While eating, Shishio thought that a novelist, in a traditional term, was respected in this country.
The obvious difference was the price.
The price of the manga was only 450 yen.
Their manga had sold seven million copies, and they got 20% in the royalties. Previously, they got 15% in royalties, but the more sales, the royalties changed and became 20%.
If they were newbies, it would be impossible for them to get so much royalty, but Shiina was a world-famous painter. Just the drawing of her manga was enough to make someone buy her manga as a collection.
Shishio's writing ability was just top-notch. It might not be wrong to say he was this country's Shakespeare. Still, if he had been born earlier, it would be his name that echoed through the world, not Shakespeare.
Yet no matter how amazing the manga was, its price was just 450 yen.
On the other hand, the price of his novel was 1,200 yen.
His novel wasn't thick. Instead, it was fairly thin, yet its price was almost three times that of the manga, and for each page of his novel, he would be given 20,000 yen.
As for the royalty, it was just information, but when a book had been sold for 500,000 copies, the author would get 20% of royalties.
In the case of someone famous, they could get even higher.
Having 35% royalties or more and a 100 million yen for a manuscript fee wasn't even a dream.
Still, this wasn't what they had to discuss now since Ayano was confused about what she should do.
The "5 cm per second" would end, and without a doubt, it would become a masterpiece, yet how could a publishing house let go of such a fat sheep?
The temptation was that money was as delicious as the most delicious dish in the world.
Yet they also understood that having a masterpiece would give prestige to their image, and sometimes prestige was something even more expensive than money.
So there was one thing that Ayano planned to do.
When they had finished their food, Ayano asked, "Do you plan to write another manga?"
Shishio didn't answer her question. Instead, he looked at Shiina and asked, "Mashiro, do you want to write a manga again?"
"Um." Shiina nodded. "It's fun to draw a manga with Shishio's story."
Shishio looked at her smile and somehow realized that even if he had tainted her with his color, she had never changed, and she was still that girl he met under that cherry blossom.
"What does Shishio think? Do you have fun making manga with me?" Shiina asked.
Shishio stared at Shiina and wanted to tease her somehow. He pinched her nose gently and said, "No."
"....." Shiina, Ayano, and Sumi.
"I was kidding. I have fun making manga with you," Shishio said.
Shiina pouted and leaped into him, trying to bite him.
"It hurts, Mashiro. Sorry, sorry."
"....." Ayano and Sumi looked away and let out a sigh, feeling quite overwhelmed somehow.
When Shiina stopped, she still pouted, but she sat on his lap.
"But I want to try another genre," Shishio said.
"Other genres?" 3x
The three looked at Shishio curiously.
"I have been writing romance genres all the time. I want to challenge myself to write something else," Shishio said after a moment of thought.
"What kind of genre?" Shina asked.
However, Ayano was more careful since she knew that Shishio was good at romance, so she felt he should focus on that. "Can you let me hear or see the story first?"
"I know you're going to ask that, so I bring three stories."
"Three?"
"Yeah, one is horror, the other is about a lawyer, and the last one is a forensic doctor." Shishio opened his bag and took out three copies of the synopsis of his story.
"Is it okay for me to be here?" Sumi suddenly asked.
"It's okay. You're my editor too, after all," Shishio said.
"Well..." Sumi looked at Ayano.
"Just don't tell anyone, alright?" Ayano said.
Sumi nodded since there was no way for her to say anything about his stories, considering it was a secret.
The three stories were lying on the table.
"The Ring, Legal High, and the Unnatural?"
They didn't comment about his genres, but the title interested them somehow.
"Which one do you want to read first?" Shishio asked.
"How about the Ring? It's a horror. It's quite an uncommon genre," Ayano said.
Shiina and Sumi agreed and read the synopsis of the Ring.
The story of the Ring is quite simple, and it is the story of the mysterious videotape that warns the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.
What makes this story even scary is the ghost, Sadako.
Videotape? A ghost coming out of the television?
Sumi and Ayano had a chill somehow.
On the other hand, Shiina closed her eyes, trying to imagine how to write the scene in the story into a manga.
"What do you think?" Shishio asked.
"...It's amazing." What could Ayano say? She felt this story was revolutionary.
