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

"Editor Akiyama, how many times have I told you, you must use your job title when you're at work."

Hiroki Goto put down his pen and looked at the young man who had barged in without even knocking. He felt a headache coming on.

Akiyama is 27 years old and has been with the company for four years. His messy hair is never combed properly, and his tie is crooked, probably tied while walking to catch the train.

As the editor-in-chief, in addition to liaising with his own cartoonists, he also has to manage the affairs of a bunch of editors under him every day.

His desk is always piled with three things: manuscripts awaiting review, phone notes that haven't been answered yet, and coffee refills for his assistant every morning.

Akiyama was the editor he worried about the most. He was hardworking, had a unique perspective, and produced many excellent works. He was the most outstanding among the candidates for deputy editor-in-chief.

The problem is his personality.

He's very easygoing; during meetings, while others are still organizing their thoughts, he's already raising his hand above his head.

When calling a cartoonist to urge them to finish a draft, you can use a coquettish tone to say, "Teacher, if you keep dragging this out, the next issue will only have blank pages." You won't get angry even if the other person yells back over the phone.

Hiroki Goto really liked this junior colleague, and the two of them would often go to Shinbashi for a drink in private.

But in the office, he still had to give him some training. He wanted Akiyama to learn how to protect himself in the workplace before he was promoted.

"Goto-senpai... Editor-in-Chief!" Akiyama noticed the strange look in his eyes and immediately changed his address.

"I've received a short story by a new author, which is going to be submitted for this year's Tezuka Prize. It's absolutely fantastic! I haven't read such a complete story in years..."

"The submission deadline is almost a month ago."

Hiroki Goto interrupted him, screwed the pen cap on, and leaned back in his chair.

The expression on his face changed from helplessness to seriousness.

"It's the end of April now, so even if he draws it perfectly, we'll have to wait until next time."

"But the contributor is Guan Gu Shenqi!"

Even if Guan Gu pulls off a miracle, he'll have to wait for the next one!

Hiroki Goto picked up his coffee cup without even lifting his eyelids.

"But this is a submission from Studio Ghibli," Akiyama said excitedly. "It also has a letter of recommendation from Miyazaki-sensei."

"Studio Ghibli?" Hiroki Goto looked puzzled, his brows furrowing slightly. "I remember receiving several of their submissions. Also, I don't recall Miyazaki-sensei writing a letter of recommendation."

"Wait!" Hiroki Goto's expression changed. "What did you just say?"

Akiyama was startled. "A letter of recommendation from Miyazaki-sensei."

"The sentence preceding the letter of recommendation."

Studio Ghibli.

"That's not it! Say it again, whose submission was it?"

"Guan Gu's amazing submission."

"Which Guan Gu is magical?" Goto Hiroki's expression turned sour.

"Well..." Akiyama carefully began, "the author of Sword Art Online and The Twelve Kingdoms, is Guan Gu Shenqi."

Hiroki Goto froze.

The man who stirred up the entire publishing industry, the consecutive sales figures of Shinchosha and Bungei Shunju, and the unprecedented color page in Weekly Shonen Jump that was a bust.

Shueisha also received hundreds of letters from readers asking if Sekiya-sensei could draw manga.

Hiroki Goto suddenly emerged from behind the desk, snatched the envelope from Masaru Akiyama's hand, and quickly opened it. The first thing he saw was a beautifully colored page.

Hiroki Goto stared at the color page for several seconds before turning to the next page, "Spirited Away".

He quickly flipped through a few pages; his years of experience made him extremely fast at reviewing manuscripts.

Even without watching the whole thing, just looking at the art style and the simple plot, you can tell that this is far beyond what a newcomer could draw. He even suspects that it was drawn by Hayao Miyazaki himself.

He quickly skimmed through it and saw the final letter of recommendation, which was really just one sentence.

"Editor-in-Chief Goto, this kid is a genius. He even has two long novels in hand, but he plans to serialize his seinen manga with Kodansha. Whether you can keep him depends on your efforts. — Hayao Miyazaki"

After reading it, Hiroki Goto put the manuscript back into the envelope, much more gently than when he had opened the seal earlier.

He placed the envelope on the table, weighed it down with a paperweight, turned around, and looked at Akiyama Masashi beside him.

"Contact Mr. Sekiya immediately." He took a deep breath. "No, I'll contact him personally. I want to talk to Mr. Sekiya in person. We must keep Mr. Sekiya in our Shueisha!"

Watching Goto Hiroki excitedly gesturing wildly, Akiyama Masayuki awkwardly touched the back of his neck; he seemed to have forgotten to mention something.

"Editor-in-Chief Goto".

"Um?"

"Actually," Akiyama said, taking a half-step back after lowering his hand from the back of his neck, having found an escape route.

"Mr. Guan Gu came with the manuscript submission, and he's in the lounge right now."

The air fell into an eerie silence for a moment.

Hiroki Goto slowly turned his head and looked at Masashi Akiyama.

"Editor Akiyama."

"exist."

"If you don't finish what you're saying next time," Hiroki Goto picked up the paperweight on the table, hesitated for a moment, and put it back, "I'll strangle you."

……

The lounge was quiet.

He propped his head up with his right hand, flipped through the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Volume 3, Star Crusaders, with a bottle of soda he had brought himself beside him.

It must be said that the quality of the comics at this headquarters is much better than the ones he bought at the bookstore.

Just as we were watching Jotaro Kujo shoot himself in the head in prison, which terrified Star Platinum so much that her shooting range was reduced to C from then on, the door was pushed open.

Guan Gu Feng looked up and saw that the first person to enter was Akiyama Masashi, followed by a middle-aged man in a dark gray suit with a neatly tied tie.

Akiyama stepped aside to let him pass. When the middle-aged editor saw Guan Gufeng, he was taken aback at first, then he quickly walked over and extended his hand.

"Teacher Sekiya, it's an honor to meet you. I'm Hiroki Goto."

Guan Gufeng stood up and took the hand that was being offered to him.

"Hello, Editor-in-Chief Goto." Guan Gufeng bowed slightly.

The two sat down, and Hiroki Goto placed the original manuscript of "Spirited Away" on the coffee table, leaned forward slightly, and got straight to the point.

"Mr. Guan Gu, I've read your short story. It's very well drawn. Don't worry, Editor Qiushan has already used his editorial authority to help you skip the preliminary review and go straight to the final review."

He paused, a smile spreading across his face: "At least at the 'prospective selection' level. I don't often say that to newcomers."

"So, let's talk about your long-running series."

Guan Gufeng was taken aback. He had only come here to confirm whether his short story could be included in the Tezuka Award judging process, but he didn't expect there to be other things.

Before he could even speak, Hiroki Goto had already steered the conversation to a level he wasn't fully prepared for.

"Is Shueisha sure they want to collect the subject matter I'm drawing?" Guan Gufeng asked, somewhat puzzled. "It's a seinen comedy manga."

Hiroki Goto smiled, not a professional smile, but a smile of genuine amusement.

"Mr. Sekiya, our Shueisha is not just about Weekly Shonen Jump."

Guan Gufeng looked at him.

"We also have 'Weekly Young Jump,' which is no worse than 'Weekly Young Magazine.'"