Daily life with elves

In order to avoid being invited to join these strange clubs, Shido Gokawa deliberately joined the art club of this school and became a ghost member of the art club.

The Art Club is a very flexible club. As long as members participate in art competitions regularly, they don't have to go to the club every day. This is because the teachers believe that most people who like to create don't like to be confined to a small space to create. Instead, they can complete better works outside.

This is also the reason why the art club is suitable for Shido Gokawa. He likes this kind of club that does not require attendance to be counted. In fact, he has been in the art club for so long, but he has only been there a few times a year. Not many people even know that he is a member of the art club, so he calls himself a ghost club member.

As for the competition mentioned just now, Shido Gokawa also participated in it seriously. After all, he has drawn comics for Honjo Nia so many times, and he has some painting skills, so it is not difficult for him to draw some art pictures.

But until now, it seems that I haven’t won any awards.

Of course, the main reason why Gokawa Shido joined the Art Club was to have a reason to refuse when he was pulled into other clubs. For example, if Hiratsuka Shizuka had insisted on pulling him into the Service Club, he could have mentioned that he was a member of the Art Club.

In order to avoid meeting other beautiful girls and making the elves worry that he would cheat on them, Shido Gokawa has made all the necessary preparations.

She was a girl with long straight black hair, big bright eyes, and a pretty face. There were red bow ribbons tied on both sides of her hair. She was none other than Yukinoshita Yukino, whom Shizuka Hiratsuka had mentioned just now.

The two passed each other and didn't speak because they didn't know each other. Shido Gokawa noticed that Yukinoshita Yukino walked into the teacher's office, probably to look for Shizuka Hiratsuka.

After taking a look, Shido Gokawa didn't care too much about the other party, but he felt a little strange. If the plot was according to the original work, shouldn't Yukinoshita Yukino stay in the Service Club reading books and wait for Hiratsuka Shizuka and others to find her?

Gokawa Shido shook his head lightly and stopped thinking about Yukinoshita Yukino. Even if the plot changed, what did it have to do with him?!

Moreover, he must rush to the Uzui Bunko as soon as possible. The call from Editor Toki just now was to urge him, but Shido Itsuka temporarily put it off by saying that his teacher wanted to talk to him.

Although Shido Gokawa doesn't care much about the plagiarized work, he still cares about the income the work brings him. That is the living expenses for him and the elves in this world!

Shido Gokawa quickly left the school, then he took the Shinkansen and went all the way to the Rabbit Mountain Shopping Street, found the Fuzugawa Bunko next to it, and then, as Editor Toki had just said, came to the office on the fourth floor.

Fuzuigawa Bunko is considered to be the largest library in the industry, with countless famous light novel writers under its umbrella. Among them, Shido Gokawa can only be considered a mediocre one.

The table was filled with briefcases, novel materials, anime posters, manuscripts, and even a few middle-aged men lying on the floor snoring. Shido Gokawa didn't know whether these people were editors or writers.

In fact, this is not the first time that Gokawa Shido has come to the Busei Bunko. He has been here several times when submitting manuscripts and signing documents, so he is quite familiar with the place.

Shido Gokawa came to the sister at the front desk. As far as he knew, the meetings between editors and writers were arranged by this sister.

I saw my sister looked up and she also recognized Gokawa Shidao. She knew that he was the person that Editor Toki was waiting for, so she nodded and said with a sweet smile:

Itsuka Shido thanked him politely, but then felt a little strange. What did his sister mean by 'they'?

Is Toki Kenjiro not the only one in the meeting room?

But seeing that his sister had already lowered her head to do other things, Shido Itsuka didn't dare to ask too much, so he just walked into the office with his doubts.

But when he arrived at the door of Conference Room No. 5, he frowned again, because he saw that Conference Room No. 5 was obviously larger than ordinary conference rooms, and he suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Generally speaking, when it was just him and editor Toki, they would meet in conference rooms 1 to 4. They could only accommodate two people, but it was just enough for the editor to talk to the writer about the level work.

Now that the larger Conference Room No. 5 is being used, it means that there is likely more than just Editor Toki inside, there are others!

Just as the front lady said, 'they' were waiting for him.

Chapter 13 An unexpected visitor

Itsuka Shido sighed, then knocked on the door. After hearing Editor Toki's response, he walked in cautiously and whispered:

"The great writer, is he finally here?"

A woman standing in the corner sneered, then looked at Shido Gokawa with an unhappy expression.

She was a woman with short black hair and wearing black and white OL clothes. Shido Itsuka naturally knew her. She was the editor of the Fuzugawa Bunko, Sonoko Machida, whom he had met once.

Shido Itsuka also understood Machida Sonoko's attitude. After all, in order to avoid being associated with Kasumigaoka Utaha who was under Machida Sonoko, he had asked the library to change the editor in a tough and unreasonable manner.

This was a rather rare request, especially for a new writer like Gokawa Shido, but because one of the authors under editor Toki suddenly ran away, after some negotiations, Gokawa Shido's editor was successfully transferred to Toki Kenjiro.

