I won't be a loser.

"Is the plot in it something you have actually experienced?"

"No, not really. I just encountered some scenes similar to those in the book on the street, and combined with the rumors I heard at school, I came up with the idea for this work and created it. Any questions?"

Facing the confused boy, Mari Kazeoka slowly shook her head. She didn't have any problems with the work, but was a little confused about the boy sitting opposite her.

I originally thought that talented young people were rare, but I never thought that I would actually meet such a one.

"No problem. From this manuscript, I can see the difficulties you went through when creating this work... Well, the content of this work is very outstanding."

"Thank you. So, what about the publication?"

"Publishing isn't a big problem. It just takes some time. I need to discuss it with the editor-in-chief of the publishing house and some other people. I can't give you an answer right away."

"I understand."

It was impossible for the other party to make a decision immediately. The answer of Miss Fuuka was completely within Xianren's expectations. He was not surprised at all and just sat there quietly. Her calm reaction surprised Mari Fuuka.

"that........"

"Ok?"

Looking at the calm young man named Miyamizu, Mari Fukaoka felt that her behavior was a little different from usual. She calmed down her surprise and asked a question that concerned her more.

"I have a question that I'm quite concerned about. Of course, it doesn't require an answer, but I'm just curious. Why don't you submit a work like this to other publishers? Large publishers like Kodansha and Shueisha would surely be happy to accept your work. Why did you choose us, Kaiyingsha?"

It was almost a routine question when facing newcomers. Xianren seemed to have heard someone ask him this question somewhere before. He thought about it and gave his answer.

"Maybe they just happened to have your business card?"

"business card?"

"Qingpu Mai is my neighbor. When she found out about my creation, she gave me Ms. Fuuka's business card. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this before."

"Is that so, Miss Qingpu? Never mind. In fact, it actually helped me a lot. I understand. Then, I'll go make a copy of the manuscript. Please wait a moment."

Xianren nodded and watched Mari Fukaoka stand up, leave the meeting room, and sit in the conference room waiting quietly.

About twenty minutes later, Mari Fukazaki appeared in the meeting room again. She returned the manuscript to Xianren and told him that she would give a reply as soon as possible.

"I will discuss Miyamizu-kun's work with the editor-in-chief immediately. Please be patient. I believe the editor-in-chief will also approve of such an excellent work."

"I understand. Then I'll take my leave."

The two men stood up, bowed to each other politely, and left the meeting room. Xianren left Kaiyingshe and went to the nearby commercial street alone. He found an izakaya at random, sat down, and ordered some dishes.

He started at noon and continued until the afternoon, a period of nearly three hours, without eating anything and only drinking a glass of water. He was already extremely hungry.

There were not many people in the store, and he was the only customer.

After simply filling his stomach, the wise man paid the bill and returned to his apartment.

Xianren, who also felt a little tired, came to Qingura's house. Looking at Setsuna who was with Saionji Sekai, he didn't worry too much. He came directly to Setsuna, hugged Setsuna in his arms, and then sat down.

"What happened?"

The moment she was hugged by Xianren, she raised her head and looked at him with some confusion.

"No, nothing's wrong. I'm just a little tired. Well, I can't say it's nothing."

He subconsciously answered that it was nothing. After a moment, he recalled what he had done today and felt that it was not nothing.

It’s just that I just had a brief chat with the other party today, and the publishing matter has not been finalized yet, so it seems there is no need to tell Setsuna and the World?

"However, it hasn't been confirmed yet. I'll tell you when it's confirmed."

Curiosity suddenly arose in her heart. Saionji Sekai looked at Xianren in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about. She looked at Setsuna, but saw a thoughtful expression on Setsuna's face. It seemed that he knew what was going on, and she became a little concerned in her heart.

"whats the matter?"

"Well, I almost finished writing the book some time ago, and I've been thinking about how to publish it recently."

"Published? Writer?"

"You can only be considered a writer after you publish. You are not a writer now."

After answering Saionji Sekai, Xianren sat on the sofa and his legs couldn't help but move. The moment he sat on his legs, his body also moved up and down. Xianren couldn't help but look away and glanced at Saionji Sekai beside him.

Saionji Sekai, who was still attracted by the words "publishing" and "writer" and did not notice the look in Kento's eyes, had already begun to think about what would happen if Kento became a writer.

“Will there be an interview?”

"Maybe there will be, maybe not. It depends on whether someone is willing to buy and read my book."

"What's your name?"

"It hasn't been decided yet. Although I have thought of a name, I will have to discuss it with the publisher when the time comes to finalize it."

"Can't you be sure for yourself?"

"It depends on the publisher's opinion. Once the publication is confirmed, it is closely related to the publisher. It is impossible for them not to interfere. The treatment of newcomers, especially those without any awards, is not much better."

"That's it."

An expression of realization appeared on Saionji Sekai's face. She didn't know much about this aspect and thought that whatever the writer said was the truth. She didn't expect that there were so many tricks in it.

Setsuna, who was also somewhat curious about this, had all the questions he wanted to ask answered by Saionji Sekai. He quietly sat on Kento's lap, thinking about how many copies he should buy to support Kento's book once it was successfully published...

When I left Qingpu's house at night and was walking on the road, the cell phone in my pocket suddenly buzzed.

I picked it up and took a look, and found that it was a call from Mari Fukaoka.

"Miyamizu-kun?"

"Ms. Fuuka, is there anything I can help you with?"

"I'm sorry to call you at this time. Do you have time now? Is it convenient for us to talk about something?"

"Of course. Is it about the work?"

Mari Fukaoka, who was still sitting in her office, slowly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Xianren's answer, and took a sip of the coffee in front of her.

