(Asane POV)

  It surprised me when I checked my LINE account this morning. Only my parents' socials and the three authors I contracted were usually listed there, but when I checked it early this morning, I was surprised to see a lot of calls from unknown users.

  Most of them were simply people expressing their appreciation for my efforts, but a few asked if I wanted to collaborate, and some even wanted to ask if I was available to work for their publishing firm.

  Those who requested my cooperation are actual mangaka artists. I just looked some of them up and saw their bio, which stated that they were an illustrator, concept art designer, and animator. I don't know how to talk to them, so I decided to put it off until next time.

  I'm not even an artist, so how can I communicate with them!?

  I have to prepare my heart first!

  As for the three people asking whether I'm available to work for their publishing firm, I refused.

  Why should I? A quick look at their publishing company revealed that they were among those who made dull adaptations just for profit!

  No way! I am not going to associate myself with them!

  And even if a well-known publisher attempted to hire me, I would also decline their offer.

  I started Singularity Works to save other artists from succumbing to the same terrible corporate drivel. If I join one of them, it will defeat the entire point of my website!

  After that minor issue, I checked the status of my contracted authors. Wadokami-sensei works quickly, and he has already finished checking and offering suggestions for chapter 19 of the manga. Fudo-sensei is likewise fantastic, checking all of my drafts and accepting them with little requests for modifications. Shiroko-sensei, however, was particularly difficult.

  The first time I saw her via video chat, I was surprised to learn she was a woman. Webnovel authors were mostly men, and the few female authors I knew tended to write romance manga or yaoi smuts. It was surprising to learn that a woman wrote "The Villainess Quits!" because the story wasn't really a romance. It was a shoujo ai series, but the story was quite complex with its political maneuvering and, most importantly, the war! How did she write such vivid depictions of war!? She doesn't look like it too!

  Anyway, after my repeated reassurance that she could demand any changes she wanted from me, this woman accepted my offer and did exactly that. She was extremely meticulous when it came to scenes. Even after perfecting the background details, she was dissatisfied because they lacked flair. She wanted to add special effects to some of the scenes, such as flowery backgrounds on the border of a panel, shiny backgrounds whenever characters were introduced, and whatever effects she could think of based on the scene.

  I stated that it was tough since my [Manga Assistant Tool] does not transfer illogical effects used for flair. [Manga Assistant Tool] was simply a component of software designed to replicate a true virtual world, so it was reasonable. It was a feature of the application designed particularly for rendering sceneries and physics in virtual worlds. Asking it to create flares would be ineffective because the scene does not reflect actual physics. It was essentially a tool for transforming what was written into a logical, step-by-step scene through manga panels that followed standard physics.

  I can just input some rules so the [Manga Assistant Tool] can follow such scenes. I did that on "Isekai Growth Cheat" so the [Manga Assistant Tool] can simulate what would happen when magic like what was written on the web novel occurred in a simulated world and translate that simulation into manga panels. Even Fudo-sensei's work, "Leisure VR," used the same logic, and in fact was quite appropriate for it because the setting itself was set in a fictional virtual game, so this tool could simulate it too.

  Shiroko-Sensei's demands... does not translate well to real physics. How does a simulation of real-world physics translate flowers in a manga panel's border?

  The answer was no; it was impossible!

  That scene doesn't make sense in a real-life simulation!

  So how did I manage to make two volumes of "The Villainess Quits!" adaptation?

  Well, there was a simple solution to it!

  I made another AI!

  It was quite easy because I already have an AI template. So it didn't take long before I made Researcher-chan!

  With Researcher-chan, she could scour everything on the internet and then pass it to Coder-chan. Coder-chan wasn't programmed to learn anything on the internet, and I simply wanted her to focus solely on coding for me, so that was why I made Researcher-chan.

  After Researcher-chan searched all the relevant information for special effects, I typed a command for Coder-chan. It has to make a program that would help the [Manga Assistant Tool] for making special effects throughout its manga panels!

  This is how the [Special Effects Plugin] came to be. As the name suggests, it was a plugin for [Manga Assistant Tool] that would create any relevant special effects for a scene. With its installation, [Manga Assistant Tool] was updated to version 2.

  Thanks to this tool, I managed to meet Shiroko-sensei's demands. It had also helped me enhance Wadokami-sensei and Fudo-sensei's works through making everyone happy!

