A certain, tired female otaku working in a black company suddenly found herself waking up ten years in the past and with a System that gave her superior knowledge and technique to make extremely advance technology.
There is one problem... She's not a creative person!
She felt it would be a waste just not using her newfound power, though, so she decided to use it on something she wants.
She will adapt the works of others and turn them into masterpieces that anyone will love!
Anime, games, and even live actions: she will create adaptations of many of her favorite series that have been ruined by sloppy adaptations in her past timeline and show the world just how good these series were that have been ignored in her past life.
Another awful adaptation of my favorite series; why do they keep doing this?
The Isekai webnovel "Dungeon Lord Saga" has an excellent setting. The creator of this webnovel, Madou-sensei, is quite detailed when it comes to world building. The characters... Not that much... Even his plot is really generic... But the world of this novel is absolutely amazing!
It has been five years since the webnovel was created and two years since its completion. I was overjoyed to learn that it will be adapted into an anime... Then the trailer arrived, and the CGIs I saw dampened my expectations.
It's still fine, I told myself, hoping that they wouldn't just flop one of my favorite webnovels!
Then they just did!
The first episode is completely garbage!
What did they do to the protagonist?!? Why does he resemble another Yuto copy!?
Why are the creatures CGI? It looks very strange moving stiffly in the background!
What's with the voice acting!?
It felt like they were reading a script rather than voice acting!
Why is an adventurer pursued by a monster speaking in such a low tone? Up your tension, dammit!
I forced myself to finish the episode, but I couldn't help but feel frustrated. More so when I looked at the credits at the conclusion of the episode and discovered how many animators worked on the anime!
There are around a hundred names in there, and this is what they can do!?
What happened in the year since they published the trailer!? Do they think they can explain it as time constraints again when they have so many people behind the scenes and a year to create that episode?
That is a load of BS!
This reminds me of the numerous anime and live-action adaptations based on light novels or manga in the past five years. All of them are so poorly adapted that I can't help but feel unhappy. Are all of my favorite series going to be translated by these soulless companies?
I am so tired of hearing the same reasoning from them. They always claim that it's because of time constraints, a lack of budget, or other internal difficulties that they will not disclose, but this is ridiculous!
"Cheat Potion Master" turned into another poorly animated slice of life crap even though it has a lot of interesting things in the novel!
"Lady of Aldria" became a flop because instead of focusing on the political intrigue and strategical thinking of the female protagonist, they just turned it into another braindead anime where they tell everything without showing anything!
What about the "Spaceship Reincarnation"? Of course it got the same treatment as the many Isekai anime, and it's full of stiff CGI animation!
Then, there are the live-action adaptations of popular anime and games themselves.
What's the point of "Sword Tale" if all of them are going to use guns?
Why are the shamans from "Battle of Shamans" wearing modern clothing and sneakers when they are specifically set in ancient Japan!?
Where did the martial arts fight scenes from "Combat Master" go? Why did it turn into another Hollywood action flick!?
More and more, they keep disappointing me further and further. I am not even going to mention the numerous movie adaptations that cater to a demographic that doesn't care about their product!
I'm already depressed in my life. I'm stuck in a dead-end job, staring lifelessly at my computer while enduring the incessant ranting of my so-called boss every single day!
My only respite in this depressing reality is being tainted by these stupid companies!?
Why? Why? Why?
I hate all of this!
If I can, I will take over and ensure that each of these series receives the adaptation they deserve!
Because these buffoons have completely ruined them!
"Argh!"
After scratching my head in frustration, I rested my head on my bed and looked up at the ceiling.
"... If only I could change this reality."
I will be very happy if I can do that... So those were the final memories I had before finding myself in my old apartment room. I didn't simply find myself in my old apartment room; I learned that I had returned to the past!
How did I know?
I recall distinctly that the year was meant to be 2028, but my calendar now shows 2018 instead. I also have my old phone, which currently shows March 2018!
I went back in time to when I was 22, right as I was looking for a new career after quitting my job at a convenience store. This signifies that I am now jobless.
I basically regressed to my younger days!
And, as if my life has become a novel itself, I got a cheat ability along with it!
The [Singularity Tech System] is a cheat ability that provides me knowledge at the pinnacle of every field of technology in the whole universe. This System has given me a starter pack, which is a broad understanding of every technological knowledge of Earth for the next ten thousand years.
I basically became the smartest person in the world!
There is one problem...
I am not the most creative person!
This starter pack only gave me a broad understanding. That meant I understood the concept behind every technology on Earth, even into the distant future, but I can't design anything at all!
How can I do that? I am not that imaginative!
If you tell me to make a design for a car, I can only copy the design of a civilian brand car that I know and just fill it in with more advanced parts to boost its performance, because that's the only thing I can do!
It is why, even though I am so angry at the poor adaptations of my favorite series, I can't do anything, not even a fanfic of how I want it to happen, because I'm not good at it!
Making my own twist to a story? I don't know how to do that!
How about making a new idea for a character? I'll just copy another character I know!
I know myself. I tried it in my middle school years and then abandoned doing so after learning that I'm just that bad!
And now, this System is asking me to show the innovation of humanity!?
Are you serious!?
[Show the innovation of humanity, Host! Good luck in your endeavors!]
What innovation? I can't innovate anything!
The power I got is incompatible with me. I am an uncreative person bound by a power that forces me to be creative. Isn't that a waste!?
Really, what else should I do with this power?
I lay down on my bed and decided to cool my head by checking my phone and browsing some novels. An idea struck me as I was reading through the backlog of stories that I had bookmarked on a famous webnovel writing website that I frequent.
That's right... Since I returned to the past, doesn't that mean I can change the history of those great series that flopped because of their poor adaptations?
It's possible for the current me!
"That's it!"
I quickly stopped browsing webnovels on my phone and went straight to my computer, booting it up and swiftly opening my browser. Ideas are already flooding my mind as I look at different art tools on the internet.
"I'll make a manga adaptation!"
That's the plan. I will make a manga adaptation of my favorite series! Even though I claimed I'd do a manga adaptation, I'm not a real artist. Again, I am not a creative person. If I am compelled to draw a person, all I can do is draw a stick figure. Going beyond that will result in a scribble, and no one wants to see childish scribbles created by an adult, right?
So how can I make a manga adaptation of a webnovel if I can't even make a simple illustration?
Simple, I'll cheat!
I have knowledge of smart applications that are very useful in digital art. The majority of them incorporate AI assistants or even AI-generated material itself. My CPU's processor and data storage capacity are sufficient to run the smart tool that I intend to employ. This smart tool is basically an auto-assist for manga creation.
This smart tool's function is to convert an entire paragraph or even a whole page of texts into proper manga panels, each with character outlines indicating who is who. When a background is applied, it will also create a general outline of that background. These outlines can then be changed by the artist themselves, or if you're feeling lazy, let the AI handle the entire development of these outlines, with the artist only assisting by highlighting specific portions of the finished work and instructing it to change them.
That isn't the only smart tool I created. I created two other smart tools that are connected to it. One is a smart tool designed exclusively for character illustration, while the other is for creating the setting itself. These two are required because if I leave it up to the manga creation smart tool, the vector for the drawing style will be chaotic.
After that, I named these tools the [Manga Assistant Tool], [Character Illustrator Tool], and the [Background Modeling Tool]. After I made these tools, a prompt suddenly appeared in my eyes.
[Congratulations on making new programs! Host has acquired 300 TP!]
What new technology? These are just the nerfed versions of the original design for a full-dive virtual environment technology! I just took these three aspects because they will help me make manga adaptations of my beloved series!
Whatever. Getting Technology Points (TP) is a good thing. With TP, I can buy materials from the System that I can use to upgrade my computer. I can also use these points to get the knowledge from other branches of technology from this System.
But enough about that. Now that I have these three programs, I can finally start making manga adaptations.
I already have something I want to turn into manga from the webnovels that are available this year. This webnovel is an Isekai with many combat scenes and absurd powers, but it was regrettably discontinued and forgotten after a month in the past timeline. I believe, at this time, it is because people are uninterested in cool fight scenes and instead prefer dialogue-heavy stories or another braindead story with a harem...
Well, it's a webnovel, so stories with only fight scenes are obviously undesirable. It's boring to read about a character moving around and have to constantly imagine it when you could just watch something similar. Most combat scenes in webnovels are also subpar, because depicting a fight scene through words is difficult. They need to strike a balance between descriptive and reactive. Too much description will bore the readers, but if the fight scenes only show their reactions with no context, the readers will become confused. Most of the time, it even lacks any description, which makes it look like a word jumble that can only be summarized as someone attacks and then the other side loses.
Unfortunately, the webnovel I intend to adapt falls under the "too much description" category. Does it matter?
Of course not!
I've always wanted to see "Isekai Growth Cheat" turned into manga or anime. I believe the manga adaptation would be fantastic, so I'd like to start there!
So that's why I will start adapting "Isekai Growth Cheat" first! (Third Person POV)
Hirohito Yuuma is a young webnovelist who has recently begun publishing his stories online. He's recently become interested in the Isekai genre, which inspired him to create his own twist on it, resulting in creating his first work, "Isekai Growth Cheat." This story is about a protagonist who was accidentally killed by a Goddess in his world, who offered him a boon of his choice and the opportunity to reincarnate on another planet as an apology for her mistake. He chose the ability to grow stronger quickly, which the Goddess bestowed on him.
In terms of why he wrote the story, he simply wanted to write one in which the protagonist is the strongest and everyone reacts in awe. Though he has only been writing for a month, he can't help but notice how the narrative is developing and getting more action-packed. He could not help it. Combat scenes make him want to write a lot more than slice-of-life scenes, which he is terrible at. He tries to squeeze as many facts as he can into a paragraph because he believes it is necessary, especially when the skills of the characters he created are so distinct that not explaining them may confuse readers.
He did his best to write three chapters each week. Despite the fact that only a few people read his work, it appeared that his efforts were not recognized. Compared to new works, which were all Isekai genres like his, they had a thousand followers on the first day of publication. It's been a month since he posted his story, and he barely has 50 followers. He believed that if this continued, he would lose his motivation to write.
He likes the occasional short review, such as "Thank you for the chapter!" or "Cool!" but this does not suggest that he was satisfied. At the very least, he hoped to see at least one response expressing gratitude for his efforts, as well as hear their comments on the portions of his stories that he believes are the most important. Because just reading the same comment, no matter how helpful it was for his psyche, was disheartening. It felt like they were compelled to say it out of politeness rather than reading and appreciating his story.
"If only I knew how to draw..."
He sighed, disappointed that he lacked the talent for it. He originally planned to write his story as a manga, but because he lacks the skills for it, he opted to write it using his limited literary abilities.
He shakes his head. "Ugh, I should stop thinking about this and start writing the next chapter for my story!" He returned his gaze to the monitor, leaning in closer as he moved the cursor on his screen, tabbing out the browser page showing the status of his story and then looking at the opened document file in another tab where the half-finished draft of his most recent chapter was written.
Before he could begin, he was interrupted by a ping from his phone. He groaned under his breath as the building thoughts in his brain vanished due to that noise, and he grabbed the phone just beside his keyboard in frustration, glaring at its screen.
"... An email? I don't know who this is!?"
He didn't remember being acquainted with someone calling themselves "Genjitsu," so he pondered why they were contacting him via email. The email's title, "Proposal," made him suspicious, believing it was a hoax of some kind.
He checked the email first and was so astonished by the contents that he quickly dismissed his suspicions.
Hello, I am a huge fan of your work, and I would love to create a manga adaptation of your story. I am a new mangaka who recently joined the industry, and I want my first work to be yours.
Here is my concept art for some of your characters and settings on "Isekai Growth Cheat" I drew as an example of my skills:
[Image of Nagumo Yuuki's Concept Art]
[Image of Sein Lescatie's Concept Art]
[Image of Firias Lereas' Concept Art]
[Image of Fuu's Concept Art]
[Image of Walkyngryde's Concept Art]
[Image of Talos City]
[Image of Dragon Valley]
[Image of Rotesheim, Capital of Rodhen Kingdom]
[Image of Clastidios Continent]
[Image of the Heavenly Realm]
If you are interested, you can call me on my LINE and we can discuss anything about this. I hope to hear from you soon.
His breath was stolen away by the stunning illustration attached to the email. It far surpassed his wildest expectations. The illustration of his story's MC, Nagumo Yuuki, was supposed to look like a typical MC from Isekai stories, and he continued to include that detail in his novel, but this one felt like the illustrator understood what he meant, as Nagumo Yuuki's art in that illustration captured that youthful naivety in his face while also distinguishing him from other Isekai MCs.
Sein Lescatie's illustration was lovely. The illustrator captured the impression of a young lady with a well-developed body despite her age, while simultaneously demonstrating her cluelessness and arrogance by her posture alone. The crimson colors of her flowy robe, as well as the style of her hair, made her appear more refined than anything he had imagined a noble lady to be.
The second female lead, Firias Lereas, was likewise stunning. If Sein embodied the aristocratic lady look, Firias embodied his vision of elves. The manner she was depicted highlighted the curves of her figure with her sophisticatedly created attire. The predominantly green colors of her outfit resembled a cross between hunter gear and that of a medieval lady's outfit, and the golden strands of her hair, as well as the smoothness of her skin and beautiful purple eyes, perfectly captured the calmness he had imagined for this second female lead.
Then there is Fuu, Yuuki's pet Fenrir. This juvenile monster looked incredibly cute, and just the art alone gave him a vivid illusion that it could be touched, because the way the furs were drawn made her look like a fluffball, which was the same detail he wrote from his novel. Walkyngryde also looked amazing in his illustration. The details of his body made him look like an actual boss from a highly renowned fantasy RPG game. He gives the impression of the king of the monsters, and just the appearance alone makes him gush about how cool the dragon is.
His setting is likewise highly detailed. Even though he didn't say much about the setting or how every place looked, it felt like the illustrator read his thoughts as they created a stunning representation of a medieval city in these images. It is so detailed that, even if he hadn't thought about the background setting, he would accept this rendition as the setting for his universe since it is that amazing!
Thoughts of whether this was a scam fell through his thoughts because the concept art Genjitsu had shown him was entirely accurate to what he had in mind. No, it wasn't only accurate; it was beyond his expectations!
"And they said they are a fan of my work?"
He returned his attention to his computer, returning to the tab containing the webpage that displays the status of his story and then clicking on the section where he could view the followers of his story. From there, he noticed that Genjitsu's username is among the fifty followers of his story. A grin appeared on his lips, which gradually transformed into tiny laughs as his heart felt uplifted. Learning that one of his few admirers is a talented mangaka artist made him feel like his story was truly relevant. That his writing was not a complete waste of time.
Of course, the choice is obvious for him...
He opened his LINE account and quickly searched for the name of his greatest fan! (Asane POV)
This is amazing. I got Wadokami-sensei's cooperation!
Yesterday, he reached out to me through my LINE account, and both of us discussed everything from simple greetings up to the plans for the adaptation.
It surprised me that Wadokami-sensei is young. He even said he is still in high school. Just learning that he is still in high school elevated my impression of him a lot, because he can already write such descriptive fight scenes even at his age!
