Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

  'What exactly is this?' Seiji furrowed his eyebrows.

  He observed carefully but saw nothing abnormal apart from the black mist emanating from the middle school boy's body.

  It didn't seem like a demon or spirit was possessing him, nor did he seem like an Awakened… was it a problem with something in his soul levels? A mysterious power similar to Reo's?

  'Is Shoutarou Rinura someone who possesses the same mysterious power as Peach-sensei and Reo-chan?' Seiji began to have his suspicions.

  "Rinura-san, congratulations to you and your light novel, 'The Undying Indestructible Avenger', for receiving the Gold Award."

  The female anime production company president and award presenter smiled as she presented Rinura with a gold trophy.

  Although Rinura's heart was beating quite rapidly, he felt like his chest was freezing and his head was rather dizzy. He stood still for several seconds before finally reaching out and accepting the gold trophy, and his movements were obviously rigid.

  "It would seem that Rinura-san is rather nervous," the male host commented.

  "Well, he's still a middle school student, so he's probably a little bit shy." The female host chuckled. "By the way, it's incredible how he won the Gold Award as this age."

  "It really is incredible. Only one person in the past has ever won the Newcomer Authors' Gold Award in the past at his age."

  "Eh? There was one other person as well? I figured that Rinura-san would definitely be the youngest Gold Award-winning author in Thunderbolt Literature's history."

  "He isn't, as he's only the second youngest to have this honor. But, that doesn't change how amazing he is."

  After the two hosts complimented him, they handed a microphone to Rinura, indicating that he should give a short speech about how he felt at receiving this award.

  But while the two hosts were talking about him, Rinura only felt like his head was getting dizzier. He began to see the scenes from his dream right in front of him.

  An execution platform, covered in blood, corpses, and a guillotine…


  Rinura did his best to maintain his sense of self as he accepted the microphone and looked towards the audience below the stage.

  Rinura suddenly saw an incredibly clear image when he was looking at the audience.

  A dark sky, with a dense crowd of citizens, a black-clothed executioner, the enemy kingdom's king sitting high above, the execution platform that was soaked in blood…


  An incomparably powerful anger filled his heart, causing his heart to pound violently and his body to turn completely ice cold.

  With the most extreme hatred in the world, he sent an eternal curse at his enemies…


  "Kfsouwutebgdfjfrcmkj…"

  Everyone was mystified at hearing this.

  Nobody present could understand the mysterious sound that the Gold Award winner Rinura had just uttered.

  "What did he say just now?"

  "Is that a foreign language?"

  "Which country's language could that be?"

  While everyone else was mystified, there was only one person who had a grave expression: Seiji.

  He just witnessed the black mist around Rinura suddenly becoming much thicker when Rinura spoke in that unknown language.

  Seiji didn't know exactly what happened. He only knew that things seemed to have gotten worse.

  Seiji prepared himself to rush over and deal with the situation if Rinura seemed like he was going to lose control of himself and go berserk.

  "Rinura-san, what did you say just now?" the female host asked him.

  Rinura suddenly came back to his senses.

  "I… I just…"

  His head still felt dizzy, and he wanted to say something but was unable to say anything. He simply stood there in a daze while facing the audience.

  "It would seem that Rinura-san is too nervous, so he must have forgotten what he wanted to say." The male host stepped in to cover for him. "Let us give him a round of applause as encouragement." The male host began clapping to lead everyone.

  The audience clapped for Rinura as well.

  Rinura managed to calm down slightly after the applause and somehow managed to give two simple sentences of thanks.

  Both the male and female hosts noticed that Rinura was obviously in no condition to be making speeches, so they covered for him together and had him return to the other authors.

  Seiji silently kept observing Rinura.

  Next up, the Silver Award winners Koushi Nomura and Miyabi Ishihara walked up together onto the stage and received their awards from the female anime company president in succession.

  Just like before, the hosts praised them and then handed a microphone to Nomura, having him go first with his thoughts about receiving the award.

