Tokyo Literary Masters: Starting from the Late 1980s

Chapter 184 Shunichi Takahashi: Kitahara Iwao, I was right!

After the dozen or so IRS officers left, the search of Kitahara Iwa's apartment was quickly erased from official records.

The Tokyo Regional Tax Bureau's Third Investigation Division's operation that morning was ultimately classified as: "Routine overseas income audit, no abnormalities found, case closed."

The archives do not show them going through Kitahara Iwao's study, safe, bank statements, or overseas copyright contracts.

He could not see Robert Finley of Penguin Random House, Margaret Hughes of Faber Publishing, James Walton of HarperCollins UK, or Sir Jonathan Clarendon, who had come all the way from London, sitting in the living room.

As for Hiroyuki Sekiguchi's dry apology at the end, it will not appear in any official documents.

On paper, the matter ends here.

However, outside of official channels, the news quickly spread within the inner circle at the very top of the financial world.

After returning to the Tokyo National Tax Bureau, Hiroyuki Sekiguchi's first phone call was to Takeo Kishimoto.

When the call connected, his voice was no longer as cold and hard as usual.

He started by saying, "I'm very sorry."

Then it was repeated.

Then Sekiguchi Hiroyuki recounted the entire situation in the apartment.

Representatives from three British publishing houses were seated in the living room beforehand.

Sir Clarendon documented the entire search process.

Kitahara Iwa's overseas tax payment certificates are so complete that there is almost no flaw in them.

After listening, Kishimoto Kenji remained silent for a long time.

Only a very faint static sound came through the phone.

Nearly a minute later, Kishimoto Kenjiro said in a low voice, "I understand."

Then the call was disconnected.

Kishimoto Takeo originally intended to contain the aftermath of this failed operation within the conference room in Kasumigaseki, but this was destined to be an unrealistic fantasy.

Although the sixteen low-level investigators who participated in the on-site raid were given a strict gag order, secrets of Xiaguan rarely leaked from the bottom up.

Faced with the potential for consular negotiations and attacks from foreign media, the top brass of the Ministry of Finance, driven by their instinct to shirk responsibility, had to secretly probe and communicate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant departments.

This bureaucratic operation, which attempts to spread political risks, naturally tore an irreparable hole in the vast intelligence network where politics and business are intertwined.

Within this circle where interests are deeply intertwined, the retreat shown by those at the top in order to protect themselves is itself a clear signal.

Before long, the heads of major city banks and executives of core real estate companies pieced together the true picture of the Minato Ward apartment through private dinners and secret gatherings.

The authorities attempted to use tax audits to plug the cracks caused by "The Collapsed Tower," but instead ran headlong into a compliance wall built by multinational media capital and top legal firms.

As this insider information spread rapidly, those in power in the financial world who truly control the game were forced to accept a very difficult reality.

This renowned literary figure has long since transcended the scope of manipulation that the local administrative system can achieve behind closed doors.

When the Treasury's usually invincible tax-investigation weapon became a pile of useless wood in front of the well-prepared British, any conventional means of trying to undermine or exert pressure from the shadows had already failed.

At this moment, those few people in the financial world who truly controlled resources finally realized something they had been unwilling to admit before.

Kitahara Iwa is no longer someone to be trifled with.

Public opinion cannot be suppressed, and administrative measures are also difficult to take.

Even the Inland Revenue Service, the most effective means of creating a stain on one's record, was utterly defeated by the British.

And this failure brought more than just embarrassment.

What's even more deadly is that it made those people realize one thing.

Continuing to target Kitahara Iwa himself will only lead to increasingly higher costs.

Because Kitahara Iwa is surrounded by a protective network woven by established local publishers, multinational media capital, and elite legal professionals.

The vast readership awakened by the truth in the book forms a solid foundation for him to resist any administrative interference.

But Kitahara Iwa couldn't move, while "The Collapsing Tower" continued to spread outwards.

The more chain bookstores remove it, the more people line up in front of independent bookstores.

