thefictionvixens Page 161
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"Are you free tonight? There's something very important I need to tell you in person."
Yuto Itsuka had just sent Eriri the news about Akane Kousaka when another person called.
The caller ID read "Kasumigaoka Utaha".
Yuto's temples began to throb again as he looked at the name.
He recalled his senior's declaration of heroine status on the tram.
He took a deep breath and pressed the answer button.
"Hey, Kasumigaoka-senpai."
"Junior, how did the meeting go this afternoon?" Shi Yu sounded to be in a good mood on the other end of the phone.
"It's...it's alright," Yuto replied vaguely.
"Is it just alright? Those mediocre people still haven't fully grasped the grandeur of your vision." Shi Yu chuckled, her tone filled with absolute confidence in her own author and disdain for everyone else.
"No, everyone agrees."
"That's good." Shiyu changed the subject and got to the point. "So, Yuto-kun, are you ready to accept the script I mentioned before, the one tailor-made for you?"
"Senior, what exactly do you want to do?" Yuto felt a headache coming on.
"Don't worry."
"I just want to propose a business partnership that benefits both of us. A purely professional partnership, without any extraneous emotions."
"What cooperation?"
"I have completed the full proposal for our next collaborative work, as well as the first 30,000 words of the main text," Shi Yu dropped a bombshell.
"What?!" Yuto was so shocked he almost jumped up from his chair. "So fast?"
Only a few hours have passed since she said that on the tram?
“For me, when inspiration strikes, isn’t it only natural to work through the night to finish something?” Shi Yu’s tone was full of the pride of a genius writer.
"I've already sent the file to your email. You can take a look now."
Yuto quickly hung up the phone, opened his email on his phone, and sure enough, he saw a new email from Kasumigaoka Utaha.
The email's subject was: "The Metronome of the End".
He clicked on the attachment, and a detailed business plan appeared before him.
The story is set in a future world on the verge of being destroyed by a silence virus.
This virus will not kill humans, but it will strip them of all emotions, turning the world into an absolutely rational gray space.
The male protagonist is a recorder who is immune to the virus. His mission is to record the last human emotions in writing before the world falls into complete silence.
The female protagonist is a terminally ill genius musician who wants to create a final piece of music that can awaken human emotions in the last moments of her life.
When the two met, one used words and the other used music to fight against the silence of the world.
This is a grand yet poignant love story about creation, emotions, and salvation and being saved.
Yuto only read the gist of it, but he was deeply attracted by the story's premise.
He continued reading, and in the proposal, Kasumigaoka Utaha used business logic to analyze the advantages of the project.
A powerful combination: Shizuka excels at delicate emotional descriptions and artistic writing, while Beautiful Girl Knight excels at building grand worldviews and delivering a fast-paced, commercially viable narrative.
The collaboration between the two will be a perfect complement, creating a phenomenal work that combines literary depth with commercial potential.
Publicity: The first collaboration between two popular light novel authors is inherently bound to generate buzz and public discussion.
Furthermore, their real-life relationship as senior and junior students at the same school provides countless material for subsequent publicity and hype.
Timing: With the huge success of the "Farming King" anime and the popularity of the beautiful girl knights soaring, launching such a collaborative work can maximize the momentum and achieve the greatest commercial value.
The entire proposal, from its core story to its commercial prospects, from its creative concept to its promotional strategy, is perfect.
This was an offer he, as a beautiful girl knight, could find almost no reason to refuse.
Just as Yuto was marveling at the perfection of the proposal, his phone rang again; it was Kasumigaoka Utaha again.
"Have you finished reading, junior?"
“…I’ve finished watching it.” Yuto’s voice was a little hoarse.
"How does it feel? This stage I prepared for you." Shi Yu's tone was somewhat smug.
"...Excellent, senior. Both the story and the business plan are impeccable," Yuto exclaimed sincerely.
“Of course.” Shiyu accepted the praise readily. “So, what’s your answer? Do you want to work with me to create the best story that surpasses ‘Farming King’ and ‘Love Metronome’, the best story that belongs to the two of us?”
Yuto fell silent.
Should we refuse? What reason will he give?
Reject a business partnership that could propel your career to new heights?
This would be considered extremely foolish by any ambitious person.
Moreover, this would completely damage the trust between him and Kasumigaoka Utaha.
"Junior, what are you hesitating about?" Shiyu's voice came again. "This is just a business proposal. As a rational creator, you should know how to choose, right?"
"Or... are you going to give up this opportunity that could put you on a bigger stage just to protect the fragile ego of some blonde twin-tailed rich girl?"
Yuto held his phone, his palms sweaty.
……
Volume 1: Chapter 149: Choice
As night deepened, the living room of the apartment remained brightly lit.
Yuto Itsuka sat on one side of the sofa, and Eriri sat on the other side. On the coffee table between them was Yuto's laptop.
On the screen was the proposal titled "The Metronome of the End" sent by Kasumigaoka Utaha.
At Yuto's insistence, Eriri spent an hour digesting the entire proposal, as well as the information she learned from Yuto that afternoon regarding Akane Kousaka and Aniplex's intentions.
Throughout the entire process, she remained silent, only biting her lip tightly, her face alternating between pale and bluish.
The living room was eerily quiet, with only the soft sound of Yuzuriha Inori turning the pages of a book on the carpet not far away.
