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8.25% His Naughty Lessons / Chapter 26: Editor’s Privilege

Chương 26: Editor’s Privilege

** Eli **

[ A warm hand slid under and grazed over her thighs. "Did I not satisfy you?" he breathed into her ears.

She moaned uncontrollably as his familiar touch tickled the itches inside her. His lips found hers before the next sound broke free, and his fingers slid up to the top of her thighs, dipping into the wetness there, caressing every sensitive spot with equal care while his tongue made love to her mouth … ]

The girl was certainly a fast learner, Eli thought as he went over the latest chapter of Secret Crush once more. The improvement in both language and scene details was plainly visible, and it was obvious from the fan reactions that everyone loved to see the change. It turned out that Harper was right about what she needed — just a dash of personal experience added to the mix, and she didn't even need an editor to help her get those scenes right.

Eli smiled proudly, scrolling through the excited comments that showered the author with praises. But then one of them stood out at the end:

[ Dear author, please don't stop updating! I'm dying to read more! ]

Hmm … The reader was right. This was still the same chapter from Saturday. Three days had passed since then, and Harper hadn't posted anything new.

It was somewhat unusual. Even during the time when her readers weren't nearly as enthusiastic, Harper had always kept her update schedule steady. As far as Eli could tell, she had never gone days in a row without updating at all.

Why the sudden drop, especially when she was having such a good streak of success?

Eli considered it for a minute and picked up his phone. Surely, being her editor gave him the privilege to call her for important matters like this.

The beep went quite a few times. When the call finally connected, he barely heard a "Hello" before it was followed by the sound of a loud thump, as if the phone on the other end had fallen onto the ground and tumbled over concrete. A short curse ensued, and then finally, Harper's voice said, "Oops, sorry. I had a handful and dropped my phone."

Eli noticed the jingle of keys in the background. "Did you just get home?" He glanced at his computer screen. It was already past 8pm. "Is everything alright? I can call you back later if this is a bad time."

"Oh no, we're good. It's just been a long day. Work is finally catching up with me after two months of slacking." Harper's laugh sounded tired. "I'm fine though, just really looking forward to the weekend … We're almost halfway through the week, right? Please tell me Saturday is coming up soon."

Eli chuckled. "Yes, Saturday will be here before you know it. Is there a big project coming up for you? I thought your company was usually reasonable when it comes to deadlines."

"Well, usually." Harper sighed, and Eli imagined her rubbing her temples in exhaustion. "So it turns out that we have a big investor's visit next week, and the boss decided that the presentation they currently have is not good enough. They wanted to add more projects to the showoff list, including the ones that were only half-baked drafts … which means that a few of us unlucky chosen ones get to bake those drafts the rest of the way by mid next week. And of course they only told me about this yesterday." She sighed again. "Sorry, I'm whining. I'm not typically very pleasant to chat with when I'm tired."

Eli hadn't realized that his upcoming meeting with Miracles would have caused collateral damage to Harper's workload. He mentally deducted ten points for the company, though then immediately added a hundred back for the effort Harper had to put in. "You're always free to rant to me, Harper. Whenever and wherever you like," he assured her. "But try not to overwork yourself. Burning out your brain before the presentation won't be helpful in the long run."

Harper hummed a halfhearted agreement. "I'm fine. The worst part is just that … my boss made it clear that he doesn't even plan to eventually develop this game I'm drafting. They told me to put whatever cool idea I can think of in there just to impress the investors, and once it serves that purpose, they're going to pull the project. So I feel like all this work I'm putting in is pointless anyway."

Eli couldn't help a frown, deducting another fifty points for the ass that was Harper's boss. She obviously wasn't aware that the "investors" making the call next week was going to be himself, and he considered if he should tell her that he could simply demand the company to go through with whatever proposal she put forward.

He decided against it though. Harper always took pride in her work. Even if he wanted to help her, she wouldn't be happy if her project were to get a second chance because of his favoritism instead of her genuine effort. He'd have to handle this situation more tactfully.

So he only smiled again. "I'm sure you'll be able to convince the investors otherwise at the meeting. Just imagine it's me you're trying to persuade: what would you say to make me believe that this will be the best game in the world? All you need is to sell your audience a good proposal they can't refuse. If they feel serious about it and want to see it through, it's not like your boss has a choice to say no."

There was a brief moment of silence. "Really?" Harper sounded suddenly hopeful.

"Of course. The ones with the money always make the rules. And to be honest, if your presentation is nearly as effective as your latest web novel chapter, the convincing shouldn't be difficult at all."

Harper laughed. This time, her spirits seemed higher. "Ah, I totally forgot that my latest chapter is out there for you to read … Is that why you called me? To give me some more pointers on what to change?"

Eli was relieved by the shift in her tone. "Nah. Quite the contrary, I was calling to sing the praises of how perfect it was." He paused a little before adding, "And just to see how things are going with you … since you stopped updating for a little while. Anyway, I'm glad it wasn't because you decided to drop it or came down with a cold."

Another brief moment of silence. "Oh … Um, thanks for checking on me." Her voice grew a little softer. "I really appreciate it. Don't worry, I'm alive and well and not going to lose faith in my projects any time soon. Not in either of them."