  ... However, it was still difficult to satisfy Shiroko-sensei. Even though [Manga Assistant Tool V2] could now make scene-appropriate special effects, Shiroko-sensei sought several revisions since she was dissatisfied with the majority of them. So I'm continuously creating drafts based on her instructions and making modifications until she's satisfied.

  It wasn't that annoying. I found it endearing because it showed me that Shiroko-sensei truly loved her work!

  Once more, I looked through her suggestions and ran it through the [Manga Assistant Tool V2] while happily humming a tune.

  (Third Person POV)

  Shirogane Kuroko still couldn't believe her luck. She had always assumed that because of the gravity of this story's numerous topics, her story would never be adapted. She genuinely meant to write a yuri with an otome game twist, but because she is a history buff, she ended up writing a novel set in a medieval society mired in perpetual strife.

  The cliché of an otome gamer being reborn in their own favorite game has lately gained popularity, and she liked it so much that she sought to write her own version of it; however, the otome game part of the novel was already gone before twenty chapters had passed.

  She simply couldn't resist. She enjoyed creating her own world and envisioning fictitious battles and conflicts. She was more concerned with how each army would fight on an imaginary battlefield than with the relationship between the female heroine and the female lead.

  She couldn't quit since she'd been writing it for four months already. She became engrossed in the story's narrative and grew to like it. She just wanted to write it till the conclusion.

  It was meant to be a passion project. She didn't anticipate any publishers picking it up.

  Then someone actually picked it up!

  It wasn't a publisher, but rather a godly mangaka artist who picked it up!

  She heard the familiar sound of a notification from her LINE and instantly retrieved her phone to check it, only to discover it was from Genjitsu. Her heart was moved as she opened the chatroom and saw the content of Genjitsu's latest post to her.

  [Genjitsu]: Here is the fourth revision. Please check at your own convenience. (Attachment.pdf)

  [Shiroko]: Thank you for the good work. Please give me a moment.

  [Genjitsu]: ^_^

  Kuroko had taken Genjitsu's repeated assurances that she could demand any changes she wanted from her and that she should not hold back with her suggestions seriously, and she had taken full advantage of that. Of course, she hadn't done so from the beginning. She was still restrained at the time, but as time passed and Genjitsu demonstrated the willingness to meet all of her demands, she gradually became bolder and bolder until she only sought perfection. She adored her work and wished to see it illustrated to her exact specifications.

  As she looked through the file, she couldn't help but be captivated by the amazing visuals. This was one of the many things that astonished her. Genjitsu was not just incredibly fast at creating manga drafts, but she was also carefully thorough in everything. She drew a lot of pages to keep the rhythm of her plot consistent, and she portrayed everything that was going on in the scene. Furthermore, the new special effects improved the scenery on certain panels. It demonstrated Genjitsu's commitment to her job as well as her exceptional talent for her craft.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  'I wonder, how can she draw this quickly?'

  That question lingered in her mind, though she quickly shook her head out of those useless thoughts.

  "Right. This is great."

  She nodded to herself before opening her LINE and then telling Genjitsu about her approval.

  At the same time, she was already thinking about what else she could write next. She felt that anything was possible for her.

  She looked at the artwork one final time before returning her attention to her computer, cracking her fingers, and pressing the buttons in a rhythmic manner.

  'I have to do my best!' She thought to herself.

  Yuuma checked his bank account. He still could not believe it. He suddenly received money that was a hundred times greater than his customary amount, all due to his part of the profits. He realized how much that 80% meant when a thousand people pre-ordered volume two of his manga.

  'It feels overwhelming...' He clenched and unclenched his fist, his palm feeling sweaty due to nervousness.

  Having more than a hundred thousand yen in a high school student's bank account would do that. He was still young, yet he was already competing with an average salaryman's earnings.

  Of course, it wasn't an amount that could support an entire family yet, but it was enough for him if he wanted to live independently.

  Having earned such an amount also increased the pressure on his shoulders. He knew that his story only got so popular because of Genjitsu's illustrations. He was reading the comments, and while most people were singing praises for the story, there were the occasional ones who would state how mediocre the story was and others who only praised Genjitsu.

  'I have to do better than this!'

  The high he experienced when his first work got adapted was gone, and now he wanted more.

  He wanted to be recognized for his work!

