Not What I Expected

I'm awoken by an incessant buzzing sound, one that grows louder and louder until it snaps me out of my dream about the girl from college and forces me back into the real world and the broom closet that I call home. Slowly and groggily, I open my eyes, kicking the threadbare futon off.

The buzzing sound doesn't stop. My phone is vibrating angrily, rattling the whole floor. The walls in this place are as thin as paper. Maybe they are paper. Not tatami, not the good stuff- paper. How else do you explain the rent on this place being ¥20000? Black magic?

I recognize the number on the screen, and I wish I didn't.

I'll just let this one ring itself out.

Not a second after the buzzing finally stops, the phone lights up again.

"Hello?" I speak tentatively into the phone even though I know exactly who's calling. "This is Sakuta."

"Sakuta, where's the damn rent?!" The screeching voice of the old geezer on the other side of the line is so loud that I have to pull my phone away from my face.

"I don't have it..."

"Well, get it!"

"I'll have it by the end of this week, Kawaguchi-san. I promise."

"Every single yen of it, or your tail's out the door by Monday! And you better not forget the late fee!"

The other end of the line goes dead.

I put my phone down on the floor with a sigh. I'm not gonna be able to go back to sleep after the landlord just yelled at me. Now my day off's ruined. By the way, my day off is not Saturday. It's Monday. Yet another example of the wage worker's plight.

Let me explain. Last week, I finally got a raise. It was only an extra ¥200 an hour (good enough to buy a candy bar if you're lucky), but now I'm officially no longer a minimum wage worker. I'm a minimum wage + 200 worker.

Theoretically, I can take home about 150 thousand a month, but that's before taxes and insurance and all of that stuff. And I rarely, if ever, get to work the full forty hours a week. So I'm usually looking at eighty thousand a month, give or take. After rent, that gives me just enough money to buy groceries and other things I need to live. No spending on entertainment. Just household goods. Well, as much of a "household" as this tiny little dump is.

Healthcare is a right in this country- what that means in practice is that it’s mandatory to get insurance, and they take it out of your taxes. So I may not be able to afford to keep the heat on…but it’ll be free once my frostbitten toes need to get amputated.

This month, though, I had a few hundred more yen in my pocket, so I finally had the chance to go shopping for some home goods. First, I bought a new kerosene heater, because the old one broke and this is the kind of apartment where replacements aren't complimentary. Then I bought a small gas cooktop, and an oven, and a washing machine. I hooked them up myself, too. I've never done a lot of handyman work, but I watched a YooToob video and fiddled with wires until everything worked. The apartment was still tiny, of course, but with the new appliances installed it looked slightly more like a home. I was pretty proud of myself until I realized I'd spent over ¥90000.

I wasn't buying expensive appliances with touchscreens and apps- I went for the cheapest ones, but just those essential household appliances were enough to drain nearly all my paycheck. I had two choices: pay my rent and have no money for food, or pay for food. Obviously, I wasn't gonna starve.

Ugh. It's my day off and now I'm gonna be in a bad mood all day because that annoying old man woke me up early. Once I wake up, I can't go back to sleep. I have to stay up until bedtime. I just can't take naps.

I shouldn't be so mad about this. I knew it was gonna happen. Here I am complaining about the consequences of my own actions.

...Time for breakfast. I nearly risked eviction for this cooktop, I'm getting every second of use out of it that I can.

One instant ramen packet, one block of noodles, two eggs, one green onion, and a nice Super Dry to go with it. Breakfast of champions.

It's heavenly. It's so good I want to cry. The noodles are firm and the broth is rich and the eggs are perfectly cooked. It's so much better than the microwave. It's not even a contest.

Now that breakfast is out of the way, time to post my latest chapter. It's got the Kurokami-sensei seal of approval, so all I need to do is a little Ctrl-C Ctrl-V, and my work is done for the day. I'm still waiting on his feedback for Chapter 13, so I don't have anything to write.

...What am I gonna do all day?

I guess I can take a look at some other novels on N*rou, and do some research about what's popular. Maybe I can incorporate some of that in my novel-

Trash. That's what's popular. Straight garbage.

When I clicked on the fifth novel from the "Trending" tab and it was ANOTHER fantasy story with fanservice out the wazoo written by a horny teenager, I was done. You're telling me this is what's popular with N*rou readers? Given the choice between an artistic character study and elf pantyshots, they pick the latter every time? No wonder the rest of the world makes fun of our entertainment industry.

