That night, Aoyama Apartments.
In Room 302 on the third floor, Sato was chatting with Tomoya Aki.
[Tomoya Aki: I've already familiarized myself with the process for the online paid model. When do we start rolling it out?]
[Nohara Sato: Let's wait a bit longer. I want to think it through.]
[Tomoya Aki: Think about what?]
[Nohara Sato: Some reforms, and operations.]
Sato leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath as he looked at the conversation on the screen.
With summer vacation approaching, it really was a good opportunity to promote the website's paid model. But after carefully going through it, Sato realized the site still had many problems.
If he wanted to push forward with paid access, changes were inevitable.
First of all, none of the site's editors were professionals.
"Gensokyo, Far From the Mortal World" had grown from his personal website. It was never meant to be a formal commercial platform. When they started serializing light novels, the editors were recruited online, mostly well-known ACGN bloggers like Tomoya Aki.
In other words, many of the editors had never even met him in person.
But once a paid model was introduced, the site would be moving toward formalization. The old way of doing things would no longer be suitable.
Contracts for novels, agreements, recommendations, backend maintenance, all of it would require professional staff. At the very least, people needed to be available during working hours, instead of the current setup where editors only worked in their spare time.
And that was not all. If things became formal, he would have to consider office space, full-time editors, servers, and more.
This was no longer just a hobby. It was the real beginning of a business.
Compared to Tomoya Aki, who tended to act on impulse, Sato considered far more before making decisions. That was why he had not yet decided whether to launch the paid model now.
Continuing with remote operations was not impossible, but it would bring many issues, especially with coordination.
And if he truly wanted to build a proper platform, he also needed to think about commercialization.
Once formalized, there would be employees, rent, server costs, and all kinds of expenses.
Salaries, monthly rent, operating costs, everything required money. Without a viable business model, the site would not be sustainable in the long run. And in that area, he was completely inexperienced.
[Sato: Let's hold off for now. I need to make some plans first.]
[Tomoya Aki: Alright.]
After ending the chat, Sato picked up the whiteboard beside his desk and began mapping things out.
If he were to officially establish a company, it would require quite a bit of money. Fortunately, his bank balance was more than enough to cover the early expenses.
After all, he was a light novel author with over ten million copies sold. More precisely, he was probably the strongest rookie in history, debuting with a twelve-volume series that had surpassed thirteen million copies.
Between royalties from his novels, recent anime licensing, and earlier manga rights, his bank account was now measured in hundreds of millions. Not dollars, of course, but yen.
For him now, money was not the difficult part.
What he needed most was someone to take charge. An experienced chief editor who could oversee everything and guide the site's direction.
Money was easy to come by, but talent was rare.
The old saying was right.
Staring at the whiteboard, Sato could not help but sigh. He had plenty of ideas and plans, but lacked someone to bring them to life.
"This is tough…"
Just as he sighed, the chat app on his screen lit up again. Someone had sent him a message.
He clicked it open and paused.
Yukinoshita Yukino?
He quickly remembered. That afternoon in the club room, she had said she wanted to talk to him.
What did she want?
[Yukinoshita Yukino: Are you there?]
[Sato: I am.]
In another upscale apartment in Chiba, Yukinoshita Yukino had just finished her bath. She was curled up on the sofa in a cute cat-patterned pajama, a thin blanket draped over her slender body.
Seeing the reply on her phone, her eyes lit up. Her fingers began quickly typing.
[Yukinoshita Yukino: Are you going back to your hometown during summer vacation?]
Sato paused. Why was she asking that?
Though puzzled, he replied honestly.
[Sato: Of course.]
[Yukinoshita Yukino: Then what about Chocola and Vanilla?]
So she was worried about the cats.
Sato glanced at the two cats playing by his feet, his expression turning strange.
Who would have thought that Yukinoshita, who appeared cold and sharp-tongued, would be completely conquered by two fluffy little creatures and turn into a full-fledged cat lover?
[Sato: I haven't decided yet.]
[Yukinoshita Yukino: If it's inconvenient to take them with you, I can take care of them during the summer.]
[Sato: Aren't pets not allowed in your apartment?]
[Yukinoshita Yukino: They can stay at your place. Before summer vacation, you can give me your key. I'll go over every day to feed them.]
Sato: "…"
For the sake of two cats, she was willing to go this far. Compared to her usual self, this was far more than just a little bold.
[Sato: Wouldn't that be too much trouble? I could ask my neighbor to help.]
[Yukinoshita Yukino: It's not trouble. I have plenty of time during the summer.]
Since she had already said this much, Sato had no reason to refuse.
[Sato: In that case, I'll leave them to you this summer.]
In her apartment, Yukinoshita Yukino looked at the message on her screen and smiled softly.