  "My goal was to obtain the Newcomers' Gold Award. I worked hard on my story for several years yet didn't receive it in the end. I feel that it's truly regrettable," Nomura said in a light tone of voice. "To be honest, I'm feeling quite miffed that my story was surpassed by a middle schooler's story. However, that's how reality is, and I can only accept. In the future, I shall transform my unwillingness at being surpassed into my motivation as a light novel author and do my very best to write something even better… I hope that everyone here will continue supporting me in the future."

  Nomura bowed deeply towards the audience after finishing his speech.

  Although his tone remained light all throughout, his words contained his sincere emotions. The audience responded in turn with a loud round of applause.

  Next up was Miyabi.

  "I don't have any goals like how Nomura-san does. I merely wrote a novel that I wanted to write simply because I like reading light novels. I'm quite honored to have received a Silver Award. Thank you so much to all the judges for appreciating my story. In the future as well, I shall continue writing the stories that I like to write. I hope that I shall receive more recognition in the future from people everywhere, of course including everyone present today… please take good care of me in the future."

  Just like Nomura, Miyabi bowed after her speech and received a hearty round of applause.

  Next up was an award called the Excellence Award. The award winners were Shousei Maishi, Yuuko Hashimoto, and a middle-aged man named Imai Yoshida.

  The three of them went up to the stage to receive their awards together. Once again, the hosts praised the authors and the authors took turns giving speeches.

  "I simply wrote a story in my free time, never expecting that I would receive an award. Perhaps I'm actually quite talented? Haha… but even if I actually do have talent in this area, I can't possibly quit my current job to change my profession to author. So, I'll only be able to write slowly in my free time in the future as well…" This was Shousei Maishi's speech.

  "I've already failed several times in getting my drafts accepted. I was thinking that if I don't receive an award this time, I would simply give up on writing light novels. Now that I've been fortunate enough to win this award, it has given me the motivation to continue persisting. I'm so grateful to the judges…" This was Yuuko Hashimoto's speech.

  "I'm honored to have received this award. A big thank you to the judges…" Let's just skip over Imai Yoshida's speech.

  Finally, it was time for the special award, the author Seigo Harano.

  When this incredibly handsome boy stood up and walked onto the stage, the audience members felt as if they were seeing things. It was as if an idol had arrived, or as if this was the final act of a stage performance with everyone else only being the appetizer.

  Even the female anime company president seemed to be smiling more brilliantly when she handed Seiji his award.

  "Harano-san is truly so handsome. I feel as if the entire atmosphere on stage changed when he arrived," the male host mentioned.

  "I know. It's just as if an idol or model appeared on stage," the female host added. "I'd be more than happy to go out with him on a date!"

  "I think that most single ladies here would be more than happy to do the same thing… perhaps even some men would be willing as well?"

  The male host's joke caused quite an amount of laughter from the audience.

  After the two hosts joked around a little, they handed the microphone to Seiji.

  "I'd like to state first that I'm only interested in women," Seiji pretended to be quite serious with his opening statement.

  This caused another round of laughter from the audience.

  Then, Seiji revealed his real expression—a smile.

  "I'd like to thank Head Editor Hattori for recommending me for the special award, as well as the judges' appreciation," Seiji stated sincerely. "But before any of them, there's one person I'd like to thank more than anyone else—my partner that wrote 'Brother Monogatari' together with me, my adopted younger sister. Half of the honor for winning this prize belongs to her. However, due to certain reasons, it's inconvenient for her to attend this type of venue…"

  The audience couldn't help but imagine a weak and sickly girl who couldn't even go outside upon hearing his words. They felt that they now understood why the novel was titled "Brother Monogatari".

  A handsome and gentle adopted older brother and a sickly but talented adopted younger sister writing this novel together… this seemed like something right out of a television drama!

  "I'll continue writing stories together with her in the future as well, depicting a world that both of us like. I hope that you'll all take good care of us in the future."

  Seiji finished his speech and bowed.

  The audience clapped more vigorously for his speech than any speech before it.

  Meanwhile, Shika Kagura who was currently writing down additional novel ideas back at the Uehara apartments sensed something as she slightly lifted her head and revealed a beautiful smile.