After two consecutive days of rain, the weather finally cleared up today.
The rooftop during lunch break,
Under the pergola.
A quiet and beautiful girl is sitting on the bench, with a white hairband on her head, restraining her long black satin-like hair.
A dignified and beautiful face, snow-white skin that is as beautiful as frost and snow. A pair of charming dark red eyes as gorgeous as gems, which are swallowing up the flickering faint light.
The eyebrows are like distant mountains, but not traced, and the lips are as red as if they were painted with sand, but not dotted.
Under the slender swan neck, the voluptuous and graceful figure is completely wrapped in the light blue sailor suit, outlining the plump curves.
Gaze downwards.
A pair of straight and slender jade legs overlap up and down, and pure black pantyhose modify the lines of the legs to be more slender. As the calves sway gently, one's mind can't help but want to be immersed in it.
As the winner of the fourth round of "Fantastic" selection from more than 1,080 works collected, "Love Metronome" stood out.
The true identity of its author, Kasumi Shiko, is a female high school student who is still in school, and her real name is Kasumigaoka Shiu.
At first, just with the idea of trying his own abilities, Kasumigaoka Shiu wrote this work seriously and participated in the competition, but he did not expect that he actually won the award.
The moment I received the notice from the Immortal River Bookstore Publishing House, I did have a dream-like feeling.
As an editor, Ms. Machida is also a trustworthy person. She will read it carefully, think seriously, and give suggestions seriously.
Before the work was published, the other party helped with a lot of revision guidance and clearly pointed out the direction.
Because at the beginning, I had no experience in shaping characters, no ability, no good at dealing with others, and of course no experience in love...
So we can only start by taking materials from around us as samples.
The moment she saw herself through the mirror, the prototype of Sayuka came into being.
The background of the story is in Hehe City, where I was born. This city has neither specialties nor tourist attractions. It is just an outer ring city with only one tram to the capital circle.
It is precisely because this city has no characteristics that Shiyu chose this place as the background of his work.
After all, her works are also love novels without any characteristics. Wouldn’t it be appropriate to place them in this city with no characteristics?
Here is a girl who is dissatisfied with the ordinary living environment and static interpersonal relationships, but can't do anything.
In this mediocre city, this ordinary girl fell in love. This is what Shiyu wanted to write.
From winning the award to being commercially published, everything went so smoothly that I never thought that one day I would not be able to continue writing.
Until yesterday——
"Cut in the waist..." Kasumigaoka Shiyu murmured.
As if denying everything for her, this cruel and cold decision from the new editor-in-chief of the Fusugawa editorial department was informed to her by an apologetic Miss Machida.
It seems that because it has been on sale for more than a month and there is no trend of reprinting, the new editor predicted that the first edition of the second volume might be lower than the first volume, so he decided to cut "Love Metronome" in half.
Even though this was the award-winning work they selected; even though at that time Shiyu had already handed over the complete plot outline, including the last episode of the fifth episode, to Ms. Machida.
But he still couldn't stop this decision.
"Works that are well-received but not well-received have no meaning." - This is what the new editor-in-chief said.
Even Shinwei, who was originally scheduled to appear in the second volume, was rejected. The other party asked her to end the story hastily, allowing the story to move towards a happy ending with "no ups and downs".
Thinking of this, Kasumigaoka Shiyu couldn't help biting her lips.
I am really unwilling to accept it, and I even don’t know what to do.
Although Ms. Machida encouraged her to write new works and expressed her willingness to help think of new projects together.
But... what should Sayuka do?
This avatar of herself lives in the world created by Shiyu, does things that she cannot do, and is supposed to shine every day.
"There is no other way..."
A small sigh flowed from the girl's mouth.
A breeze blew by, and in this quiet environment, there was a sudden noise from the door leading to the rooftop.
"...Teacher, that work is really great! We will definitely succeed!"
"You've been talking about this all day. Don't follow me, don't bother me, and don't call me by that name."
Along with the sound of conversation, two teenagers appeared in her eyes one after another.
The boy walking in front has a slender and tall figure, with refreshing short black hair, and delicate and handsome features. He is walking towards here with an impatient look on his face.
In comparison, the boy behind him seemed very ordinary. He was neither tall nor short, and his appearance was ordinary. He also wore a pair of big round glasses on his face and was following closely behind the former.
"Don't say that. As mutual fans of "Metronome of Love", let's talk more!"
The sudden mention of words also attracted Shiyu's attention, causing her to become a little more distracted.
At this time, the two boys walked under the pergola and noticed her sitting on the bench.
The moment they looked into the eyes of the boy in front of them, both of them were stunned.
(It's him.)
(is her.)
The scene that happened in the stairwell after school comes to mind easily.
After thinking for a while, Shiyu nodded gently in greeting.
Seeing this, the boy opposite also nodded in return, and then sat down on the bench on the other side.
The other boy glanced at the two of them doubtfully at first, but after seeing the former sit down, he also sat aside and lowered his voice.
"Hey, isn't that... uh, who is it? Is it an acquaintance of yours? Kato."
"no."
The boy known as Kato shook his head in denial, opened the lunch box in his hand, and prepared to eat.
"Yeah."
Hearing what he said, the boy with glasses seemed to have lost interest, or maybe his interests had always been very unique, so he asked the boy.
"You mean, you actually also like Sayuka, right? If you don't have a true love for the work, you wouldn't be able to draw paintings of that level."
"No, it's just because I'm stronger."
Hear this.
(Let’s stay a little longer before leaving.)
Shiyu withdrew his gaze and quietly drank the coffee in his hand.
The conversation between the two boys continued.
"Here we go again, Kato, you are surprisingly not candid." The boy with glasses looked disbelieving, "Speaking of which, what do you think of Sayuka's character?"
Seemingly being entangled, the young man sighed while swallowing the food in his mouth.
"If I tell you, can you stop blocking me in class today... no, at least for a week?"
"Uh... there's no need to go to that point, wouldn't it make me look like that kind of perverted stalker?!"
The boy with eyes looked shocked, and said unwillingly: "I know, I will try my best, but at least let us have a pleasant communication now."
So the young man nodded in agreement, and then said these words.
"If anything, Sayuka is probably the kind of girl who looks young and fresh on the surface, but is actually very sinister, very competitive, and very obsessed."
"But even though she is like this, she is also very brave and decisive at critical moments. She is the type of heroine who will be annoying if she makes the slightest mistake, but she is not a yandere heroine."
"This kind of contradiction is unexpectedly charming and real. The author has really grasped this aspect very well, but..."
At this point, the young man paused.
"Just what?" The boy with glasses asked subconsciously.
The young man pondered and said the second half of the sentence.
"The feeling that Sayuga gives me should be an exact reference."