"No."
"What did you say?!"
"I deleted the photos, but what if you delete me?" Lin Kongqing shook his phone. "If I contact you one day and you don't reply, I'll send the photos to... well, I know quite a few people."
Eriri's hair stood on end. "You're not keeping your promise!"
"Our agreement was that you give me your LINE ID, and I give you my lock screen password." Lin Kongqing smiled. "Besides that, were there any other agreements?"
"Scum."
"One compliment is enough."
"Shameless."
"This is new." Lin Kongqing put away his phone. "Don't worry, I won't show it to anyone else."
"I don't trust you at all!"
"You have to believe me," Lin Kongqing said with a sincere expression. "We're good friends, how could I harm you?"
"Classmate." Eriri corrected. "And former classmate."
"Not for long." Lin Kongqing took out his student ID. "I've already transferred to Toyosaki Academy, second year, Class B."
"Class B..." Eriri was stunned. "Are you going to look for him?"
"Why not?" Lin Kongqing retorted. "We're brothers from different fathers and mothers."
"You..." Eriri suddenly calmed down and sneered. "You two have already broken up. He won't bother with you."
"Then, how about a bet?" Lin Kongqing proposed. "If I can convince him to join my Club, you'll come too. If he doesn't come, I'll never bother you again and delete the photos."
"He's a pure fan, he won't make games!"
"Are you scared?"
"Who's scared!" Eriri glared. "A bet is a bet."
"It's a deal." Lin Kongqing extended his finger towards Eriri.
"What do you want?" Eriri asked grumpily.
"The ritual of a promise."
"Are you a primary school student?"
Lin Kongqing's gaze swept over Eriri.
He said nothing.
Yet it was as if he said everything.
Eriri gritted her teeth. "Where are you looking?"
"Your imagination."
Her soft little finger hooked around Lin Kongqing's little finger, tightening with force, as if to break his finger.
"Cross my heart, cross my heart, liars swallow a thousand needles~" Eriri hummed a rhyme, her face darkening. "I'll cut off your fingers one by one and give you all the pain in the world."
"Sawamura-san," Lin Kongqing blinked, "did you add something that isn't normally there?"
"This is a return gift for what you've done!" Eriri flung Lin Kongqing's hand away and walked towards the villa on the hill without looking back.
"The first one, two more to go." Looking at Eriri's back, Lin Kongqing murmured, "Let's start with the easy one."
Fushikawa Bookstore, Fantastic Bunko Editorial Department.
"Hurry up." Assistant editor Machida Sonoko tidied her short black hair, her blue eyes fixed on Lin Kongqing. "I have something else to do later."
"Since I just got promoted to assistant editor, there's a lot to do." Lin Kongqing handed over a thick stack of papers. "Thank you for your revisions."
"If it weren't for you helping Akane (Akasaka Akane's real name) so much, this kind of task would be handled by a new editor." Machida Sonoko glanced at the title. "teasing master takagi-san? The legendary white paper fan of RER also writes light novels personally. Could it be that the Red Flower Stick will suddenly announce she's making a game one day?"
"Well, it's possible."
"You opportunists always feel that creation is a very simple thing. If you underestimate creation like this..." Machida Sonoko's voice grew fainter and fainter, finally disappearing completely, leaving only the rustling sound of manuscript pages turning.
Her blue eyes darted rapidly left and right, reading through the thick manuscript at an almost quantum speed. Finally, she pressed the closed manuscript onto the table, leaned forward, and locked her gaze on Lin Kongqing's eyes. If he showed even the slightest possibility of lying, she would detect it. "Did you write this?"
"Typed out word by word." Lin Kongqing showed his bandaged wrist. "To finish it in such a short time, I suffered quite a bit."
"teasing master takagi-san" is a manga by Soichiro Yamamoto, telling the lighthearted and pleasant story between a girl who loves to tease and a boy who is foolishly teased and then seriously tries to 'get revenge'.
There's no heartbreak, no love triangle, no misunderstandings or conflicts. From beginning to end, it's just the sweet daily romance between two middle school students, yet it makes everyone who reads it feel especially'sour'.
In short, it makes people very envious.
But in this world, there is neither this work nor this author.
As the only person in this world who knew of this work, Lin Kongqing, filled with gratitude for the original author, shamelessly became a plagiarist, transforming the images in his mind into a light novel, typing it out word by word.
After all, he didn't have Eriri's skills to recreate this manga.
"To describe a manga-like sense of imagery with words, and this theme and length... this is an excellent work extremely suitable for a manga adaptation." Machida Sonoko became excited. Not long ago, she was just an editor. The conclusion of a hugely popular work helped her become an assistant editor.
And now, the opportunity to solidify her position had appeared!
"I'll be in charge of this work." Machida Sonoko made up her mind. "What are your demands?"
Lin Kongqing sipped his coffee with a smile. "Demands?"
"This kind of work would be valued in any bunko," Machida Sonoko's hand remained on the manuscript. "You came here proactively, specifically looking for me, so you definitely have demands."
"Then, I'd like a position."
"A position?"
"I want to be an editor."
Machida Sonoko looked him up and down. "You, an editor?!"
"What, I can't be an editor?"
"As the second generation of RER, of course you can be." Machida Sonoko frowned slightly, her ample chest rising and falling, indicating her turbulent mood. "But why?"
"To help you?"
"Help me?!" Machida Sonoko recoiled. "I'm not interested in your type."
"Auntie, please behave yourself."
"Call me Sister."
