A Single Person's Infinite Wonderful Life

(Thank you for your understanding, teacher. The amount of publicity we can do is limited.)

Li Wei received a reply from Machida Sonoko and learned how he should promote "The Demon King". If he were allowed to promote it freely, the book's sales might reach the top level in the industry, with the first volume selling hundreds of thousands of copies.

He could even commission paperback publishers to bind his various illustrations and promotional posters into books and make another fortune. After all, it's easy to make money off otaku, so why not?

However, while Li Wei may not be the only one in the industry to achieve something like this, he is certainly among the very few. Illustrators are extremely expensive, especially top-tier artists whose work guarantees quality. Each piece can cost hundreds of thousands of yen, and sometimes a single painting is equivalent to a month's income for an average person.

While light novel authors can earn a lot, hiring illustrators to promote their work individually is extremely expensive, and most ordinary light novel authors cannot afford such costly promotional methods.

This is why most light novel illustrations in the industry are provided by artists pre-arranged by the paperback publishers; very few people would specifically ask an artist to create a separate set of promotional artwork for them.

Furthermore, the publishing house is happy to see Li Wei promote himself, as it's a win-win situation, and they don't need to spend extra money on illustrations. The better the promotion, the more light novels are sold, and the higher the publishing house's revenue will be. The author's royalties will also increase accordingly, so the publishing house is happy to see Li Wei expand the market.

Chapter 51. Seeking Help

After finishing three illustrations, Li Wei began his journey of slacking off. He still had many anime he hadn't started watching, but once he actually started, he discovered that the world of anime also has all sorts of deep pits and unanswerable questions.

Among them were terrible works with awful plots, relying solely on animation and voice acting to carry them, and mediocre works that were easy to forget about the characters and plot after watching them. When Li Wei discovered an anime that could be called a masterpiece, with excellent plot, animation, and even voice acting, he discovered that the original author had passed away, and the story was left unfinished.

These various situations are no different from those in the real world.

The real world is a mix of masterpieces and flops, and this world is no exception. Li Wei will keep the works he finds good after reading them. As for the truly awful ones, he'll delete them and replace them with new gems.

Li Wei watches anime at 1.5x speed. His thinking ability is twice that of an average person, so watching anime at 1.5x speed is no different for him than watching it at normal speed.

Watching anime is also a source of inspiration for Li Wei, since he's now a light novel author. Observing various anime plot patterns is always beneficial. Japanese light novels differ somewhat from Chinese web novels, and directly introducing the style of Chinese web novels might lead to cultural incompatibility.

"There's still an hour until the game time I agreed with my senior." Li Wei checked the time. It was still relatively early. He could go downstairs for a late-night snack and then leisurely come back to play games. He had to admit, this kind of life was truly enjoyable.

Just then, a notification popped up in the LINE app.

"Hmm? Did you finish your work so early today, senior?" Li Wei asked, somewhat surprised.

However, he had finished all his work for the day, so he could start playing games now. As for a late-night snack, the apartment's refrigerator was stocked with various drinks, low-alcohol beverages, and desserts. In addition, he had bought a bento box at a convenience store not far from the apartment on his way back; he could just heat it up in the microwave if he wanted to eat it. Moreover, there were also various snacks in a dedicated storage cabinet.

The otaku community knows how to enjoy life. As long as they have the financial means, they can come up with all sorts of otaku-style enjoyment methods that are unheard of by ordinary people.

However, when Li Wei opened the message box, he was a little confused when he saw the nickname on the other end, because it wasn't Kasumigaoka Utaha who was contacting him, but Sawamura Eriri, whom he had barely spoken to.

"Li Weijun, are you there?"

"Yes, is there anything I can help you with, Eriri-san?"

"There's no need to be so polite, Li Weijun. You can just call me Eriri. I have a small question I'd like to ask. It's about painting."

Li Wei was somewhat surprised. Eriri, with her strong sense of pride and arrogant personality, would find it difficult to admit that she was inferior to others. Given her personality, her willingness to lower her head and ask him for advice must have involved a considerable internal struggle.

"I'll answer anything you know; just send me your questions."

