Under the light, Izumi Chihiro was engrossed in studying. On the desk in front of him were the works of the two most renowned light novelists in the industry today: Kani Nayuta's silver season and Senju Muramasa's fantasy demon blade chronicles.
He was like a sponge, diligently absorbing knowledge from his reading.
He had been consistently following both of their works.
Therefore, while they understood him, he also understood them.
He didn't consider himself a genius, but to achieve such success, besides hard work, he must have some overlooked strengths.
This point was unclear and inexplicable.
He had no way of knowing, so he could only focus on the present.
"How far am I still from them?"
"Have I closed the gap between us at all during this time?"
Such questions often appeared in his mind.
After all, according to the industry's evaluation standards, besides these two, there was currently no one else considered more of a 'genius' than him.
In the industry in recent years, there have indeed been some good talents emerging, but those who can maintain the quality of their works are always few.
Setting aside issues of depth, quality, illustrations, and the like, just by sales, even Miss Yamada Elf, who was behind him, was still some distance away.
But in reality, he had nothing to be proud of, because the gap between the first and second place and those below them was dimensional.
Not only that, he wasn't the only one making progress; those two had also been improving since their first volume, it was just that due to their extremely high level and long experience bars, it wasn't very obvious.
People who debut at their peak are truly terrifying.
"Hoo..."
He let out a long breath and slowly closed the book.
Every time he read their works, his emotions would be stirred, whether it was excitement, passion, or melancholy.
He was always amazed.
It wasn't necessarily excellent storytelling, there wasn't that sense of intricate and bizarre plot twists; what was important was the miraculous writing that turned decay into wonder, so naturally perfect and flawless.
It couldn't be learned by simple imitation; only by constantly pondering and understanding their thought process when writing could one truly grasp it.
"Ding."
Suddenly, a message notification appeared.
He opened it and saw that it was an invitation from Eriri.
"Hey, Chihiro, you wouldn't back out of Winter Comiket, would you? How's white album selling? As the main writer, you have to be there, right?"
With that familiar tone, Izumi Chihiro seemed to hear the tsundere twin-tailed girl say it herself.
Actually, he would attend without even being told.
After all, this was one of the few group activities they had left.
However, this time, there was a slight unexpected turn of events.
Because he also received another text message.
["Senpai, can we go to the Comiket together? I've never been before, I'm a little curious, please, Senpai--"]
How was he supposed to answer that? If he refused, how awkward would it be if they met at the Comiket?
So he agreed and said he would go with Eriri.
["Yay, that's great! I was planning to just stay home and play games if Senpai refused, but I didn't expect to be able to go with Kashiwagi Eri-sensei too."]
"Huh?"
His expression froze
A cold wind howled through the streets.
A girl, dressed in winter clothes and bundled up tightly, walked down the slope. As before, she wore a hat and black-rimmed glasses, concealing her beauty.
Since it was winter, such an outfit was within the normal range.
"This damn winter!"
Eriri's first words were a complaint, then she tightened her white scarf.
"Just wear more clothes."
Izumi Chihiro chuckled.
"Wear more? I'm already wearing enough! It's not even snowing, you wouldn't make me wear a down jacket, would you? It's too ugly!"
Eriri showed a very disgusted expression.
"You're dressed like that already, and you still care about this?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"..."
The girl was speechless.
"Oh, right, where's Nayuta-sensei? Didn't you say you were going with her?"
Eriri looked left and right, as if remembering something.
"I arranged to meet her somewhere else."
Izumi Chihiro replied.
"Oh."
Eriri nodded.
The two got on the train and then arrived at a crossroads near Shimamura Middle School, where they saw the Silver-haired Girl.
"Hi, good morning, Senpai! And Kashiwagi Eri-sensei!"
Kani Nayuta immediately waved when she saw them.
Eriri's expression changed drastically, and she quickly rushed over, covering her mouth with one hand.
"Nayuta-sensei, are you trying to kill me?!"
Kashiwagi Eri's reputation was not comparable to Kani Nayuta's, not even to Izumi Masamune's; if she met someone who knew, she would be completely socially dead!
"Wuwuwu..."
Kani Nayuta struggled.
Eriri then released her hand.
"I'm sorry!"
Kani Nayuta said sincerely, "In that case, I'll just call Sawamura by her name…"
"That's fine."
Eriri actually had a very good impression of her, partly because of the masterpiece silver season, and partly because she knew her story.
"Eriri!"
Kani Nayuta exclaimed loudly.
"Mm."
Eriri took a moment to get used to it.
Izumi Chihiro smiled beside her, but said nothing.
It was unexpected that Nayuta would be Eriri's first friend of her generation. This was truly surprising.
This was much better than her attitude towards Sagiri back then.
This was probably the charm of silver season!
After chatting for a while, the three embarked on their journey, taking the train.
"By the way, why is Eriri dressed like this? Is she cosplaying?"
Kani Nayuta, wearing thick clothes, looked over in confusion.
Because of her intensive study of light novels, anime, and games, her 'otaku' level was much higher than half a year ago, and she was already very familiar with these names.
"Uh…"
Eriri was instantly embarrassed.
Why are you asking this question too!
"After all, she's the young lady of the Sawamura family. If she were found frequenting such places, she would surely lose face, wouldn't she?"
Izumi Chihiro explained, but also with a hint of teasing.
"Oh~"
Kani Nayuta immediately understood.
She was trying to save face!
Eriri chose to remain silent, biting her lip lightly.
Her flushed little face, she didn't know if it was from the cold or from holding back her feelings.
…
As the train passed stations, the number of commuting office workers decreased significantly, and the people who most recently boarded had clearly changed in style. They were much younger, and some had even put on 'strange clothes.'
Kani Nayuta watched this scene with great interest, and under someone's gaze, she tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "Senior! Look at that person…"