Chapter 180: The Goal is Number One in the Industry!

After the routine meeting on Friday morning, the staff of the *April Youth* editorial department began to take action. As editor-in-chief, Ooshiro Rika took the initiative to find the executive director, Mitsuhashi, and secured more promotional funding by guaranteeing that they would surpass *Literature Spring*.

Deputy editor-in-chief Kawamoto Toshisuke went to the public relations department to participate in the planning for the post-3 promotion of *April Youth*, strengthening the publicity for Akiwara Yuto through channels such as the internet and radio.

As for Awazu Hideki, he took other general editors and began visiting large and medium-sized bookstores in and around Tokyo one by one, based on the bookstore address list provided by the sales department.

This resulted in the entire office being empty when Akiwara Yuto arrived at the *April Youth* editorial department on Saturday afternoon.

"Editor-in-chief Ooshiro, may I ask where Editor Awazu and the others have gone?"

Akiwara Yuto looked around in confusion twice before asking Ooshiro Rika, who had come to greet him.

Ooshiro Rika did not keep him in suspense; she briefly explained the cause and effect, then brought Akiwara Yuto into the editor-in-chief's office, arranged for him to sit down, and poured him a cup of tea.

"Akiwara-sensei, shouldn't you be resting at home?" Ooshiro Rika asked with concern after seeing Akiwara Yuto sit down.

She knew that he had written over two hundred pages of manuscript in just this one week—an astonishing amount! That was why she was worried about whether he might ruin his health.

After all, *April Youth* currently had no other signature authors, and whether their sales could climb any higher depended on his subsequent works.

Akiwara Yuto smiled as he took the tea and replied, "It's fine, I am quite careful regarding my health."

Although the workload during this period was relatively heavy, compared to the all-nighters he pulled working overtime for an entire month in his past life, it was absolutely nothing.

Moreover, unlike other authors who had to rack their brains to write works, he already had the general outlines of what he was writing in his mind. All he had to do was recount the content and adapt it into a local Japanese version.

However, he didn't know if it was his imagination, but he felt that this editor-in-chief Ooshiro's expression and attitude were even more "polite" than before.

Akiwara Yuto set down his teacup and responded politely as well: "Regarding the previous hiatus and the special issue, I really troubled you, Editor-in-chief Ooshiro."

For magazines and journals, there were their own rules; it was impossible to let an author decide whether to take a hiatus or create a special issue.

If an ordinary newcomer requested a hiatus, the only outcome would be being put on ice by the magazine until they were given another chance to serialize much later. As for a special issue, it was of a similar nature, only for extremely rare and special circumstances.

Therefore, he was sincerely grateful for Ooshiro Rika's support in his work.

Ooshiro Rika smiled and nodded, saying politely, "Akiwara-sensei, regarding this point, I am the one who should be thanking you."

According to her original thoughts, if *April Youth*'s sales could be maintained at 150, 00 copies, that would be enough. But she hadn't expected Akiwara Yuto's "outburst" to actually give *April Youth* hope of surpassing *Literature Spring*.

As for the decisions regarding the hiatus and the special issue, although she had encountered a little resistance, it hadn't taken much effort.

After all, since the implementation system of the Keikyokan was different from other publishing houses, as the main person in charge of the editorial department, she could directly decide the operation of the publication herself without having to go through approval from superiors.

Akiwara Yuto did not understand the specific situation, but he knew that if he were still at *New*, whether his decision to take a hiatus would have passed was a question.

Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment, then placed the document bag he had brought onto the table and pushed it toward Ooshiro Rika. "Editor-in-chief Ooshiro, this is the manuscript I plan to serialize next."

Ooshiro Rika was surprised. "Akiwara-sensei, are you starting a new serialization again?"

Usually, after a serialization ends, authors often have a window period to rest or adjust themselves. This had almost become a convention in the industry.

But she had not expected Akiwara Yuto to immediately produce another manuscript and hope to serialize it.

Akiwara Yuto nodded. "Editor-in-chief Ooshiro, if I stop serializing now, the sales of the next few issues of *April Youth* will definitely slide immediately, right?"

"This..."

Ooshiro Rika fell silent; she admitted that what he said was indeed a fact. Although the editorial department was still constantly looking for new works, there were few that could reach the level of a signature author.

Among the readers currently buying *April Youth*, at least 50% or more were attracted by Akiwara Yuto. Once he stopped serializing, sales would definitely slide immediately.

