A Single Person's Infinite Wonderful Life

“We might not be going the same way. I can go back by myself. Li Weijun, where are you staying now?” Kasumigaoka Utaha asked.

“I rented a small apartment in Shibuya Ward, what about you, senpai?” Li Wei said.

“I’m the same as you, living alone in an apartment now, but I’m in Setagaya Ward,” Kasumigaoka Utaha said with a smile.

After leaving the yakitori restaurant, the two walked together to the station, took different trams, and went their separate ways home.

Li Wei felt a bit conflicted. He realized that his attitude towards Kasumigaoka Utaha had changed. If before he was simply attracted to her looks and liked her beauty, now he had begun to appreciate her inner talent.

A pretty face is a dime a dozen, but an interesting soul is one in a million. Kasumigaoka Utaha has an interesting soul. Most importantly, Kasumigaoka Utaha is like Doma Umaru from "Himouto! Girls," a hidden otaku.

Moreover, Kasumigaoka Utaha's hobbies are relatively similar to Li Wei's, which is what surprised Li Wei the most. He did not expect that Kasumigaoka Utaha, a seemingly quiet and reserved literary beauty, would like the PC game "World of Warships" by the white-haired people the most. In addition, she is also an aircraft carrier expert. Li Wei was immediately shocked.

Chapter 35. The Fifth Member of the Club

On another new day, Li Wei, as usual, slacked off in class and slept after class. Meanwhile, Aki Tomoya went all out to get a classroom, arguing with the teacher in the office. He did manage to get one, but the teacher made an agreement with him: he had to have an activity club before he was eligible to use the classroom.

However, to create a club, you need five people. Right now, the game development department is short-staffed, with only four people at most: Li Wei, Kasumigaoka Utaha, Sawamura Eriri, and Aki Tomoya. If we don't get the last person, the club can't be established, and Li Wei and the others won't be able to use that empty classroom legitimately.

Aki Tomoya complained to Li Wei, "We only have four people now. If we can't get five people, we can't start a club, so we'll have to look for other places."

Li Wei asked, "An Yi-kun, are you worried about funding?"

Aki Tomoya scratched his head and said with a bitter expression, "Yeah, if we don't have that empty classroom, we'll have to find another place to work. Renting a place outside will cost at least 300,000 yen a month. It would be best to save on that expense."

Li Wei crossed his arms and leaned back slightly: "Actually, there's nothing wrong with renting a place outside as an office. This ten million is just my initial investment. There's no need to save money on trivial matters. We should use our resources wisely."

Aki Tomoya opened his mouth, unsure what to say. He was just an ordinary otaku, and couldn't find common ground with a "tycoon" like Li Wei. A game development team of a few people also needs a certain amount of space, so they can't just rent a small studio apartment as their office. At the very least, they need to ensure a spacious environment so that the staff can work without disturbing each other.

If you do the math, a house like this would cost at least 300,000 yuan a month to rent. You have to understand that many working people only earn that much a month. Li Wei's extravagance made him feel a little sour and envious.

Li Wei looked in the direction of Kato Megumi. Kato Megumi seemed to sense something. She looked up from her book and her eyes met Li Wei's. Her eyes were full of doubt.

Li Wei turned his head and said, "If it's just a matter of getting five people, I have a way. We just need to bring in one more person."

Aki Tomoya also showed a surprised expression. After all, like him, Li Wei had declared himself a homebody in class, which made it difficult to recruit others into the club. Aki Tomoya had considered bringing in a few of his homebody friends to fill the ranks, but they all had their own things to do and didn't want to be ghost members for him, hence his predicament.

Li Wei revealed a mysterious smile: "Anyway, as long as I can recruit the fifth member, that's fine, right? As for how to recruit people and who they are, you don't need to worry about that, An Yi-kun. You should focus on your own ideas and think about how to make the game."

Li Wei touched a nerve, and Aki Tomoya felt a little uncomfortable. However, his lack of creativity was indeed a fatal flaw. He could already visualize the general outline of the work in his mind, but when asked to describe the content, he would get stuck.

After all, creating works and writing reviews are completely different things. His talent for writing reviews is completely useless in creating works, which is his most awkward situation.

During lunch break, Li Wei found Kato Megumi eating her bento at her seat. No matter what she did, Kato Megumi was always alone. In Japan, many people like to eat their bento in groups, pretending that they are not alone, but Kato Megumi doesn't have this problem because the people around her don't even notice her. She is like air, and that's why she can openly eat her bento alone.

