Chapter 163: I Firmly Oppose!

Thursday, 8: 0 AM.

Akiwara Yuto woke up early, washed up briefly, then put on a thin sweater and left the house.

After a twenty-minute bus ride, he arrived at Ichibashi in Chiyoda Ward, where the Jiaojiao Pavilion, one of the four major publishing houses, was located.

Akiwara Yuto walked to the main entrance, subconsciously looked up, and took a few careful glances.

Unlike the architectural style of the Mantan Society, Jiaojiao Pavilion started by publishing middle school textbooks, so its architectural style was relatively conservative.

The overall architectural style was dominated by dark blue, and it was only 10 stories high from bottom to top.

Although the building was not tall, the footprint of this rectangular structure was quite large, several times that of other buildings.

At the main entrance, one could see people in suits and ties coming and going from time to time.

Akiwara Yuto observed for a while, then turned around, pushed open the door, and walked in; his purpose for coming today was to submit the outline and first draft he had already written.

Akiwara Yuto spoke politely to the receptionist at the front desk.

"Hello, I am Akiwara Yuto. I previously had an appointment with the editor of *April Youth*, Awazu Hideki. May I ask how to get to the *April Youth* editorial department?"

The receptionist gave a standardized professional smile, "Mr. Akiwara, please register."

Akiwara Yuto nodded, and after registering, he took the badge handed to him by the other party and pinned it on.

Immediately after, he was led by the other party to take the elevator to the 5th floor and was brought to an office labeled "*April Youth* Editorial Department."

After arriving there, the receptionist asked him to wait a moment, then walked inside and called out Awazu Hideki.

"Teacher Akiwara, it is truly a bother to have you come here in person."

Awazu Hideki rubbed his hands together, then greeted Akiwara Yuto and walked into the editorial office.

Akiwara Yuto nodded and walked in.

As he walked, he subconsciously looked around.

The space of about 100 tsubo was partitioned by "L"-shaped desks.

However, only two-thirds of these desks had manuscripts and books on them.

As for the remaining one-third, it was obvious that no one was using them.

Awazu Hideki caught Akiwara Yuto's gaze and felt a bit embarrassed.

"Teacher Akiwara, those empty desks belong to freelance editors. Because business hasn't been very good lately, we've had them pause their work for a while."

Akiwara Yuto raised an eyebrow.

Freelance editors? Weren't those just temporary workers without formal contracts?

But they couldn't even afford to hire temporary workers?

It seemed the situation *April Youth* was facing now was even more difficult than he had imagined!

Although Akiwara Yuto thought this to himself, his facial expression didn't show it at all.

He nodded without replying and continued to follow Awazu Hideki further inside.

Ten minutes later, he arrived at the door of a room labeled "Editor-in-Chief's Office," but to his surprise, some sounds were coming from inside; it sounded like people were arguing.

In the noise, he faintly heard the word "oppose."

"I'm sorry, Teacher Akiwara. The atmosphere inside our editorial department is relatively relaxed, so sometimes the deputy editor-in-chief and the editor-in-chief have some disputes."

Upon hearing the argument, Awazu Hideki immediately spoke to Akiwara Yuto in an apologetic tone.

Akiwara Yuto waved his hand, indicating that he didn't mind.

After all, what did the internal affairs of *April Youth* have to do with him?

"Editor Awazu, are we not going in?"

Akiwara Yuto looked at Awazu Hideki with some confusion and found him standing at the door, hesitating and not knocking.

Awazu Hideki smiled awkwardly, "Teacher Akiwara, let's go to the reception room and sit for a while first. I'll have the editor-in-chief come see you in a moment."

Akiwara Yuto was even more confused, but he nodded without saying anything and followed Awazu Hideki to a reception room to sit down.

Looking at the tea with "steam" rising in front of him, he placed the document bag he had been holding on the coffee table in front of his seat.

There shouldn't be any major problems with this adapted work, right?

