Tokyo Soft Rice King.

"Compared to them, I'm still far from good enough... I really have a lot of shortcomings, and I haven't thought things through enough... Drawing still figures is easy, but if you want to draw dynamic figures, you have to think about the actions, expressions, and composition yourself..."

When she actually started thinking about these things herself, Moe realized how amazing Kuroba-kun was, as he had helped her complete almost all the parts that required her to think.

"But this can't go on!"

Moe emphasized this point once again.

"That way I'll become a rookie manga artist who can't draw anything without Kuroba-kun!"

Then Menghui immediately waved her hand anxiously and explained.

"Ah, I didn't mean to break away from Kuroba-kun... I just want to become as powerful as Kuroba-kun..."

As good as me?

Heh... The only thing I have over you with is 'experience'; in terms of talent, I'm far inferior to you, Mengmeng.

"You can't become like me, Mengmeng, you have to... surpass me."

To become a slave who surpasses his master.

Chapter 429 An Occasion Where the Entire Harem Gathers

"Yes... I will continue to work hard!"

Makoto had initially thought that, given Moe's personality, she would probably panic and deny it, saying something overly humble like, "How could someone like me possibly surpass Kuroba-kun?" But her actual reaction was surprisingly brave.

Yes, people are influenced by others, and the influence of people they like is even deeper.

No one remains unchanged.

This realization sparked some musical notes in Makoto's mind, and a melody played automatically in her head. Not wanting to miss this rare inspiration, she asked Kuroba Akira.

"Ming! Lend me a pen and paper!"

"Hmm? It's inside. The second room on the right after you enter is my and Mengmeng's temporary studio. The manuscript paper and pens are on the table."

Thank you!

After thanking her, Makoto rushed into the house, took off her shoes, and went to find paper and a pen without straightening them.

“It seems like Makoto suddenly thought of something… Let’s go inside too, Momo. I’ve drawn a lot of storyboards and compositions these past few days, which I can use as a reference.”

"Okay! I will observe carefully!"

Just as the two were about to go inside, a weak voice rang out from not far away.

"Phew...phew...I'm exhausted. This stone section at the shrine is a bit long...Good morning, Mengmeng and Mingjun..."

Shiori held her knees and took several breaths to catch her breath before she recovered. Then, with dead fish eyes and the same heavy dark circles as Mengmeng, she greeted the two of them.

"Are you too weak? The two sections combined are less than a hundred steps. How come even your dark circles are so heavy, Shiori?"

What amazing best friends! Do you even stay up all night together? Did you two do something naughty together last night?

"This is a rare long holiday, so I was determined to see as much as I could. Before I knew it, it was already getting light outside..."

"You can sleep in late during winter break, even until noon, right?"

"How can I be so lazy! I won't let a holiday disrupt my life!"

You've already completely messed things up... Kuroba Akira thought to himself.

Mengmeng knows her best friend very well, and laughed from the side.

"Haha... Shiori is the type of person who always wakes up on time in the morning. She has never taken a nap, so she is the one who wakes me up."

"I'm really envious, but since you're already sleeping so late, you still need to make sure you get enough sleep, right? If you don't get enough sleep, you'll get a headache and your efficiency will suffer."

Shiori shrugged and said.

"It's alright. If I really have a headache, I'll take a nap at noon. Also, the third volume won't be released until April, and I haven't discussed the plot details with you yet, so I don't have anything to write recently, which won't affect my writing efficiency."

"Well, I'm going on a trip this month, and when I get back I'll have to continue working on the manga manuscript for the serialization. Once I'm done with that, let's discuss the plot outline for volume three."

Things just kept happening one after another. Fortunately, Kuroba Akira only needed to write the outline, while the actual text was being written by Shiori, an excellent ghostwriter whose writing skills far surpassed Kuroba Akira's. Moreover, since the light novel was published every three months, he wasn't particularly busy.

"Okay... By the way, I've already heard from Moe-moe that if we can pass the serialization meeting, we can start serializing in Weekly Shonen Boom, right?"

"Yes, your script has been very useful to me. The editor-in-chief read your script on the spot and was sure that the story was very exciting and had a beginning and an end. That's why he gave us the opportunity to participate in the serialization meeting. And if there are no problems, this work should not have to worry about being canceled. It can be serialized for two or three years."

Originally, award-winning short stories would undergo a popularity poll, and if they came in first place, the editors and the manga artists would discuss the subsequent plot before they could be submitted to a serialization meeting. However, Akira Kuroba and Moe skipped this process entirely.

"I see... So, in a while, Mengmeng will really become a professional comic artist..."

Shiori seemed quite emotional, as if her own child had grown up.

"But that means you're not going to university, Mengmeng, right?"

Mengmeng nodded and said.

"Um... I've already told my parents that if it's confirmed that the series will be serialized, I won't go to university."

"I was hoping to go to the same university as you, Mengmeng, but now it's just me... By the way, Mingjun, will you go to university?"

"Going to university...?"

Kuroba Akira had never really thought about this question properly.

He still misses his college days in his previous life, which were arguably the most carefree period of his life.

However, studying at a university in Japan would be a completely different experience. Most Japanese universities do not provide on-campus dormitories, so there would be no brothers or fathers sharing a dormitory.

Furthermore, Kuroba Akira doesn't have anything he particularly wants to learn right now. It seems that going to university would just be to get a diploma, but he doesn't need that kind of thing anymore.

So it seems there's no reason to stay in school any longer?

Thinking about this, Kuroba Akira noticed that Shiori had just said that she was the only one left, which meant that she would go to university?

