Chapter 9

Just like the trolls who are well-informed on the Internet, but in reality they are just submissive and obedient to their bosses.

However, such disguise is not really perfect. At least Hikigaya Hachiman discovered with his own observation that the huge mask that covers the facial features and the hooded jacket are not completely connected. A part of the long silver-white hair can be seen vaguely, and some information can be inferred from it.

"Wow, this should be the first time we meet. By the way... Is the teacher so young?"

Sagiri used a voice changer to make a strange sound that did not match her age, but she could not hide the surprise in her mouth.

Hikigaya Hachiman did not disguise himself. First of all, it was very troublesome, and secondly, there was no need to hide. He was not a famous artist worth mentioning now, and he was not in front of fans, so he had no psychological burden at all.

"I'm about to reach the age of 'middle school'."

He said in a joking tone.

"That's really amazing, such a young debut writer, that... teacher, I always feel that it's a bit awkward to call him that, teacher, have you not decided on a pen name yet?"

Sagiri suddenly thought of this question.

"Actually, I have thought about it, my pen name is 'Moonlight is really beautiful'."

Hikigaya Hachiman replied.

"In that case, I will call you Moonlight Teacher from now on."

Sagiri nodded, and then talked to him about work topics.

Based on his description of the characters, Sagiri used sketches to quickly draw them at a draft-like speed.

If he was not satisfied with anything, he could just make some changes.

Although Sagiri was working as an illustrator for the first time, she was very dedicated.

It took a day to have a general description of the characters in the first volume, and then to draw exquisite illustrations in combination with the scenes.

This also took a lot of time, so every night, the two of them had to take time to video chat.

Normally, the connection between the author and the illustrator does not need to be so deep, but both of them want to do better, so they work so hard together.

Until the day when all the illustrations are completed.

"Thank you so much, Eromanga-sensei! You have wasted a lot of your extra time during this period."

Hikigaya Hachiman looked at the girl who was still pretending and expressed his gratitude.

"I don't know the person with that name!"

Sagiri still reacted sensitively, and then continued, "It was Tsukiro-sensei who was accommodating me. It took so long to cooperate with me. If it wasn't for Tsukiro-sensei..."

Before she finished speaking, an accident happened suddenly.

"Sagiri, open the door, I have something to talk to you about."

There was a knock on the door behind her and her mother's call.

Damn it!

Sagiri looked back at the door, then at the computer screen, and was anxious like an ant on a hot pot.

"Um, Tsukiro-sensei, sorry! Let's talk later."

The video connection in front of her was suddenly cut off.

About ten minutes later, Sagiri took the initiative to send a video invitation.

She apologized again.

"It's okay."

He shook his head and said indifferently.

"Um, Mr. Tsukiro, did you hear it just now?"

Sagiri asked nervously, pinching her chest unconsciously.

"Will you believe me if I say no?"

He hesitated and asked back.

'Really, mom, it's too loud...! '

Sagiri complained in her heart.

This is also normal. Her mother didn't know that she was chatting with others via video. She just thought that she was concentrating on drawing or watching animation, so she was a little loud.

In fact, the problem is not very important. It's just that because of her poor academic performance, the head teacher called her and her mother came to give her a lecture.

'What should I do now? '

Sagiri was a little at a loss. She didn't expect her real name to be exposed.

The name 'Sagiri' doesn't look like a boy, right?

At this time, she noticed the other party's expression again, but found that the other party still looked plain.

"Could it be that, Mr. Tsukiro, you have already discovered it?"

Sagiri approached the screen and asked in doubt.

"What did you say?"

"The fact that I am a girl."

"Well, almost."

"When did I reveal it?"

The girl was a little confused.

"I found it on the first day we met, because your disguise was flawed, and your long silver-white hair was faintly visible in my eyes."

He pointed out decisively.

"Exposed on the first day?"

Sagiri was a little disappointed when she heard this result.

She didn't expect that her elaborate disguise was completely ineffective.

Or was Mr. Tsukiro's sense of smell too sharp?

Wait, if you put it like that...

"Besides that, what else did you find out, Mr. Tsukiro?"

The girl continued to ask with doubt in her heart.