"Li Wei, is there something you need?" Kato Megumi asked in her usual weak and listless voice as she looked at Li Wei sitting down opposite her.

"There's something I need your help with." Li Wei didn't beat around the bush. After placing the lunchbox on the table, he sat down. There were only a few people left in the classroom at this time, so as long as they didn't speak loudly, it was perfectly fine to talk about things.

Kato Megumi looked at Li Wei, continued eating her bento, and said softly, "Let me make this clear first, I don't know much, so I might not be able to help."

Kato Megumi was very clear about her own position. Although she had good learning abilities, she hadn't deliberately developed them because she had never been needed. Now, she had to start learning everything from scratch for any job that required even a little technical skill. That's why she had made it clear beforehand that Li Wei shouldn't have too high expectations.

"It's nothing complicated, I just hope you can do me a small favor and be a ghost member," Li Wei said.

Kato Megumi nodded, picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks, slowly put it in her mouth, swallowed it, and then calmly said, "It doesn't have to be anything complicated or important. I'm afraid I'll mess things up."

Kato Megumi didn't have much of a relationship with the other students in her class. The only person she could call a friend was Li Wei. This was the first time she had been seriously entrusted with something by someone, and the feeling of being needed was quite nice.

Li Wei said, "It's not a complicated matter. A few other people from the school and I wanted to form a game development club, but we couldn't start because we were short one person. Hui, this game development club isn't just a hobby; we're actually going to make games. I think you can learn some interesting things here."

Kato Megumi thought about it and decided that having more skills was never a bad thing. In any case, her grades had always been among the top in her grade, and she still had plenty of energy to do other things. Joining a club wouldn't be a bad thing.

Chapter 36. Members Assemble

After school in the afternoon, Li Wei did not rush to leave the school. Instead, he talked to the other members of the game development club, and the five of them met in the activity department room.

When Li Wei and Kato Megumi arrived at the clubroom, only Kasumigaoka Utaha was there. Aki Tomoya had gone to Class G to find Sawamura Eriri. Once they arrived, all five members of the club were present.

"Senior, I didn't expect you to arrive before us." Li Wei put down his laptop bag and found a seat not far from Kasumigaoka Utaha.

Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at Kato Megumi next to Li Wei, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, but still maintained a smile: "Li Wei-kun, who is this?"

Li Wei said, "This is Kato Megumi, who is in the same class as An Yi. She is a very versatile girl."

"Plasticity?" Kato Megumi tilted her head slightly, somewhat puzzled.

Before coming here, she thought she was just a ghost member to fill a quota, but Li Wei's word "malleability" meant that she was not just a decoration.

Li Wei said, "As for Hui, it's always good to learn more. After all, your physical characteristics prevent you from doing many jobs, so you need to have some skills to make a living, rather than some skills that don't require much interaction with people."

Kasumigaoka Utaha said, "As for Megumi, I didn't notice her when she came in. I only noticed her after you sat down here, Li Wei. What's going on? It's like a ninja's invisibility."

Kato Megumi said softly, "I'm not a ninja, it's just that my presence is rather faint. It's normal that you didn't notice me right away, senpai. But it's not bad, because many times even when I'm standing right in front of someone, they won't notice me. It's like I'm passively invisible. I'm glad you were able to find me, senpai."

Kasumigaoka Utaha was immediately astonished. The world was vast and full of wonders; she never expected that there was such a special existence as Kato Megumi. This reminded her of a very legendary old lady.

In Poland, there was an elderly woman in her eighties who had a brush with death 127 times in her life. This woman, named Barbara, experienced four plane crashes, seven car accidents, and twelve inexplicable falls from buildings or stairs. She also experienced a balcony that broke while she was watching children play below, a chandelier falling from the roof of the Warsaw Theater, two train collisions, a gas explosion, a criminal attack, and a speedboat sinking to the bottom of the sea. But she always managed to escape danger unscathed.

Compared to those who have a constitution that dances with death, Kato Megumi's constitution, which is merely a lack of presence, is not considered a particularly serious problem by Kasumigaoka Utaha.

Kato Megumi sat down next to Li Wei. In an unfamiliar environment and with unfamiliar people, people instinctively stick together with those they are familiar with. Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at Kato Megumi sitting next to Li Wei and felt a little jealous.

Just then, Aki Tomoya and Sawamura Eriri also arrived at the classroom, and the five members of the game development club were finally all present.

“Aki-kun, we’ve been waiting for you and Sawamura-kun. Now that everyone’s here, I’ll treat you to some all-you-can-eat conveyor belt sushi in a bit, how about it?” Li Wei said.

