[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-132":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Literary Master of Tokyo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2354981,4607,"Chapter 132: Cooperation? Or Giving Up?","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-132",132,"\u003Cp>November 14, Anjiu Bookstore, second-floor office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The sequence of events is as follows.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi faced the other five people in the office and recounted the specific situation he had learned about at the dinner party last night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing the ins and outs, the five employees of Anjiu Bookstore were all somewhat surprised; a worried expression appeared on Satake Maki’s face, Itakura Naka furrowed her brows, Oka Yuito and Nagao Teppei exchanged glances, and Nishijima Sota’s expression turned serious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After looking around the room, Akutsu Goichi continued: \"So everyone, after we finish our current inventory, should we continue to cooperate with Akiwara Yuto?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon learning that their opponent was the behemoth Mantan Publishing, Akutsu Goichi was a bit afraid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, compared to Mantan Publishing, Anjiu Bookstore was like a sampan next to an aircraft carrier, whether in terms of scale or distribution channels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was considering whether to end the cooperation with Akiwara Yuto to avoid bringing trouble upon himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was why he had avoided Akiwara Yuto and called this meeting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Itakura Naka, wearing lipstick, raised her hand and offered her opinion first: \"President Akutsu, I don't have any other opinions, I just want to ask, if we don't cooperate, what will our subsequent business be?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Itakura Naka didn't actually care about how the publishing house was doing; in her view, she would eventually hook a wealthy husband and become a housewife.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anjiu Bookstore or whatever was just a place she stayed because she couldn't find another job for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So what she cared about was only the change in her own work content.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this question, Akutsu Goichi hesitated for a moment and said in an uncertain tone: \"Let's continue to focus on self-publishing business.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that they had made a name for themselves relying on the dedication of Akiwara Yuto’s *The Devotion of Suspect X*, their self-publishing clients had also increased quite a bit compared to before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging by this situation, even after losing *The Devotion of Suspect X* and another unpublished book, *Death of a Mystery Writer*, although Anjiu Bookstore would earn less money, it wouldn't be a devastating blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Itakura Naka shrugged, \"Then I have no other opinions.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, no matter how well Anjiu Bookstore was managed, she wouldn't get an extra bonus, so as long as her working hours didn't increase, it was fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi nodded and looked at the others, \"And you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"President, I object.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Akutsu Goichi’s surprise, Satake Maki, who usually didn't express many opinions, stood up and said in a firm tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The reason?\" Akutsu Goichi asked back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Satake Maki nodded and said in a serious tone: \"President, if it weren't for Akiwara Yuto cooperating with us, Anjiu Bookstore wouldn't have reached this point today. So I think we shouldn't choose to end the cooperation just because the other party is being suppressed by Mantan Publishing!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi shook his head; children talk about right and wrong, adults only talk about interests.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cooperating with Akiwara Yuto in the beginning was nothing more than a business relationship; while there was some personal sentiment, it couldn't compare to real money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, in the profit-sharing with Akiwara Yuto, Anjiu Bookstore could only get an 8% share of the sales, and the vast majority of the profit was taken by the other party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi ignored Satake Maki’s gaze, waved his hand to let her sit down, and asked another capable lieutenant, Nishijima Sota, who was in charge of sales and promotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nishijima, what is your view?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nishijima Sota glanced at Satake Maki and felt that her expression was a bit off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned his head to face Akutsu Goichi: \"President, I would like to ask, how much is the breach of contract penalty?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If it's the supplementary agreement after the reprint, it's about 5 million yen; as for the other book, a formal contract has not yet been signed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nishijima Sota nodded and continued: \"President, excluding the 50,000 copies already delivered to distributors and bookstores, there are still 10,000 copies in current inventory. According to your estimate, how much longer will it take to exhaust the final inventory?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi thought for a while and replied: \"The current weekly sales are 6,000 copies, which might still be the follow-up influence from book reviews. Later on, it cannot be ruled out that it will return to the initial 4,000 copies per week or even lower.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He calculated in his heart for a while and replied: \"It might take about half a year.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nishijima Sota continued, \"President, if it takes that long, I suggest you continue to cooperate with Akiwara Yuto. After all, in the eyes of Mantan Publishing, our Anjiu Bookstore is already tied to him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He emphasized his tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Most importantly, looking at the data, can’t *The Devotion of Suspect X* be called a long-selling book? Do you really want to give it up?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He felt that his president was a bit too afraid of Mantan Publishing, to the point of ignoring the most important present situation of Anjiu Bookstore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, although Mantan Publishing was large in scale, there was no reason for them to impose restrictions on Anjiu Bookstore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one were to cut off the most important business on hand simply out of fear, then such behavior could almost be called senile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furthermore, ending the cooperation with Akiwara Yuto would only hurt Anjiu Bookstore itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Akiwara Yuto held the copyright, and as long as he had money, he could easily find another publisher with a self-publishing business to cooperate with.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too many publishing houses were in poor operating condition now; as long as there was money, who cared about offending a big publisher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And *The Devotion of Suspect X* could still become a further bestseller by relying on the readers and fans accumulated previously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Anjiu Bookstore would gain nothing, and might even earn a reputation for abandoning business partners in the eyes of others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a Japanese society that highly valued reputation, this reputation was no less than digging one's own grave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nishijima Sota sighed, and then analyzed the pros and cons with his president.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akutsu Goichi nodded while listening, and then couldn't help but show a bitter smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To tell the truth, regarding what Nishijima said, Akutsu Goichi actually saw many points clearly himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he believed that his employees still didn't understand the power of Mantan Publishing well enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As one of the four giants of the Japanese publishing industry, Mantan Publishing had enormous energy in the business, political, and even cultural circles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Often, Mantan Publishing only needed to beckon, and they could choke a company in places one couldn't imagine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like now, the other party had effectively blacklisted Akiwara Yuto, but he hadn't heard any rumors at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lowered his head and fell into deep thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then again, just as Nishijima Sota said, did he really want to give up the reprint rights to *The Devotion of Suspect X*?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You have to know that even if weekly sales fell to only 4,000 copies, it could still sell 200,000 copies a year, and looking at the potential, it could still sell for many years...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is really a dilemma, isn't it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lowered his head and fell into deep contemplation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Akutsu Goichi’s dilemma, the others also quieted down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, the entire office fell into silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, the phone suddenly rang. Seeing that Akutsu Goichi had no intention of answering, Satake Maki took the initiative to step forward and pick up the phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She answered the call, listened for a while, and then let out an exclamation, attracting the attention of everyone present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Putting down the receiver, Satake Maki announced a piece of news that shocked everyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara Yuto, he has been shortlisted for the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award!\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1304,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","25fdd791ff73acf3a7c55e6bc5f4683f5e4fcfcfe1e49618b31b996fcdff885c","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-133","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-131",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]