Becoming A Father Figure

Chapter 126: Don't Underestimate Me!

After the meeting ended, Sonoko let out a helpless sigh and then made a phone call to arrange a meeting with another writer under her wing.

In a café not far from the editorial office, Sonoko sat across from a beautiful young girl, their gazes locked.

The girl had stunningly attractive features but exuded an air of arrogance and impatience. Her crossed arms and the restless tapping of her foot made her mood evident.

"I told you, I've just had a few ideas and am still working on it!" Utaha said irritably, glaring at Sonoko.

Sonoko responded with a smile. "What's the theme of the new book?"

"It's still a school setting. This time, I want to write a different kind of story," Utaha replied.

In truth, she wasn't entirely out of ideas—she'd been writing drafts but kept scrapping them as new inspiration struck.

Ironically, the endless flood of ideas had caused her manuscript's word count to shrink, deviating more and more from her initial concept.

Frowning slightly, Sonoko spoke seriously, "A school setting means it's likely a romance between young boys and girls. While these slice of life novels align with your strengths, the market is already saturated with school-life stories. Most ideas have already been done, and readers have seen it all. Without something truly innovative, it'll be hard to achieve significant success."

The world doesn't inherently have paths—if too many people walk the same way, it becomes a beaten track.

Clichés might be refreshing once or twice, but when they're everywhere, they lose their appeal.

"What I write is different from everyone else's!" Utaha snapped, not even bothering to look directly at Sonoko.

Every novelist thinks that way.

Hearing this, Sonoko realized that Utaha still wasn't ready.

"Let me take a look once you've finished the draft. There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," Sonoko said, her expression shifting slightly.

The main reason she had sought out Utaha was to ask for her help with something. "It's about August-sensei."

"What is it?" Utaha's tone softened when she realized it wasn't about her novel. Her earlier impatience was merely a mask for her lack of confidence.

Looking at Utaha, Sonoko sighed and said, "August-sensei submitted a third new work today. But this time, it's not a light novel. It's something entirely different—a manga. And not just any manga; it's one with a shogi theme."

"Manga?" Utaha raised an eyebrow, her tone skeptical. "Isn't that guy working construction? How did he suddenly start drawing manga?"

Sonoko was momentarily speechless, the memory of running into Yuta on a construction site with Utaha last month flashing in her mind.

Utaha's impression of Yuta remained frozen at that encounter from the previous month.

Sonoko herself found the situation remarkable—a college student hauling bricks at a construction site last month had now become the editorial department's rising star, hailed as a genius light novel author.

"I don't even know how to explain it," Sonoko admitted. "August-sensei's Konosuba made a significant profit, and his subsequent work quickly gained traction and popularity. Now, he's submitted a manga that we all think has great potential. Honestly, his momentum is outshining yours by quite a margin."

After a pause, Sonoko added, "He's no longer working construction. Besides that, I've also seen him working as a temp at a printing factory and even doing nail art at a salon. His range of part-time jobs is… quite extensive."

Utaha raised her eyebrows again. She couldn't help but feel a mix of awe and respect for someone like that. She herself couldn't imagine going to such lengths and didn't feel the need to.

"So why are you telling me all this?" Utaha asked, still unsure of how Yuta's story was connected to her.

Sonoko smiled. "It's simple. We want to promote August-sensei's manga before its release. We were hoping you could take an early look and write a recommendation on your personal social media page."

It didn't take long forUtaha to grasp Sonoko's plan—they wanted her, a beautiful and popular writer, to endorse Yuta's work and create buzz!

Her foot started tapping the ground furiously, betraying her anger. "Sorry, I refuse!" she declared, her tone firm.

"Utaha-chan~ You've seen August-sensei's situation. He has several younger siblings to take care of, which is why he works so hard. And unlike those other men out there, he's never asked me anything about you," Sonoko coaxed, her tone soft and affectionate, trying to appeal to Utaha's empathy as she described Yuta's struggles.

In Sonoko's view, Tojou Aya would probably agree to this request without much resistance. However, when it came to influence, Utaha was undoubtedly the better choice.

Utaha raised an eyebrow at Sonoko. "And what exactly do you want me to say? Do my feelings not matter at all in this?"

"No, quite the opposite," Sonoko replied, revealing their true intentions. "We actually want to use August-sensei's new work to boost your own. This is a 'manly' manga—if you endorse it, it'll leave a lasting impression on readers and draw attention to your name."

The idea was simple: having a popular and beautiful author praise the work of a rising star before its release would inevitably make waves. When Yuta's new work gained traction, so would the person who first endorsed it.

Yuta's work didn't need any extra support—every editor in the department unanimously believed it would be a hit.

Instead, they saw this as an opportunity to use Yuta's work to generate buzz for Utaha's new project, borrowing Yuta's readers to help her gain traction and reach a wider audience.

The only uncertainty was whether Utaha could produce a decent enough work to justify the investment of these promotional resources.

Hearing this, Utaha clenched her fists in anger.

How dare they?

"You people… you underestimate me far too much!"

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