Chapter 65: Number Two in Sales?!

On Wednesday morning, Akiwara Yuto heated up the bread he had bought the night before in the microwave. After eating, he changed into sportswear, preparing to go out and run a few laps along the street.

He had already let go of his worries regarding the disappointing sales of the final installment of his serialized work; after all, the facts were already set in stone, and he couldn't exactly hand out cash to make the citizens of Tokyo go buy a copy, could he?

He believed that rather than worrying about past results, it was better to think about what to write in the future. After all, keeping one's emotions trapped in the frustration of failure was undoubtedly a very wrong decision.

He walked to the entrance hall downstairs and was just about to put on his sneakers to head out when he heard the sound of the telephone ringing. He had just picked up the receiver when he heard Asano Aiko’s voice: "Akiwara, hurry and watch the morning news on Tokyo TV!"

There was a sense of urgency in Asano Aiko’s voice, completely devoid of her usual gentle tone. Akiwara Yuto was a bit puzzled for a moment, but he still replied with a "Yes," then placed the receiver on the table and walked to the room next to the entrance to turn on the television.

To be honest, although this world lacked entertainment options, he had never developed the habit of watching television due to the habits he had formed in his previous life, instead passing the time by reading novels from this world.

Therefore, he had basically never used the television in the house.

He turned on the TV, picked up the remote to change to the Tokyo TV channel, and saw an image—a beautiful female reporter in a dark gray suit was holding a microphone, interviewing a middle-aged man who looked quite aged, asking him about his confidence in the work being filmed.

Akiwara Yuto watched for a few moments, still a bit confused, so he returned to the entrance to pick up the receiver: "Hello, Asano, what exactly do you want me to see?"

"Akiwara, you missed the clip from just a moment ago; keep watching."

Hearing this, Akiwara Yuto had no choice but to set aside his doubts, go back, and start staring at the screen intently. After some pleasantries, the two people on TV finally reached the key content.

"As a director, I am very grateful to the Dongsheng Film Zhushihuishe for entrusting me to direct such a recently popular work. I believe that the works of Akiwara Yuto-sensei possess a very unique charm..."

Akiwara Yuto suddenly realized; he understood what was going on. It turned out the film company had announced the decision to adapt the work into a film.

He felt a bit surprised, but didn't think too much of it, guessing that the film company might want to start filming as soon as possible to profit from box office revenue and other aspects.

He thought for a moment, but still prepared to hang up the phone and go for a run. He had decided to start exercising today to avoid getting sick from being a shut-in every day, so he turned back and picked up the receiver: "I saw it, it's good news, but it won't help with the current sales, will it? I'll first..."

But before he could finish, Asano Aiko interrupted him: "Akiwara, you're wrong, this is very helpful to us."

She added: "And if you saw it, then the readers, bookstores, and distribution companies will naturally see it too."

Akiwara Yuto hadn't thought of that, but after pondering it carefully, he found that what she said was indeed reasonable.

This report from the TV station would make many people curious about what kind of work could be adapted into a film. Driven by this curiosity, a portion of these people would inevitably convert into buyers of "New Novel."

Besides that, some bookstores and distributors that hadn't originally stocked "New Novel" would also be very likely to bring in a batch of inventory to see how it sold.

But as for the extent of the boost to the sales of this issue of "New Novel," it would still depend on how wide the reach of Tokyo TV was.

Regardless, this was good news worth celebrating!

Thinking of this, his mood improved significantly. He joked with Asano Aiko for a while longer before hanging up the phone.

The business was finished, so he could go for a run.

By the way, how many meters should he run on the first day? Maybe just start with 3 kilometers?

As one of the five core television stations in Neon, Tokyo TV’s coverage area included over 20 million households across the entire Tokyo region. Even for a very brief morning news segment, at least several million households were watching.

So, while Akiwara Yuto was panting as he ran along the street, the distribution bureau of the Mantan Society had already started to become incredibly busy.

Almost every 10 minutes, a phone call would come in, with content that was largely the same: "Bancheng Bookstore is ordering 50 new copies of 'New Novel'," "The 'New Novel' at Ueno Bookstore is sold out, requesting a restock," "Changze Distributor hopes to arrange priority shipping."

A bespectacled man in a loose suit hung up the phone and muttered to himself: "Didn't they say the sales for this issue weren't good? Why is it still selling so well?"

He hadn't seen the news released by Tokyo TV this morning, so he truly didn't understand the current situation.

As a veteran employee of the distribution department, he had worked at the Mantan Society distribution bureau for nearly 13 years. In all his years of work, he had rarely seen a work become an overnight sensation like "New Novel"!

To understand the reason for the explosive popularity of "New Novel," he had specifically studied the previous book reviews and read all of Akiwara Yuto’s articles.

After that, he had his own understanding.

That was that for the explosive popularity of "New Novel," Akiwara Yuto only accounted for half the reason, and the other half had to be credited to that group of book reviewers who hyped up his work.

Therefore, after the latest issue was released, based on the decrease in the number of book reviews on the market and the standard of Akiwara Yuto’s existing works, he made his own judgment—the sales of this issue would definitely decline!

Although he wasn't sure by how much it would drop, it was undoubtedly difficult to reach the 140,000-copy bestseller level of the previous issue. That was why, at the previous departmental meeting, he had proposed reducing the initial print run of "New Novel." It was only because of the protests from the "New Novel" editorial department that this proposal was rejected by his superiors.

However, just as he had expected, after this issue of "New Novel" was released, because the promotional heat had died down, the Monday sales were not as good as the previous period, and the Tuesday sales were even worse, giving a feeling of lacking momentum.

This made him feel quite pleased; after all, who told the "New Novel" editorial department to reject his proposal.

But he didn't expect that while he was waiting to see a joke, "New Novel" would experience a reversal on Wednesday. In just one morning, a large number of calls came in.

These were mainly from Tokyo, but many also came from all over the country, all requesting additional orders, which left him feeling completely bewildered.

So, what exactly happened?

While the bespectacled man in the suit was full of doubt, the sales of "New Novel" continued to advance.

The distribution volume reached 32,000 copies on Wednesday, 35,000 copies on Thursday, broke through 40,000 copies on Friday, and sold 25,000 and 22,000 copies on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

By the following Monday, the statistics department sent over the data, which shocked everyone, including Juchi Tai and Akiwara Yuto—this issue had sold a full 200,000 copies!

The figure of 200,000 not only far exceeded the 150,000 of "Tokyo Literature," but also surpassed the 180,000 of Jingfan Society's "Literature Spring," second only to the 250,000 of Dongying Society's "Tokyo Youth."

It could be said that in terms of sales for this issue, "New Novel" had become the No. 2 literary journal for novels in all of Neon, just one step away from reaching the top!

Juchi Tai and the others were in high spirits, and the staff of the "New Novel" editorial department even applauded and held a celebration ceremony for the reprint.

On the other side, Takei Kohei’s mood was very unsettled. He gripped the sales report in his hand and decided to accelerate his plan!