An Unexpected Reward
Senior wants to go on a date. The reward(?) came so suddenly that Jinwoo couldn't say a word. Maybe she took his silence the wrong way, because Eunbyul's expression turned slightly downcast.
"Was it too much to ask something like this out of the blue?"
"Ah, no! Actually, it's... it's fine! But, Senior... what are you doing?"
"I thought if I looked a little cuter, you'd feel more like helping me. Does this make me look cute?"
She cupped both hands together like a little pedestal and rested her chin on top. Wow, how can a person be this adorable? Jinwoo wondered if, when the gods were making Eunbyul, they'd gotten lazy and just dumped a whole bottle of pink potion over her. He steadied his racing heart and answered in the calmest voice he could manage.
"You don't have to do any of that. I'll help you."
"Hehe! Thank you so much!" Eunbyul let out a sigh of relief. "To be honest, I'm not very confident about this new piece. That's why I've been worrying about it nonstop."
She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a sleek white smartphone. Jinwoo took it from her and saw the screen filled with dense black text. So writers saved their drafts on their phones too. Even these little details felt fascinating to him. With that thought, he began reading the novel.
Eunbyul watched him with anxious eyes the whole time.
"You won't make fun of it after you read it, right?"
"Come on, I wouldn't do that."
How could anyone dare to mock Silverstar's work? Doing something like that would surely bring divine punishment from the god of erotic novels. The story was a fairly standard fantasy regression tale, not too different from her previous works. If anything stood out, it was the large number of beastkin characters—cat people, dog people, and the like. The protagonist, once a hero, returns to the past and resolves incidents alongside the heroine. As expected from a star writer, the prose flowed beautifully and was a pleasure to read.
The only weak point was—
"The characters feel a little flat."
"Hwa! Right? That's exactly what I thought too—!"
It could have come across as criticism of her own novel, but Eunbyul nodded vigorously in complete agreement. Her reaction actually left him more flustered than she was.
"No, I think the hero's basic setup is solid. It's more that his emotional arc feels weak, and some of his actions are a bit hard to understand. Ah! Of course, this is just my opinion, so I could be wrong."
"No, I feel the exact same way. Even though I wrote it, I can't really empathize with the protagonist's behavior." Eunbyul took a sip of her cappuccino, looking glum. Jinwoo felt a pang of guilt for disappointing her, but even that expression looked cute to him. If she had dog ears and a tail like in her novels, they would probably be drooping right now.
"I want to write a love story that readers can relate to, but that's proving pretty difficult. Adding realistic details is hard too."
"Ah, so that's the issue?"
"That's the issue. Obviously the foundation comes from imagination, but emotional parts are really tough to write convincingly if you haven't experienced them yourself."
Now that he thought about it, she had mentioned she was a lifelong solo. Which meant she still didn't have a boyfriend. Jinwoo fought hard to suppress the smile threatening to creep across his face. Laughing while the other person was struggling? No matter how happy he felt, that would be wrong.
"Still, the couple from your last work was really popular. Couldn't you reference them?"
The pairing of the Holy Knight and the Princess from her previous story had been quite well-received. After all, the fanart Jinwoo had drawn was of the princess. But Eunbyul shook her head.
"You can't reference reader reactions from a different genre."
"Oh, really? I actually really liked the previous protagonist too."
"Yeah, those two were charming. Even as their creator, I could see why they were popular." Eunbyul's voice was surprisingly serious. The sight was so endearing that it almost made him smile again, this time for a completely different reason. "Even though I might not look it, I'm still a girl who loves sweet romance. But when I wrote Princess Seduction, I didn't draw from that. At the end of the day, it was an erotic novel."
"So that doesn't work?"
"It's not that it absolutely doesn't work, but each genre has different things readers want to see. For example, in an apocalypse story with zombies, people want hopeless developments and satisfying cider moments where the protagonist completely turns the tables."
Jinwoo hadn't read many apocalypse stories, so he simply nodded as if he understood.
"It's the same with erotic novels. Readers are there for the spicy descriptions and the thrill of taboo situations. But what I'm trying to write now is fantasy."
"Ah, so that's why you can't use it as reference."
"Exactly! Plus, the characters in my previous work and this new one are completely different to begin with."
The protagonist of Princess Seduction could be described as kind and polite. In contrast, the protagonist of this new work was serious and cold. Jinwoo liked both, but they were clearly nothing alike.
