"What are you two talking about?"
Just as Fujiwara Chika and Yotsuya Miko were having a heartfelt sisterly moment, Tanaka Masao suddenly appeared behind them.
This startled Yotsuya Miko, making her feel like she was about to expose a villain's misdeeds only to be discovered by them.
"N-nothing... nothing."
"Oh, really?"
Tanaka Masao nodded. He had already profited handsomely today, so there was no need to push his luck.
"I'm feeling a bit tired. Do you two want to keep playing?"
Fujiwara Chika shook her head.
"No, it's almost noon. Let's find a place to rest."
"Then Hua and I won't bother you two and will head back first," Yotsuya Miko said. Feeling a bit guilty towards Fujiwara Chika, she was somewhat hesitant to stay any longer.
After exchanging contact information, the group split into two and left.
"Junior Tanaka, where are we going?"
"Let's go to the nearby mall. We can eat something and do some shopping."
"Sounds good."
The two took a car to a nearby mall and walked in side-by-side, chatting as they went.
"By the way, Junior Tanaka, are you some kind of celebrity?"
Hearing this, Tanaka Masao was a bit puzzled.
"Fujiwara-senpai, why do you ask? Compared to me, you should be the celebrity."
"It's like this: a few days ago, someone suddenly told me that they saw me walking with you. She said you're the author of some very impressive work and wanted me to ask you for an autograph.
Since I didn't know much about it, I refused. By the way, is Junior Tanaka really an author?"
Looking at Fujiwara Chika's curious expression, Tanaka Masao's face stiffened slightly.
He knew that the work the person Fujiwara Chika mentioned was definitely his doujinshi.
However, he had never shown his face in public, so he shouldn't have been exposed. And there's no such coincidence in the world.
So there was only one truth: someone had deliberately leaked all of this to Fujiwara Chika.
And the identity of this person was easy to guess: Shinomiya Kaguya, without a doubt.
Only she knew that he and Fujiwara Chika were friends, and only she would care about strangers appearing around Fujiwara Chika, and have the ability to uncover his hidden identity.
Tanaka Masao was not surprised by her actions; after all, they were the best of friends.
There was just one thing Tanaka Masao couldn't figure out.
[Shinomiya investigated my identity, so she must know about my works. Has she read them?]
Tanaka Masao's thoughts flashed by in an instant. Facing Fujiwara Chika, he acted quite calmly.
"Oh, I've been found out? I originally wanted to get along with Fujiwara-senpai as an ordinary person, but now...
I'm not pretending anymore, I'm coming clean. I am indeed a writer."
Tanaka Masao was incredibly grateful for his newly acquired novelist persona at this moment.
[Sure enough, every reward from the system has its profound meaning.]
Upon receiving Tanaka Masao's answer, Fujiwara Chika's eyes lit up, and she asked excitedly,
"Really, Junior Tanaka? Can I read your work?"
"Of course, you can."
Tanaka Masao nodded.
"i want to eat your pancreas" was officially released at 8 AM today, and he had even seen a poster for it when he came over.
It was clear that Dengeki Bunko had high hopes for this work. Although they were large and well-known, to achieve such popularity for a new author's work in a short time, they must have put in a lot of effort.
Of course, such extensive promotion was not entirely for Tanaka Masao; it was also beneficial for them.
The emergence of another excellent new work from their own house would inevitably impact new books from other publishers, serving a dual purpose.
Several hours had passed since the release, and those who had received advance notice and were waiting had likely already bought the book and begun to enjoy it.
So, there shouldn't be too many people in the bookstore, avoiding a crowded situation, which was perfect for a visit.
But what if the book was too popular and sold out? That would be troublesome, hehehe...
Tanaka Masao thought to himself as he said to Fujiwara Chika,
"Fujiwara-senpai, come with me."
"Yay!"
Fujiwara Chika, with cheerful steps, followed Tanaka Masao to a nearby bookstore and said with some anticipation,
"What kind of work will Junior Tanaka's be?"
"Here, it's this one."
Tanaka Masao picked up the book placed in the most prominent spot in the bookstore and handed it to Fujiwara Chika.
Fujiwara Chika took the book, looked at the title and cover, and then looked at the store's decorations.
"Junior Tanaka, what do you mean? I want to read your book, not for you to recommend one to me.
Besides, this book is being heavily promoted by the bookstore, so it's bound to be popular. I don't need your recommendation."
Tanaka Masao smiled, a bit smug.
"This is mine."
Was this the so-called sense of accomplishment, being able to become a best-selling novelist at such a young age?
Indeed, it was still true that doujinshi couldn't bring the same sense of accomplishment as literature.
Although the former was also very popular, only something presentable could bring satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.
A netizen from Shanxi: What kind of 'presentable' are you talking about? Here we only have knife-cut noodles, oil-splashed noodles, he-luo noodles, ti-jian noodles...
Is 'presentable' referring to a table full of noodles?
The only thing Tanaka Masao felt a bit regretful about at this moment was not having a young, beautiful, literature-loving female fan.
If he did, his Writing inspiration would surely gush forth.
Just as Tanaka Masao expected Fujiwara Chika to be very surprised, she only showed a little initial surprise, then quickly regained her composure.
"Hmm? Fujiwara-senpai, don't you have anything to say, like how I managed to write such an amazing novel?"
Fujiwara Chika tilted her head, a bit puzzled.
"Although Junior Tanaka's novel seems very popular, this kind of thing seems quite common, doesn't it?"
Hearing this, Tanaka Masao's expression stiffened slightly.
Right, Fujiwara Chika's circle seemed to consist of talented individuals from prominent families, and even her own piano skills could potentially win national awards.
Thinking about it that way, having a best-selling novel might be dazzling in the eyes of ordinary people, but for them, it probably wasn't a very proud achievement.
You submit your best-selling novel, only to find that the publishing company is just one of their family's enterprises.
Talent was merely their entry threshold.
Tanaka Masao felt a bit screwed.
[Thankfully, my novel was given by the system; otherwise, I'd really be a miserable code-typing worker.
Whew, that was close.]
Fujiwara Chika took two or three novels and went to the counter to pay, according to her.
If Tanaka Masao wrote well, she would recommend it to her family and friends, letting them know she knew such an amazing writer.
If Tanaka Masao didn't write well, she would still show it to them, to embarrass Tanaka Masao.
Tanaka Masao was quite speechless about this, not knowing who Fujiwara Chika had learned such a bad habit from, to come up with such a win-win, self-serving good idea.
Tanaka Masao did not follow Fujiwara Chika to the checkout but wandered around the bookstore.
In his previous life, he was quite fond of ACG, and after coming to this world, besides collecting original works, the ACG works he encountered the most were the doujinshi he watched with Eriri.
Thinking about it, Tanaka Masao felt his ACG soul had been contaminated and needed to watch some proper works to purify it.
As Tanaka Masao looked around, he spotted a sneaky figure.