Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

Chapter 109 The Advantages of a Transmigrator (Daily Life) 4K

After driving Erina home to rest for a while, that evening, together with Ayane Takeda and Akane Natsume, who had made prior arrangements, they went to the Michelin three-star French restaurant that Eri Aragaki had booked in advance to celebrate.

Just this November, Michelin released its first Tokyo guide, the first Michelin guide in Asia.

Although Michelin is a tire company, they are actually quite good at rating restaurants, and their standards, from one star to three stars, are widely recognized worldwide.

Moreover, at that time, Michelin ratings were not as widespread as they would be in later years, and they still held considerable value. In the first edition of the Tokyo guide, only eight restaurants were awarded three stars.

Anyway, for people like Eri Aragaki who aren't professionals and don't frequent high-end restaurants often, referring to guidance from professionals is definitely a good idea.

As for why Eri Aragaki and the others didn't go to a Chinese restaurant—

As mentioned before, Chinese food has become a staple for Eri Aragaki and her friends.

With Chinese food becoming more like everyday meals, celebrations definitely need to be a bit more special.

Besides, it's not bad to occasionally enjoy a nice meal. In any case, Eri Aragaki is quite wealthy now. The royalties from the reprint of the first volume of her manga have just arrived, and the pre-sale of the second volume is already scheduled.

That evening, Eri Aragaki drove three girls to the Michelin three-star French restaurant in Ginza.

The streets of Ginza are brightly lit at night, filled with office workers who have just finished get off work and young people who come to stroll around.

The environment here is also quite luxurious. After all, everyone knows that the more upscale the restaurant, the more important the environment is. The environment and service are both part of the high price.

The restaurant's interior lighting was dim, with a separate spotlight shining on the white tablecloth above each table. Several abstract paintings hung on the walls, and the background music was piano music at just the right volume.

In short, the decor of French restaurants is basically the same.

"We have an appointment."

After Eri Aragaki gave her reservation information, the receptionist checked it against the register and then smiled and asked them to follow her over.

They were led to their reserved table, a four-person table by the window, where the cutlery was already neatly set out, the silver cutlery gleaming softly under the light.

"Please wait a moment, guests—"

After ordering, Ayane Takeda and Erina started looking around.

The main purpose is to appreciate the ambiance of a high-end restaurant, from the crystal chandelier on the ceiling to the dish on the next table that was served in a silver shroud by the waiter.

Ayane Takeda took out her phone and started snapping photos everywhere. Although the camera resolution of flip phones in that era was limited, the photos looked okay on the small screen, but became blurry when enlarged on a computer.

But that didn't stop people from taking photos with their phones when they didn't have professional cameras, and taking a lot of pictures whenever they went to a special place.

"Erina, thank you so much. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to come to a place like this. Congratulations on getting into Waseda University."

At this moment, Natsume Akane smiled and said to Erina with high emotional intelligence, raising the glass of sparkling water that had just been poured on the table and gently swirling it towards Erina.

"Yes, congratulations Erina on getting into Waseda University."

Ayane Takeda then realized what was happening, quickly put down her phone, and raised her glass as well.

"Thank you Akane-san and Ayane-san for your blessings."

Erina smiled and raised her own cup in response.

She was clearly in a good mood today; the nervousness from the morning interview had completely dissipated, and she looked much more relaxed. "But I should thank my sister more. I actually think celebrating at home at first would have been enough."

"This is something to celebrate!"

Eri Aragaki's eyes widened, and she said earnestly, still holding the menu in her hand, "It's not really a celebration at home, and actually, I wanted to try what French food at a Michelin three-star restaurant is like."

In her previous life, she had tried restaurants with one or two Michelin stars. After all, Michelin stars were already widespread in the Republic back then, and it wasn't just high-end restaurants that could be awarded them; even Chinese restaurants had them.

After all, the Michelin rating doesn't consider the cuisine; it only evaluates the taste. If you cook well, you can get on the list.

In her previous life, Eri Aragaki had eaten at some one- or two-star restaurants when she was traveling with friends. The average cost per person was not expensive, usually around 800 to 1000 yuan for four or five people.

To be honest, opinions on these ratings vary.

Some of the food was delicious, while others made her and her friends feel cheated, suspecting that the Michelin judges had been bribed.

Overall, however, it is still trustworthy.

After all, it's unlikely that someone would create a rating system purely to mislead people.

