In a blink of an eye, it was the weekend.
Izumi Chihiro was not participating in an interview program for the first time, so he was quite familiar with it and felt very calm.
However, just as he was taking it easy, a huge sensation was caused in the light novel world.
Kani Nayuta, one of the super popular light novelists known as one of the industry's two pillars, actually appeared at such an event!
That was definitely a rare occurrence!
Up until now, the true identities of Izumi Masamune, Kani Nayuta, and Senju Muramasa have been highly secretive, known only to those close to them, so the confidentiality work has been quite successful.
Among them, Senju Muramasa has not revealed a single detail; whether she is male or female, her age, everything remains a mystery, and even when the anime adaptation was decided three months ago, contact from the animation production company was rejected.
As for Kani Nayuta's identity, everyone knows she is a female author, but nothing else is known.
Being a female author isn't such a rare thing.
Yamada Elf, who debuted almost at the same time as Izumi Masamune, and Kasumigaoka Utaha, who recently debuted, are famous beautiful girl writers and have no intention of deliberately hiding their identities.
Therefore, the real reason Kani Nayuta receives so much attention is her extraordinary popularity; too many readers want to know the author who wrote such moving works.
At this point, adding another renowned author, Izumi Masamune, makes everyone even more curious.
What kind of interactions will there be between these two?
What is their true relationship?
This is truly something that tugs at people's heartstrings!
On Twitter, Kani Nayuta has retweeted and commented many times on information about puella magi madoka magica; besides that, her account has no other uses, and she even specifically went to the livestream to congratulate during a previous broadcast.
This is enough to show that 'Izumi Masamune' is indeed special to 'Kani Nayuta,' and not just a simple relationship between two authors handled by the same editor.
All these answers will finally be revealed today!
...
Even before the livestream officially started, many people were already impatient and had entered the broadcast room, waiting for the screen to begin.
"Hmph, what a clever scheme. Isn't this just deliberately fabricating topics, creating hype, shipping a couple, and thereby increasing buzz and consolidating popularity?"
Eriri opened the livestream, looked at the constantly incoming messages and the unusually high viewership, and let out a cold snort.
It must be said, this is indeed a good promotional tactic!
For authors, it not only solidifies their popularity but also serves as a mutual recommendation for both their fanbases, which can be said to be a win-win situation.
As his childhood friend, she should be happy, but why is she so annoyed?
Even though Nayuta is one of her three favorite authors!
The livestream began.
Machida Sonoko appeared in the upper position, starting to host, while the left and right positions were reserved for the other two.
"Hello everyone, I'm Machida Sonoko, and it's great to see you all again! It feels like it's been a while since we last met, hasn't it? Today is everyone's favorite segment again, and I'm sure you're all very excited, right? Because that person is coming too."
"Tsk tsk, looking at this popularity, it has probably already surpassed the peak moment of this livestream, and it's still rising... Could this be Nayuta-sensei's charm?"
Machida Sonoko said with a beaming smile.
"Cough cough."
Izumi Chihiro coughed, announcing his presence.
"Ah, I almost forgot, have we already connected with Izumi-sensei!?
Machida Sonoko feigned a look of surprise.
"Although compared to Nayuta, I'm not as dazzling, please don't ignore my presence, Miss Sonoko!"
Izumi Chihiro said in a dramatic style.
["Hahaha, Izumi-sensei's acting is terrible!"]
["Does the Old Thief like to create such showmanship?"]
["Izumi-sensei is really interesting; you really can't tell an author's true nature just from their works."]
["Alright, alright, Old Thief, your era is over! No one would actually come here just to see the Old Thief, would they?"]
["Has Kani Nayuta-sensei not arrived yet?"]
The bullet comments scrolled by.
"It seems everyone can't wait, so now, let's welcome everyone's favorite Kani Nayuta-sensei to the stage!"
Machida Sonoko's red lips parted slightly, her eyes filled with a smile.
On the right side appeared the character image of the protagonist from silver season, a girl who looks youthful and beautiful, yet her eyes are filled with sadness.
In the story, a girl who has experienced a silver, indifferent life meets many people in one winter, within a single season, witnesses various lives and different kinds of suffering, and finally achieves great enlightenment in the winter snow, recovering her spirit.
Perhaps, this is also the imagined impression everyone has of Kani Nayuta.
Therefore, Kani Nayuta's subsequent performance greatly surprised them!
"Machida-san, good evening! I'm Kani Nayuta, and I think this is my first time meeting everyone... So, I wish you all happiness! I hope that after reading my senior's works, you will still be full of 'love and hope,' and not become numb and indifferent because of this society..."
Kani Nayuta's voice was unexpectedly sweet, not like the artistic young woman style everyone had anticipated, which was truly surprising.
It's hard to imagine that a work like "Silver Season" could be written by someone of this age... That's not quite accurate; it should be said that such profound understanding and writing style, without the accumulation of years, would not be able to move people to tears.
But Kani Nayuta truly achieved it.
Therefore, this is a true genius!
"Oh my, it seems everyone is very surprised; many people guessed Nayuta-sensei's age incorrectly! That's right, Nayuta-sensei is indeed that young, no doubt about it!"
Machida Sonoko looked at the scrolling bullet comments, her lips curving into a wide smile.
"Eh, is it strange? Everyone, didn't you notice that I kept using the term 'senior' to address Izumi-sensei?"
Kani Nayuta also started to get playful.
Normal people wouldn't think so much; they would certainly assume it's a senior-junior relationship based on debut order, not an age-related fact.
"Oh, by the way, let me tell you a little secret: I actually used that 'senior' title even before I debuted, and I embarked on the path of becoming a light novelist because of my senior..."
Kani Nayuta seized on everyone's love for gossip and timely dropped this bombshell.
"Hmm? Is there some hidden story behind this?"
Machida Sonoko's expression was puzzled, with no trace of pretense.
She truly didn't know about this.
She was also very curious about the story between these two!
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💯 PS = 2 bonus chapter