It's really a shame that he quit writing in my past life after he published the fiftieth chapter of "Isekai Growth Cheat." I don't know what happened to him after that.
This time, I will make a worthy adaptation of your story! It will be a great manga adaptation that will make you proud!
So, throughout our talk, I accepted most of his demands. Well, it's actually the opposite because I'm the one who demanded it. Wadokami-sensei is rather bashful when he speaks to me, and if I didn't lead the discussion, I believe we wouldn't be done till midnight.
So what kind of deal have we made?
Our discussion essentially comes down to this: First and foremost, he has complete control over the progression of this adaptation. He can also request any adjustments to the manga, and I must meet all of his criteria. That seems unfair to me, but I actually like it to be that way. Why? Because I cannot accomplish anything on my own! I'm not the sort of person who can add my own spin on his work when I couldn't even create my own story! I don't have that type of creativity!
With him in complete control, I effectively have to wait for him to approve my work before I can publish the chapter. It sounds troublesome, but it's not for me because, unlike most manga artists, I am cheating!
Through the usage of my three smart tools, I finished the first chapter within an hour. It is that easy. Now I just have to forward this to Wadokami-sensei and wait for his confirmation. While that is happening, I have to finish the website for my company.
Oh... Is it surprising? Well, I'm planning to make one!
Adapting it into manga will be useless if I can't publish it on the internet, right?
There are two ways to publish a manga. The first one is to find a publishing firm and send the manga to them. The second one is to self-publish. I don't like the first option because I despise publishers in this country!
Many times, they have the audacity to cancel good series simply because they aren't profitable. Just remembering when stories like "Death Loop Heroine" were cut, despite the fact that the storyline is very original, makes my blood boil! Remembering why they discontinued it makes me want to find whoever runs that publishing firm and grab their neck in frustration.
Then, isn't the second option preferable?
Actually, it is, but that option is not enough for me.
To self-publish, I need to take care of a number of things. If I decide to publish the manga physically, I will need a production line dedicated to making the books, or I will have to hire someone with the right equipment to do it. This already costs a lot, depending on how many books I want them to print for me. I also must secure a location where I can sell these books, as well as promote them, among other things. This is only for selling physical copies of the manga.
If I merely want to publish it online, I will still need to do a number of things, such as create my own domain, rent a server, properly set up the website, and so on, before I can even publish my manga. This is also very expensive.
I am not made of money. I just look at my savings account and know that it basically looks pitiful that an average person will normally look for work just to maintain that amount of wealth.
So what else can I do then?
Well, I'll just go all the way and make my own server then!
I don't even need to pay for it. I have my cheat ability to help me with that!
[Would you like to purchase the Singularity Tech "Storage Server" for 100 TP?] (Y/N)
Of course, I chose the "Y" button.
After doing so, new information entered my head. The ability to create the ultimate data storage and servers of any kind was added to my memory bank, and simply examining some of that knowledge let me realize how great Singularity Techs are.
This is not scientific. Singularity Tech is more like magic itself with how much it embodies a concept. Is this what it means from having the pinnacle of technology!?
With this kind of knowledge, I can essentially make a server that can run a simulation of an entire universe. Not just a single instance of the universe, but multiple instances of it!
Holy crap, what kind of technology is this!?
And according to my System, this is a low-tier tech... Then what can the high-tier ones do!?
Whatever, I don't care. I just know the fundamental knowledge of how to make this technology, not how to design the technology itself. So I'll do it in the simplest way without thinking too much about it.
I still have 200 TP, so I just buy some materials from my System with these points. Other than knowledge of Singularity Tech, this System also lists a veritable amount of materials that will help me create any kind of technology.
So, I buy the necessary materials. Each tonnage of materials only costs 1 TP. As for the necessary tools to turn these materials into a useful piece of technology, each costs 5 TP. All of these tools are highly advanced tools, which I need because I'm quite lazy at making my own tools.
With that out of the way, I make myself busy making my own physical server for the eventual website of my company. The sound of notification in my phone takes me out of my daze, and I look up. It seems like I have been doing this for a few hours now. It's already afternoon.
I rise up and look at the results of my efforts. A black box is on the floor of my living room. It is quite small, at least one-fourth the size of a typical CPU, and looks quite robust. It may not appear so, but this black box is a physical server capable of storing 7 googolbytes of data and processing trillions of data streams comprising yottabytes of data at the same time.
This miraculous piece of technology is surprisingly the most inferior form of the Singularity Tech that it was inspired by. Compared to a true Singularity Tech that can contain multiple simulations of universes, this one is simply not enough.
But it doesn't matter, because I'm not planning to simulate the universe or anything. I just want it to become my personal server for the website of my company. With this server storage, I think I won't have to worry about running out of sufficient resources when making AI assistants, right?
Anyway, the phone. I look at my phone and see that it's Wadokami-sensei replying to my call. I can't help but smile seeing a thumbs-up on our chatroom.
Great, now I can finally start publishing the first chapter of "Isekai Growth Cheat." This will be great!
This idea just came to me after seeing the live action trailer of ORV. Imagine my disappointment when I see it? Why are they using guns!?
Anyway... yeah, this one is actually an old idea that I just scrap because I thought I can't write it at that time. This story is also special to me because it speaks to my heart.
This is what I am actually planning to write along with "Isekai Vtuber" because of my frustration from seeing the anime version of "Death March in a Parallel World Rhapsody". The lackluster animation of my favorite novel series that introduced me to the Isekai genre actually disappointed me greatly that I want to write this one, only to abandon the notion after feeling that I lack the skills to do so...
Now I remember this plot again, and I decided to write it now. As you can see from the length of this chapter, I've been a bit too enthusiastic writing this one...
Well, this might become the normal length of each chapter as I continue writing this one.
So anyway, yeah, sorry for writing a new story. I really want to write this one even though the plot is quite... well, nonsensical I guess?
This story won't be that deep and is just made in fun. If you know about most Chinese webnovels that delves with being successful at being either a game developer or a movie creator, this story will most likely follow that kind of trend, because I made this idea to be essentially like that.
Basically, to those who doesn't know, this story will be the MC doing something, and the outside world reacting to it in amazement. Events might differ, but the formula will most likely repeat throughout the duration of the story.
So essentially... this story doesn't tell something deep and is just for fun. I am sorry if you are looking for anything that tells of personal growth or struggle. This story won't be like this...
Well, if you like this kind of story where the MC rises with their business empire through their cheat ability, then hop on because that is literally what I'm going to write.
I hope you have fun, and thank you so much for reading this!~
P.S. If you enjoy this story and felt like supporting me, please drop by on my Kofi and consider donating HERE. Thank you once again and I hope you have a nice day!~
I don't think I've read an "entertainment business empire cheat" story. I've read things like Bakuman but I can't think of one with the MC having a cheat. Closest I can think of is "Saving 80000 Gold in Another World".
For example, I am now following the story of "I Justed You to Make a Movie: You Made a Honkai Star Rail Movie. " Quite good and relatively little erotica/romance (I will dislike it).
And as for the history itself - the beginning is interesting, I will follow development. I apologize for the language - English is not my native language.
Good to see the MC has their priorities straight. Become a global tech mogul and launch a space empire from there? I'm sorry but my dear stories need a hero, and I am that hero!
Since Genjitsu translated Yuuma's webnovel into manga, his motivation to write has skyrocketed, and ideas he was hesitant to write at the time were adopted in his newer chapters after the mangaka artist convinced him that it was fine. Genjitsu always advised him to stop worrying about her and do what he wanted.
He was ecstatic, especially when Genjitsu forwarded the manga chapter drafts to their chatroom. He felt so appreciated because Genjitsu always asked for his permission, even though he felt he should just be grateful that his amateur work was being adapted at all.
With Genjitsu always giving him complete control over the draft and continually informing him that he could demand modifications at any time, he gradually adapted to it. It's just been two weeks, and he's growing acclimated to this type of work.
'Still... It's quite surprising for her to finish those drafts that quickly'.
He wondered how she did it. She always drew fifty or sixty pages of manga panels for each chapter, which covered an entire chapter of the webnovel and included extra information as he saw fit. She told him not to worry about the manga's page count. She assured him that she would follow his directions and not add anything unnecessary to the story. Missing details from his webnovel were skillfully integrated into the manga adaptation. If a chapter had little action and couldn't fill a whole manga chapter, she constantly asked him if he wanted to fill in extra scenes or cover the following webnovel chapter in that manga chapter to meet the required page count.
And it piqued his curiosity. How can Genjitsu make such exquisite pictures and put what he anticipated in those panels as if she knew his aim, even offering to adjust it to fit his vision without complaint? How could she accomplish that so quickly?
It had only been two weeks, and she had already released six chapters, with seven more ready and waiting for his approval. She didn't appear to worry about scheduled releases, as she assured him once again that he could pick when these chapters would be released.
She stated that if the current chapter draft was not the most recent chapter he had written, she could make the next chapter. She was so quick that she kept up with his writing pace, adding to his admiration for her.
This also made him guilty. It felt like he was effectively limiting the ability of such a wonderful artist. If she wasn't a fan of his story, he figured she'd get more proposals from more successful and capable writers, and she may even end up finding success for one of the major publishing companies out there, like Lemon Books or Shounen Leap. This notion just added to his anxiety, forcing him to write more so he wouldn't be a burden to her.
His remorse grew further when he discovered that Genjitsu created her own website solely to publish the manga version of his work. It told him that she adored his work and would not let other publishing companies get hold of it. He looked at it when he first started writing, and he knew that most of the time, submitting your work to an agent or publisher means giving up the majority of your rights to that work. They could determine whether or not to discontinue the adaptation, and the author and illustrator had no control over it.
He was aware that maintaining a website costs money. Genjitsu told him not to worry about it, but he couldn't help but be anxious. The website just displays his work. It seemed very sad, as if that site just existed solely for his work.
He was planning to tell her that she could find others to post more stories to her website, allowing her to earn some money. He doesn't know much, but he knew she'd make more money as more individuals joined and published their work on it.
One day, just as he was about to discuss it with her, Genjitsu called to make an important announcement. He accepted her video call and saw her seated in front of her computer, staring at the camera with a carefree expression.
["Good morning! Sorry for calling you this early... how are you doing, Wadokami-sensei?"]
"I'm doing fine." He still felt shy hearing the adult woman on the other side of the screen calling him with such respect.
He felt like he didn't deserve it.
["Great. Have you eaten anything?"]
"Yes."
After that small exchange, the talk could finally begin.
["Anyway, the reason I called you is because it's about the manga. We've discussed this before, but now I'd like to make it official."]
He saw a fresh associated file being transmitted to their chat room. He looked through the document file and saw that it was an official-looking contract between him and the company she had formed. Seeing the word "clauses" and other business-sounding terms reinforced the fact that his work would be commercialized.
'This is it!'
He clenched his fist hard, his heart racing with anticipation. After signing this contract, he will begin earning money. Furthermore, if he begins to earn money, he will be able to prove to his parents that pursuing his hobby is the right path for him. He didn't only write because he was inspired by all the Isekai stories out there. He actually enjoys writing. He was only reluctant to do so because his parents were opposed to it. They want him to seek a more lucrative career, such as being a doctor or a lawyer. He doesn't want to, and he knows, based on his performance in his literature class, that he has some writing talent.
Teenagers of high school age already have their own bank accounts. It is legal in this country for teenagers like him to work without parental supervision; thus, even if he signed the contract here, it would not be illegal because he is legally accountable for himself in this country. There are certain restrictions on the types of jobs he can do, but as long as it is not heavy labor or something that could threaten his life, he can begin working.
So he carefully reviewed the digital document, even though he had already decided to sign it. While doing so, he is also listening to Genjitsu talk. She doesn't seem to mind that he's reading the document as she continues with her speech.
["Just like what we discussed at that time, I want to monetize the manga adaptation of your work. Because this is our company's debut effort, we have yet to establish a fan base. That is why our strategy is to make the first volume of the manga available for free. The following volumes will be sold separately at a reasonable price."]
He nodded, seeing those terms written under "Employer's Responsibilities".
["Any intellectual property we adapt from you, you have complete authority to request changes to any section of it. You also have full ownership of that intellectual property, which means that if you don't want to work with me anymore, you can pull out and write any continuations or prequels to your work on your own without fear of legal repercussions from our company."]
"... I'm sorry, but can I ask something?" With her nod, he resumed with a nervous look. "Is it really alright? Isn't it unfair to your side?"
Hearing what she was saying and seeing it included in her responsibilities to him as an employer, he can't help but feel that he's benefiting too much from her. He was surprised when he saw her wave her hand in dismissal, still looking casual as ever.
["It may be unusual for you, but I really enjoy your story. I'm doing it on my own volition because I really want to adapt your work into manga. In fact, I felt like paying you for letting me adapt your work!"]
"No way, that's too much! It's me who is grateful for this opportunity!"
["Me too. So, you don't have to worry about it that much. I'm the only one who will take such a deal because I can handle it."]
Seeing her grin at him made him nervous. She might appear ordinary with those broad round glasses she was wearing and her shoulder length hair tied neatly into an updo, but the relaxed confidence she radiates made her appealing to him.
'So this is how adult women are like, huh?' He quickly shook his head. 'Ugh, focus Yuuma!' He couldn't help but reproach himself.
["Anyway, can we continue?"]
With his nod, the illustrator of his story resumed her speech, explaining everything he needed to know about the contract. It just took an hour for her to finish, and he couldn't help but be stunned by the document's contents once more.
She offered to pay him 80% of the sales proceeds from any of his intellectual properties placed in her domain. At the same time, she will handle everything necessary to promote his story while not detracting from the 80%. Essentially, she will only receive 20% of the earnings from any of his intellectual creations, and she will bear the responsibility of promoting, editing, and managing his work. She was basically losing a lot by doing this, when standard publishers typically take more than that while paying the author 15% in royalty payments.
"What about the site? Doesn't it cost a lot to maintain it?" He couldn't help but express his own concerns.
["Don't worry, I'm already planning to contact other authors to have their work published on my domain; it would be strange if only one manga was displayed on my company's website, wouldn't it?"]
"... Do you need any help?"
["It's fine. Just focus on your story. I'll take care of all of the troublesome stuff."]
His admiration for her grew significantly when he saw her unperturbed about that troublesome stuff. If she isn't going to seek him for help, he can only assist her by devoting himself to his work.
"Alright."
So he promised himself that he would continue to grow and reciprocate this gratitude via work.
He doesn't want to disappoint her! (Asane POV)
I wanted Wadokami-sensei to think about it for a few days and review the documentation I had prepared to formalize our partnership, but it just took a day for him to sign the document and forward it to my email.
Anyway, with Wadokami-sensei basically entering into a partnership agreement with my company, I am free to adapt any of his work as long as I have his consent, which is exactly what I stated in my responsibilities as his employer, publisher, and illustrator.
He has no deadlines for cooperating with my company. He can do whatever he wants, including taking a hiatus to rest or do something else. I actually have to mention that on the document so he knows he is free to do whatever he wants, because I do not want to restrict him with the typical strictness of a corporation.
