Chapter 60: No Need to Worry

Although Akiwara Yuto had vaguely guessed who had the most motive to do such a thing, he couldn't think of any solution for the time being.

If it were directed at him, he could just wash his hands of it and leave; after all, his ability had already been recognized by the market to a certain extent, and he could just jump to *April Youth* or other literary journals.

But if the other party were targeting Asano Aiko, he would find it difficult to intervene.

After all, just as Awazu Hideki said, he was only a writer, and his relationship with the editorial department was merely one of cooperation.

However, to be honest, he thought Awazu Hideki might have been exaggerating.

First of all, Kikuchi Tai had been frequently showing goodwill recently, and had even entrusted Asano Aiko to bring him bonuses and promises.

Furthermore, regarding the sales of *New Novel*, although he didn't want to boast, his own role was indeed crucial, and he had previously made it clear and hinted to many parties that the only editor he recognized was Asano Aiko.

Besides, for the other party to pull any tricks on Asano, they would have to get past Kikuchi Tai, since he was the editor-in-chief of the editorial department and held the power of personnel transfers.

Akiwara Yuto pondered for a long time before he finally set his mind at ease; he walked downstairs, picked up the receiver, and called Asano Aiko to arrange a meeting at the "Double" cafe near Mantanshe the day after tomorrow.

He prepared to tell Asano everything he had learned, ask if she had encountered any work-related problems, and find out how she would handle it if she ran into trouble in the future.

After the call went through, although Asano Aiko was a bit curious about Akiwara Yuto's intentions, she didn't say anything, simply agreed, and they set a time.

Akiwara Yuto hung up the phone and let himself temporarily put aside his worries in this regard; after all, hidden arrows are hard to guard against, and no matter how much he fretted, it would be of no use, so he might as well consider his own work first.

He returned to his desk, took out paper and pen again, and began to think carefully.

What work should he write next?

How about *The Edogawa Ranpo Short Story Collection*? As the progenitor of mystery novels in his past life in Japan, the works Edogawa Ranpo wrote, such as *The Human Chair*, *The D-Slope Murder Case*, and *The Human Chair*, were the pinnacle of Japanese mystery, and because they were in short story format, he could just put one in each issue to succeed his current work.

However, the historical backgrounds depicted in these works were a bit old; would readers find them lacking in relatability?

That possibility could not be ruled out.

Then how about Miyabe Miyuki's *All She Was Worth*? This work was a full-length novel, mainly telling the story of a suspended police officer who was entrusted by someone to investigate a missing fiancée case. The narrative style was very cold and slightly different from other works.

Moreover, this work had achieved a very high reputation; not only was it selected by the British *Guardian* as one of the top 10 Asian mystery novels, but it was also rated by the *Yomiuri Shimbun* as the most remarkable mystery suspense novel in Japan in the last 20 years.

However, wouldn't it be more appropriate to use this work to challenge for a higher Uemura Award? It seemed a bit wasteful to just use it for the next serialization.

Akiwara Yuto frowned, and many classic works appeared in his mind, some local to Japan and others from abroad, but after repeated consideration, he had a measure in his heart, which was to bring out something decent so that he could progress step by step.

After all, if he suddenly wrote a work that far exceeded his previous level, then no matter what he wrote later, it would surely be compared, and it was even more likely that the media would think he had run out of talent.

However, which works were just a grade higher without being too abrupt? He fell into deep thought again.

Until the end of the day, he still hadn't come up with a result.

When the time came to 3:00 PM the day after tomorrow, Akiwara Yuto arrived at the "Double" cafe near Mantanshe according to his appointment with Asano Aiko.

He pushed open the glass door, walked in, sat in a corner seat, and ordered two lattes and a small cake, wondering why Asano Aiko hadn't arrived on time.

However, before 5 minutes had passed, Asano Aiko appeared at the door; she walked in, sat down, put away her small bag, and apologized with a smile: "Sorry, Akiwara, I kept you waiting."

Akiwara Yuto glanced at her and felt that her outfit was a bit different from before.

Compared to her previous intellectual style, today Asano Aiko was wearing a plain-colored long dress, which made her skin look even fairer. Paired with her black short hair and cherry lips, she had the feel of a magazine model. Even more amazingly, she had actually applied pink nail polish.

Looking at this outfit, it didn't look like she had encountered any work problems at the editorial department, right? He was a bit puzzled for a moment, but didn't say anything.

Asano Aiko noticed his gaze; she didn't show it on her face, but she felt a little nervous and excited inside.

After receiving the invitation the day before yesterday, she had prepared carefully, specifically buying this new style of long dress and changing her nail polish. Even the lateness just now was the result of her taking extra time to put on makeup.

Although she had prepared herself, she still felt a bit shy when she realized Akiwara Yuto was really looking at her.

Seeing that she didn't speak for a long time after sitting down, Akiwara Yuto felt a bit strange, so he spoke first: "Asano, after you left the day before yesterday, an editor from *April Youth* also came to my house."

Asano Aiko was still lost in her own thoughts, but she woke up instantly upon hearing this news.

She made herself calm down and then asked: "Akiwara, did the other party come to invite you to join *April Youth*?"

Apart from this reason, she couldn't think of any other.

Akiwara Yuto nodded, then told her the whole story, emphasizing the information he had obtained—that someone might use some underhanded methods against her out of jealousy.

After listening, Asano Aiko nodded and also began to fall into deep thought; she thought for a while, her expression relaxed, and she said with a smile: "Akiwara, the other party is just from another publishing house; you don't need to take what he said too seriously."

To be honest, she felt the possibility of her being targeted was not high.

Mantanshe was, after all, a formal publishing house, and all personnel and work processes had corresponding systems.

At work, as the editor in charge, the main content she was responsible for was collecting and proofreading Akiwara's manuscripts, and the person who could cause her the most trouble was sitting right in front of her.

Regarding personnel, as an editor of *New Novel*, any matters related to her position had to be handled by Editor-in-Chief Kikuchi Tai; others, even if the general manager wanted to intervene, could not bypass Editor-in-Chief Kikuchi.

She felt that it must have been the peer from *April Youth* who was exaggerating, so she ended up comforting Akiwara Yuto instead.

Having said that, she suddenly remembered something and asked: "Akiwara, have you confirmed the content for your next serialization?"

Compared to other things, this was the most crucial matter.

Akiwara Yuto was responsible for at least more than half of the credit for the current great sales of *New Novel*; if the blank period after he stopped serializing was too long, it would inevitably lead to the loss of a considerable number of readers and fans.

Hearing this question, Akiwara Yuto's face stiffened; he really hadn't decided what to serialize next.

However, looking at the slightly smiling Asano Aiko, another question came to his mind.

Could he really afford to ignore what that Editor Awazu said...