Eriri Sawamura sent over a picture directly. It was a digital painting that reproduced the brushstrokes of an oil painting using digital painting techniques. If you don't look closely, it really does have some of the charm of a traditional oil painting.

Artists aren't omnipotent. Some are only skilled in digital painting and can't even mix colors when painting on paper or canvas. Others, who excel only in physical art, struggle to draw a straight line on a computer, and their brushstrokes are incredibly stiff. Both physical and digital painting have their advantages and disadvantages. Artists who are proficient in both are not exactly rare, but they are not many either.

Eriri is quite accomplished in both fields, but she is slightly weaker in electronic painting. Of course, this slight weakness is only relative. To ordinary people, she is a tentacle monster.

Li Wei examined the landscape painting carefully. Eriri's composition and details were quite excellent, but she lacked experience in color and light and shadow.

The painting is a picture of a forest path, drawn from an oblique angle. It depicts a path covered with fallen leaves, with lush trees on both sides. Above, through the gaps in the leaves, one can see the azure sky.

"The lighting and shadows in this painting are very strange. I've revised it seven or eight times, but it's getting worse with each revision. Li Weijun, could you help me point out the problem?"

At this moment, after typing this message, Eriri Sawamura felt a little uneasy. She and Li Wei were not very familiar with each other. Although they were now teammates, they did not communicate much.

Li Wei was unaware of Eriri Sawamura's little schemes, and he replied directly.

"Because we're not face-to-face, I can't give you direct advice. Give me ten minutes, and I'll revise the painting and send it to you. You can then compare the original and the revised image to see where the problem lies."

Li Wei is a few years older than Eriri and has accumulated years of experience, which Eriri cannot catch up with simply through talent. Moreover, Li Wei's skills have greatly improved, and his painting techniques have long since reached a state of perfection. If it weren't for his age, he would be worthy of being called a master. With his abilities, he is more than capable of guiding Eriri.

Li Wei opened Photoshop directly, dragged the original artwork sent by Eriri into the software, created a new layer on it, and began to adjust the overall tone of the painting, then added light and more details.

In less than ten minutes, Li Wei had finished revising the painting. There weren't many changes overall; he simply brightened the overall color tone. However, because Eriri sent it in JPG format instead of PSD, he spent a little more time adjusting the background. But for Li Wei, this was as simple as eating and drinking.

Eriri's forest path, due to the lighting, gives a slightly quiet and gloomy feeling. Li Wei added some warm-colored oblique light to the picture, which directly divided the whole picture and made the picture more layered. Combined with the warm yellow light spots added to the ground and tree trunks, the forest, which should be in the afternoon, becomes a morning forest, with an indescribable sense of vitality.

Finally, I adjusted the color of the sky slightly, added some details to the clouds, and painted an old man with only his back to me leading a hunting dog and holding a hunting rifle on the forest path. Suddenly, the style of the whole painting became more retro, like an ancient work depicting rural life in the 18th and 19th centuries, full of historical sense.

After completing all of this, Li Wei saved the revised work as a PSD file and sent it directly to Eriri. The reason for not converting the format was to preserve the layer information of the image so that Eriri could clearly see what he had changed. This could be considered a technical gift from a senior to a junior.

Chapter 52. Uncle Nine Also Exists in This World

While waiting, Eriri did nothing else but wait patiently for the message from Li Wei. When she saw the file Li Wei sent, she quickly clicked to save it and then thanked him.

The LINE app is not a drawing software, so it cannot display thumbnails in PSD format; she can only drag and drop the file into Photoshop to open it.

"Amazing..." Eriri murmured unconsciously. Li Wei's painting skills had left her far behind. That propaganda poster was not a work of luck, but rather Li Wei's skills were just that amazing.

This painting was a small assignment given to her privately by a university lecturer: how to use digital painting to create a traditional oil painting style. However, this kind of landscape subject was not her forte, so unsurprisingly, this situation occurred.

Despite repeated revisions, she was still not satisfied. In desperation, she could only turn to Li Wei, who had also been admitted to Tokyo University of the Arts ahead of schedule, to see just how talented this light novel writer from Japan really was.

The truth is somewhat disheartening; compared to Li Wei, she is still far too naive.

