Cartoonists and their assistants

She murmured the word, her tone carrying a peculiar quality.

"Do I qualify now? Hehe..."

three days later.

The New Year's party of Monthly Shonen Gangan has begun once again.

Although they had been promoted to deputy editor-in-chief, their editor, Minamoto Matsumura, still drove over himself to take them and Ms. Saho to the venue.

Yuriko Tsukishima, who was visiting for the third time, was already considered an old lady.

Compared to last year, they met several new faces, all of whom were new comic artists who had just started serializing their works. Some of them were even fans of the artists and said that they chose to debut because of them.

Of course, you should just take such compliments with a grain of salt.

Very few people who debut as comic artists are self-taught; they usually set their sights on something early on and then put in tireless effort before they finally achieve success.

"Happy New Year, Ms. Tsukishita and Ms. Yuriko!"

Kazuka Konno walked towards us, waving and greeting us enthusiastically.

"Long time no see, Konno-sensei~"

Eriri smiled happily.

"I'm sorry, I've been too busy lately. I was planning to visit you."

"If you have time, Teacher Yuexia and I can also visit you."

"Hey, is it really okay?"

"Uh......"

Seeing her hesitation, Kazuka Konno's face showed disappointment.

"Of course, we've never visited another teacher's home before, so it would be a good opportunity to learn from Mr. Konno's advanced experience."

Eriri turned her head and gestured with her eyes. After exchanging opinions with her childhood friend, her childhood friend gave her the answer.

"Then, I will give you a warm welcome!"

Konno Kazuka was very emotional, grabbed the girl's wrist, and looked at her with great eagerness.

Because she had been dedicated to comics and hadn't made any friends, she felt very empty inside. She knew very few people, let alone had any contact with them like this.

"Uh-huh......"

Eriri was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and nodded reluctantly.

After that, they met up with Bibi again.

"Hehe, Machi, Eriri, I have something interesting to tell you. We met Kirito and the others before, right? Recently, my sister Kanako told me that they are actually classmates... What a coincidence!"

"Kurasu Kanata said with a grin."

"That's truly a wonderful coincidence."

"Japan is too small."

The two of them complained to each other.

After meeting with acquaintances, we arrived at today's main event.

"Where are those two ancient people who have lived for a thousand years?!"

Eriri, looking quite menacing, arrived at the center of the arena.

"Who are you talking to, you filthy woman!"

Provoked, Rabbit Beauty Saint immediately ran over from the other side.

"Ah, sorry, you're not even second place anymore. Judging from the average popularity ranking, our new work is already above you!"

Eriri looked at her with disdain and spoke sarcastically.

"you......!"

Is this true?

Guan Yuezhenzhi adds a sentence.

"Yes...but this is only temporary. We have a long way to go, let's wait and see!"

Rabbit Beauty Saint scanned the expressions of the two, finally uttered a harsh word, gritted her teeth, and fled in panic.

"They ran away... Seriously, that wasn't a satisfying win at all."

Eriri crossed her arms and muttered something.

"It seems he still respects the facts and isn't being stubborn."

he continued.

"The facts are there, but we can't be arrogant. We're only slightly better than others, and we could fall behind if we're not careful."

"Oh my, Eriri, are you stealing my lines?"

"Hmph! I just don't want to lose to someone like that."

The girl moaned.

147 I'm also a childhood sweetheart.

After the New Year's party.

Several familiar cartoonists found a place and chatted for a while.

Mizuki Machi, Eriri, Konno Ichika, Kurusu Kanata, and also Ashisu Saho...

Apart from Ms. Saho, the others are all top-ranked authors, practically half of the literary scene. If readers knew this, their doors would be choked with requests.

Because it was late, they chatted for a while and then parted ways.

Before parting, Eriri inquired about Sahoto's situation.

"It's okay, Eriri. As long as you've done your best, I can accept whatever the outcome."

Both of them showed off their good looks.

Kanzuki Masashi could see that.

Her attitude has subtly changed.

From the initial passionate efforts to now trying to accept it...

This is clearly a last resort.

The two remained silent and could only watch her leave.

Sometimes, life is just that bitter.

......

One week after the New Year's meeting.

After school on Friday, Eriri took a break from her busy schedule and planned to go to the bookstore with him to replenish her resources.

"Chie, quick, recommend some good comics and novels to me."

"Eri, don't be in such a hurry."

“We went back as soon as we finished shopping, we don’t have time to play around with you.”

"I know you're busy, so you can go back first. I'll talk to Zhenzhi."

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Mizuki Machi then entered, and chuckled as he watched the two bickering.

Although their tone was harsh and their attitude was impolite, the change in how they addressed each other suggested that their relationship was actually quite good.

It's also because Chie developed such a good temper as a shop assistant, otherwise...

"Alright, you two, are you children?"

Seeing that the two were about to escalate to a personal attack, he spoke up to stop them.

"Hmph! It's all because this girl makes me so angry every time. But for your sake, I'll let it slide today... Alright, just tell me!"

Eriri pouted and then glanced sideways.

Takasago Chie smiled gently, walked out from behind the counter, went to the bookshelf on the side, and casually picked out a book.

"There is indeed a light novel worth recommending recently, 'Love Metronome' by Kasumi Utako, who recently debuted after winning the Fantastic Bunko Newcomer Award."

"What's this book title? And another romance novel? Are you going through puberty?"

"You'll see once you've read it. I'm the ruler of the light novel section, and the works I recommend are all excellent!"

"Alright, I'll take a look."

In this regard, Eriri still trusts the judgment of this master in the field of light novel reading.

"True knowledge, do you want to see it too?"

Takasago Chie casually handed over another book.

"Then let's see."

Mizuki Machi reached out and took it, and began to read as well.

He also had some impression of this novel because of someone else.

So he was also very curious about what kind of romance novels would be written by a senior who had never been in a relationship.

With the privilege granted by the shop assistant, the two were allowed to finish reading the book.

"His writing is quite good; he doesn't seem like a newcomer."

"nice!"

"Sayuka is so cute!"

Eriri kept praising it as she watched.

This romance novel is just right for her taste!

The innocent and youthful romance between the male protagonist, Naoto, and the female protagonist, Sayuka, is like a dream, enough to make readers' hearts flutter.

"It is indeed very well written."

After watching it, Mizuki Machi also gave it a high rating.

Then, he changed the subject.

"However, there are still some flaws. It's supposed to be the first volume, but it's already so full. It'll be difficult to write the subsequent content."

"You're right. It feels like we can't develop this further. If it were a short story, it could end here, but if we want to continue the series..."

Eriri also frowned.

As the creator, she was fully aware of the limitations of this work.

"It's a real shame, otherwise I would have put 'Love Metronome' in my recommendation section."

Chie Takasago nodded in agreement.

"Well, you've done a good job. Do you have any other works to recommend?"

Eriri smiled with satisfaction.

Chie Takasago replied without changing her expression, "Of course, these are all of them."

"Ok?"

Eriri raised an eyebrow. After reading it, she found that the female protagonists were all set to be childhood sweethearts, but the content varied greatly.

"The quality is just so-so. Even you can make a mistake sometimes."

"Eri, isn't this the kind of thing you like? The childhood friend trope."

"No...no, that's not it! It's just that the works I like happen to have these settings!"

The girl blushed and her neck thickened.

"Is that right?"