Tokyo Soft Rice King.

This is Hitomi Anri's second failure.

When she handed over her underwear a second time out of resentment, she was completely defeated.

And now...

She lost to Aiyuan Moe once again.

The third defeat was against others, and she could only watch, not even having the right to compete.

Kuroba Akira judged that Aizono Moe was more valuable than her, which is why he took the initiative to invite her to cooperate, and she saw all of this.

If things continue like this... I'll probably fail countless more times in the future.

He will find more valuable people, actively reach out to them, and get benefits from them.

At times like these, Hitomi Anri would realize just how 'incompetent' she was.

Ahh...

It turned out to be the case.

This is called 'competitiveness'.

Hitomi Anri had never achieved a ranking other than first place in an exam, so this was the first time she realized that she also had such a strong competitive spirit.

Because of her generous and kind father, Anri's family had never set any life goals for Anri Hitomi. Her mother's original plan to raise her into a good wife was also put on hold indefinitely after her father scolded her.

Hitomi Anri herself doesn't have any goals that can be called dreams.

But she has it now.

The key lies in the ability to make money.

Aizono Moe is very good at drawing, which is why Kuroba Akira wants to use her talent to publish a light novel and obtain a large amount of royalties... Kuroba Akira's intentions are easy to guess.

In other words, as long as he has the ability to earn a lot of money, a lot of money, so much that it would leave Kuroba Akira speechless...

He'll then be more interested in himself.

Chapter Ninety-Three: A genius is a genius no matter where he is.

In the afternoon class, Kuroba Akira took out the outline he had printed out and put it in the desk drawer. He then concentrated on writing the main text of "Sister's Journey" in his exercise book.

No one bothered him during class, and during breaks after class he would only chat with Fujiyoshi Michio behind him for a few words. He spent the rest of his time writing, and finished the prologue and half of the first chapter in just one afternoon.

Of course, this is just a draft, and the content will need to be modified and adjusted later, but even Kuroba Akira himself was surprised that the opening content could be completed so smoothly.

Inspiration flows freely! I write furiously! The "Academic Ability" bonus is too powerful!

It's important to know that this prologue and half of the first chapter are not as short as a chapter in a web novel, but rather 1.5 chapters in a proper volume of a light novel.

Light novels are divided into chapters in all sorts of ways, but generally a volume of a light novel will not exceed ten chapters, usually five to eight chapters, which also includes a prologue and an epilogue.

In terms of word count, a light novel volume is roughly 8 to 12 words. Writing too much is not allowed, as the editor will order the length to be reduced because more pages will increase the publishing cost and the content will be more scattered.

Akira Kuroba's novel outlines are structured in seven chapters per volume, including a prologue and an epilogue. One chapter is used to write gimmicky content to arouse the reader's desire to read, while the other chapter sets up a hook at the end to make the reader look forward to what follows. Neither the beginning nor the end is too long.

In terms of word count, Kuroba Akira aimed for a little over 100,000 words, a moderate amount that wouldn't leave readers wanting more, nor would it cause editors to complain that he had written too much.

So I finished writing the prologue and half of the first chapter in one afternoon, which is actually about 12,000 words.

This is truly astonishing. Even when Kuroba Akira used a keyboard to type, he could only manage to write 5,000 words in four hours at most. Now, using his not-so-skilled handwritten manuscript, he can actually achieve a production speed of 3,000 words per hour... His efficiency has more than doubled!

If I had this level of efficiency before, how could I have possibly died suddenly?! Getting all the performance reviews and year-end bonuses would have been a piece of cake, wouldn't it?

No, you should just quit your job and go back to being a web novel author. Update 20,000 words a day, and you'll be able to keep up with the readers. Anyway, with a high update volume, the results won't be too bad.

Sigh... Kuroba Akira sighed, his heart once again filled with envy and jealousy of the talented over the incompetent.

It can only be said that the class monitor's talent is truly amazing; not only is it highly versatile, but its effects are also extremely powerful.

