I'll post an extra chapter every 300 Power Stones. Good luck with that!
Goal for the first extra chapter: 92/300
####
My father looked at Kenji's hand and, after letting out a small laugh, shook it. "Unfortunately, I'm not the author Aoi Haruki. I wish I were as talented as him," my father said.
Kenji didn't understand what he meant, so my father glanced at me.
Kenji stared at me for a few seconds in confusion, then looked back at my father. "Are you serious?" he asked, clearly shocked. He couldn't believe that someone like me could be Aoi Haruki.
"He is Aoi Haruki—my son," my father confirmed.
The man immediately bowed his head in apology. "I'm truly sorry! I didn't expect you to be so young. I didn't mean to disrespect you!" he said loudly.
"It's fine, don't worry," I replied with a smile. "When I met the editor who handles my novels, he was even more surprised than you."
"Wait… how old are you?" he asked.
"I'm 13 years old." I haven't turned 13 yet, but it's very close.
When he heard that, Kenji sank into his chair, frozen. After a moment of silence, he said, "Overlord started eight years ago, right…? Is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right. When I started writing that novel, I was four years old. However, I had help from my father—I didn't create everything by myself. I only started writing on my own from volume 9 onward." I told a blatant lie.
My father looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care.
"Even so, that's incredible. I never imagined the author Aoi Haruki would be so young. Also… haven't I seen your face somewhere before?" He placed a hand on his chin while looking at me.
"You've probably seen a photo of me online. I'm a model, after all." I smiled.
"Ah, that makes sense. You really do look like a model." Kenji let out a sigh and then asked, "How can you be this good at such a young age? I just can't understand how that's possible."
How should I answer that?
I guess I'll be honest.
"I think I just have talent. Since I was very young, I've been drawing and writing. Also, I've always consumed a lot of series, books, movies, and so on. I guess my mind developed faster than other children's."
"I see… that's impressive." Kenji still didn't seem fully convinced that I was the author. He kept glancing at my father, as if expecting him to say, 'This is a prank—I'm actually Aoi Haruki,' but that never happened.
The conversation continued, and soon we started discussing the contract.
The contract wasn't as good as the one I received from Media Factory, but it was still very reasonable.
I'll receive 23,000 yen per page and 9% of all royalties.
Of course, they also hold the adaptation rights for an anime. Naturally, I'll receive a portion of the revenue if an anime is produced, just like I did with Overlord.
My father signed the contract for me, and once everything was finalized, Kenji said:
"We've decided to begin serialization in two months. I'll contact you by email. We can hold online meetings so we don't have to meet in person frequently."
"That would be great. I don't want my identity to be exposed, after all." I looked at him seriously.
"Don't worry. Your identity won't be leaked—I promise," Kenji said.
All I can do is trust him.
####
As soon as we got back into the car, I said to my father, "That was funny."
He agreed and laughed out loud. "His face when I said you were the author—I had to hold myself back from laughing."
We headed home while talking about the contract and random things like my school life. I didn't say much about school—just that I had made a few friends… though I'm not sure those three girls can really be considered my friends.
He seemed relieved that I had made friends.
As soon as we entered the house, my mother approached us. She had already started preparing dinner.
"How did it go? Did everything work out?"
My father showed her the copy of the contract. "Yes, everything went well. Kyo signed a contract with Shonen Jump, and his manga will start serialization in two months."
"In June?"
"Yes, that's right. The editor seemed very excited about Kyo's manga. I haven't read it yet, but it must be very good… I'll check out Dragon Ball later."
My father handed me the contract.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"You still have the Overlord contract from years ago, don't you? Keep this one too. If I hold onto it, I might forget where I put it—my memory isn't that great."
"Alright, alright. Mom, when dinner's ready, can you call me? I'm going to focus on work and might lose track of time."
"Of course~~ Good luck~~"
I went to my room holding the contract and opened Twitter. I already had nearly 200,000 followers—I've become quite influential.
Then, I made a post:
[I just signed a contract with Shonen Jump. The editor said it's okay to talk about it, so here I am! The manga "Dragon Ball" will start serialization in two months—please support me!
Ah, and don't worry, I won't stop writing novels.
(Eyes Emoji)]
Oregairu hasn't been announced yet, and I don't plan to announce it now.
"Alright, time to focus on work. Time to write several volumes of Oregairu and draw lots of chapters of Dragon Ball."
I cracked my fingers and opened a text document on one monitor and my drawing app on the other.
"Let's see if I can do both at the same time without affecting quality."
It's just a test, but if it works, I'll start writing Oregairu and working on Dragon Ball chapters simultaneously from now on.
With a smile on my face, I began typing the final part of volume 2 of Oregairu.
####
Read more chapters on my patreon!
/KyoHaruhi
By subscribing to my Patreon, you can suggest works for the protagonist to recreate!
Next Chapters: Chapter 37 - New job. / Chapter 38 - A new audition? / Chapter 39 - Series. / Chapter 40 - I'm definitely going to get that role. / Chapter 41 - Black Car. / Chapter 42 - Agent and Driver.