  "But first..." He looked up, entering the living room where he could see his parents sitting on the couch and watching the TV. "Mom, Dad, I want to be a writer!"

  Now that he had money, he was confident that he could persuade his parents right now!

  It has been a few days since the update on Singularity Works. Newer visitors came to the site out of curiosity and eventually became fans after reading all three series. Some even purchased the second volumes of their favorite series, with a few purchasing one volume each because each series captured their full attention.

  At the end of the second week of this month, members of this site increased by ten thousand more. It still hasn't spread that far because their work was too little, and most of the manga adaptations came from unknown authors, and the series were obscure.

  Still, with this many people, it was inevitable that a few would make fan communities for it. There were fan communities made for each series, a fan community for the site itself, and a fan community for Genjitsu.

  Out of everyone, Genjitsu was an enigma. AI-generated content was still in its infancy this year, so even though a few industry experts were suspicious, they couldn't pinpoint what exactly was wrong with it. They knew that such speed was impossible for a normal artist.

  There was a certain community in the Japanese internet who became intrigued by Genjitsu. Most of these were casual internet lurkers and anime fans, though some of them were actual digital artists.

  Their current topic right now was about her and the mystery surrounding her.

  (Yurizono_Tamura): So seriously, what's with Genjitsu-sensei?

  (Shiozawa_Retsu): What?

  (Yurizono_Tamura): What what?

  (Chinp?): Elaborate, idiot!

  (Iroiro): A lot of things are weird about that artist. You should just say what you're curious about them, Tamura.

  (Fellruins): GENJITSU-CHAN BANZAI!!!

  (Yurizono_Tamura): Oh, is that what you meant?

  Yeah... My bad. I actually want to ask, what's with their speed?

  Doesn't anyone feel curious how they can finish volumes that fast?

  (Shioshio): I think we already agreed Genjitsu is a group's alias?

  (Shinjitsu): Hey, Sein is quite a cutie, isn't she?

  (Fellruins): AS EXPECTED OF GENJITSU-CHAN!!!

  (Yurizono_Tamura): Yeah... But you know, the author of that cheat Isekai keeps saying that Genjitsu-sensei is only one person...

  (Klein): That's just impossible. If that is done by a single person, then I'm superman!

  (Fellruins): HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, GENJITSU-CHAN?

  [{Mod}(Kiseki) has muted (Fellruins) for 30 minutes]

  {Mod}(Kiseki): Shut up, Fellruins!

  (Churro): Get rekt, simp!

  (Immolator): wwwwwww

  (Yurizono_Tamura): But really, even if that is done by a lot of people, those visuals are so highly detailed!

  (Shiozawa_Retsu): I think they are being overworked.

  (Skia): Fuck off! Firias all the way!

  (Chinp?): Well, I hope Genjitsu-sensei joined us. Naito invited them, right?

  (Shinjitsu): You fuck off!

  (Hear_me_out): Nah... the true answer is Walkyngryde. That's true beauty!

  (Shioshio): Or... maybe they have already drawn it last year and are just releasing it now?

  (Shinjitsu): ...

  (Skia): ...

  (Churro): ...

  (Chinp?): Shio... Did you read the source material?

  (Hear_me_out): What? You know I'm right.

  (Shinjitsu): Mod. Kick this guy's nuts!

  (Skia): You're getting a boner to an oversized lizard!?!?

  (Churro): Eugh....

  (Shioshio): Actually... I haven't. I'm not really interested in the source material.

  (Iroiro): Shio. Isekai Growth Cheat was just uploaded this February...

  (Yurizono_Tamura): But really... I want to know Genjitsu-sensei's secret!

  (Shioshio): WHAT!?!?

  Those were just the most interesting tidbits that occurred in that chat group.

  These few people were suspicious, but without concrete evidence, they could only speculate.

  Aside from that, there was a minor issue with some publishing firms repeatedly attempting to contact Genjitsu but being refused. They were unhappy, but they didn't pursue the matter further because, at the end of the day, Genjitsu was just one artist. There were many more out there.

  Casual fans don't care. They were simply happy at being given more content that could satisfy them.

  Things returned to normal after a while.

  Then, as another week passed, another shocking announcement happened!

  (ANNOUNCEMENT)

  We are glad to announce that the third volume of "The Villainess Quits!" and "Leisure VRMMO Newbie ~ Becoming Strongest through Auxillary Skills" will become available next week!

