After paying the owed bill, David and Emily soon left the restaurant and started walking down the road
David – "So what now?"
Emily – "I guess we can walk for a while before heading separate ways unless you have another idea."
David – "How about this I know a good ice cream parlor. We can go there."
Emily – "That works."
David and Emily walked and talked with each other on their way.
David – "By the way, I don't think I ever asked you the name of your manga?"
Emily – "Neither did I. You go first."
David – "Mine is called Shadow Realm. It's a horror/thriller manga about exploring a new nightmarish dimension called, well, the shadow realm."
Emily – "That's an interesting premise mine is called The Last photo. It is a mystery!/thriller manga about a photo of a missing girl suddenly found in the woods."
David – " A photo in the woods? How does that work?."
Emily – "I guess I didn't explain it well. It's like someone takes a photo in the woods, and in the photo's background, a dead girl is shown hanging on a tree."
David – "Wow, that's hardcore stuff, so it like a ghost story?"
Emily – "Yeah, sort of like the main female lead finds clues, digs around, then solves the case."
David – "Ah, got it. That's a pretty good premise."
Emily – "Thanks. So, where are you publishing? Mine is on find a medium size publishing firm called Palace Manga."
David – "Mine is on Shonen Jump."
Emily – "On jump? Didn't the professor say it's pretty hard to break out on jump?"
David – "Well, I like challenges." (Lies)
Emily – "I see, so how is it going? Mine is going pretty well so far with one chapter. I already have two hundred collections."
David – "Two hundred, that's good. I haven't checked mine for a while, so I will check and let you know."
Emily – "All right."
David then took out his phone, switched on data, and clicked open the Shonen Jump application.
David – "Let's see, I have…."
Shadow Realm –
Chapter 1 (uploaded four days ago):
Views – 14532, Collections – 738, Ad Revenue – 20 dollars.
David – "seven hundred and thirty-eight collection!!!"
Emily – "Wow, that's a lot. I guess your Manga must be pretty good. No wonder you were willing to publish on jump."
David calmly replied, "Yeah, I guess."
Although David appeared calm on the outside, on the inside, he was panicking.
David - "How the f did it increase so much? Wasn't it supposed to stop recommending and go down drastically after 24 hours?"
However, David managed to calm down on the inside as his target wasn't something small like 1,000 but 10,000 collections.
David on the inside, "I don't care even if it increases by 1,000 per chapter. That's still 2 months. I can still get like 100 grand, so no need to panic."
"However, I have to wonder what happens once I hit the target. Does the payment system stop, or does the mission get upgraded?"
As if the system heard David's question, a notification popped up in front of him.
[Mission Completion Guidelines: Once a regular mission is completed, a new challenge mission will be issued with higher rewards, but once that mission is completed, no more tasks will be generated until the start of new work.]
David – "A challenge mission, huh? So how will the insurance work on a challenge mission?"
[Challenge Mission Insurance Coverage: The insurance coverage will be doubled during the challenge mission period.]
David – "Wow, it doubles, meaning that's 100 grand per month. I guess I worried for no reason at all."
While David stood still reading system notifications, Emily started walking forward. Not seeing David next to her, she came to a stop. She looked back and saw David standing still and staring at her.
Emily – "David?"
David snapped out of his thoughts and started walking towards Emily.
Emily – "Why did you stop?"
David replied while walking, "Nothing much. I was just left mesmerized by your beauty."
Hearing David's response Emily blushed and playfully hit David on his bicep.
David – "Ouch, that hurt."
David then proceeded to back away From Emily while rubbing his arm.
Emily – "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to hit you hard."
David then laughed and said, "Ha, got you."
Emily – "Youuuu..."
David then started sprinting away, and Emily followed behind.
In the next scene, David and Emily are seen sitting at an ice cream shop with an ice cream cone in their hands. Emily had the classic chocolate ice cream, while David had a mint chocolate chip.
As David and Emily were enjoying their ice cream and having a pleasant conversation that the author couldn't be bothered to write.
David's phone on the table suddenly started ringing, picking it up David found it was Harry who was calling him.
David showed his phone to Emily and said, "Look who it is?"
Emily – "He is probably calling to ask how our date went."
David – "Yeah."
David paused for a moment, and then an idea appeared in his mind.
David – "Do you want to prank Harry and Rebecca?"
Emily – "Taking revenge on your friends for setting you up with your future girlfriend is tight."
David – "It's really super easy, barely an inconvenience."
Emily – "Damn, you watch Ryan too?"
David – "Yeah, I do. Okay, so here is the plan. I will tell him the date went horrible, and we will see he reacts."
Emily – "That's so evil, and I like it."
David – "Well, here it goes."
David then picks up the call and puts it on speak for Emily.
Harry – "So, how was the date?"
David – "Terrible. I can't believe you would set me up with her."
Harry – "Why, what happened."
David – "She walked up to my table, picked up a glass of water, and threw it right in my face in front of everyone."
Emily almost couldn't contain her laugh.
Harry – "She did what?"
David – "Yeah, my clothes were completely drenched if it weren't for my house being nearby, I don't know how I would get a new set of clothes."
Harry – "From what I know, Emily isn't like, did you say something that might have crossed the line."
David – "I didn't even say anything. I didn't say a word. She just walked to the table and splashed water in my face."
Harry – "I can't believe this. Give me a sec. I am going to call Rebecca immediately."
Harry then hung up the phone and dialed Rebecca.
Emily – "So now what?"
David – "Now, when Rebecca calls, you tell her you didn't show up due to some work which will leave them completely confused."
Emily burst into a big laugh and said, "Wow, that's genius."
Emily then followed David's plan when she received Rebecca's call. Rebecca then phoned Harry breaking the news to him, forcing Harry to call David back.
Harry – "Are you sure you are talking about Emily, not some other random girl."
David – "How exactly am I supposed to know that? It's not like I have seen her before today."
Harry – "Was she blonde with emerald eyes?"
David – "Yeah, she was. Wait, I see her right across the street. I will face time you once I cross over."
Harry – "Okay, I will add Rebecca to this call."
David then gets up from his chair.
Emily quickly grabs Ryan's sleeves and whispers, "Where is this going?"
David whispered back, "Confrontation with a stranger."
David then enables facetime and acts like he just found Emily.
David – "Oh, look who is sitting here after pouring water on an innocent man."
Emily – "It's you again."
Rebecca from the phone, "Emily, did you just lie to me?"
Emily – "Who is Emily? I am Emma."
David – "What?"
Emily – "Max, who are these people?"
David – "Who is Max? I am David."
Emily – "What are you talking about? You are Max, my ex-boyfriend."
David – "Look, lady, I am David, not Max."
Emily – "What's going on with you, Max? First, you dump me with a text, then I meet you by chance, so I pour a glass of water on your face, then you suddenly appear here and say you are not Max?"
David shows his ID and says, "Look, lady, you are mistaken. I am David."
Rebecca and Harry are left speechless at this sudden new development. In contrast, Emily is left impressed by David's ability to adapt to any situation."
Rebecca – "What's going on here?"
Harry - "Oh, I got what's happening. This is all a prank by you guys, isn't it?"
Emily – "I don't know what you are talking about?"
David – "I think it's enough. We can't keep going on forever."
David – "Awh, it was just starting to get fun."
Rebecca – "So all of this was a prank?"
David – "We wanted to get some sweet revenge, is all."
Like this, an eventful day came to a close.