Those small bookstores that were willing to continue displaying the book began to place it in the very center of their windows.

Below the black cover are handwritten recommendations, and some shop owners have even written slogans like: "A book hated by big banks and chain stores."

This kind of talk is more effective than any other kind of talk.

The public gradually came to regard this work as a kind of real-world metaphor that had to be verified with their own eyes.

It quietly infiltrated the office areas of major companies along with the briefcases of commuters, and circulated privately among employees who were preparing to buy property.

This bottom-up, covert dissemination also directly disrupted real estate transactions. Many families who were originally scheduled to go to the real estate agency to sign contracts decisively called to cancel their appointments after reviewing the financial simulations in the book.

The fear was not suppressed.

It becomes more concrete and harder to dispel.

This is what truly makes banks and real estate developers uneasy.

They can certainly launch a systematic campaign of public opinion suppression, smearing the author's character, accusing the publisher of malicious attacks, and arranging for their own scholars to forcibly separate "literary fiction" from "economic fundamentals" on screen to confuse the public.

However, these superficial public relations rhetoric are simply unable to curb the awakening of the public's instinct to avoid risks.

As soon as readers stop and start looking at the contract, and start asking themselves where this loan will drag their family down, the chain that is maintained by confidence and leverage will gradually come to a standstill.

Since they can't touch Kitahara Iwa for the time being, the financial sector can only turn its attention back to the market itself.

Therefore, they must create a new model as soon as possible.

A real-life success story.

Ideally, this person should come from a banking background, understand finance, be young and presentable, and be willing to cooperate with the camera.

All he needs to do is wear an expensive suit, sit on a financial program, and tell the audience in a gentle yet confident tone that the current downturn is just a temporary adjustment, and that those who dare to enter the market now are the ones who truly understand the opportunities of the times.

Once this image is established, many middle-class families who have been frightened by "The Collapsing Tower" will regain some confidence.

They already had such a candidate in mind.

That's Shunichi Takahashi.

He is young, has a presentable appearance, and has an impressive track record.

More importantly, he has already proven himself to be obedient enough in previous interviews.

Know what to say and what not to say.

They also know how to package the bank's prepared statements as their own professional judgment.

In order to quickly put him in the public eye, the transfer order from Sumitomo Bank headquarters was issued swiftly and decisively.

Shunichi Takahashi was directly transferred to headquarters and quickly moved into a newly established agency called the "Market Strategy Office".

This temporary department, established specifically to address the crisis, presents a respectable official narrative, claiming that its core responsibilities are to analyze public opinion on the real estate market, stabilize customer confidence, and correct so-called "misunderstandings" about the financial system.

But everyone who understands it knows that it was created to counter "The Collapsing Tower".

Within this department, Shunichi Takahashi serves as the deputy director of the Market Strategy Office.

This position, though not the highest, was enough to change his business card from "Branch Star Employee" to "One of the Heads of the Headquarters Marketing Strategy Department".

For a bank clerk who is not yet thirty years old, this is already a leap forward of several steps.

On his first day after being transferred to headquarters, Shunichi Takahashi was given a private office.

The room wasn't big, but it was located in the headquarters building of Sumitomo Bank.

The frosted glass on the door had just been wiped clean, and the silver doorplate still gleamed with fresh paint, bearing the words:

Deputy Director of the Market Strategies Office.

Shunichi Takahashi stood at the door, looking at these words, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

A few months ago, I was in the reception room of the Shinjuku branch, having coffee with clients, explaining the loan structure, and trying to get hesitant middle-class families to sign their names. At a class reunion, I barely managed to steal the spotlight from Kitahara Iwa thanks to my knowledge.

But now, his own desk has been placed inside headquarters.

Outside the window are Tokyo's densely packed buildings.

When employees coming in and out downstairs pass by their own door, they will subconsciously slow their footsteps.

Upon seeing him, someone immediately smiled and bowed, saying, "Deputy Director Takahashi."

When this title first reached his ears, Shunichi Takahashi was even taken aback for a moment.