The "Academic Ability A" trait is a perfect fit for document-based work, as it enhances concentration and thinking skills.

It allows creators to fully concentrate on their creative work without experiencing writer's block, which is even more powerful than being injected with adrenaline.

If things continue to go smoothly, I'll probably be able to finish a volume this week, and I can also complete the revisions and adjustments over the weekend.

This is terrifying...

Kuroba Akira gripped his right wrist, trembling all over, wanting to shout, "I'm going to unleash the power sealed in my right hand!"

Kuroba Akira originally thought it would take him at least two weeks to finish the main text, but now the time has been halved, and he can use the next three weeks to think of other backup plans.

Although Akira Kuroba was very confident in his novel "Sister's Journey", he also knew that obtaining publication rights was a very difficult and mysterious thing, so he still had to think about what to do if the work was not approved.

However, Akira Kuroba has no plans to work on a second project. Working on two projects at once would be a bad move, and Kuroba doesn't think he can come up with a project of similar quality to "Sister's Journey" anytime soon.

No matter how much you write, a poorly polished piece of work will never be appreciated by an editor. It's better to spend more time perfecting a piece.

I need to calm down. Being fast is a good thing, but it's disrupting my rhythm a bit.

"Kuroba-kun, it's time for club activities."

"Okay, coming right away."

Kuroba Akira carefully put away the part he had finished writing today, planning to type it into his computer when he got home, and also to correct any errors. Once he finished the rest of the first chapter, his task for the day would be complete.

After school, Akira Kuroba and Hitomi Anri went to the Literature Club's activity room together.

I arrived early today; Aizen Moe and Shirai Shiori haven't arrived yet.

Since he had nothing better to do, Kuroba Akira got up and started looking at the literature club's collection of books, which he hadn't had a chance to properly look at yesterday.

The Literature and Art Department also has many books, although not as many as the library, but many of them are popular and entertaining works.

We can see if there are any suitable works that we can bring home for Murasaki to see. Kuroba Akira himself also wants to learn more about the entertainment works of this world.

Previously, when I read books in the library, I didn't have the opportunity to learn about popular works because the library's books were mostly traditional classic literary works, popular science books, and reference books for studying. There were relatively few comics and light novels, only comics like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms manga, which combined popular science and entertainment.

In his previous life, Kuroba Akira had also read this famous manga, a fan creation by Yokoyama Mitsuteru. It was extremely famous in Japan, almost to the point of being a household name, but it was a very obscure manga in China.

Incidentally, in Japan, the Three Kingdoms period is often referred to as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, leading many Japanese to believe that the novel itself is the official historical record, and that the translation bears all the blame.

For most Chinese people, their understanding of Romance of the Three Kingdoms probably comes from watching the old TV series. Very few people would actually read the original novel. There are only a few related texts in the Chinese textbook, such as Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats.

It was only after seeing this manga that existed in both worlds that Akira Kuroba realized that perhaps the works he had seen in his previous life had simply not yet been created in this world, or had missed the opportunity to be created... but that didn't mean they really didn't exist.

Kuroba Akira scanned the novels and comics on the bookshelf. Some were works he had read in his previous life, some had similar names but were slightly different, and some were completely unfamiliar works that he had never read before... This part was quite large, accounting for more than half.

These works are from different eras and the authors' names have changed, so there is no discernible pattern.

The impact of shifts in the world line is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people; countless parameters of destiny have likely changed.

However, Akira Kuroba was quite happy, as he had so many new "spiritual nourishment" to feast on.

"Were these novels and comics originally part of the Literature and Art Department?"

"No, the comics are all cute. She also brought those serialized comic magazines. She buys every issue of Weekly Shonen BOOM as soon as it's released."

"Oh wow, what a surprise, Aizono-kun actually likes reading shonen manga..."

