Chapter 56: Continued Hot Sales!

Akiwara Yuto still underestimated the influence of the third-largest newspaper in Japan, the *Neon Industry Review*. As a newspaper with a circulation as high as 2.72 million copies, its reach spanned the entire Japanese mainland.

This also caused the sales of the seventh issue of *New Fiction* to become like a wild bull off its leash; it was almost unstoppable, skyrocketing throughout the week of its release.

After reaching 33,000 copies on Tuesday, it sold an astonishing 30,000 copies on Wednesday, and even as the heat faded on Thursday and Friday, it still sold 23,000 and 15,000 copies respectively.

The statistics department estimated that the final sales for this week should reach 125,000 copies.

And what was even more gratifying was that the sales reach of *New Fiction* had expanded significantly.

Previously, the main market for *New Fiction* was Tokyo and surrounding cities like Yokohama, but after this report, *New Fiction* opened up much larger channels.

In recent days, the publishing house's distribution bureau had been receiving constant orders from other cities, including Shikoku, Kyushu, Western Japan, the Tokai region, and Hokkaido.

The customers ordering were also diverse, including not only bookstores of all sizes and regional distributors everywhere, but even individual schools that wanted to subscribe long-term as reference material for students.

To meet the surging market demand, some staff at the distribution bureau had to work day and night, and the printing plant arranged for even more machines to run; many copies didn't even stay in the warehouse for a few seconds before being loaded onto trucks and shipped out.

The editorial department of *New Fiction* was collectively energized. Editor-in-chief Kikuchi Tai held another regular meeting and found the situation very optimistic; within this week, not only did the sales of the seventh issue surge, but even the stock of previous issues had sold out, reaching even outside of Tokyo.

This proved a very good sign: the core fan base of *New Fiction* was expanding step by step and was no longer limited to its original market.

By the end of the weekend, the statistics department announced the sales figures: the weekly sales for this issue of *New Fiction* reached 125,000 copies, directly crushing Kekeikan's *April Youth*, as the latter's sales were only just over 120,000 copies.

After this news was announced, many in the industry couldn't help but gasp, and even more book critics began to pay attention, further researching *New Fiction*.

However, industry insiders held differing views on *New Fiction*.

Some believed that *New Fiction* was only able to sell well this time because it clung to the coattails of the *Neon Industry Review*, that the quality of the articles inside was still uneven, and that future sales would inevitably decline.

Others stated that *New Fiction* would continue to sell well in the future, potentially stabilizing at over 100,000 copies and becoming the fifth-largest literary journal in the novel industry.

Amidst the external debate, more and more book reviews targeting Akiwara Yuto's works, as well as evaluations of the author, were published in various small and medium-sized newspapers and journals, which made Akiwara Yuto's fame even greater than before.

Akiwara Yuto was crowned with the title of "thriller-type genius writer," rather than being called "the second so-and-so" as before.

Mangan Society also seized this opportunity, immediately arranging to allocate funds to increase the promotional layout for *New Fiction*, increase cooperation with bookstores and other parties, and offer certain discounts on the retail price.

Coupled with the fact that Miyagawa Yosuke later published two more book reviews, *New Fiction* was like a rocket, and the sales of the subsequent three issues continued to advance by leaps and bounds.

The sales of the eighth issue held at 130,000 copies, the ninth issue rose to 135,000 copies, and the tenth issue broke through 140,000.

Going from a small journal with a circulation of less than 30,000 to a magazine with a circulation of 140,000 could almost be called a miracle!

After the sales results for these issues came out, even the most reluctant industry insiders had to admit that *New Fiction* had, to a certain extent, become the fifth-largest literary journal in the literary world, or perhaps even the fourth-largest if looking at sales.

Akiwara Yuto ignored these external commotions; he remained buried in the creation of his own work, *Manslaughter*.

He actually saw it very clearly: if he hadn't brought out the works of Otsuichi from another world, *New Fiction* would likely still be the same bottom-tier failure it was before, and there would be no talk of it selling well.

Serializing until now, he didn't have many of Otsuichi's works left on hand—only enough for one more issue. He had to come up with other works as soon as possible to help *New Fiction* maintain its current level of sales.

But to be honest, he was also considering whether to give himself a vacation; after all, he had been doing nothing but work for this period, and he wasn't a robot—why bother seeking the "blessing" of a 996 schedule for himself?

Maybe go for a walk in Akihabara and eat the legendary magic heart omelet rice, though he seemed to recall that it was still an electronics district?

Before he could reach a conclusion, he suddenly received a call. After picking up, he found it was Editor-in-chief Kikuchi Tai, who asked with a smile, "Teacher Akiwara, has work been going smoothly lately?"

Akiwara Yuto looked at the manuscript in his hand, thinking he was worried about his work, and replied, "Editor-in-chief Kikuchi, I have already finished the manuscript for the next issue. Just have Editor Asano come by to pick it up later."

"Alright, thank you for your hard work, Teacher. In any case, do take care of your health."

As Kikuchi Tai said this, he seemed to remember something and added with a smile, "By the way, the publishing house has sent a small gift; please sign for it, Teacher."

After saying this, he exchanged a few more polite words and hung up the phone. Akiwara Yuto was a bit confused; he was curious about what kind of gift it could be.

At 10:00 AM, Asano Aiko arrived on time to collect the manuscript. But to Akiwara's surprise, she also brought a stack of envelopes that looked quite thick.

She took the manuscript Akiwara handed over and then passed the envelopes to him.

"Akiwara, this is an extra bonus specially approved by the higher-ups. Editor-in-chief Kikuchi entrusted me to pass it on to you."

Asano Aiko watched Akiwara Yuto's surprised face and continued to say with a smile, "It's not a huge amount, but it is 2 million yen."

Akiwara Yuto was stunned and suddenly realized it really was a gift, but this gift was not small—2 million yen was almost equal to the royalties for eight of his manuscripts.

Taking the envelopes, he subconsciously weighed them and found they were indeed heavy.

It seemed that because of the recent surge in sales for *New Fiction*, Kikuchi Tai was afraid he might have other ideas, which was why he came to give him a reward.

However, he had no intention of leaving now; not to mention Asano Aiko, who was the primary reason, he now had the possibility of winning the Gold Prize, so there was even less need to leave.

Besides, compared to the future earnings from the collected volume, all his current income was just a fraction.

Before this, he had already learned from Asano Aiko that, based on current sales trends, the editorial department was already preparing to turn his short stories into a paperback format and print 100,000 copies. Although the price hadn't been set, it wouldn't be lower than around 2,000 yen.

According to the 10% royalty rate in his previous contract, he could earn about 20 million yen in direct income.

Still, the 2 million yen that Kikuchi Tai specially sent was a thoughtful gesture.

Regardless, it was a fair amount of money. After all, the economy was currently in a downturn, and funds in the publishing industry weren't exactly abundant.

He stuffed the envelopes into his drawer, then looked at Asano Aiko and said with a smile, "I have received Editor-in-chief Kikuchi's gesture. Now, Asano, what about the gift you promised me?"

Asano Aiko asked in confusion, "Gift?"

"Yes, what about the big meal you promised me earlier?"

Hearing this, Asano Aiko finally understood what he meant and rolled her eyes at him. After all, the man had just received a large bonus and was now actually trying to mooch a meal off her.

However, she didn't refuse; after all, treating him to a meal was something she had promised, and besides, she had her own little thoughts.

Asano, let this blockhead get a good look at your feminine charm!