I won't be a loser.

"When we get to the book signing event, you two can interact more. Writers from the same publishing house can communicate more."

There was no response. The two of them sat in silence in the car, which made Machida Sonoko cover her forehead and sigh. Her eyes fell on Xianren, looking at him expectantly.

But at this time, Xianren glanced at Machida Sonoko and turned his head to look at the car window.

Helplessly, she looked at Kasumigaoka Utaha. Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had a bad personality, did not react at all when facing the gaze of Machida Sonoko. The bad reactions of the two people gave Machida Sonoko a headache for a while. She had originally planned to use scandal marketing, but now it seems that it will probably be marketing of negative news.

When we arrived at the book signing event, there were quite a few readers waiting. For example, fans of Kasumigaoka Utaha had already lined up in a long queue. As for Kento, since he was a newcomer and his work had only been on sale for a short time, there weren't many people, only about ten or so.

Compared to the long line of Utaha Kasumigaoka, there were really few people in the line. There were even some people who wanted to leave, but after a while, they walked near the line and wandered around, pretending to be ordinary bookstore customers.

Impressive.

When Kasumigaoka Utaha saw this scene, she crossed her arms and looked sideways at Xianren. Xianren's expression seemed very calm. He did not seem dissatisfied with the situation. Rather, he was very satisfied with it.

He only needs his works to sell well. Meeting a large number of fans at book signings is not what he expects. If he signs every book, his hands will get tired from seeing so many people.

Looking at the calm face of the wise man, Kasumigaoka Utaha couldn't help but frowned, not knowing what she was thinking for a moment. The two of them followed Machida Sonoko to the scene of the book signing event. Machida Sonoko came on stage first and introduced them to the readers who came to the book signing event, and then invited the two of them to the stage.

"Regarding the content and plot of the new volume, I wonder if Ms. Kasumi Shiko has anything to say to the readers?"

"The emotional entanglement between Makoto and Naoto caused Sayuka's heart to waver, and the relationship between the two..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was very eloquent and had a clear understanding of the content and plot of her work, faced her many readers at this time with a natural expression. What she said made some readers very moved, while other readers stared at Kasumigaoka Utaha, completely lost in thought, and no one knew what she was thinking.

Since Kasumigaoka Utaha has more readers and fans, most of the scenes were given to Kasumigaoka Utaha to communicate with her readers. After about half an hour, she introduced Xianren and attracted everyone's attention.

Basically, everyone who attended the book signing event would have the impression of "ah, a gloomy otaku" when they saw Kento appear. Occasionally, some students from Toyosaki Academy would stare at Kento for a while before vaguely recognizing his identity. They were stunned for a moment, not expecting that the legendary Miyamizu Kento who was admitted to Chiba University early would actually appear at such a book signing event.

"Excuse me, Mr. Qingfeng Liren, what was the reason for creating this work?"

Machida Sonoko looked at Xianren.

"Because I was curious about the quality of popular light novels nowadays, I bought a very popular work at a bookstore. It was called... ah, it was called 'The Exploding Dark Fairy'. After reading it, I felt... that I could also write a work like this, so I gave it a try."

Big! Danger! Opportunity!

Machida Sonoko suddenly felt overwhelmed, and even Kasumigaoka Utaha, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but turn her head to look at Kento with a look of surprise.

"Ah! Because you admired the works of your predecessors, you tried your hand at creating your own work and wrote this? Is that right?"

Looking at Xianren with a smile, Machida Sonoko's eyes revealed murderous intent.

"That's it."

call--

Machida Sonoko breathed a sigh of relief. If the wise man didn't follow her wishes, it would be a big problem.

Being attacked online by readers of the other party is the least of my worries!

"Well, besides the works of Yamada Yoshiko-sensei, I heard that you have also read the works of Kasumi Shiko-sensei. What do you think of them?"

“…Yeah, I’ve seen it.”

"What do you think?"

"Seen."

silence.

The fans of Kasumigaoka Utaha standing below suddenly looked strange and frowned, while the readers who came to support Xianren were thinking about whether to slip away.

"Mr. Li Ren, are you so amazed by my work that you can't describe it with your limited vocabulary, or is it because you don't understand my work and therefore can't comment on it?"