She seemed to sense the unusual atmosphere as well, and her movements while reading became very cautious.
“…That’s how it is.” Yuto broke the silence with difficulty.
"Ms. Kousaka wants to train and test us as a group, while Ms. Kasumigaoka wants to have a completely new collaboration with me."
He looked at Eriri and said, word by word, "Both of these choices are related to our future careers, and also to...you."
"Therefore, Kato-san suggests that I should give you the decision-making power."
Eriri did not answer immediately.
She kept her head down, her golden bangs obscuring her eyes, making it impossible to see her expression.
She gripped the hem of her dress tightly with both hands.
Yuto's heart also clenched.
Kasumigaoka Utaha's proposal is like an open challenge.
It uses the most irrefutable commercial logic to show Eriri the creative heights that Kasumi Utako, as the author, and Yuto could reach.
In this blueprint, there is no place for the artist Eri Kashiwagi.
This is tantamount to telling Eriri that in the core area of creation, you are just an outsider.
Akane Akasaka's intention is to go there, which would allow her to obtain top-tier resources in the industry and become the focus of everyone's attention.
However, the process will inevitably be full of pain and trials, and one may even be treated as a byproduct of Yuuto's success.
One side excluded her, while the other used and exploited her.
Both of them were filled with malice.
Yuto even felt a little regretful, wondering if he really shouldn't have told her all this.
Perhaps, like before, silently bearing everything myself is the best way to protect her.
Just as he was lost in thought, Eriri finally moved.
She slowly raised her head, her clear blue eyes now as red as a rabbit's.
"So, what you mean is."
"If I had to choose, would I rather watch you team up with Kasumigaoka Utaha and leave me out, or drag you along to jump into Akane Akasaka's fire pit?"
"Eriri, that's not what I meant..."
"That's what you mean!" Eriri suddenly stood up, looking down at him.
"Yuto Itsuka, do you think I'm particularly useless? Do you think I only cause you trouble and only hold you back? So you want to dump this mess on me and make me the bad guy?"
"No!" Yuto stood up as well, eager to explain.
"I do this because I believe in you, I believe you have the right and the ability to make your own choices!"
"Trust me?" Eriri suddenly gave a bitter laugh, tears streaming down her cheeks without warning.
"What do you believe in me? Do you believe I can generously push you to Kasumigaoka Utaha and wish you a successful collaboration and continued success? Or do you believe I can have the backbone to reject Akane Kousaka and then watch you miss your chance to rise to the top?"
"No matter what I choose, it's wrong! No matter what I choose, someone will get hurt! You throw this kind of problem at me, what kind of trust is that! You're just transferring the pain of making choices onto me!"
The last sentence, "仪⊙耀棋司wu9逝九8越已," exploded in You Dou's mind.
He... he just transferred the pain of making the choice onto Eriri.
He always believed that respecting her choices and giving her the power to decide was a sign of progress and growth.
But now, after Eriri exposed his true feelings, he realized that subconsciously he might really have just been running away.
Because no matter what the final result is, he can tell himself: "This is Eriri's own choice, not my decision."
He simply changed his approach to maintain his innocence.
Looking at Yuto, who was standing there dumbfounded, his face turning deathly pale, Eriri's eyes flashed with a hint of pity.
But she didn't stop, as if she wanted to pour out all the grievances and resentment that had been building up in her heart at this moment.
"I'm telling you, Yuto Itsuka, I'm not choosing either of them!"
She wiped away her tears, her eyes becoming incredibly determined.
"Kasumigaoka Utaha's proposal is amazing, so amazing that it makes me insanely jealous! But so what? That's a story about Kasumigaoka Utaha and 'Beautiful Girl Rider,' what does it have to do with me, Kashiwagi Eri?"
"My paintings will only be created for your story! I will never, and I will never allow you to collaborate with others to write a story in which I have no place!"
"And there's Akane Akasaka! She's really amazing, and Aniplex's resources are very tempting! But I, Eri Kashiwagi, want to stand on that stage, not as someone's appendage, nor as someone's whetstone! But as a unique creative partner who stands shoulder to shoulder with you, Yuto Itsuka!"
She took a deep breath, her chest heaving, and then she made a decision that Yuto never expected.
So, my answer is—
She looked directly into Yuto's eyes, and the pride and awareness that belonged to the top doujinshi artist Kashiwagi Eri, which had been hidden for a long time, completely erupted at this moment.
"We will accept Akane Akasaka's test! But not passively! Instead, we will submit to her a proposal that is both of us and even better than 'Metronome'!"
"I want her, Kasumigaoka Utaha, and everyone to see! What you, Itsuka Yuto, need by your side is not another author, but an irreplaceable illustrator who can transform your words into the most magnificent images!"
"And that person can only be me, Eriri Sawamura Spencer!"
After saying these words, she seemed to have used up all her strength, and her body swayed slightly.
Yuto instinctively stepped forward and supported her shoulder.
Looking at the girl before him, her face streaked with tears yet radiant with light, he was filled with an indescribable sense of emotion.
He was wrong.
He was wrong from the start.
He thought he was putting a difficult problem on her, but to his surprise, she gave a third answer with her pride and awareness.
An answer that transcends all other options, belonging to Eri Kashiwagi.
"Did you... understand? You idiot Yuto!" Eriri leaned against him, asking in a muffled voice with a heavy nasal tone.