Then, a light, warm feeling of pleasure welled up inside him.

Wow, this is so awesome!

Once a person is in the right position, they can easily step over those steps that used to take ten or fifteen years to climb.

At that moment, someone from the public relations department brought over a folder.

The visitor was very polite, even a little ingratiating, saying, "Deputy Director Takahashi, these are reference materials for tomorrow's interview."

The folder contained summaries of recent media reports, statistics on clients canceling contracts, public opinion analysis of "The Collapsed Tower," and several pages of interview highlights marked in red.

Shunichi Takahashi leaned back in his large office chair, reviewing the public relations guidelines issued by headquarters.

The guiding principles in the document are very restrained: avoid direct personal attacks on writers, acknowledge the emotional fluctuations at the public level, and subtly shift the discourse to macro dimensions such as "long-term asset allocation" and "institutional professional risk control".

Looking at these high-sounding words, a mocking smile curled at the corner of Takahashi Shunichi's lips.

The operational logic of the central organization is indeed much more sophisticated than that of the branch offices at the grassroots level.

The blatant sales pitches used in the past, such as "missing out on the times" or "full leverage," have now been sewed into a suit called "rational family risk-averse choices."

The core message remains the same: urging customers to empty their wallets. But by cloaking it in these technical terms, their greed becomes impeccable.

The moment he closed the folder, a powerful sense of power surged through Shunichi Takahashi's chest.

He suddenly realized how crude his past experiences working at the grassroots level had been.

The same bloodthirsty logic, when spoken by a branch employee, is considered low-level salesmanship, but when it is uttered by him, the deputy director of the headquarters' countermeasures office, in front of the camera, it becomes an unquestionable authoritative judgment.

With this power in hand, his office was hardly quiet for the next few days.

A reporter from a financial magazine came by.

The TV producer came.

People from the bank's internal publicity department kept coming in to confirm the interview content with him.

Everyone was more polite than he had expected when they sat down.

"Deputy Director Takahashi, as someone with a background in frontline financing, your views are very persuasive."

"The world desperately needs your rational voice right now."

"Kitahara Iwao's book caused a lot of misunderstandings, and ordinary readers need someone to explain the market to them."

After hearing these words so many times, Shunichi Takahashi gradually began to believe them himself.

He began to realize that he wasn't being used as a scapegoat by the bank.

Rather, it is correcting market deviations.

To help ordinary people who are frightened by novels regain their judgment.

They were even speaking up for the Japanese economy.

When he first sat in the TV studio, the makeup artist fixed his hair.

The light shone on his face, and the monitor reflected a young, neat, and determined man.

A dark suit, a composed tie, and a glimpse of the edge of a gold watch peeking out from his wrist.

The host went over the script with him beforehand and spoke very politely.

"Mr. Takahashi, we will ask you for your opinion on 'The Collapsed Tower' in a moment. You don't need to be too sharp; focus on market confidence."

Takahashi Shun nodded and replied, "I understand."

But as he looked at himself on the monitor, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

Kitahara Iwa can make readers believe in a novel.

Why can't I make the audience believe in reality?

After the show started, Shunichi Takahashi performed better than anyone expected.

Shunichi Takahashi skillfully concealed any sarcasm or anger at being offended in his words.

The moment the broadcast camera precisely locked onto him, he merely furrowed his brow slightly, displaying a perfectly measured, professionally tolerant demeanor to the national audience, saying, "I can understand the unease readers may feel after finishing that book."

"I don't deny that Kitahara's works are very impactful."

He paused, looked up, and said in a steady tone, "But the market cannot be judged solely by emotions."

"What I deal with every day is corporate cash flow, household asset needs, and actual transaction data."

"The current volatility is real, but volatility does not equate to collapse."

After being polished by headquarters, this set of words became gentler, more professional, and easier for the audience to accept.

After the program aired, Sumitomo Bank's public relations department quickly called.

"Deputy Director Takahashi, the results are very good."

