I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me - Chapter 43: Himeno's Romantic Comedy Troubles

One Week Later

(…Hmm.)

In her room, Himeno furrowed her brows, her small face contorted in deep thought.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she stared intently at her phone screen, barely blinking. She had done the same thing even at university.

The reason?

SNS—Social Networking Services. Specifically, Twitter.

A few days ago, she had posted a four-panel romantic comedy manga.

The story followed a classic trope: two childhood friends with mutual feelings playing a game in a room. The loser had to obey whatever the winner said.

The heroine was skilled at the game, but suddenly, a harmless jumping spider appeared in the room. Being terrified of bugs, she panicked and misclicked, leading to her unexpected defeat.

Unwilling to accept the outcome, she grabbed the protagonist by the collar, shaking him back and forth while shouting, “One more round!”

However, in the heat of the moment, her forceful movements caused the protagonist to lose balance, and he ended up pushing her down onto the bed.

“T-This is… uh, well…”

“H-Hurry up and move…”

They found themselves face-to-face, mere inches apart.

But instead of moving away, the protagonist said, “This is your penalty.”

“Wha—!?”

The protagonist had been in love with her for years.

And so did the heroine.

“T-That’s not fair… Ugh, you better take responsibility…”

“Mm.”

“T-Then do what you want… A penalty is a penalty, after all…”

From there, the scene faded to black, implying what happened next without explicitly showing it.

Two days had passed since the post went live.

It had already racked up 34,000 likes, bringing a wave of positive feedback and a surge of new followers.

People flooded the replies with praise:

「I’m dying from how cute this is!」
「I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!」
「The art is amazing!」
「Where can I read the full version!?」

However, amidst the praise, a few different messages stood out:

“The art is great, and you manage to keep it from being problematic, but something’s missing. You should show more of the heroine’s emotions in that scene. It’s already good, so why not make it better?”

“I totally agree! The ‘doki-doki’ sound effects feel like a cop-out to avoid showing her actual feelings.”

“Maybe it’s because you’ve never experienced it yourself?”

Self-proclaimed critics.

Normally, comments like these could be ignored.

But… Himeno couldn’t ignore them.

“These people…”

Her heart thumped uncomfortably.

“…How do they know?”

The truth was, while drawing that scene, she had struggled to express the heroine’s feelings. That’s why she couldn’t let it go.

Though Himeno rarely replied to comments, she always made sure to read them.

Himeno currently had both a published book and an ongoing series.

Fortunately, she had an editor who provided her with advice from time to time.

However—

That editor’s advice was strikingly similar to the critiques left by so-called online reviewers.

Because she created manga with a strong sense of realism, her vague expressions were being subtly criticized.

“If you experienced it even once, I think this issue would resolve itself…”

With a serious expression, Himeno responded to her editor, who wore a troubled look.

“I can’t experience it.”

It was an obvious answer.

Himeno had never had a boyfriend, yet she was creating romantic comedy manga. She could only depict the emotions in such situations by researching or relying on her imagination. That was precisely why she had run into this problem.

“…”

The “like” count on her post was displayed as 34,000—and now, it had just increased to 35,000.

There was no doubt that her work was being received positively, but she couldn’t ignore this particular criticism. Eventually, more and more readers would start feeling the same way. And that, in turn, could lead to a decline in popularity—and ultimately, affect her income.

“I have to do better…”

If she couldn’t earn a living, it would all be meaningless.

Himeno stood up, took several romance manga from her bookshelf, and began reading—studying, in the name of research.

Wall slams, pushdowns, head pats, hugs, princess carries.

All sorts of romantic scenarios that, to her, had no grounding in reality.

Yet, these scenes carried a clear sense of realism.

“If this happened to me, I’d probably feel this way…” Her heart fluttered.

She felt envious.

But could she convey that same excitement in her own work? Could she make readers feel the same longing?

When faced with that question, Himeno immediately shook her head.

—The moment she tried to obscure her lack of experience, she had already lost the battle for realism.

“They’re on a different level…”

She knew it wasn’t purely talent. These other authors had editors guiding them, just as she did. But even so, she felt that no one relied on their editor’s input more than she did—a creator with zero experience.

“I’m still so inexperienced…”

It was a constant thought in her mind.

This industry had only people above her. It was a gathering of monsters.

Everyone had their own strengths, and they used their skills to craft incredible stories.

Even though she had both a book and a serialized manga, she could clearly feel the gap in ability.

And that was exactly why—

“I want to aim higher.”
“I refuse to lose to that author.”
“I want to be praised even more.”

Even as she felt hurt, a powerful drive to improve surged within her.

Just as she was about to close the manga she had been reading and turn on her computer—

“Ping!”

A notification sound rang from the smartphone resting on her bed.

The sender was her friend, Ami. The message read: “Can you talk right now?”

Since her phone case was quite large, Himeno held it with both hands and quickly replied, “I can.”

