Living in the bubble economy of Tokyo, I became a literary giant through lotteries.

Guan Gufeng handed a special edition of "Sword Art Online" to Sachiko Kamachi across from him.

The plastic wrap has been removed, and there is a line of text on the title page.

"To my first book fan. —Guan Gu Shenqi"

"This is the first Sword Art Online book on the market with my autograph," he paused, "and of course, it will be the last."

"There will be no signed copies of the first volume after this one."

Sachiko Kamachi took the book and looked down at the line of text on the title page.

"Thanks."

She carefully put the book into her bag, looked up, and saw Guan Gufeng grilling meat across from her.

Her feelings suddenly became complicated as she recalled the first time she met him a month ago.

At that time, he was pale and exhausted from malnutrition. He sat behind the counter with a sheet of manuscript paper in front of him, and his pen scratched on the paper.

He ate rice balls and oden that were about to expire from the shop, but whenever he talked about novels, his eyes would light up with a light called "dream".

And now...

Sachiko Kamachi gazed at his face.

The improvement in his life allowed him to shed his youthful appearance, his face regained its color, and a youthful spirit appeared between his brows.

Slender but not weak, quiet but not dull.

They seem to be just as good as the idols meticulously crafted by talent agencies.

He gained fame with his book and embarked on his own path.

Meanwhile, she was still struggling in the quagmire of the firm.

"What are you thinking about?"

Guan Gufeng placed a piece of grilled beef tongue on her plate and waved it in front of her.

Sachiko Kamachi snapped out of her daze, her face flushing red, but thankfully the warm yellow light in the room made it less noticeable.

"It's nothing." She picked up a piece of beef tongue, took a bite, and narrowed her eyes slightly. "The cooking time was perfect."

"Eat more if you like."

She swallowed, looked at Guan Gufeng, and said earnestly, "Seeing how hard you're working, I need to keep trying too."

"Really?" Guan Gufeng scratched his head.

"Mr. Sekiya," Sachiko Kamachi smiled, "being overly modest isn't good, you know."

She glanced at the Wagyu beef on the grill and continued, "If I hadn't called to congratulate you, you probably would have forgotten that today is the book's release date."

Guan Gufeng was somewhat embarrassed.

He has been worried ever since he signed the contract with Nintendo.

What if the initial print run of 30,000 copies doesn't sell out?

He called Akutagawa Kurokawa to ask how many books were still unprinted.

When he learned that there were still 10,000 copies left, he gritted his teeth and, in between drawing character illustrations for Nintendo, worked on many more color comic pages and sent them over.

"Let's make the remaining 10,000 copies into a special edition. Add a few pages of color comics at the beginning."

Kurokawa Akuta readily agreed, since it wouldn't cost much anyway.

In addition, he is finishing the second volume of Sword Art Online and writing The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon and Sea of ​​Shadows.

He did indeed write books at home until he lost track of what the world was like.

"Okay." Guan Gufeng shrugged and changed the subject, "How's your practice going?"

Sachiko Kamachi's smile faded slightly.

"It's still the same. I still need to work on learning and imitating singing styles that I don't like."

She clenched her fist as if to encourage herself.

Guan Gufeng looked at her without saying a word; her talent only needed an opportunity to be displayed.

His electric guitar is still gathering dust in the system space; he needs to find an opportunity to help her out.

After finishing their meal, the two walked out of the barbecue restaurant. The night breeze in Shinjuku carried the scent of early spring, which invigorated them.

"Want to go for a walk?" Guan Gufeng asked.

"OK."

He led her for a few minutes until they reached the small park downstairs from his apartment building.

Guan Gufeng walked to his usual bench and sat down. Pu Chixingzi sat down next to him and looked around curiously.

"Where's the 'surprise' you mentioned?"

Guan Gufeng took out a plastic bag from his bag, which contained a few slices of roasted meat, and then shouted towards the bushes.

"Little Flower, come here."

A few seconds later, a calico cat peeked out from behind the bushes, its eyes filled with a look of "it's you again."

Mi didn't want to talk to him, but she couldn't help it; the meat in his hand smelled so good that Mi really wanted to eat it.

Xiao Hua strolled over slowly, stopped at Guan Gu Feng's feet, and looked up at him.

Guan Gufeng handed over a piece of meat, and Xiaohua licked her lips after eating it.

Mimi still wants to eat.

Guan Gufeng took out the second piece of meat.

"Little Flower, do a backflip."

Xiao Hua glanced at Guan Gu Feng.

You think I'm a really easy-going cat, right?

Trying to test a cat with this? Which cat can't withstand such a test!

Until Guan Gufeng took out the third piece of roasted meat.

"Whoosh."

