"A-choo!"
Aoyama sniffled, reaching for a stray tissue on his desk to wipe his nose. He felt a dull, nagging pressure behind his eyes.
"Great. Don't tell me I'm catching a cold because I've been pulling too many all-nighters," he muttered to himself. He leaned back in his chair, the spring groaning under his weight, and looked around his small studio.
The room was a testament to his single-minded focus. Piles of reference sketches, discarded pens, and half-empty cans of coffee cluttered the floor. In the corner, a small oscillating fan hummed, struggling to move the stagnant air. Despite the mess, there was a rhythm to it, a creative sanctuary he'd built with his own two hands.
Just as he was about to dive back into a background sketch, his private phone began to vibrate on the desk, rattling against a metal pencil holder.
He checked the screen. It was Ito Ayumi.
"Moshi moshi?" Aoyama answered, his voice thick with its usual lazy drawl.
"Aoyama-sensei? Hi! I'm sorry to bother you, but... do you think you could come down to the office sometime soon? Preferably in person?"
Ayumi's voice was crisp, but there was a hint of professional urgency that made Aoyama's skin crawl.
"Uh... is it that important? Can't we just talk over the phone?"
Aoyama wasn't a total shut-in. He'd gone out with Ayumi for buffet dinners, and he'd even survived a group outing with Akane's friends. He wasn't afraid of the outdoors.
But the Manga World headquarters? That was different.
Even thinking about those sterile, glass-and-steel hallways triggered a visceral reaction. It brought back a flood of memories from his previous life: the endless meetings, the gray cubicles, and the crushing weight of being a corporate cog (a "shachiku").
If he were to put a name to it, it was Workplace PTSD. The mere thought of a high-pressure corporate environment made him want to bolt his door and hide under his covers. A cat getting stressed was one thing, but a human experiencing a full-on corporate flashback was a much more serious affair.
Unless there was a damn good reason, he wasn't setting foot in that building.
"It's about a business opportunity," Ayumi explained, her voice dropping an octave as if afraid someone might overhear. "A major proposal has come in regarding your work... specifically, Edgerunners."
Aoyama blinked, his eyes widening. "You mean..."
"Yes. Someone wants to acquire the game adaptation rights."
Aoyama sat bolt upright.
Game adaptation rights? For Edgerunners?
His mind immediately leapt to the 3D masterpiece from his old world, Cyberpunk 2077. The neon-drenched streets, the vertical exploration, the visceral combat. It was the definitive RPG of the era.
But then, a cold drench of realism hit him. Was the technology in this world even capable of producing something of that scale? Or would they just churn out a half-baked, buggy mess that would tarnish the reputation of the manga? He'd seen how "adaptation" usually went: a heartless cash-grab that stripped the soul out of the original work.
"Aoyama-sensei?" Ayumi's voice crackled from the receiver after a long silence.
"Yeah. I'm still here," he replied, rubbing his temples.
"What do you think? When can you make it in?"
Aoyama sighed, a long, defeated sound. "Tomorrow, I guess."
He didn't really have a choice. He remembered the fine print in his contract with Manga World. If the copyright holder failed to attend a formal negotiation meeting, the publisher had the right to make a decision on their behalf. It was a standard clause designed to prevent a project from stalling if an author went AWOL, but it felt remarkably predatory in the current moment.
He didn't want a corporate suit deciding the fate of his characters. He'd seen enough "adaptations" get mangled beyond recognition (he spared a passing, bitter thought for a certain fire-breathing fantasy series' transition to animation in his previous life).
"Great! I'll tell the Editor-in-Chief," Ayumi said, sounding relieved. "I'll send you the details."
Aoyama hung up and sat in the silence for nearly half an hour. Eventually, a notification pinged.
[Aoyama-sensei, tomorrow at 3:00 PM. I'll meet you at the lobby and take you up personally.]
He typed a quick "Got it," then tossed the phone aside.
A nagging thought began to itch at the back of his mind. He remembered the last time he'd opened the system interface -- the "Game Overlord" ability he'd received as a Platinum-tier reward.
A dangerous light flickered in his eyes.
Beside him, Pochita was currently in the middle of a "life-or-death" struggle with a squeaky toy. Sensing the sudden shift in the room's atmosphere, the dog stopped mid-shake and let out a curious "Woof?"
"It's fine, Pochita," Aoyama said, his voice dropping to a low growl. "System! Get out here, you old fossil!"
The familiar translucent interface shivered into existence.
"You planned this, didn't you? This game deal... you knew this was coming."
The system's response was as clinical as ever. [Please specify the query. This question is outside the current processing parameters.]
It was like talking to an old search engine: brilliant in its lane, but entirely lacking in common sense.
...
Aoyama facepalmed. He'd forgotten that the "System" was less of a sentient deity and more of a highly specialized, somewhat retarded AI.
"I'm asking if you orchestrated the game rights acquisition for Edgerunners," he asked, enunciating every word.
[The System cannot predict the future or directly influence the physical world outside of the Host's actions,] it replied, its cold text scrolling across the screen.
[However, the Host's choice to create 'Edgerunners' made a 3D Action RPG adaptation an inevitability. Such an adaptation will significantly increase the Host's fame and accelerate task completion.]
[Therefore, the 'Game Overlord (Platinum)' ability was selected as the reward for the third stage of 'A Natural Talent' to ensure the Host possesses the necessary skill set for the upcoming phase.]
Aoyama's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "You absolute... you calculated the reward based on the market response before it even happened? You set me up!"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]