Time to play some Brave Spirits Online, I guess.

About six hours into farming, my phone buzzes again. I'm not in the middle of a raid or anything super serious at this point, so I go ahead and check my messages, leaving the game running. I'm just leveling up a new character because I want to. This game's a decade and a half old and it's about the only thing that my laptop can run. I've been playing since I was in high school, so I've done almost everything there is to do in the game.

It's a LIME notification.

@KurokamiSeigo: Chapter 15 was solid. Your writing is starting to flow better. There wasn't as much action as there was last chapter, but that's necessary for situations like this

@KurokamiSeigo: I like that you took my advice to worldbuild a little bit. Your setting needs more to it than being a generic fantasy world

@KurokamiSeigo: A hollow planet with another planet in the middle is really cool. The demons are coming from inside the planet! Lol

@KurokamiSeigo: That said, I still feel like you're using too much narration. Even in a worldbuilding chapter like this, your goal should be to convey that info through character thoughts and dialogue, not walls of text

@KurokamiSeigo: Does that make sense? I know it's tough.

@KurokamiSeigo: I'm rooting for you, though! Do your best, Rayfar!!!!! ٩(＾◡＾)۶

The one exception to the rule that N*rou authors can't write grocery lists, let alone a novel, is Seigo Kurokami. I read through What Lies Behind the Curtains last Wednesday, when I had my last day off. It's really good. It's dramatic, but it's not edgy or stupid. It tries to make a point, but it doesn't lecture you (unlike the #1 most viewed novel on the site). I never thought I would get emotional reading a N*rou webnovel, but I did at the end of Curtains, for just a second.

@rayfar_horizon: Thanks so much for the feedback

@rayfar_horizon: I hope I'm not taking up all your time

@rayfar_horizon: Sorry if I am

@KurokamiSeigo: No, you're not. Why do you think that?

@rayfar_horizon: I mean

@rayfar_horizon: Your novel is one of the most viewed ones on the website and you're probably getting calls from publishers and stuff.

@rayfar_horizon: And on your profile it says your DMs are open for advice so I bet you're reviewing more novels than just mine

After a second, a sticker of a laughing rabbit pops up in the chat.

@KurokamiSeigo: I'm the one who asked you to send me chapters before you post them lol

@KurokamiSeigo: I wouldn't have kept proofreading and giving you feedback if I didn't like your novel

@KurokamiSeigo: I've given out a bunch of advice to other writers, but they're just little things. Not reading rough drafts and giving feedback

@KurokamiSeigo: You're the only author I'm doing that with

...

@rayfar_horizon: Why me?

...

@KurokamiSeigo: No particular reason I guess

@KurokamiSeigo: I found your novel and I liked it and I thought you had potential as a writer

@KurokamiSeigo: So when you messaged me I wanted to help you

...

@rayfar_horizon: ...it was luck?

@KurokamiSeigo: Yeah p much lol

@KurokamiSeigo: You should thank me

@KurokamiSeigo: Or the gods

@KurokamiSeigo: But mostly me

@KurokamiSeigo: (*^ ‿ <*)

So it was nothing but chance. He stumbled across my novel for whatever reason, and liked it. That's the only reason I'm getting writing advice from the author of the second most-viewed novel on the website. It could have happened to anyone.

But when an opportunity like this comes along...I have to take it. So what if it's nothing but pure dumb luck? There's a million yen on the line!

Without warning, as I go to type my reply, an earsplitting crack echoes from outside, and then the sound of hundreds of raindrops drilling against the roof follows. The sound is violent, but I'm used to it. It's one of those autumn showers that can come out of nowhere when you live right next to the sea.

@KurokamiSeigo: It's not justajnnceauybeacnano;efal

This word vomit is immediately followed by a sticker of a surprised Galwain from ElCro and @KurokamiSeigo deleted their message.

I should have figured Kurokami-sensei would have the Elves Chronicle sticker pack. I ought to buy it, too.

@KurokamiSeigo: ...I hope you didn't see that

@rayfar_horizon: huh?

@KurokamiSeigo: It suddenly started raining and it thundered so loud that I dropped my phone. Sounded like fireworks going off right above my house

@rayfar_horizon: Really?

@rayfar_horizon: It just let loose here too out of nowhere

...

...

@KurokamiSeigo: Rayfar...where do you live?