I recall many authors and artists in the past timeline quitting the industry owing to stress and pressure from the strict timeframes they had to meet. I recall there being consequences for failing to fulfill those deadlines, and in Japan, companies are always right, and artists like them can only remain silent.
Well, in this country, all artists are classified as freelancers, so what else can they do? Companies regard freelancers the same way they do outsiders, and the work culture in this country is obsessed with company loyalty. So in this country, it's natural for any company to disregard the opinions and welfare of the artists.
This is why I despise corporations. Many companies in the anime and manga industries are constantly exploiting artists who create such great art and stories. Instead of fostering such artists so that they can create more amazing things, they are simply squeezing them out in order to increase their profits!
I hate it!
I don't want Wadokami-sensei to go through the same scenario. In fact, I don't want any future artists who work for me to go through something like this. This is why I elected to give them an extremely lenient contract in which they practically have all of the benefits.
Of course, I will limit such an unfair deal to myself. If I had an artist working for my company, I would not push them to perform the same thing I do. Unlike them, I am essentially cheating!
I'll refer to this as a special contract from me. Only I can provide such a contract to others. When the time comes, I'll put together a conventional contract for ordinary artists. I don't have to think about it right now because I'm the only one who officially works for this self-made company.
Anyway, Wadokami-sensei's suggestion regarding the webpage is reasonable. My website only has one manga title, which makes it look pitiful. Well, I haven't really done anything with the site. I merely set it up and did not bother with a background. People are unlikely to be interested in my website's background. They're only here to read manga adaptations from my contracted authors.
So I'm going to post more works to my website. Where will I receive this work? Well, there are many new authors writing on Syosetsu, and some of them are writing my favorite series! It's no question that I'll contact them and offer them the same contract that I gave Wadokami-sensei.
I'm the only mangaka artist in this company, so I basically have to do all the manga adaptations myself!
But that is in the near future. We have yet to discuss the cut point for Volume 1 of "Isekai Growth Cheat". I need to check with Wadokami-sensei at what point in the story he wants to end Volume 1 so that I can start preparing how to market Volume 2 of the manga adaptation. Future volumes will become the main source of income for my company, so I need to confirm this as soon as possible.
I'll do it tomorrow; I'm not in any hurry. I'd rather not disturb Wadokami-sensei too much. I already notified him about it in our chat, so he won't be surprised when I contact him again tomorrow.
For now, I'll have to resume my programming.
It's not like I'm just sitting around after finishing the manga drafts for "Isekai Growth Cheat". I don't have to devote much time to it because of my three smart tools, so I have a lot of time on my hands.
This is why I am quite busy with other things. This past week, I have been busily upgrading my computer and all of its paraphernalia so it can keep up with my advanced applications. Then recently, after I'm done doing that, I'm programming AIs to handle promotions, moderation of the site, and the maintenance for it.
Like I said, I am not the most creative person. That's why I am letting others handle it. I can't really hire someone with my current financial state, so using AI is more cost-effective. It doesn't even use as much of my computer's processors because I have the Black Box Server v1 taking the burden of the processing of this AI.
I haven't finished the AI yet, but it is getting close. Coding is exhausting, and creating a smart AI requires more than trillions of codes just to function. Surprisingly, this is not even a sentient AI, but rather a very smart artificial intelligence capable of discerning information by referencing a variety of sources. It cannot evolve beyond its programming. By putting hard limits and absolute rules within its framework, it wouldn't be going beyond what I simply ask of it. It's the most effective way of making a safe AI.
... Well, let's just say my mind is filled with a lot of knowledge to make malicious AIs and leave it at that...
Anyway, this AI is already functional, and in fact is helping me write the script to improve itself. I just said it is not complete because I haven't implemented the important codes needed for it to function as a PR for my company.
After I am done with this, I can start letting it run the website. After that, well, anything will become easier for me at that point. The following day, I called Wadokami-sensei so we could discuss the first volume of the manga. It didn't take long before we agreed about the end point for the first volume.
The events in Talos City lasted until the seventh chapter, so that means the next volume will focus on the Dragon Valley. It only had three chapters, so we should also include the part where they arrived in Rotesheim. That's fine, because while the webnovel version did a poor job of foreshadowing what would happen in the capital, we can easily fix it in the manga adaptation. It'll be up to Wadokami-sensei. When it came to the direction of his story, he was very specific when requesting additions or changes to the drafts. I like it because I didn't have to think about what to type into my manga assistant tool.
He has already approved the chapter seven draft of the manga, so that was basically the last free chapter available for anyone visiting my site. The next volume will be an entire volume, and unlike the previous volume, I did not have to post the chapters one by one. I intend to market it; thus, I can not just sell it by chapter. It is similar to how Shounen Leap and Lemon Books offer full bundles of chapters in a single book through weekly and monthly issues. That's also what I plan to do. That is why I am splitting them by volumes.
This plan might sound too simplistic for being a publisher, but what can I do? It's not like I'm a publisher in the past timeline!
I simply want these stories to reach many people while also receiving the recognition they deserve. The payment is not an issue. I originally intend to give all of the money I make from the sales of these volumes to their authors but stop myself because I know that is being overly generous. I also need funds for my company, so I need to make a profit if I want to grow it.
Anyway, after posting the seventh chapter on the site, the next thing I did was finish up the last strings of code for PR-chan. I just have to write this code here and then... done!
Now, I just have to set PR-chan in the website, and then it can start promoting this site to other internet forums. While it is doing that, I will be reaching out to other authors so I can adapt their works too.
It will be a busy month, but I am quite satisfied with this. I can finally read the manga adaptations of my favorite stories. What more can I ask for? (Third Person POV)
One day, at the third week of March, multiple accounts bearing the username "Singularity Works Official" appeared on many forums and other social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LINE, and at the same time they appeared, they quickly made posts or started a thread promoting a website called Singularity-Works.
On the first day, barely anyone looked at it. Though on the second day, there were those who became curious enough that they checked it out. As it was only limited to the Japanese communities that focused on anime, manga, and games, only people who were interested in this kind of thing visited the site.
One of those guys was now browsing that site. The initial impression he got was that it appeared plain. It just featured a black background and some basic options common of such sites, such as signing up, logging in, a search bar, and a menu to help you browse the site's pages. The second thought he got was that it appeared pitiful because the frontpage of this site had only one manga title displayed in it: "Isekai Growth Cheat".
Now, normally, even a person who was a fan of anime would leave the site after seeing this, and truthfully, many who checked it out of curiosity had done just that. Though a few of them, like this guy, hadn't because of the illustration cover of the manga.
That piqued their curiosity!
The cover of the manga was high quality. It had that anime aesthetic, but more than that, it had a rich detail not just on the characters, but the entire background itself. Even the title was written stylishly despite being a typical title for Isekai stories. What was more surprising was that all of this, even the title, fit greatly together, as if the illustration itself was made to harmonize perfectly with every element drawn on it.
This illustration pulled this guy's attention, and he couldn't help but click on it to check it out.
The summary of the story was quite mediocre. It was about another Japanese guy being reincarnated into another world by a Goddess, and being bestowed a cheat ability to grow stronger quickly. Though this guy already expected that, because the title alone screamed "average Isekai" in it. So he decided to look at the chapters and was quite surprised when he clicked the first chapter of the manga.
First, the page instantly loaded the pages of the manga he was going to read. The front cover, too, was also incredibly mesmerizing. When he looked at the number of pages of this manga, he was baffled when he saw it was over 70 pages long. That increased his expectations for this manga.
The following three pages only showed some incredible illustrations of characters and even the MC. It didn't just draw the female characters, which was usually the appeal of most manga series, and that made him a bit intrigued. After that was a single glossary index listing all chapters within this volume and an intermission, which indicates the end of a volume.
He was used to that. Most manga series were uploaded in batches through issues or entire volumes of it, so he didn't question it much and just clicked the screen, going to the next page of the chapter.
From there, he was greeted with the magnificent colored illustrated panels of a majestic gold and platinum gate. The protagonist's surroundings were a high-quality portrayal of the Heavenly Realm. In the center of the gate stood a woman with long platinum-colored hair. Her body was modestly dressed in white robes, yet her contours were as if carved by a master. A garland of golden flowers was worn on top of her head, and her stance and manner alone oozed grace and purity, revealing her heavenly presence to everybody who saw her.
This woman introduced herself as the Goddess, and indeed, the guy reading this story right now couldn't help but admit that this character truly looked like how divinity should look. The way she spoke was archaic, in a way that it took him some time to understand what she was saying, though he managed to understand that she was remorseful for a mistake that she made to the protagonist. This depiction of a Goddess felt like a divine entity itself, because she hadn't acted like the typical goddesses in some Isekai series who either did it comically or so extremely seriously that it looked awkward. This depiction showed that, while she found her actions wrong, she looked almost neutral, and her expression was still serene as ever.
The protagonist's actions also astonished the reader. Because, unlike other manga adaptations of the Isekai series, this one depicted the protagonist with a range of emotions on his face. Just the way his eyes and the small wrinkles on his face expressed his distress and perplexity from his current circumstances to his rejection of his fate and resignation after discovering that the Goddess had mistakenly slain him. It quickly demonstrated his humanity and distinguished him from the other Isekai protagonists since he reacted to his surroundings and his current circumstances.
The event that followed could be described as mediocre. The Goddess offered to reincarnate him in her world and bestow upon him a power that would aid him in his second life. The protagonist, Nagumo Yuuki, wished to be granted a power that would allow him to get stronger quickly, which is consistent with the series' summary. His body was then reproduced in another world, in the middle of a forest near a city. Before reaching the city, the protagonist encountered dire wolves. Instead of battling them, he ran away and successfully escaped them as his speed increased with his cheat ability and had outpaced the wolves following him.
After getting to the city, the MC registered as an Adventurer as that was the only viable way for him to acquire a valid ID to enter other cities and for him to earn money. He only managed to enter the city because the guard pitied him. After that, he spent several days participating in the newbie training grounds for the adventurers, steadily increasing his capabilities without stopping through his cheat ability, and then did a normal job. Halfway through the second chapter, he met the first female lead in one of his quests to gather herbs, and then he managed to show off his powers to her when they encountered goblins as he was escorting her back to the city.
This formula is repeated in the majority of this volume, with the MC going around and doing his quest, training to make himself stronger, and then the noble lady whom he met at that time occasionally meeting him, developing their characters slowly. The sixth chapter ended when that female lead was captured by bandits during her journey to the capital, and in the next chapter, the protagonist rescued her and fought the bandit leader, who was quite decent with his swordsmanship, and managed to defeat this bandit leader after he absorbed all of his technique through his learning skill, which also had grown tremendously because of his cheat ability, and after some event, the volume ended with the protagonist accepting the request to escort the noble lady to the capital of the kingdom.
Again, the story was quite mediocre. Though, throughout that mediocre progression, the illustration brought the entire setting alive. Every panel, the background was drawn beautifully even when they were sidelined and the focus was mostly given to the characters. Whenever a wide shot of the surroundings itself was shown, it showed details that any readers would have to pause just so they could process anything in it, because it's not just the background itself, but the people around it that made it look so mesmerizing.
Instead of drawing each person as a faceless mob, this manga had drawn each one with distinct appearances, so it felt like an image that had been pictured instead of an illustrated manga of a fantasy Isekai world.
The most detailed part of the story was the action scenes. Every movement of the people, as well as the environment, had been employed to their best potential. It wasn't just the MC going across an empty stage as his opponents remained to the side. Everyone was moving in each panel. The way they swung their swords or moved in unison, even when things became chaotic, was conveyed clearly and vividly to illustrate to the readers how the conflict was taking place. When the events were more relaxed, the panel would convey as such. During violent confrontations, special effects and action motions were liberally employed, portraying a genuine action sequence as if it were animated in its entirety.
So regardless of the quality of the plot, this reader genuinely enjoyed the story. He wanted to see more.
It made him quite sad when he realized he had reached the end of the volume, and the next volume was still in production. He saw that the next volume would be a paid one, though it doesn't deter him. This guy decided he would support the artist and the author and would wait for more updates to this manga.
He decided to make an account on this new website and leave his comment, thanking the author and the illustrator for making such a great story. This site surprisingly had a comment section that anyone who had made an account could leave their comments on.
He wasn't just the only one; there are others who followed suit.
After that, these people, who were pulled by the beauty of this manga, spread the word to their friends from their communities, friends, and some even to their families, who were also interested in this kind of hobby. Before the day ended, the tens of people who read the manga suddenly became a hundred, with most of them bookmarking it and even a few already making preorders for the next volume. Three days later, Yuuma was shocked at the sudden rise of the manga adaptation of his story. In the Singularity-Works website, he could see many bookmarking his work and even preordering the next volume, even though its release date was still undecided.
This site, for two weeks since it was made, didn't have any visitors. There were some, but all of those were the few followers of his story whom he directed to this site through his author's note, promoting it in his own way because the site is quite unknown and, without advertisement for it, no one would even visit it. These readers were already mesmerized with the manga, but the problem was, most of his readers didn't have a lot of friends, even on the internet, making the spread of his manga quite slow.
Now, he doesn't know why, but this site suddenly acquired hundreds of people visiting it and even thanking him. Some of those even go to Syosetsu just to read his webnovel, adding more readers to his story.
"I have to tell this good news to Genjitsu-san!"
Out of excitement, the first thing he did was tell this to the only person who had given him this opportunity.
After that, his motivation shot through the roof due to this good news that he managed to write an entire chapter and also approve the next draft that Genjitsu submitted to their chatroom.
I just realized, I mislabeled the title of my story. It's supposed to be a regression story instead of an Isekai!
Sorry, I posted this story after going on an all-nighter writing the first chapter. I am just so excited to share this that it slipped my mind that regression stories are different than Isekai ones...
Sorry again T_T
Anyway, this chapter took me so long to write. I actually have a harder time writing the first and second scene of this chapter than the latter parts. I don't know why. Words just wasn't coming to my mind as I am writing it.
I'm so sorry this took too long... I'll try to upload faster next time...
I hope you have fun with this chapter too, and thank you so much for reading this!~
P.S. If you enjoy this story and felt like supporting me, please drop by on my Kofi and consider donating HERE. Thank you once again and I hope you have a nice day!~
Hmmmm, the MC feels a bit too lax about the money. I can understand wanting to take the minimum necessary to better accommodate the authors and readers, but there is a minimum and it's not zero. As far as I can tell the cheat system doesn't provide for stuff like rent, food, or even internet access. So she will be relying on the income from the manga or will need a side job. Actually a side job would be perfect for her situation. There are plenty of low paying remote jobs that could be done by programs less sophisticated then what's she's already created. Some are freelance type work too, with no personal interaction.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I'm quite pleased with the results of PR-chan's promotion. With that AI advertising my website on many social media sites, the number of visitors to my site gradually increased. Hundreds of people have visited the site and looked at the only manga series on the front page. Wadokami-sensei was also overjoyed about this news that his upload speed had improved and that the process of approving the drafts I sent him was also becoming faster. I really like the outcome of this current timeline. I'm confident that if this continues, Wadokami-sensei will complete his Isekai story or even create other incredible stories. I can't wait for that future!