The calico cat performed a clean and neat backflip, landed steadily, then jumped onto Guan Gufeng's lap and buried its head in its food.

Really fragrant.

Sachiko Kamachi's eyes sparkled.

"Can I touch it?" she asked softly.

"Of course, Xiaohua has a very good temper."

Sachiko Kamachi stretched out her hand, and Hana looked up at the hand, then shifted her bottom and moved to the other side of Kazeko Sekiya's leg.

Sachiko Kamachi's hand hung in mid-air, her face filled with disappointment.

Guan Gufeng smiled and gave her a piece of meat.

"Take this."

Sachiko Kamachi took the meat and carefully handed it over. Hana sniffed it and finally allowed her to touch it a couple of times.

Then, with the meat in his mouth, he jumped off Guan Gufeng's lap and disappeared into the bushes without looking back.

"That's wonderful." Sachiko Kamachi leaned back in her chair, looking up at the sky. "Thank you for the surprise."

During this period, she worked during the day and practiced at the firm at night, and was exhausted when she got home.

When Guan Gufeng worked at the convenience store, she could read his latest novel every day, which was a rare break for her.

She hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time since she moved last time.

"That's not all."

Guan Gufeng took two manuscripts out of his bag and handed them to her.

"Sword Art Online Volume 2, and the first volume of my new book, The Twelve Kingdoms."

Sachiko Kamachi took the manuscript, paused for a moment, and quickly asked, "If you give me the original manuscript, what will the editorial department do?"

"I have copies." Guan Gufeng looked into her eyes. "I told you, you were my first fan."

"Whether in the past or now, you will always be the number one fan of any book I write."

Sachiko Kamachi's face immediately turned red to her ears, which glowed pink under the streetlights.

She lowered her head, her voice slightly stammering.

"The weather is really nice tonight."

Guan Gufeng looked up at the sky. The moon was completely covered by clouds, and not a single star could be seen. He smiled and spoke.

"Yes, the moonlight is beautiful."

Suddenly, everything became quiet. The wind blew between the two of them, carrying the fragrant scent of spring earth.

They sat there on the bench, neither of them willing to stand up first.

The atmosphere gradually became ambiguous...

At the same time, in the sales department of the Shinchosha building.

The fluorescent lights illuminated the entire office brightly, and the air was filled with the smells of cigarettes and canned coffee; everyone was working overtime.

The landline phone rang incessantly, like thunderclaps stimulating everyone's nerves and adding to the anxiety.

"Jimbocho Iwanami Shoten, a bookstore specializing in literature, is asking for an additional 5,000 copies? Don't they only sell pure literature?"

"Several bookstores in Shibuya are jointly demanding an additional 10,000 yen? What are they thinking! We don't even have a single copy left in our warehouse. Just register them and we'll talk again when the extra print run is ready. Don't believe me? Let them call the printing plant themselves!"

"No? Who are you talking about? Animate? Why are those manga sellers crowding around? If they want books, they should contact Shueisha!"

The phone calls kept coming in like this from the afternoon onwards.

The sales staff responsible for liaising with bookstores are not usually very busy, and occasionally there are new books published by established or popular authors.

They'd only be busy for a short while, but they'd never seen anything like this before.

At first, they replied politely, and were even a little gratified: after so many years and so many newcomers in the company, they finally published a book that could sell.

Now, the suit jacket is casually tossed on the back of the chair, the tie is ripped off and thrown on the table, and two buttons on the shirt are undone.

With his neck tilted to the side, he held the receiver between his shoulder and fingers, his hands flying across the order form, scribbling numbers. A pile of scrap paper lay on the floor, untouched by anyone.

Yuto Akiyama practically ran into Akutagawa's office, carrying a stack of reports.

"Edited by Kurokawa! The first print run of 30,000 copies sold out yesterday!"

"The phone at all the bookstores has been ringing off the hook all day, with people asking when the reprinted books will arrive. Young people are practically bursting at the seams."

"Several printing factory managers also called to ask how much more they wanted to print."

Kurokawa Akuta was not blinded by the enthusiasm for the bestseller. In front of him was a table, a plan that he and editor-in-chief Sakamoto had discussed in advance.

"Have them prepare 100,000 copies, and print 70,000 copies first."

"Seven...seventy thousand copies?"

"What, you think it's not enough?"

"No." Yuto Akiyama swallowed hard. "This is already the print run for a well-known author..."

He shook the second volume of Sword Art Online in his hand, and when Yuto Akiyama saw it, his pupils shrank.

"This... does this mean that Mr. Guan Gu has already finished writing the second volume?"

"That's right." Kurokawa Akuta said in a light tone, "So, have them prepare the raw materials."

"Tell them to print books for me day and night, from this moment forward!"