"Oga-sensei, why don't you write this story into a novel? I'm sure that it'll be better," Sumi suddenly said.
"Hey! Don't steal my job!" Ayano scolded Sumi with a roar. "Or should I throw you out?"
"I was joking..." Sumi sighed and looked away.
Their relationship was quite close to each other, so they didn't feel angry with each other's words. Fortunately, they came from different departments, so they didn't conflict with each other.
"Still, the style will be difficult for Shiina-san, right?" Ayano's concern wasn't unfounded since Shiina's style of painting might not be suitable for a horror story.
"It's okay. I can do it. This should be similar to Edvard Munch, right, Shishio?" Unlike what Ayano thought, Shiina felt this was a challenge. After all, she had never tried to paint with this style before, so she wanted to try it.
Pablo Picasso could draw any type of painting and pioneered Cubism.
Shiina felt that if Picasso could do it, she should be able to do the same. As for horror or whatnot, she didn't care much since she had never really believed in a ghost. Even if they appeared, she wanted to see them since they might become part of her inspiration.
"You don't need to be in a hurry. How about you look at the other two stories?"
They nodded and thought it was better to make their decision after they had read the whole story.
The second story was Legal High.
It was a story about a funny and witty lawyer. It was full of laughter and many meanings, which was quite easy to understand and read.
Ayano felt this story was good and felt it was better to choose this story.
Still, Shiina didn't say much and took the last story.
The Unnatural.
From the title alone, they thought it was a type of horror. Yet they were wrong, and somehow, this story made them even more interested since the protagonist of this story was a female. The story was quite similar to a detective story, but it was written from the perspective of the forensic doctor. The story was intriguing, and it made them interested in how the main heroine was able to solve one case after another.
Still, Ayano could see that even if they were only synopsis, a plan that hadn't been written, according to her experience, those three works could become something great. Yet she was more into the Legal High, and the Unnatural since they were a safe bet, something that she felt would succeed no matter what.
On the other hand, Ayano was able to see what kind of story Shishio and Shiina wanted to do. She let out a long sigh and said, "Those three stories are great, and you can choose whatever you want, but let me see the end of the result."
Shishio and Shiina nodded since they knew that Ayano wouldn't stop them from doing whatever they wanted.
Frankly, among creators, there were two types of creators.
The first type was to create a work, according to the trend, so they could make a lot of money. The second type was the one that made a work based on what they loved.
While the first type was stable, the second type was the one that made the masterpiece.
Ayano was sure that whether Shishio or Shiina, they were the second type, and it was better not to be too involved in their creation. Instead, what she could do was support them when their work was ready.
After they had finished their talk, they decided to go home.
Shishio decided to take out a few unagi and told his girlfriends whether they wanted some or not.
The answer was obvious.
After Shishio got his take-out order, he entered the taxi with Shiina.
"See you later, Oga-sensei, Shiina-sensei," Sumi said.
"Bye, Shishio-kun, Shiin-san," Ayano said.
Ayano and Sumi walked them over and waved their hands to Shishio and Shiina.
They also did the same before they closed the window.
"Have you made your choice, Mashiro?" Shishio asked.
"Um." Shiina nodded.
"Is that okay?" Shishio asked.
"Yes, I want to try." Shiina nodded with a determined expression.
"The Ring, is that okay?"
"Yes."
Shishio was quite speechless, but he didn't reject her idea if that was what she wanted to create. Yet he must admit the story of the "Ring" was fascinating. The reason why she came to this country was to learn how to paint. She might not have had experience in drawing a horror story, but this was what made it interesting since she wanted to try.
The story of the "Ring" also wasn't that long.
It was similar to the "5 cm per second" they made previously.
The two had made up their decision, and after their manga ended, they were going to make a new story later.
Shishio thought for a moment and said, "Let's make it after the school festival."
"School festival?" Shiina titled her head and seemed curious.
"I'll tell you later."
Anyway, they were about to go back to their apartment. However, when they entered, they were speechless since they were all holding his novel that had been published today.
Instantly, they noticed them and looked in Shishio's direction. It could be clearly seen that they were looking at him as if asking why he didn't tell them anything about his novel.
"...If I forget, will you believe me?"
"........"
They somehow wanted to beat him tonight.