I refuse to be a plagiarist

It's like...close friends.

This is exactly what Hasegawa said to Yukinoshita before.

Although the way they usually get along may seem a bit strange for the word "friends", it is undeniable that after going through all kinds of things together, they have indeed developed a deep and meaningless friendship between each other.

There is no doubt about this!

"Even if it's a false appearance, we are still friends..."

On the way home, the boy faced the glow of the setting sun, muttering to himself.

But when will he be able to trust that woman as much as he trusts Baiyin Yuxing...The answer to this question will probably take a longer time.

Chapter 12: I don’t want to be a wage earner anymore, Giorno Giovanna!

The scorching sun made the asphalt road scorching hot.

In this hot and sultry weather, even the most diligent and motivated people will involuntarily feel a little annoyed, and then become lazy and unwilling to work.

This is the case even in air-conditioned rooms, not to mention construction sites without any shelter.

From time to time, the sound of metal colliding could be heard in the air.

On the rolling yellow sand, countless shirtless men wearing helmets are working here. Sweat slowly flows down their cheeks and necks, mixing with the flying dust, engraving a camouflage pattern called "struggle" and "construction" on their bodies.

However, even this group of people who have been silently building the city have become a little sluggish and distracted compared to the past due to the influence of the season.

This is also very understandable.

After all, people are lazy. It seems impossible no matter how you look at it to force them to work overtime or continue to work at a high intensity under inappropriate conditions.

"but......

It is precisely because of this that there are opportunities for us 'temporary workers'.

Phew~"

He grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off his face, then skillfully lifted the heavy metal castings and placed them neatly one by one into the bed of the truck.

The young man wearing a yellow safety helmet, a white vest and work pants, working up and down in front of the truck, is none other than Hasegawa Hide, who works part-time on weekends.

Sweat slowly flowed down the lines of his muscles, and under the sunlight, it gave the boy's body a layer of sparkling glow.

Although his body shape appears to be relatively well-proportioned and even slender, in fact, in the process of trying various part-time jobs before, he had already developed a strong physique that combines explosive power and endurance.

Otherwise, when he was besieged by bad boys at the classroom door, he would not have been able to knock them down one by one so easily.

At this time, next to Hasegawa Hide, there was a peer dressed in the same way, who was constantly moving parts into the cargo box together.

However, compared to Hasegawa Hide who was neither blushing nor out of breath, this young man obviously still had a certain gap in physical fitness.

Although he could still complete the task at hand, his violently heaving chest and somewhat disordered breathing revealed his exhaustion at the moment.

However, the boy did not stop what he was doing.

The originally smooth golden hair was now tightly stuck to the face due to the sweat, but the sapphire eyes were shining with an unignorable seriousness and an extremely strong tenacity.

——Silver Royal Travel

Just like Hasegawa Hide who had to support himself, in order to help his financially distressed family share some of the pressure, in addition to trying his best to restrain himself from unnecessary consumption, he would often work part-time in his spare time to earn hourly wages and supplement the family income.

This is also the reason why these two guys who attend different schools have intersections and even become friends.

“Baiyin, if it really doesn’t work, you should take a rest first.

There is still half an hour until the agreed time.

We just have to complete the mission before then.”

He raised his hand and looked at the time on his watch.

In fact, Hasegawa had already noticed that something seemed to be wrong with his friend's condition today.

Otherwise, with the opponent's physical fitness, even if he couldn't keep up with his pace, it would be impossible for him to show such obvious signs of fatigue so quickly.

He was very clear about the indescribable "putting on a brave face" character of this guy in front of him...

Seeing Hasegawa who had stopped first, Shirogane Miyuki, who had already felt tired, took the opportunity to back off, nodded at him, found a place to sit down, and unscrewed the bottle of mineral water that had become a little hot under the scorching sun.

“Gulp gulp…ha~”

He exhaled as if he wanted to drive out all the fatigue in his body.

After a moment of silence, Shirogane Miyuki turned his head and looked at Hasegawa Hide who was also recovering in the shade, with a hint of gratitude in his tone:

"Thank you so much this time."

Baiyin Yuxing was actually talking about this part-time job.

Although they were doing some manual labor like helping out at the edge of the construction site under the scorching sun, thanks to Hasegawa Hide's negotiations, the two of them were able to obtain double the hourly wage from the client this time.

This price is naturally not as good as Neon’s normal holiday overtime pay.

But for two students, it is already a very good treatment.

As for Shirogane Miyuki's gratitude, Hasegawa raised his eyebrows and waved his hand at him indifferently:

"Don't take it to heart. We don't have that much to worry about in matters like this."

"That's true...

I'm sorry, Hasegawa, I was being polite."

He slapped his forehead in shame.

He suddenly realized that compared to those very "particular" rich kids in school, his words just now might indeed seem a bit "hypocritical" to this casual and trustworthy partner.

"By the way, Baiyin, I have something to tell you."

"Oh? What's the matter?"

"In the future...I probably won't come out to do odd jobs with you as often as before."

"...

Have you finally made up your mind to marry the eldest daughter of that congressman's family?"

"Are you serious?".

Hasegawa really didn't expect that this friend who was never good at joking would actually associate this matter with such an unrealistic direction.

"Or...

Do you think I'll still be the kind of gigolo who likes to be kept by a rich woman?"