Therefore, Machida Sonoko has always been resentful about Gokawa Shido's request to change editor. In addition, Gokawa Shido has not achieved good results since his debut, and she has just waited for so long, so naturally she will not be polite.

Shido Gokawa didn't care. After all, the other party was not his editor. No matter how much he hated him, it would not affect his work. So he just smiled and nodded at Machida Sonoko, making it difficult for the other party to continue to mock him and was powerless.

The girl sitting next to Machida Sonoko was a person that Gokawa Shido was very familiar with. She had long black hair that reached her waist, skin as white as snow, long legs covered in textured black stockings, a white headband, and was wearing the Sobu High School third-year uniform. She was none other than Kasumigaoka Utaha, whom he had just met at noon today.

Like Machida Sonoko, Kasumigaoka Utaha also looked unhappy and kept shaking her legs. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Shido Gokawa felt that he saw a mysterious dark aura behind her.

It turned out to be these two people, which is really bad!

Shido Gokawa couldn't understand why Editor Toki wanted to discuss things with them, but he knew he had to do something, at least act a little more ordinary.

He looked at Kasumigaoka Utaha with a surprised expression, as if he was very surprised that Kasumigaoka Utaha appeared here, and then said in surprise:

"Kasumigaoka-senpai?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha raised her head slightly and found that the boy in front of her was an unfamiliar boy. But when she saw his school uniform and the address he had just given, she naturally understood that he was a student of Sobu High School.

She didn't know the other person, but she thought it was normal for Shido Gokawa to know her. After all, she was a famous beauty in the school, and it was natural for these juniors to know her.

Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded coldly. In front of unfamiliar people, she always maintained such a cold image.

Of course, what she didn't know was that because he had watched an anime about her in his previous life, Shido Gokawa was all too familiar with Kasumigaoka Utaha's true identity.

Seeing that Kasumigaoka Utaha ignored him, Gokawa Shido didn't care, thinking that this was even better. So he turned around and looked at Toki Kenjiro and asked curiously:

"Editor Toki, you asked me to come here after school. Is there something wrong?"

Toki Kenjiro said calmly that in fact he was not optimistic about such a work from the beginning, but the editor-in-chief thought it had commercial value, so he allowed it to be published.

The result is that the sales of the first few volumes are okay, because they are quite enjoyable to read, but with this kind of novel, after reading more than two volumes, you will get aesthetic fatigue, and the number of fans will decrease, while the number of negative reviews will increase, so that there are not many people interested in buying it now.

If it weren't for the mysterious illustrator's excellent character design and painting, sales might have been even worse.

"So he's going to be beheaded?"

Shido Gokawa frowned. If the film was to be cut short, what rubbish work would he copy next?

Editor Toki had no idea that Itsuka Shido was worried about such things, and thought he was frustrated with his sales performance. He hurriedly shook his head and explained:

"It's not to the point of being cancelled yet, but Bunko hopes that you can hold a book signing event to boost its popularity!"

"A book signing?"

Shido Itsuka murmured, if it was an ordinary autograph session, then the people coming would definitely be fans of the work, and it wouldn't increase popularity at all.

And if it was just a book signing event, what were Kasumigaoka Utaha and the others sitting next to her doing?

Shido Gokawa looked at Editor Toki in confusion, hoping that he would explain it clearly.

Editor Toki sighed, then explained to Itsuka Shido:

"What the library means is that you and Kasumi Shiko-sensei, two writers, should hold a book signing event together!"

"why?"

Itsuka Shido asked excitedly, why did he suddenly have a book signing event with Kasumigaoka Utaha?!

Shido Itsuka glanced at Kasumigaoka Utaha who was sitting next to him. He found it hard to believe that the other party would agree to such an activity.

"Don't look at me! I'm also firmly against it!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha said coldly that she just wanted to write novels well and didn't want to plagiarize anything, but unfortunately, in the light novel industry, sales volume is everything and she has no choice.

Editor Toki raised three fingers and explained one by one:

“First, you are all relatively young, have room for improvement, and have great potential. The library is willing to give you time and opportunities, and to make progress, we need to learn together.

Gokawa, you are very good at grasping the selling points of light novels, but your writing style and plot are very average. Teacher Kasumi Shiko's writing style and plot are both first-class, but her works lack selling points.

Therefore, the editor-in-chief wants you to get to know each other, learn from each other's strengths, and improve your own weaknesses, so that you will have the opportunity to become independent light novel writers! "

Kasumigaoka Utaha shook her legs and asked doubtfully:

"I've also seen that Mobile Man. It's just toilet paper with illustrations. It has no nutritional value. It's a waste of time to watch it. Is there really any need to learn from it?"

Chapter 14 Exclusive Illustration

"is it?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha sneered. In terms of sales, the two of them were not much different. They were both new writers, but she believed that the quality of her works was much higher. In fact, this was also the case with the reviews from online readers.

However, she had no way to refute what the editors said. It was true that her works received a lot of positive reviews, but few people were interested in them. She only had a small number of loyal fans.

On the contrary, although Shido Gokawa's works have received countless negative reviews, many people say that they are just brainless otaku-pleasing stuff.

