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After leaving Miss Yukinoshita's room, Andrew went back to his own.
This "magical bonding" thing had a pretty neat perk —he could instantly teleport to his contracted follower's side,and when he returned, he'd pop back exactly where he'd been before.
Well, of course… the contract wasn't just for show.
Through that little connection they shared, Andrew could quickly reach any of his followers.If they were in danger, he'd sense it right away and could send them magic from afar to help them out.
And if the follower was especially talented,they could even borrow his magic directly,boost their own strength, and cast spells themselves.
In theory, the stronger he got, the stronger his followers became.And if they got stronger, that power would feed back to him.
So when his "Empire of Mu" was fully established,that would be the moment he became unstoppable.
Conclusion:The more followers, the better.
With nothing else to do, Andrew casually opened his computer to start typing,and at the same time sent a task to Kato Megumi on his phone.
The task was simple — as a club member,Kato had to read more novels and manga,and become a proper, full-fledged otaku.
Yep. He was going to indoctrinate Kato into the otaku life.
That way, in the future,it'd be easier to have her wear different outfits for him to enjoy.
When Kato saw the message, she was speechless.
This is what you call "harassment"?Assigning me this kind of "mission"?
That said… she actually hadn't read much light novels or manga before.Her cousin, though, was a full-on otaku.His house definitely had that stuff.
So, Kato went to her cousin's place,took a little stroll around,and "borrowed" a bunch of light novels and manga.
While she was doing her "borrowing,"her cousin was in the middle of gaming.He heard some noise, gave a vague grunt in reply,and didn't even bother looking back.
So he had no clue what his cousin had just walked off with.
And given Kato's natural "easy to forget" aura,he immediately forgot about it entirely and went back to gaming with full enthusiasm.
When Kato got home,she opened the first random manga she'd picked up.
The first panel?Two ridiculously oversized boobs practically popping out of the pageand slamming into her eyeballs.
Her eyes went wide,her expression screaming disbelief.
"This is way too exaggerated…this… this is bigger than a cow's…Does anyone actually have boobs like this?"
With the mindset of "studying" the subject,she kept reading.But slowly, her usually calm facestarted turning bright red.
Breathing quickened,she suddenly slammed the manga shutand tossed it aside.
"Nope. I can feel my mind getting corrupted."
"This manga by Eri Kashiwagi …do people actually like this stuff?"
She was seriously doubtful.
Because yeah —the manga she'd picked upwas one of Eri Kashiwagi's doujinshi.
And yes — it was that special "ridiculous big boob" genre.
For hardcore pervy otaku,it'd be exciting.But for someone like Kato,who'd never touched anything like this before,it just felt bizarre.
She honestly couldn't imagine anyone in real life looking like that.
"…Does Andrew like this kind of thing too?"Almost unconsciously, she looked down at herself.
Then she quickly shook her head."No way. Mahiru Shiina's the perfect example —she's got the most ideal beautiful girl figure."
…Yep, the manga had clearly messed with her head.
Obviously, Andrew needed to take responsibility for this!
Leaving Kato's rambling aside,we switch over to Sonoko Machida.
After a solid week of pestering for a manuscript,the genius light novel author she'd scouted —Utaha Kasumigaoka — finally turned in her work.
This was the second volume of her hit series Love Metronome,which had sold 500,000 copies.
Sure, those numbers were still far from Elf Yamada's million-seller series,but that was mostly about genre.
Different genres meant different price points.
Elf Yamada's work was an isekai harem adventure,basically the kind of story that could double as an adult comic.The main audience? Veteran otaku.
Meanwhile, Kasumigaoka's Love Metronome barely had any fan-service at all —it was mostly pure school romance.
That kind of story was harder to make blow upand harder to write well,so the unit price was higher.
Basically, the royalties from one volume of Love Metronome could keep Utaha fed for years.Every sale meant a cut for the author.
Right now,sitting across from Sonoko Machida was a pale-skinned beauty with delicate features and a round, soft face.
She wore a blue cotton topand a pleated skirt,her long, slender legs pressed together under black stockings,making her figure look even more elegant.
Her glossy black hair reached her waist,topped with a white headband.
From head to toe,she radiated a refined, older-sister charm.
Yep — this was Utaha Kasumigaoka, pen name Kasumi Shiko,the author of Love Metronome.
She looked calm enough,but the way her hands were clasped tightly together gave her away — she was nervous.
After all, Sonoko Machida's opinion right now was the deciding factor on whether Love Metronome's second volume would live or die.
Sonoko Machida stared at the manuscript for a while, then let out a deep sigh.
That look of disappointment made Utaha Kasumigaoka (Shio) tense up.
"Miss Sonoko… is it no good?"
Biting her lip, Utaha looked at her, unwilling to give up.
Sonoko shook her head helplessly. "No good, Shio. Compared to your first volume, this second one is worlds apart!"
"It's completely lost that jaw-dropping feeling the first one had!"
"And on top of that, Sayuka's character as the heroine has totally collapsed!"