If that were the case, the reputation of Michelin restaurant ratings wouldn't have remained consistently good, and so many diners around the world wouldn't have continued to use it as a reference.

In her previous life, Eri Aragaki had also tried several restaurants. Some were indeed decent, while others were just average. The biggest problem was that they were too expensive and had extremely low cost-performance.

But Erika Aragaki, a country bumpkin, had never been to a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in her previous life, since such places are very expensive.

The cost per person often starts at several thousand yuan, and after eating one meal, you can only live frugally for a month.

With that money, Eri Aragaki in her previous life would have been better off ordering more takeout or adding a chicken leg to her meal.

In her past life, Eri Aragaki still felt that restaurants with high cost-performance ratios suited her best; delicious food at a reasonable price was the key.

But this life is different, since I'm rich now, and with money, it's not like I can't try it.

Having been given a second chance at life, one should try new things and experience those things one couldn't bear to experience in one's previous life, so that this life won't have been in vain.

"Then let's have a good taste later."

Erina smiled and placed her hands on the tablecloth, her eyes shining, "Michelin restaurant? This is the first time I've heard of it. I heard that restaurants rated Michelin are really amazing."

"We'll have to see if they really have the skills."

Eri Aragaki's expression was strange. She coughed, then picked up her cup, took a sip of water to moisten her throat, and said in a slightly more serious tone, "Let's explore this restaurant and really try it out."

"What does 'exploring a restaurant' mean, senior?"

Just then, Ayane Takeda asked in confusion, tilting her head to look at Eri Aragaki.

"Of course, it's like we're eating in the store now, just like those food exploration shows on TV."

Natsume Akane immediately continued.

"That's right, but people who appear on food exploration shows on TV are usually paid by the producers, so it's hard to say whether it's true or not."

""

Eri Aragaki said, putting the menu aside, "The restaurant review model is like showing ordinary people as realistically as possible what the food in the restaurant is really like and whether it's really that delicious."

"And then you'll be on TV shows?"

"But it's not easy to get on TV programs, right? The TV stations wouldn't let us on," Ayane Takeda said curiously.

"We definitely won't go on TV, and there's no way they'd let us on."

Eri Aragaki immediately replied, waving her hand, "It's mainly about posting it on online platforms like YouTube to attract fans and stuff like that —"

In this parallel world, YouTube has already appeared, and it's incredibly popular.

However, surprisingly, no danmaku (bullet comment) websites like Nico Nico Douga appeared.

This is probably due to the differences between parallel universes.

However, if YouTube is popular, then posting videos on YouTube and becoming a video blogger is all the same.

Especially if this is a food exploration video.

As she was talking, she suddenly noticed that Erina, Natsume Akane, and Takeda Ayane were all staring at her, and the three of them stopped what they were doing at the same time, as if they were very shocked.

Ayane Takeda was still a little confused. She scratched her head and said, "But what's the point of posting it online?!"

"Of course it's useful. After all, traditional television media also use programs for promotion, and attracting sponsors by airing GG is a way to make money."

At this moment, Erina took over the conversation. She placed her hands on the table and said, "If the model that you mentioned can really attract a lot of attention and turn the audience into fans, then there is a lot of room for operation."

Online videos don't need TV time slots or investment from Google; as long as the content is good enough, it can build its own fanbase.

Her eyes were getting brighter as she spoke, clearly having taken the idea a step further after processing it: "It could even be about promoting my sister's comics and attracting attention to them."

YouTube's audience includes many young people, which overlaps with the readership of comics.

She is very quick-witted; after all, she was an outstanding student who got into Waseda University, and in that respect, her grades were the highest among those present!

"That's amazing!"

Ayane Takeda finally understood. She leaned back in her chair to process what she had just heard, then looked at Eri Aragaki with admiration and said, "As expected of your senior, these ideas are all so good."

Eri Aragaki was a little embarrassed at this moment, as these were actually common tactics used by internet celebrities in later years.

Self-media store visits, product recommendation videos, and influencer-driven sales were already common business models in her previous life. Every milk tea shop on the street knew to hire internet celebrities to shoot videos.

She had already witnessed the kind of upheaval these tactics would cause in the later internet age, so she was just mentioning it as a topic of conversation.

Therefore, being a time traveler does indeed have a significant advantage.

If it weren't for the cheat code, Eri Aragaki probably wouldn't have fared so badly. Those precognitive advantages would have made her an internet celebrity and allowed her to earn even more money in the future.

