Tokyo Soft Rice King.

Most importantly, when collaborating with an illustrator you don't know, you can't offer too many suggestions for modification even if the artwork doesn't meet your expectations.

If you're still not satisfied after several revisions, the other party might eventually give up.

Especially those famous and bad-tempered big-name artists, how can they stand others pointing fingers at them?

However, if it's an illustrator you personally trained, they will completely obey your orders, and you can make them change whatever you want.

Looking at Aiyuan Moe's soft and weak appearance, I should be able to easily adjust her... I mean, teach her how to draw illustrations.

Although Kuroba Akira can't draw, he has seen too many illustrations to hesitate to offer suggestions for improvement. Even if it takes dozens or hundreds of revisions, he will make sure that Aizono Moe draws an illustration that satisfies both himself and the readers.

This would allow for a 'dimensional reduction attack'.

The illustrations for light novels in this world haven't reached the level of the previous world, so as long as Aizono Moe can draw exquisite illustrations that exceed the average level, sales can increase significantly.

It's all about money!

“I see. In that case, no problem. As long as the quality is up to standard, I will have no complaints. I believe that illustrators who are familiar with Kuroba-kun can better depict the character in your mind. Our company also hopes to collaborate with more talented new illustrators.”

"Okay, that's all I ask for."

"Hmm... Haha, look at us, we've finished our business before we've even eaten. Now let's relax and enjoy the meal. The pork chops here are amazing! I used to eat here all the time when I was younger."

With the major plans settled, Akira Kuroba can now enjoy his delicious tonkatsu in peace.

And so... the light novel showdown with Shiori Shirai came to a conclusion.

Kuroba Akira fulfilled the bet's condition of obtaining publication permission for the novel in just over a week, which also meant...

I've got the forced undressing certificate for Shirai Shiori.

Chapter 117 An Unmanageable Situation

In the days that followed, Akira Kuroba kept in touch with Keima Mori to discuss matters related to the contract.

By mid-September, the contract was basically finalized, with royalties set at 10%, which was quite generous for a new author.

The industry standard is that authors receive 12% royalties for works not published in magazines, while authors receive 10% for published works or paperback editions.

Of course, the author's fame will also affect the fluctuation of royalties, which is also the main point of profit that publishers use to win over authors. Don't underestimate this 1% difference. For books with millions of sales, this 1% can easily amount to hundreds of millions.

The royalty rate for light novels ranges from 8% to 14%, but new authors usually only receive the minimum of 8%, as 2% of the royalties are shared with the illustrator.

Keima Mori also stated that if the illustrator introduced by Akira Kuroba can produce work that satisfies him, he can give the illustrator an exceptional 3% royalty and will give them priority in arranging illustration work.

In other words, as Kuroba Akira's light novels gain recognition from publishers, Aizono Moe will have no trouble getting commercial orders in the future, as long as she can draw exquisite illustrations.

It's quite rare for an illustrator to be able to establish a long-term, stable partnership with a publishing house, which basically guarantees them a comfortable life.

After the contract is finalized, the publication time should be discussed. Considering that Aiyuan Moe has never drawn illustrations before, it will take time to adjust her style. However, her art proficiency is already very high, at level 3, and she also has design proficiency, so it shouldn't be too difficult to just change her art style.

Kuroba Akira then stated that while waiting for the illustrations to be produced, he would continue to refine the content of the first volume and try to write the main text of the second volume during this period, so that Mori Keima could be completely at ease.

In conclusion, the publication date for Volume 1 is tentatively set for mid-November.

This is a very fast pace for publishing a novel. From starting to write in September to publishing in November, it took less than three months, which is higher than the industry standard of publishing 3 to 4 books per year.

As I become more skilled, I might even be able to challenge Kamachi and Masai Typewriter, evergreen figures in the light novel world who have published for 20 consecutive months.

Back to the school, Kuroba Akira didn't immediately go to Shirai Shiori to show off or boast about the contract as soon as he got it. Instead, he pretended that nothing had happened and didn't mention the results of his submission.

Shiori Shirai never asked, but after school she would come to the Literature Club's activity room to check if Akira Kuroba was there, and then go home without saying a word.

Even when she occasionally sits in the activity room for a while, she ignores Kuroba Akira, and there is a strange yet tacit atmosphere between the two.

On the contrary, as time went on, Aizen Moe seemed to get more and more anxious, as if she was the one who would be stripped naked if she lost.

What's the rush... the settlement date hasn't arrived yet.

Kuroba Akira did not intend to let the duel end prematurely. His plan remained the same as before: to wait until Shirai Shiori's submission results were released before making any decisions.

If both of them are successfully published, Akira Kuroba will say, "Wow! We got our manuscripts approved on the same day, what a coincidence!" and then that's the end of it.

The class president had also said not to bully Shirai Shiori too much, and Kuroba Akira himself felt that doing a full-on dogeza was a bit too much, and he was too lazy to argue with a little girl.

However, Shirai Shiori will definitely understand that Kuroba Akira is letting her win, so she will feel insulted and then hate herself... In this way, she can also win the bet with the class president!

Plan pass!

With some free time, Akira Kuroba finally had time to properly read the borrowed comics and novels, and he could also listen to Murasaki no Miyako's voice acting.

So recently, Murasaki has been in a particularly good mood because Kuroba Akira has been paying more attention to her.

Furthermore, since Murasaki no Miyako has decided to launch a more aggressive attack, she now tries to get close to Kuroba Akira whenever she has the chance.

Akira Kuroba also realized that Murasaki no Miyako seemed to be closer to him recently, mainly because the physical distance between them had decreased and there had been more physical contact.

