[Hey!! What the hell was that picture just now!?]

【It’s from eko’s new novel.】

[I know it’s a novel, but why did you put the cover here!?]

【Because the author, Gouku, promised to promote eko’s book in this chapter.】

[Then promote it properly! Why did you paste someone else’s cover here? What about *The Angel’s Gamble*, the pure light-novel-style fantasy novel by the great Xuânhuàn!?]

【Gouku’s exact words were: “That little girl on the cover is lifting her skirt and showing her panties. She’s too tempting, so I couldn’t resist jerking—cough! I mean, uploading the image.”】

[Hey! You just said you jerked off, didn’t you!? You totally did!!!!]

【If Onii-chan wants to appear in the next volume, don’t expose him.】

[I’m the protagonist, hey!! We’ve come this far, and you’re seriously planning to replace me!?]

【The protagonist has always been Yinjin Mushroom. Onii-chan is just a human-shaped, self-propelled narration and commentary machine.】

[At this rate, I’m going to explode!! I really am!! I’m quitting the role!!]

【Ah! Gouku just sent a message. He says that if you quit, he’ll go write Gage instead.】

[........................]

【Besides, this novel’s ideas are painfully poor and its characters are bland. Readers won’t even notice if we swap out the protagonist.】

[Hey~~ If you keep saying things like that, how am I supposed to show my face again!? Gouku can’t even hold his head up anymore, hey!!]

【Don’t worry. Young men can always hold their heads up again after sleeping through the night.】

[The “head” you mean and the “head” I mean are completely different things!!]

【I’m done wasting time with you! Now I’ll officially begin introducing this volume’s setting.】

[Are there any new characters this volume?? There seem to be only two named characters in total—Lilith and Guevara. And they’ve both appeared before.]

【So we can’t pad out the ending of this volume anymore?】

[As long as you have the heart to pad things out, anything can be stretched. Let’s start with Lilith. I didn’t expect her to really be a beastfolk.]

【Mhm, cute catgirls are popular everywhere. But cats have unpredictable tempers, and not everyone gets to pet them whenever they want.】

[Now let’s talk about Guevara, the old chuunibyou.]

【The mastermind behind this whole incident.】

[It was something that could’ve been avoided, yet he insisted on turning it into such a huge mess.]

【You can’t look at it that way. Many things in life could’ve been avoided. Yet they happen because too many people refuse to listen.】

[Like when the elderly insist on chasing tiny bargains and attend some “health lecture.” Then they get brainwashed and return home with a pile of overpriced health supplements.]

【You sound like you have firsthand experience.】

[Ugh... Stubborn old people really can’t be saved. Guevara was the same. He ignored everyone’s advice and caused trouble everywhere. In the end, two hundred people died for nothing.]

【Two hundred able-bodied vagrants who refused to work and just drained government funds?】

[Yeah, yeah~~ I have a feeling quite a few readers might drop the novel here.]

【Nothing can be done about that. Once something happens, you can’t undo it. If only you’d known earlier, why act so recklessly? The Republic has plenty of jobs. They had working hands and feet, yet refused to work. Then they took money meant for the disabled and those truly in need. Isn’t that simply wrong?】

[Careful, or people will drag you into the comments and tear you apart!]

【That would be terribly disharmonious. Exaggerated events are normal in fiction. What’s wrong with people who insist on chasing realism in a fictional story? Besides, there are plenty of people like that in real life. And they aren’t necessarily vagrants. Some even own houses and cars.】

[I feel like this is about to start a war! Readers will flame this novel to death, and it’ll end up as a corpse in the street!! Let’s stop here, right now.]

【All right, all right~~~ Please keep reading, everyone. Thank you all.】

[Oh, right. I should explain something. Even though I’m level two hundred, the power of the magic bullets fired from my pistol is determined by the Magic Crystal. So the bullets’ power has nothing to do with my level.]

【No wonder Guevara could take so many of them.】

[Yeah. If I didn’t explain this, readers might not understand.]

【Then explain why firing a gun in midair produces recoil strong enough to send you flying backward.】

[Uh... physics died young. I can’t explain it!!! Let’s just call it a game reference. In games, the gunslinger class can fire in midair and send themselves flying backward.]

【Hey, hey!! Who was the one who said we wouldn’t drag in game references!?】

[It’s all Gouku’s fault!! If you have a problem, go flame him!!!]

【Speaking of the author, Gouku—what did he say he’d do after reaching five thousand bookmarks? Dress in women’s clothes?】

[I’m not interested in seeing Gouku in a dress. I remember he said that once the bookmarks passed five thousand, he’d draw Phyllis’s character design. The loli form of Darkblade Apophis!!!】

【Oh~~~ I’m so excited!!!! I’m finally going to appear properly!? Until now, I’ve only been described as a purple-haired loli. Has Gouku finally found his conscience!?】

[But apparently the artist’s computer broke. Tia’s character design is already stuck halfway through, so yours probably won’t be ready until July.]

【........................】

[Speaking of which, I’d really love a character illustration of myself too...]

【Maybe in your next life...】