Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 28 The Contract Invitation from the Editor-in-Chief of Shinchosha

During lunch break today, Makoto Akizuki didn't go to the student council room, but instead ate with Maki Shiina in the courtyard.

He was mainly afraid that Ji Yexue would suspect that he could see her again and activate her invisibility to wait for him in the student council room.

The scene from yesterday is still vivid in his mind, and even now, thinking back on it still gives him a feeling of adrenaline rush.

If Ji Yexue were to pull another stunt like that, or even go so far as to take off her skirt, he might not be able to resist. After all, she possesses a charm rating of nine and is a pure, innate succubus.

"Ok?"

During lunch, Akizuki Makoto's phone rang. He took it out and saw that the caller ID was unfamiliar. He frowned, wondering if it was a spam call.

He doesn't usually browse strange websites or leak information online, so he shouldn't receive harassing calls; at least he hasn't received any before.

"Akizuki-kun...aren't you going to answer?"

Sitting to the side, Shiina Maki, who was savoring the bento made by Akizuki Makoto, looked up with a sense of happiness and satisfaction and asked curiously.

"I was just wondering who called me."

Akizuki Makoto responded verbally while pressing the answer button.

Before he could even ask a question, the voice on the other end of the phone rang out first.

"Hello, are you Ms. Akizuki?"

Teacher Akizuki...

Upon hearing this address, Akizuki Makoto immediately knew who the caller was.

"Yes, may I ask which publishing house you are from?"

"Ah, let me introduce myself. I am Reika Komatsu, the editor-in-chief of Shinchosha."

As expected, the caller was from the publishing house, but to his surprise, the person who called him was the editor-in-chief of Shincho Publishing.

Shinchosha enjoys a high status in Japan, is famous for publishing literary books, and is considered one of the most representative publishing houses. It has abundant funds and a large number of employees.

"Let me get straight to the point. Your submission to 'Snow Country' yesterday has been reviewed by all of us editors and received high praise. Would it be convenient for you to schedule a time to meet and discuss this in detail?"

After saying that, the person on the other end of the phone, without waiting for Akizuki Makoto's response, quickly added, "Are you free this afternoon? Evening is fine too!"

Generally speaking, editors wouldn't proactively schedule a meeting, especially not at such a pressing time.

However, considering that Akizuki Makoto might have submitted his work to more than one publishing house, and there was a risk that someone else would get there first, she had no choice but to do this.

"In the afternoon..."

After considering for a moment, Akizuki Makoto replied, "I'm free after four o'clock this afternoon. Where would you like to meet?"

He originally wanted to arrange to meet at 6 PM, after the club activity, but considering that Ji Yexue would be in the student council, he decided to take another day off to avoid direct contact with her.

Although Ji Yexue wouldn't use her invisibility to attack him in front of the other members, he was afraid that Ji Yexue was plotting some kind of evil scheme.

He wanted to avoid it for the time being and enjoy his daily life without being invaded by superpowers.

He's been being invaded by superpowers for the past few days, which has left him somewhat exhausted—mainly because he has to pretend to be stupid every time, which is really taking a toll on his mental health.

"Okay! I'll add you on Line later. Please accept my request and I'll send you the specific meeting address."

After the agreement was reached, the phone call was disconnected, and a friend request popped up on Line immediately afterward.

The applicant's name is Komatsu Reika, editor-in-chief of Shinchosha. Her profile picture is a bunch of white bellflowers, which matches her name perfectly.

After Akizuki accepted the request, the other party greeted him first, and then sent a message.
"Is this the acceptable meeting location? (Map link)"

He clicked on the link, which showed a cafe located near Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

"Can"

After giving a brief reply, Akizuki Makoto switched to the chat window, submitted his early departure report in the student council's group chat, then put his phone away and continued eating.

At this moment, Shiina Maki, who had been holding her breath and listening intently to Akizuki Makoto and Komatsu Reika's conversation, finally had a chance to speak.

She placed the lunchbox on her lap, clapped her hands, and congratulated him, "Congratulations, Akizuki-kun! You're going to be a huge star!"

Qiu Yuecheng smiled and said, "Haha, it's not even close to being a done deal yet."

"How could that be? Didn't they say that all the editors unanimously approved it? I'm going to buy ten... no... a hundred copies!"

"Are you an idiot? Why are you buying so many? You already have the original manuscript."

Makoto Akizuki had no doubt that Maki Shiina would actually buy a hundred copies; if she had the money, she would be willing to buy a thousand or even ten thousand copies.

"Please, support me..."

Shiina Maki muttered to herself, having already decided to secretly use all the money she received today to buy "Snow Country".

As if sensing something, Qiuyue Cheng glanced at her sideways and snorted, "If you dare to buy more than one copy, then we'll break off our friendship."

"Eh?!"