Shonen BOOM is the Shonen Jump of this world, and it's also the best-selling manga magazine in Japan. Akira Kuroba had previously tried to read it for free at a convenience store, but since they were all ongoing series, he couldn't understand them at all when reading from the middle.

However, he did know the three major current manga series, mainly because the titles were too familiar, and in fact, Kuroba Akira had already 'read' them all: One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto Densetsu...

As expected, these three giants would become super popular comic artists no matter which world they were in.

The brilliance of a super genius cannot be overshadowed even by the shift in fate caused by changes in the timeline... A true genius is a genius no matter where they go.

I really want to see what their talents are.

Chapter Ninety-Four: Her Life Begins to Take a Twisted Turn

It seems that we are currently in the golden age of shonen manga, with the three major shonen manga series still ongoing.

The term "migrant worker comics" refers to the popularity of these works to the point that even migrant workers, who have no free time, know about them.

The character designs of the three major shonen manga have not changed much, but the general plots and developments are quite different, and they can be considered as two completely different works.

But this way, I can watch it again, and it feels like watching the IF storyline of the original work, which makes Kuroba Akira even more interested.

"Can I take these comics home to read?"

"Sure, Momo just wants to share her favorite works with everyone, which is why she's gradually brought so many comics to school. It's a pity there are only three people in the Literature Club, and Shiori and I don't read comics much... If Momo knew that you, Kuroba-kun, are interested in comics, she would be very happy."

"Okay, then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll tell Aiyuan when she gets here."

In short, I'll bring ten books today, so I can read the first volume of a few comics that I'm interested in.

After looting the comics, Kuroba Akira set his sights on the novels on the adjacent bookshelf, since there was still half an empty space in his bag.

"These novels were brought by Shirai-kun, right?"

"Yes, can you tell?"

"Yes, that's very much her style."

It has a strong literary vibe... In other words, the proportion of youth-themed literature is too high, reaching as much as half.

Kuroba Akira had no interest in these works that were ornate in language and rich in description, but were actually empty in content and unremarkable, so he simply skipped them.

Below are works by some particularly famous local authors, such as Osamu Dazai, Yukio Mishima, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Yasunari Kawabata, and so on. These are all well-known names.

Below that are many works by foreign authors, such as Zhou Shuren, Hugo, Camus, Hemingway, Tagore, Dostoevsky... These are masterpieces that Kuroba Akira read in his previous life. He not only remembers the content, but also the feelings he had after reading them.

After watching it, I was shocked. A nameless fear crept up my spine and spread through my brain, simply because their works analyzed human nature so thoroughly and depicted it so deeply.

This level of work is absolutely beyond my ability to write; I wouldn't even dare to dream of it.

The reason why classic works are classics is that their intellectual depth has transcended their time, their writing techniques have often been pioneering, and they have even had a profound impact on 'civilization,' making them a common treasure of all mankind.

What surprised Kuroba Akira the most was that there were quite a few works from China. Although they were all works and authors whose names he had never heard of before, since they were placed together with the books of the authors mentioned earlier, they must all be quite famous authors.

After all, the rise of this mysterious Eastern superpower in this world is quite remarkable, and its cultural achievements must be even more brilliant than in the previous life.

And some of them are even untranslated original novels... What a coincidence! Translation is one of the few things that Kuroba Akira is 'born with a talent'!

"Can I just take these novels?"

"You'll have to ask Shiori about that. After all, she treasures these books very much. She even wears gloves when she reads them. She treats books like she treats her husband."

"I don't think she would be this attentive even to her husband..."

If Shiori Shirai had to choose between spending her life with a book or with a handsome man, she would definitely choose the former without hesitation.

Kuroba Akira thought that since she already disliked him, it didn't matter if she disliked him even more, so he began to plunder Shirai Shiori's collection of novels with an evil smile.

"In short, since these books are placed in the Literature and Art Department, they are public resources of the department, and as a member of the department, I am entitled to enjoy these resources, right? Class monitor?"