Anyway, as I was done making a manga draft for "Isekai Growth Cheat" latest chapter, and I'm not doing anything right now, I've decided to start reaching out to other amateur authors at Syosetsu.
I have two authors in mind. If I recall correctly, these two authors wrote interesting stories around this time. They were Fudo-sensei, who wrote "Leisure VRMMO Newbie ~ Becoming Strongest through Auxillary Skills" and Shiroko-sensei, who wrote "The Villainess Quits!". As for why I chose these stories, I followed both when they were released in my previous life and was quite sad when both were discontinued after the two authors vanished, with Shiroko-sensei simply stating in her final author's note that she would be quitting due to real-life obligations.
I don't want that to happen again!
It's just my assumption, but I think they quit because their real-life problems have caught up to them and they didn't have the time to write anymore. Most likely, they were forced to find another career they have to pursue, and with this being Japan, it doesn't matter if you have talent. If you work for a company, the company basically decides what your role will be for your entire life. It's quite hard to quit a company in this nation once you've entered, after all.
I know because I'm also the same in the past timeline.
Even if my assumption is wrong, it doesn't matter. I just want to adapt their stories into manga because I want to!
So I reached out to the two authors, sending them the same email that I sent to Wadokami-sensei, along with an attachment of illustrations for both of their characters and settings in their stories. After that, I just have to wait.
... Well, not really. I have another problem I need to address.
I am running out of money!
Okay, I can still last until next month, but after paying my rent, I won't even be able to purchase cup ramen!
So what else can I do?
Well, I just have to earn some money on the side.
And I don't even have to do it by myself! How can I do it? It's easy...
I only need a script and an AI who will do it for me!
As I previously stated, once I finish coding PR-chan, everything will become much easier for me. I'm serious because PR-chan's code has been saved as a template, allowing me to simply copy and paste the code or extract important chunks of code to create inferior versions of PR-chan. PR-chan's entire code was a universal model that could be applied to any type of AI. I can simply replace, add, or use only specific sections of its code to create newer AIs from it. It's that adaptable!
In fact, I've already built another AI with PR-chan's template. This other AI is called Coder-chan, and its sole purpose is to assist me with my coding whenever I create new AI or other types of programming. I can turn this AI on and off, and I can even set limits and commands for it so that it only helps me in the sections that I want it to.
I haven't been focusing on my financial state that much, so I didn't think I'd have to resort to this soon. I don't know when we will finish Volume 2 of "Isekai Growth Cheat," and I don't want to pressure Wadokami-sensei for it, so that is why I'll have to earn money on my own.
So, I'll be making two new programs. One is an AI whose entire purpose is finishing entire technical problems or other small projects from other companies that were looking for freelance programmers, and another is just a script that will scour through the entire internet, looking for any available contractual work that has anything to do with programming.
With Coder-chan, the programming only took me two hours before the two were operational. I named the script [Job Scourer Script] and the new AI was named Freelancer-chan.
Now I just have to limit Freelancer-chan's work to once a day and then let them run in the background. It would be bad if this AI decided to take every available project for freelancers in a single day. I only need enough money to sustain myself.
[Congratulations on making new programs! Host has acquired 300 TP!]
Right, even though I just reused old codes and used them for other purposes, the System considered it making new programs, giving me more TP that I could spend. I didn't have anything in my mind yet, so I'm just stocking up on my points. It also includes when I make AI, upgrade each part of my computers, and even just make simple scripts. It seems like making an AI gives me more TP than simply making smart applications.
But I digress. Now that everything is done, I can just sit back and enjoy my remaining free time reading!
It's not like I'm doing this just to help other authors. I want to read more novels and manga and watch anime too! That's literally my life as an otaku!
And with nothing else to do, I can do just that! The next morning, I looked at my bank account and saw a statement stating that money had been transferred to it. The amount was more than enough for me to relax for another month, and this is just after a day of its operation. Now I don't have to worry about my money in the immediate future.
Well, unless I have to spend so much that the income I get from Freelancer-chan is not enough... But I think it won't get to that point, right?
Anyway, the next thing I check is my LINE. The first thing I saw was Wadokami-sensei's message. He has forwarded his suggestions on the most recent draft I sent him. It was written in a document, listing everything he wanted to add, replace, or change on each page. He was quite thorough, so implementing everything on the [Manga Assistant Tool] was quite easy.
With that done, I looked at the two new messages from my LINE. I quickly realized that these two are the authors I emailed yesterday after I checked each of these chatrooms. I looked at their message and saw that the two complied and would like to discuss things with me about my offer to adapt their series into manga.
Not wanting them to wait anymore, I responded to them immediately, calling them through a video chat. "Hello Fudo-sensei, I'm glad you accepted my proposal."
["Thank you... uh, Genjitsu-san, right?"]
"Yes, I am a newbie mangaka artist who goes by Genjitsu. So, would you like to start discussing about my proposal?"
["Okay."]
...
["This is... a very generous offer. Is it alright?"]
"Of course. I would love to adapt your work into a manga. I really love the lighthearted progression of your story, and the protagonist having fun while becoming stronger at the same time."
["Then... yes, I will accept the contract!"]
"Thank you very much!" ["Uh... do we introduce ourselves by our names, or just our usernames?"]
"You can introduce yourself by your pen name. I don't mind."
["Alright. Then, thank you for reaching out to me. I am the author of 'The Villainess Quits!', Shiroko, and I am quite interested in your offer. Is that fine?"]
"Don't be so nervous. I won't bite. Just call me Genjitsu."
...
["So it's fine even if I demand any changes to the manga?"]
"Yes, of course. I'm the one who asked to adapt it. I want it to be the finest, and I know the creator of the story will know more than I do. So this much should be done as respect for your story."
["Okay, I'd like to take the contract!"]
"Thank you very much!" After my talk with the two authors, two more series would be added to my website. I have already created a manga draft of their respective works and sent it to them, so I am just waiting for their approval.
Now, I don't have to do anything. I already did anything that I needed for adapting mangas. There is nothing else to do but simply relax and enjoy my hobbies.
Well, I can invite more authors in Syosetsu, but I don't recall any good stories out there that have been buried into obscurity this year. Most of the stories I know will be written in the future, and as for any webnovels that I also find great, they are already fated to be adapted by some other publishers.
For example, Kirakira Shoujo will adapt "The Magical Girl in Another World" as a light novel and then as a manga after a year. I don't want to change this because their adaptation was quite good in my previous life, and the resulting anime five years later was decent enough.
Another example is the adaptation of the webnovel "Indra Phantasma". The light novel adaptation alone was magnificent, and the climax of each arc and other memorable scenes were bolstered by Syuen-sensei's stunning illustrations. The anime version was also mesmerizing, with most scenes being hand-drawn and CGI used only in dynamic shots to highlight the beauty of the fight scenes.
These and a few other web novels I know in Syosetsu would have this kind of luck in the future, so I didn't want to intervene. I only chose webnovels that I knew were treated poorly in my past timeline because I also wanted these stories to be given a chance. I don't want these to be thrown out, forgotten, and later on impossible to find on the net.
I don't want to experience looking for a series only to be unable to see it just because it was deleted, or other more prominent titles that mostly resembled those forgotten ones buried it further into obscurity. Many good stories that I recalled the premises but couldn't remember the titles were lost to time, and even though I wanted to read them once more out of nostalgia, they were sadly just gone, never to return again.
... Anyway, I am getting sidetracked.
I have nothing to do. Which is preferable because that means more time for me to relax and do my hobbies. I recall a lot of stories, but that doesn't mean I have seen everything this year. I only have a limited amount of free time, and every day, hundreds of interesting stories are popping up on the site.
So, I browse at Syosetsu more to find other unknown stories. If I like it, then I will reach out to the author and offer to adapt it.
And if I ever find even those webnovels whose titles I have forgotten, it would be better! (Third Person POV)
As the days passed, netizens trickled by on the Singularity-Works, attracted by the only series that was being spread by those who became fans of it. The sole manga series on this site had pulled people continuously until it had reached more than 5,000 visitors.
An average person might think that was a low number, but truthfully it wasn't. That was already a success to anyone who was in the industry because, first of all, the website and the manga itself barely had any advertisements. The only thing that could be considered their advertisement was that one account that spread all over Japanese social media and forums.
Normal artists wouldn't be able to replicate the same success even if they did the same as the handler of "Singularity Works Official". Even if they managed to attract many people, whatever work they had wouldn't retain most of these people. They needed enough hype, a dedicated fandom, and even copious amounts of advertisements before they could gain that kind of result.
"Isekai Growth Cheat" didn't do so. Its manga adaptation was so good that it overwhelmed the mediocre plot it had. Most people who checked it out became fans, and more than eighty percent of these visitors were retained, constantly checking the website or looking at the only official account that announced the website's existence.
It had been several days since then, and the end of the month was coming soon. "Singularity Works Official" had also become quiet a week ago, so the fans were becoming a bit anxious. Most were understanding, of course, because putting manga titles on a website was already hard, mostly if they were planning to be the distributor and publisher themselves. It might take them months before a new series shows itself, along with the next volume of the only series on this site.
Though, they couldn't avoid thinking about the same thing.
When will the next volume come?
Will they add a new series to their website?
Those were just normal questions for any otaku who followed a group. Now that they were hooked, they wanted to know more, even if it would be impossible.
So it took them by surprise when, one day, an announcement was made both on the official account from this site and on the website itself.
(ANNOUNCEMENT)
We are glad to announce that volume two of "Isekai Growth Cheat" will be released next week!
Following that, two new series will be added to our site. Two volumes of "Leisure VRMMO Newbie ~ Becoming Strongest through Auxillary Skills" and "The Villainess Quits!" will be added next week, with volume one being free to read at our website.
As a celebration for adding new series and volumes for such beloved works, our team has decided to give a 50% discount to anyone who will pre-order these volumes. This promo will last until the update arrives!
If you are excited, please support the authors of these works here: Syosetsu.jp.co/xxxxxxx, Syosetsu.jp.co/xxxxxxx, and Syosetsu.jp.co/xxxxxxx.
We, from the Singularity Works Team, will continue to strive and show more amazing works to the people. Thank you for staying with us!
This announcement revitalized the declining attention of this site. With new volumes and series coming earlier in April, the fans have clamored, talking about it in their own communities and forums.
People were surprised that they would get such quick updates. Others were flattered that discounts would be given, even though these would be the very first batch of volumes that the site could monetize. Then there were those who were quite amazed that the site was willing to turn volume one of each series free to be accessed.
They thought it was only reserved for "Isekai Growth Cheat," being the sole work posted on this site to attract people.
They were essentially giving so much to the fans, even though their fandom was quite small. They weren't even fans of the site, as most of these people staying here were only here for "Isekai Growth Cheat."
But the surprise wasn't done yet.
Because a few hours after the announcement, people clamored after they discovered the prices of these volumes.
Pre-orders of each manga volume cost 150 yen!
In this country, a manga volume typically costs between 500 and 700 yen. With a 50% discount, pre-orders should cost 250 yen or 350 yen. That's what they expected. They didn't expect it to cost less!
That meant its cost was originally 300 yen!
And, given the stunning cover art revealed at the same time on this site's pre-order section and the fact that it was illustrated by the same artist who adapted "Isekai Growth Cheat," anyone would think it was worthwhile.
So, without a question, hundreds of people ordered the second volume before even reading the story. Their faith in Genjitsu was so strong, thanks in large part to her ability to transform a mediocre story into a divine masterpiece!
And on the following days, the remaining thousands had followed suit. Before the end of the first week of April, followers of "Isekai Growth Cheat" had waited, some even counting down the days until the site refreshed with two new series on the top page and five new volumes, three of which were paid content.
Others were ecstatic to read the next volume of "Isekai Growth Cheat," while a few others, especially those reading the webnovel versions of the two new series uploaded on this site, were eager to read the manga adaptation.
As that was happening, this site piqued the interest of a few members of this country's artist community. The artist behind these manga adaptations piqued their curiosity more than the story itself.
And it wasn't just the artist who got intrigued by Genjitsu. Even some from publishing firms and the anime industry got interested in her.
Genjitsu's LINE account was displayed on the site and in the afterwords of each volume of the manga, so they knew how to reach out to her.
So, at the same time as the fans were clamoring about the quality of the new series posted on the site, a few of these people decided to reach out to Genjitsu herself.
Sorry, short chapter for now...
I am very sorry for the long delay. The day before yesterday, I am busy celebrating the birthday of my Mother. It was quite important to me, because she has always been with me, taking care of me until she passed away. So I really didn't want to skip that....
So that is all... thank you everyone for reading this and I hope you have a nice day!~
P.S. If you enjoy this story and felt like supporting me, please drop by on my Kofi and consider donating HERE. Thank you once again and I hope you have a nice day!~
Kirakira Shoujo will adapt "The Magical Girl in Another World" as a light novel and then as a manga after a year. I don't want to change this because their adaptation was quite good in my previous life, and the resulting anime five years later was decent enough
So, what doesn't seem to have occurred to the MC is that the manga adaptions she is producing are in competition with the ones she considered to have been good the first time around. She isn't making much of an impact yet, but potentially this could see manga adaptions failing to be picked up due to reduced sales or even small-time publishers going under.
So, what doesn't seem to have occurred to the MC is that the manga adaptions she is producing are in competition with the ones she considered to have been good the first time around. She isn't making much of an impact yet, but potentially this could see manga adaptions failing to be picked up due to reduced sales or even small-time publishers going under.
It's either gonna be a "I have become the very thing I hate" situation or she's gonna swoop in and yoink those artists and writers in an attempt to make sure it doesn't happen that ends up with her as the Adaptation Empress of Manga.
It surprised me when I checked my LINE account this morning. Only my parents' socials and the three authors I contracted were usually listed there, but when I checked it early this morning, I was surprised to see a lot of calls from unknown users.
Most of them were simply people expressing their appreciation for my efforts, but a few asked if I wanted to collaborate, and some even wanted to ask if I was available to work for their publishing firm.
Those who requested my cooperation are actual mangaka artists. I just looked some of them up and saw their bio, which stated that they were an illustrator, concept art designer, and animator. I don't know how to talk to them, so I decided to put it off until next time.
I'm not even an artist, so how can I communicate with them!?
I have to prepare my heart first!
As for the three people asking whether I'm available to work for their publishing firm, I refused.
Why should I? A quick look at their publishing company revealed that they were among those who made dull adaptations just for profit!
No way! I am not going to associate myself with them!
And even if a well-known publisher attempted to hire me, I would also decline their offer.
I started Singularity Works to save other artists from succumbing to the same terrible corporate drivel. If I join one of them, it will defeat the entire point of my website!
After that minor issue, I checked the status of my contracted authors. Wadokami-sensei works quickly, and he has already finished checking and offering suggestions for chapter 19 of the manga. Fudo-sensei is likewise fantastic, checking all of my drafts and accepting them with little requests for modifications. Shiroko-sensei, however, was particularly difficult.
