Tokyo Tycoon, Start as a Writer

Chapter 6 Reversal, submission rejected

The night is coming to an end and the sky is getting brighter in the east.

There are more vehicles on the road, the tram system starts to operate, and a super-large modern city gradually wakes up.

"Ha~"

Naoto Oguri yawned again.

"Are you tired?" Across the dining table, the wife looked up with concern.

After returning home last night, my husband looked absent-minded, even a little dispirited, which was worrying.

"It's okay." Naoto Oguri shook his head silently.

"If you're too tired from work, take a day off to rest." The wife said, "If you can't take a day off, then you can just leave work early in the evening. By the way, the movie "Drive My Car" adapted from Murakami-san's novel was recently released. Come back early and we can go watch it together..."

My wife has mentioned watching this movie three times this week.

Naoto Oguri was very busy, so he didn't agree.

After breakfast, his wife helped him tie his tie, took his leather shoes out of the shoe cabinet and placed them at the door.

"I am leaving."

"Well, keep working hard, but also make sure to rest."

Encouraged by his wife's smile, Naoto Oguri pushed open the door, and a scene that was enough to make one lost appeared.

The sky is a bright blue, and below is a large park covered with greenery.

The large and small buildings in Nishi-Shinjuku are located in the middle of blue and green, and they are as light and delicate as stacked Lego blocks.

——This is Tokyo!

Naoto Oguri narrowed his eyes, and his mind replayed the scene of the day when he got off the train and first came to this city.

The shock brought by the lead-gray high-rise buildings in Tokyo and the hustle and bustle of the crowds are much better than the cold and lonely hometown covered in snow.

When you first come to a big city, everything in the world seems beautiful.

Even the blue sky and the breeze were welcoming him.

But what came with it was heavy work, lack of sleep, financial troubles...After the novelty wore off, Tokyo became physically and mentally exhausting.

In order to survive in this city, he was busy with work and could not remember the last time he went shopping or watched a movie with his wife, or the last time he attended a tripartite meeting with his daughter.

If the money is gone, you can make it again.

But once regrets are made, they may never be made up for.

Like a dancer's love.

Looking at the glass buildings glittering in the morning light, Naoto Oguri took a deep breath and thought to himself that he would submit "The Dancing Girl of Izu" to the editor-in-chief today, and after it was confirmed as a shortlisted newcomer award, he would work the early shift and then go to the movies with his wife.

Arriving at the company gate, he looked into the security room.

The security guard was inside last night.

"Oshima." Naoto Oguri called out.

"Hey, Oguri-san, what do you want me to do?" Oshima Isamu came over happily.

"About your cousin."

"Ah, he didn't make the cut, so he wants to withdraw his manuscript? It's okay, this is all within my expectations. I will comfort him."

Oshima Isamu was not surprised at all. After all, the chances of a new writer getting his manuscript accepted by Shincho were very slim.

For the sake of the 1 yen, he quickly spoke up for Kiyoaki Matsueda: "My cousin is very hardworking and ambitious. I hope you, Mr. Oguri, don't despise him for being stupid. Next time he has a new work..."

"No need for next time, just this time." Naoto Oguri couldn't help but laugh.

"I would like to ask you to take a look at it again... Hey, wait!" Oshima Yong's eyes widened, with a look of shock on his face, "What did you say? Did I hear it wrong?"

"You heard it right, he passed the manuscript."

"..."

Oshima Yong was stunned and murmured: "Could it be that my cousin is really a genius..."

"Yes, he is a genius." Oguri Naoto confirmed, "I'm going back to the office first. Tell your cousin that I'll be waiting for him anytime."

Oshima Yong was stunned for a few seconds and his face gradually turned red.

It was flushed with excitement.

Although he was not optimistic about Kiyoaki Matsueda, he was sincerely happy when he heard that the manuscript had been approved.

"I knew it. You can tell at first glance that my cousin is a cultured person. Especially his eyes..."

While bragging, Oshima Yong's eyes suddenly twitched. It seemed that he... didn't have his cousin's contact information. What should he do?
As for Naoto Oguri, after entering the office building, he walked towards the editor-in-chief's office with the manuscript in his hand.

He hasn't been this happy in a long time.

The full text of "The Dancing Girl of Izu" has more than 10,000 words, but he read it over and over again, and regained the work passion he had when he first became an editor.