For example, when Kuroba Akira was sitting on the lower bunk in his room, Murasaki Nyonomiy, who was sitting on the upper bunk, would stretch out two white-stockinged legs from the railing, step on Kuroba Akira's shoulders, and massage his shoulders with the soles of her feet.

During dinner, Murasaki would sit next to Kuroba Akira, so close that their shoulders were almost touching. When they used their right hands to scoop rice with a spoon, their shoulders would often brush against each other, making one's heart itch.

When Kuroba Akira sits on the living room sofa reading a book, Murasaki no Miya would put her calf on Kuroba Akira's thigh.

Of course, the most obvious change is that I'm getting foot massages more often now, almost twice a day—once after dinner and once before bed.

Moreover, Murasaki Palace understands him very well. She changes into different kinds of stockings every day to keep the feeling of Kuroba Akira's foot massage fresh, so he never gets tired of it and can't put it down.

As a result, Kuroba Akira has been dreaming about Murasaki Nyonomiya using her stockinged legs to "chew" him up lately, and he needs to go to the toilet in the morning to take care of his "mushroom umbrella" problem.

It seems I really have been holding it in for too long...

So Akira Kuroba decided to extend his morning run time, getting up at 5:30 in the morning, also to avoid the awkward situation of his roommate Murasaki noticing him standing at attention in the morning.

Incidentally, after Kuroba Akira resumed his morning runs, he was able to see Tomita Haruka again. Moreover, after they got to know each other, Tomita Haruka would run with him for a longer distance, until they left the riverbank.

Now we can enjoy the excitement of running around for longer, which greatly improves our mood. However, the side effect is that the heat-relieving effect of exercise is greatly reduced.

Therefore, Akira Kuroba could only try his best to focus on chatting with Haruka Tomita and restrain his gaze from moving to her chest.

Is this some kind of abstinence challenge...? (crying)

And so, time slipped away in the course of daily life...

Before we knew it, it was already the last week of September.

During lunch that day, Anri Hitomi told Kuroba Akira that she had something to do that day, so she wouldn't be going to the activity room. She then added meaningfully, "Kuroba-kun, it seems that both bets are about to come to a conclusion."

From the squad leader's words, Kuroba Akira already guessed that something unusual might happen today.

As expected, when Kuroba Akira arrived at the Literature Club's activity room as usual, he found that the atmosphere was very strange today.

Shiori Shirai still looked terrible and lifeless, while Moe Aizono looked sad and reluctant to let it go.

Before Kuroba Akira could even greet him, Shirai Shiori suddenly stood up, trembling all over, and said to him.

"Kuroba Akira! Even if you didn't come to show off to me, I can tell from your attitude! You've not only seemed to be handling things with ease lately, but you also haven't shown any intention of preparing a new work. This means your submission has been accepted by the publisher, right!"

"Well..."

Kuroba Akira scratched his head, neither confirming nor denying.

"...I know you've been waiting for me all this time on purpose, I know I've already lost, but I still want to try..."

As she spoke, Shiori Shirai took a letter out of her bag.

"Last night, I received a reply from the publisher..."

She lowered her head, gritted her teeth, and forced out a sound.

"My work... was not accepted."

"Uh……"

Oh no... I'm really in a bind now.

For both of them.

Chapter 118 Let's Go Home Together

Kuroba Akira suddenly felt a pang of regret. If he had known things would turn out this way, he shouldn't have come to the Literature and Art Club today.

But did Shirai Shiori's submission really fail to be selected? Why did it fail? It shouldn't be like that.

He had considered the possibility that Shiori Shirai's submission would be rejected, but he felt that the chances were slim, so he abandoned the idea.

When authors from traditional literary fields write light novels, it's like they're just there to crush newbies. Of course, they might not adapt well to the genre, but that's when arrogant authors who look down on light novels write self-righteous garbage without understanding the market, which leads to their downfall.

However, the current light novel environment in this world is relatively tolerant and does not excessively pursue gimmicks, so even if Shiori Shirai writes something niche, it should still have a market.

Furthermore, if the editors at the publishing house had heard of her status as the youngest short story award winner, they would definitely be eager for her to publish a book with their publishing house, since the fact that she is an active, beautiful, high school girl writer is enough to guarantee sales.

Most importantly, Shiori Shirai has been immersed in light novels every day during this period, and she has always maintained her passion and reverence for creation... Akira Kuroba has seen all her efforts.

Although Kuroba Akira hadn't been able to confirm Shiroi Shiori's talent because she always wore white silk gloves, he had read her award-winning short story recently. Putting aside whether it was interesting or not, the characterization and writing style alone far surpassed those of the average author.

Therefore, Akira Kuroba believes that Shiori Shirai must possess A-rank, or even S-rank, writing-related talents.

Therefore, Akira Kuroba became curious about what she had written that caused the manuscript to be rejected. Could it be that she had crossed a dangerous line?

While Akira Kuroba was analyzing the reasons for her defeat, Shiori Shirai was still immersed in the emotions of being a loser.

"I lost... I lost completely..."

"Shirai-kun..."

Shiori Shirai didn't give him a chance to speak, and shouted at him fiercely.

"Don't pity me! Don't comfort me! Come on, mock me! Insult me!"

She had completely given up on herself, leaving Kuroba Akira unsure of how to react.

Seeing Kuroba Akira's troubled expression, Shirai Shiori gave a bitter laugh and said.

"Heh...that's true...you don't need to insult me ​​with words at all. Anyway, you're about to witness the most humiliating moment of my life...I will keep my bet and accept my defeat."

She had already made up her mind and would not run away from the outcome of this battle.

So she said to Aizono Moe, who was worried about her.

"Mengmeng, you should go back now."

"Shiori..."

"go back!"

"Well……"