The first time I saw her via video chat, I was surprised to learn she was a woman. Webnovel authors were mostly men, and the few female authors I knew tended to write romance manga or yaoi smuts. It was surprising to learn that a woman wrote "The Villainess Quits!" because the story wasn't really a romance. It was a shoujo ai series, but the story was quite complex with its political maneuvering and, most importantly, the war! How did she write such vivid depictions of war!? She doesn't look like it too!
Anyway, after my repeated reassurance that she could demand any changes she wanted from me, this woman accepted my offer and did exactly that. She was extremely meticulous when it came to scenes. Even after perfecting the background details, she was dissatisfied because they lacked flair. She wanted to add special effects to some of the scenes, such as flowery backgrounds on the border of a panel, shiny backgrounds whenever characters were introduced, and whatever effects she could think of based on the scene.
I stated that it was tough since my [Manga Assistant Tool] does not transfer illogical effects used for flair. [Manga Assistant Tool] was simply a component of software designed to replicate a true virtual world, so it was reasonable. It was a feature of the application designed particularly for rendering sceneries and physics in virtual worlds. Asking it to create flares would be ineffective because the scene does not reflect actual physics. It was essentially a tool for transforming what was written into a logical, step-by-step scene through manga panels that followed standard physics.
I can just input some rules so the [Manga Assistant Tool] can follow such scenes. I did that on "Isekai Growth Cheat" so the [Manga Assistant Tool] can simulate what would happen when magic like what was written on the web novel occurred in a simulated world and translate that simulation into manga panels. Even Fudo-sensei's work, "Leisure VR," used the same logic, and in fact was quite appropriate for it because the setting itself was set in a fictional virtual game, so this tool could simulate it too.
Shiroko-Sensei's demands... does not translate well to real physics. How does a simulation of real-world physics translate flowers in a manga panel's border?
The answer was no; it was impossible!
That scene doesn't make sense in a real-life simulation!
So how did I manage to make two volumes of "The Villainess Quits!" adaptation?
Well, there was a simple solution to it!
I made another AI!
It was quite easy because I already have an AI template. So it didn't take long before I made Researcher-chan!
With Researcher-chan, she could scour everything on the internet and then pass it to Coder-chan. Coder-chan wasn't programmed to learn anything on the internet, and I simply wanted her to focus solely on coding for me, so that was why I made Researcher-chan.
After Researcher-chan searched all the relevant information for special effects, I typed a command for Coder-chan. It has to make a program that would help the [Manga Assistant Tool] for making special effects throughout its manga panels!
This is how the [Special Effects Plugin] came to be. As the name suggests, it was a plugin for [Manga Assistant Tool] that would create any relevant special effects for a scene. With its installation, [Manga Assistant Tool] was updated to version 2.
Thanks to this tool, I managed to meet Shiroko-sensei's demands. It had also helped me enhance Wadokami-sensei and Fudo-sensei's works through making everyone happy!
... However, it was still difficult to satisfy Shiroko-sensei. Even though [Manga Assistant Tool V2] could now make scene-appropriate special effects, Shiroko-sensei sought several revisions since she was dissatisfied with the majority of them. So I'm continuously creating drafts based on her instructions and making modifications until she's satisfied.
It wasn't that annoying. I found it endearing because it showed me that Shiroko-sensei truly loved her work!
Once more, I looked through her suggestions and ran it through the [Manga Assistant Tool V2] while happily humming a tune. (Third Person POV)
Shirogane Kuroko still couldn't believe her luck. She had always assumed that because of the gravity of this story's numerous topics, her story would never be adapted. She genuinely meant to write a yuri with an otome game twist, but because she is a history buff, she ended up writing a novel set in a medieval society mired in perpetual strife.
The cliché of an otome gamer being reborn in their own favorite game has lately gained popularity, and she liked it so much that she sought to write her own version of it; however, the otome game part of the novel was already gone before twenty chapters had passed.
She simply couldn't resist. She enjoyed creating her own world and envisioning fictitious battles and conflicts. She was more concerned with how each army would fight on an imaginary battlefield than with the relationship between the female heroine and the female lead.
She couldn't quit since she'd been writing it for four months already. She became engrossed in the story's narrative and grew to like it. She just wanted to write it till the conclusion.
It was meant to be a passion project. She didn't anticipate any publishers picking it up.
Then someone actually picked it up!
It wasn't a publisher, but rather a godly mangaka artist who picked it up!
She heard the familiar sound of a notification from her LINE and instantly retrieved her phone to check it, only to discover it was from Genjitsu. Her heart was moved as she opened the chatroom and saw the content of Genjitsu's latest post to her.
[Genjitsu]: Here is the fourth revision. Please check at your own convenience. (Attachment.pdf) [Shiroko]: Thank you for the good work. Please give me a moment. [Genjitsu]: ^_^
Kuroko had taken Genjitsu's repeated assurances that she could demand any changes she wanted from her and that she should not hold back with her suggestions seriously, and she had taken full advantage of that. Of course, she hadn't done so from the beginning. She was still restrained at the time, but as time passed and Genjitsu demonstrated the willingness to meet all of her demands, she gradually became bolder and bolder until she only sought perfection. She adored her work and wished to see it illustrated to her exact specifications.
As she looked through the file, she couldn't help but be captivated by the amazing visuals. This was one of the many things that astonished her. Genjitsu was not just incredibly fast at creating manga drafts, but she was also carefully thorough in everything. She drew a lot of pages to keep the rhythm of her plot consistent, and she portrayed everything that was going on in the scene. Furthermore, the new special effects improved the scenery on certain panels. It demonstrated Genjitsu's commitment to her job as well as her exceptional talent for her craft.
'I wonder, how can she draw this quickly?'
That question lingered in her mind, though she quickly shook her head out of those useless thoughts.
"Right. This is great."
She nodded to herself before opening her LINE and then telling Genjitsu about her approval.
At the same time, she was already thinking about what else she could write next. She felt that anything was possible for her.
She looked at the artwork one final time before returning her attention to her computer, cracking her fingers, and pressing the buttons in a rhythmic manner.
'I have to do my best!' She thought to herself. Yuuma checked his bank account. He still could not believe it. He suddenly received money that was a hundred times greater than his customary amount, all due to his part of the profits. He realized how much that 80% meant when a thousand people pre-ordered volume two of his manga.
'It feels overwhelming...' He clenched and unclenched his fist, his palm feeling sweaty due to nervousness.
Having more than a hundred thousand yen in a high school student's bank account would do that. He was still young, yet he was already competing with an average salaryman's earnings.
Of course, it wasn't an amount that could support an entire family yet, but it was enough for him if he wanted to live independently.
Having earned such an amount also increased the pressure on his shoulders. He knew that his story only got so popular because of Genjitsu's illustrations. He was reading the comments, and while most people were singing praises for the story, there were the occasional ones who would state how mediocre the story was and others who only praised Genjitsu.
'I have to do better than this!'
The high he experienced when his first work got adapted was gone, and now he wanted more.
He wanted to be recognized for his work!
"But first..." He looked up, entering the living room where he could see his parents sitting on the couch and watching the TV. "Mom, Dad, I want to be a writer!"
Now that he had money, he was confident that he could persuade his parents right now! It has been a few days since the update on Singularity Works. Newer visitors came to the site out of curiosity and eventually became fans after reading all three series. Some even purchased the second volumes of their favorite series, with a few purchasing one volume each because each series captured their full attention.
At the end of the second week of this month, members of this site increased by ten thousand more. It still hasn't spread that far because their work was too little, and most of the manga adaptations came from unknown authors, and the series were obscure.
Still, with this many people, it was inevitable that a few would make fan communities for it. There were fan communities made for each series, a fan community for the site itself, and a fan community for Genjitsu.
Out of everyone, Genjitsu was an enigma. AI-generated content was still in its infancy this year, so even though a few industry experts were suspicious, they couldn't pinpoint what exactly was wrong with it. They knew that such speed was impossible for a normal artist.
There was a certain community in the Japanese internet who became intrigued by Genjitsu. Most of these were casual internet lurkers and anime fans, though some of them were actual digital artists.
Their current topic right now was about her and the mystery surrounding her.
(Yurizono_Tamura): So seriously, what's with Genjitsu-sensei? (Shiozawa_Retsu): What? (Yurizono_Tamura): What what? (Chinp⁰): Elaborate, idiot! (Iroiro): A lot of things are weird about that artist. You should just say what you're curious about them, Tamura. (Fellruins): GENJITSU-CHAN BANZAI!!! (Yurizono_Tamura): Oh, is that what you meant?
Yeah... My bad. I actually want to ask, what's with their speed?
Doesn't anyone feel curious how they can finish volumes that fast? (Shioshio): I think we already agreed Genjitsu is a group's alias? (Shinjitsu): Hey, Sein is quite a cutie, isn't she? (Fellruins): AS EXPECTED OF GENJITSU-CHAN!!! (Yurizono_Tamura): Yeah... But you know, the author of that cheat Isekai keeps saying that Genjitsu-sensei is only one person... (Klein): That's just impossible. If that is done by a single person, then I'm superman! (Fellruins): HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, GENJITSU-CHAN? [{Mod}(Kiseki) has muted (Fellruins) for 30 minutes]
{Mod}(Kiseki): Shut up, Fellruins! (Churro): Get rekt, simp! (Immolator): wwwwwww (Yurizono_Tamura): But really, even if that is done by a lot of people, those visuals are so highly detailed! (Shiozawa_Retsu): I think they are being overworked. (Skia): Fuck off! Firias all the way! (Chinp⁰): Well, I hope Genjitsu-sensei joined us. Naito invited them, right? (Shinjitsu): You fuck off! (Hear_me_out): Nah... the true answer is Walkyngryde. That's true beauty! (Shioshio): Or... maybe they have already drawn it last year and are just releasing it now? (Shinjitsu): ... (Skia): ... (Churro): ... (Chinp⁰): Shio... Did you read the source material? (Hear_me_out): What? You know I'm right. (Shinjitsu): Mod. Kick this guy's nuts! (Skia): You're getting a boner to an oversized lizard!?!? (Churro): Eugh.... (Shioshio): Actually... I haven't. I'm not really interested in the source material. (Iroiro): Shio. Isekai Growth Cheat was just released this February... (Yurizono_Tamura): But really... I want to know Genjitsu-sensei's secret! (Shioshio): WHAT!?!?
Those were just the most interesting tidbits that occurred in that chat group.
These few people were suspicious, but without concrete evidence, they could only speculate.
Aside from that, there was a minor issue with some publishing firms repeatedly attempting to contact Genjitsu but being refused. They were unhappy, but they didn't pursue the matter further because, at the end of the day, Genjitsu was just one artist. There were many more out there.
Casual fans don't care. They were simply happy at being given more content that could satisfy them.
Things returned to normal after a while.
Then, as another week passed, another shocking announcement happened!
(ANNOUNCEMENT)
We are glad to announce that the third volume of "The Villainess Quits!" and "Leisure VRMMO Newbie ~ Becoming Strongest through Auxillary Skills" will become available next week!
In celebration of this announcement, any members can enjoy a 50% discount on any purchasable volumes for a week!
This announcement shook the entire fandom of this site! (Asane POV)
Reject! Reject! Reject! Reject! Reject!!!
Okay, this is getting tiring. What's with these publishing firms trying to recruit me?
Since PR-chan's announcement yesterday, an increasing number of unknown users have called me, thanking, inviting, and recruiting me all at once. I had no idea what was going on, so I ignored most of them. It was exhausting to read countless messages from strangers.
I am an otaku! I do not have time to interact with them!
I should be lying on my bed, reading books, watching anime, and playing video games!
Did they believe I actually made those illustrations? Perhaps I should tell them that I'm using tools to assist me.
Ugh... Whatever...
Anyway, it surprised me that Shiroko-sensei was able to approve all of the chapters necessary to complete the third arc of her novel. I expected Fudo-sensei to be finished because his story only involved a cute protagonist doing random things and gaining stronger powers as a result, but Shiroko-sensei was picky about the details, so I expected it to take her longer than even Wadokami-sensei, who was still new and had to create more chapters.
Well, unlike Wadokami-sensei, Fudo-sensei's and Shiroko-sensei's works started last year, so they have a lot more material than Wadokami-sensei's story.
Perhaps I should have expected it. Shiroko-sensei was considerably more active than Fudo-sensei, who seldom requested changes and only spoke to me once or twice a day. Whenever I submitted my drafts for her approval, she responded within thirty minutes. She was so dedicated that even if the chapter went back and forth several times, she was still eager to review my drafts and make suggestions as quickly as possible.
Shiroko-sensei was pretty vivid in herself, if we only consider her eye for details. It was only that the genre of her story felt out of sync with the contents of her webnovel, even though she was still attempting to add Yuri into the plot, that her story did not acquire enough admirers, burying it in obscurity by other otome villainess stories.
These authors are truly more creative than me. If it were me, I would only be doing monotonous stuff instead of pursuing a career as an artist.
Anyway, my phone is making a lot of noises. I really can't turn off the notifications on my phone because I still have to check it from time to time. My LINE account was the only one where I could talk to my contracted authors.
So, I am here, sitting in my chair while gazing at the monitor of my computer. On the screen of my monitor is a small panel with a loading bar with it. This panel was actually Coder-chan, and that loading bar was their progress before they were done making the script.
I just recently thought of it after being fed up by the continuous pings on my phone. I told Coder-chan to make a script that could disable any notification sounds from anyone who introduced themselves as a representative of a publishing firm and filter useless noises that weren't related to my own work.
It was really hard to think for myself. Having knowledge without creativity really makes things harder for me. I mean, I should have thought of this, but I just recently did so after being reminded through my vast knowledge that, yes, I can actually make a script that does that!
I don't feel like coding, so I leave it to Coder-chan.
It didn't take long before Coder-chan was done. Now I have a minor script running in the background that would filter any oncoming messages to me that have no relation to my work. That meant only Wadokami-sensei, Fudo-sensei, and Shiroko-sensei could talk to me now.
Ah... This is peace! No more incessant pinging disturbing me!
... Hm? What's that ping? Is that from Wadokami-sensei?
I looked at my phone and frowned when I saw it came from another stranger.
Weird... Did Coder-chan make a mistake on the filter?
Even as I thought of that, I checked the message out of curiosity.
[Lupo]: Hello, I apologize for suddenly chatting. I saw you are the illustrator at Singularity Works. I became a fan!
Sorry if this is abrupt, but can I ask how I can submit my work to Singularity Works?
I'm looking for someone to adapt my story into manga, and I heard about your website. Sorry if I'm contacting you even though you are the illustrator. If you know who I should contact at Singularity Works, please let me know.
This is... I don't remember any author with that kind of name in my past life. Still, this is surprising. I am usually the one reaching out to authors for their work.
... Well, if an author is asking me, then I have to lend an ear, right?
[Genjitsu]: You don't have to look anywhere; I'm also in charge of Singularity Works.
Even if his story isn't decent, I have to give it a chance. Who knows, maybe I will love it?
Here is the next chapter. Sorry its taken long.
... Actually, I have an announcement to make.
I made a Patreon account. Early content for Queen of Adaptation will be uploaded on my Patreon account, and currently, it is two chapters ahead (it's supposed to be three, but I'm still writing chapter 7).