"You were Sister Akane's university classmate, both in the manga Club, and even attended Comiket together. Sister Akane helped me so much, so her friends are my friends." Lin Kongqing reiterated. "I really am here to help."
"You'd be that kind?"
"You have to believe me." Lin Kongqing smiled. "We're friends, how could I harm you?"
"What exactly do you want to do?"
"Kasumiko's light novel, 'love metronome,' which you were previously in charge of, has finished, and you've been promoted to assistant editor, so you're swamped now, right?"
"So?"
"So you could only entrust the original Kasumiko to a new editor, but because Kasumiko is a schemer, that editor couldn't take it and just ran off." Lin Kongqing recalled. "'I can't do this anymore, don't make me Kasumiko-sensei's editor again' -- that editor must have said something like that."
"How did you know?" Although she had heard about Lin Kongqing's information-gathering abilities, Machida Sonoko was still surprised when it concerned herself.
"She originally just wanted to avoid the task, and after being introduced to someone, she directly changed jobs."
"So I'm asking you how you knew?"
"Who do you think the introducer was?"
... Machida Sonoko gritted her teeth. "As expected of you."
"Thank you for the compliment." Lin Kongqing accepted Machida Sonoko's praise. "To make up for it, I'm applying to be an editor."
"I disagree." Machida Sonoko released her hand from the manuscript. "I will never let a guy like you become Shi-chan's editor. Never."
Lin Kongqing sighed. "Then I'll have to take this manuscript with me."
... "Take it!" Machida Sonoko averted her gaze, turning her head to the side.
"You've just taken the position, and you desperately need an achievement to prove yourself and secure your spot." Lin Kongqing murmured, "I deeply empathize with that feeling. And now the opportunity is right in front of you, are you going to..."
"No," Machida Sonoko responded decisively. "Not interested."
"Even if I release news online saying that this work was rejected by the newly appointed assistant editor of Fushikawa Bookstore's Fantastic Bunko, you don't care?"
"Scum." Machida Sonoko's gaze was icy. "I'm starting to understand why Akane made you the representative of RER."
"Just kidding, I wouldn't do that." Lin Kongqing waved his hand. "Can you tell me why?"
"Although I don't know your objective, using such despicable methods means your objective can't be good either." Machida Sonoko stated directly. "I won't let you harm Shi-chan!"
"It's not just an editor-author relationship, but also a friendship?" Lin Kongqing's eyelids drooped slightly. "You've misunderstood. I have no intention of harming Kasumiko. I just want her to join my game development Club."
Machida Sonoko sneered. "Hmph."
"Alright, you keep the manuscript." Lin Kongqing stated his true objective. "Let me meet Kasumiko, consider it an opportunity for me to apply, how about it?"
Machida Sonoko refused. "You won't get to see Shi-chan."
"Actually, that's not up to you." Lin Kongqing showed his student ID. "After the spring break, I'll be attending Toyonosaki Academy. Meeting Kasumigaoka Utaha, the upperclassman who has maintained first place in her grade since enrollment, the object of admiration for her juniors, one of the two beauties of Private Toyonosaki Academy, and who writes under the pen name Kasumiko, should be part of my daily routine."
"How did you..."
"Kasumiko's 'love metronome' Volume 2 reprint appreciation signing event is held at the place where the male and Female Protagonists in the book met. How thoughtful." Lin Kongqing reeled off facts. "Well, after all, when the first volume was just released, there were no signs of a reprint at all, and there were even predictions of it being canceled after three volumes. Using a signing event to boost sales and make a final effort is also a common method, who would have thought..."
"Enough!" Machida Sonoko slammed the table, interrupting Lin Kongqing's speech. "What exactly do you want?"
"I've already said it." Lin Kongqing pressed his fingertips together. "I want to meet Kasumiko."
"Then go find her yourself!"
"Let me meet her directly, or let me meet her after she's received your warning." Lin Kongqing posed the question. "Which one do you choose, Sister Sonoko?"
"Scum."
"One compliment is enough."
"Shameless."
"This isn't new either."
Machida Sonoko stormed out to make a phone call.
She wanted Kasumigaoka Utaha to realize Lin Kongqing's danger, to recognize his baseness.
"Shi-chan will be here soon." Machida Sonoko returned after a while, announcing with a cold expression, "To reject you."
"Thank you, Sister Sonoko."
"Go to hell."
"This is new." Lin Kongqing stood up. "Then, I'll wait for her in the meeting room."
"You won't succeed."
"Whether I succeed or not, the manuscript is yours." Lin Kongqing paused. "Also, before meeting, didn't you also think this was just a normal obligation?"
... Machida Sonoko felt a wave of powerlessness. "Akane... how has she been lately?"
"Still the same." Lin Kongqing's footsteps paused. "Aside from drinking, she's creating: manga, light novels, project proposals..."
"What about her health?"
"If she still had the energy, do you think she'd hand RER over to me?"
"Lin Kongqing," Machida Sonoko bit her lower lip lightly, "if she keeps this up, one day..."
"So, before that day comes, I'm going to take over RER, turn her into my employee, and then lock her in the basement." Lin Kongqing chuckled. "No pens, no paper, no computer, no phone, and of course, no alcohol."
Lin Kongqing waited for a long time in the conference room before footsteps finally sounded.
The door was pushed open, and an elegantly built girl walked into the meeting room. Her long, black hair cascaded to her waist, a white dress outlined a breathtaking figure, and her slender legs were encased in black tights, with a subtle sheen of skin visible.