It was a bitter winter’s day when the LN author was brought in to discuss a potential manga adaptation of his novel. Everything went smoothly - he shook hands with the editor, was polite, the whole nine yards.
“So tell, me, Author-san”, the Editor started. “My higher-ups are really interested in the light novel you wrote. So let’s start with the basics: what is it about?”
“Oh, that’s easy!” beamed the Author. “Okay, so there’s this ordinary 29-year-old salesman named Touji Akino who, one day, is suddenly brought to another world. However, it turns out that he was a byproduct of a kingdom’s hero summoning ritual and, since the people around him have better skills and levels than he does, he is quickly kicked out of the kingdom. However, he has a unique cheat skill that allows him to look at the status of any object he is touching. Using this power, he resolves to live a slow life and attain a harem of cute girls and mascot characters.”
The Editor blinked twice. “So, what’s the twist?”
“...Twist?”
The Editor sighed. “Look. The best we can do is either a Pixiv artist we’re paying peanuts for or an ex-hentai artist trying to go legit. We’ll give you an online-only publication, and people will still follow it because it takes no effort on their part to consume it. You will be a symptom of the illness that is plaguing our manga industry, and we will celebrate you for it.”
The Author shook the Editor’s hand. “Thank you, sir! I’ll make sure to do absolutely nothing that breaks the mold! To think that I got here from writing Sword Art Online self-insert fanfiction!”
The Editor smiled, but his eyes glared as if he was looking at human garbage. “You’re what causes me to drink, you know.”