Aki Tomoya looked at everyone in the classroom and said, "Li Weijun, you're still like this. With ten million in funding, spending it like this won't last long."

Li Wei laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's just an invitation, it won't be deducted from the budget. The budget for making the game should only be used for the game's production. But before that, we need to take a break. I have a contract to sign with Shinazugawa Bunko. The signing will be held at a nearby coffee shop. After we sign the contract, we can go eat sushi, how about that?"

Aki Tomoya was somewhat surprised: "Li Wei-kun, when did you start writing light novels? And you're even signing a contract with a light novel publisher. How come I've never heard you mention such a big thing before?"

"This is a surprise for everyone, so I kept it a secret. We're going to have sushi later to celebrate," Li Wei said with a smile.

After each member of the club gave a brief self-introduction, the group left the school and headed to a café in the shopping street near the school. When they arrived at the café, Machida Sonoko and Kawada Yuichiro were already waiting there, accompanied by a young woman who looked like an office worker. Although she couldn't compare to a great beauty like Machida Sonoko, she was still quite pretty and would definitely turn heads on the street in real life.

Upon seeing Li Wei and the others, Machida Sonoko waved. Li Wei sat down opposite Machida Sonoko, while the others sat in another booth next to her, ordering simple snacks and drinks, and waiting for Li Wei.

After exchanging pleasantries, the elegant clerk pushed the contract in front of Li Wei and said, "Please take a look at the contract, teacher. There are three copies: one for you, one for the library, and one to be sent for filing. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and I will answer them for you at any time."

Li Wei took the pen from the other person and said, "I have no objection. Just follow the rules."

Li Wei opened the contract and began to browse through its terms. He had to admit that the contracts between Japanese paperback publishers and light novel authors were relatively lenient.

Li Wei recalled the terms and conditions of one of China's largest online novel platforms—they were incredibly unfair, treating authors as mere ghostwriters. In contrast, Japanese light novel authors enjoyed a much better working environment than their Chinese counterparts. At least they held the copyright to their works, and even if a publishing company wanted to use the copyright for something, they had to get the author's consent first. Moreover, the original authors typically earned substantial profits from anime adaptations and merchandise development.

After confirming that there were no problems with the contract, Li Wei said, "I'll sign the contract, but you don't need to arrange an artist for me afterwards. I'll handle the interruption issue myself."

Chapter 37. I Don't Need an Illustrator

Li Wei's words stunned both Kawada Yuichiro and Machida Sonoko, who were sitting opposite him.

After carefully considering his words, Kawada Yuichiro said, "Great Demon God Teacher (Li Wei's pen name), the illustrators we provide are guaranteed to have high-quality artwork. If you have other ideas, you can discuss them with us."

Li Wei took his computer out of his bag, turned it on, brought up his portfolio, opened the browsing mode, turned it around, and pushed it in front of Kawada Yuichiro.

"Because I am capable of doing the work of an illustrator myself, and I understand my own work, if I discuss it with an illustrator, the other party may not be able to draw the effect I want, so I am prepared to do it myself," Li Wei said.

Yuichiro Kawada and Sonoko Machida both looked on in surprise as they gazed at the exquisite and grand color illustrations on the computer screen.

However, this is normal. Most people only have enough energy to do one thing well. People like Li Wei, who have considerable achievements in both writing and painting, are very rare.

Kawada Yuichiro kept clicking the "next" button, deeply impressed by Li Wei's previous works. Li Wei's painting style was extremely diverse and mature, clearly the work of a seasoned artist who had been frequently tormented by clients. Whether it was anime style, Western realistic style, oil painting style, or the bizarre and traditional fantasy, Li Wei's skill was remarkably high.

Li Wei certainly has the right to say that he doesn't need the help of illustrators. Kawada Yuichiro thought about it and realized that Li Wei's drawing skills had already surpassed the vast majority of illustrators. Would such a master need anyone else's help?

The illustrators familiar to Shinazugawa Bunko are indeed inferior to Li Wei in terms of painting skills. In addition, Li Wei's own understanding of the works far surpasses that of those illustrators. Only by having Li Wei draw the illustrations himself can the spirit of the works be fully brought out.

