What does it have to do with me if they hate vests?

Until the end, Yukinoshita Yukino did not give a clear answer, but both Shiki and Yamada Fairy could see that she was moved.

After paying the bill, Shiki and Fairy Yamada left Wagunaria.

However, after this happened, neither of them was in the mood to continue the date. They just walked aimlessly on the street and chatted.

"Really? Why is Xiaoxue so stubborn?" Yamada the Fairy sighed and said unhappily, "It's not like I don't have money, and I don't intend to give her alms as an insult. Don't you even trust me on this point..."

"Rather than saying she doesn't trust you, I think she simply doesn't want to burden you."

Shiki, who knew the inside story, saw it very clearly. He knew that Yukinoshita Yukino was just kind-hearted in a sense and didn't want the Yamada fairy to be involved.

"Humph, as a future great light novelist, I don't care about such a burden at all!"

The girl said with her hands on her hips, and then she looked at Si Ji again: "And don't instigate her to do weird things..."

Shiki was confused: "What?"

"It's about the "Sword and Demon Realm" thing. Even if she has her own connections in Maple Leaf Technology, it won't be that easy to get the closed beta qualification, right? Wouldn't it make her even more sad if she made a wasted trip?"

Said the Yamada Fairy.

After all, in her opinion, Maple Leaf Technology, a trust-level super enterprise, has single-handedly supported Tokyo's employment rate in recent years. To be honest, at least half of Tokyo residents can say in a roundabout way that they have connections in Maple Leaf Technology.

However, the consciousness link device is obviously the new flagship product launched by Maple Leaf Technology after the Ark Reactor. It is obviously not something that ordinary employees of Maple Leaf Technology can access. I am afraid that even if there are people inside, it would be difficult to obtain the qualification for closed beta testing.

It couldn't be that Xiaoxue's friend at Maple Leaf Technology was Qiu Ling Wenping? Then how could she still be living such a miserable life in Jiugong Dormitory?

The more he thought about it, the more Yamada Fairy felt that his inference was correct.

"It's better to have hope than to let her be in despair, isn't it?" Si Ji said seriously, "And if she puts a lot of effort into the closed beta test qualification, but ends up with nothing, she won't be able to refuse your help then. Isn't that much easier than wasting your breath now?"

"Well... that's what I said, but it just feels a bit cunning."

The Yamada Fairy rubbed his cheek and muttered to himself.

"Compared to this, how is your new book going?" If he continued to delve into it, his image as an ordinary otaku might become ooc, so Si Ji decisively changed the subject.

“…The progress is quite promising and there is great hope for the future.”

"That means not a single word has been said, right?"

"No, I wrote a 'solution'."

"Are you really writing a light novel?"

Four Seasons sighed.

"What can I do? When I write about love, I can't help but want to pour out my love. Even if I only write a little bit of conflict between the hero rejecting or misunderstanding the heroine, I will feel uncomfortable and breathless... I really am not suitable for writing this type of light novel."

The girl said a little discouraged.

Compared with those authors who have a clear outline from the beginning and can shrewdly calculate the beginning, development, turning point and ending, Yamada Yaoi belongs to the experience-oriented school. When she wrote novels about another world in the past, she just wrote whatever she felt was interesting and made her feel happy. But now that she has switched to the love track, it is obvious that she is temporarily unable to appreciate the fun of the twisted emotions of pan-style ecstasy, so she is always stuck there, and even if she writes something, it is completely a love letter to someone.

Shiki thought for a moment and asked abruptly, "What do you think of Yukinoshita Yukino?"

"...very hard?" the girl answered uncertainly.

"Don't answer by thinking about someone's breasts."

"Oh, so maybe it's because you have a strong sense of self-esteem?" said Yamada Fairy.

"It doesn't matter if you say something a little more exaggerated." Si Ji persuaded patiently.

"...Maybe something happened, so his self-esteem is so strong that it has become a little deformed. He seems to be a troublesome guy." Yamada Fairy muttered.

Then she felt a little ashamed: "I always feel that it is not good to say bad things about people behind their backs."

"How can this be considered bad-mouthing?" Si Ji said with a righteous look on his face: "We are discussing the character settings!"

"what?"

"If we put aside the romance and just let the protagonist and her interact, do you think there will be an interesting story?"

The four seasons continue to guide us.

"I think so, right? A proud girl and a seemingly decadent but actually very powerful protagonist should be able to create some sparks, but it's quite difficult to explain it in detail."

The Yamada Fairy answered after thinking about it.