"Dong Dong~"

Naoto Oguri knocked on the editor-in-chief's office door.

"Come in."

Push the door open and enter.

Editor-in-Chief Nitta looked up from his office chair and said, "Good morning, Oguri."

"Good morning, Editor-in-Chief Nitta." Naoto Oguri came over. "I came here this time because I have a manuscript that I want you to review."

"Hey, what kind of manuscript is worthy of your personal recommendation?" Editor-in-Chief Nitta showed an interested expression.

"This is it." Naoto Oguri handed over the folder.

Editor-in-Chief Nitta opened the folder and picked up the manuscript.

At first, his expression was relaxed, with a smile of appreciation and anticipation.

But gradually, his brows furrowed, and his eyes became more solemn and cold.

After he finished reading, Oguri Naoto smiled and asked, "How is it? It has no problem standing out from more than 5000 entries and being shortlisted for the final 50, right? I don't even doubt that it will be the winner in the end."

Editor-in-Chief Nitta looked solemn, tapping the table with his fingertips. "The excellence of this novel really surprised me. But the competition this year was too fierce, with too many good works competing on the same stage, which was really cruel. Many of the winning works were not not good enough, but because there were better works at the same time, their own brilliance was overshadowed, and the pearls were covered in dust, resulting in obscurity in the end..."

After listening to his words, Oguri Naoto felt something was wrong and frowned: "What does the editor-in-chief mean?"

Editor Nitta put the manuscript back into the folder and pushed it across the table: "Let him submit it next time."

"I……"

Naoto Oguri opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

There is a very serious ladder system in the Japanese workplace, with obvious distinctions between superiors and subordinates, elders and juniors, and formal and temporary employees.

The boss's meaning was very clear, and as a subordinate, Naoto Oguri could only do as he was told under normal circumstances.

but……

As the editor-in-chief, you shouldn't say such things.

Is there any hidden secret?

Naoto Oguri pondered for a moment and spoke cautiously: "I still want to give it a try. Use my name to recommend..."

"Oguri, you have been an editor for more than ten years. I can tell you this very clearly." Chief Editor Nitta interrupted him with a serious look, "Tachibana Toshio of the Tachibana family is a cousin of the major shareholder behind Shincho."

Naoto Oguri fell into deep thought.

Tachibana Toshio is a new writer that he is very optimistic about. He has been submitting his works to him since three years ago. His work has improved by leaps and bounds in the past year, and his new work "Cat City" was successfully shortlisted for last year's Newcomer Award.

Although he did not win the award in the end, his writing ability has been recognized by the trendy editors.

However, Naoto Oguri felt that his writing style had changed too much and his level had risen so dramatically that he suspected he was ghostwriting.

This year, he also submitted "Eggs and High Walls", which was based on the Tokyo subway sarin gas incident, to Naoto Oguri.

Although the standard is very high, there are many changes in the writing style.

Naoto Oguri still had the suspicion that he had hired a ghostwriter, so he did not accept the book, but instead gave it to a new intern editor in the same group. After the work was submitted, it was again shortlisted for the Newcomer Award.

As the submission deadline approached, no amazing works emerged. The editors of Xinchao all agreed that the work with the highest probability of winning this year was "Eggs and High Walls"

Naoto Oguri originally thought so too.

But after last night, he has firmly believed that "The Dancing Girl of Izu" has the greatest chance of winning.

"Editor-in-Chief Nitta, this is cheating. If it gets out, it will..."

"We did not bribe the judges to select the winning works according to our intentions. We just rejected all the works that were better than "Eggs and High Walls" from the final shortlist. This is not called cheating, this is called reasonable use of the rules! Because deciding what works can be sent to the judges is the exclusive power of our publishing house!"

No wonder the quality of the submitted works this year is not high, it turns out that the good works were blocked!

Naoto Oguri was very angry. He felt humiliated that the noble literary nature of the editing profession had been pressed into the dirt and brutally raped by the powerful hand of power.

"Editor-in-Chief Nitta, I think..."

"Okay, no need to say more. The Tachibana family has already informed the three editors-in-chief of our Editorial Department. None of us is willing to ignore them and risk offending the big boss. Got it? Oguri, take the manuscript back and reflect on your naivety!"

"..."

(End of this chapter)