kscans

Chapter 84 - Rururoro

That day, the creator community was in an uproar.

'We are looking for someone to create the design for the buddy that Amaterasu-sama will possess. The compensation and various conditions are as follows.'

This request, posted to Hayate's rarely updated social media account, captured the attention of the entire world.

Base Design Fee: 1,000,000 yen and up.
*Additional compensation will be considered based on the quality of the final product.

Exclusive Contract: 300,000 yen per month and up.
*You will be asked to design additional outfits according to Amaterasu-sama's requests.
*Additional compensation will be considered based on the frequency of requests.

Bonus Reward: The divine protection of Amaterasu-sama.

For a buddy design in FWO, the compensation was high. But most people felt that Hayate, who was earning well from his streams, could afford to pay this much.

What truly attracted fans who could also do character design was the exclusive contract. If they could get an exclusive contract with Hayate and his friends, they would be able to communicate with them frequently even after finishing the buddy design. For a fan, that was the greatest reward of all.

The bonus reward, Amaterasu's protection, was another factor that drew attention. Any simple requests written on her social media had a high chance of being granted. The idea of receiving the blessing of such an influencer was seen positively by many, who thought it would make a nice memento.

Because Hayate had mentioned on stream that he would be putting out a call for applicants, more than a thousand applications arrived within just one hour of his post.

After that, the applications continued to pour in, and by the deadline, there were over 300,000 from all over the world.

Several non-creators tried to apply as a joke, but Hayate's DMs were set to only accept messages from users with creator verification. Even among the verified professional creators, there were some who applied without serious intent. Their current work schedules made it absolutely impossible for them to take on Hayate's request, but they applied just for the fun of it.

All such applications were filtered out by Aina.

If she hadn't been there, Hayate, Rena, and Amaterasu would have had to search for a truly motivated creator from among 300,000 applications themselves.

'Of all the applicants, 13,572 are highly motivated and have open schedules. From among them, I have carefully selected my top 300 recommendations, taking into consideration the creator's own popularity, design quality, and other factors.'

Hayate and the others were reviewing the data on the designers selected by Aina.

"Three hundred, huh. Can you narrow it down a bit more?"

'It is possible, but if we narrow the number further, we will end up excluding genius-type designers who are popular and highly skilled but do not adhere to deadlines.'

"I think deadlines are important, though."

'Then shall I apply a filter for deadline compliance rate as well?'

"That sounds fine."

"I’m good with that."

"W-Wait a moment. Look at this."

From among the promotional designs sent to Hayate's DMs, Amaterasu had found one that caught her eye.

"This is splendid. Does it not seem to, how shall I put it, overflow with my divinity?"

"It’s a very beautiful illustration."

"What’s the designer’s name?"

'That is from Rururoro-sama, an illustrator based in France. She has three million followers on social media and has also illustrated a light novel that is popular worldwide. However, according to my research, her deadline compliance rate is low, and she was scheduled to be eliminated in the next round of selections.'

"It’d be a problem if we commissioned her and it took forever."

"Oh, but wait. It says in her DM that she finished all her current work just so she could take on Hayate’s request."

"Oh! How motivated."

That wasn’t all that was in the message from Rururoro.

"Huh, what’s this?"

"This is you, Hayate."

"And that one is Rena."

It was a dynamic illustration depicting Hayate and Rena fighting monsters in a dungeon.

"This equipment, isn't it pretty recent?"

"Yeah. It's the sword I got in the Paris dungeon the other day."

'I have also investigated the identities of all applicants. As a result, I have confirmed that Rururoro-sama is the woman you and Rena-sama rescued in the Yellow Dungeon in Germany.'

"In the German dungeon?"

"Ah! Could she be that beautiful woman with the short blonde hair!?"

'The very same.'

The living room TV displayed a video of Hayate and Rena clearing a dungeon. A blonde woman was accompanying them.

"Wait, she’s an illustrator with three million followers!?"

"She seemed perfectly capable of fighting in a Grade 4 dungeon even solo, right?"

Although Hayate had saved her when she was in a pinch, she was skilled enough to easily clear a people dungeon if she were in a proper party.

"We talked a bit about FWO, and she knew a lot, right?"

"You and she got along so well that I got a little jealous."

"Ah, um, sorry about that."

Seeing Hayate and Rururoro talking so cheerfully, Rena had felt a complex mix of emotions.

"Then maybe we should pass on her. We’ll probably have a lot of meetings."

Hayate didn't want to needlessly add to the things that would put Rena in a bad mood. There were plenty of other illustrators who had sent in wonderful designs besides Rururoro.

"But you looked so happy back then, Hayate. There aren't many people you can talk to who have as deep knowledge of FWO as you do. So, if Amaterasu-sama likes Rururoro-san's design, I think it's fine to commission her."

"I am quite taken with this one's art style."

"Yes. And so, I cast my vote for her too."

The final decision was left to Hayate.

Hayate recalled that it had indeed been fun walking down to the dungeon exit while talking with Rururoro.

He was torn between his desire not to make Rena jealous and his desire to get excited over deep FWO lore again. The fact that she was a super popular illustrator and had cleared her schedule for them was also a big point in her favor.

After a moment of thought, Hayate made his decision.

"Alright. Let's ask Rururoro-san to design Amaterasu-sama's buddy!"