"Then let's add some supernatural elements." Shiki said as a matter of course.

"Eh? But what I prepared is a youth love comedy..."

The girl was at a loss.

"Here's a story about a friend of mine..." Shiki cleared his throat.

As he spoke, he slightly exaggerated the adolescent syndrome incident that he had experienced before, and after polishing it, he told it to Yamada Fairy.

Although it was not written directly on paper, the process of retelling itself seemed to trigger the full-level writing skills to a certain extent. It was just a straightforward narration, but the story formed in Shiki's mouth was ten or even nine times more exciting than that of a useless author! Hearing this, Yamada Fairy's eyes sparkled.

"It's an interesting story indeed, but is it really okay for you to tell it to me?"

"Although there may be some copyright issues if it is copied exactly...but if it is just for reference, there is no problem." Shiki said seriously.

Then he couldn't help laughing: "It's just a joke. Let's not talk about the story. The key is the character setting in the story."

"Role setting?"

"Well, it's okay to call them character attributes - violent, egoistic, regretful, beautiful, chuunibyou... Just like Yukinoshita's distorted self-esteem, after magnifying the flaws in a certain aspect, the character's attributes become distinct in a certain aspect. Only in this way will their interaction with the protagonist become interesting. As for the supernatural elements, they are not important in themselves, they just serve as a lubricant in advancing the plot."

Shiki said in a serious tone.

“But is it really possible for someone to remain untouched after meeting so many beautiful girls?” Yamada Fairy doubted the protagonist in the Story of Four Seasons.

"Who knows," Shiki shrugged, "maybe there's someone waiting for him at home."

Chapter 377 Awards to be determined

"Shirakawa, these are the entries submitted today. Please give them to Mr. Natsume when you are free later."

Inside the Maple Leaf Society's Lotus Group office, the editor-in-chief placed a pile of file bags on Shirakawa Kyo's desk.

"Wow..."

Shirakawa Kyo looked at the pile of manuscripts and couldn't help but let out a pitiful sigh.

The other editors around her all looked at her with sympathy, but no one offered a helping hand.

It’s not because they are cold-hearted by nature, but because of the sudden activity of Natsume Makuru during this period, the reputation of Maple Leaf Publishing House has greatly increased among light novel and traditional literature authors. The number of submissions to the company has skyrocketed recently, causing everyone to be busy.

Now, let alone helping Shirakawa Kyo, if they don’t work harder, they might have to stay in the company on weekends.

It is true that Maple Leaf's overtime pay is not bad, and as a subsidiary of Maple Leaf Technology, they will not deduct such a small amount of money from them. However, if they don't even have the leisure time to rest, what is the difference between this and being a corporate slave in a gaming company?

By the way, it is said that the time limit for the development of the game "Sword and Demon Realm" by Eagle Jump is on the verge of exploding, and people outside the office building can often hear the gloomy shouts of "All is lost!" coming from above.

However, after Qiu Lingwenping came forward once, the situation seemed to have improved a little, and it should be able to catch up with the closed beta release.

Shirakawa Kyo looked around and saw that no one was willing to help. As a weak woman, she could only pick up the pile of manuscripts, which were definitely not light, and staggered out of the office.

Fortunately, the travel expenses can be reimbursed, so this office lady who just graduated from college can take a taxi without any worries. Otherwise, if she had to squeeze into the train in this posture, she would really cry.

After all, those who know about Tokyo's trains during rush hour know that even the train wolves can squeeze you into jerky. The platform staff in other countries who are responsible for platform safety, their main job in Tokyo is to squeeze in people who can't squeeze into the carriages...

After arriving at the destination at high speed, Shirakawa Kyo came to the house with the manuscript and rang the doorbell.

"Please, please, please stay at home..."

Because of Natsume Makuryu's elusive nature, every three times that Shirakawa Kyo comes here to look for him, he will be turned away because the other party is not at home.

By the way, this is not Natsume Makuru’s home. After all, this author is a mystic and keeps many things secret, not to mention his own residence, which is a privacy-related matter.

According to the other party, he bought this room specifically to store the letters because he had too many letters from his readers and had no place to put them in his hometown. It was not originally open to the public, but this time, for the review of the Natsume Award, he had no choice but to tell Shirakawa Kyo. Even the editor-in-chief of Maple Leaf Publishing House didn't know about it, which made Shirakawa Kyo feel quite flattered.

With the sound of the door mechanism, the door opened automatically.