Faced with Sonoko's rejection, Utaha's face went pale, though there was still a stubborn glint in her eyes.
"But… this is the story I wanted to write."
After pouring her heart and soul into it, only to be shot down again, Utaha was starting to get mad.
Seeing this, Sonoko's expression turned sharp, and she couldn't help but scold:
"I know you worked hard on this, but do you really want your writing career to end here?"
"This world isn't short on hardworking writers. There are plenty who worked themselves to the bone and still ended up with nothing—still getting rejection letters to this day."
"Shio, you're definitely talented… but you also got lucky that your first work blew up. If you don't polish your plot properly, and just rely on these empty, idealized scenes, people are going to feel nothing but emptiness reading it."
"If you were writing an isekai story, fine—this kind of thing wouldn't be a problem. In fact, being romantic and dreamy would be a plus. But you're writing a realistic setting— a school romance light novel!"
"Tell me, how the hell does the heroine jump off the eleventh floor and not die? And then still smile and confess to the male lead? Isn't that way too ridiculous?"
Sonoko's rant was like a sharp blade, stabbing straight into Utaha's heart.
The girl lowered her head guiltily, muttering under her breath, lips still pouting.
"Well… it's not like I've ever been in love, so I could only imagine it."
When she was writing it, she thought it was romantic—she even moved herself to tears.
After all, Sayuka—the heroine—was modeled directly after her.
But now that Sonoko had pointed it out, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Yeah… the plot was pretty over the top.
Sonoko rolled her eyes. "If it's really not working, just axe it halfway. Start something new instead!"
Utaha's expression stayed stubborn.
Writers, after all, sometimes get that "artistic" stubbornness—thinking their own work is flawless.
But from a professional editor's perspective, the problems in her story were glaring.
Sonoko could only sigh helplessly. What was she supposed to do if her genius, beautiful young author was already burning out?
"Shio, how about… you take a break from writing for a while, and go have a real romance?"
Utaha pouted at that.
"It's not that easy. The male lead I'm looking for hasn't shown up yet."
She wasn't about to just date some random guy for the sake of "research."
She wasn't that kind of woman. And to her, Sayuka in the story was basically herself.
If she was going to find someone, it had to be a man who genuinely made her heart race.
But she wasn't interested in the childish boys at school, and she definitely didn't want to date some middle-aged guy.
So, she stayed single.
Sonoko rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Then suddenly, she remembered something.
She pulled out a freshly printed, illustration-free book and handed it to Utaha.
"Shio, if you really don't want to give up, then focus on honing your plot. This is the work of a truly talented new author."
"Our publishing house is doing some promotions right now. Take this back with you and have a look. It might be helpful for your writing."
Utaha Kasumigaoka took the book from her and glanced at the cover, then couldn't help but purse her lips.
The title read: "The Tsundere Blonde Twin-Tails and the Black-Stockings Senpai's Youth Love Story is a Big Problem!"
…Miss Sonoko, are you blind or something?
A novel like this… can it really compare to her own work?
She was half amused and half speechless, but still decided to take the advice. She said goodbye to Sonoko Machida and left.
Sonoko Machida, however, watched her walk away with the corners of her mouth slightly raised.
"Utaha… I wonder what kind of face you'll make when you see such a familiar setting."
Because in Andrew's book, the "black-stockings senpai" Tsukimi Miyabi looked exactly like Utaha Kasumigaoka.
Even the fact that she was a light novel author, plus certain personality traits, felt like they'd been copied straight from Utaha herself.
With a knowing smile, Sonoko Machida pulled out her phone and dialed Andrew's number.
"Moshi moshi? This is Sonoko Machida."
"Oh, it's you, Miss Sonoko. Calling at this time—what's up?" Andrew asked curiously.
Machida let out a light laugh."Of course it's business. Have you logged into your author account recently? Thanks to our promotions and free previews, your book's been getting great feedback from readers."
"So, now we need an illustrator to design the characters and draw the inserts. Got anyone in mind?"
Hearing that, Andrew immediately perked up.
"Yeah, let's go with Eri Kashiwagi. Or Eromanga-sensei works too."
Machida froze for a moment.
"…Are you serious? You want to hire a hentai artist for your illustrations?" she couldn't help blurting out, her voice a little louder than usual.
But Andrew stayed perfectly calm.
"Of course I'm serious. Just those two. Help me get in touch with them."
Eri Kashiwagi—that's Eri, the textbook tsundere with blonde twin-tails.
And Eromanga-sensei? To be precise, that's the hentai manga artist, the white-haired loli Sagiri Izumi.
Though… at this point in time, he wasn't sure if Eromanga-sensei was still little Sagiri, or an adult woman who just looked exactly like her.
Either way, whoever it was, it'd be worth meeting.
Sonoko Machida stayed silent for a few seconds, then sighed in defeat.
"Fine… since you like these two ecchi artists so much, I'll reach out to them for you."
"Thanks, Miss Sonoko. I'm counting on you."
"..."
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