Tokyo Sound

"The story begins with this character, showing the sharp class conflict in the empire. The example of the principal's son also suggests that not all nobles are just sitting there doing nothing. The protagonist is reckless because the lord of his hometown is overbearing. Even the invitation to the aristocratic girls' school was lobbied by the principal's son, because the protagonist is really good at swordsmanship. In addition, if the school can achieve good results in the upcoming seven-school competition, the aristocratic girls' school can avoid the crisis of disbanding, and the down-and-out young ladies who study there can continue to receive elite education and accumulate strength for future family construction. The protagonist also changes his mind while getting along with these people, and they work together as partners to fight against powerful enemies and accept challenges."

"?"

"Looking at it this way, the logic actually makes sense, the events are well arranged, and the writing is smooth. Based on my experience of directing light novel animations and reading the original works in recent years, this book has the potential to become a hit," commented Yoshitsugu Matsuoka.

"So what? In terms of writing style, I am obviously stronger. In terms of depth, what I explore is more about humans and gods and demons, and the breadth and depth of design civilization. He is just lucky and was noticed by customers first." Shimazaki Nobunaga was still shaking his head and commenting sharply, which well illustrates what it means when writers look down on each other.

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu didn't say anything, but lowered his head and read the book attentively.

"Don't immerse yourself in the stories of your competitors!" Shimazaki Nobunaga was shocked.

"Oh, sorry, I can't help it." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu scratched his head, "It's mainly because we're getting a little bored staying here all the time."

Shimazaki Nobunaga sighed worriedly.

"Don't worry too much about gains and losses. Failure happens to everyone. At worst, it will be cut short. Just pretend you never wrote it." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu comforted him kindly.

"…You should continue reading." Shimazaki Nobunaga covered his heart.

As they were talking, there seemed to be some unusual movement among the crowd on the second floor. Some people were talking in low voices as if passing on information, then looked puzzled, and then walked towards the staircase in twos and threes. The coming and going of people was very unusual.

What happened? Is there anything exciting to see?

Shimazaki Nobunaga looked around a few times, but instead of seeing any excitement, he saw the young man and woman who had gone to buy the picture album together before coming back.

Someone returned to the second floor and sat back in his original place silently without saying a word.

"Why are you wearing a motorcycle helmet in the store? Are you doing performance art?" Shimazaki Nobunaga was very confused.

Someone didn't say anything, but just put his finger in front of his helmet to signal silence.

"Hey, you're holding it up. Celty, who is also a headless knight with a helmet, also has a voiceover." Shimazaki Nobunaga complained.

"We just met fans taking photos on the fifth floor. To be precise, they were his fans." Risa Taneda took off her sunglasses and sighed.

“…There is such a thing.”

Shimazaki Nobunaga was speechless for a moment. But it was not hard to understand. This was a light novel bookstore in Akihabara, and most of the customers were anime fans. The probability of meeting voice actor fans was naturally very high. He hummed calmly.

"Ah, that's why I told you to learn from me a long time ago, so you don't have to wear a helmet."

Matsuoka Yoshitsugu looked around and found that there were four people here, and he was the only one with his whole face exposed. He couldn't help but sigh, "You all look like celebrities, especially the two who just came back. They are hiding their identities, just like the paparazzi secretly photographed the two people having a tryst in the entertainment magazines..."

"Your rhetoric is too weird." Shimazaki Nobunaga said disdainfully, "Throw away the light novel and find a classic to read."

"It's okay, Mr. Matsuoka is just speaking his mind. Such outstanding people who don't bother to hide their thoughts are rare in our impatient modern society." Risa Taneda praised him endlessly.

"Did you find the book?" I finally got away.

2. Yin Ze was peeking around like a thief and talking in a low voice like he was meeting someone.

"It's there. It's just been on the shelves for a while." Shimazaki Nobunaga raised his chin, his words filled with sadness of being underappreciated. "The results are gratifying. Among the three of us, we have already sold three copies of the great achievement."

"Don't worry, let the cool story ferment for a while." Yin Ze looked carefree. This book has a variety of classic settings, delicate text like an emotional anchor, and illustrations by Master Weijing himself. There is no way it won't make waves.

"What book are you guys so weird about?" Risa Taneda was puzzled.

Yin Ze got up and took four books, paid for them, and came back to give one of them to the girl.

Risa Taneda curiously opened the package and flipped it open.