When the two paintings were placed side by side for comparison, the difference in quality was immediately apparent. She could tell at a glance that Li Wei's revised painting was far more perfect.

On the other side, Li Wei didn't take Eriri's thanks to heart, because it was nothing to him.

Li Wei left his computer, took a bento box and a two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola from the refrigerator, and then took two boxes of potato chips and a box of Oreos from the storage cabinet. He put the bento box in the microwave to heat it up, and placed all the other snacks and drinks on the computer desk. Li Wei had a habit that many introverted men had: eating while playing on the computer.

Many male gamers have all sorts of dirt and grime in the gaps between the keys on their keyboards, mostly caused by eating while using the computer.

However, Li Wei is quite particular about cleanliness. Every two or three days, he would remove the keycaps from his mechanical keyboard and clean the gaps between the keys, trying his best to keep his old friend in top condition.

He's been using the mechanical keyboard he's been using for over two years now, and he's developed a real attachment to it.

After bringing out the heated bento box, Li Wei returned to the ergonomic chair. However, this time he didn't watch anime, but instead watched an old-fashioned fantasy film from China, "The Taoist Priest of Maoshan," starring Uncle Nine.

This world not only has many anime that don't exist in the real world, but also movies. Uncle Nine from the real world also passed away early in this world, but the number of fantasy movies left behind by Uncle Nine in this world is three times that of Uncle Nine in the real world. For Li Wei, a fan of old movies, this is even more exciting than winning the lottery.

In this world, Uncle Nine turned "The Taoist Priest" into a whole series, with a total of nine films. Each one was a box office hit in Hong Kong at the time, and his fantasy films were quite well-known throughout Southeast Asia.

Even more remarkably, Uncle Nine's films in this world have influenced the metaphysical circles of Southeast Asia, leading to shamans in countries like the Land of the Ladyboys and the Land of the Monkeys also acquiring a sliver of Maoshan magic. Of course, Li Wei only heard about these things online in this world, and he had no way of verifying their veracity. However, Uncle Nine also enjoys considerable popularity in Japan, not quite on par with a certain dragon, but not far behind.

Fantasy movie enthusiasts in Japan have said that when watching Uncle Nine's fantasy movies, no matter how terrifying the monsters and demons are, as soon as Uncle Nine appears, the audience feels a sense of security, as if there is no monster or demon that Uncle Nine cannot solve.

With less than an hour left until the agreed time with Kasumigaoka Utaha, Li Wei knew he wouldn't be able to finish the movie. However, he decided to watch as much as he could. He never adjusted the playback speed when watching Uncle Nine's movies, as he considered it disrespectful to Uncle Nine's acting skills.

Li Wei was in a good mood as he ate his bento box with gusto and enjoyed the unique magical film by Uncle Nine.

He made a decision: the materials he was taking with him wouldn't just be anime. He also planned to copy all of the unique Nine Uncle movies from this world. Although he couldn't show off these treasures, it would be a pleasure even if he only enjoyed them by himself.

Many people say that sharing happiness is worse than enjoying it alone, but Li Wei wants to say that many people can't experience the joy of enjoying happiness alone.

When Kasumigaoka Utaha sent him a message, Li Wei opened the LINE client. He had to admit that the LINE client in this world was quite user-friendly. It was somewhat like a penguin, but without as many fancy features. Instead, it focused on perfecting the core functions, making it comfortable to use.

"Li Weijun, are you there?"

"I'm here, shall we start the game now?"

"No rush, I'd like you to review my manuscript and see how my new work is written."

"I'd be happy to help. With your writing skills, I can guarantee a minimum quality."

Kasumigaoka Utaha sent over a TXT document. Influenced by Li Wei, she also started using the Black Room. However, the version she was using was the version after Li Wei's neon transformation, which only retained the core functions. Functions such as online name generation had to be removed by Li Wei.

Even this clean version of the Japanese language version of the Black Room is still better than most document processing software on the market. Kasumigaoka Utaha has already learned to enjoy the sound effects that come with the Black Room when typing. These magical sound effects have increased her typing efficiency by more than 25%.

