Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard-Chapter 895 - 527: Light Novel Author

"Sakura, over here, over here."

Hanamaru Hanabi stood beside a bookshelf in the Light Novel Area, smiling and waving at Uesugi Sakura.

Today, she was dressed in a beige cotton jacket, a blue scarf around her neck, and her favorite beret perched on her little head.

Every smile and gesture exuded cute girlish charm, making one feel as if she would always be that eternally youthful pure girl.

Of course, she was only eighteen this year.

Completely deserving of the title "girl."

Uesugi Sakura walked towards her, at this moment Hanamaru Hanabi was picking up a book titled "Hanabi’s Love①" and observing it.

The cover featured an illustration she drew, vividly and brightly colored with the contrast brought out, depicting the protagonist Hanabi Chiwa.

It wasn’t Uesugi Sakura’s intention to look down on his peers, but this book stood out conspicuously on the shelf at first glance.

It was the illustration’s fault, simply too good, top-tier in the industry.

"It actually feels pretty good."

Hanamaru Hanabi scrutinized the first volume of "Hanabi’s Love," her gaze eventually resting on the top right corner.

"Eh, Sakura, your pen name is Hanabi-sama? Not Hanabi-sensei?"

"I changed it a bit later."

Uesugi Sakura knew it was a little strange of him.

The title, pen name, protagonist’s name...

Everything had the word "Hanabi" in it, like a crazy fan of "Hanabi."

But isn’t he just that, a crazy fan of Hanabi?

If he had to lead cheers for Hanabi-chan from the audience, it wouldn’t be impossible.

Uesugi Sakura casually picked up one of his own light novels, seriously looking at the jumping protagonist on the cover, Hanabi Chiwa.

Hanabi had drawn her with great care, her hair’s colors bright, facial expression delicate, and the leaping action with her shoulder bag gave the girl an aura full of youthful energy.

Uesugi Sakura glanced at where the book was placed, above was an explosive label indicating it had won the Best Newcomer Award in the Light Novel category this year, and if looked closely, selling points were noted.

[Written with authentic and emotional strokes, it captured the reviewers’ delicate style, highly recommended!!]

Even though Uesugi Sakura wrote light novels, he felt rather shy about reading aloud these overly dramatic promotional phrases.

This passage was written by the editor, and Uesugi Sakura didn’t know how this book was truly evaluated within their library, but as of now—

It should... be quite good?

Oh well, for the sake of better sales, it’s forgivable.

Hanamaru Hanabi covered half her face with "Hanabi’s Love," leaving only her eyes showing, and said:

"It feels like Sakura is a pervert."

"Huh?"

"The kind who would stalk Hanabi, constantly chanting Hanabi’s name, you know, a pervert."

"What? I’m definitely just an ardent fan of Hanabi, okay, a normal one." Uesugi Sakura smiled, "There used to be trolls online who deliberately dissed you, and I used your account to delete all their comments one by one."

"Sakura, you did such a thing?"

"I did... I couldn’t stand seeing them criticize you unjustly, clearly you hadn’t done anything wrong, yet you still got insulted."

"Sakura."

"Hmm?"

"The world has many people with different opinions, and even the most perfect person has to bear certain burdens... Hanabi isn’t unaware of what people say, but Hanabi chooses to ignore them. Now that you’ve become a light novel writer, you’re somewhat a public figure... From the start of the plot, there will definitely be people commenting on you."

"I know, I don’t really care about what others say about me; what I mean is... I just can’t stand it when they talk about you, clearly Hanabi-chan is so wonderful, yet still has to face such unwarranted malice."

Hanamaru Hanabi tilted her small head at him, smiling happily: "Is Sakura unconsciously protecting Hanabi?"

Her smile was like a blooming flower, warming hearts even on this snowy December day.

Uesugi Sakura still didn’t know how to respond to her appropriately.

Answering positively felt inexplicably silly.

Answering a sort of yes seemed dismissive.

Answering a firm yes felt too formal.

So, Uesugi Sakura returned a smile to the girl holding the book.

Then looked at her smile, almost identical to Hanabi Chiwa on the cover of "Hanabi’s Love."

Uesugi Sakura seemed to fall into the warm winds of April again.

Hanamaru Hanabi held the book in her arms, turned her head, and said: "Speaking of which, Hanabi hasn’t seriously read through Sakura’s revised version. As Sakura’s first reader, I definitely need to buy the book first."

Uesugi Sakura: "This is my first time writing, it might not be so perfect."

"It doesn’t matter, even if Sakura’s book isn’t that good, Hanabi will read it word by word, because reading Sakura’s book isn’t just about seeing the story you’ve constructed, but also feeling the emotions when you wrote that scene."

Upon hearing Hanamaru Hanabi’s words, Uesugi Sakura felt an inexplicable push against his back.

This push was warm and light, and upon looking back, he saw a smiling girl.

She unconditionally supported and liked him, loved everything about him.

When feeling lost, she would be there to provide comforting encouragement.

...

If Uesugi Sakura weren’t someone who refused to give up because of setbacks, he really felt like he could always rest his head on Hanabi-chan’s lap, feeling her gentle touch and those heartfelt soft words.

"There probably aren’t many people coming to buy books now, this early." Hanamaru Hanabi looked around to see if anyone else had come by.