I really don't want to be reborn.

"Sure, you and Kirino can come together then."

After putting his phone away at the school gate, Kyosuke Kosaka pondered whether his sister had encountered some kind of injustice before calmly walking into the campus.

Even he found it difficult to write nearly twenty articles of different styles and types, especially with the tight schedule, as the cultural festival at Bianzhan High School was just next weekend.

"I can actually handle the content of the article if I put my heart into it. The problem now is the layout. A publication is not just about having text; it also needs a suitable and economical layout."

"Yo, good morning, Kousaka-kun."

"Good morning……"

While politely greeting acquaintances, I kept mentally rehearsing the page count, paper size, cover, layout, printing, staffing, color distribution, negotiations with relevant organizations, costs, and pricing...

"It's a bit difficult."

After calculating his schedule and whispering a few words with Kohei Akagi, Kyosuke Kosaka caught a few zombie club members who hadn't escaped after school, and barely managed to finish writing a travelogue about Kyoto before leaving school.

He didn't go home, but went straight to Wugeng's house.

Compared to that useless guy who only knows how to cry, Kuroko is definitely more trustworthy.

The doorbell rang: "Little black cat, business is here! Come out and greet the customer!"

The cat poked its head out, peering and sizing him up, before reluctantly letting him in: "Why are you smiling so slyly today? It feels like you're trying to trick me..."

"Will not."

"You're not going to screw me over, are you?"

While playing a character customization game with Tamaki, Kousaka gave her a thumbs up and laughed heartily: "Don't worry, when has your brother Kousaka ever tricked you?"

------

Is it too much to ask for votes at midnight?

Are you not even going to give me a recommendation vote?

Chapter Seven: Forehead to forehead, nose to nose.

Magazines are very complex things.

"Photobooks, encyclopedias, picture books, sometimes even comics, novels, game encyclopedias, or even maps of various places."

At Gokyo's house, Kyosuke Kosaka finally succeeded in outsourcing the magazine's layout and design work, though of course, outsourcing had to be done within the bounds of the law.

Kuroko knows how to make doujinshi and happens to know a little about magazine design, but not comprehensively or deeply enough. At least she hasn't grasped the basic framework yet, so Kousaka Kyosuke, the veteran, gave a few concise explanations.

However, the black cat still managed to ask that question.

"How come you're so skilled? How many times have you made magazines? I feel like you can do everything!"

"me?"

Kousaka Kyosuke rubbed little Tamaki's head with great pleasure, then held up his left thumb and forefinger to show her: "Just a little bit."

The black cat said dejectedly, "You're so modest."

“Magazines contain all the elements of photographs, illustrations, text, and graphic design. Literary publications are actually quite similar. Text and illustrations go without saying, but the rest is the key.”

There were several magazines in front of her that she had taken out of the room. These weren't for entertainment; they were the textbooks this guy used when he was learning to write.

Look at this attitude!

Both are writing novels, but Kuroneko's attitude is far more upright than Kirino's.

"With the emergence of the Haruki Murakami trend and the American literature trend, SWITCH and other technologies have become topics of great interest in the magazine industry... Um, sorry, this is the content of the speech, you don't need to write it down."

The black cat tilted its head blankly: "Switch?"

"It's not the one in the C language, it's just a magazine. I remember that the early Switch only had a few traditional and simple printing colors, but its distinctive layout impressed me and I still remember it now."

He used the pen that Xiaozhuxi used to draw Meruru to sketch a rough layout on the paper: "It's roughly this style, just don't make it too complicated or fancy."

The black cat stared at it for a long time before slowly nodding.

"You can do illustration yourself, and it's not very complicated. It's mainly small patterns and logos—then there are pictures, which are a bit more troublesome."

"Could you..."

Kyosuke Kosaka looked up from his thoughts: "You say it."

Kuroko really wanted to say, "Can you please let go of my sister, you lolicon?" But seeing how happy Tamaki was, she couldn't help but sigh, "I mean, can we just use anime pictures? Wouldn't that be much simpler?"

"That won't work; the era and the school's atmosphere don't allow it."

Since it's not allowed, the black cat can only feel regret.