"The producer just said that you have a very steady presence on camera."

"We'd like to invite you to two more shows next week."

That evening, Shunichi Takahashi returned to his apartment but did not turn on the lights immediately.

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the Tokyo night view.

In the distance, the buildings were brightly lit, as if the entire city was bearing witness for him.

The next day, when Shunichi Takahashi entered the headquarters of Sumitomo Bank, his steps were much slower than usual.

It wasn't because of hesitation.

Instead, he suddenly realized that he no longer needed to walk briskly through the hall as before, for fear of being looked down upon by the real big shots at headquarters.

The receptionist saw him and immediately bowed.

"Good morning, Deputy Director Takahashi."

Upon hearing this address, Shunichi Takahashi did not respond immediately, but simply nodded slightly.

When the elevator doors opened, several young bank employees inside saw him and quickly stepped aside.

Someone glanced at him furtively, their eyes filled with envy and a hint of unspoken awe.

Shunichi Takahashi stepped into the middle of the elevator and watched the metal doors slowly close.

His face was reflected in the storefront.

He suddenly realized that he was indeed different from before.

Back in the market strategy office, his colleagues had already placed the latest newspaper on his desk.

Upon seeing Takahashi Shunichi enter, the other party immediately smiled and said, "Deputy Director Takahashi, your words from yesterday have been quoted by 'Caishi' magazine."

His tone was very warm, even a little ingratiating.

Shunichi Takahashi took the newspaper and looked down at it.

His name was prominently displayed in the financial section.

The title next to it is also beautifully written.

Young banking elites are calling for a rational approach to market fluctuations.

And his own photo was placed next to it.

In the footage, Shunichi Takahashi sits under the studio lights, his expression calm, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he is genuinely worried about the future of the entire Japanese middle class.

Shunichi Takahashi stared at that photo for a long time.

Then, he laughed.

So this is what it feels like to be written about by major media outlets.

It's more direct than performance rankings, more satisfying than praise from branch managers, and more addictive than when people surround you at class reunions asking about loans and real estate.

This time, it wasn't just a few people listening to him.

It's like the whole of Japan is watching you.

Upon seeing this, Takahashi Shunsuke put the newspaper on the table and gently pressed his fingertips against his own name.

"It's fairly accurate."

My colleague was taken aback for a moment, then quickly smiled and said, "Of course, the publicity department was very satisfied after the program aired yesterday. I heard that two other TV stations want to continue to work with you."

Shunichi Takahashi leaned back in his chair, his smile deepening.

"Have them send over the script first."

When he said those words, even Takahashi Shunichi himself noticed the change in his tone.

In the past, I felt both excited and nervous when facing the media.

But now, Shunichi Takahashi has begun to feel that these interviews should have been waiting in line for him all along.

In the morning, a managing director from Sumitomo Bank passed by the market strategy office.

The other person deliberately stopped and patted Takahashi Shunichi on the shoulder.

"Takahashi-kun, you were right yesterday."

"The outside world needs your voice now."

After finishing his speech, the executive left.

But those words, when they reached Shunichi Takahashi's ears, were like a shot of strong liquor slowly burning down his stomach.

The outside world needs our voice.

These words made him feel a little lightheaded.

When Shunichi Takahashi sat back down at his desk and looked at the interview notes that the public relations department had prepared, his mindset was completely different.

At first, he simply followed the script given by headquarters.

But after saying it so many times, hearing so much applause, and seeing so many cameras, he began to lose track of which words were written for him by others and which he truly believed.

Or rather, he no longer cares.

If TV stations are willing to invite you, newspapers are willing to quote you, and bank executives need to step forward themselves.

That means what you said has value.

If you say "the market won't collapse," then the market shouldn't collapse.

If you say, "Now is the window of opportunity for rational entry," then those hesitant clients should sit back down at the signing table.

He himself said that "literature cannot replace financial judgment," and Kitahara Iwao's book was just a beautiful but dangerous emotional incitement.

