Sheesh. My teachers gotta relax, giving tests, exams, and assignments here, there, and everywhere. Fortunately, I slowly but surely get more words into this chapter whenever I get a little bit in the mood to write.

To answer one of the reviews, yes, I am considering Western video games, especially Resident Evil (The 7th and 8th are my favourite).

That reminds me, I'm currently reading the light novels of Classroom of the Elite, and hoooooly smokes it is spicy. If I ever did add this series to the "list", there would still be soooo many entries above it. Given the many, many, story suggestions in the reviews, I'd obviously not be able to cover them all lol.

Okay, gotta focus on The Mad Scientist.

El Psy Congroo.

"H-hah?" The girl uttered out. She stared at my outreached hand, dazed. "Even as a joke, that is a little…"

"Ridiculous? I know, right? Someone like couldn't possibly write bestselling books! But rest assured, I'll display your name in my new series if you help me out!"

Though I expected a cliché eye-sparkle in Mai's face, bewildered with the revelation that no one could have expected. Then she would probably say something like:

"A-amazing! Despite being at this young age to think that you almost single handedly revolutionized story writing with only a single books series… I would be most graciously honored to work with you!"

However, I should have known that life isn't always like the anime or manga.

I was slapped with reality right away.

Mai put her hand up. "I'm sorry, but I just can't believe you."

My jaw dropped.

'EHHH?'

I felt my soul leaving my body, as I curled into a ball leaning against my bed.

"I wanna die…" I muttered.

"Oi, stop exaggerating." Mai said, staring at my pitiful self. "What exactly did you expect when you said that?"

"B-but! I would have sounded so cool if you actually believed me!" I whined. The embarrassment was so bad, I felt queasy.

Mai sighed, and she pulled me off the ground. "Your delusional self is a bit strange, but the concept of your novel is very interesting. I will admit that it is a good story… I suppose!"

Uwah, there's that Tsundere face again.

"Why did you make your title the same as that book Ayaka is planning on making, anyway?" Mai asked. "Don't tell me you tried to make a fanfic of the series even though it hasn't been released yet…"

My cheeks sank upon hearing those words. Do fanfic writers exist in this world? I must assume so, considering how Mai knew about them. As a former fanfic writer, that hit harder than I initially expected. My heartache grew, as I clutch my chest in agony.

My dark past of shipping Katsuki Bakugou is coming back to haunt me…

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Mai leaned in to take a closer look at my face.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"What are you saying?!" Mai recoiled backwards, and slapped me in the face. "Don't say such frightening things!"

"Ahhh… Sorry, I just invoked some former trauma." I said, looking at the ground with a disheartening smile.

I pressed my cheeks with my hands, looking straight forwards. "So if you're interested, do you want to edit my stories for me?"

"Sure thing."

I Emailed the completed draft of the first volume of Steins;Gate to her, and awkwardly stood there.

"…"

"Okay, I got it." Mai said in response to her phone vibrating. She quickly took the laptop she had been recently working with and sat somewhere comfy.

"I'm quite new to this" I mentioned, as I began to work myself on my desk. "Are projects like this usually meant to be worked on together like this? I thought you would be going home to work.

"Ah, true. I think it'll be more convenient to work this way, because I'm not too experienced with stories and novels. I'll be asking you questions about things I'm unsure about. It's better than Email, right?" Mai's reasoning was very understandable. Through Email, we would have to reference a page number, and explain the situation. However, personally, all we would have to do is show each other our laptops. It felt more like a study group, if anything.

"No wifi password…" Mai mutters under her breath.

After that, it was pure work from there. The room was filled with clicking and dragging noises.

"This protagonist has quite the strange personality. What makes you think that will be good for the story?"

"You don't like it?" I asked.

"No, I don't hate it. I just thought it was unique."

I understood where she was going. Most protagonists in the crappy novels and manga I've read had too much detail, or not enough detail.

For protagonists with too much detail, there would be biographies and lists of characters at the start of each book. If you didn't memorize that list of information, you're not going to know what is happening in the book. It's clear that the problem of these kinds of books is that the author goes off in their own little world, and it's hard to keep track of who's who and what's what.

On the other hand, there are protagonists with not enough information. These kinds of stories would usually come up with a protagonist's name, no descriptions of him whatsoever, and all the female characters would fall in love with him despite him not having to do anything. Just like the first manga I've read in this world, they introduce the character with a single panel, and he has a harem right after the 1st chapter.

Satou Kazuma from Konosuba is one of the most popular protagonists in the series. The light novel doesn't really tell us or give us any sort of biography of him in the first place, but we can tell exactly what kind of person he is from his actions. He isn't like other generic harem protagonists either, as his relationships with his friends are relatable, just like real world friends.

I finally answered Mai's question. "Flawed personalities can be a lot more rewarding for the long term. It gives the opportunity for a redemption, part of the protagonist's "Journey". Not only that, it's going to make our book unique to the rest of the other books, giving us some attention."

