Chapter 193: The Obsession with Obtaining First Place

Early the next morning, Akiwara Yuto sat in the hotel's first-floor buffet restaurant with dark circles under his eyes, looking "exhausted."

Perhaps due to the alcohol, he hadn't slept well at all last night, only drifting off near 5: 0 AM.

Compared to him, Asano Aiko, sitting across from him, looked full of energy. After finishing that bottle of red wine last night, she had simply said goodbye, gone to sleep, and stayed asleep until dawn.

As the two were eating the breakfast on their plates, a woman's voice suddenly came from nearby, "Good morning, Teacher Akiwara, Ms. Asano."

Akiwara Yuto looked up and discovered that the person greeting them was the editor-in-chief of *Youth of April*, Dachen Lixiang.

After the two smiled and returned the greeting, Dachen Lixiang nodded with a smile, carried her plate over, and sat in the seat next to them, "Apologies, I suddenly had other work yesterday, so I delayed my arrival."

After saying this, she took out a list and placed it gently on the tabletop.

Akiwara Yuto put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a paper napkin, and then picked up the list to look it over.

Written on the list was a series of regional names: Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, Mie Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, Hyogo Prefecture...

"What is this?" Akiwara Yuto asked, puzzled.

He had a vague guess in his heart, but he still wanted to ask for clarification.

"This is the tour signing event plan for the Kinki region." Seeing Akiwara Yuto's confusion, Dachen Lixiang smiled and explained: "We expect to complete about 1-3 signing events in one location every half-week, and we will cooperate with local large and medium-sized bookstores and schools."

Akiwara Yuto frowned: "Editor-in-Chief Dachen, after signing in these places, there will be other regions, right?"

He was not ignorant of Japanese geography; if divided carefully, besides Kinki, Japan's administrative regions also include Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and others, totaling 8 administrative districts, with 782 cities in total.

If he had to go to every one for a signing event, his work pressure would increase significantly.

"Yes," Dachen Lixiang nodded, and then, seemingly seeing Akiwara Yuto's worry, "Of course, we won't go to every city, only some of the larger ones."

"But is this useful for sales?" Akiwara Yuto said, picking up his water glass for a sip, then continued: "As far as I know, whether it's *Youth of April* or other magazines, the main market for sales is still Tokyo."

"Teacher Akiwara, you are right." Dachen Lixiang did not deny it, but explained, "But the Tokyo market is currently the most competitive. Whether in terms of channels or public opinion, the four major publishing houses have already spent a large amount of capital, and it is difficult to make new progress."

She paused, then added: "Moreover, the work *Furuhata Ninzaburo* can currently only rely on word-of-mouth to slowly ferment. So we still hope to fully utilize the sinking market of all the medium-sized cities."

Akiwara Yuto hesitated for a moment, then said: "But this might delay my writing speed, which would be disadvantageous for the serialization of the manuscript."

"Oh, is that so?" Dachen Lixiang glanced at him, then said: "But according to the feedback from Editor Awazu and Ms. Asano, Teacher Akiwara, you write very quickly, and can even write an entire installment in 3 hours. Of course, we have left 1-2 days between each signing event for you to rest and write."

Hearing this, Akiwara Yuto glanced at Asano Aiko, who revealed a slightly embarrassed smile.

However, Akiwara Yuto also knew that this couldn't be blamed on her; after all, before yesterday's signing event, he had already revealed his rapid writing ability to Awazu Hideki.

This could be considered lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet...

Just as Akiwara Yuto intended to use inspiration as an excuse to decline, Dachen Lixiang continued: "Teacher Akiwara, I know the tour signing events might be very tiring, but this will be of great help to the sales of *Youth of April*. Not just us, but the other three major magazines have also recently had similar or corresponding plans launched."

"The editorial department will provide you with extra remuneration and arrange the best hotels and services for you during the trip."

"Besides that, I will also have Editor Awazu provide extra plans and funds so you can travel and sightsee in various places during the gaps between signing events."

Akiwara Yuto hadn't expected this condition, and he subconsciously looked up at her.

