Bonus Chapter at 300 PS
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The following day, Monday.
After diligently attending four periods of lectures in the morning, Haruto and Reina met up in the afternoon to head over to the Animation Studio.
"Is this the car you bought?"
Having grown up surrounded by luxury vehicles, Reina wasn't particularly shocked by Haruto's new purchase. However, since Haruto was personally driving her to the office today instead of calling a taxi, she couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Yeah. What do you think? Pretty sleek, right?" Haruto's expression was filled with genuine excitement.
Speeding through the city streets in a flashy sports car was a dream he had harbored since he was young. His motivation wasn't anything as shallow as trying to pick up girls; he simply loved the machinery. It was the same kind of pure, unadulterated passion that boys in his previous world felt for high-performance engineering.
"It's alright, I guess," Reina replied, her expression as calm as a still lake.
"I figured as much. Why would someone like you be interested in cars?" Haruto laughed after glancing at her indifferent face.
"My only interest right now is writing novels," she added simply.
"Speaking of which, I heard your series, The Blade of the Other Side, is approaching its conclusion, right?" Haruto asked while keeping his eyes on the road.
"Yes. It was always intended to be a mid-length story. I never planned for it to be a long-running epic."
"And the results...?" Haruto probed further.
"Over the past month, its ranking in Azure Kiyozawa was 1-2-2-2-1," Reina said after a brief pause. "Compared to the success of Initial D and Sword Art Online, The Blade of the Other Side is still quite far behind."
Haruto felt a slight wave of awkwardness wash over him.
"Actually... the performance of your novel is already staggering." Haruto recalled the data on various works and authors he had seen in the documents Ms. Hime gave him yesterday.
"Take the other series in the same magazine, for example. You know them, right? The ones ranked second or third last week. Those authors didn't hit it big until they were much older. When they were twenty, some were still struggling with newcomer competitions and only managed to rank low in the fields. After signing long-term contracts, their first novels weren't even good enough for the main magazine; they were serialized in second-tier publications with modest sales." Haruto glanced at Reina.
"You took a top-ten spot in the Ascent of New Gods when you were only seventeen."
"By nineteen, you've written a story that can claim the top spot in the main magazine. Your achievements at the same age absolutely crush theirs."
"What does that matter?" Reina looked at Haruto. "The gap between us is even wider now than it was back in Minamijo."
"To the Moon, Sword Art Online, Initial D, Puella Magi Madoka Magica..." Reina paused, but then a faint smile played across her lips. "Initially, I wanted to chase you and surpass you simply because I hated losing."
"I didn't think you would become so powerful that it's almost despair-inducing. But now..."
"But now what?" Haruto asked curiously.
"Now I feel like my taste wasn't bad back then. The person I chose to be my rival naturally had to be the number one talent in the industry."
"The number one talent in the industry?" Haruto chuckled. "Are you trying to flatter me to death?"
"No... I truly believe it. Give it a few more years, and it is highly probable you will actually reach that peak," Reina said softly.
After all, for someone who could create a phenomenon like Madoka Magica at the age of nineteen, no level of expectation for their future could be considered an exaggeration.
"I didn't realize you held me in such high regard," Haruto said after a moment, before joking, "If I'm that terrifying in your eyes, why do you still want to compete with me?"
"That is exactly why. Luck changes like the wind. You are only temporarily in the lead. No one stays at the summit forever. But if there ever comes a day when you stand at the very peak of this industry, and someone is capable of pulling you down from that spot... well, I intend for that person to be me." A slight, confident smirk appeared on Reina's face.
"That is also the reason why I am wrapping up The Blade of the Other Side so quickly. My manager told me that a serialization slot will open up in the main magazine this November. Last time, because you suddenly jumped in, many authors found their prepared manuscripts useless. They have been building their strength for two months just for this upcoming opportunity."
Reina looked at Haruto intensely. "And I am exactly the same. I have my eyes set on that slot."
"Is that so? No wonder..." Haruto murmured thoughtfully. "I didn't know about that. I haven't been paying much attention to the schedule."
"That is because you are standing so high that you rarely look down. People from our year in the Ascent of New Gods, whenever they are interviewed, all they talk about is making you their target and surpassing you." Reina elaborated a bit more after seeing Haruto's expression.
"In the eyes of the top-tier veteran creators, you are a formidable challenge, the strongest 'new wave' the industry has ever seen. But in the eyes of those of us competing alongside you in the same generation... you have already grown into a Demon King level existence."
"Great Demon King? That sounds a bit too much like a fantasy novel," Haruto laughed.
As they chatted, the car soon arrived at the studio. Haruto, Reina, and Yukino were the three shareholders of the company.
Aside from their own creative pursuits, they each held specific tasks and responsibilities within the studio.