The first few pages are full of black and white illustrations with extremely high precision, all of which adopt a difficult perspective composition, full of tension. Following these exciting illustrations, the text on the next few pages follows closely, beginning to describe a fight on a narrow road. The description is detailed and the vocabulary is complex, which is definitely not the writing power of ordinary light novels... Especially the rendering of emotions and psychology, which is comparable to the quality short articles in youth magazines.

The first twenty or thirty pages offer a feast of pictures and texts. It seems that the author is well versed in rhythm and routine.

Then the main story begins, with the protagonist traveling through time and space to become a withered noble. First, his beautiful and talented fiancée comes to his house and humiliates him by breaking off the engagement in public on the grounds that they are not a good match. The two parties make a "three-year agreement". Later, the protagonist uses modern scientific knowledge to solve the product problems of the store and slaps his uncle and others who are taking advantage of their age. Then he goes to the slave market to buy several beast-eared girls, and then accepts the trial and enters the dungeon for the first time. Finally, he finds two intertwined skeletons, and successfully continues the plot of the opening battle.

The protagonist accidentally obtained a broken artifact, triggered cause and effect, and obtained a powerful martial arts technique. In the distance, a powerful person also sensed something and opened his third eye.

The illustrations were not lazy either, and were ready to go, with superb painting skills, depicting the scene of a young man bathing in the glory of the artifact. On the next page, the light was replaced by darkness, and an old man, sitting dejectedly in the sword tomb of the endless wasteland, faced the readers, raising his one eye to stare at the broken scene.

The powerful painting skills make this gaze feel real and creepy.

This section where birth and destruction intersect is quite shocking.

Risa Taneda didn't know what was going on, and she read a lot, so she quickly formed a standard for judgment.

This small stage alone is quite interesting. It not only talks about the world view and local customs, shows off scientific and technological knowledge, but also lays the groundwork for many things in a logical way.

What are the identities of the two bodies that have fought to exhaustion? What is the story of the super-powerful man sitting in the sword tomb? What is the origin of the sword? And what will be the outcome of the "three-year battle" agreed with the fiancée? Will the arrogant beautiful girl regret her decision when she sees the protagonist who has fought back all the way? Will she regret it for the rest of her life? Will she try hard to win back the protagonist's heart?

With all these things in mind, especially when you think about the skills the illustrator used to depict the fiancée's heartbroken expression with lifeless eyes, ordinary readers will surely be itching to buy the book.

The flowing plot and the explosive illustrations work together to create an unforgettable experience.

"What do you think?" Shimazaki Nobunaga asked nervously.

"A novel with top-notch business acumen!" Risa Taneda gave this comment with great conviction after flipping through the book.

"...What?" Shimazaki Nobunaga couldn't believe it. "Apart from business, is there no literary creativity?"

"Well, I don't have any great experience with this. But it is definitely a best-selling work that captures the readers' pain points and makes them want to read it." Risa Taneda thought for a while.

"How, how could this happen?" Shimazaki Nobunaga seemed to be in self-doubt. In his opinion, this book should be praised for its ingenious structure of the world view and the social criticism implied in it.

All of this fell into Master Yin's eyes, and he sighed slightly.

Bad news, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven has passed away.

Good news, this path has the appearance of a great emperor.

Perhaps the real magic skills can only be achieved if the practitioner has no purpose. Shi Potian was illiterate but suddenly realized the Taixuan Sutra, and You Tanzhi accidentally practiced the Yijin Sutra. Now Shimazaki Nobunaga has a dream in his heart and uses delicate words to create a fantasy adventure of literary and artistic style and rare love for contemporary teenagers, but he ended up creating a first-class refreshing article, which goes against his obsession.

The world is so unpredictable.

"These illustrations seem familiar." Risa Taneda continued to look through them, and said with her head slightly tilted.

"Can you still tell who drew this?" Shimazaki Nobunaga came back to his senses from his trance, his identity as an outsider revived, and he asked intriguingly with narrowed eyes.

"Well, so who is it..." The girl deliberately dragged out her tone.

"The cover has the author's name and the artist's name, can't we just take a look at it?" Matsuoka Yoshitsugu reminded with a shrug.

You are really boring. Shimazaki Nobunaga gently patted Matsuoka's shoulder. The latter was a little puzzled.

Chapter 149 Be Brave

A small table for four people.

“I encourage young people to fall in love.”

Shimazaki Nobunaga spoke like a poet, pushing his big sunglasses, looking literary like a director.

"Love is an adventure in life that has never been absent from ancient times to the present. If you disagree with your friends, it's nothing more than mutual respect and understanding. As long as you share the same interests, you can still sit down and drink. But it's not the same with your partner. The process of falling in love is a multiple collision of values, living habits, growth experiences and other things. It's really thinking about life with an outsider. You insist on making concessions, and you gain from making concessions. You encounter obstacles and overcome them. Whether you break up or stay together, there is positive growth."