Actually... she wanted to post a few more pictures of the Fallen Beasts.

"You've given me an idea."

Kyosuke Kosaka rested his chin on the top of Tamaki's head, inhaling the rich scent of a young girl's milk: "In the last century, Koga Hirano ran a news magazine."

"Who? What magazine?"

“The magazine was founded in the 1980s and contained a lot of text. Many pages were filled with text alone.”

He relaxed a little: "And those words were pasted on piece by piece with tweezers, just like the way crime declarations in detective movies are cut out from other articles."

"So... you're saying... you just cut out some pictures and paste them on? That means you'd have to paste them by hand, right?"

"Yes, fortunately, there are only a hundred copies of the publication for the school cultural festival."

"That'll exhaust the cat!"

The black cat rolled around on the ground in despair.

“They do over 800 pages a month, handling the entire magazine content by themselves. What’s your little bit of hard work? You can finish it in an afternoon.”

"You just want to save money, don't you!"

Is photocopying black and white photos cheaper than color photos?

Kyosuke Kosaka really wanted to save some money.

He took out a stack of student council funds and placed it on the table: "The paper and photocopying are all yours. If you need more, just call me. If there's anything left over..."

He smiled at Hyuga, who was peeking around, and said, "That's it, Kuroko, I have to go back now."

The black cat saw him to the door, blushing as if it wanted to say something.

"By the way, there's a copy of 'Brutus' on the table. This magazine does a lot of detail on each topic, and you can see different layouts in almost every issue. If you really have no inspiration, you can just 'borrow' from it."

"Yes, I've read that magazine many times."

"Anyway, the color theme should be light and heartwarming. Please don't be childish about this, please."

Upon hearing the word he disliked the most, the black cat took a deep breath and almost kicked his butt.

"As for the compensation, I won't discuss it with you. I've already discussed it with Kohinata."

Hinata Gokou claims to love money, so the fees she collects on behalf of her older sister won't be low. Her exorbitant demands and haggling make Kyosuke Kousaka think she's a much more sensible younger sister than Kirino.

"Money is very important, Black Cat."

This doesn't apply to relationships between family members or lovers.

When friends ask someone to do something for them, taking up their time, they should of course pay for it.

He wouldn't say nice things, bend down and beg, or bring some fruit and snacks to their door. He certainly wouldn't use the friendship between the black cat and Kirino to... blackmail their friendship.

Is that the correct way to put it?

This is the same principle as getting along with women.

A man who tries to please a woman with snacks is nothing more than a woman's snack in life.

"I won't take any money, after all, you helped me set up a stall last time."

"You can't calculate the debt of gratitude like that."

He turned to look at her: "I have a feeling that if I don't give you money, you'll post our cringeworthy photos from the comics."

No!

The black cat's little face turned blush.

There are few truths in this world, and a young girl's blush is more powerful than a long speech.

…………

Dark clouds churned and twisted.

In his dream, he was like a furious man, fighting and struggling in the sea, wrestling with an unseen enemy.

A surge of anger.

Lightning struck him with a whoosh.

Fate is ruthless and unpredictable.

Like a monster.

"Sometimes I wonder if I am a clock used by the gods of the universe to keep time, turning around like the minute hand every four years or so, and then returning to the previous position."

"Kyosuke, go rinse your mouth. You've been muttering to yourself since you woke up this morning. Are you experiencing sleep paralysis? What are you saying?"

"Mom, I'm saying I'll do my best to live my ordinary life."

"..."

"Is my brother going through a chuunibyou phase? Did he catch it from that dead cat?"

Kirino knew he had been going to the black cat's house these past few days, and she felt a pang of jealousy. Even the salad she ate tasted sour, and she immediately complained, "Mom, how much vinegar did you put in your salad?"

Jia Nai's mother was extremely unhappy when her daughter said that: "Next time, have your brother make breakfast!"

Kirino was overjoyed: "Yay! Yay!"

"I'll make you sick from all that salt!"

What's wrong with a time traveler from China eating saltier food?

Why is there such a big problem with adding more salt?

Have you ever heard of salt-fried pork?