"To think you've thought this far ahead…."

"Alright! While you work, I'll go buy something from the nearest convenience store. Want anything?"

"Umm… this is a bit embarrassing, but…"

"I'd like some Dr Pepper." she said. The novel must have influenced her.

I smiled. "Sure thing."

After lots of time passed, it was finally getting dark.

We had quite a bit of work done today. I managed to work more efficiently now that I didn't have to re-check my work. Though autocorrect can be helpful, it occasionally corrects the wrong word without me noticing, and it doesn't help me fix grammar errors either. I would occasionally highlight text that I believed to be poorly worded, so that Mai could use her better knowledge of vocabulary to help me out.

I stretched my arms into the air, straightening my back. I turned around to face Mai. "Well, we got a lot of work done, and it's getting late. Do you want to call it a day? We can come back another day, and I'll get your pay ready."

"Sure, you still need a lot to improve when it comes to writing, so I'll come tomorrow morning."

It's the evening though… Does she not want me to take any breaks!?

"K-Kisaragi-san… what about breaks…?"

She gave me the smile of a devil. "They say procrastination is a sin after all, we won't have any breaks."

I knew it! Why?!

"Don't tell me you just want an excuse to be reading my novels." I said, without thinking.

Mai recoiled backwards, blushing. "O-oh course not! Don't get your ego too high!"

Oi, don't tell me I unintentionally hit the bullseye.

"W-well, anyway! I'll come visit you tomorrow."

"Okay."

Mai left my apartment, grabbing her belongings along the way.

She must be tired from working almost the entire afternoon.

Working with Mai was a great decision. The process seemed to have sped up more than twice as fast as we played to our strengths.

"…"

"Wait, I forgot to pay her!"

"As expected of my sisters! Says MISAKA MISAKA, expressing gratitude! 15712 had a great beginning with her new book series. The rest of the SISTERS ought to be praised for securing early access to the new novel!" The little girl with an ahoge leaped with joy, it wouldn't be a surprise if she began to roll around the ground like a puppy.

"I simply can't wait, says MISAKA MISAKA." She turned towards the Accelerator. "Wo-"

"If you're gonna ask me to read that children's book with you, the answer is no, brat." The moppy haired boy interrupted coldly. Despite that, he seemed to hit the bullseye.

The Last Order sulked. "You could have at least waited for me to finish, 'says MISAKA MISAKA… You won't know what the book is like until you actually try it."

"Be quiet."

"Now, now." Yoshikawa interrupted. "Even if the book looks childish, it even made a grown-up like me cry too, you know?"

"No."

"So stubborn…" Yoshikawa muttered.

I was hooked as soon as I read the first chapter, that clone knows some scary techniques.

"If he only reads the first chapter… will he be just as hooked as I was…?" Yoshikawa wondered. She tried to think of a way to get Accelerator to only read the first chapter, but it was no use. He wouldn't really read anything.

She sighed. Maybe I'll talk to her about it tomorrow.

Mikoto had finally finished the last volume of Sincerely. She had read it behind Kuroko's back while she was working, much to her frustration.

What a satisfying end… Despite that, I feel a bit gloomy that the story has ended already.

The interval between volumes released in Sincerely have been significantly shorter than other books. However, the wait felt unbearably longer than it really was. It went to the point where it began to negatively affect her grades.

Despite the fact that almost every other student was probably having the same issue, this was an absolute catastrophe for Mikoto. She has a reputation to uphold, and given the rabbit hole she has fallen into, who knows what other series she might become addicted to?

However, a chance had materialized in front of her, one day in class.

It was her Literature teacher, who made an announcement anyone could remember.

"Hello all, this is a special optional project personally assigned by the headmaster himself. Significant submitted projects will get their grade increased, and get the opportunity to retake a maximum of 3 tests.

THIS IS IT! Mikoto internally screamed.

Many students began to listen intently, as they too, probably wanted their marks to get higher. In a prestigious school like Tokiwadai, there was bound to be intense competition after all.

The details of the assignment was to write an advanced book report. It didn't look like anything special. However, what made this assignment distinctly different from the rest of the projects was that it was required to have a real interview with an expert, or author, of the novel. The teacher reasoned that the headmaster wanted to give the opportunity for certain students to get some "hands-on" experience, and test their social connections.

"That is all, keep in mind that there are only benefits to this assignment. There are no penalties for refraining from doing this, so no pressure."

Mikoto immediately scanned the area to scout the competition. The number one topic people are talking about was none other than the newest novel series that was completely swept off the shelves. Mikoto concluded that if she were to go down that path, she would probably need to discover Ayaka Hiiragi's identity and interview her to get an upper hand.

The smart thing to do was to go for another book, however her pride and competitive nature didn't allow her to do so.

I'm going to find that author even if it's the last thing I'll do!

Bit on the short side, sorry bout that.