In the afternoon, Shunichi Takahashi sat alone in his office and picked up the newspaper again to read it once more.

The person in the photo looks more like a real big shot than in real life.

He suddenly remembered Kitahara Iwa from his university days.

Back then, Kitahara Iwa was always quiet. He would sit in the crowd and not say much, but he always managed to attract attention.

Later, Kitahara Iwa won an award, published his work, went to England, and became a literary giant.

Meanwhile, all he could do was stay in the bank branch, explaining the loan structure to customers time and time again, smiling, toasting, and striving to achieve his sales targets.

This gap had been like a thorn stuck in his heart for a long time.

But now, that thorn is starting to loosen.

Kitahara Iwa has novels.

They have their own television station, bank headquarters, financial magazines, and microphones handed to them by the entire financial industry.

Kitahara Iwa frightens readers.

He restored the market's confidence in him.

Thinking about it this way, Takahashi Shunichi suddenly realized that he might not be inferior to Kitahara Iwao in any way.

Even when a choice truly needs to be made in this era, it is the person sitting in front of the camera who is more likely to influence reality.

He even began to feel that he wasn't being used as a shield by the bank.

I was the one saving the day.

They were the ones pushed out to restore order after a group of writers, critics, and timid ordinary people had disrupted the market.

This feeling is so addictive.

In particular, he discovered that every time he spoke of "rationality" on television, clients would walk back into the real estate company's reception room the next day.

Every time I mention "long-term value of prime locations" in a magazine, I get new loan applications from the branch office.

These numbers warmed his heart.

Shunichi Takahashi became increasingly convinced that he had stood on the opposite side of Kitahara Iwa.

And this time, I'm not alone.

Behind him are bank headquarters, real estate companies, financial programs, and people who still refuse to admit that the bubble is bursting.

The humiliation of that night at "Ginrin-sou" in Roppongi was also brought up again in this kind of praise.

Kitahara Iwa's earlier statement, "I won't make it to Christmas," was like a fine needle, always pricking his heart.

At the time, he was able to salvage the situation with his professional rhetoric, but Takahashi Shunichi never forgot the feeling of being seen through in public.

Now is the chance.

He wanted to prove Kitahara Iwao wrong.

Of course, newspapers and television are not enough; one needs a real victory that happens in reality.

So, Takahashi Shunichi started by proposing a new plan.

The plan was given a very ordinary name in internal documents: "Real Estate Portfolio Optimization Loan".

But he secretly gave it a better-sounding name.

The baton.

This name is ingenious.

It doesn't sound like debt; it sounds more like an opportunity.

It's not like a leverage bar, but more like a victory that is passed on from one another to the next.

Its logic is not complicated.

The client first uses their existing real estate as collateral to borrow the first sum of money from Sumitomo Bank to purchase new real estate.

Subsequently, using this newly purchased property, a second round of financing was obtained through a housing agency to purchase the next property.

If the client is bold enough, the third property can be mortgaged again to access another housing loan company or related financing channel.

Every house is a stepping stone to the next.

Every loan becomes the gateway to the next loan.

On paper, this is an investment plan that efficiently utilizes assets, expands the real estate portfolio, and locks in the value of prime locations in advance.

Shunichi Takahashi spoke very eloquently to his clients.

"You're not simply buying a house."

"You are revitalizing existing assets."

"The problem for many families now is that they only own one property and don't let it participate in the benefits of the times."

He always spoke in a very steady tone when he said this.

Several charts are spread out beside me; the blue line represents rising housing prices, and the red line represents loan costs.

The part he circled in the middle with a pencil is what he calls "potential for asset appreciation".

The customer couldn't understand those complicated structures.

They could only understand the estimated earnings in the last column.

Net assets double after three years, part of the loan is paid off ahead of schedule after five years, and a stable rental cash flow is formed after ten years.

These words, falling onto the paper, resemble rows of neatly arranged sugar coatings.

As for the real danger of this structure, Shunichi Takahashi was certainly aware of it.