……

Meanwhile, in the *April Youth* editor-in-chief's office, a fierce argument was taking place.

"Editor-in-Chief Dacheng, I firmly oppose the conditions given by Akiwara Yuto! How can a writer only serialize a work without releasing a collected volume?! If this happens, other writers will inevitably be dissatisfied!"

The person speaking was named Kawamoto Toshisuke, the deputy editor-in-chief of *April Youth*.

The middle-aged woman he was speaking to was his superior, and the editor-in-chief of *April Youth*, Dacheng Rika.

Dacheng Rika, sitting in her office chair, shook her head.

"Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kawamoto, Teacher Akiwara has already made his stance clear. If the publishing rights for the collected volume and the film and television rights cannot be given to him, he will not serialize in *April Youth*."

She paused and added, "Besides, you also expressed your approval when we first invited him."

Kawamoto Toshisuke frowned and responded in a dissatisfied tone.

"But this is too inconsistent with industry rules, isn't it? After all, the revenue from collected volumes is a very important part for the editorial department. And we have to spend quite a bit of promotional money on his work too!"

In Kawamoto Toshisuke's view, this condition of Akiwara Yuto's was undoubtedly an exorbitant demand.

After taking the serialization fee offered by *April Youth*, he would then use the promotional funds provided by the editorial department to build up the work's fame.

And after doing all that, he wanted to cast *April Youth* aside and publish and distribute the collected volume himself. How could there be such a good deal?

Furthermore, a manuscript fee of 50, 00 yen per page was completely at the level of a veteran writer.

Even if the other party had won the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award, he was ultimately just a newcomer; what right did he have to receive such high treatment?!

Dacheng Rika shook her head, "Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kawamoto, regarding this serialization, we are the ones asking for his help, not the other way around, so I don't think there is a problem."

She emphasized her tone.

"For *April Youth*, the most important thing right now is the weekly circulation of the periodical, not some performance revenue. Only when our sales stabilize can we consider other aspects!"

While saying these words, she became increasingly dissatisfied with her subordinate's attitude.

Regarding Akiwara Yuto's treatment, the entire editorial department had basically reached a consensus; only he was the one clinging to it.

In her view, although Akiwara Yuto was only a newcomer, he had gained no small amount of fame among the public and book critics due to the "Burakumin" controversy and the dispute with the Mantan Society.

Therefore, as long as he was willing to serialize in *April Youth*, it was equivalent to doing a wave of promotion for *April Youth*.

How could such a writer be treated as a mere newcomer?

Moreover, he had also won the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award; if nothing went wrong, he would inevitably achieve greater success in the literary world in the future!

Isn't it a matter of course to befriend such a writer and concede some benefits?

Kawamoto Toshisuke was still dissatisfied, but by now, he could see that his editor-in-chief had already made her decision.

He "hmphed" and replied.

"Editor-in-Chief Dacheng, regarding this matter, I will report it to Managing Director Sanchiao! If the sales still don't reach expectations, you should know what that means, Editor-in-Chief."

After saying this, he didn't even look at his editor-in-chief and left the office with a flick of his sleeves.

When he closed the door, he even shut it "heavily."

He strode toward the outside of the editorial department, thinking to himself as he walked.

A woman is just a woman after all; how could the terrible situation of *April Youth* be turned around by a single writer?

This editor-in-chief position should be changed to someone else!

Dacheng Rika sat in her office chair, listening to the fading footsteps, and sighed in her heart.

If Akiwara Yuto couldn't help with the current predicament of *April Youth*?

Then who could?

……

On the other side, Akiwara Yuto sat in the break room, impatiently looking at the alarm clock hanging on the wall.

Half an hour had passed since he sat down.

Making him wait this long, wasn't *April Youth* being too impolite?!

He was no longer that desperate, unemployed youth; did *April Youth* want to repeat what happened with Takei Kohei and make him wait for half a day again?

Akiwara Yuto frowned and then made a decision.

Wait another 10 minutes, and if no one comes, he would leave directly!