Chapter 164: The Editor-in-Chief's Admiration

"Editor Awazu, it seems the Editor-in-Chief of your department is quite busy with official business, so I think I shall take my leave for today."

After finishing his third cup of tea, Akiwara Yuto set the cup down and spoke to Hideki Awazu, who was sitting to the side.

Forty-five minutes had passed since he sat down, and he did not believe his time was something that could be wasted indefinitely.

Moreover, serialization was merely something he was doing as a matter of convenience.

Since *April Youth* lacked sincerity, he could accept finding another publication to collaborate with, or simply waiting a while longer to release the collected volume.

"Akiwara-sensei, I apologize. I will go and ask; perhaps some urgent matter has delayed them."

Hideki Awazu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke in a very polite tone.

He had vaguely guessed what was happening inside the Editor-in-Chief's office, but he had not expected it to cause such a long delay.

He dared not let Akiwara Yuto leave; if that happened, the subsequent cooperation would likely fall through.

In the current arms race among the four major publishing houses, finding another author with the fame of Akiwara Yuto was undoubtedly harder than ascending to heaven.

Just as Hideki Awazu was preparing to leave the reception room, the sound of high heels approached.

Immediately after, the door to the reception room opened.

Upon seeing the person who entered, Hideki Awazu finally felt relieved.

"Akiwara-sensei, sorry to have kept you waiting. I am Rika Ooshiro, Editor-in-Chief of *April Youth*. Please treat me well."

Upon hearing this, Akiwara Yuto instinctively looked up to size the other person up.

She was a middle-aged woman in her forties, wearing glasses and a simple black suit. There was a very refined air about her.

Seeing her bow and introduce herself, Akiwara Yuto also stood up. "Nice to meet you. I am Akiwara Yuto. Please treat me well."

Since she had arrived, he abandoned his plan to leave.

However, he still had some vague suspicions in his heart: was making him wait so long a power play by *April Youth*?

Never mind, let's see how this Editor-in-Chief Ooshiro behaves.

If her attitude remained poor, he would not blame himself for not giving her face and leaving directly.

On the other side, after bowing and handing over her business card, Rika Ooshiro sat on the sofa to the right of Akiwara Yuto.

She took out a document envelope and placed it on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

"Akiwara-sensei, regarding the conditions you proposed earlier, some in our editorial department have raised objections."

"Objections?" Akiwara Yuto frowned.

He thought about it and did not find it surprising; after all, demanding to retain the rights to the collected volume and other copyrights after the serialization ended was arguably against industry practice.

But on this point, he would not choose to concede.

After all, whether it was distribution or promotion, he now had the funds and resources to arrange it himself, so there was no need to hand over a large sum in royalties to the publisher.

Akiwara Yuto took a sip of tea and asked, "Editor-in-Chief Ooshiro, what was the final result of your discussion?"

He had already made a decision in his heart: if *April Youth* did not accept these terms, he would choose to abandon the cooperation.

Rika Ooshiro heard Akiwara Yuto's words and carefully observed his expression.

On Akiwara Yuto's face, she could not see the slightest hint of wavering.

She sighed inwardly and said:

"Although some people have objections, I believe your conditions are acceptable. However, before signing the formal contract, I would like to take a look at your work."

Akiwara Yuto nodded and took out the document envelope he had brought from home, handing it to Rika Ooshiro across from him.

Inside this envelope were the outline he had written previously and copies of the initial manuscript.

As for the original manuscript, he had entrusted it to Asano Aiko, having her take it to the law firm they had previously collaborated with to have it properly filed.

Come to think of it, this manuscript was his second adaptation of a foreign mystery work since *Negligent Homicide*.

He wondered if it would satisfy *April Youth*.

Although he was a bit curious, Akiwara Yuto did not feel much nervousness.

After all, after a series of events, he had become accustomed to it.

On the other side, Rika Ooshiro did not know Akiwara Yuto's thoughts. She opened the envelope and took out the manuscript to begin reading.

When she saw the title, she was somewhat puzzled.

*The Invisible Guest*?

In Japanese, "kyaku" implies a distinguished guest, and the term "invisible" carried a hint of the supernatural.

So, was this work of the suspense genre?

It seemed that the *Zoo* series, with which this Akiwara-sensei had debuted, was indeed suspense.

However, it seemed he had later written works in the social and orthodox mystery styles as well.

Never mind, let's look at the content first.

Rika Ooshiro glanced at the title twice and then began to read carefully.

She did not look at the outline first, but instead picked up the first installment of the serialized manuscript.

After all, for a serialized work, the quality of the beginning was the most important.

If it could not attract many readers at the start, then even if it became brilliant later, its contribution to increasing magazine sales would be limited.

For a time, the reception room became quiet.

Hideki Awazu sat to the side, waiting silently, while Akiwara Yuto closed his eyes to rest.

Sunlight streamed through the window into the room. Meanwhile, time ticked away, and soon half an hour had passed.

During this half hour, Rika Ooshiro's posture remained frozen; aside from the near-instinctive page-turning and her constantly changing expressions, she made almost no other movements.

Not until she finished the last page did Rika Ooshiro let out a sigh of relief, realizing her body had gone somewhat numb from sitting.

She set down the manuscript, picked up the outline from the other side, and began to read it carefully.

After quickly finishing the outline and understanding the cause and effect of the story, Rika Ooshiro felt something different in her heart.

Mystery could be written like this?!

At this moment, her eyes shone with a different light.

In her original imagination, *The Invisible Guest* should have been a suspense work.

But she had not expected a lawyer to appear at the beginning, which made her think it was a courtroom drama at the time.

As a result, as the lawyer and the client continued to talk, the story kept reversing! Truth and lies kept alternating!

Who exactly was the killer?

What was the motive for the murder?

What was the method of the murder?

These questions made Rika Ooshiro deeply realize that this Akiwara-sensei winning the Newcomer Award for Mystery Literature was no fluke.

Even after learning the cause and effect through the outline, she couldn't wait to see the subsequent manuscript!

Such serialized content could absolutely help *April Youth* escape its current predicament!

Rika Ooshiro expressed her admiration inwardly, but she did not show it on the surface.

However, the hand holding the manuscript was trembling slightly.

She thought for a moment, set down the manuscript, and said to Akiwara Yuto on the other side:

"Akiwara-sensei, if there are no other problems, let's sign the contract now!"