"Ah? You're talking about that middle schooler's manuscript? It's a thick stack, if you don't mind the weight, I can just give it to you"
Shunji casually handed the large stack of manuscripts to Byakuya.
He didn't take the manuscript seriously at all.
After all, he had plenty of other things to attend to and didn't have time to read the self-entertainment work of a middle schooler.
Of course, this was Shunji's preconceived notion. He barely glanced at the contents of the manuscript, believing that a middle schooler's work would only be self-entertainment fluff.
"Okay, thank you, Shunji"
Byakuya expressed his gratitude.
By the way, his ability to converse normally with Shunji was thanks to the system granting him Japanese proficiency comparable to that of a native speaker.
After receiving the manuscript, he confirmed that this should be Sen Takatsuki's debut draft titled Dear Kafka.
Moreover, it was entirely handwritten and, from a rough estimate, spanned at least several hundred pages.
In his previous life, Byakuya was an online novelist, mainly typing on a computer, so the speed of handwriting was incredibly slow.
It was hard to imagine how much time Eto must have spent writing such a thick manuscript...
[Ding! Host has obtained a special item: "The first Draft of Dear Kafka" activating hidden quest "Genius Writer Sen Takatsuki"!]
A system notification suddenly echoed in his mind, startling Byakuya for a moment.
He hadn't expected there would be hidden quests...
Now he had another way to earn attribute points, which was quite good.
Immediately after, three lines of system text appeared before Byakuya, visible only to him, just like the system panel.
[Quest 1: Become Eto Yoshimura's Editor]
[Quest Duration: Within three days]
[Quest Reward: 10 Attribute Points]
The difficulty of this quest wasn't high.
Just as Byakuya was contemplating this task, Shunji reminded him.
"However, I still suggest you don't spend too much time on that manuscript. Right now, you should focus your main energy on your internship evaluation. Good luck, young man"
With that, Shunji returned to his work.
Byakuya nodded slightly without saying much.
In the original story, Shunji also underestimated Eto Yoshimura's manuscript, nearly throwing it away as trash.
It was only after another editor stumbled upon it and gave him a severe reprimand that Shunji rushed to find Eto, almost missing out on this talented writer.
But now, this manuscript was taken by Byakuya.
You could say he "swooped in" but not entirely, as Shunji genuinely looked down on the manuscript.
Having confirmed that this was Eto's manuscript, Byakuya immediately stood up.
He stuffed the stack of papers into his bag and left the office.
Without a doubt, Byakuya was heading to find Eto.
On the way, he opened the system panel.
He planned to prepare for his upcoming meeting with Eto Yoshimura.
Although it was ten years before the original timeline, at this time, Eto was already an SSS rated ghoul known as the One-Eyed Owl renowned for her cruelty and danger.
In this world, ghouls are categorized by their "threat level" which ranges from low to high: C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS, with SSS being the highest threat level, closely tied to the strength of the Ghoul.
If SSS rated Eto set her sights on Byakuya, he would undoubtedly be killed without relying on Mangekyou Sharingan.
However, he couldn't afford to not use Mangekyou Sharingan, he just needed to be careful about how he used it. With his current RC Cell value, he couldn't carelessly activate the Kamui's techniques.
For the time being, self-preservation wasn't an issue.
But he couldn't be reckless, as his current RC value could easily lead to his demise.
"First, I should focus on allocating attribute points to 'RC Cell Count'..."
Byakuya made up his mind.
He had just examined the ratios and discovered that the conversion rates for RC Cell Count and attribute points differed: the exchange ratio for RC Cell Count to attribute points was 1:1, while for physique to attribute points it was 1:10.
In other words, 1 attribute point could be exchanged for 1 point of RC Cell Count but could only be converted to physique at a much lower rate.
After considering his situation, prioritizing RC Cells made sense, as they directly influenced how effectively he could utilize the Kamui's techniques.
Of course, that didn't mean the "Physique" attribute was of poor value, attributes that enhance physical ability and self-recovery were always critical.
[Ding! Attribute points allocated successfully!]
[RC Cell Count +100]
[Attribute Points -100]
...
Ten minutes ago
Inside the building where Shoeisha Publishing was located.
Shunji was greeting a guest, a girl with green hair and green eyes, petite in stature, with delicate and cute features, slightly messy, naturally curly hair, looking no older than a middle school student.
Eto Yoshimura
"How old are you?"
"14... years old."
"Hmm..."
Upon learning her age, Shunji fell silent.
He stared at the thick stack of manuscripts she handed over, feeling dumbfounded.
He still needed to prepare for the dinner party and couldn't afford to waste time playing house with this little girl.
Shunji casually glanced at a few lines in the manuscript and commented, "...At first glance, it seems to have some literary quality, but most of it is flowery language with no substance, making it overly verbose"
"However, at your age, being able to write something like this is pretty good"
After giving a rather perfunctory evaluation of the manuscript, he handed her a business card. "Here's my card, if you have more works in the future, you can contact me"
In truth, he hadn't really read the content; he just wanted to quickly send her on her way because he had other things to do.
"..."
The green-haired girl looked at the business card in silence for a moment. "Aren't you going to read it thoroughly first?"
Shunji sighed, "I have things to attend to, and this manuscript has way too many pages..."
"But it's only been a little over ten minutes..."
"Ten minutes is still time! For us, every minute is extremely precious!"
"Understood..."
The green-haired girl sighed slightly, resigning herself to it.
After leaving Shoeisha Publishing, the weather outside was quite cold.
The green-haired girl was only wearing a thin, simple shirt and an old white coat, with her long skirt patched in several places.
She immediately tied a scarf around herself.
Her petite and thin figure seemed like it could be blown away by the cold wind at any moment...