Eli felt the smile spreading wider over his lips. He liked the determination and rising confidence seeping through her voice … And he knew just what he needed to do to make it stay that way.


SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
Witchhazel Witchhazel

On a metafiction note: did you know that Harper’s web novel is written in collaboration with Witchhazel? The excerpt Eli was reading at the beginning of this chapter is taken from Be Gentle, Immortal Master :) If you haven’t read that book yet, they highly recommend that you give it a try! (Just head over to Witchhazel’s profile and find it in her list)

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Chương 27: Like a Marriage Proposal

** Harper **

The first half of the week was a blur to Harper. She lost track of how many versions of narrative outlines she had drafted, revised, trashed, and started over again. The sheer workload made her wish that she could grow two more heads, and it didn't help either to know all this effort was going down the drain into a project that her boss had no plan to even put into production. Too many times, she found herself daydreaming that some miraculous luck would descend upon her again and save her project the same way Eli had saved her web novel.

Who knew her dream actually came true?

Eli's phone call the night before was like a bell of awakening. She had been too busy following her mandatory tasks to spare the time to think through the situation … But of course he was right! With the investors calling the shots, this presentation wasn't just a chore, but rather a precious second chance that she'd be a fool to let slip by. As long as she pitched it right, the future was still unknown and well within her control.

"Aren't you in a great mood this morning!" Her new marketing partner, Wallace, marveled as he strode into the conference room where she was waiting for him, making her realize belatedly that she was actually humming in excitement. "Came up with a new idea to add to our bullet list today?"

"Oh, many." Harper beamed. Her spirit was indeed high enough today that she felt fully revived on the spot with max HP. "Remember those novel tropes I told you about yesterday?"

Wallace was a new grad just like Harper herself, which made it quite easy for them to work together. Their brainstorming sessions for the past few days had actually been lively despite Harper's overall gloomy mood, and at some point, she had even joked about common tropes in web novels that she felt tempted to use in her game story, such as court intrigues where the dashing and charismatic prince turned out to be the evil big boss, or the rise of the underdog where the weakest fighter picked up the most OP loot and slapped all his bullying opponents in the face.

At the time, Wallace had been fascinated. But the look on his face right now was one of bewilderment. "You're seriously considering adding them to the game?" he asked.

"Well, sort of … with modifications of course," Harper clarified. "I think there are a few ways to fit them nicely into a space themed game. Political intrigues are a good subplot to add to the alien culture exploratory missions. OP loots and resource cultivation work well for colonization campaigns. The gameplay strategies there will also be close enough to the kingdom-building products we've already developed, which makes the integration seamless on the technical side."

"Hmm … And easy to tap into our current fanbase." Wallace considered it thoughtfully. "Interesting. A space odyssey with interstellar civilization, diplomacy, and battle tactics? It's got a bit of everything! Does sound exciting and unique just to think about it."

Harper grinned at the agreement. "Precisely, we'll turn this into an epic adventure game with a big open world. Much more than just the spaceship RPG we started with! Brandon wanted eye-catching features to entice the investors with, and you definitely can't say this isn't eye-catching enough."

"I should write it down." Wallace unfolded his laptop and started typing. "Where did you suddenly get such a cool idea from?"

At that, Harper smiled to herself.

The thought had been on her mind ever since Eli told her to "imagine it's me you're trying to persuade". He hadn't realized how close he had gotten to the truth with that casual remark — in a way, she could say that this project had been made particularly with him in mind. She and Tyler and Eli had always loved space adventure games, and she had always dreamed of making one of her own epic journeys set in a vast world more complex than they'd ever seen. It'd be a homage, a tribute to her favorite teenage memories.

If this game could really be lucky enough to see the light of day … How incredible would it be to try it out with Eli? What would it be like to cozy up next to him on the couch and relive their favorite moments, or maybe even—

Harper caught herself before those thoughts wandered in the wrong direction. "Ah, well … The idea has always been there. I just didn't know if it'd be realistic to implement it. A game that large and complex won't ever fit into our development schedule … But in this particular case, I suppose the situation is different. 'Shiny and catchy' is the priority now, isn't it?"

Wallace flashed her a big smile as he continued typing. "You've got that right. Epic quests and grand odysseys will certainly draw attention and make us memorable to the investors. It's like a clickbait, so whatever you can think of along those lines, just toss it in. As to practicality … Well, we can think about the next step if we're lucky enough to get there first."

That was a completely different suggestion from the one Eli had given her, Harper thought. For her, this was far from a clickbait. More like a marriage proposal, if she had to come up with her own analogy. Maybe dressed up a bit glamorously to catch the eye for a good start … But at the end of the deal, she was ready for a serious commitment, even if it was one with a colossal workload. Even if it was a … blind date of sorts? Because she still had no idea who these investors were or what preferences they'd have for suitable candidates, and she could only hope that "imagining it's Eli" would work out well enough.

She believed in him and his advice though, so she gave Wallace a confident nod. "Let's keep going then," she said. "How many bullet points are we at already?"


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