124. The Editor and the Author (Continued)

Ruri Wugeng lay on her bed, having just set her phone down when she heard the notification sound of a new message. Being a novice editor, she currently only had one author under her wing—Jiang Yu. At this late hour, aside from the reply to the message she had just sent, there was no need to suspect anything else.

Excited, she picked up her phone and saw a nonchalant message from him: "I saw it~ Not bad at all." Pouting in mild annoyance, Ruri snorted softly to herself, thinking, *You’re the author, aren’t you? How come I, the editor, seem more excited than you about the work’s success?*

Wrinkling her delicate nose, Ruri, unaware of it herself, seemed to reveal a rare glimpse of her youthful side. She swung her legs back and forth in the air from the edge of the bed, beginning to type.

Black Cat: “Teacher Tu Su, is that all you have to say?! This is the top of the Newcomer’s Award ranking for Undying River!”

Tu Su: “It’s not like I actually won the grand prize for the Newcomer’s Award…”

Black Cat: “But the odds are really high!”

Tu Su: “...As an editor, is it really okay for you to say things like that so casually?”

“Ah—!” Ruri startled herself with a sharp exclamation, suddenly realizing that her words had already crossed the boundaries of what an editor should say. As a wordsmith, she fully understood the ubiquitous, unspoken thought dwelling deep in every author’s heart—that is, “Why should he or she win?” The so-called literary rivalries.

After all, writing is a matter of taste. Even bestsellers have their share of critics who freely slander them online.

When a well-known author repeats themes from previous works, the public rarely sees it as homage. Instead, they seize upon it to claim the author has run out of steam. If the author innovates in plot or setting but fails to win unanimous favor from loyal readers, they are accused of being “pretentious.”

New authors might fare a little better, but if any of the above issues arise, they will inevitably be branded “plagiarists” or accused of “severe homogenization.”

No matter what you do, there will always be something for critics to attack. Both Jiang Yu, who has weathered the relentless storms of critics in the previous world’s literary circles, and Ruri Wugeng, a devoted user of 2ch and Twitter, are well aware of this reality.

Ruri Wugeng knew full well that if her words leaked, they would cast a shadow over what she regarded as a rare masterpiece. If the work were labeled as having “used connections” or being a “pre-decided champion,” it would lose a huge swath of readers from the outset. Though the quality of the work might later redeem it, why reduce a phenomenon-in-the-making novel to merely an excellent one?

Black Cat: “Sorry, I didn’t think it through.”

Realizing her misstep, Ruri sent her apology, set her phone aside, and bent down to scoop up the curled-up black cat, Curry, from the edge of the bed, lifting it gently before swaying it softly.

The cat, roused from a deep sleep by the sudden movement, let out a terrified yowl, its limbs flailing wildly in the air.

People change, don’t they? Ruri mused absentmindedly. Just like she used to hate having wet hair and cheeks from water, but now, if that happened, it was no more than a calm matter of wiping it dry. If it had happened before, she might have dismissed it with some cryptic tsundere remark. But now, she found herself more candid—and she wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

Unaware of the flurry of thoughts traversing her editor’s mind, Jiang Yu remained focused. Since he began working with the editor known as “Black Cat,” she had always seemed conscientious and responsible. Those earlier careless words made him question whether his impression of her had been mistaken.

Seeing her apology message, Jiang Yu sighed softly, shook his head, and began typing to reply. He didn’t want his editor to feel guilty or think she had failed him over mere words, especially since she appeared quite serious about her role.

Tu Su: “No need to apologize, okay? As long as it doesn’t get out, it’s no big deal~ Just treat what you said earlier as a joke among friends.”

Watching her phone light up again, Ruri put down the struggling black cat and turned her attention to the message. The frightened cat, once set down, immediately darted away out of sight.

A joke among friends…?

Then she read the words and felt a complex swirl of emotions. Aside from the last years of high school and the first year of university, she hadn’t heard someone say that to her in such a long time.

But... if he really knew what kind of person I am, would he still choose to be friends with me? The thought almost involuntarily surfaced in Ruri’s mind.

After all, she had struggled to make friends because of her personality and found many once-close friendships fading due to differences in interests.

So, she did what Jiang Yu had just done—she sighed quietly, shook her head, and began to type her reply.

Black Cat: “Alright then. Teacher Tu Su, you have to hurry and write the next part of the story! #Fighting”

Tu Su: “Thanks~ I’ll do my best.”

With that, their conversation ended. Ruri plugged in her phone to charge and prepared to go to sleep. After all, the Newcomer’s Award period had left her exhausted after a long day’s work.

Jiang Yu looked up at the dazzling neon lights and the faint moonlight peeking through the clouds. Pocketing his phone, he quickened his pace toward home.

He intended to follow through on her words and finish the second volume of *Spring Things* as soon as possible. That way, for the next two months at least, he could focus his energies on creating the games *Steins;Gate* and *Witch’s House*.

In his previous life, as a half-game developer, though he never quite understood how he had stumbled into game production, his passion had never waned. In fact, never seeing his name in the credits after finishing a game only fueled his determination.

After all, with so many classic games and wild ideas swirling in his mind, if he didn’t work hard, he might never see them realized in his lifetime.