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

April 15th, sunny.

The cherry blossoms in Tokyo are already starting to fade.

Today is the release date of the second volume of Sword Art Online. Unlike the surprise release of The Twelve Kingdoms, Kadokawa Shoten has gone all out this time.

Starting a week ago, the Yamanote Line train carriages were damaged, billboards on buildings at the Shibuya Crossing were damaged, and the most prominent posters were displayed in front of major bookstores.

And the latest issue of various manga magazines, including Weekly Shonen Jump, with its color pages.

GG language consists of only one line of text.

"This may be a game, but it's not something to be taken lightly."

The marketing department of Kadokawa Shoten unanimously agreed in a meeting that Mr. Guan Gu's name itself is the biggest brand, and adding anything else would be superfluous.

As it turned out, they were right.

On the day of release, people still lined up in front of the bookstore to buy the books, but to the readers' surprise, the books did not sell out on the same day.

Everyone in line managed to buy a copy.

"This is Professor Guan Gu's suggestion." Three days ago, at a sales meeting at Kadokawa Shoten, Guan Gu Feng said, "We can make a special edition or a limited edition for the first volume."

"But there's no need for a second volume. The word-of-mouth has already spread, and readers want to see the story, not the long queues."

"A story shouldn't be something readers have to fight over."

The veteran employees in the sales department looked at each other in bewilderment. They had worked in publishing their entire lives and had never seen an author voluntarily request that they not engage in scarcity marketing.

Haruki Kadokawa immediately made the decision: "Do as Mr. Sekiya says."

So everyone who lined up today bought a book, but that doesn't mean sales were lower than the first volume; quite the opposite.

The order hotlines at various bookstores continued to overwhelm the sales department of Kadokawa Shoten, and they experienced the same level of frenzy that Shinchosha and Bungei Shunju had gone through.

President's office.

Haruki Kadokawa leaned back in his armchair, grinning from ear to ear as he looked at the sales list that had just been handed to him.

The first print run was 200,000 copies, of which 150,000 were sold on the first day, and the remaining 50,000 copies were fiercely contested.

He's been drooling with envy lately, given the combined sales of the two volumes of "The Twelve Kingdoms"—nearly a million copies—and its immense popularity on social media.

If it weren't already scheduled for release on April 15th, he would have released it long ago when the hype was at its peak.

However, looking at the third volume of Sword Art Online, Fairy Dance, in his hand, he recalled his conversation with Guan Gu Feng a few days ago.

"Mr. Guan Gu, you've really helped me a lot," Haruki Kadokawa said cheerfully. "I'm currently struggling to find a suitable person to sing the theme song for my latest film."

"I didn't expect that Akina Nakamori from Ken-On would contact me first, saying she wanted to sing, and even offered a very low price."

The background noise on the other end of the phone was somewhat loud, like the bubbling sound of water boiling.

"Really? Congratulations, President." Guan Gufeng's voice sounded a little absent-minded.

"What are you doing, Mr. Sekiya?" Haruki Kadokawa couldn't help but ask.

"Make...cook." Guan Gufeng's voice paused, as if he were hitting something. "No, cook instant noodles."

"Can boiling instant noodles really make this much noise?"

"Two eggs were added."

"..."

Guan Gufeng's two eggs, one flying and one lying down.

"How about we grab a bite to eat?" Haruki Kadokawa steered the conversation back on track. "I've booked the best restaurant in Ginza."

"Hmm... I'll skip the rice. The instant noodles I cooked were really good. I even added two eggs today, so I can't waste them."

"..."

An invitation from the president of the prestigious Kadokawa Shoten, who controls a vast capital empire, was rejected by instant noodles and eggs.

Haruki Kadokawa thought he would be angry, but for some reason, he just found it very interesting.

This Guan Gufeng can speak eloquently to an audience across Japan on television, and he can hold his own in face-to-face negotiations with a row of high-level white-collar workers in his office.

But in private, he's just a young man who feels incredibly extravagant to cook instant noodles with two eggs.

Just as he was lost in thought, Guan Gufeng's voice rang out: "I'll be bringing the contents of Sword Art Online Volume 3 with me tomorrow. Will Editor-in-Chief Takahashi be there tomorrow?"

Kadokawa Haruki was taken aback, then quickly said, "I'll just have Takahashi come to my house. How could I trouble you to make the trip? You can just call Takahashi from now on."

"Okay, thank you, President."

His thoughts returned to what had happened a few days ago. Kadokawa Haruki looked at the book in his hand, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed the internal line to the editor-in-chief's office.

"Takahashi, notify the printing press to prepare the materials for Volume 3. Also, tell Mr. Sekiya that we will pay the highest royalty rate for the first print run."

He hung up the phone, got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, from which he could see the entire Chiyoda Ward complex, with the greenery of the Imperial Palace like a small piece of jade embedded in the center of the gray city.

Regardless of how Guan Gufeng's next book turns out, at least for now, his works seem to be getting better with each one.

As a businessman, he knew this very well.

A steady, continuous flow is far better than a fleeting moment of glory.

Meanwhile, in Shinjuku, at Ishibashi Musical Instruments.

Guan Gufeng, wearing sunglasses and a mask, stood at the entrance of that familiar music store.

With a thought, the system panel appeared before my eyes.

Current equipment slots: 1 (Expansion progress: 5/10)

【Equipped Items: None】

[Warehouse: Electric Guitar]

Current number of draws: 5 (refreshes weekly, can be accumulated)

[Permanent entries (Literature) (Anime) (Business)]

Thirty-five days—it took him a full thirty-five days to accumulate enough chances for this environmental lottery.

A few days ago, he was thinking that since the environmental lottery was drawn in the real world, it should be done in a feng shui auspicious place; he couldn't possibly draw it at home.

If they pull out the plush mouse covered in drool, then we're doomed.

A while ago, he tricked... no, he invited Sachiko Kamachi to his house to play, saying that Shiro could also do backflips.

After Sachiko Kamachi arrived, they started talking about music. Kaze returned the lyric book that Sakura had given him, and after briefly discussing the lyrics, the topic shifted to composing.

She said that although the agency supports individual creative work, the contract level is low and there are no composer resources for her. She can only find people with average skills, and the results are very poor.

She herself only knows a little about playing the guitar.

He knows a little piano and can also play electric guitar, but these skills alone are not enough for arranging music.

That's why Guan Gufeng came back here, hoping to try his luck in the lottery and win something else related to music.

Today, Kitamura parked his car on the side of the road, and Sekiya Kaze walked alone into Ishibashi Gakko and pushed open that familiar glass door.

The wind chimes rang overhead, and the shop remained the same as always, with a mixture of wood and metal smells.

Naoki Matsumoto, who was arranging a row of secondhand guitars with his back to him, heard the wind chimes and, without turning his head, said, "Welcome! How can I help you?"

"Matsumoto, it's been a long time."