"That's why I at least want to write the heroine's date scene really sweetly. If I could do that well, I wouldn't be worrying about this in the first place." Eunbyul's shoulders slumped. To Jinwoo, even this conversation was enjoyable, but it must be a serious issue for her. He wanted to be helpful somehow—as her junior and as a fan of Silverstar.
Jinwoo kicked his longtime otaku brain into high gear.
"Hmm, maybe it would help to think about what you would do if you were the character?"
"If I were the character?" Eunbyul echoed, tilting her head. Jinwoo paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. He had so much he wanted to say, but it wasn't forming properly into language.
"For example, remember when you bought me that figure? How did you feel when you were picking it out?"
"Hmm... I was worried, and I thought about it a lot. It was my first time buying a gift for a guy, after all."
Whoa, so I'm the first guy Eunbyul has ever given a present to? That felt like an honor for his entire family line. No—now wasn't the time for thoughts like that.
"I think most people would feel that way. You want to give them something they'll like, but you worry about what would be best, whether they'll actually be happy with it. Doesn't everyone agonize over it?"
Eunbyul had even posted online to get opinions while choosing the gift. He could sense her unique mix of anxiety, tension, and a hint of excitement. Knowing how much thought she'd put into it made him even more grateful. Simply writing those honest feelings would probably make the scene feel incredibly charming.
"In this novel, there's that scene where the protagonist first rescues the rabbit beastkin who's been enslaved, right? Instead of saving her right away, what if he hesitates for a moment? Like, 'With so many enemies in my family, is it okay for me to save this child? What if I end up hurting her instead?' After agonizing over it, he sees her being abused by the slave trader, remembers his own past, gets angry, and buys her. Wouldn't that make him feel much more three-dimensional?"
When he looked up after speaking, Eunbyul was staring at him with a dazed expression. Her blank gaze made his face heat up slightly. At some point he'd gotten carried away like an excited otaku talking about his favorite subject.
Wow, this is way more embarrassing than I thought.
And the content itself was a problem. What was he doing, getting all excited and lecturing a star writer? He was just an otaku whose hobby was reading novels. Writers were known for having strong convictions and pride about their own work. He worried that he'd made Eunbyul feel bad.
"Ah, but that's just one reader's opinion. You don't have to take it too seriously..."
"That's amazing."
"Huh?"
"Incredible. Mind-blowing. Ideas are just exploding in my head right now?"
Suddenly, Eunbyul pulled something out of her bag. It was a cute pink notebook and a rabbit-shaped pen. What? She's carrying something like that at her age? It's too adorable. With her cheeks slightly flushed from excitement, Eunbyul began scribbling rapidly in the notebook.
"Wow, thank you so much. The character that felt so vague before is suddenly clicking into place like puzzle pieces in my head."
"R-really?"
"Yeah! And the idea of thinking about what I would do if I were the protagonist—I never thought of that. This could work for describing the heroine's emotions too. As expected from someone popular, huh?"
"No, I'm really not that popular."
Jinwoo wasn't particularly popular. If he had been, he would have had the confidence to talk to Eunbyul at least once back in high school. Eunbyul closed her notebook with a snap, looking much more refreshed.
"Hwa! It's like ten years of indigestion just melted away! Thank you so much! If this work succeeds, it'll be all thanks to you, Jinwoo!"
"It's not that big a deal..."
All he'd done was read the novel first and offer a few comments. Now that it was going to be officially serialized, leaving a comment like that might have just gotten him flamed instead. Actually, backseat writing was one of the things Jinwoo hated most.
"Hmm, experience really is important for novels. Just because you've lived longer doesn't mean you're experienced in everything. Now that I think about it, this work is set in an academy, so..."
Eunbyul muttered to herself, deep in thought. Then she grinned, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she looked at him.
"Hey, Jinwoo~"
"Yes?"
"Do you... have a girlfriend right now?"
"No. Not at the moment." He added "at the moment" with the faint hope that it might change in the future. It didn't really mean anything and only made him feel pathetic for the empty bravado.
"Really? Same as me?" Eunbyul's beautiful eyes curved into pretty crescents. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly too.
"You still have your old school uniform, right?"
"Yes, it should be in my closet." He obviously hadn't worn it since graduation. He'd just kept it as a memento because it felt wrong to throw it away. But why was she suddenly asking about his uniform?
"Then... do you want to go on a uniform date with me?"
"......Excuse me?"
Eunbyul in a school uniform. And not just any uniform—the uniform on an adult Eunbyul who had graduated years ago. Without meaning to, he pictured that beautiful sight. It was... going to be way too stimulating.