Anyway, chapters will have a scheduled release. One chapter will be released every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while early chapters will be posted as soon as possible on my Patreon.
If you can't wait for the scheduled release, you can go to my Patreon and become a Premium Member HERE. Membership costs $3 a month. Its the cheapest I can go so I can still support myself, and write more at the same time.
I am very sorry for doing this... I really need some income rn...
If you enjoy this story and felt like supporting me outside of Patreon, please drop by on my Kofi and consider donating HERE. Thank you once again and I hope you have a nice day!~
Not really a big issue, just something bothering me.
What about the internet connection? You host the server in your home so we can assume something max in the low GB range. I don't know how much data a high-quality manga has, but you have 5000 visitors + your ais running. We can thus assume that we are close to the limit your home internet can handle. If a new volume comes out and multiple people try to read it at once, you might hit that limit with your current user count. You might need to get an industrial internet connection with higher bandwidths. Those might not necessarily be possible to get to your location due to cable limitations(would need to have new cables run through the street and to your home). So you might be forced to move your server somewhere else.
Not really a big issue, just something bothering me.
What about the internet connection? You host the server in your home so we can assume something max in the low GB range. I don't know how much data a high-quality manga has, but you have 5000 visitors + your ais running. We can thus assume that we are close to the limit your home internet can handle. If a new volume comes out and multiple people try to read it at once, you might hit that limit with your current user count. You might need to get an industrial internet connection with higher bandwidths. Those might not necessarily be possible to get to your location due to cable limitations(would need to have new cables run through the street and to your home). So you might be forced to move your server somewhere else.
Her physical server covered that. It doesn't need bandwidth connections and doesn't rely on cable limitations because it already covers the entirety of the world wirelessly. She doesn't need to plug it anywhere. She just let it lie somewhere, and she can still connect to it because it is how she designed that inferior version of Storage Server Singularity.
Anyway, that physical server is quite literally nonsense. It somehow works the way she intends it to.
"We regret to inform you, but your work didn't pass our assessment. Please look somewhere else."
"Sorry, but your story is unqualified. Please leave."
"You have interesting ideas, Lupo-sensei, but this story doesn't meet the standards of our publishing company. If you truly want to choose our firm, then I suggest you change some parts in there, like replacing most of the technobabble in it and putting more heroines in the story. Then we can reconsider."
"We only accept shoujo series. Please look elsewhere."
"There is no market value in this. Don't waste my time!"
Two years. He has been writing for two years, and not once did he get the chance to shine. He only wrote a single story out of passion, and for a year, he was getting by. His story doesn't garner as much interest due to its topic, but he was truly passionate about it. He managed to put anything he could think of and turn it into a coherent narrative, creating his own world through his own imagination. That made him happy, because he could turn such incoherent thoughts into written form.
Then his father perished in a road accident. His mother was still mourning his loss. His siblings were still in school, and if they ran out of money, they might have to drop out. As the eldest, he understood he had to shoulder the responsibility. So Ookami Sairou made the decision to commercialize his work.
It doesn't work out.
Since he wrote it, his narrative has received little attention. Nobody was interested in a slow-paced fable about an eternally young reincarnator who would transport a whole civilization from prehistoric to modern times. In today's literary milieu, Japanese readers preferred wish-fulfillment stories rather than something that was basically a bunch of written theories as if it were a thesis instead of a story.
However, he was also stubborn. He composed this novel out of passion, and he was fascinated by a scenario in which a person literally elevated cavemen and ushered in the advancement of science in humanity. It was not a popular topic, but he was eager to create and read such a novel. He does not have the heart to modify the plot of his work solely to please the majority. He wanted it to be his work!
So, despite linking his donation pages, he earned nothing for six months after making that decision. Nobody was interested, so why should they help him?
Despite being a long-running series, barely anyone reads it. The handful who did so just remained in the background, and no one could go past twenty chapters before giving up. It was the worst webnovel failure ever, yet he refuses to change anything from it. He also had no desire to write a new work. He does not like the current webnovel trend for Isekai and revenge stories.
So after realizing that he has no future at earning for himself, he decided to submit his work to other publishing firms. He doesn't care if it became a manga or a light novel. He just wanted his story to be recognized.
The problem was the reception. His work was rejected by every publishing firm he submitted the story to. They quickly saw the lack of marketable potential within it. The story doesn't have any hook at the start, like encountering a beautiful heroine or the protagonist suddenly acquiring a power-up and destroying the large beasts around. It literally was a survival story that took too long before they could even get to the part where the MC encountered any person at all.
Sairou felt everything was hopeless. It had been a year since he started doing this, and no one was willing to try his work.
"Should I just give up?"
"Maybe I should just stop and go along with the trend?"
"Maybe I should quit and find work somewhere?"
His heart was filled with doubt, and he was on the verge of giving up his passion. He doesn't want to stain his work with typical tropes such as unexpected power-ups, a huge number of female characters, fodder antagonists, and so on. He just wanted to continue his novel, in which the protagonist creates his own paradise by rediscovering science and technology from his previous life. That was all he wanted to write.
As he was lamenting about his next actions, he suddenly noticed it. In the suggested feeds for him on his homepage at LINE, he saw the username called "Singularity Works Official" announcing their latest volumes for two manga series. Growing curious, he clicked on it, and then he saw it: a site with a dull black background with three gorgeous cover arts for three manga series on their frontpage.
His curiosity turned into intrigue. He randomly chose one of the series and was surprised when he saw that the first volume was free. That shock turned into amazement, and then amazement turned into joy. After that enjoyment, his eyes lit up as he got to the afterword of "The Villainness Quits!".
"An illustrator willing to adapt unknown works?"
He looked at the printed copy of his story that was on the bed. Other publishing houses consistently rejected this manuscript since its contents had no marketing value. Would he have a chance if he submitted his work to Singularity Works?
'This might be my only chance!'
With a sense of both trepidation and anticipation, he reached out to the only person whose social account was written in the afterword. Typing his words carefully, deliberating, and then finally getting the courage to hit the enter button.
[Genjitsu]: You don't have to look anywhere; I'm also in charge of Singularity Works.
So its official title is "Bunmei no Chichi". I always searched for "Bunchichi" because I only knew its abbreviation.
I see. So, Lupo-sensei wrote it.
The digital manuscript he submitted to me was the same as what I remembered when I read it at Syosetsu from my past life.
To summarize, the story was about a physics major who died while doing an experiment with his colleagues. The main protagonist then awoke in a teenager's body, nude and trapped in an alternative universe reminiscent of prehistoric times. This story will then focus upon his survival in this terrible wilderness filled with enormous monsters and other dangers hiding within the environment, while also utilizing his scientific skills to construct his own paradise. Later in the series, he met a group of cavemen, whom he painstakingly befriended before teaching them about various disciplines of science, expanding their overall knowledge base, and, eventually, establishing their own civilization that was a thousand years ahead of their present planet.
Since it is already 2018, it has just been a year since I last read his work. He abruptly stopped updating, so I began to read other webnovels, and I soon forgot the exact title because there were a hundred more intriguing stories that captivated my full attention. Regardless, "Bunmei no Chichi" was one of the most intriguing stories out there. The pace was extremely slow, and each chapter was so large that it felt like Lupo-sensei was writing a thesis rather than a webnovel, but I still enjoyed it because the way he described every detail around his environment was incredibly vivid, and he left details so that readers would intuitively understand what was going on even if he did not explicitly state it.
Another reason I enjoy the novel is that the author includes all of the protagonist's prep work. It was like witnessing a clever person's attempt to survive in another world. Lupo-sensei left details indicating that he was familiar with ecological facts and other scientific information whenever he created rudimentary tools, traps, and other weapons. I remember how the protagonist of this story, Koji, constructed his own rope out of thick vines and then transformed it into a trap to trip fearful monsters who generally roamed around in herds one by one. It demonstrated his ingenuity and made him much more impressive in my eyes.
I always assumed I would not be able to find this story. It wasn't like my favorite stories were only limited to novels that were uploaded this year. I also have a few favorite stories from previous years, including this one. I just did not bother looking for them since I do not remember the title of their stories or who the writers were, and when I do remember some of them, the story has already been erased from Syosetsu.
I'm really grateful that Lupo-sensei reached out to me!
Of course, I would adapt his work. But I have other plans than just adapting it into a manga.
"Say... what do you think about turning your story into a light novel?"
["Huh?"] He looked surprised.
This might sound abrupt, but I truly think that turning his story into a light novel was more appropriate than just adapting it into manga. There are a lot of essential details in his webnovel that wouldn't just translate well into manga. If people wanted to understand subtle cues like why the protagonist does something, how each creature in that world behaved, and other stuff related to that other world, they needed a context behind it.
If I turned it into a manga without changing anything, the [Manga Assistant Tool V2] might just put a lot of narration on each scene, and that was incredibly dull if we are talking about manga adaptations. Manga adaptations were there to show what each scene looked like, not there to give detailed narration of how it was happening.
You might as well read the source material if the manga is like that!
So I explained this all to him without including the part about my [Manga Assistant Tool V2].
["... Is that fine? Do you have any editor in your team?"]
"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the light novel too."
["Huh??"]
"I'm the only one working on Singularity Works. Everyone else are authors I just contacted to adapt their work. I also don't mind because I'm confident I can do it."
I actually can't, but I am not worried. I have a cheat ability to help me!
["... But, is that alright?"]
"It's fine," I assured him while waving my hand casually. "So, do you want me to adapt your story into a light novel?"
["... Uh, yes!"]
"Great!" I clapped my hands. "Then, you just submit your draft for the light novel, and I will check it out later. Also, be sure to check your LINE occasionally. I'll be making the manga draft for Bunchichi."
["... Yes, thank you... wait, what do you mean by that!?"]
He looks surprised... Oh, it seems he misunderstood.
"Oh, did you misunderstand? I'm not just going to adapt it as a light novel. I will adapt your story as both a light novel and a manga! I'm sure doing it at the same time will reach out to more audience for your story!"
His eyes are wide as saucers as he gapes at me in astonishment. I just smiled at him.
With a great story like "Bunchichi", I will not spare any effort! After an extended conversation with him, we came to an agreement. Tomorrow we will finalize the contract, because I haven't really made the contract for light novel adaptations yet. I only have the one for manga adaptations.
I just nudge PR-chan to make one on the program. This AI was also the one who helped me make the contract for manga adaptations, so it knew what to do after I told it.
Now, I have to make a draft. I just asked Researcher-chan to scour the "Bunmei no Chichi" webnovel and run each chapter through the [Manga Assistant Tool V2]. Researcher-chan isn't just limited to Coder-chan; it can also interface with my other programs so I don't have to input additional codes for it to do so.
After that, everything is done. I just have to wait and also check my LINE occasionally if there are any updates for my contracted authors.
Just in time when I checked my phone, Shiroko-sensei responded with another set of demands for the latest manga draft for her story. I have to run that too to my [Manga Assistant Tool V2]. Other than that, nothing else happened.
Fudo-sensei was on a break. Well, he already told me that he'd like to take a break for two days to recover his psyche, and I respect that. He has been checking my drafts everyday while also writing his own webnovel, so it is understandable that he will ask for a rest. He can take as much as he wants, actually. It is part of the contract that they can just go on a hiatus whenever they want.
As for Wadokami-sensei, recently he has been a lot busier writing his webnovel than checking the draft I sent. I don't really mind. Like I said, they are free to do what they want.
I don't have anything else to do. So I can just go back and read other webnovels or other manga that I haven't read yet... Oh wait, I do have something I need to do!
I stop leaning on my chair and immediately nudge Coder-chan to help me.
Even though I have read a lot of webnovels, light novels, and manga, I do not know how to write my own stories. If I am forced to write, it will be a copy-paste of another story. I can not think of anything original other than using the same tropes as other authors. I attempted it before in my past life, and the outcome was a mishmash of ideas from my other favorite stories. I attempted it three times and gave up after being strongly attacked by numerous readers for plagiarizing the works of others. There is no need to keep writing crap when everyone dislikes it.
This also applies to my overall writing talents. I did not do particularly well in my literature and language classes. I just know how to read, but I struggle to write or understand any high-level Japanese language. In my past life, I had to occasionally look up disambiguations of those archaic words through online Japanese dictionaries before continuing on. Surprisingly, it helps me learn new topics, and after continuously doing that whenever I read webnovel, I just know how to read more archaic words. It's still not at the professional level, though...
What I want to say is that I am incapable of being an editor for a light novel.
So, once more, I am going to cheat!
The program I am making is simple. It's a program that uses Coder-chan as a base code. Coder-chan writes strings of code and recognizes whether the code will be wrong or not. I just have to expand that into writing itself and create that instance separate from Coder-chan. As I am making a writing tool, it doesn't need a sophisticated AI like the one from Coder-chan and PR-chan. It simply needs to focus itself on corrections, suggestions, and betterment of structure and quality for a written story.
It didn't take long before I was done making it. The [Writing Assistant Tool]. With this tool, I can just simply run a written document through it, write rules that it has to follow and other prompts to further lead its vector to the right path, and then watch as it implements all those changes, making the grammar structure better, the pacing stable, and the paragraphs more intuitive.
Now, I basically have a super editor on my computer. Just a single click, and there will be no need to check. Of course, I have to test it first before actually committing to it. It's still a tool, and with it being its first iteration, it might have some mistakes within it that I might have missed.
But within my mind, I am confident there is no mistake in my programming. Even knowledge for writing programs is also included in the basic package I got from the System.
This is an inspection just to be doubly sure. Yesterday, I spent the entire day searching through several webnovels and running them through [Writing Assistant Tool]. Regardless of how dense the content was, how technical it was, or how distinctive the writing styles were, I confirmed that this tool was able to fix some, provide recommendations that improved the reading experience, and did not affect the unique styles that most authors apply to their stories.
Of course, I might have missed some details. I was not an expert, so it couldn't be helped.
It is not like I will post it as soon as I put it through my writing tool. Just like with manga adaptations, I will ask the writers whether they are satisfied with the adjustments I make for their light novel adaptations before publishing them.
PR-chan was already done with the document for light novel adaptations, so I sent a copy to Lupo-sensei along with the manga adaptation one so he can sign it, and at the same time I also sent twelve different art samples so he can choose which style he prefers for both character and background.
This is what I generally do before beginning drafts for their manga adaptation. The [Character Illustrator Tool] and [Background Modeling Tool] are responsible for the consistent art on both the background and the character in [Manga Assistant Tool]. Both of these programs get artstyles from all around the internet. One focuses on character models, while the other focuses on various background models. After that, I can select whatever style I want, save them into presets, and then group them up into categories.
[Manga Assistant Tool] will then search through appropriate terms; for example, if it is running the story for "Isekai Growth Cheat", it will look through the category with that title and then through any of the presets that are appropriate for the scene it is doing, such as checking if a character mentioned in the written text is in that category. It will then use that character's preset and put their model on the scene. The same is true for the background.
This is why, unlike most manga adaptations, the ones created by my software have such a real feeling of dimensions. Unlike other manga, where characters appear near even when they are explicitly stated to be a hundred meters apart, my manga adaptations allude to how distant they are from the scene's perspective, how they compare to their environment, and many other things. So the art was consistent from every perspective.
