Chapter 150: The

In Japan, "bullying" is a very widespread phenomenon, categorized specifically into school bullying, workplace bullying, and social group bullying.

But regardless of the type of bullying, it often follows certain unwritten rules: when a victim speaks out and exposes the bully's behavior, the original bully is often shunned by others, and sometimes even ostracized by those who originally participated in the bullying.

For example, the work "A Silent Voice" describes such a segment: after the heroine is bullied, her parents openly confront the school, and the hero's bullying behavior is subsequently exposed.

After this, other students and teachers who also participated in the bullying actually shifted all the blame onto the hero, and even subjected him to "reverse" bullying.

Although it sounds unbelievable, this is indeed the current reality in Japanese society.

The same is true for the social issue of the Burakumin.

Although mainstream society adopts a cold attitude toward them, it is always just "scorn" in private on the internet; beyond that, they express their discrimination through special means such as differential treatment.

In other words, if the bullying of the "Burakumin" group is exposed, the individual or group acting as the bully often faces a very serious credibility crisis and may even be kicked while they are down by other groups.

After all, although the Burakumin are discriminated against, they number in the millions, accounting for one-thirtieth of the entire Japanese population.

Moreover, in recent years, the political power of the Burakumin has been sprouting and growing, and voices of sympathy and support from the public have been constantly rising.

Therefore, for the Mantan Society, which has been labeled with "discriminating against the Burakumin," it is now facing this "crisis" of credibility.

Chiyoda Ward, Mantan Society Headquarters, Public Relations Bureau.

Furukawa Kento looked through the gaps in the blinds at the dense crowd surrounding the Mantan Society headquarters and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Damn it, how did Akiwara Yuto get involved with the Burakumin line? What exactly happened?

According to what Takei Kohei said, "blacklisting" Akiwara Yuto was purely to "kill the chicken to scare the monkey."

How did it turn and twist into politics!

And that work of Akiwara Yuto's, "The Death of a Mystery Writer," was clearly published much later!

Furukawa Kento turned around and paced back and forth in the office.

As a high-level executive in the Public Relations Bureau, he originally did not consider the matter regarding Akiwara Yuto to be a very thorny problem.

Even if the other party used some tricks, the Mantan Society could still counter them. The reason they didn't counter was simply because it wasn't cost-effective to spend too much money.

But once this matter turned into discrimination against the "Burakumin," it was no longer as simple as it was before...

What should be done?

Furukawa Kento frowned subconsciously.

Just then, the "ring-ring" of the telephone rang. Furukawa Kento stopped thinking and picked up the receiver.

A familiar voice came from the other end; it was Vice President Yokoyama Seiji.

Yokoyama Seiji said in an anxious tone: "Executive Furukawa, you can see the current situation; it must be resolved as soon as possible. The President and the board members have just notified me that this problem must be solved immediately, and the speed must be as fast as possible!"

He was currently feeling agitated; as the leader in charge of the Editorial Bureau, he had to be responsible for all the actions taken by his subordinates.

And this matter involving Akiwara Yuto was indeed stirred up by Kihara Daigo and Takei Kohei.

These two people were indeed under his jurisdiction.

So if this public relations crisis was not handled well, he would have to bear considerable responsibility.

"I understand, my lord. The Public Relations Bureau is already contacting major media outlets. Once the protest outside ends, we will immediately hold a corresponding press conference to prove that the Mantan Society absolutely does not discriminate against the Burakumin," Furukawa Kento replied.

Hearing this, Yokoyama Seiji was not very satisfied; after all, this measure was a bit too passive.

He thought for a moment and then asked: "Has there been a reply from Akiwara Yuto's side? Can you get him to issue a statement of reconciliation as soon as possible?"

The source of everything was Akiwara Yuto; as long as he could stand up and clarify things properly, the credibility crisis the Mantan Society was currently facing could be reduced by more than half immediately.

Furukawa Kento hesitated for a moment and then replied: "Akiwara Yuto's side indicated that he is still considering it; he wants to wait and see for now."

Wait and see? Hearing this explanation, Yokoyama Seiji was so angry he laughed.

The longer this matter dragged on, the greater the impact on the Mantan Society's crisis...

After all, a publishing house is in the cultural industry, and a very important point of the cultural industry is that one must consider the attitude of the public.

Furukawa Kento also sensed the dissatisfaction of his superior, so he immediately said: "We are continuing to speed up communication with Akiwara Yuto. Besides that, we have prepared other backup plans. The next step..."

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by Yokoyama Seiji: "Enough, send the specific plans to my office later. Once again, I only need results as soon as possible, no matter what the method is!!"

After saying this, Yokoyama Seiji rudely hung up the phone...

Furukawa Kento heard the sound of the receiver being hung up and fell into silence. After a while, he dialed another number.

"Hello, is this Ms. Seto Tamae? I would like to ask you for a favor..."

At the same time, Satake Maki, who was at the Anjiu Bookstore, watched the news reporting on the protest on TV and fell into confusion...

Like most of the public, she was not very clear about the specific reasons for the Mantan Society's suppression of Akiwara Yuto.

The last time she saw Akiwara Yuto was on the day of the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award ceremony, but after that, a series of events occurred.

From Akiwara Yuto denouncing the Mantan Society's unfairness at the awards ceremony, to the editor named Asano Aiko exposing the Mantan Society's fraud in a TV interview, and now the protest by the Burakumin political group...

The occurrence of various events made her feel a bit dazzled.

So, was the Mantan Society's suppression of Akiwara Yuto workplace bullying, or was it suppression regarding the Burakumin?

Why are the various methods inconsistent? It's really strange!

"So the reason Akiwara-sensei was suppressed was because he supports the Burakumin," Nishijima Sota, who was sitting next to her watching TV, offered his opinion.

"But why didn't Akiwara-sensei mention it himself before?" Satake Maki was still a bit skeptical.

Nishijima Sota shrugged.

"Who knows? These writers all have their quirks. Maybe Akiwara Yuto felt it wasn't convenient to make this public, so he didn't talk about it. After all, supporting the Burakumin is something few celebrities do nowadays."

He thought for a moment and then said in a certain tone.

"If it wasn't to support the Burakumin, then why would these Burakumin protest at the Mantan Society's door for him? They can't be trying to get some benefit out of it, right? According to the news, quite a few people came all the way from that dump of a place, Hokkaido; the travel expenses alone must cost a lot of money!"

When he said this, there was a faint mockery in Nishijima Sota's tone.

Given the premise that mainstream society discriminates against the Burakumin, he was naturally no exception.

Hearing this explanation, Satake Maki could only nod. After all, it had already become such a big deal, and it did indeed look like this was the reason.

After Nishijima Sota finished speaking, he secretly glanced at Satake Maki's profile a few times, then reached into his pocket and took out two movie tickets.

"Satake, are you free these two nights? A friend of mine just happened to give me two tickets. I wonder if you could..."

Satake Maki looked at the two tickets handed to her, stunned for a moment, and then replied with an apologetic smile: "Sorry, I have a lot of work these few days, I might not have any time..."

"Ah, is that so? I understand, I understand." Nishijima Sota withdrew his hand and put the tickets back into his pocket.

He rubbed the back of his head with his right hand and pretended not to care as he said: "It's fine, no need to apologize. After all, they were just extra tickets."

Although he said he didn't care, his left hand in his pocket clenched involuntarily.

Satake Maki did not notice his movement but continued to turn her gaze to the TV screen.

Watching the host continue to report on this incident, she couldn't help but worry.

Akiwara-sensei, he should be fine, right?