Chapter 42: Narcissist and Tsundere 1

"Machida-san, a-are you sure that… he won't get angry?" Eriri asked the mature lady sitting in front of her. Her name was Sonoko Machida, an editor working in Fujikawa Shoten. They were in a café.

"Don't worry, Sawamura-chan. I am sure of it. After all, he had already seen your work." Sonoko replied with a snicker.

"D-does that mean he knew me from before?!" Eriri asked with a huff.

"Yes, I guess. He was the one who asked me to confirm the appearance of characters." Sonoko answered.

Eriri dropped her jaws.

She can't believe that she was going to be the official illustrator of one of the most famous works on the web called Solo Leveling.

That's right, just last Sunday; Fujikawa Shoten issued an ad for an illustrator for the upcoming LN series called Solo Leveling.

She immediately sent several of the works that she had drawn for the novel and guess what? She was accepted by the publishers.

She was so excited to be part of such a series that she couldn't even sleep last night. Solo Leveling was one of the most trending series on the web that everyone was looking forward to the official release.

Although it was an action and thriller, she was a big fan of the series even though the author stopped posting chapters since it is going official now.

However, her main concern was the personality of the author. Originally, an editor doesn't need to ask anything regarding the illustration but from the nature of the author that Sonoko described, she could perceive the author as a very intelligent and powerful person who could even control his editor to this extent.

Plus, from the grinning face of the short-haired lady, she didn't have a good feeling from the meeting. She had a lot of experience dealing with such people thanks to her certain narcissist upperclassman.

And speaking of the devil, the person also showed up.

"Yo, Eriri, how are you doin'?" It was the voice of Seiya Kanie.

"S-Seiya-senpai…?! What are you doing here?" Eriri was confused. Part of her embarrassed face was because Seiya was looking super handsome for some reason. She didn't know why but Seiya seemed to have gotten even more charming now that she was able to see him up close.

However, her question was later answered by the lady sitting in front of her.

"Now let me properly introduce him. He is Seiya Kanie and also the author of Solo Leveling." Sonoko spoke.

Eriri.exe went brrrrr for a minute before she slowly turned her head to face the jerk who.

"Hey Eriri, you are looking super cute today but I am more handsome."

She ignored his comment as she then realized why the hell Seiya always used to snicker whenever she talked about the novel.

"…I am done here..."

She just wants to go home.

5 minutes later.

'This looks good.' Seiya was impressed as he was scanning the illustrations that Eriri had drawn.

Yesterday, Sonoko informed him about several illustrators that wanted to draw illustrations for his novel. She also sent him some initial designs from some very famous artists but he declined everyone and chose Eriri.

It was not because she was his friend or someone he knew, Eriri had the talent and the potential that he was looking for in his book.

Most of the artists in the anime community seek 'Moe' in their work which was totally unnecessary for his book. He doesn't need cute girls and ecchi scenes to lure the audience. He aims to target the general public, even those who don't read light novels.

[Name: Eriri Spencer Sawamura

Age: 15

STR: 21, AGI: 20, STA: 17, INT: 21, WIS: 15, CHA: 17, LUC: 9

Innate Ability: An Imaginer

Status: Sad, annoyed]

[An Imaginer:

The host could perceive the world via story and change it into an art. It works great if the host is happy.]

Plus she had a cool ability that was worth investing for.

Hence Eriri stands perfectly in that category.

Speaking of Eriri, she was mourning for a while after Seiya exploded a bomb about his identity. He also enjoyed the face Eriri made along with Sonoko.

"Why did you do this to me…?" Eriri slowly raised her head and asked Seiya.

"You were so happy about talking about my work. I thought you would confess your love to me if you find out that I am the same brilliant author so I held back~." Seiya smirked and continued to see illustrations.

"You…!!" Eriri gritted her teeth and wanted to jump at Seiya like a predator and tear him apart but the boy was sitting right beside her, for some reason, was looking way more charming than he looked a few days ago.

Did he lose his virginity or something?

It was then a picture of Utaha and Seiya started to circulate in front of her.

She realized that it was a bitter truth that Seiya now had a girlfriend. They are both writers and kind of loners, perfect for each other.

Utaha had a beautiful body and good looks and was generally a calm person whereas she doesn't have any redeeming quality that would fit such a talented boy.

It was already a red flag.

"Hey Eriri, why are you crying?"

It was then Eriri snapped out when Seiya called her. She rubbed her eyes and saw a tear.

She realized that she was being obvious so she shook her head.

"It's nothing…" She rubbed her eyes properly then looked at Seiya and asked, "Where is Machida-san?"

"Oh, she left for some urgent work. She told me to inform you that she will bring the contract in two days. You can bring the finished illustrations on the same day." Seiya said and took a sip of his coffee.

Seiya could guess why Eriri was so depressed but he decided to keep quiet about it. Only a dense beta male would act confused but it was not the case with Seiya. He knew that Eriri probably had a crush on him but the previous incident was still stopping her from being honest so there was a little bit of hate also hiding in her eyes.

Well, she was a genuine tsundere so he first deleted the 'honest' part.

He was also aware of his mistake but his narcissist personality won't make him lower his head to someone he has doesn't have feelings for. He certainly likes Eriri but not to the point he would be open up to her like with Utaha or his aunt Aisu.

It was just about timing. He knew that if he has to improve his relationship with Eriri then he has to talk things out face to face and be honest with her.

However if push comes to shove at a certain point and his relationship got worse or her feelings get mixed with love and hate to an extreme, he would take his leave silently without hurting her further.

He would probably lose a rare talent to work with and also a good friend and knew, would regret later but he was prepared for it.

"Wait, wait! Are you really satisfied with my work? I am not a professional artist and don't have any experience in this field!" Eriri was confused. She thought it would be a casual meeting and was not expecting to be hired when she heard about the contract.

"I know that you don't have the experience to be an official illustrator…" Seiya said and took a sip.

Eriri turned her head down when she heard her weakness so blatantly.

"But…" Seiya smiled, "You have exactly the talent that I am looking for."

"Seiya… senpai…" Eriri was shocked when she heard a compliment from Seiya.

"So are you giving up this opportunity just because you don't have experience?"

Eriri smiled and rubbed her watery eyes, "Absolutely not! I will show you what Eriri Spencer Sawamura is made of!"

"That's more like it." Seiya nodded.

"Then if there is nothing left, I shall get going. Drawing illustrations is no joke." Eriri said and stood up.

"Very well then I shall get along," Seiya said and followed.

"W-wait, are you coming to my house?!" Eriri blushed when she heard that Seiya was also coming with her.

"Well, duh. You would make a better picture if explained by the author himself."

Eriri couldn't help but agree. It was not like he was visiting her house for the first time.

She took a deep breath and smiled. "If that's the case then follow me."

Eriri flipped her ponytail and passed Seiya towards her family car.

Seiya smiled and followed. If he can't apologize then he could at least polish her talent.

===

I know its late but happy new year to my horny readers. I hope you waste this year like the rest of your life :)

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