Even gentle criticism could sting. She wanted to hear a friend’s voice to soothe her heart.

“Himeno! Hey, good work today!”

“What’s up, Ami?”

Hearing Ami speak in her usual upbeat tone made Himeno’s expression soften. However, her voice remained as composed as ever—a skill that was uniquely hers.

“Well, I was just wondering if you were doing okay lately.”

But that lively tone didn’t last long. Ami’s voice turned serious.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, um… Himeno, I just thought maybe things weren’t going well with your boyfriend, Ryoma. I know it’s not really my place, but having someone to talk to might help, you know?”

“…Huh?”

“For the past couple of days, you’ve been staring at your phone with this really intense expression at university. You looked like something was bothering you, so I figured maybe something happened between you and Ryoma.”

“Oh…”

Ami was still under the misunderstanding that Himeno and Ryoma were dating. That was why she had called—to check in on her.

“Thanks for worrying about me. But nothing’s wrong. Shiba and I are the same as always.”

In reality, Himeno’s concerns were entirely about her manga. She had no relationship troubles.

After all, the two of them weren’t even dating in the first place.

“No way! I mean, you guys go to the same university, but I’ve never seen you walking home together.”

“…Th-that’s…”

“Wait, did Ryoma cheat on you or something? Because if he did, I swear I’ll go beat him up. I can ask Fuko’s boyfriend to find out what classroom he’s in.”

“That’s not it. Shiba’s a good guy.”

“Then what were you so worried about?”

“…My future.”

“Your future!?”

She told a harmless lie—one that wouldn’t hurt anyone.

If people found out she was drawing manga commercially, it would draw unnecessary attention. It would make university life uncomfortable.

She couldn’t exactly go around broadcasting it.

“Ohh, so you were stressing about your future! But come on, we’re only first-years—isn’t it a bit early for that?”

“Himeno is a realist.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true, but still! You need to relax a little! If you push yourself too hard, it’ll all fall apart!”

The moment Ami heard it was about her future, her voice immediately returned to its usual cheerful tone. It was as if she was saying, “Well, guess my job here is done!”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“Not maybe, you are right! But… if that’s your worry, I guess you don’t really need me after all!”

“Himeno doesn’t think that…I’m happy.”

“Nah, come on, you’ve got someone way more qualified than me—your hot older boyfriend!”

“…!”

“Oh-ho! You totally blushed just now, didn’t you!? Damn it!”

Ami, who was always desperate for a boyfriend, clicked her tongue in frustration. Of course, she wasn’t being completely serious.

“I’m not blushing…”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever! But if you talk to your boyfriend about your worries and get all lovey-dovey in the process, your problem will be solved in an instant! I mean, come on, Ryoma totally seems like the type who knows how to handle that kind of thing! He’ll steer things in a good direction for sure!”

“T-That’s embarrassing… something like that.”

“Oh, please! As if you two haven’t already done it! Kyaa! So steamy!”

“I’m hanging up.”

Himeno’s voice turned cold as she spoke those words, cutting through Ami’s increasingly heated teasing.

She might not have the appearance of an adult just yet, but she was a full-fledged university student. She understood perfectly well what Ami was insinuating.

“Ahaha, sorry, sorry. But you know, I’m really glad your worries were just about the future. That’s a relief.”

“…Yeah. Thanks, Ami.”

“No problem! Anyway, I’m about to eat, so see you at school tomorrow!”

“Okay.”

And with that, their short five-minute conversation came to an end.

(I feel bad…)

Himeno thought as she put down her phone.

She had decided—she would keep her worries about manga to herself.

With that in mind, she powered on her PC and sat down in her pink gaming chair. Since she had adjusted it to the highest setting, her small bare feet dangled and swayed freely.

As she watched the screen boot up, her mind drifted back to her conversation with Ami, filling her with warmth.

“Come on, you’ve got someone way more qualified than me—your hot older boyfriend!”

“If you talk to your boyfriend about your worries and get all lovey-dovey, your problem will be solved in an instant! I mean, Ryoma totally seems like the type who knows how to handle that kind of thing!”

“Oh, please! As if you two haven’t already done it! Kyaa! So steamy!”

Even though she had lied about her worries, Ami had tried to cheer her up in her own way.

Feeling grateful, Himeno reached for her mouse—when suddenly,

“Ah…!”

It was as if a lightbulb had popped up above her head.

“If I just experience it once… this problem would be solved.”

Her main concern—her struggle with the manga—had unexpectedly been addressed through her talk with Ami.

“I… I might be able to solve this…”

Her heartbeat quickened. A mix of nervousness and embarrassment sent heat rushing through her body.

(If Shiba could… do it for me…?)

She imagined Ryoma’s face, thinking about the things she wanted him to do for the sake of her manga.

“B-But… if he actually did something like that…”

Her forehead hit the desk, her body going limp.

A wave of hot steam might as well have been rising from her as her face turned a deep red.