In reality, Haruto could have hired professionals for many of these tasks. The reason he placed these two in important positions was purely based on trust. Talented people are easy to find if you have enough money, but people Haruto can trust implicitly, people he knows will never betray him, are rare in the industry.
During the meeting, the company accountant reported the projected earnings for Puella Magi Madoka Magica and noted the purchase of the sports car and the luxury villa in Haruto's name via the company.
First, the staggering profits from Madoka Magica were officially confirmed for the two of them during the meeting. Finance is the absolute core of any company, so all related matters had been handled exclusively by Haruto until now. They had their suspicions, but they didn't know the exact details.
When they heard that the projected total profit over the next few years would exceed ten billion yen, their expressions went completely blank.
This meant that their respective shares could theoretically yield dividends of hundreds of millons of yen, provided that Haruto, the majority shareholder, chose to distribute those profits.
Regardless, compared to their initial investments, this was an astronomical return. And this didn't even account for the potential earnings from the upcoming projects, 7 Years From Now and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
It was simply beyond belief.
Even though Yukino and Reina both came from comfortable backgrounds, they still felt that this money had been earned far too easily.
On the other hand, the matter of the villa and the car being bought under the company's name was a minor detail. It was primarily for the sake of rational tax avoidance. Since the company held the property, the annual depreciation of the villa could be used to offset business taxes.
Furthermore, Haruto didn't have to pay personal income tax on the money used for the purchase before turning it into private property. By doing it this way, he saved tens of millions of yen in unnecessary fees.
There were downsides, of course. If the company went bankrupt, the house would be liquidated. However, Haruto didn't believe the Haru-Yuki Animation Studio was at risk of bankruptcy. As the chairman, he didn't operate on debt, nor did he have any expensive vices. He had no intention of selling his primary residence, so in his view, the drawbacks were virtually nonexistent.
Then came the main point. Once the accountant had explained the allocation of funds, Haruto looked directly at Yukino and Reina.
"So... do the two of you want to move in?"
Silence fell over the room for several seconds.
"Eh?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Yukino looked at Haruto with a look of utter confusion.
"I'm asking if you two want to move in as well," Haruto said, looking at Reina.
"I spent hundreds of millions on this place because the neighborhood is gated and secure. There are no reporters or paparazzi. You're already being hounded by fans, aren't you?"
Reina hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"And Yukino... as the Vice-Chairwoman of Haru-Yuki Animation, you're being watched by a lot of people in the industry. As our head of external affairs, there were reporters trying to tail you recently, hoping to find out my true identity, right?"
Yukino nodded as well.
"As the company grows, these kinds of situations will only increase. If you keep living in ordinary apartment complexes, the trouble will only get worse." Haruto knew his words might cause a misunderstanding, but he was simply stating the facts.
"The villa I bought in the company's name is a corporate asset. You can just treat it as a company dormitory and move in. The villa is huge anyway; there are over a dozen suites, so there is more than enough room for everyone." Haruto looked at them both. "Most importantly, you should trust my character."
"Cough, cough, cough..." Yukino blinked and cleared her throat.
"Wait..." Reina noticed a discrepancy. "Who else is moving in?"
"Oh, there is also my senior from the manga club, Shizuru, who is currently drawing Initial D with me. Her situation is even more serious. Last week, some fanatical fans were camping outside her front door. She's my partner, so I have to ensure her daily safety and privacy. I asked her if she minded moving in, which would also make it easier for us to discuss the storyboards without having to travel back and forth..."
"She agreed?" Yukino's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yes," Haruto nodded.
The expressions on Reina and Yukino's faces shifted instantly. They spoke in unison.
"I understand."
"I see."
"Does that mean... you agree?" Haruto was somewhat surprised and asked for confirmation.
Reina and Yukino paused for a moment, then nodded.
Once he received their confirmation, Haruto finally felt at ease.
He wasn't unaware of how inappropriate his proposal might sound, a man inviting them to live in a new house he had purchased. However, Shizuru, Reina, and Yukino were all deeply connected to him. They were either business partners or collaborators. For the sake of work efficiency, this arrangement had genuine benefits.
As for the downsides... it just sounded a bit strange to have three women and one man living in the same villa.
But if one changed their perspective, it was simply Haruto's partners living in a luxurious company dormitory he had provided. Aside from the fact that they were technically under the same roof, the privacy and security of each individual room were far superior to any apartment building.
Since they both agreed to the proposal, Haruto didn't feel the need to bring up Plan B.
Plan B involved buying another villa to house his partners together. That would have also facilitated work discussions without wasting time on commutes, but it would have been a waste of funds. He couldn't let them stay in their homes, fearing a stalker might attack them one day.
With those minor details settled, the next few days were filled with a new task for Haruto, Reina, Yukino, and Shizuru.
Moving.
As time marched on, the third chapter of Sword Art Online was successfully released on Friday.