"Well, since it's a fairly mature work, the editor-in-chief, after reviewing it, felt there were no problems and no particular areas that needed revision. Let me talk to you about the contract. Are you free tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"

"I have time tomorrow, the day after tomorrow..."

"By the way, you're still a student and have to go to school the day after tomorrow. So why don't you come to the publishing house tomorrow afternoon? I'll prepare the contract tonight and come back tomorrow to confirm it."

"I understand."

"Well, that's it. I won't disturb your rest."

"Ah."

After hanging up the phone, Xianren couldn't help but smile when he heard the news of his publication from Mari Fukaoka. He silently put his phone into his pocket, pursed his lips, chuckled, and returned to his apartment.

Lying down in his bed to rest at night, the wise man had a rare good dream.

Early in the morning, I woke up with refreshed eyes, looked at the drawn gauze curtains, got up and sat on the edge of the bed, walked to my window, looked at the scenery outside the window, took a long breath, and walked silently towards the bathroom.

Just like usual, he washed up, prepared his breakfast, and sat in his room, not knowing what to do. Xianren still had things to deal with in the afternoon, so he just sat in the room for a while and went out early.

He came to the comic cafe where he had been twice before. He stood at the door and looked for a while, not knowing whether the girl was still there.

“In terms of time, it’s time to rest, but people don’t know if they’re still there.”

After standing at the door for a while, he walked into the store, paid but did not book a private room. He chose a secluded place in the hall, picked up two comic books, and began to read quietly.

By noon, the time was almost up. In the afternoon, I went directly to the publishing house, agreed on the specific content, and then went home to rest and wait for the publication news.

"No, there will be many things to negotiate at that time."

Looking at the comics related to the comics industry in his hand, Xianren couldn't help but associate some of the plots with his own publishing business, and he closed his eyes and started thinking.

"Ah, um, Miyamizu-kun?"

The girl's voice rang in his ears. The wise man who was thinking about the problem slowly opened his eyes and saw the girl who appeared in front of him.

Mito Evening Song.

The girl he used as a prototype and gave him inspiration for his creations.

"Yes, Mito, that's right?"

"Just call me Xige. I didn't expect to meet Miyamizu-kun here."

The wise man was a little surprised to see the girl again. He just wanted to try his luck, but he didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that he met this girl.

He casually closed the comic book in his hand and looked at the girl with a slight smile on his face.

"I was a little surprised too, but I just wanted to try my luck. I didn't expect to see you again."

"Find me?"

"Because I don't know anything about you, and I don't know when I'll run into you again. So, judging from your appearance, did you not get a good rest last night?"

The girl had thick dark circles under her eyes, which made Xianren a little concerned.

"Because of the night shift, my original job didn't pay enough, so I took on a few more part-time jobs. I had considered using my body... but when I first met Miyamizu-kun, I gave up."

The girl with long hair came to the side of the wise man.

"Can I sit here?"

"of course."

Seeing that the wise man had no objection, the girl smiled and sat down next to him.

The moment she sat down next to Kento, Mito Yuge felt that she had become much more relaxed. She moved closer to him, while still maintaining a certain distance.

"Is today a holiday too?"

"Well, I came out to relax by myself. I have nothing to do for now, so I came here to take a look and kill some time."

"comics."

"I didn't know what to read, so I just randomly pulled two books off the shelf. Have you read them?"

"No, I don't usually have time to read comics. I only read shojo comics occasionally."

Mito Yuge looked at the comic book placed in front of Kento. She felt a little familiar with it, as if she had seen it before, but she had never taken it down to read.

"It's a comic about comics, and the content is quite professional. If you're interested in the comics industry, you might want to take a look."

"Miyamizu-kun, are you interested in the comics industry?"

Mito Yuge was a little surprised to hear Kento's answer. She looked at Kento and thought that Kento had some expectations for the comics industry.

"Comics? No, although I have some basic knowledge, I don't have any talent in this area. So, I don't think there's much hope of becoming a cartoonist or working in the comics industry. Right now... well, I'm still a student, so the future depends on my future development."

"In the future?"

For the former Mito Yuge, perhaps the future could be looked forward to, but for her now, it seems that only the present is left, and the future has become a luxury desire.

When she was still in elementary and middle school, she didn't understand why so many people didn't pursue their own dreams, and why there were so many realistic and numb people around her...

It was not until his family circumstances changed and his parents chose to commit suicide due to pressure, and he was struggling to survive alone in this world, that he realized that nothing is smooth sailing and everything is not as simple and perfect as he imagined.

Under various pressures, even thinking about the future has become a luxury. She herself knows very well that her body alone cannot sustain such a life.

but.......

"Will you be here often in the future?"

"Ok?"

Hearing the question from the wise man, Mito Yuge showed a confused expression on her face. She didn't know why the wise man suddenly asked this, but she still smiled and responded to him.

"I've always been here. There's no other place to go besides here, right?"

"I have some things I need to take care of recently. I think I can provide you with some help, but I don't know how to contact you."

"No. 106, my 'home'. If you need anything, you can knock on the door. If I'm there~"

"Ah."

Xianren wrote down her "home" number and talked to Mito Yuge about other things, starting with the comics here and some things at school, and no longer mentioned anything about life.

It was not until noon that Mito Yuge asked Xianren to order whatever he wanted and she would treat him.

Xianren, who was about to refuse, was silent for a moment after seeing Mito Yuge's smile. He smiled and ordered a curry, and sat down with the girl to have lunch. In the afternoon, because of the contract signing, he said goodbye to the girl and rushed to the publishing house of Kaiyingsha.

After giving him Mari Fukaoka's name, he was led back to the same meeting room as yesterday...

Mari Kazeoka.jpg

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Thanks to Mechanical Tooth for the tip! Boss, you're so generous! Stay healthy!!!!