The microphone was taken from Machida Sonoko's hand. When Machida Sonoko felt that the situation was becoming critical, a few words came out of Kasumigaoka Utaha's mouth. The situation on the field suddenly became subtle, and Kento turned his head to look at Kasumigaoka Utaha on the side.

The situation suddenly became weird. The readers standing below who originally wanted to speak up for Kasumigaoka Utaha were stunned when faced with Kasumigaoka Utaha's fierce words. They all fell into silence, staring at the two people standing on the stage, wondering how Xianren would answer. At the same time, some people in the bookstore also came closer and looked here, feeling that something interesting had happened.

"Sorry, I don't remember it after I saw it."

He gave an apologetic smile to Kasumigaoka Utaha, and the atmosphere in the venue suddenly became boiling. No one expected that Xianren would give such an answer, and Kasumigaoka Utaha's face became more and more gloomy.

The situation became increasingly serious, and it was only until Machida Sonoko stepped forward and tried to resolve the situation, but the readers of Kasumigaoka Utaha had already become dissatisfied.

It was only when Machida Sonoko looked at Kasumigaoka Utaha and comforted the readers in front of her that she managed to stabilize the situation. Then Machida Sonoko looked at Kento from behind the scenes and couldn't help but cover her forehead. She looked at Kento and didn't know how to speak for a while.

"Do you know what's going to happen after today?"

"There will be a lot of people attacking me online, and there's a high probability that they will boycott my work."

"So, why did you speak like that just now?"

The Kento that Machida Sonoko knew was not of this kind of personality. He was always very organized in doing things. However, his reaction today was really not right, especially when he met Kasumigaoka Utaha, his attitude was too strange.

"There's no particular reason. I just don't like it. Well, I just wanted to try it, so I did it. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"...I wish you had realized sooner that doing this would bring me trouble. Now I can only try to calm this matter down. Later, I'll let the two of you shake hands and make peace. Is that okay?"

In response, Xianren looked at Machida Sonoko calmly and smiled.

"can."

"Ha... this is really annoying. I didn't hear you causing any trouble when you were at Mari's place."

She left behind the scenes with a sigh and went to chat with Kasumigaoka Utaha, while Kento went to his own autograph table. The number of people suddenly decreased from more than ten to five or six, and the autograph session ended in an instant. However, there was still a long queue at Kasumigaoka Utaha's place.

After the autograph session, the two of them stood together in front of the event's advertisement and shook hands, arranged by Machida Sonoko.

He also 'ordered' both of them to send the message to their respective accounts and try their best to eliminate the impact of today.

Even if Kento's attitude was incorrect, Kasumigaoka Utaha's sharp question was quite problematic. Under Machida Sonoko's instructions, both of them posted to their respective accounts. Kento's new account had only a few hundred followers, while Kasumigaoka Utaha had more followers, with 70,000 followers.

That is, in the evening, a small stir was caused, but it was not a big problem, because Xianren had no fans at all, so it was almost one-sidedly the fans of Kasumigaoka Utaha who attacked Xianren's account.

There was no further news after that, but after a while, some people started talking about what happened that day. Rumors that a new writer looked down on Yamada Yoji suddenly started to spread. Then, a large group of people came to Xianren's new account and started to visit and browse.

Originally, they all had strong aggressive intentions and wanted to attack Xianren, but when they opened his account and saw that it was almost all one-sided attacks, they lost interest all of a sudden and left a few "comments" and nothing else.

Feng Xiaochun was sitting in the room, looking at the message below Xianren's account with a calm expression, and then she dialed the number her father gave her.

I casually opened my account and looked at the comments attacking me. Due to language limitations, people in this country are not very aggressive. At most, they are sarcastic and very inadequate.

I called Machida Sonoko and asked about the sales of my current works.

"Don't call me, I'm afraid Xiao Shiyu will misunderstand."

"It's been half a month. What's the current sales volume?"

"10 copies! I don't understand why. I thought your work would be boycotted... but I didn't expect sales to be affected at all."

"Invite some famous writers to write some soft articles, and then the sales will increase again."

"Uh...I'm having a hard time."

