Tokyo Soft Rice King.

After hearing a long list of shortcomings, Shiori Shirai suddenly felt a little embarrassed when she was praised.

She thought she was already tired of hearing praise and flattery when she won the award.

It seems that the approval of those people is insignificant to him... but Kuroba Akira's approval touched his heart.

Ah... so this is what he meant by being lucky enough to find a true friend...

It feels like having a confidant... It's not quite the same as having just friends.

Shiori Shirai silently savored these feelings, hoping to receive more recognition and praise from him in the future.

"Creative works cannot be divorced from reality, life, or the real world. Even fantasy novels are meant to make up for the shortcomings of reality. What you lack now is 'being down-to-earth'."

At this point, Kuroba Akira suddenly added a mischievous remark.

"Then, I'll take my clothes off too!"

"Huh? Huh?! Wait a minute! Why are you taking your clothes off too?!"

Shiori Shirai was shocked. She couldn't understand why Akira Kuroba would suddenly want to take her clothes off.

Is it because he took his clothes off that he has to retaliate?

But he's the winner... was it to avoid embarrassing himself?

I've never actually seen a man's naked body before, so I'm a tiny bit curious... but if I take my clothes off at this point, wouldn't that be like wanting to do *that*?

A jumble of chaotic thoughts flashed through her mind, and in action, Shiori Shirai quickly covered her eyes with her arms and shouted nervously.

"If you take your clothes off too, wouldn't that really mean we're going to do *that* kind of thing?! Do you really want to...?"

"Hey, what are you thinking about? Open your eyes and take a look."

Shiori Shirai felt a touch of paper on her forehead and secretly opened her eyes in confusion.

He noticed that Kuroba Akira was looking at him with a mischievous grin, holding a stack of manuscripts he had taken out of his schoolbag.

"Look here."

"This is?"

"My original novel manuscript."

"what……"

Shiori Shirai immediately understood that his "taking off" meant showing her his work.

Akira Kuroba explained.

"Do you know that? There's a very special way that close friends communicate: they draw each other's nudes to have an opportunity to be honest with each other and face their own hearts."

They must be friends, not lovers.

There's only one thing lovers can do when they're naked, and only friends can be completely detached from each other and examine their own consciences.

"I've heard of that... So you mean, exchanging works is a kind of exchange?"

"That's right, but it's not just about exchanging ideas, it's more about providing you with a 'reference'."

"refer to……"

"Okay, you can read it first. You don't need to finish it. Just read the prologue and the first chapter."

Shiori Shirai nodded, swallowed, and began to concentrate on reading Akira Kuroba's "Sister's Journey".

……

"...How interesting! It's so well-written!"

After reading just the first chapter, Shiori Shirai couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Because she had recently read so many light novels, she was able to appreciate the enjoyment of this book even more, and its level of enjoyment far exceeded that of the light novels she had read.

"Although some parts were written in a bit... sensual... but! Those parts were also great! They gave me an irresistible feeling!"

"Oh ho? You know a lot."

Akira Kuroba thought Shiori Shirai would frown at the censored parts, but it turned out to be very well received.

Shiori Shirai calmed down, coughed, put her fist to her mouth, and explained.

"Ahem... After all, many famous works also contain erotic scenes to depict the characters' desires... But in your book, these scenes make the plot conflicts even more dramatic! Amazing...!"

Shiori Shirai never imagined a novel could be written like this. It's like riding a roller coaster, with a thrilling and exciting plot that keeps you hooked.

If Kuroba Akira hadn't said beforehand that she would only read the first chapter, she would have wanted to read the whole thing in one go.

"However, my book also has a major flaw."

"Um……"

Shiori Shirai nodded; she had noticed it too.

This is also the part of the work that she regrets the most.

The writing style is a bit lacking.

The dialogue is actually fine, but the various descriptions give off an awkward vibe.

It's a bit like when you buy novels from neighboring countries that have been translated by foreigners. You inevitably get this feeling because the poor translation degrades the content of the novel.

However, since this light novel mainly focuses on character dialogues, it doesn't significantly impact the reading experience.

Having considered this matter for a while, Kuroba Akira finally revealed his true intentions, making a suggestion with a friendly smile.

"So I have an idea now... Shiori, how about you finish this work?"

"Huh?! Me?"

“That’s right! Shiori, what you need now is to master the popular elements and story pacing of light novels, while my work lacks writing skills. So if we work together to complete this work, you can improve, and my light novel can also be further improved... Isn’t that a win-win situation?”