But there are quite a few readers, and the discussion has always been very high. Even she, who doesn't read many works about other worlds, has come across it. This is also a kind of skill.

Was this what the editors wanted her to learn?

Shido Gokawa glanced at the calmed-down Kasumigaoka Utaha and couldn't help but frown. He originally wanted to provoke the other party, and with Kasumigaoka Utaha's personality, she would definitely not be able to help but quarrel with him.

By then they will part ways on bad terms, and the book signing event will be left unfinished.

But for some reason, Kasumigaoka Utaha actually endured it, so Gokawa Shido had to rely on himself.

Before Gokawa Shido could say anything, Toki Kenjiro lowered a finger and continued:

"Secondly, because you all excel in different things, your fan bases rarely overlap. Generally, readers of Teacher Kasumi Shiko wouldn't like to read Mobile Man, and people who like Mobile Man wouldn't read Love Metronome.

So if you two hold a book signing event together, it could also allow people who haven't seen your work to become aware of it, which is definitely a very effective publicity effect!"

Shido Gokawa sighed. Although Kenjiro Toki didn't say it explicitly, everyone understood what he meant. The real purpose of this autograph session was to let fans of both sides buy each other's uninterested works.

After all, generally speaking, there will be two authors at a book signing event, and readers will ask for signatures from both of them first. Whether to read them or what to do with them is a matter for later. In this way, at least the library can sell a lot of light novels at the book signing event of the two authors, which means increasing sales.

Shido Gokawa doesn't mind this approach, but the problem is that if the person he cooperates with is Kasumigaoka Utaha, then it will be a big problem.

Therefore, Gokawa Shido objected righteously:

"I don't like cheating readers out of their money like this. If you're not my fan, there's no point in selling light novels like this!"

Toki Kenjiro said in a low voice, then circled his two fingers to make a money symbol. What he wanted to express was very clear. The sales volume of the light novel is Shidao Gokawa's royalty income!

Because it was too real, Shido Gokawa was unable to react for a moment.

"What about the third reason?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha asked a little impatiently. Like Gokawa Shido, she didn't like the arrangement of the library, but of course the reasons were different.

Toki Kenjiro smiled, but looking at his expression, it was obvious that he didn't forget something, but just didn't want to say it.

Hearing this, Kasumigaoka Utaha shook her legs unhappily.

She was already feeling unhappy today because of some things, and then Machida Sonoko tricked her into doing so. She also heard a proposal for a double book signing that she didn't like, and now this male editor only said half of his words. How could she possibly be happy?

However, Shido Gokawa guessed some of the reasons. The similarity between him and Utaha Kasumigaoka is that they are both high school light novel writers. This should be quite rare and can be considered a selling point in itself.

What's more, they are a boy and a girl, and they go to the same high school. If they hold a book signing event together, and add some deliberate publicity from the library, they can easily be packaged as light novel writers and high school lovers.

In this way, even if their works are not well-known yet, their fame will be greatly enhanced.

Shido Gokawa thought that this was the real purpose of the Unzui Bunko, to learn from each other, and it was not necessary to hold a book signing event. The purpose of holding a book signing event was to allow them to appear in front of readers and then sell the personalities of the two authors.

Now that he has figured it out, Shido Itsuka naturally cannot accept the library's arrangement. If the elves know about this, won't they tear him down?

Itsuka Shido thought for a while, then asked tentatively:

"If it's for sales, can't you find someone else for the autograph session?"

"Do you think I'm unworthy of holding a book signing event with you, Gokawa-san?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha sneered. She didn't expect that before she could dislike the other person, the other person disliked her first. This reminded her of some strange rumors she heard at school in the afternoon, and her face became even darker.

Shido Gokawa shook his head and wanted to explain, but he didn't know how to explain for a moment.

Fortunately, at this time, Toki Kenjiro spoke. He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and responded to Gokawa Shido's previous question:

"Unless what?"

Itsuka Shido asked with a bit of curiosity.

Toki Kenjiro did not answer directly, but replied casually:

"Di Ya?"

Shido Gokawa frowned. Indeed, many of his readers wanted to know who drew the illustrations for him!

After all, it is obvious at a glance that Honjo Nia is not a novice in drawing skills. He can even be said to be a top-level artist. However, such an artist actually used an unknown pen name to draw illustrations for a new and unknown work, which made readers very concerned.

Of course, the library was also very curious, because they didn't know this artist, and it was Shido Gokawa who contacted him himself. Even the illustration fees were collected by Shido Gokawa.

But I believe that no matter how much they guess, they will never guess that Honjo Nia is actually an elf painter from another world!

Chapter 15 Main Article II

Machida Sonoko interrupted a little suddenly.

In fact, she also wanted to find this painter. She had many writers under her, such as Kasumigaoka Utaha, but there were no good illustrators for them, after all, she was a new author.

Since Soji Honjo is willing to draw illustrations for newcomers like Shido Gokawa, he might also help Utaha Kasumigaoka. In this way, Utaha Kasumigaoka's novels will be able to attract more readers.

Many times, the illustrations in light novels are more important than the quality of the novels themselves!