It is entirely dependent on the continued rise in housing prices.

As long as housing prices rise fast enough, the subsequent mortgage valuation can cover the loan pressure from the previous mortgage.

But if housing prices stop rising, the whole chain will be stuck.

The appreciation of the first home cannot support the mortgage of the second home, and the loan for the second home will in turn put pressure on the family's cash flow.

At that point, the so-called baton will become a series of nooses around the necks of the customers.

But Shunichi Takahashi didn't want to think about these things.

Or rather, he has gotten used to putting these risks in a different way.

"Short-term pressure, liquidity management, and normal fluctuations during asset allocation."

"As long as real estate in prime locations continues to appreciate in value over time, the current burdens can be absorbed by time."

The more Shunichi Takahashi said, the more he believed it.

More importantly, this product is perfectly suited to the current market.

The middle-class families who were frightened by "The Collapsing Tower" felt fear, but were unwilling to give up their dream of getting rich.

They were afraid of becoming characters in a novel, and they were also afraid of missing the last bus.

Shunichi Takahashi is positioned precisely in the most precarious gaps of those middle-class families.

Tokyo's housing prices have been rising for so many years, and there are always people around me who have turned their lives around by buying a house.

I've heard countless stories at dinner parties about which family bought an extra apartment, or which family mortgaged their property to buy a new house in the port area.

Kitahara Iwao's novels frightened them.

Shunichi Takahashi's words made them feel that they still had a chance.

Therefore, when faced with customers who are holding loan documents and looking hesitant, Shunichi Takahashi will not rush to sell to them.

He will bring up "The Collapsed Tower" first to discuss.

"A lot of people are reading that book lately."

"I watched it too."

Customers often look up at this point.

Shunichi Takahashi would lower his voice and, with an expression that was somewhere between casual conversation and professional judgment, say, "Iwao Kitahara is my college classmate."

"So I know him better than many critics what kind of person he is."

The moment he said that, the customer's attention was completely focused on him.

Shunichi Takahashi really enjoyed this feeling.

He would pause for a moment, as if considering his words carefully, before speaking: "Kitahara is certainly talented; no one can deny that."

"But ever since his university days, he has always maintained a strong bystander attitude."

"He doesn't really get involved in finance, he doesn't handle corporate cash flow, and he doesn't sit in front of a bank counter to address clients' asset allocation questions."

"What he saw were the most tragic figures in the story."

What we see are the actual transactions that happen every day.

These few words are more effective than directly cursing Kitahara Iwa.

Because it doesn't sound like an attack, but more like a calm evaluation from an acquaintance to another acquaintance.

Then, Shunichi Takahashi would push the calculation sheet in front of the customer.

"To put it bluntly, 'The Collapsing Tower' is beautifully written, but it's literature."

"Literature needs impact, so it chooses the most extreme cases."

"Real families shouldn't give up the opportunity to live in real life just because a writer makes their story scary."

When he gets to this point, his tone becomes even softer.

"Kitahara is now a literary giant."

Even if he makes a wrong judgment, he won't take responsibility for the loss you've missed.

"When Tokyo's housing prices recover in a few years, the only ones who will truly regret it are yourselves."

"9

This statement often strikes at a customer's most hidden fears.

They fear debt, and they also fear missing out.

I'm afraid of becoming like the character in the novel who gets dragged down by loans, and I'm even more afraid that people around me will turn their lives around with real estate in a few years, while I'm still renting. I'll hold that book, "The Collapsing Tower," to prove how cautious I was back then.

Shunichi Takahashi exploited this fear.

He makes clients feel that Kitahara Iwa's warnings are too far away, while his own solutions are right in front of them.

As a result, some families who had originally decided to wait and see returned to the reception room.

For the remainder of December, Shunichi Takahashi's sales began to skyrocket.

New loan applications are sent to the Market Response Office every day.

The cooperation between branch stores, residential properties, and real estate companies is becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Customer information, valuation reports, guarantee documents, and second mortgage plans flowed exceptionally smoothly between departments.