These three programming tools are all components for a full-dive real-life virtual environment, so it's quite natural that they work together well.
Wadokami-sensei was the only one who immediately chose the first concept art I submitted to him. So the first people who were given a chance to choose their preferred artstyles were Fudo-sensei and Shiroko-sensei. Because of that, the artstyle for the three manga adaptations is quite distinct, even though it still retains that excessive detail it puts on every manga panel.
I want this to be the standard for any future stories that I will adapt. Every author has the right to choose their own preference to further meet their standards. I believe that if I do that, I can read more high-quality stories, which I will enjoy a lot.
After doing that, I decided to call the three other authors I am contracted with to also extend the same offer I gave Lupo-sensei. It would be unfair if only Lupo-sensei had a light novel adaptation.
Even if I personally think Wadokami-sensei, Fudo-sensei, and Shiroko-sensei's stories are more suited for manga adaptations, they also deserve their light novel adaptations. I already started with Lupo-sensei, so why not?
Talking about that offer to Fudo-sensei and Shiroko-sensei didn't take long. They quickly accepted my offer and said that they would make the draft for the next week.
Wadokami-sensei, though, surprised me when I called him. (Third Person POV)
Since the day he showed his parents what he earned from the manga adaptation of his story, they have finally let him be. Of course, they still advised him to concentrate on his academics and think about his future, stating that he should leave his choices open for other occupations since they were still dubious, but they were at most tolerant of his pursuing his writing career.
And so, with the reluctant support of his parents and with his own earnings, he got a new keyboard, mouse, and even a new CPU, even purchasing other premium apps that would help him with his writing so he could dedicate more of his time to it. Whenever he returned home, he would finish his homework as soon as possible before quickly resuming his story.
It was recently then, when he suddenly hit what most writers dreaded.
A Writer's Block!
There were several reasons why an author would encounter this abstract wall. They either reached the end of what they planned for the story, were dissatisfied with how it was going, were influenced by public opinion, were distracted by other pursuits, had too many ideas they wanted to implement at the same time but could not due to how impossible it was, or had personal problems that prevented them from focusing on what they were writing at all. There were several explanations, but the majority of the time, it culminated in their being unable to write a single letter on their notepads.
Hirohito Yuuma was severely affected by the public opinion. There were many people who praised his work. Almost a thousand people have followed his narrative as a result of the manga adaptation, and "Isekai Growth Cheat" has even risen in the ranks on Syosetsu.
It does not matter because, while there were many positive comments, a very few sharply criticized his work. It spans from some who critiqued his pacing to those who just declared his plot poor in all areas. One comment really hurt him, as they told him that his story was simply another typical isekai trash and that the artist's abilities had been wasted adapting his story.
He has not been able to focus on writing his story since. He had lost his usual passion since those nasty statements kept repeating themselves in his head.
"Is my story really that bad?"
"Do I really deserve to have someone adapt my story?"
"Maybe I should just quit?"
The thoughts persisted in his head, and as a result, he was unable to update his story for a week. He could not even verify the drafts Genjitsu supplied him since he thought he was lacking for it and was only leaving unwelcome work to his artist, who also serves as his publisher.
And now, while he was in a depressive spiral, that same artist called to him once more with another wonderful offer on his way.
She wanted to adapt his story into a light novel too, stating that she had already done so for the others, so she would also give him the choice for it.
He should be happy. He knew, logically, that he should accept. The girl was freely extending an offer his way that could further extend the name of his series to a wider audience.
He didn't accept the offer.
"I'm sorry, Genjitsu-sensei... I don't think I'm ready yet to turn my story into a light novel. My skills still need some polishing, so... can I take some time to build up my skills?"
It was only an excuse. He did not feel comfortable wasting Genjitsu's ability on someone like him. He was only an inexperienced webnovelist who could only produce rubbish fiction.
So does it matter whether he enjoys his story? It makes no difference how much he enjoyed his story if the content is garbage!
Genjitsu stared at him for a moment. He couldn't help but imagine that she was judging him with her stare. It didn't take long before she smiled once more and then offered something.
["... Do you need any help?"]
"Huh...? No, I'm fine. I just need a break to improve my skills..."
He just kept contradicting himself, and he felt ashamed at how pathetic he was being, but the woman behind the screen just waved her hand casually, not even commenting on it as she laughed lightheartedly.
["Don't worry. I really don't mind if you take a hiatus... but I just have to tell you this. Your story is great! I really want to see the continuation of 'Isekai Growth Cheat' and how it will end!"]
Those words shook his heart. Those words were sincere. Even when she said it casually, her eyes were clearly conveying how much she truly meant it.
Such an honest and pure desire directed at his own work moved his heart. He almost felt like crying.
["Don't worry. If you have any problems, just tell me and I'll try to help you."]
"... Alright."
In the end, after she kept reassuring him, Yuuma told her about his problems. He didn't include anything about his lack of confidence in himself or the negative comments on his story. He simply told her about how he needed some help with his writing and whether she had some recommendations so he could improve his writing skills.
Without Yuuma knowing about it, Genjitsu... No, Motogaku Asane was already thinking of solutions within her mind.
'... Maybe I have to learn another Singularity Tech for this...' Those were her thoughts after they concluded their video chat.
Here is another chapter. Sorry for the delay, I'm taking a nap and almost forgot about the scheduled released.
I don't have anything else to say other than thank you for reading my story. See you in the next chapter too!~
P.S. Chapters are scheduled to be released by Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you don't feel like waiting for it, you can go to my Patreon and become a member. There are currently two advanced chapters to it.
I also have a kofi if you want to further support me and donate. It will really help me!~
That is all. Thank you very much and I hope you have a nice day!~
Nobody was interested in a slow-paced fable about an eternally young reincarnator who would transport a whole civilization from prehistoric to modern times. In today's literary milieu, Japanese readers preferred
Lol, I have a story tagged on my Read Later list that is nearly this exact plot. The only difference is he just ages far slower than the already very long lived race he's born into.
Lol, I have a story tagged on my Read Later list that is nearly this exact plot. The only difference is he just ages far slower than the already very long lived race he's born into.
Also, that was surprising. Didn't thought there might be something close to that. I've been looking and most of them are mostly MCs who have cheat power, MC who is a God, or MC in a fantasy world instead of a prehistoric-like world.
The closest I've come to something like that is How to Invent Everything which is a really fun history book. Not a story but the kind of thing you'd expect this kind of protag to have.
Elevation of Mana is a prequel written after Melody of Mana. It's about a dude getting his "Elf Mage Isekai of a stem nerd" but instead they're still in a tribal society. Melody, when they go to the elves, reveals they hit pretty advanced society and he's still alive but I'm already spoiling it enough.
I read Melody and liked it, it had some great humor and good plots, and it felt like a complete story by the end.
The closest I've come to something like that is How to Invent Everything which is a really fun history book. Not a story but the kind of thing you'd expect this kind of protag to have.
Is your author depressed, anti-social, suffering from writer's block? They need a supportive girlfriend, who happens to live in a different country. She's totally real, but no you can't meet her right now. Maybe later. It's a long way to Canada, you know?
Wadokami-sensei is concerned about his ability to write. Well, I admit that he typically utilized common cliches to move his story forward, and he seldom writes meaningful dialogues between characters, and most of the time it is hard to tell who is speaking, and he occasionally repeats what was already mentioned in the previous paragraphs of his novel.... Oh, right, he does have a lot of stuff to work on.
But still, it's not that bad, right?
I enjoy how his world's magic system works. I also enjoy how their powers are distinct from one another. I also enjoy how each combat scene is well-choreographed and explained, making it simpler for others to understand what is going on, even if the POV in most situations is always fixed on the MC.
It may be a controversial stance, but even when his characters lack personality beyond certain distinctive peculiarities that are prevalent among anime characters, I still enjoy them. It makes little difference if these characters are uninspired, a duplicate of another character, or plain unappealing. In my opinion, they are already lovable individuals with unique skills.
And that is enough!
Most will say my taste is trash, and I don't care!
I am not looking for stories with profound philosophical depth, stories that delve into psychology, or stories that are hazy reflections of our world's current events. What matters to me is whether or not the story will be enjoyable.
That's it!
I simply read for pleasure. I am not some arrogant reviewer who downplays other stories because they do not satisfy their "standards." Whatever standards they have should be thrown away, because it's more preferable if I read something that will make me happy instead of something that just further pushes me into depression.
It is not like I am attempting to downplay other people's interests. If they want their "masterpieces," great. I do not really care. They should, however, keep their own opinions to themselves. I am tired of other people pushing their ideas on others as if they are the only ones who are correct.
I do not care what others think about my favorite stories! Why are they still trying to spoil everyone's day by saying whatever they want about my favorite stories? Who are they to determine whether or not to read something? This type of mob mentality is one of the reasons why many of the series I followed abruptly stopped updating. They quit because of these nameless losers who do not know what else to do except criticize other authors' hard work.
... I'm getting sidetracked...
Anyway, Wadokami-sensei needed something that could help him bounce back. He clearly looks sad when I'm talking to him in our recent video chat.
And that is giving me a headache. How can I help him with that?
I know I can't personally help him. I don't have any talent for writing. I don't even know how to make something unique. At least for Wadokami-sensei, he can already think of how to make his own fictional world and create a consistent magic system in his story, even though most of the details are still left vague. So I can't help him with his problem.
There is the option of transferring a copy of the [Writing Assistant Tool] via his email; however, this raises the issue I have with it. I am fine with using the program because I am not really creative or brilliant in any other area. These programs, as well as every incredible piece of technology in my house right now, are all the result of my cheat ability. I cannot truly claim it as my own accomplishment since it comes from a higher force. But I digress. What I am saying is that I can utilize technology to compensate for my lack of creativity. Others did not need to. They have their own concepts and styles. If I let them utilize my tools, they may lose their originality and become overly reliant on them.
I don't want that to happen!
What else can I do then?
Well, I have a lot of knowledge in my head. A broad understanding of all technical fields ten thousand years ahead of the current age encompassed a vast range of information from practically every aspect of the world. There are several forms of technology, including music technology, dance technology, fitness technology, medical technology, housing technologies, industrial technologies, and many others. Drawing and writing, as well as outdoor activities, have their own technological divisions.
Everything has been part of that starting package, and it all sits in my brain.
If I just browse through this vast array of technical knowledge, I might be able to find ways to help him become a better writer.
I can't just give him something that will destroy his own style and creativity. He needs to have full control of it instead of leaving the heavylifting to the program itself.
I am here to read his story, not the story created by a soulless program!
So, that means I need it to teach him instead of correcting him. Through instructions, he can incorporate any knowledge he finds usable and ignore anything that he wasn't looking for.
I already have a lot of ideas for that. I can make a learning pod or even upload info directly into his mind so he immediately becomes a great writer.
But I stopped going along with that plan midway after much deliberation yesterday.
First of all, while making a learning pod is possible for me, I can't justify its existence to the others. A learning pod is very bulky. Its size is the same as a single-person bed. I can't literally hide the existence of a great technological piece like that, mostly when that technological piece can directly install knowledge to the brain after being submerged by its preservation liquid.
Then what about simply installing data into his mind?
That is also not an option, because unlike a learning pod, where it directly interfaces with their genetic sequence after entering it, a technology for installing info directly into the mind needs that person to have biotech implants. Basically, it's like those steampunk and cyberpunk stories where people can put cables on the back of their neck and connect to a network of some sort. That's also the principle behind this technology.
And no, it's impossible in this current age. Even if I make it myself, I will still need to install the necessary implants for their brain to even interface with digital devices.
I am not going to implant that stuff into a person! That's messed up!
So that's why there is now a half-formed machinery in the middle of my living room. I don't really care that I wasted my entire time yesterday just making that. All the materials came from the System, and it's quite easy to accumulate TP, so I can just think of it as another leisure activity.
But enough about that. Let's return to the topic.
The only option is to provide him with visual aids or allow him to read a useful guide for aspiring authors, but this will not address his problem quickly. It is up to him to interpret the visual aids and useful advice. There are innumerable videos and blogs about it on the internet, but only a handful of them are effective. That means those guides are not guaranteed to help him at all.
I need something that will improve even an uneducated person's writing skills! It has to be a guarantee instead of a vague possibility!
So how can I meet the requirements where he can improve his writing skills as soon as possible while not influencing his style at all?
Well, there is only one way outside my current available options.
"I have to learn another Singularity Tech."
That is right! A new branch of Singularity Tech is the only way to help me with this dilemma!
And what kind of Singularity Tech do I need to achieve that solution?
"System, please show me technology that can help with my current problem... oh, and it also has to be within my budget."
[Understood. Searching... Complete!]
[Here are the tech that can help you achieve your goal, Host!]
My cheat ability is easy to operate like that. It swiftly understands what I am asking, even if I do not say it out loud, and it will list everything I need right away. Because it has a very straightforward search tool, I can discover any materials I need, despite the fact that this system has access to millions of different types. So making any technology I fancy isn't a trouble for me.
Anyway, the tech. I looked through the list and still couldn't get the logic behind it.
It only gave me thirteen categories. These are Influence, Scanner, Talent, Harmony, Guidance, Resonance, Comprehension, Attachment, Bio-Implant, Neural, Vision, Animation, and Bestowal.
I have 4,200 TP saved up. I haven't really been making a lot of programs and tools, to be honest. I'm sure I can get more than 10,000 if I actually try and make more technology. For now, I am fine with this.
Both Influence and Bestowal are expensive. It costs 3,000 to buy each of those Singularity Tech. As for the cheapest one...
"Scanner."
It only costs 200 TP. Just twice the amount of the Singularity Tech for Storage Server. I trust the system, so I bought the Scanner.
After confirming my purchase, new knowledge enters my mind. Different types of scanning technology, from the mundane to the supernatural, just appear within my mind, including all of the ways I can make them with any materials I can think of.
I know I said this in the past, but Singularity Tech is truly unscientific. It cannot be called technology because it can outright ignore every prerequisite for manufacturing and go straight to doing anomalous nonsense!
So the Singularity Tech for Scanner contains all the relevant knowledge for every technology that can scan. That's right, it's literally that kind of technology!
That might sound extremely common, and if a person can read my monologue right now, they might think I am exaggerating, but there is a reason why I find Singularity Tech so impossible.
So Scanner. The Singularity of Scanner can let me identify everything in the universe. I cannot just identify it; I can replicate it!
There are multiple ways a Scanner Singularity can replicate objects. It uses principles I have no name for yet, because I don't know what these principles are, but I do know how they work, how to utilize them, and how to make it so they function in any technology I make.
It can convert anything its scanning lens reaches into whatever I input on it. Matter conversion is just as easy as breathing when using Scanner Singularity. It can also just generate matter out of nowhere using virtual data, because somehow that makes sense, and I do know the formula for why it makes sense and how to do that to any technology!
And it's not the only thing a Scanner Singularity can do. It has a lot of things it can do. It can pass info to someone, brainwash someone, teleport someone, and many more. So long as I use the right principle, manufacturing method, and specific materials for it, Scanner Singularity is quite literally versatile to every type of technology!