"Isn't it the same when you're with good friends?" Matsuoka Yoshitsugu wondered. "Don't we also have the old saying that 'among three people there must be one person who can be my teacher'?"

"Even close friends can't completely integrate into your life. Just like when we go to work together and rent an apartment, living under the same roof, our habits that we don't usually notice will be exposed, such as rushing to the toilet in the morning, or my high tolerance for cleanliness in the room, so I won't clean the corners when sweeping the floor, and you'll find a little oil left after washing the dishes."

Shimazaki Nobunaga spoke eloquently, like a Zen master answering the questions of a young man seeking fortune.

"At first you might not care and do everything yourself, but as time goes on, you will definitely feel dissatisfied and persuade me to do more, and then we will start to have some minor frictions. Of course, we are just working and renting together, and at most we can go to the agency to find another single room separately. But if a man and a woman who are talking about marriage do this, it basically means they are breaking up. And real marriage is not just about these trivial matters, but also about family property, parents of both parties, and heavy issues about raising children. In fact, even if you are not at the stage of marriage and are just in love, you will face many difficult interpersonal problems. In this comparison, it is obvious that being in love will test your overall excellence as a member of society more, right?"

"...Now that you mention it, being a good boyfriend, a good husband, or even a good father is indeed far more than just being a good friend. There is a huge difference in the depth between each." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu nodded.

"What you said seems to be treating love as a tool to improve yourself. Isn't that a bit utilitarian?" Risa Taneda couldn't help but ask when she heard it.

"Hehe, 'wanting a romantic love without utilitarianism', isn't this itself a kind of fresh utilitarianism?" Shimazaki Nobunaga said like a skilled debater, with his fingers crossed to cover the lower half of his face, as if he was the black hand who completed the plan.

"You can talk so clearly about the relationship and contradictions between the sexes. I'm sure you must have been in love many times and improved yourself many times through love, right?" Yin Ze hit the nail on the head.

"If we were to discuss my battle, it would be a very long story, and it might take a whole day and night to finish." Shimazaki Nobunaga remained motionless and continued speaking, "In short, it is impossible to fall in love with someone for no reason. It is nothing more than appearance, talent, wealth and fun..."

"Is there anyone who doesn't want any of them?" Matsuoka Yoshitsugu asked, raising his hand like a student.

"You don't want anything. Love without reason? There are only two possibilities. First, you are mentally abnormal and you made up some things in your mind." Shimazaki Nobunaga began to diagnose.

"What about the second one?" Matsuoka Yoshitsugu asked.

"You are the reincarnation of Jesus, the savior of this suffering world, and a person of true love." Shimazaki Nobunaga retreated tactically.

"?"

"I still agree that there is no love without reason, but limiting it to appearance, talent, wealth and fun is a bit too narrow-minded," Risa Taneda questioned.

"Oh? If you have any ideas, just tell me directly." Shimazaki Nobunaga immediately put on a humble listening attitude, and was particularly smooth.

"Good-looking people are not rare, and there are a lot of them in the entertainment industry. Even ordinary people can become fresh, clean and charming as long as they pay more attention to fashion, pay attention to clothing matching, find a suitable hairstyle, and apply some concealer." Risa Taneda said slowly, "And being interesting is not rare. Self-learning an extracurricular skill, being able to liven up the atmosphere in social occasions, being exposed to more literary works, visiting exhibitions and concerts can make life interesting and not static. Think about us voice actors. Because of our work, we may read famous lines, which can be considered interesting by the audience... Not to mention wealth."

"Then what attracts your attention?" Shimazaki Nobunaga asked in a deep voice.

"Yes. The loyalty to fulfill a promise no matter how hard it takes, the determination to devote oneself to one's ideal despite every obstacle, the strength to challenge despite countless failures, the spirit to grit one's teeth and fight instead of bowing to fate - these are the heart and soul." Risa Taneda said slowly.

"It doesn't sound like a particularly rare thing." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu thought for a moment, "On the contrary, it can be said to be very common. For example, students who have failed the entrance exam many times but choose to face the pressure and continue to repeat the exam, people who are born with physical defects but work hard to live, or professionals such as forest rangers, are all willing to endure loneliness for the sake of their duties."

"These people may not be handsome, have a good family background, or be interesting. But our world is so colorful because of the existence of these people." Risa Taneda nodded and said firmly.