"Just write about 'talent but no morals,' express your admiration for the excellence of my work, then critique my insecurity, and then conclude with 'youthful and impulsive,' and that's all."

"alright, I got it."

"If the hype can't be suppressed, reveal my identity. I'm nominated for the Akutagawa Prize, what award is she nominated for? Then stir up a conflict between the traditional literary world and the light novel world, and sales will skyrocket."

Machida Sonoko, who was sitting in the office, was also surprised by Kento's actions. She felt that Kento's behavior was very immoral, but she also felt that it could indeed cause a wave of discussion, and if the sales volume soared again, there should be no problem.

Although the light novel industry is currently more popular, the vast majority of people in this society do not think that the high sales of light novels are a big deal. The public still stands on the side of traditional and popular works.

"But if it's not handled properly, it will be a big problem. Aren't you worried?"

Machida Sonoko still didn't understand why Kento did this.

"I'm just tired of the dull life. Look at things like this. They can stir up a lot of waves. If it doesn't work out, the most I can do is quit writing and live off my savings. Why should I live so timidly when I don't have to worry about life at all?"

"Do you hate Shiyu so much?"

"Yes, before we met, I thought I could control my emotions and handle the situation. But in the reception room, seeing her cold expression, as if her mother had passed away, I felt that it wasn't necessarily me who should show her affection. Just because she's a woman, I have to take the initiative to show enthusiasm? Isn't that cheap?"

Machida Sonoko was helpless and realized what a big mistake it was to let these two people meet.

- - - -

Thank you all for your monthly tickets and blades! Thank you all for your recommendation tickets!

Chiba New Story: 434. Yes, Yamada Fairy Sensei wants to see him

"Machida, that writer named Kasumi Shiko has caused quite a bit of trouble for our publishing house this time. My friends at the library next door are laughing at me now. This incident has had a significant impact on our publishing house."

Machida Sonoko, who was called into the office by the editor-in-chief, was already mentally prepared, but when her editor-in-chief began to complain to her, Machida Sonoko still felt helpless and couldn't help but start to explain.

"I'm sorry, Editor-in-Chief. This was an oversight on my part, but after this incident, the sales of these two's works have increased. As long as we contact Yamada Yojii and get her to express her approval, this matter can be resolved without causing too much negative impact on the publishing house."

"She's a writer for someone else's publishing house. Even if you want help, can you just ask for it casually? This incident is caused by both you and the writer Kasumi Shizi. For now, let's suppress Kasumi Shizi's publicity resources a little and let this matter be suppressed as soon as possible."

The editor-in-chief's words made Machida Sonoko realize that something was wrong. Looking at the editor-in-chief sitting behind his desk with a look of boredom and impatience on his face, she seemed to understand something.

"Is it...did the people above speak?"

"Don't ask about things that have nothing to do with you. This time, the incident caused by the writer named Xia Shizi, you must deal with it as soon as possible. If the storm continues, it will not be as simple as suppressing publicity resources."

Looking at Machida Sonoko, the editor-in-chief's expression became more serious, with a hint of warning in his eyes, which made Machida Sonoko stunned. She turned to ask about the wise man.

"Then Guan Qing——"

The editor-in-chief raised his hand to stop Machida Sonoko who was about to ask about the treatment of the wise man. He just waved his hand and asked Machida Sonoko to leave his office. Machida Sonoko, who was a little nervous, frowned, bit her lip, and left the office silently.

Watching his subordinates leave the office and the door closed, the editor-in-chief sitting in the office leaned back slightly, leaning his whole body on his chair, looking a little unhappy, but helpless. He sighed and didn't know how the woman named Kasumi Shiko had offended someone he couldn't afford to offend.

"Qingfeng Liren, a difficult name to pronounce. His real name is Miyamizu Kento... I don't know whose family he belongs to, and I haven't heard of any family with the surname Miyamizu."

As the editor-in-chief of a publishing house, he has been in this industry for such a long time that he has some knowledge of some big and small news in Tokyo through casual conversations with friends after drinking. He also has some knowledge of those big figures out of curiosity, but he has never heard of anyone with the surname Miyamizu.

He glanced at the information briefly and didn't read any further. In his opinion, it was very likely that he was favored by a young lady from a wealthy family.