And I thought Server Storage Singularity is already ridiculous. I do know how to make data storage for near-infinite data. Even if I, say, simulate a multiverse in extremely accurate detail, the full potential of Server Storage Singularity can do it quite easily.
Then this Scanner Singularity exceeds that!
What the hell can other Singularity Tech do?
The more I learn about these, the more I'm becoming amazed and slightly creeped out.
... Right, that doesn't matter right now. Even if I have access to actual magic, my goal doesn't change. I have to help my favorite authors with my powers and turn their stories into popular ones!
This Scanner Singularity is amazing. It has everything I want from it.
As for the other Singularity Tech? No, I don't have plans to choose them yet!
I dismiss the choices and then browse through the System. I already have a plan in my mind after getting the knowledge from Scanner Singularity. Now with this Singularity, I can help Wadokami-sensei with his problem!
... Before that, though, I have to notify the other authors that I will be busy today. I already forgot to tell them yesterday, and looking at my LINE, Shiroko-sensei seems quite worried about me. I have to reassure them that nothing is wrong.
After that, I can start making that helpful guide! (Third Person POV)
Yuuma feverishly pushed the keyboard buttons, his gaze fixed on his computer's monitor as letters swiftly filled the empty text editor. He came to a sudden halt, frowning in annoyance as he held down the backspace key, erasing what he had already written.
"Argh!"
He threw up his hands in defeat, slumping back in his chair, his head burning. He is unsure what to do. Whenever he started writing, he was held back by negative ideas. The recollection of bad reviews from his webnovel had a tremendous impact on him. He questioned if he was capable of writing at all.
"Dammit! I can do better than this! I have to do it!"
He scolded himself, clenching his fist tight in anger. His shoulders felt heavy, and his head was in chaos. He was reminded of his parents, who wore reluctant smiles as he told them that he was going to be a writer. His heart clenched as that image suddenly turned into his parents frowning as they directed a disappointed gaze at him in his mind.
'What if they retract their support? If this keeps happening, Mom and Dad will definitely convince me to stop writing and focus more on my studies!'
'Genjitsu-sensei is still waiting for my approval! What if she gets tired and stops adapting my story? I will be screwed!'
'I don't want to disappoint them!'
Chaotic thoughts whirled within his mind as he glared at the screen. He tried to reach out to his keyboard once more, but his heart wasn't in the mood. Even as many ideas swirled through his mind, they were cut off after being reminded of those reviews.
'What's the point... All of those ideas are trash! I need something that won't shame the manga adaptation!'
Lately, his joy for writing was being sapped away. Genjitsu had told him that he was free to do whatever he wanted, and his parents didn't really mind so long as he could find a stable income on this writing gig of his. It still felt like he was shackled, as if invisible chains were restraining his fingers from ever typing what was on his mind.
This was the first time he experienced something this extreme. This was the first time he met a wall in his writing career, and all of it was caused by negative comments. He was still young, and as a newbie author, even if he said he wouldn't be affected by it, emotions tend to overwhelm his rationale. Subconsciously, he doesn't want his story to be criticized.
And this is normal. Any author has experienced criticisms and harsh comments like this. The internet doesn't care how they felt, because the netizens only cared about their own entertainment.
This would test his mentality, whether he would stay as an author or bend over and simply give up. Normally, if he ever had the courage and commitment to pursue this path, he would persevere even with the harsh reviews. He has to build up his resistance to such comments and implement anything constructive while ignoring those who were spreading negativity just for the sake of it.
But his publisher was abnormal. Those struggles he was supposed to encounter in his writing career... All of that doesn't matter!
"... Hm? It's Genjitsu-sensei!"
When he saw the message from his illustrator, his heart was pounding, expecting something like his only sincere fan getting fed up at his indecisiveness. The contents of the message, though, surprised him while at the same time moving his heart to tears.
[Genjitsu]: Sorry it took so long. Here, I think this guide will help you. (Writer's Guide.docx)
He raised his eyebrows at that. He questioned whether a document file would help him with his predicament. There are several blogs and videos on the internet on how to become a successful author, but they do not guarantee success because it is up to the individual whether or not they follow those guidelines. Most of the time, even if a person followed those guidelines, their lack of knowledge harmed their writing style, and they eventually lost what made them distinctive the first time they wrote. It always depends on their understanding and patience.
Even with his doubts, he still thanked her. He trusted her, and even if this document file doesn't help him, he recognized that this was Genjitsu's attempt at helping him with his problem.
He will check it out of respect for her, though he wasn't expecting much. He was already planning what excuse he would tell her if she asked if the document helped him when he actually saw the first page.
As his eyes settled on the first sentence on the document, he froze.
"... What...!?"
He doesn't know how, but even though he just opened the document, the contents of the first page alone seemed to have entered his mind directly. Concepts he shouldn't know were suddenly inserted within his subconscious, as if it was natural.
The contents of the document were normal. It was a series of guidelines that talked about how to write stories. It was separated by categories like plot, dialogue, world-building, theme, conflict, character, exposition, and many more. Each was accurately depicted and was quite helpful to many, though it wasn't something special. It was still a set of rules and principles that countless guides on the internet had shared.
Still, despite all of that, he wondered why his mind was suddenly understanding such difficult concepts with ease. Whenever his eyes glanced through a set of paragraphs, knowledge about that same guideline just took root within his subconscious. It was like he was inheriting the knowledge behind the meaning of these guides themselves.
It was so magical!
When he was done, his eyes frantically looked at his unfinished draft on the text editor, and he quickly checked everything. His eyes suddenly saw every single flaw in each of his paragraphs. Without hesitation, he deleted them all.
Then, he started writing once more.
His fingers furiously clicked on the keyboard without stopping as words just naturally flowed through him when an idea passed his mind. It suddenly became easy to compose words, his mind immediately finding every sentence and idiom he was looking for within his vocabulary and then putting that in the text editor.
Dialogue wasn't hard for him anymore. When he wrote something, their speech became distinct to each other. Even if he doesn't explain who was who, their dialogue alone would be enough to identify them.
Then, he even thought of how he could foreshadow his future plans with the current chapter he was writing, adding subtle details from some scenes that could be used in the future.
He kept writing, and before he knew it, it was evening. If not for the sound of knocking from his door, he wouldn't have stopped at all due to how easy it was for him.
"Yuuma, dinner's ready!"
"Ah... yes, I'll be there soon!"
He quickly stood up from his seat before glancing at the text editor. He could see that he had written a total of twenty thousand words, and all of it was contained in a single chapter. It was a bulky chapter, and he knew that within that chapter, every scene he wrote in there was necessary. They both progressed the story, foreshadowed future plots, introduced the world, and created necessary scenes to build up characters.
It was the best chapter he has written!
And all of it was because of that mysterious document!
With such a display of talent, he knew that just writing it as a webnovel wouldn't cut it anymore. He doesn't feel like cutting off parts of these long novellas just to satisfy the usual bite-size chapters of a typical webnovel.
'... Right, isn't Genjutsu-sensei asking me if I want to make a light novel?'
He has a lot of things he wanted to rewrite. He wouldn't change every scene, but he wanted to elaborate more on the story itself.
With that idea, he came to a decision... (Asane POV)
["I'd like to focus on making the light novel, Genjitsu-sensei!"]
"... Eh?"
Early in the morning, Wadokami-sensei suddenly called me. I thought he was just going to thank me for that document. It was a document filled with advanced Scanner Singularity encryptions contained in a digital text.
Then he suddenly said this. Of course I will be shocked!
"... Uh, what about the webnovel?"
His face scrunched a bit with guilt.
["Sorry, Genjitsu-sensei, but I really think that writing a light novel is more suited to me. It's all thanks to your help!"]
"Ah, okay."
I see. So he wanted to focus on the light novel then.
"If that is the case, do you want me to make some changes to the manga? I assume you want to add some details to the light novel, right?"
["No, it's fine. I think it will be much better if the manga stays the same. I'll only add some details that don't appear in the manga so that those who read the manga will still find the light novel fresh."]
Wow... He already thought of that?
Well, if that is the case, I don't have to worry anymore.
"Okay. I'm fine with that."
With that, he signed the contract.
After that, he immediately posted a final notice on his Syosetsu account, stating that he will quit writing webnovels but will still continue writing somewhere.
I already know he will quit, but this is too early. Though I'm not sad about it, because I know that he is going to continue his story.
Life returns to normal. "... Okay, this is more than normal!"
I don't mean that in a bad way. In fact, I'm quite happy!
Just three days after that, all of my contracted authors submitted their drafts for their light novels simultaneously. With just a cursory glance at their submission, I immediately realized the improvements in it.
Wadokami-sensei's entry is far superior to his webnovel version. There is no more missing information, and I can tell who is speaking just based on their dialogue. The characters are now recognizable just by their details, and the manner in which he introduces new characters has become natural rather than sudden. There are now adequate build-ups in the plot, a real climax, and subtle foreshadowing for future events. Even his fight scenes, which he already excelled at, have improved significantly, with him detailing what is going on and even displaying small motions in their moves without saying anything.
Fudo-sensei's webnovel began in a self-indulgent manner. The majority of it concentrates around the main heroine, and while her interactions with the game are engaging, the world itself is bland, and any people presented feel flat. Comparing that to this current light novel draft is like comparing heaven and earth, because those flaws are gone, and while it still focuses so much on the MC, the world itself looks rich because her surroundings are now written in detail, along with a lot of subtle details that show the behaviors of NPCs, and even how players realistically react to whatever is happening to them.
Shiroko-sensei also improves significantly. Her dialogue has substantially improved, and the tone has become less bleak in comparison to the webnovel version. There is still a sense of tension throughout the plot, but it is now overshadowed by sweet scenes of the female protagonist and her female lead connecting with one another, demonstrating emotional depth via their dialogue, and many more. It adds to the fantastic world that already exists in her novel!
Then Lupo-Sensei... Well, nothing changes at Lupo-sensei's work. He is already an excellent storyteller, even without the [Writer's Guide Document]. Well, I have mentioned there are no changes, but there are certain improvements to his plot, such as pacing. His light novel manuscript suddenly appears simpler to read, despite the fact that it still contains a lot of technical jargon.
... I originally expected them to improve after sharing the document file, but this is unexpected. Or perhaps I should not be surprised because I am aware of the consequences of that Singularity?
There is a long explanation of how this document works, but I will summarize it in shorter terms.
The words on those documents are actually bulks of encrypted data that can physically alter how they are perceived in a strange way. The nanopixels that make up each text of that document are arranged carefully and are written not in normal words but rather in extremely advanced strings of code that cannot be replicated by even the most cutting-edge computer in this world. Any person who sees it will immediately activate the encrypted code, their mind immediately translating the code and turning it into a coherent knowledge that will easily settle in their brain.
The idea is based on how barcode scanners scan barcodes. After a barcode reader scans something, it searches the database and displays the result in a cashier display.
The letters on each document serve as the barcode, and the eyes of those viewing them serve as the barcode reader. Their brain serves as the database. That is the simplest way to describe how the document works.
It is Scanner Singularity. I use the eyes of people as the "Scanner" for my letters. It's a bit hard, because I have to create another set of programming languages to create another set of programs, which creates another set of programming languages, before I can even make this highly precise, anomalous set of texts. It's why it even takes me a whole day before I can share it with Wadokami-sensei, and later with the others.
I have previously tested it, and the results are astounding. The knowledge I encrypted on each of those letters has entered my head and is now residing there without overwhelming it. It is pretty amazing because each letter contains all sorts of writing advice from all over the internet; most of them are from foreign sites that have been translated into my language.
Sadly, I'm still not a good writer even with the [Writer's Guide Document]...
With the brain serving as the database, each person will receive different results when reading the document. Wadokami-sensei still writes succinctly. Fudo-sensei's prose still has a humorous quality. Shiroko-sensei's writing style retains the cool and logical narrative that emphasizes the gravity of her subject, despite the extra sweetness of the situations. Lupo-sensei's writing is still thesis-like, as if he is discussing technical information with other knowledgeable people.
Basically, their styles haven't been overtaken by the improvement. They simply improve while retaining their writing style. Something that I actually prefer, because I loved their story the way they write it!
I'm glad. Wadokami-sensei looks more energetic since then. Even the others have also become quite active since I shared that document.
There is a minor issue about them all quitting on Syosetsu as they also want to focus on writing the light novel version, but I don't mind.
I already asked, and out of the four, only Shiroko-sensei and Fudo-sensei told me to stop the manga adaptation for now, as they are going to change a lot of stuff in the future chapters. They said the three manga volumes that were already uploaded can be retained, as they won't change much from them in the light novel version, but the following events after that will have a major overhaul, completely different from the webnovel version.
I respect that decision, so I stop for now. I even ask PR-chan to make an announcement, telling others that "Leisure VRMMO", "Isekai Growth Cheat", and "The Villainess Quits!" are going on a one-month hiatus just so the fans wouldn't worry.
As for "Bunchichi", of course the manga adaptation is underway. Lupo-sensei doesn't want to change anything in his work. So I got the greenlight to adapt his work by following the webnovel version.
Hehehe... I cannot wait for the finished product! ~ (Third Person POV)
In a certain four-story apartment in Yokohama, the middle-aged woman who owns this apartment is frowning, her brows knitting together as she gazes at an electricity bill from one of her tenants.
"... Why is it this high!?"
Based on the statement, the electricity bill for that one particular person was three times more than anyone else currently residing in this apartment combined.
She became suspicious about this. She wondered just what that tenant was doing that they got such a high electricity bill.
And with that curiosity, the landlord decided she would visit that tenant first. She remembered it was the tenant on the third floor in the fourth room.
"Just what is that girl doing?" She wondered to herself.
Or how the MC uses cognitohazard for helping xD
Well, I did state in the story itself that Singularity Tech doesn't make sense. They are simply called the pinnacle of technology because... well, they just are. Its not really tech that humans can possibly achieve. Just a tech that is considered the pinnacle everywhere.
I don't really know how to explain it, but just think of it as essentially making godly tools that can outright mess with the foundations of reality. That's Singularity Tech.
Each category is what they are specialized with. Like the Scanner Singularity, which is specialized with the concept of "Scan". Even if it doesn't really do conventional scanning, so long as it vaguely resembles anything related to scanning, no matter how large the leap in logic it is, it can do it.
That's why she keeps saying it is unscientific, because it really doesn't. It outright defies conventional rules of what we know from the universe.
I hope I manage to explain that. I don't know if I just made you more confuse with my nonsense...
Sorry for the long delay. I left home a few days ago because of a family bonding. My uncle still invites me, and i can't really decline because I have no reason to...
So that's why I haven't updated anything at my Patreon yet, and I just came back so this chapter has just been uploaded here... Sorry again....
I'll try to update the latest chapters in my Patreon soon.
P.S. Chapters are scheduled to be released by Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you don't feel like waiting for it, you can go to my Patreon and become a member. There are currently two advanced chapters to it.
I also have a kofi if you want to further support me and donate. It will really help me!~
That is all. Thank you very much and I hope you have a nice day!~