The most difficult part for time travelers is actually needing the initial capital.

Once you have the initial capital, you can make a lot of money passively, whether you invest in cryptocurrencies or stocks like Apple, Tencent, or Alibaba.

Eri Aragaki has now secured her first round of start-up capital through her manga, so things will definitely be much easier for her from now on.

Life is as easy as turning your hand!

But just then—

"Hello there."

Suddenly, a middle-aged foreign chef walked over, surrounded by several waiters pushing a food cart.

He was dressed in a pristine white chef's uniform, with a tall chef's hat on his head and a restaurant badge pinned to his chest.

He greeted Eri Aragaki with a smile, speaking in broken Japanese.

"Hello----"

Erina and Ayane Takeda were immediately confused. When they saw this person, who was obviously a head chef, come to the table in person, they reflexively stood up and returned the greeting to the foreign chef.

Natsume Akane also stood up and nodded politely.

However, only Eri Aragaki felt a sudden jolt in her heart.

Especially when I heard that foreign chef's obviously "0IdMoney" laughter —

His perfectly measured, gentle smile, coupled with the two food carts pushed by the waiter beside him, each covered with a silver, hemispherical lid, was accompanied by him gently rubbing his hands together, his eyes narrowing into slits as he smiled.

Buhou!

My wallet!

This situation probably means she just ordered some very expensive chef's recommended dish; only a chef would be smiling so happily like that.

And it really was true!

The restaurant's head chef then happily showed them the two main dishes they had just ordered, which were recommended by the restaurant. He even made an exaggerated gesture when he lifted the silver cover.

Forget truffle foie gras with Burgundy red wine and pear, forget pan-seared Brittany blue lobster with lobster sauce —

Then he happily went on to introduce the ingredients, from their origins to the inspiration behind the cooking, each sentence radiating absolute confidence in his skills.

A Japanese waiter nearby acted as a translator, conveying his words to Erii Aragaki.

Finally, he praised Eri Aragaki and the other girls for being very beautiful, then said he hoped they liked it, and left with the waiters.

About an hour later, when Eri Aragaki looked at the bill at the checkout, her heart was bleeding because—half a month's worth of royalties was gone just like that.

The two chef's recommended dishes were more expensive than the entire regular menu, while the other dishes were at a normal price. When the restaurant added the drinks and service charge, the total jumped to a height she had never expected.

At this moment, she calmly prepared to start this expensive dinner with Natsume Akane and the others.

"Sister, what's wrong?"

Erina was clearly still confused, but she thought the chef was really polite.

"It's nothing —"

Eri Aragaki forced a smile, picked up a knife and fork, cut off a small piece of foie gras, and put it in her mouth.

She decided not to spoil Erina's happy mood after getting accepted into Waseda University. The money was spent, and the royalties would arrive next month anyway.

"By the way, senior, when does the year-end party start tomorrow? Should I change into a nicer outfit?"

"I only have one formal outfit," said Ayane Takeda, sounding worried. She put a small piece of lobster meat in her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then added, "I only have one formal outfit, which I bought when I was interviewing for a part-time job."

"It'll probably start around 2 PM, and it's not anything too important. Well, it is important, but not too grand."

Eri Aragaki then said, wiping her mouth with a napkin, "After all, it's not on TV. It's just an internal gathering of manga artists and editors at Shueisha. There are no media taking pictures."

And they're all comic artists, they probably wouldn't dress too formally, right?

After all, most comic artists are otaku, and the stereotype of otaku is that they don't care much about clothing or anything like that.

Of course, this is just a stereotype, and when it comes to formal occasions, most people wouldn't dress casually.

"Then I'm relieved."

Ayane Takeda relaxed a little, leaned back in her chair, and continued to enjoy her food.

She speared a piece of blue lobster with her fork and put it in her mouth. The rich sauce and the sweetness of the lobster meat collided on her tongue. She immediately covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide, and exclaimed exaggeratedly, "It's really delicious!"

"Then I'll drive to pick you up tomorrow and we'll go to the Shangri-La Hotel."

Eri Aragaki was also tasting it, and the taste was indeed good, truly worth the price. She said, "Everyone, please prepare in advance. I'll go pick up Akane first, and then Ayane."

"no problem."

Erina, Natsume Akane, and Takeda Ayane all spoke in unison.

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