"Mr. Eromanga, you should not be that old, right? You are too short in height. You can use a voice changer to hide your voice, but you can't hide your specific words... So, Mr. Eromanga should be an elementary school student, right?"

So, Hachiman Hikigaya took this opportunity to speak frankly.

"Eh..."

Sagiri made an unbelievable sound, and the expression under the mask was completely dumbfounded.

Debuting at the age of 16...!

Her true identity was completely exposed!

Sagiri felt incredible and embarrassed at the same time.

At this time, it was useless to use any excuses, so the girl had to admit it.

"Since Mr. Tsukiro already knows, I won't pretend anymore."

Sagiri made up her mind in an instant and took off her mask. What appeared in front of her was a beautiful girl with regular and tender features, and a pitiful appearance. Her water blue eyes were like a clear spring.

However, the moment the two looked at each other, the girl immediately looked away.

"Is this the true face of Eromanga teacher?"

Hikigaya Hachiman exclaimed appropriately.

"But why? Even if I know your background, there is no need to show your true face, right?"

He asked again.

"Oh, right..."

Sagiri was stunned, then put the mask back on and coughed twice to cover up the embarrassment.

"Ahem, Tsukiro teacher, please forget that scene just now!"

"Hmm... hum."

His expression was really playful.

"Eromanga teacher..."

"I said I don't know the person with that name."

"By the way, do I have to say it every time?"

"Well, since Tsukiro teacher knows it, then... then just call me by my name."

The girl thought that the two of them had become a community of destiny and would be together for a long time in the future, so she took the initiative a little, but her tone was really shy and her face was already very hot.

"Well, I'll tell you my name, too, Sagiri. My name is Hikigaya Hachiman."

He responded to the other person's words.

"Well, Mr. Tsukiro, I get it."

Because of the mask, Sagiri recovered quickly and looked more lively and comfortable.

The girl didn't call her by her name, probably because of the age difference between the two. This distance also made Hikigaya Hachiman feel just right, so he didn't correct it.

Due to various factors, after a long delay, after completing the preliminary preparations, the days have come to the early spring season.

All things are about to revive, but the cold wind left over from winter seems to still linger in the world, making people dare not take it lightly.

Walking on the street, Hikigaya Hachiman still has a scarf around his neck to keep his body warm.

After school today, he didn't go home directly, but chose to stroll on the street.

It's not accurate to say that he was strolling. To be precise, he should want to see if there are any advertisements about "Summer Return" in the bookstore that cooperates with Fuzugawa.

After visiting several stores, he found that there was indeed an advertisement for "Summer Returns". Although it was inconspicuous, it was there.

In addition, he also found that his work should be the latest in this batch, and it would not be released until the end of next month.

Others basically released their works one by one in these two months, and some of them were even very popular. They were still placed in the most conspicuous position in the bookstore after being sold for a period of time.

I don't know if he will have such treatment one day.

"I think there will be?"

He muttered in his heart.

With such excitement, enthusiasm and worry, Hikigaya Hachiman spent this month.

The third semester of the first grade is coming to an end, and he will soon be promoted to a higher school and change classes. Although Hikigaya Hachiman remained silent, he could feel the fluctuations in the hearts of the students in the class.

Inexplicably, he had the same resonance.

Next week, it will be the time to decide life and death!

The light novel industry in this world is more developed than in the previous life in memory, and the potential is much greater, so Ms. Yamada's sales can increase so quickly, and two volumes have been released and soon reached more than 100,000 sales.

Correspondingly, the requirements for sales data are also different. He already knows the first print data of "Summer Reappearance", a total of 10,000 copies, which is not too much or too little in this world.

This data is actually not very important. It just shows how much the library values ​​your work. What is important is another data, that is, the digestion rate.

The digestion rate is a more accurate data than the praise rate, because it shows how many people are really willing to spend money to buy it.

If the digestion rate is high, more printing will be done, and if the digestion rate is low, the printing will be reduced. Generally speaking, only when the digestion rate reaches more than 60% will there be no loss.

Of course, in fact, many unpopular works are compensated by the money earned from the transfer of popular works, which does not mean that they will definitely be cut off.

The day when the first grade ended was also the day when "Summer Returns" was released.

Hikigaya Hachiman said goodbye to everyone and came to a bookstore selling light novels.