@rayfar_horizon: Are you gonna dox me?

@KurokamiSeigo: (≖︿≖✿) no

@KurokamiSeigo: rude

@KurokamiSeigo: I live in Aomori

@KurokamiSeigo: If I was gonna dox you I wouldn't tell you that

One of the most popular authors on N*rou that I've been talking to for weeks...lives in my town.

My hands are shaking a little bit. Should I tell him? I know we've been talking for a few weeks, but are we friends or just a mentor and a student? Is now the right time?

Can I trust him?

Yes. I do.

@rayfar_horizon: I live in Aomori too

@KurokamiSeigo: No way!!!!!

@KurokamiSeigo: Where?????

...

@rayfar_horizon: That's kinda personal

...

@KurokamiSeigo: Sorry!

@KurokamiSeigo: I got so excited meeting someone that's also from Aomori that I got too nosy...it's so crazy I found someone on this site that's from here too!!!!!

@KurokamiSeigo: I live in Hanazono-icchome. It's close to the river

@KurokamiSeigo: I've told a few of my friends from N*rou that I live in Aomori and they usually go 'are there polar bears up there?' or something like that lol

@KurokamiSeigo: Some of my friends from N*rou that live in Tokyo and Yokohama met up with each other but I couldn't go because I live up here and couldn't afford it

@KurokamiSeigo: I was so jealous

...

@KurokamiSeigo: Rayfar, you wanna meet up sometime?

The gravity of what I'm doing doesn't seep in until I step off the bus in front of the large green park filled with fountains. I've been downtown a few times, but not enough to be used to it. There are people everywhere, signs everywhere, and here I am in a tracksuit, with my hair messy and my glasses cracked. These are the best clothes I have. I couldn't afford to get a haircut or buy anything nicer.

I was so excited when Kurokami-sensei asked me to meet him that I didn't stop to think about the fact that I'm broke and couldn't make myself look decent. He'll take one look at me and think Ew, what a loser. What if he wants to get some food or go to the arcade or something and I run out of money? I saved about ten thousand, but what if it isn't enough? Will he stop messaging me?

My heart's beating faster and faster in my chest. Kurokami-sensei will be able to tell I don't belong here. The people walking by already know. I bet they're judging me, too, seeing the scrawny, gangly kid in the NEET outfit loitering outside a park on a weekday when they're trying to go home from their jobs...and it's cold outside. The wind is blowing right through my thin jacket.

Calm down, Kou. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

His message said to meet him in front of Heiwa Park at six. It's 6:05 now. I'm looking around, standing in the shadow of a group of trees near the edge of the gravel entryway so I can avoid unwanted attention while I look around, but there's no other guys my age. There's a bunch of office workers and students walking down the sidewalk, but none of them stop. They continue on. The only ones hanging around are a group of older guys who look like bums and a high school girl with long hair wearing a dark green jacket, leaning against the information sign with her back toward me.

...Did he stand me up?

Of course he did. I knew it. Nothing good ever happens to me. I bet he's already blocked me by now and is moving on to the next impressionable new writer he wants to mess with...

My phone buzzes in my pocket. It's a LIME.

@KurokamiSeigo: I'm here

@KurokamiSeigo: Where are you?

@rayfar_horizon: I'm standing out front

Out of the corner of my eye, the girl leaning on the sign shifts one of her arms slightly and peeks around the sign, scanning the area.

@KurokamiSeigo: What are you wearing?

@KurokamiSeigo: I'm in a green jacket

@KurokamiSeigo: By the park welcome sign

There's no way...right?

@rayfar_horizon: I'm behind the sign, near the trees

I move forward out of the shade, enough to try to get a glimpse of the girl.

She's typing on her phone.

Suddenly, she turns around, and my heart nearly stops.

Standing right in front of me is one of the cutest schoolgirls I think I've ever seen. No...one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen, period. Her long, straight hair, with two magenta ribbons tied in the folds, falls over her delicate face, framing her big, round eyes and pouring down onto the neatly tied white scarf sitting on her neck above a dark green jacket and a navy blue skirt. Her slender legs are covered with tights the same color as her shirt, and on her feet are two shiny black loafers. She looks like an AKB member, or an anime character come to life.

"Rayfar? Is that you?"

I think the blood's rushing to my head. I haven't talked to a girl my age in months. I don't even talk to Nakaumi and the customers at the Kyoudai Mart.

"K-Kurokami...sensei?"