Shirakawa Kyo walked into the house as usual. Smart furniture was used in many places in this house, and the door locks could naturally be controlled remotely.

The room was a little messy. Although there was not much dust, there were bundles of letters covered with dust sheets everywhere, giving people the illusion that they were walking in a second-hand bookstore or someone's attic where they stored miscellaneous items.

The editor walked into the room which was probably the study room with ease, and as expected, she saw Natsume Makuryu flipping through the manuscripts at a very fast speed.

"These are the latest manuscripts."

Shirakawa Kyo found an empty seat, solemnly put away the pile of folders in his arms, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although these things are heavy, each one is the painstaking work of an author and should never be treated casually.

"I see." Natsume Makuryu replied casually, "Sit down and take a rest. There's no tea, though."

His tone was flat, and it sounded like he was looking for an excuse to get rid of someone.

However, Shirakawa Kyo had long been accustomed to his attitude and knew that the other party was just telling the truth, so he didn't care about it at all and just subconsciously looked around the study.

There were a lot of manuscripts piled up around Natsume Makuryu, but unlike when they were delivered, the folders of the manuscripts had obviously been opened, and there were words marked on the brown paper bag, which should be Natsume teacher's evaluation of the manuscript.

Shirakawa Kyo took a closer look and found that most of them said "average", a few said "good, publishable", only a few said "award pending", and one said "giant".

She asked curiously, "Can I see this?"

"Just don't talk too much after you go out." Natsume Shonuryu said indifferently.

So the editor opened the folder of "Troll" and looked at the title.

"The Legendary Story of My Unparalleled Life in Another World - Elves, Princesses, Sages, and Wizards Are All My Harem"

Shirakawa Kyo respectfully put the manuscript back into the folder.

Well, no wonder the reviews are so weird, it is indeed not an art that humans can understand for the time being.

"Well……"

Suddenly, the editor heard some movement coming from Natsume Makuryu, which surprised her a little. After all, before, Teacher Natsume had no reaction no matter whose work he saw, just like a precision machine.

This made her feel curious, so she came to Natsume Muraru and saw the title and author on the cover at a glance.

My Youth Can't Be Rose-Colored

Yamada Fairy.

"Teacher Natsume, are you optimistic about the work of Teacher Yamada Yaojing?" Shirakawa Kyo couldn't help but ask.

"From a literary perspective, it's quite average." Natsume Shonuru said with a smile on his face.

It is true that the value of Rascal's Head is much higher than ordinary isekai novels. After all, it explores many real problems in adolescence. However, it is just a light novel after all, and many things are only touched upon.

And those who understand the fairy's writing style will know that it is not really that good. Maybe it was enough to write light novels about the other world in the past, but it is still a little lacking in writing this kind of subject matter.

From a purely literary perspective, this book can only be considered average, not even good.

“But as a story, it’s very interesting.”

Natsume Makuryu continued happily.

He had been prepared for the girl to borrow heavily from the stories he had told her, with the final product being a degraded version of Rascal, but the fairy did not do that.

She didn't even borrow the ideas provided by Si Ji, but just used his stories as a trigger for inspiration and wrote completely new content. While retaining the ambiguous existence of adolescent syndrome that is sandwiched between daily and extraordinary times, she presented a completely new and different yet interesting story.

What is even more commendable is that the girl also incorporates her own thoughts into the story and thinks carefully about the nature of youth and love. In terms of depth alone, it is already quite sufficient in a light novel.

To be honest, Natsume Makuru originally planned to set up a Golden Raspberry Award or something like that in addition to the original awards to give special treatment to the fairies, but now it seems that it is no longer necessary.

So after quickly flipping through the entire novel at a speed close to quantum reading, Natsume Muraru smiled and wrote the words "award to be determined" on the folder.

Chapter 378 Natsume Award Press Conference

The submission period for the Natsume Award is not that long (so the review workload is also very heavy), and Yamada Fairy just caught up with the end of the submission period.

Although she had promised Si Ji that she would help him win a closed beta test qualification, after sending the manuscript, the girl couldn't help but feel worried.

After all, the reviewer was Natsume Makuru, who seemed to always dislike her.

"It's no use worrying about it now, come quickly."

In the living room, Si Ji waved to the girl who was still struggling in the bed.

"I'm just replenishing my Four Seasons energy."

Yamada the Fairy poked his head out: "But I feel like there's no smell in the bed."

"Because I washed and dried it carefully." Si Ji said with a helpless smile.

He is not a germaphobe, but it is difficult for him to go from luxury to frugality.