"..."

Shiori Shirai is genuinely a little tempted.

To be honest, she really liked Kuroba Akira's light novel, and she would be even happier as a reader if she could write it even better.

But... is it really a good idea to do this?

This story is the culmination of his hard work... If I were to interfere, wouldn't it be like stealing someone else's achievement?

Kuroba Akira was unaware of her thoughts. He figured that Shirai Shiori's hesitation was mostly due to the 'right of attribution'. Proud authors care most about 'honor' and would certainly not be willing to work for someone else for free.

So he unleashed his prepared finishing move.

"Hmph, I know what you're hesitating about... When this book is published, you can have the authorship!"

Kuroba Akira only cares about profit; fame and such are completely irrelevant to him, so I'm giving it to you! Shirai Shiori!

Chapter 125 I Prefer White

"what?!"

Shiori Shirai exclaimed in disbelief, her eyes widening as she stood frozen in place.

She understood everything Kuroba Akira said before, and felt a strong resonance with his thoughts, but at this moment, she suddenly didn't understand.

What is this person... talking about?

However, before Kuroba Akira could finish speaking, he continued to add to the argument.

He first extended one finger, then a second, as if he had made a great sacrifice.

"Alright, I know, just giving you a pen name is a bit stingy... so I'll give you 10%... no! 20%!"

Kuroba Akira continued speaking while giving her a peace sign.

"I'll give you 20% of the royalties!"

Similar to the conditions for recruiting Tashiro Kyouka as Murasaki's manager, Kuroba Akira decided to offer 20% of his compensation. However, he was careful not to mention the total compensation, but rather his own share of the compensation.

After all, if Tashiro Kurenai really becomes Murasaki no Miyako's manager, she will have to give up her current job. So, to compensate her, it's okay to give up a little more profit. But there's no need to take such a big loss when it comes to hiring a ghostwriter.

Shiori Shirai was completely bewildered... Why couldn't she understand anything at all?

No... it's not that I don't understand, it's that I can't comprehend it.

Why did he do this?

Seeing that Shirai Shiori had no reaction, Kuroba Akira crossed his arms, tilted his head and raised his eyebrows.

"What? You're not satisfied with 20%? Let me tell you, 20% is already a lot. After all, Aiyuan and I agreed that I would share half of the royalties with her, so the portion I get isn't much."

The stingy Kuroba Akira didn't want to give her any more discounts, so he started calculating the costs for her.

"To give you a general idea, I'll just tell you anyway. The royalties for this novel are 13% for the author and illustrator combined. If Aiyuan and I split it equally, we'll each get 6.5%. Then I'll give you 20%, which is 1.3%..."

Kuroba Akira feigned a pained expression and sighed.

"Sigh... alright! I'll be generous and give you 1.5%! Is that alright now?"

However, Kuroba Akira had already planned it out in his mind. If he could lur a ghostwriter of Shirai Shiori's caliber with just 1.5% royalties, it would be an incredible profit! There would still be 5% royalties left!

Moreover, I rushed to finish the first volume myself, but for the later volumes, I only needed to provide an outline, and then, under the guise of training, I would have her expand the outline into the main text, and I would only need to make minor modifications.

In this way, the workload was reduced by 80%, but the revenue was only reduced by 20%... Even Kuroba Akira was trembling with fear at his own ruthlessness.

To get 5% royalties so easily, I must be a real villain!

Kuroba Akira, fearing she wouldn't agree, continued to patiently persuade her.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to irresponsibly dump this work on you to continue writing. I'll still be responsible for the outline and the story content. All you have to do is polish and add elements to the novel. That shouldn't be too much work, right?"

Shiori Shirai was completely overwhelmed by Akira Kuroba's series of bribery tactics, and rubbing her throbbing forehead, she asked in return.

"Wait a minute... why are you suddenly talking about royalties... do you mean you're actually going to share your royalties with me?"

Kuroba Akira said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Of course, you have to get paid for your work. You can't expect me to work for free. Look at how cartoonists pay their assistants, right?"

What he said makes so much sense, I'm speechless...

But if it were to be his assistant, I would definitely accept it; in fact, I would be more than happy to accept it.

However, there was one more thing Shirai Shiori wanted to ask him that she couldn't understand.

"Alright then, let's leave the royalty issue at that for now..."