  In celebration of this announcement, any members can enjoy a 50% discount on any purchasable volumes for a week!

  ~ Singularity Works Official

  This announcement shook the entire fandom of this site!

  (Asane POV)

  Reject! Reject! Reject! Reject! Reject!!!

  Okay, this is getting tiring. What's with these publishing firms trying to recruit me?

  Since PR-chan's announcement yesterday, an increasing number of unknown users have called me, thanking, inviting, and recruiting me all at once. I had no idea what was going on, so I ignored most of them. It was exhausting to read countless messages from strangers.

  I am an otaku! I do not have time to interact with them!

  I should be lying on my bed, reading books, watching anime, and playing video games!

  Did they believe I actually made those illustrations? Perhaps I should tell them that I'm using tools to assist me.

  Ugh... Whatever...

  Anyway, it surprised me that Shiroko-sensei was able to approve all of the chapters necessary to complete the third arc of her novel. I expected Fudo-sensei to be finished because his story only involved a cute protagonist doing random things and gaining stronger powers as a result, but Shiroko-sensei was picky about the details, so I expected it to take her longer than even Wadokami-sensei, who was still new and had to create more chapters.

  Well, unlike Wadokami-sensei, Fudo-sensei's and Shiroko-sensei's works started last year, so they have a lot more material than Wadokami-sensei's story.

  Perhaps I should have expected it. Shiroko-sensei was considerably more active than Fudo-sensei, who seldom requested changes and only spoke to me once or twice a day. Whenever I submitted my drafts for her approval, she responded within thirty minutes. She was so dedicated that even if the chapter went back and forth several times, she was still eager to review my drafts and make suggestions as quickly as possible.

  Shiroko-sensei was pretty vivid in herself, if we only consider her eye for details. It was only that the genre of her story felt out of sync with the contents of her webnovel, even though she was still attempting to add Yuri into the plot, that her story did not acquire enough admirers, burying it in obscurity by other otome villainess stories.

  These authors are truly more creative than me. If it were me, I would only be doing monotonous stuff instead of pursuing a career as an artist.

  Anyway, my phone is making a lot of noises. I really can't turn off the notifications on my phone because I still have to check it from time to time. My LINE account was the only one where I could talk to my contracted authors.

  So, I am here, sitting in my chair while gazing at the monitor of my computer. On the screen of my monitor is a small panel with a loading bar with it. This panel was actually Coder-chan, and that loading bar was their progress before they were done making the script.

  I just recently thought of it after being fed up by the continuous pings on my phone. I told Coder-chan to make a script that could disable any notification sounds from anyone who introduced themselves as a representative of a publishing firm and filter useless noises that weren't related to my own work.

  It was really hard to think for myself. Having knowledge without creativity really makes things harder for me. I mean, I should have thought of this, but I just recently did so after being reminded through my vast knowledge that, yes, I can actually make a script that does that!

  I don't feel like coding, so I leave it to Coder-chan.

  It didn't take long before Coder-chan was done. Now I have a minor script running in the background that would filter any oncoming messages to me that have no relation to my work. That meant only Wadokami-sensei, Fudo-sensei, and Shiroko-sensei could talk to me now.

  Ah... This is peace! No more incessant pinging disturbing me!

  ... Hm? What's that ping? Is that from Wadokami-sensei?

  I looked at my phone and frowned when I saw it came from another stranger.

  Weird... Did Coder-chan make a mistake on the filter?

  Even as I thought of that, I checked the message out of curiosity.

  [Lupo]: Hello, I apologize for suddenly chatting. I saw you are the illustrator at Singularity Works. I became a fan!

  Sorry if this is abrupt, but can I ask how I can submit my work to Singularity Works?

  I'm looking for someone to adapt my story into manga, and I heard about your website. Sorry if I'm contacting you even though you are the illustrator. If you know who I should contact at Singularity Works, please let me know.

  This is... I don't remember any author with that kind of name in my past life. Still, this is surprising. I am usually the one reaching out to authors for their work.

  ... Well, if an author is asking me, then I have to lend an ear, right?

  [Genjitsu]: You don't have to look anywhere; I'm also in charge of Singularity Works.

  Let's talk, Lupo-sensei.

  Even if his story isn't decent, I have to give it a chance. Who knows, maybe I will love it?