[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-284":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Literary Master of Tokyo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2355133,4607,"Chapter 284: Human Greed Knows No Bounds","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-284",284,"\u003Cp>Acquire Anjiu Bookstore?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing these words, Honda Kohei and the many other executives present subconsciously glanced at the person who made the proposal, discovering it was Reiko Hosome, the executive director of the Business Intelligence Department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honda Kohei thought for a moment, then asked, \"Executive Director Hosome, please explain your reasoning.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reiko Hosome stood up, looked around at everyone, and reported, \"At an industry exchange meeting six months ago, I had a conversation with President Tsuyoshi Anjiu of Anjiu Bookstore. During our talk, I sensed that he might have some dissatisfaction regarding Akiwara Yuto.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dissatisfaction?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honda Kohei was somewhat puzzled, and the people in the room began to discuss it as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, looking at the current market situation, the relationship between Akiwara Yuto and Anjiu Bookstore was one of total interdependence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for Akiwara Yuto’s copyright authorizations, Anjiu Bookstore would likely still be just a small publisher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reiko Hosome explained, \"Yes, he complained that the royalties Akiwara Yuto takes are too high, to the point that their publishing house’s profits are too low.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She paused, then continued, \"Our intelligence department later sent people to investigate. We found that for every book published, their average profit is only an 8% royalty rate. After deducting various expenses, their net profit for half a year is only about 200 million yen, the vast majority of which is paid to Akiwara Yuto.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing this explanation, Honda Kohei felt a sense of \"mockery\" deep in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the intelligence he had gathered previously, before Anjiu Bookstore began cooperating with Akiwara Yuto, their annual net profit was less than 10 million yen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that their annual net profit can reach 400 million yen, they have become dissatisfied instead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Truly, human greed knows no bounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, in his view, this could actually be considered a good thing, so he asked, \"Executive Director Hosome, in your opinion, how should we proceed?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reiko Hosome nodded and continued, \"I have two plans...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three days later, at the newly rented office of Anjiu Bookstore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asano Aiko and Tsuyoshi Anjiu sat in the office, drinking tea while chatting about recent work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reporting the recent sales figures, Tsuyoshi Anjiu took out a document and pushed it in front of Asano Aiko.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ms. Asano, regarding the copyrights for Akiwara-sensei’s previous works, I hope to add a supplementary agreement.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asano Aiko was somewhat confused, but she read through the document anyway, then said, \"An exclusive cooperation authorization agreement for 1995-2005.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She frowned as she glanced at Tsuyoshi Anjiu and asked, \"President Anjiu, what does this mean?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tsuyoshi Anjiu smiled and replied, \"It’s like this: we at Anjiu Bookstore are preparing to further increase our promotion of the works to reach the point of further capturing the market. But this is a plan that will last for many years, so we are worried about whether Akiwara Yuto might hand over the copyrights to other publishers later on.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Asano Aiko was a former editor at Mantansha, she understood after a moment of thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a publisher, whether to promote an author and how to promote them is also a very strategic matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If, after the promotion, the author announces they are handing their copyrights to another publisher, it would undoubtedly cause major problems for the publisher that spent a large amount of capital on the promotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, because of the agreements, most publishers don't actually have this problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the copyright exclusivity agreement between Akiwara Yuto and Anjiu Bookstore was set to expire at the end of 1995.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asano Aiko thought for a moment and continued, \"President Anjiu, do you not trust that Akiwara-sensei will hand over subsequent copyrights to Anjiu Bookstore?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tsuyoshi Anjiu sighed and said, \"Akiwara-sensei has a very good relationship with Kejiaoguan, and I am very worried that he might hand over the copyrights of some works to them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression became somewhat serious, \"Ms. Asano, Anjiu Bookstore is different now than it was before. We have over 60 full-time employees and over 40 temporary staff, and we even have our own printing plant, retail stores, and public relations department. As president, I have an obligation to be responsible for their future.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing his resolute expression, Asano Aiko understood what he meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was that Tsuyoshi Anjiu, as the president of a publishing house, hoped for the process to be more standardized and formalized, rather than pinning the future of the publishing house on Akiwara Yuto’s personal intentions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that case, she didn't really have a reason to refuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She frowned and thought for a while, then said, \"I need to go ask Akiwara-sensei for instructions.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching her back as she left to make a phone call, Tsuyoshi Anjiu revealed an inscrutable expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That afternoon, Asano Aiko brought the contract to Akiwara Yuto’s home. Besides Akiwara Yuto, Maki Satake and a lawyer named Yumi Kitaoka were also present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maki Satake, having come from Anjiu Bookstore, knew Tsuyoshi Anjiu quite well, while Yumi Kitaoka had been invited to review the legal issues in the agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After explaining the background, Asano Aiko distributed copies of the contract to everyone present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Twenty minutes later, everyone had finished reading the contents. Akiwara Yuto put down the document and began to ponder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This document contained the copyright details for all his works since his debut, including \"ZOO,\" \"The Devotion of Suspect X,\" \"Death of a Mystery Writer,\" and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the time frame was limited to 10 years, which exceeded the standard 3-year authorization period for cooperation agreements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the time was a bit long, there were precedents for similar cooperation in the industry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, why hadn't Tsuyoshi Anjiu mentioned this before, and why was he proposing it now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked up at Asano Aiko and asked, \"Asano, what is the promotion plan that President Anjiu mentioned?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asano Aiko replied, \"President Anjiu is prepared to set aside 20% of the annual revenue to increase market promotion and channel distribution. The supplementary agreement has already been prepared.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this number, Akiwara Yuto’s doubts lessened quite a bit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Revenue is not equal to net profit; it involves significant cost issues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they were to set aside 20% of their revenue, it would undoubtedly increase the operational burden on Anjiu Bookstore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he were to grant the copyrights to another publisher after they spent a large sum of money on promotion, it’s possible Anjiu Bookstore could go bankrupt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, it would be 100% bankruptcy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder the other party wanted him to sign this agreement; perhaps they just wanted some peace of mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned his head to look at the lawyer named Yumi Kitaoka. She was a part-time legal counsel hired by the Akiwara Yuto Foundation and had considerable legal experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lawyer Kitaoka, do you think there are any problems with this contract?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yumi Kitaoka did not answer immediately, but instead combed through it and replied, \"This is a standard contract. Aside from the longer time limit, there are no legal issues. However, there are some other risks.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Other risks?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto pondered for a moment and said, \"Other risks?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yumi Kitaoka nodded and said seriously, \"If Anjiu Bookstore goes bankrupt, this agreement could very likely be treated as a part of their property assets and be mortgaged to creditors or transferred.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing this, Akiwara Yuto felt a sense of relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because it involved profit sharing, the Akiwara Yuto Foundation had a financial officer stationed at Anjiu Bookstore, and all accounts were strictly audited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was very clear about what Anjiu Bookstore’s cash flow was like.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed there was no problem with him signing this agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just then, Maki Satake’s phone rang...\u003C\u002Fp>",1274,"2026-06-21T03:58:02.196Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","b09aece60a590cccf9b43ca5667ab328212115a1d180dec5d20af5fa3cb55bb4","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-285","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-283",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]