At this moment, the girl's aura of "I am alive in the world" is extremely strong and eye-catching like the scorching sun, making people look at her sideways.

"Goethe said that duty is a love for what one is required to do."

The man who had been listening all along also readily agreed and expressed his thoughts.

"This is different from ordinary psychological emotions. It belongs to the realm of moral thought. As long as one is still concerned about responsibility, one will still have the motivation to move forward courageously. This is indeed something that everyone has, but it is more precious than money and appearance."

"I see." Shimazaki Nobunaga was immediately convinced, and even praised the two men in a slightly pretentious manner, "This is the real insight."

"Yes, thinking back, since I was a kid, my elders always taught me to be a responsible person. My parents also often taught me that I must be responsible when I go out, especially when interacting with girls." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu also sighed.

"..." So language expression is an important ability. Although the meaning is the same, it sounds different. Shimazaki Nobunaga sighed, feeling helpless.

"Matsuoka-kun looks like a simple and honest person, and he will definitely be liked by girls." Risa Taneda commented with a smile.

"No, no, no, I can't handle it. When I was in school, I didn't ask for attention from female classmates." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu waved his hands quickly, "If you want to talk about this, you have to look at Takizawa."

"Young girls are immature, so they tend to prefer the cool and unique boys in the class. But once you get a job and enter society, they will discover your strengths, such as being modest, thrifty and family-oriented. You will definitely attract the attention of girls in the future." Risa Taneda said with a smile, "As for this guy, he may stand out a little because of his image, but you and your essence are both good people."

Oh?

Although Matsuoka Yoshitsugu is not prominent, he is an excellent man who is hardworking, capable of managing the household and taking on the responsibility of supporting the family.

Although Xiaobailong doesn't look like a good person, he is a man of good character and loyalty.

Then I go?

Shimazaki Nobunaga had a dull expression.

"Oh, and by the way, there's also Shimazaki Nobunaga-kun." Risa Taneda realized it belatedly and offered charity.

"..."

"By the way, it's really strange that we would discuss this kind of topic," said Risa Taneda.

"Not at all." Shimazaki Nobunaga smiled and pointed at the book on the table. "This new novel contains the author's explanation and interpretation of secular love. A cultured person like Miss Taneda should read it. After reading it, please recommend it to your friends."

"So the core purpose is to sell books." Matsuoka Yoshitsugu quietly covered his mouth and complained.

That's not entirely true. The Sixth Heaven Demon King has a good plan, which contains the heart of heaven and earth and the universe. The bloody Monopoly is still fresh in his memory today, and he doesn't mind playing some tricks.

"You guys really value this book. Okay, I'll take a closer look." Taneda Risa picked up the first volume of the book, which looked like a light novel but was actually the Emperor's True Scripture of Enlightenment. She suddenly smiled and said, "But I have paid attention to the illustrator of this book. It's reasonable for me to read it."

"Are you paying attention to this, too?" It was Shimazaki Nobunaga's turn to be a little confused.

Since "Mazu Sensen" is a light novel, the author and artist both use their own pen names, namely "烈炎里做自彈" and "尹泽". It is well known that Xiaobailong can draw, after all, he is the producer of the final episode of "Hyouka" and he also holds many concurrent positions.

But most people only know the animation supervisor but not his pen name, and naturally they don’t know that a certain blue sky and white clouds looks like a robot but has a bunch of tentacles among the fans.

Back then, Shimazaki Nobunaga discovered it accidentally while surfing the Internet. If someone hadn't exposed it himself, he would probably still be kept in the dark and would still be sending all kinds of awkward love messages to the other party's account.

How did Miss Taneda know this?

There were sparks of thinking in Shimazaki Nobunaga's eyes.

It seems that the friendship between these two people... is much deeper than what is shown on the surface.

"The main mission is completed, it's time to go, right?" Someone is still wearing a helmet. To be honest, sitting in a bookstore dressed like this makes him feel more uncomfortable than a perverted gangster.

"Okay." Shimazaki Nobunaga nodded. He had long wanted to shed his bandit skin and get back in touch with the sun.

The group of people took their books and prepared to leave. Shimazaki Nobunaga asked them to go first, and he ran to the fifth floor and bought a collection of Type-Moon paintings. The shoppers on this floor were a bit strange. They didn't pay attention to the bookshelves, but seemed to be looking for something, whispering to each other, which was very strange.

Shimazaki Nobunaga walked down the stairs, but he couldn't help but slow down. He went to the second floor and took another look at the place where his works were displayed.

After so long, it seems that only one person is interested.