Upon hearing this, Shiina Maki was immediately terrified. She put on a mournful face and cried, "No, please don't break up with me! I won't buy it anymore, I won't buy it anymore, please don't break up with me, okay? Please, please don't break up with me!"

"Alright, alright, I was just saying if you dare to buy more than one copy, I didn't really mean to break off our friendship." Akizuki Makoto looked at the panicked Shiina Maki and thought to himself that he couldn't joke with her like this so casually in the future.

Look how scared the child is, he's about to cry right now.

Afterwards, he spent a lot of time explaining to Shiina Maki that he would not break off their friendship before he was able to calm her down.

By this time, lunch break was almost over, so they quickly finished their remaining lunches, hurriedly packed up, and rushed back to the classroom.

……

……

So, after school in the afternoon...

After saying goodbye to Shiina Maki, Akizuki picked up his schoolbag and left the school alone.

Maki Shiina is going home today. Her final choice remains the same: not to leave her family of origin.

Akizuki Makoto didn't say anything, respecting her choice, and then told her that she could come to him anytime if she needed his help.

"La Boheme Café..."

Makoto Akizuki boarded the train to Shinjuku and looked at the meeting address sent by Rei-ka Komatsu. He did have some recollection of the coffee shop.

It was a filming location for "Shitsuren Chocolatier" and "Your Name," and it's where Taki Tachibana worked.

It's not just a coffee shop; it also serves lunch and dinner, so you could call it a Western-style restaurant.

Take the train all the way to Shinjuku Gyoen Station, get off there, and walk for another five minutes to reach La Boheme Café.

From the outside, it looks like a Western-style mansion, with transparent glass curtain walls and green leaves and snow-white curtains as a backdrop.

The high ceilings and classic wood decor give the store a stylish and retro feel.

Akizuki Makoto pushed open the glass door and entered the store. The melodious sound of wind chimes immediately rang out, reminding the front desk staff that a customer had arrived.

"Welcome, distinguished guest."

The female clerk at the front desk immediately bowed to him.

Akizuki nodded slightly as a greeting, and then began to inspect the store.

There were no seat numbers in the store, so he couldn't ask the staff directly. He could only search for the "innermost left side of the store" as Komatsu Reihan had told him.

"Oh no, this place is so popular! It's packed with people, and they're all single women..."

Looking at all the seats on the far left side of the store, Akizuki Makoto thought to himself that something was wrong.

If he had filtered based on the criterion of only one office lady sitting there, as if waiting for someone, he could have found her very quickly.

Unfortunately, there are many women like this in the store.

The seats at the very back were occupied by women dressed in office lady uniforms, and each woman was alone. They all looked like Li Hua from Komatsu.

Helpless, Akizuki Makoto could only pick up his phone to send a message to Komatsu Reika to tell her that he had arrived, but he couldn't find where she was sitting.

"...I've already told you, stop bothering me!"

Just a second after he took his phone out of his pocket, a voice full of impatience and disgust suddenly rang out beside him.

He couldn't help but turn his head to look and saw a girl wearing a white dress with long black hair being harassed by several men who were dressed in a flashy way and had dyed hair.

The girl immediately caught his attention, making him forget to contact Komatsu Reika for a moment.

Akizuki Makoto immediately stepped forward, blocking the girl's path, and said coldly, "Hey, you guys, can't you see how bothered she is? You keep bothering her."

"what?"

"Who are you, you brat?!"

"Stop joking around, mind your own business, and get out of here!"

The smiles on the faces of the men who had been flirting with him froze when they saw Akizuki Makoto suddenly appear, and they shouted at him in a harsh tone.

Seeing this, Akizuki Makoto didn't bother arguing with them and directly called out to the busy shop assistants behind the counter, "Hello! Someone here is maliciously harassing customers!"

"whispering sound……"

"I'll remember you. Don't let me run into you again, or I'll make you regret it!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, the men made some tough threats but were actually weak, and then left dejectedly.

After watching them walk away, Akizuki Makoto turned his gaze back to the girl in the wheelchair behind him.

The girl wore a white floral dress and brown low-heeled leather boots. Her long, glossy black hair was loosely draped over her shoulders. Beneath her wispy bangs were slender willow-leaf eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes that were clear and bright, like pools of autumn water.

Her eyes looked down, her nose was small and straight, her lips were pink and full, shimmering with a faint moist sheen, and her fair and delicate jawline accentuated her well-defined oval face.

The girl was breathtakingly beautiful, no wonder she was targeted by men who looked like thugs, especially since she was in a wheelchair and looked easy to bully.

We're getting ready to add a new, unconventional female character to develop Ji Yexue's storyline! Please keep reading! Please vote with your monthly tickets! I'm currently updating a stable 5,000 words daily, 1,000 words more than my peers!

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(End of this chapter)