinoshita.

"Achoo..."

In an apartment, a girl who was curled up on the sofa with a novel in her hand sneezed.

"Are you not wearing enough clothes...?"

P.S.: I feel like the progress is a bit slow. I'm considering speeding it up a bit. It's time to start developing Jingjie's storyline.

PS2: Please add to your favorites and vote!

Chapter 18 is cute, but he's a boy!

Perhaps because of Yukiteru's words, Hiratsuka Shizuka's mood suddenly improved, and she took Yukiteru out for a rare barbecue feast before returning home.

Xuehui thought it best to resolve the signing issue as soon as possible, so he contacted Machida Sonoko, who was happy to schedule the meeting for Monday afternoon.