It may sound like a cartoon, but it is quite common in this society. For example, the daughters of some company presidents are not that unattainable. Among the daughters of some small and medium-sized companies he knows, many are regular customers of male escort bars.

It’s incredible just thinking about it. I don’t know why those young ladies would go to such a place. Isn’t a middle-aged man like him much more attractive than those gigolos?

After walking out of the office and returning to her desk, Machida Sonoko looked at some of the plans she had originally made. She couldn't help rubbing her forehead, silently deleted the plan, and then looked at the cover of "Love Metronome", a work by Kasumigaoka Utaha, on her desk.

I couldn't help but feel conflicted and wanted to tell the other party, but when I thought about the current situation, I didn't know what would happen if I told Kasumigaoka Utaha.

In the end, she quietly lowered her head and did her own work. She did care about Kasumigaoka Utaha and admired this talented girl, but now it was not a question of talent or not. Her work would be affected. She sacrificed herself for the other party and worked hard to get to where she is now. Machida Sonoko was not so selfless and brainless as to do that.

From that day on, the promotion of Kasumigaoka Utaha's works on the website gradually decreased, and in some bookstores, her works were gradually placed in some remote corners, and the sales that had just risen suddenly plummeted.

Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't know about this matter either. She didn't know what to write next. When she was reading some reviews about her work on the Internet, she suddenly saw a post talking about this matter. She realized that her work seemed to have been suppressed. She stared at the content of the post in disbelief. She frowned, took a deep breath, and called Machida Sonoko.

“Why have all the promotions for my works been removed and are they just placed in the corners of some bookstores?”

The question-like words pierced Machida Sonoko's heart. She used to admire Kasumigaoka Utaha, but now she still looked at her arrogant attitude. She couldn't help but frown, but she still comforted her with a gentle attitude and a smile.

"Ah~ The last incident has escalated, and now the higher-ups at the publishing house have learned about it. After observing the situation for a while, they made this decision. It's not something I can decide, but you don't need to worry too much. It will return to normal after a while."

"..."

Faced with Machida Sonoko's answer, Kasumigaoka Utaha was about to ask why the other party's book was not affected at all, but the moment she was about to open her mouth, she suddenly fell silent.

"Sorry, I... was a little impatient. I understand."

Then she hung up the phone, sat in her room, and looked at the post in front of her. Kasumigaoka Utaha was silent for a long time, then closed the post and quietly looked at the content of the next volume she had written. Her eyes looked a little empty and tired.

She was a little disappointed and didn't expect things to develop like this. She also knew that her attitude at the time was wrong and caused some trouble to Machida Sonoko, but she didn't expect things to develop like this. In the following period of time, the news and content about the two of them on the Internet gradually decreased. With no one paying attention, Yamada Fairy's official account expressed her recognition and love for Kento's works.

A strange text message immediately caused confusion among her readers, and then they found out what had happened, which caused the sales of Xianren's works to increase again.

The blonde girl in a red and white ruffled Gothic dress turned her head to look at her brother standing beside her, staring at him with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Chris Yamada stood aside and watched his sister send out the tweet. After confirming that there was no problem, he nodded with satisfaction. There was still no expression on his face. He looked at his sister and raised his index finger.

"One day, today is one day, you can rest freely, but you must continue to rush to finish the manuscript for me tomorrow!"

"Ah—I see! Really… such a boring piece of work, why do you insist on me writing a post praising it? Is this guy your friend?"

Faced with his sister's doubts, Chris Yamada slowly shook his head and couldn't help but sigh softly.

"They're not really friends, just instructions from the publishing house. While their work is somewhat formulaic, it's not entirely without merit. Complimenting them like this won't affect you in any way... You don't need to worry about it anymore, so what are you planning to do today?"

The fairy Yamada, who was sitting in the house, couldn't help but raise her hand and pinch her fair and smooth chin. She couldn't help but think seriously, and then looked at her brother.

"Well! It's decided. Let's go see what kind of person this guy is!"

"..."

Covering his forehead with his hand, Chris Yamada suddenly felt a headache.

"Is there nothing else?"

"Then I'll delete what I just posted."