novelraw Chapter 161: Awkward Silence
Chapter 161: Awkward Silence
“You’re Rumi?”
“You’re Tang Yao?!”
In the café—
The two women practically spoke in unison.
Truth be told—
Just having these three stunning women gathered in one spot was enough to draw attention. But when both spoke at the same time, even more heads turned.
Li Xue noticed and quickly tugged Tang Yao into a seat.
But even after sitting down, Tang Yao and Rumi continued to stare at each other in shock, wide-eyed.
Both were clearly stunned.
Li Xue could understand Rumi’s reaction—Tang Yao was... undeniably breathtaking. Especially for a first-time meeting.
But what surprised her was that Tang Yao was just as shocked.
She leaned closer and whispered, “Didn’t you ever see a photo of Miss Rumi before? I remember some got leaked.”
Tang Yao turned her head, still a bit dazed. “I did. I knew she was a woman… But in those pictures, didn’t she look super conservative? The clothes, the vibe—it’s like a completely different person!”
“That was because my editor made me dress that way… And I had to wear heavy makeup and thick layers on top of that.”
Before Li Xue could respond—
Rumi, sitting across from them, spoke up to explain, then followed up with a pointed question: “But enough about me. I want to ask—back when I wanted to invest in your game and you turned me down, saying your investor would get jealous... was that your husband? You’re married?”
“????”
Tang Yao whipped her head around, full of question marks. “What marriage!? The investor I meant is her.”
She pointed at Li Xue beside her.
Rumi’s head practically snapped sideways in a sharp turn toward Li Xue. Then she blurted out, “So… you’re a couple?”
“Uh?”
Li Xue’s whole body tensed up, her beautiful eyes widened slightly. She turned to look at Tang Yao—clearly caught off guard by that kind of introduction.
Tang Yao stared at Rumi, Rumi stared at Li Xue, Li Xue stared at Tang Yao…
The three of them were frozen in pure awkward silence.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry!”
More than ten minutes later—
The misunderstanding had finally been cleared up.
Rumi bowed her head deeply, sincerely apologizing.
Tang Yao looked at the famously sharp-minded Miss Rumi, expression a bit complicated.
This woman...
How far had her imagination run?
She thought Tang Yao was older? Married already? That her investor was her husband?
None of it made sense!
And what kind of person hears “this is my investor” and immediately jumps to “they must be lovers”?!
Surely that’s not a normal reaction...
...Or maybe Tang Yao really did come off like a butch lesbian?
No one ever said anything like that, though…
On the other side—
Li Xue wasn’t doing much better. Her excitement at meeting her idol had completely vanished. She gave Rumi a helpless glance.
“Forget it. At least it’s all cleared up now,” Tang Yao finally said after a short silence. Seeing Rumi still hunched over in guilt, she figured it was time to let it go.
“Sorry… but seriously,”
Rumi exhaled in relief, apologized again, then slowly looked up at Tang Yao’s youthful, radiant face. She still seemed a bit stunned. “I really didn’t expect you to be so young and beautiful.”
“I didn’t expect you to be so beautiful either.”
Tang Yao responded politely.
Gotta do a little mutual flattery before getting into business.
She was used to that.
“……”
Rumi had finally accepted the reality that the woman behind the rising powerhouse Avalon was not just real—but younger than her.
And when she heard Tang Yao’s polite return compliment—
She couldn’t help shaking her head.
That wasn’t just small talk.
She genuinely hadn’t seen this coming.
It was absurd.
So young and beautiful—she looked like a high schooler—yet she had drawn something as heavy and grim as Fate/Zero.
And if that was all...
Maybe it wouldn’t be so shocking.
After all, Rumi was a top-tier mangaka herself.
But the thing was, this high schooler–looking girl had then used her manga as the foundation for a 2D mobile game that shook the entire gaming industry…
That part completely blew Rumi’s mind.
She had mentally prepared herself before coming—expecting to meet some tough auntie.
But instead, she was the auntie.
“Miss Rumi?”
Li Xue noticed Rumi still staring at Tang Yao, unmoving. She inhaled deeply and finally spoke up.
The auntie—no, Rumi—snapped back to attention.
