After my divorce, I became a Tokyo literary giant

Chapter 3 It’s great to be a writer

After leaving the president's office, Tazaki Saku was thinking about how to complete the system task and then monetize Haruki Murakami's novel.

In Japan, there are generally two ways to become a writer.

The first is to participate in the selection of major new literary awards. After winning the award, the publishing house will naturally offer you a generous long-term contract.

The second way is to submit your manuscript directly to the publishing house.

Both methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. As an insider, Tazaki Saku is quite familiar with them.

It is very difficult to win the Newcomer Literature Award, but winning it will give you a very high starting point.

If you submit your work directly, the required level is slightly lower, but the initial exposure is not high, so you will need to endure for a while in the early stages.

Out of confidence in Murakami, Tazaki Saku decided to choose the first path.

If Haruki Murakami is placed in the Japanese literary world, where the overall level is not high, it may not be said to be a complete massacre, but it is still shocking enough.

As soon as he sat down at his workstation, Watanabe Nagase saw that he looked serious. Thinking that he had been scolded severely, he handed him a picture album and said, "Don't look so sad. Here, take this to relieve your stress."

The cover of the album shows several pairs of naked men and women entwined, with tentacle-like things entwined between their connecting parts.

Just at this moment, two female colleagues looked over.

"Am I that kind of person?" Tazaki Saku glared at him unhappily.

He opened his computer and after a while, he reached out his hand: "What kind of poisonous picture album is this? Let me criticize it!"

"Haha, this is a good brother." Watanabe Nagase smiled with relief.

After taking the album and hiding it, Tazaki Saku turned on his computer and started to slack off on writing the manuscript.

I'm not going to work anymore after these few days. What's the point of working? Of course, I'm going to use my working hours to do my own things.

[There is no such thing as a perfect article, just as there is no such thing as complete despair.]

Of course, Saku Tazaki had read Haruki Murakami's debut work before.

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to copy it down.

But after racking my brains for a long time, I could only remember less than one-third of the details. What I wrote was very fragmented and could not be called a novel at all.

I want to add something myself, but I can’t write with the same charm as Murakami.

Now there is a system that directly imports it, and even the punctuation marks are clear.

"Hear the Wind Sing" is a short story with a total of more than 40,000 words. Tazaki Saku spent an hour coding half of it and then started to pack up.

"Want to go out?" Watanabe Nagase looked over.

"I have to accompany the president to meet Yomiuri Okata at three o'clock. It seems that they are discussing the contract renewal." said Saku Tazaki.

"Tsk, that bastard." Watanabe Nagase looked at him with contempt.

Tazaki Saku nodded: "It's definitely not a good thing."

Yomiuri Okata was born without limbs. Based on his disability, he wrote a best-selling autobiography called "Five Limbs Are Not Satisfied."

This is a very inspiring thing. His tenacious and positive image is deeply rooted in people's hearts and is a positive example in the eyes of many teachers and parents.

However, most people in the publishing industry knew that his private life was extremely chaotic. He would actively seduce any woman around him, and even asked the female editors of the publishing house he was contracted to sleep with him before he would publish a new book.

Logically speaking, this kind of scum should be completely destroyed.

But it doesn't.

In Japan, the status of intellectuals is very high.

Even if it is revealed that he has a chaotic private life and is cheating on several women, it will not have any impact on him as long as there is no evidence that he has committed a crime.
In the old world, when Yomiuri Okamoto was exposed for having cheated on his wife with at least 50 women, his wife had to issue a statement: "I am also responsible for my husband's infidelity. I didn't take good care of him..."

It sounds outrageous, but when I think about it happening in Japan, it seems a little bit reasonable.

"I really want this scum to be ruined." Watanabe Nagase shouted.

"I'm afraid that's impossible. After all, writers are national teachers and their status is ridiculously high." Tazaki Saku picked up the briefcase.

"I also want to become a great writer, so I don't have to run business every day..." Watanabe Nagase fantasized with a longing look on his face.

Who doesn't want to be a great writer?

Enviable royalties, lofty social status, and fame sought after by thousands...

Just thinking about it makes people envious.

Tazaki Saku packed up his things and left the sales department office. When he reached the corridor on the second floor, he paused.

Anko Shimamoto from the editorial department was wiping her tears in the corridor.

Hearing footsteps, she turned her head and forced a smile that was uglier than crying. She choked out her tears as if she was about to vent her troubles and said, "Taki-kun, we will all be out of work soon. The president will definitely not agree to unreasonable requests..."

Tazaki Saku nodded silently, turned around and went downstairs.

Aobasha's business situation is not optimistic and it has been making losses for several consecutive years.

There are fewer and fewer signed and published works, and journal sales are getting worse and worse, which has led to a vicious cycle of "poor sales lead to fewer and fewer authors submitting works, fewer authors submitting works mean less high-quality content, and less high-quality content leads to even worse sales."