Akiwara Yuto sighed. "Editor-in-chief Ooshiro, my current cooperation with *April Youth* is quite good, so I don't have any thoughts of stopping our cooperation for the time being."

He paused, then added, "Besides that, I also have my own selfish motives."

"Your own selfish motives?" Ooshiro Rika was a bit confused.

Akiwara Yuto set down the teacup in his hand, looked Ooshiro Rika in the eye, and said in a firm tone, "I want to see if, through my cooperation with the editorial department, we can make *April Youth* the number one magazine in the industry!"

Back when he was at Mantansha, he had made a promise with Asano Aiko to build *New* into the number one literary journal in the industry. But he hadn't expected a series of accidents to occur later, causing that promise to end in nothing.

Now, it was good; *April Youth* had given him this opportunity again, allowing him to use this platform to realize his original ideal.

If *April Youth* really became the number one magazine in the industry with his help, then he would also be able to become very famous in the Japanese literary world!

Ooshiro Rika had not expected Akiwara Yuto to have such ambition, and for a moment, she couldn't speak.

Magazine sales rankings, besides the quality of the works themselves, involved many factors such as channels, promotion, and sales. More often than not, one also had to consider market changes as well as the works and strategies of competitors.

But now, this Akiwara-sensei before her actually believed that *April Youth* could become the number one in the industry! Wasn't this too optimistic?!

Ooshiro Rika opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she couldn't help but think of a question—when had she lost so much of her edge that she didn't even dare to think about it?

Human effort can achieve anything. If the quality of Akiwara-sensei's work could be guaranteed, and she requested a certain amount of support from the Keikyokan side, then who could say what the future of *April Youth* would be!

More than a month ago, she had thought that *April Youth* was about to fall out of the ranks of the four major literary journals. But she hadn't expected that now, even surpassing the third-ranked *Literature Spring* was very possible!

Ooshiro Rika changed her perspective on the problem, and her heart began to stir. Since Akiwara-sensei had this idea, why shouldn't the editorial department try it with him?

Even if they couldn't get first place, getting second place was a sure win!

Ooshiro Rika made a decision in her heart, then smiled and said, "Akiwara-sensei, I understand your idea. Regarding the subsequent market promotion, the editorial department will not slack off."

Akiwara Yuto nodded with satisfaction; he was just worried that *April Youth* would become self-satisfied after seeing slightly better results.

Since this editor-in-chief Ooshiro said so, then there wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Editor-in-chief Ooshiro, regarding this manuscript of mine, please take a brief look at it."

Ooshiro Rika naturally had no objections. Since she had already decided to continue deepening her cooperation with Akiwara Yuto, she naturally wouldn't look down on his manuscript. But she was still a bit suspicious in her heart; after all, Akiwara Yuto had just finished a serialization, and yet he had brought another manuscript so quickly—would there be any problems with the quality?

Forget it, she would just look at it herself first.

She solemnly opened the document bag, then took out the copy inside and began to read. But she had only just started looking when she was drawn in. It took her more than ten minutes to come back to her senses, and she said with relief, "Akiwara-sensei, this new serialization of yours... is very different from your previous style. I will read it carefully today, please rest assured."

Akiwara Yuto nodded and also smiled to indicate that he understood.

Before this, the *Invisible Guest* he serialized was a long-form work, and since much of the content required reaching the later stages to understand its brilliance, it had put the readers' patience to a great test.

So this time, he had learned his lesson and prepared to use the form of short mystery serials, just like the *Zoo* series. In this way, he could lower the threshold for readers.

But he thought for a moment and still said tactfully, "If there is a need, I can still make modifications to the content."

"Akiwara-sensei, the editorial department still has great faith in your work," Ooshiro Rika said directly. "If there are no problems, we will publish the original text directly."

Akiwara Yuto didn't push back any further; after all, what he brought out were classics from his past life, so there was nothing to change. He smiled and said, "In any case, I'll leave it to you, Editor-in-chief Ooshiro!"

Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment and felt it was better to leave the remaining time for her to read the manuscript properly, so he stood up to take his leave. Ooshiro Rika did not see him out, only politely urging him again to take good care of his health.

After Akiwara Yuto left, Ooshiro Rika lowered her head, looking at the title written on the manuscript—"Police Assistant Furuhata Ninzaburo"—and fell into deep thought.

Defeat the other three publishing houses and become the number one in the industry?!

Akiwara-sensei, you have truly proposed a goal that is both full of temptation and full of obstacles!