"To the staff of The Dark Elf of the Flame Burst, thank you for your hard work over the last two years..."
When Rin returned to the hall, the buffet was over and the main event had begun. A camera was live-streaming the stage to thousands of fans online. Chris, acting as the editor, was introducing the star.
"And now, please welcome the author of The Dark Elf of the Flame Burst, Yamada Elf!"
With thunderous applause, Elf walked onto the stage in her red gown. She scanned the crowd until she found Rin and her mother. She gave a confident smirk.
"Thank you all for coming to celebrate with me! Feel honored to witness the beginning of a legend!"
The crowd laughed as she dove into her chuunibyou persona. The live chat was exploding with emojis and "loyalty" pledges.
"With 5 million copies sold, I have taken my first step toward world domination! As for how I got here..." She gave her mother a wink. "My beloved Mama has always been good to me, even if her love is a bit... heavy. She's just a tsundere~"
The crowd roared. Chris even let out a laugh.
"But Mama actually tried to choose a husband for me! How boring! She doesn't understand that finding your own love is where the real happiness is. So I ran away from home and turned my ideals into novels. Along the way, I had many wonderful encounters. For example..."
Elf gestured toward the wings. "Welcome, Utako Kasumi! My title as the world's most beautiful author is finally being challenged!"
Utaha walked out in a white blazer and a tight white skirt, her long legs encased in black stockings. The live-stream chat went absolutely nuclear. Nobody expected the "rival" Utako Kasumi to be there.
"Black stockings! Big tits!" The chat was a mess. Elf's fans were defecting to the "sexy" side in seconds.
"We had our differences online," Elf said with a sly smile, "but I finished my new book so quickly thanks to her. We wrote our new series together, in the same room, and they'll be released on the very same day."
"Indeed. I witnessed Elf's 'deadline magic' firsthand," Utaha added.
They bantered back and forth, promoting their new books like a comedy duo. Then, they checked the live-stream comments.
"Oh? Someone asked: 'Weren't Elf and Utako rivals? How did they become friends?' Friends? I'm not friends with this venomous, gloomy woman," Utaha said.
"Exactly. Who would be friends with this low-brow, chuunibyou brat?" Elf retorted. "My writing is world-class. Light novels should be easy to read. Your books are just a pile of pretentious words that give people headaches."
They traded insults for the camera, much to the delight of the audience.
"What's that? You're asking why we're releasing on the same day if we hate each other?" Elf and Utaha shared a look. A faint blush crept onto their faces, but they looked directly into the camera.
"Because... the prototype for both our protagonists is the same man. He gave us the inspiration for our new books. He... is the man we both love."
Elf looked directly at Rin in the crowd.
The chat froze. Then a tidal wave of question marks filled the screen.
Rin groaned. He had told Elf to keep it "professional rivals," not "love rivals." They were authors, not idols, so they wouldn't lose all their fans for "dating," but admitting the protagonist was a real person was a huge blow to "reader self-insertion." This would definitely hurt sales.
But looking at Elf's defiant, happy face, Rin just sighed.
As expected of Elf... she doesn't do anything by halves.
"That's right," Utaha added, her voice full of confidence. "We aren't friends. We are love rivals!"