I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 41
Dim sky, biting night wind, flickering firelight.
The Milky Way above seemed torn by some mysterious force, with beautiful green lights reminiscent of the aurora goddess, Euryale, shimmering throughout.
I walked on the dark scorched earth, accompanied by a small silhouette.
?She’s from the demon clan.?
?I know. Can we save her??
?What should I say? The world has already collapsed into this state, and you have time to worry about an inconspicuous little brat.?
?Her homeland was destroyed.?
?Is it that same old story? Her homeland was destroyed, so you see your past self in her? Oh, my old buddy… I can’t stand you.?
?Come with me. Sooner or later, someone will stab you in the back for this kindness.?
—
“Ding dong! Hello, dear tenant of Apartment 301 in Building 3 of Wujia Apartments. Your rent for this month (May 01, 2022, to June 01, 2022) has been successfully paid!”
—
I opened my eyes to the familiar birdcage-style mosquito net and the snow-white ceiling.
Turning my head, I noticed the faint glow of the mobile screen at the head of the bed.
A sliver of dawn’s light slanted through the living room window, casting speckled patterns on the soft cushion.
Did I… have that strange dream again?
Dreams of another world—magic, battles, different races, salvation, destruction…
It’s just like the novels.
It seems I got a bit too absorbed in scanning the rankings last night.
Still feeling groggy, I propped myself up with my small hands and sat up on the bed.
Glancing down, I saw the familiar sports bra, revealing a hint of pale skin and a slight curve at my chest.
Ah… I still haven’t changed back.
That grim reaper was serious…
I yawned, roughly taming the messy long hair behind me. I reached for the phone on the pillow next to me:
“China Merchants Bank: On May 4th at 8:00 AM, a quick payment of 850.00 yuan to Wujia Technology. Balance: 622.40 yuan…”
Oh, the rent was automatically deducted.
I had a little over 600 yuan left. Based on my expenses of roughly 20 yuan a day, I should be fine for the rest of May.
However, most novel websites pay royalties between the 10th and 18th of each month, which means I not only need to make it through May but also have enough to last until at least June 10th.
I yawned again on the bed and stretched lazily.
Getting up, my long hair naturally cascaded down my back, making me feel its noticeable weight.
Even without looking in the mirror, I knew that my stray hair on the top of my head was probably sticking up again, and not just one strand.
Long-haired girls find it inconvenient at night, their hair tends to get very messy during sleep.
I unzipped the birdcage mosquito net I had purchased online three years ago, which had now faded a bit. After changing into the slippers by the bedside, I walked to the full-length mirror in the living room.
A little girl wearing only a sports bra and panties.
She had a lovely face with round, chubby cheeks that still retained a hint of baby fat. Her eyes looked bewildered, as if she had just woken up. Her limbs were slender, her skin was fair, and she had two stray hairs gently swaying at the top of her head.
Ah…
Yawning once more, I headed to the kitchen. I moved the small stool I had used as a footrest for cooking yesterday to the bedside, grabbed the clothes rack, and took down the dry clothes from outside.
One was a black t-shirt with a white heart on the left chest, and the other was a pair of jeans with a girl’s style—both of them were clearance items I had bought from the supermarket. I planned to wear them to the convention center to meet the editor and sign the contract today.
By the way, should I learn how to tie my hair like girls do in the future? Wearing long, straight hair every day doesn’t seem like a sustainable solution.
As I changed my clothes, I silently contemplated in my mind. Setting aside everything else, for my current appearance… maybe I should try a simple double ponytail style? It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?
I’ll check if they have hair accessories for tying hair at the anime convention and buy some if they do. If not, I can search for tutorial videos online and learn how to do it myself, just like I’ve always done.
After getting dressed, I went to the cushion as usual and started my warm-up exercises.
I decided to skip making breakfast today and instead went to the nearby baozi (steamed bun) shop to get some meat buns and soy milk. Eating corn and sweet potatoes every day could get monotonous.
Just like yesterday, my stomach and calf muscles were still a bit sore today, but it was already much better than yesterday. It was clear that this body was starting to adapt to daily exercise. I believed that if I persisted for one or two months, I could achieve a better and more perfect physique.
“Phew…”
Fifteen minutes later, I had finished my warm-up exercises and abdominal and leg workouts, leaving me exhausted on the cushion.
I took out my phone and opened QQ. I was about to check if there were any new messages from my readers when a notification from the Honeydew Novel author signing group I joined yesterday popped up:
?@All members, due to a policy change, Honeydew Light Novel is about to merge with Yae-Do Novels. Tonight (May 5, 2022, from 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM), there will be a major update to the novel website and mobile app. During this time, author backend functions will be disabled. Please arrange your updates accordingly.?
?After this update, Honeydew will establish a ‘Yae-Do’ section, including all books from Yae-Do Novels. Additionally, on June 1st, a new ‘Yae-Do Immortal and Fantasy Writing’ event will be held, with an A-level scale. Winning entries in this writing event will receive priority consideration for manga and audio adaptations. Interested authors can start preparing their drafts now.?
What?! This message left me in shock.
Honeydew and Yae-Do are merging?! Didn’t Yae-Do Novels close down last month?
I opened the signing group and saw that the authors inside were engaged in heated discussions about this announcement:
?Why are we merging with Yae-Do novel? Didn’t that website close down last month? Did the owner of Honeydew buy it??
?They probably bought it. I saw people from Yae-Do at the anime convention yesterday, and they seemed to be having a meeting at some hotel. Most likely, they were discussing the purchase.?
?Honeydew and Yae-Do have some common readership, so if they bring over the books and authors from there, it would be a significant boost in traffic. It should be a good deal. It all depends on how they allocate the contracts.?
?Do we have anyone in our group who jumped ship from Yae-Do? I don’t think so.?
?Yes, there is. Didn’t someone new join yesterday, someone called ‘Uncle Loves Loli’? I think he’s from Yae-Do.?
“…”
Meanwhile, I noticed a private message from “Marisa’s Iron Butt,” dated last night at 11 PM. I had already gone to bed by that time:
?Nuo’er, I have good news! Pipi, chief-editor, and I met with the CEO of Yae-Do in the afternoon. His daughter has recovered from her life-threatening condition. The incident was reported in the media, and around 8 PM that night, several publicly-traded companies called to offer investment to Yae-Do, helping the owner through this tough period. Our royalty payments should be coming in a few days.?
?There’s one more thing: Yae-Do is preparing to collaborate with Honeydew. Honeydew primarily focuses on second-dimensional light novels, while Yae-Do specializes in traditional fantasy and urban genres. This partnership is like a powerhouse alliance. I recall you mentioning that a Honeydew editor signed you up yesterday, right? Now it’s all coming back.?
In addition to “Marisa’s Iron Butt,” Ai Luodi, a Yae-Do editor I had added several years ago, who had been grayed out for over ten days on the corporate QQ, was now active:
?Uncle, are you still writing? Yae-Do has overcome its difficulties, and I’ve been informed that I can return to work.?
?Their programmers and backend team are currently working on the database files. In a few days, your book will be searchable on Honeydew. If you still want to write, you can log in with your author account to update it.?