Li Wei explained, "After all, this work belongs to the counter-mainstream category. The overall tone is absurd and gray humor, with a touch of coldness, so it's difficult for ordinary illustrators to capture that grand and majestic otherworldly feeling. The illustration style of this work will be mainly in cool tones, and it will severely test the artist's control over the details of medieval themes, including buildings, clothing, accessories, and daily necessities. These are not things that ordinary artists can handle. I plan to use a thick-painting style to draw the entire series of illustrations. To create this style, it would generally be best to directly invite top-notch oil painters, but those oil painters wouldn't be willing to lower themselves to do such a thing, so I had to do it myself."

Li Wei is, after all, an old painter who has painted in many styles. He is very familiar with medieval themes. He has painted many fantasy-style paintings, such as dragons and knights, magicians and nobles, castles and mercenaries, as well as cathedrals and large-scale fantasy city clusters. He is very skilled at all of them and can paint them with his eyes closed.

Japanese illustrators are mostly skilled in anime and cute styles, and they are good at drawing waifus. However, asking them to draw illustrations for traditional fantasy works is a bit of a stretch.

To put it bluntly, it's a mismatch between their art style and their expertise. The anime-style illustrations couldn't capture the essence of the work. Although Li Wei wrote the work in the style of a light novel, its core is satire and dark humor, making it a completely different species from ordinary light novels that "pursue beauty." This is why the illustration style didn't quite fit in.

"Alright, Great Demon God Teacher, you've convinced me." Kawada Yuichiro turned the computer around and pushed it back in front of Li Wei.

The game development team members sitting in the booth behind Li Wei were not surprised. Kato Megumi had very little expression, making it difficult for others to detect any changes in her emotions. The others already knew that Li Wei was a master painter, so they were not surprised at all.

After the contract was signed, Li Wei once again declined Kawada Yuichiro's invitation and explained the reason to him. Kawada Yuichiro looked at the boys and girls waiting behind Li Wei, including Kasumigaoka Utaha, and gave up the idea. He left the coffee shop with Machida Sonoko and the clerk girl, and took a copy of the manuscript with him.

While Kawada Yuichiro was busy returning to the bookstore to arrange the publication of his new book, he planned to personally oversee the publication process. All bookstores under the Shinazugawa Bunko Group would cooperate in promoting the new book.

Shinazugawa Bunko has 68 directly affiliated bookstores throughout Japan, a relatively small number compared to other top-tier bookstores. Originally, Shinazugawa Bunko had 112 directly affiliated bookstores, but due to some questionable actions by Yuichiro Kawada's predecessor, the bookstore suffered a severe blow, reducing its number to only 68. The remaining bookstores either closed due to insufficient funds or were acquired by other bookstores.

At that time, Shinazugawa Bunko was on the verge of collapse. In order to survive, it had to sell some of its bookstores. It was thanks to this money, as well as subsequent investments from other people, that Shinazugawa Bunko was able to avoid bankruptcy.

However, due to the loss of nearly half of its bookstores, Shinazugawa Bunko's sphere of influence has shrunk considerably, making it unable to achieve the same level of simultaneous promotion across the entire country and region as it did during its heyday.

The current distribution of Shinazugawa Bunko bookstores is mainly concentrated in the central part of Japan, with its core in Tokyo. Of the 68 bookstores, 15 are located in the Tokyo area.

Some might wonder, if a bookstore is gone, can't it just be reopened? The situation is more complex. The bookstores that Shinazugawa Bunko lost were all located in prime, bustling areas of their respective districts. Their locations and sizes were irreplaceable elsewhere in the area. Furthermore, many people had developed a habit of buying books at specific locations, making it difficult for a new bookstore to compete with those that had already sold out. Coupled with financial constraints, Shinazugawa Bunko adopted its current strategy of scaling back operations to ensure stable revenue for its core bookstores.

This approach has both advantages and disadvantages, but Shizugawa Bunko has no other choice.

Chapter 38. Sushi

After finalizing the contract signing, Li Wei wasted no time and immediately called two taxis to take the game development team to a conveyor belt sushi buffet restaurant in the port area.

A conveyor belt sushi buffet restaurant is a bit like a mini hot pot restaurant, except that while the mini hot pot restaurant has various ingredients on the conveyor belt, this sushi buffet restaurant has a variety of handmade sushi.

Li Wei wasn't a big fan of sushi, mainly because there were many raw sushi options, and he didn't particularly like raw food.

For example, he won't touch sashimi, no matter how much the Japanese rave about it. Although he's not afraid of parasites, he doesn't want to torture his stomach.

Japan has a high rate of parasitic diseases, with over 2,000 people hospitalized each year due to the consumption of raw food. The mortality rate is over 15%, especially for sashimi and the much-hyped sterile eggs, which are particularly high-risk areas for parasitic diseases.