According to this logic, his national signing tour could perhaps be considered a national sightseeing tour. After all, there is often a 1-2 day gap between two signing events, which is plenty of time to visit attractions, soak in hot springs, or go camping.

Thinking about it this way, it wouldn't be very tiring.

"Let me think about it," Akiwara Yuto said simply, then closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair to ponder, considering the pros and cons of the matter.

According to Dachen Lixiang's opinion, she hoped he could visit every city of some scale in the country once or twice. Even with a conservative estimate, at a frequency of about 2 events per week, it would take about half a year.

And for the work *Furuhata Ninzaburo*, besides the two installments already delivered, there were over 40 left. Even adding in the holiday special issues, it would take about half a year to finish the serialization.

Calculating it this way, by the time the tour signing events ended, his work would also be finished with its serialization. The number of readers at that time would be about the highest achievement that the *Youth of April* journal could reach.

Akiwara Yuto opened his eyes, was silent for a moment, and asked in a serious tone: "Editor-in-Chief Dachen, if I cooperate with your work, can you ensure that *Youth of April* becomes number one in the industry?"

"I cannot guarantee it," Dachen Lixiang did not avoid Akiwara's gaze and answered earnestly: "But this is the best plan the editorial department can come up with. After all, unless it can be adapted for film or television, the current layout promotion is already struggling to push magazine sales any further."

Akiwara Yuto nodded upon hearing this honest answer.

He actually knew that becoming number one in the industry wasn't that easy. After all, it wasn't just *Youth of April*; all the other magazines were desperately exerting themselves in terms of channels and promotion.

Although he was confident in the quality of *Furuhata*, he could not deny that other magazines also had many excellent authors. Like veteran writers such as Seto Tamae, the other houses all had one or two of them to some extent.

However, Dachen Lixiang's answer also satisfied him—the other party didn't try to trick him into participating in the signing events by lying to him with nonsense about definitely reaching number one in the industry.

"Alright, I agree." Akiwara Yuto put down the water glass in his hand and gave Dachen Lixiang the answer she wanted.

But just as she let out a sigh of relief, Akiwara Yuto said he had some conditions, which made Dachen Lixiang nervous again.

"My requirement is that for all city signing events, you must tell me one week in advance and ensure that the signing events are well-promoted. Besides that, if I have something to do and cannot come, the editorial department must also agree to my request."

Akiwara Yuto paused, then added: "Of course, if I have something to do, I will inform you 1-2 days in advance."

He still had some plans of his own, such as lectures, publishing books, or making connections; naturally, he couldn't be busy with signing events all day long.

Dachen Lixiang had been wondering what the requirements would be, but she hadn't expected it to be just this, so she immediately agreed with a smile.

Akiwara Yuto was not an employee of *Youth of April*, so naturally, he couldn't always accept the signing event's promotional arrangements.

In fact, she had already prepared a second plan, which was to hold one signing event every two weeks, waiting to propose it after the other party rejected the previous proposal.

But she hadn't expected the other party to agree so easily.

Even so, she also saw Akiwara Yuto's desire to make *Youth of April* the industry leader. This made her a bit puzzled about what the other party had experienced at *New* to have such an obsession.

She didn't say much, but lowered her head to thank him: "Thank you for your hard work!"

Akiwara did not participate in the subsequent conversation; instead, Asano stepped forward to discuss the details with Dachen Lixiang, including specific remuneration, hotel standards, and guarantees for personal safety—after all, Akiwara Yuto was considered a celebrity and faced the risk of being attacked by fanatical fans or anti-fans.

After the discussion ended, Dachen Lixiang left, saying that subsequent work would be coordinated by Awazu Hideki.

After she left, Asano Aiko looked at Akiwara Yuto with concern: "Akiwara, should we reconsider this? After all, it will be very tiring if you have to go out often."

Akiwara Yuto laughed, "It's fine, it's not that tiring."

Compared to the 996 life of his past life, this kind of tour signing event where travel and work each take up half the time is not tiring at all.

And in his view, as long as he gets first place, what does a little bit of hardship matter!!