She lifted her coffee cup, pushing down the whirlwind of thoughts in her mind, and tried to regain a bit of her usual composure. She forced a smile. “I’m not just being polite—I’m really shocked. The one stirring up a storm in the anime scene lately… is actually this young. Anyway, do you two want anything to drink?”
Honestly—
Though she had been stunned—
She was actually kind of happy about the way things turned out.
Between a grumpy auntie and a pair of young, pretty girls, well...
She definitely preferred the latter.
Even if she was the grumpy auntie.
Tang Yao figured she had probably come to terms with everything now, so she waved over the waiter and ordered two cups of coffee.
Once the drinks arrived, there was a brief silence again.
Rumi took a moment to sort out her thoughts, then finally broke the silence. She asked curiously, “...Tang Yao, Chainsaw Man—that’s your work too, right?”
“Mm.”
Tang Yao nodded, then seemed to remember something and turned to introduce, “Oh, and this is Avalon’s manager and my editor, Li Xue.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Rumi turned slightly and nodded at her.
Li Xue nodded back politely. “Nice to meet you… Miss Rumi, you seem quite interested in us?”
“Of course.”
Rumi took a sip of coffee and replied, “Who wouldn’t be curious… But now that I’ve learned both of Avalon’s top execs are young and beautiful? Yeah, I’m even more curious.”
Li Xue followed her lead and asked, “I see… So would you like to learn more about us?”
“Yeah.”
Rumi set down her cup. “Like right now, I’m wondering—Tang Yao, what made you decide to draw a series like Chainsaw Man?”
“You can probably guess.”
Tang Yao answered smoothly, “ANF is really pushing the comics section lately. That was the main reason behind Chainsaw Man.”
“I figured that much… But why the sudden change in style?”
Rumi was clearly intrigued. “Also, do you think webcomic serialization can really take off?”
“As for the shift in style… I guess it’s because I genuinely believe in Chainsaw Man’s story.”
Tang Yao explained, “And whether online serialization can succeed…”
At that, she smiled—clearly done with tiptoeing around the subject—and said bluntly, “Why don’t you come witness it for yourself?”
“Huh?”
Rumi blinked in surprise and pointed at herself, stunned. “You’re… inviting me to your platform?”
No way.
Was she really that confident?
“Of course not.”
Tang Yao shook her head gently. “I just want to ask if you’d be interested in collaborating with our game. We’re planning to launch a crossover card pool for FGO soon…”
Rumi quickly caught on. “With my work?”
“Yes, your series Into the Night. All the major characters will appear, and if you’re up for it, we’d love to have you write the crossover storyline too.”
“That’s…”
Rumi hadn’t expected them to get to the point so quickly. None of her earlier questions had even been answered before Tang Yao laid it all out.
She hesitated, then said tactfully, “If it’s just designing cards, I can make the call. But anything involving licensing—I can’t decide that alone. I’d have to check with the magazine’s execs and my editor.”
“Your series is already licensed out to another game company?”
“Mm…”
“I see… But I get asking the execs—why your editor too?”
“Because my editor’s my mom… and she’s one of the top execs at Startrace Publishing.”
Startrace Publishing.
That was the company behind the top-selling manga magazine YOUNG Comic.
“……”
Tang Yao blinked a few times.
A mother-daughter tag team? Really?
She composed herself and asked, “So… you think your company higher-ups might not approve?”
“Hard to say.”
Rumi paused, then shook her head. Her mind flashed back to when her editor—her mom—told her to invite Tang Yao to serialize on YOUNG Comic. And when Tang Yao turned them down, her mom had gone off.
Saying things like: “Doesn’t know a good opportunity when it’s handed to her,” “Such a pity for Fate/Zero,”
“If I were managing that manga, it wouldn’t just sell a million copies—it’d easily pass five million!”
“She’ll regret it. Just wait—after slaving away for half a year with zero income, she’ll realize how meaningless her so-called ‘principles’ are. She’ll come crawling back, begging us for a spot.”
And yet.
The “third-rate mangaka” who drew Fate/Zero never came crawling back for serialization...
Instead, she made a fortune.
…Five million copies?
How about monthly mobile game revenue that dwarfs that?
Yeah.
After FGO blew up, Rumi never asked her mom what she thought anymore.
It just… would’ve been too awkward.