Akira Kuroba was a little surprised, because Shiori was already a professional novelist with a good income and came from a wealthy family, so there shouldn't be any reason for her to go to university.

"I'll pass first. Does that mean Shiori, will you go to university?"

"Well, I made an agreement with my parents that I would at least graduate from university with a bachelor's degree, so I can't read novels during class. And recently I've been writing manga scripts and light novels, so I haven't had time to read properly."

"I see, that's why you've been binge-reading novels during the holidays."

"Actually, it's not just about reading novels... Speaking of which, I originally wanted to persuade my parents not to go to university, but then I thought about it again. Writing novels requires life experiences as material, and my life experience is far from sufficient, so I thought it would be better to go to university... If necessary, I will also go to work in the future!"

Oh ho? She actually willingly accepts the harsh realities of society? That's the naive mindset of a woman who's never worked.

However, experiencing the workplace for the sake of writing material is quite typical of her style.

Reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles, one truly needs the support of life experience to write profound and insightful prose.

"I only recently discovered that stories written based solely on imagination lack realism if they haven't actually experienced them."

This is what is meant by being out of touch with reality.

Although the story is fictional, fantasy must be based on reality to be more captivating.

In fact, many comics and light novels are created based on personal experiences.

Of course, it doesn't matter if you haven't experienced it, but you need to gather material to make your writing more realistic.

“In this respect, Mingjun is clearly much better than me. For example, the knowledge and experience related to game development described in the novel ‘Meiyou’ are all things I don’t know, and they are written so vividly that they seem to be true!”

Because Akira Kuroba has truly experienced the hellish world of game development... However, in Shiori's opinion, Akira Kuroba, a high school student who has never worked, could not possibly have truly experienced the workplace of a game company, so it can only be attributed to his talent.

"Because that's how game development works in real life..."

"Yes! That's it! A realism so immersive it's almost overwhelming!"

Shiori excitedly moved closer to Akira Kuroba, as if she were experiencing a final burst of energy after staying up all night.

"Moreover, Mingjun's writing is obviously more vivid. This is probably because Mingjun has also read a lot of comics, so when he is creating, he already has specific images in his mind."

"Hmm, that's about right. If you have a picture in your mind, it's easier to write."

Especially for light novels with illustrations, the text on the page where the illustration appears should ideally include more action descriptions to create a more vivid image and allow readers to better fill in the blanks in their minds.

"During this time, I reread the first volume written by Kuroba-kun and the second volume I wrote. When Kuroba-kun's text is combined with the illustrations, I can imagine the scenes that happened before and after the illustrations, while I am far from that... This is what makes Mingjun so amazing. He is indeed worthy of being my master!"

"No, I just have more life experience."

"If you could win over readers just by living experience, then there would be no need for awards. You could just give out awards based on age, since older people have experienced more things, but not all of those experiences are interesting. So what's important is not life experience itself, but how you make use of interesting life experiences."

Although Shiori's words sounded very pragmatic, that's the truth.

After all, the repetitive daily routine is not interesting.

Life needs drama, and so does a work of art.

"So now I not only read novels, but also comics, movies and TV series... I watch anything that I find interesting, so the amount of things I watch has suddenly increased."

It seems this is the real reason why Shiori has dark circles under her eyes. I'm really worried about her eyesight. Will she have to wear glasses in the future?

Although that would make her look more like a literary girl, Akira Kuroba doesn't like glasses, so it's best not to wear glasses.

"I was originally planning to try out a story-driven RPG, but I've never played games before, so I easily get stuck and can't move forward... Kuroba-kun, if you have time, could you teach me?"

Just as Kuroba Akira was about to say it was fine, he was interrupted by the little cutie who stepped between the two of them.

"What? You're talking about games? Count me in!"

Mirai jogged over and forcefully interrupted the chat. Not far behind her, Akiko could be seen smiling gently and waving in their direction, with Amane Hikari, whom she had recently been raising as her second daughter, beside her.

Takanashi's mother and sister also arrived.

"Oh, you've come at the right time. You'll have a new gaming buddy in the future. Shiori has started playing games too, mainly story-driven RPGs."

"What! Really! That's great! Let's start with Mom's favorite, Chronicles of the Magic Sword III! Ming played it when he first came to my house, and he was also moved by the amazing storyline!"

"Hmm...uh-huh...I'll give it a try..."

Shiori's expression stiffened, and she forced a smile.

Actually, she wasn't so stupid as to get stuck in a simple RPG that didn't require any controls. She just wanted to find an excuse to spend more time with Akira Kuroba, but she got ambushed by Mirai instead.

Damn it, what's the point of playing games with a woman! What I want is a wise and gentle man to hug me from behind, holding the same controller as me, and teaching me step by step!

Moe realized her best friend's true intentions and cast a sympathetic glance at her. Although she also wanted to help Shiori, she was bad at talking and didn't know how to salvage the situation. Besides, it was Kuroba Akira's suggestion, and she didn't really want to disobey it.

Shiori's hands were held by Mirai, and looking at Mirai's excited, sparkling eyes, she thought to herself, "Someone save me! If this continues, I'll be locked up by Mirai every day this winter break!"

Fortunately, at this moment, Haruka, Shion, and Hongxiang arrived, and Shiori quickly changed the subject, asking Shion a question.

"Ah! Ziyin, you're here! I was just about to ask you about immersion. You know, when you're doing voice acting, you have to immerse yourself in the character, right? How do you manage to completely immerse yourself in the character?"