“Have I kept you waiting long?”
At a café not far away, Xia Chuan was replying to the messages and pictures his friends had been sending him.
Only when he heard Utaha Kasumigaoka’s voice did he finally look up.
The first thing that caught his attention was a pair of shapely legs wrapped in black stockings.
Then his gaze moved upward, taking in the graceful curves of Utaha’s figure before finally settling on her delicate features.
“Staring at a beautiful girl like that isn’t very gentlemanly.”
“Sorry.”
Xia Chuan smiled and signaled to the waiter to bring another cup of coffee.
“But it can’t really be helped.
After all, isn’t my beautiful senpai a rare sight?”
Utaha didn’t deny it.
She sat down across from Xia Chuan, already beginning to form an impression of this still relatively unfamiliar junior.
After ordering another coffee, the two sat across from each other as steam slowly rose between them.
Utaha was the first to speak.
“Xia Chuan-kun, since you’ve decided to call me your senpai, how about I call you my junior from now on?”
She slightly raised her head and lifted the medium-sized coffee cup.
Her red lips paused briefly over the rim as she savored the coffee, a faint smile hidden in her eyes.
“That shouldn’t be a problem.”
Xia Chuan didn’t mind the change in how they addressed each other.
If anything, it was another step toward becoming closer.
“Then, my dear junior, let’s get back to the point.”
Utaha got straight to the matter.
“Just as you said at the autograph session, I want to hear your thoughts on The Metronome in Love.
What exactly do you think is lacking?”
For Utaha, Xia Chuan coming to support her had already moved her.
But his earlier criticism of her novel was what occupied her thoughts the most.
She had once believed that writing a light novel would be relatively easy.
The first volume had turned out beautifully, and attracting so many readers as a debut light-novel author was already an impressive achievement.
But…
It wasn’t nearly enough.
She was an arrogant literary girl.
Once she had decided to become a light-novel author, she wanted to reach the highest level possible.
What troubled her most was that the second volume wasn’t going as well as she had expected.
It was a situation she had never encountered since she first began writing.
Xia Chuan slowly stirred his coffee with his spoon before speaking.
“Senpai, The Metronome in Love is a pretty good light novel.
The characters feel vivid, and the plot structure is cleverly designed.
If it ended with the first volume, I’d say it was a genuinely good work.”
“But if you keep extending the story beyond that, I don’t think it will achieve particularly good results.”
Utaha had been hit directly in the area that troubled her most.
She didn’t even notice that Xia Chuan had casually called her “Senpai” without using her surname.
She immediately asked,
“Why?”
“Because the emotional development between Naoto and Sayuka in the first volume is too complete.”
“Their relationship develops almost naturally into a satisfying romance.”
“A single volume is enough to satisfy readers with that kind of development.
But if you try to stretch the same dynamic across a second and third volume, readers will quickly become bored.”
“What’s wrong with that?
That’s how romance novels work.”
Xia Chuan raised his index finger and slowly shook it.
“And that’s precisely the problem.”
“Apart from works written by genuine masters of the genre, how many romance novels actually achieve great results in the market?”
“You shouldn’t believe that writing a single successful volume automatically makes you a master of romantic literature, should you, Senpai?”
Utaha was left speechless.
Xia Chuan continued.
“In this book, there are essentially only the male and female leads.
No matter what happens, I already know that their feelings for each other will continue to deepen.”
“If I can predict how their relationship will develop every time something happens, then continuing to read becomes increasingly dull.”
At that point, Utaha understood what the real problem was.
It was true.
That was precisely why she had gradually begun struggling with the second volume of The Metronome in Love.
She no longer had the effortless feeling she had experienced when she first started writing.
“Have you already started writing the second volume, Senpai?”
The sudden question caught Utaha off guard.
“I’ve started…”
She hesitated.
“But it was rejected.”
Her eyes flickered slightly as she spoke.
“Did you bring it with you?”
Utaha nodded lightly.
She had developed the habit of carrying her laptop with her so that she could record any inspiration that came to her while she was outside.
Without waiting for Xia Chuan to ask again, Utaha opened her laptop and showed him what she had written.
For an author, allowing someone else to read unfinished material was practically taboo.
Yet for some reason, Utaha felt an inexplicable sense of trust toward Xia Chuan.
Xia Chuan slowly read through the material.
Time passed.
“Times have changed, Senpai.”
Xia Chuan sighed.
“If you want a work to sell well, you first need to understand the market.”
“The main consumers of light novels these days are students and young people who have recently entered society.
In an increasingly restless era like this, you can’t expect large numbers of people to sit down and patiently appreciate a beautiful, pure romance.”
Utaha had already realized some of this herself.
Her expression became somewhat uncertain as she looked at Xia Chuan.
“Does that mean my work really has no future?”
Xia Chuan’s lips curved upward.
“I have an idea.”
“Why don’t you add another character?”
Utaha quickly understood what he meant.
“You mean have the male or female lead build a harem?”
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a harem.”
“If you want to write a light-novel series spanning multiple volumes, how can the story remain completely pure and straightforward without any ups and downs?”
“You could introduce several more characters.”
“Maybe several guys could compete for the heroine’s affection.”
“Or you could introduce a new female character who becomes jealous and competes with the heroine.”
“That way, not only would you expand the scope of the story, you’d also give the plot more ups and downs and introduce new developments.”
“And isn’t plot construction one of your strongest abilities, Senpai?”
Xia Chuan leaned back in his chair and spoke freely.
He had no intention of continuing down the path of becoming a plagiarist by reproducing works from his previous life.
So what was the harm in sharing some of the knowledge he had about the market with Utaha?
As Utaha listened to his suggestions, inspiration began pouring into her mind like water from a pump.
Her eyes seemed to sparkle.
She immediately pulled her laptop back toward herself, opened her notes, and began rapidly recording every idea that came to her.
She typed continuously.
The coffee sitting between them gradually grew cold.
Only after quite some time did Utaha finally stop typing.
“Phew…”
She let out a long breath and looked toward Xia Chuan with bright eyes.
“Thanks to you, Xia Chuan-kun!
I think I finally have a direction for the second volume!”
Xia Chuan smiled.
“Then I’ll look forward to reading the second volume, Senpai.”
Utaha nodded firmly.
Then, as though she had thought of something, she hesitated before asking,
“Could you give me your email address?”
“If possible, I’d like you to read the second volume first once I’ve finished it.”
Xia Chuan’s smile didn’t fade.
For the Utaha Kasumigaoka of this moment, having a loyal reader who genuinely supported her and could provide useful advice was probably the most effective way to win her favor.
And judging from the situation…
Her impression of him had already improved considerably.
His late-night rereading of The Metronome in Love yesterday and his deliberate trip to the autograph session today hadn’t been wasted.
Xia Chuan took out his phone.
With a practiced motion, he opened his contact-sharing screen and held it out toward Utaha.
“Does that make me the first guy you’ve ever proactively added to your contacts, Senpai?”
Utaha froze for a moment.
After adding Xia Chuan to her contacts, she looked at him with a faint smile.
“Of course.”
“You’re the first guy I’ve ever proactively added, Xia Chuan-kun~”
“That’s certainly something to be happy about, Senpai.”
Utaha had originally wanted to see whether her deliberately suggestive remark would produce an interesting reaction.
Instead, when she saw Xia Chuan simply smiling back at her, her heart unexpectedly fluttered.
She quickly composed herself.
Then she deliberately gave Xia Chuan another look.
“I think I understand why you’re so popular at school now, Xia Chuan-kun.”
“In that case, let’s keep in touch by email from now on, Xia Chuan-kun~”