Li Wei received the document sent by Kasumigaoka Utaha and, using his powerful thinking speed, skimmed through it, yet read it with meticulous care. This was only the first 30,000 words of the first volume. Kasumigaoka Utaha, with her delicate writing, had created a superpowered boy with high intelligence and a rational and calm personality.

Although it differs somewhat from the mainstream style currently on the market, upon closer examination, Li Wei saw the shadow of a certain anime character in Kasumigaoka Utaha's protagonist, who may not necessarily be considered a good person. That character is Giorno Giovanna, the fifth protagonist of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Although Giorno Giovanna is a gangster, he possesses a dazzling golden spirit. While Kasumigaoka Utaha's young protagonist isn't described in much detail, Levi has a feeling that he will be a ruthless character like Giorno Giovanna, and he is very much looking forward to the story to come.

Chapter 53. Utaha Kasumigaoka's Transformation Work

"Senior, your style has changed quite a bit this time. Do you have a rough outline?"

Li Wei typed rapidly on the keyboard. Kasumigaoka Utaha's transformation this time was huge. She was quite good at romance themes, after all, her delicate writing style and descriptions of emotions were a huge advantage.

Kasumigaoka Utaha's current transformation is equivalent to abandoning what she is best at and turning to a completely new field. Although it's not to say that her delicate writing style is useless, the place where she can fully exert her talents is still not as good as the romance genre.

"The general outline is about a boy with superpowers who has lost his memory. While being hunted by a mysterious enemy, he regains his memories, saves the girl he loves who is in enemy territory, and finally has a happy ending."

"Is the overall color scheme warm or cool? Although the story ends happily, were there too many twists and turns in the middle? Light novel readers don't have that high tolerance for hardship. They can't even accept the protagonist's minor setbacks. If this storyline of being constantly hunted down isn't handled well, it's easy for readers to abandon the book."

"Don't worry, the overall tone of the story is warm, because the protagonist himself is the ceiling of combat power in this work, possessing the ability to suppress the entire battlefield by himself. Although he has lost his memory, his combat power is completely unaffected, so the protagonist doesn't even have a chance to suffer a defeat."

"That's fine. If it's just about solving a mystery, it won't bother the readers."

"This time, I changed to a new style. The protagonist's character is a tough guy. When designing the character, I referenced the protagonist of the game Doom and Dante, the protagonist of Devil May Cry, a seemingly calm but actually somewhat cynical and reckless character."

"This kind of character is not easy to write. It seems to be a character who is rough around the edges but meticulous at heart."

"Li Weijun, you should be quite familiar with this type of character design, right? I'll need your help with the descriptions of some of the big scenes later on."

The war scenes depicted in the later part of the first volume of "The Demon King" showed Kasumigaoka Utaha Li Wei's formidable writing skills. The relatively short descriptions vividly portrayed the brutal environment of war in the aristocratic era, where the common people were treated as less than human.

The protagonist and his bandits are hired by nobles as mercenaries. They take advantage of the chaos on the battlefield, mostly bullying ordinary peasant soldiers. Occasionally, they use new hook-and-sickle spears and dirty tricks to ambush the knights, quickly dragging them off their horses and killing them. Then they drag the knight and his horse away to a relatively secluded place to strip them of their armor.

Li Wei's depiction of large-scale scenes is far superior to that of ordinary light novel writers. If Li Wei's descriptions of war are real war, then the wars described by most light novel writers are just chickens and ducks fighting.

Although it might be a bit unkind to say it like that, in Kasumigaoka Utaha's opinion, that's just how it is.

With the older generation of top light novel authors retiring one after another, the number of new generation light novel authors who can depict war scenes realistically can be counted on one hand in the entire industry.

Li Wei replied.

"That's no problem, but to write a good large-scale scene, you need to do some research. For example, when writing about ancient battlefields, you need to have a considerable understanding of various ancient military knowledge, including weapons and equipment, formations, military capabilities, as well as language and customs. The more you know, the more realistic and detailed your description of ancient battlefields will be. The same goes for modern battlefields. Basic common sense knowledge is essential, and when it comes to superpower battles, you need to balance the various abilities in advance to avoid the story becoming bland and uninteresting."