As the headquarters executives looked at the recovering business data, their attitude towards Shunichi Takahashi became increasingly friendly.

Someone specifically praised him at the meeting.

Some say the market strategy office has found the right direction.

Some people even patted him on the shoulder privately and said with a smile, "Takahashi-kun, you've been a great help this time."

These words completely fueled the fire in Takahashi Shunichi's heart.

He began to frequent television stations more often.

His tone during the interview became increasingly confident.

At first, he would say that Kitahara Iwa was an excellent writer, but he just didn't understand finance well enough.

Later, his words became increasingly sharp.

"Kitahara Iwao is certainly a great storyteller."

"But someone who has lived in the study and publishing industry for a long time may not truly understand the asset anxiety of ordinary families."

"He frightens readers with extreme tragedy, and then packages that fear as a prophecy of the times."

"In my opinion, this is unfair to many families who are trying to improve their lives."

This sentence was quoted by several financial magazines.

The title is even harsher than his original words.

Is Kitahara Iwao creating middle-class panic?

The pessimism of literary giants is harming the wealth opportunities of ordinary families.

Shunichi Takahashi: Don't Let Novels Decide Your Life's Assets

When Shunichi Takahashi saw these headlines, he did not correct them.

On the contrary, he felt an indescribable sense of pleasure.

Because these words are no longer just a rebuttal to "The Collapsing Tower".

They started biting Kitahara Iwa himself in return.

This is exactly what he wanted.

He wanted everyone to know that Kitahara Iwa wasn't always right.

Even a literary giant who is lauded by awards, the media, and readers can misjudge the times and use his novels to scare ordinary people away from opportunities.

As for himself, Shunichi Takahashi, he was the one standing on the front line of real-world trading.

Late at night, Shunichi Takahashi sat alone in his office, reviewing the monthly loan reports.

The string of numbers was so beautiful that he could hardly bear to look away.

This month, the total amount of loans he facilitated has already exceeded the cumulative total of the past three years.

Shunichi Takahashi tapped his fingertips lightly on the edge of the report, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Did you see that, Kitahara?"

Shunichi Takahashi's voice was low, but it carried an uncontrollable sense of pleasure.

"So what if you write something terrifying?"

He looked down at the rows of loan amounts, as if he were witnessing a victory that was already in his grasp.

"Collapse? Bankruptcy? Abyss?"

He chuckled and continued, "Readers will still come back to sign your book after they've finished reading it."

"They are afraid, but they are even more afraid of missing the opportunity."

"This is reality."

Then, Shunichi Takahashi picked up the report, leaned back in his chair, and a burning excitement rose in his eyes.

This is no longer just about performance.

This is proof!

This proves that Kitahara Iwao's novels cannot suppress the market.

This proves that those so-called collapses, bankruptcies, and abysses are merely literary exaggerations.

This also proves that he is no longer just "Kitahara Iwa's college classmate".

He managed to stand opposite Kitahara Iwa by relying on the microphones handed to him by banks, real estate companies, and financial media.

And this time, standing behind him were no longer a group of classmates, nor a few customers.

It's the entire financial system.

At this moment, Shunichi Takahashi's voice became even softer.

"You have readers, I have customers."

"You have Shincho-sha, I have Sumitomo Bank."

"If you write a novel that scares them, I'll make them put their names back on."

At this moment, in Takahashi Shun's eyes, those middle-class families who had returned to the signing table were no longer specific individuals.

They are loan amounts, figures from financial statements.

It was his bargaining chip to prove himself and retaliate against Kitahara Iwao.

Then, Shunichi Takahashi slowly closed the report, pressing his fingertip on the cover.

"Just you wait, Kitahara."

Takahashi Shunichi looked out the window at Tokyo and said with an unrealistic certainty, "You'll understand soon enough."

"This era does not move forward on the basis of novelists' pessimism."

"It is people like us who lend money out and support the market."

He paused for a moment, then his smile spread wide.

"I really want to see your expression then."

>