The look in his eyes when he looked at the other person suddenly became dangerous.

Seeing Hasegawa's murderous look, Shirogane Miyuki quickly waved his hands and moved his butt back in fear:

“Haha… sorry, sorry.

But Hasegawa, what are you going to do next?"

“What am I going to do next?

Well...if I were to describe it using the slogan that my classmates often say, it would probably be something like 'chasing dreams'."

"what?!"

There was an expression of disbelief and surprise on his face.

In Shirogane Miyuki's impression, Hasegawa Hide has always been indifferent to the "youth" and "dreams" that his peers usually shout about, and he even simply looks down on them and sneers at them.

[Why are you suddenly saying this now...]

I couldn't help but mutter to myself silently.

Faced with his hesitant doubts, Hasegawa Hide said nothing. He stood up and walked to the place where backpacks were stored not far away, and took out a light blue folder from the backpack.

There was an indescribable confidence on his face.

Under Shirogane Yuxing's incomprehensible gaze, Hasegawa Hide walked up to this friend and handed him the folder in his hand:

"Shirogane, have you ever heard of light novels?"

Chapter 13: Recognition from Baiyin Yuxing

In the folder that Hasegawa gave to Shirogane Miyuki, there was actually the opening that he had prepared when he met with the editor Benisaka Akane.

The "Friendly Translation Version" of "Battle Through the Heavens" - "Fighting to Break Through the Atmosphere"

This time, he asked Shirogane Miyuki to work part-time together. In addition to explaining his future plans to the other party from a friend's perspective, he also wanted to infer the audience tendencies of the light novel market in this country through the other party's reaction.

In fact, he had some understanding of the concept of Japanese light novels before.

As a literary form that has gradually evolved in modern times with the rise of the Internet, although Chinese online literature and Japanese light novels are very similar, Hasegawa Hide believes that there are also quite significant differences between the two:

Compared with traditional literature, apart from getting rid of strict rules and regulations and publication forms, the essence of Chinese online literature has not changed much. It still constructs stories and conveys ideas through words.

But when it comes to neon light novels...

Not only does the text use some strange descriptions with strong personal style that can easily make people feel confused, but the content structure also becomes a form that tends to be "pictured reports".

Simply put, it refers to the proportion of "illustrations" in the content of the work.

In the neon light novel system, "illustrations" are a very important component of a work. A good character illustration will often attract a large number of audiences, bringing an extremely terrifying increase to the work in all aspects.

Therefore, it is undeniable that from a marketing perspective, the existence of light novel illustrations is undoubtedly quite successful, and has even saved the sales of a considerable number of light novels of poor quality.

If not, there wouldn't be the saying "buy illustrations, get toilet paper for free" in Japan's light novel market...

In the same way, for works such as "novels" that tend to be written in words, although ready-made images such as "illustrations" can directly bring visual impact, they also allow readers to skip the process of imagining characters and scenes in their brains.

This is undoubtedly a suppression of possibility!

After all, there are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people. Although the illustrations are intuitive, they also constrain the readers' thoughts to a certain extent.

Especially the one in Hasegawa's hand.

It's fine in the early stages, but when the plot reaches the middle and late stages, some of the grand battle scenes largely require readers to use their imagination to fill in the gaps.

After all, when he was still a middle school student before traveling through time, he would occasionally start a fantasy, and discuss with his classmates after class how awesome and spectacular the "Great Heavenly Creation Palm" and "Great Extinction Finger" would be if they were put into reality...

This kind of mysterious scene that is difficult to describe simply with words cannot be simply replaced by an illustration of long legs and big breasts in the Japanese light novel market.

So in Hasegawa's expectation, for this book, he planned to only add a few Chinese ink-and-wash style character portraits on the cover and title page, rather than any cute and erotic pictures in the Moe-do style.

"How do you feel, Silver?

If this book is published, what do you think its market prospects will be like? "

Carefully observing the changes in the expression on his friend's face.

The reason why Baiyin Yuxing was chosen as the experimental subject was not only because of his trustworthy character, but also because he had a strong self-discipline in spending. Even if it was something very attractive to him, Baiyin Yuxing would think twice before taking out his wallet.

Like Hasegawa Hide, this is actually a manifestation of the two people's need to "plan economy" and be frugal in their daily lives.

But precisely because of this, Hasegawa Hide believes that if this novel can get the approval of Shirogane Miyuki, then there will basically not be any major problems.

"Phew...it's really great!"

Gently close the folder and set it aside.

In response to his friend's question, Baiyin Yuxing first took a deep breath, and then showed an extremely rare sense of relief.

The loser strikes back, pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger...

In this country with a monotonous routine, he has never seen such a novel full of exciting points!

Admittedly, this book may not have much depth, nor does it use any fancy rhetoric or allusions. It simply describes a story that cannot be simpler.

However, this sense of immersion and rising expectations made him subconsciously want to continue reading and witness the boy's future growth and adventures.

"Hasegawa, did you really write this?"

"..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to doubt you, it's just...

It may be a little rude, but I really didn't expect that you, Hasegawa, actually have such a hidden talent."

Seeing his friend's subtle look, Baiyin Yuxing quickly waved his hands to indicate that he had no other intentions.

However, as a student who needs to balance studies and part-time work on weekdays, he was indeed surprised by the other party's ability.