The business situation is so bad that the company can no longer afford the rent for the venue.

Okatake Yomiuri is Aobasha's sole sales force. His contract expires this month. If he doesn't renew and publish here, Aobasha will likely go bankrupt before March. By then, the Queen will be a king without a throne.

To be honest, Tazaki Saku was looking forward to seeing the depressed face of that arrogant woman after her failure.

He went down to the parking lot and drove out in a used Camry.

The Queen sold her Mercedes-Benz S at the beginning of the year to raise funds, and then bought this old car for transportation. She didn't have extra money to hire a driver, so she asked Tazaki Saku to drive for her.

It stopped in front of the company gate at exactly three o'clock.

Saionji Maki came out of the building, got on the back seat, and said coldly, "Let's go to Lansong Restaurant."

The Camry was moving forward in the heavy rain, its headlights flashing, and the sound of rain hitting the roof was like rain hitting banana leaves.

"boom!"

There was a faint flash of lightning in the sky.

In the pale light, Maki Saionji's heartbeat became slightly disordered, and the sense of foreboding grew stronger.

Lan Song Restaurant is located in Kabukicho. The dish signs on the exterior wall of the shop are all handwritten with beautiful calligraphy.

The decoration is gorgeous and gives people a sense of luxury. It is completely different from the affordable chain restaurants that Tazaki Saku often goes to.

In the private room on the second floor, Yomiuri Okamoto, who had disabled limbs, was having a great time drinking and eating while being served by a girl.

As soon as he entered the door, Tazaki Saku glanced at him and didn't think he had any literary temperament.

This guy is utterly terrible.

His private life is chaotic, his writing skills are actually average, and he has never won any literary award. His popular works are mainly based on the marketing gimmick of "quadruplegia", which has nothing to do with his level.

"Teacher Ototake, long time no see." Maki Saionji greeted calmly.

When he saw her, Otaku Yomiuri was stunned. He really didn't expect this arrogant woman to come in person...

"Editor Shimamoto is not feeling well, so I will be the one to talk to the teacher about the contract renewal." Saiyuanji Maki said as she took off her high heels at the door and stepped onto the tatami in the room with her black silk feet.

Hearing this, Okamoto Yomiuri laughed, his eyes full of surprise.

This woman has eyes like glass and smooth, sexy red lips. She is a rare and peerless beauty.

...Which man doesn't covet her?

Maki Saionji came over and knelt across from the dining table.

Her butt was plump and full, and her buttocks sat on her calves. The greasy soft flesh was squeezed to the sides, which felt a bit uncomfortable.

The jade feet in semi-transparent black stockings are pressed behind the buttocks, and the pink soles of the feet can be vaguely seen.

Tazaki Saku took a few glances at her from behind, marveling at the beauty of her feet. He then sat down beside her.

"Mr. Ototake, this is the new contract. Let me explain it to you briefly."

"Boss, have a drink first."

Maki Saionji took out the contract from her bag and was about to explain the key points of the contract when she was interrupted by Yomiuri Okamoto.

"...I'm sorry, I'm not very good at drinking, so let my assistant accompany Mr. Ototake." As she said that, Maki Saionji winked at Saku Tazaki, asking him to help block the wine as he usually did.

In the year since he joined the company, Tazaki Saku had followed her to social events, and had been forced to get drunk countless times, and then she had left him alone on the streets late at night to endure the discomfort of being drunk.

He never wanted to experience the feeling of vomiting out jaundice water again.

"I have a cold today. I took cephalexin when I came here, so I can't drink alcohol now." Tazaki Saku said calmly.

Maki Saionji looked surprised.

The look she gave him gradually became confused, not understanding why he was suddenly not afraid of her anymore.

"President, please." Yomiuri Okamoto asked the girl next to him to pour the wine.

Since she had to ask for help from others, Saionji Maki had no choice but to pick up the wine glass and drink the sake although she was reluctant.

Slightly bitter and spicy.

The stimulation of alcohol made her frown uncomfortably.

"Teacher Ototake, in the new contract, we have increased your fee per sheet of manuscript paper to..."

"Have another drink."

"...Gugu~Huh, all right, payment for a single sheet of manuscript paper..."

As soon as she finished the second cup, Maki Saionji's eyes were already slightly red.

The blush slowly spread to the entire face, and in a blink of an eye, even the fair and slender neck was red.

"Hey, here are some foreign liquors. President, come and try some." Yomiuri Okamoto asked the girl to take out the whiskey that he had prepared in advance.

Looking at the strong foreign liquor, Maki Saionji's eyes twitched slightly.

Isn't it obvious that he wants to get her drunk, and then let her be confused and half-hearted, so that she can do the business for him...

(End of this chapter)