Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 29 Insider Information
As Akizuki Makoto was sizing up the girl, she was also sizing him up, her eyes flickering slightly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, miss, have you kept me waiting?"

Before the two could speak, a gentle female voice suddenly rang out from their side, coming closer and closer.

Akizuki turned his head and saw a woman who looked to be around thirty years old walking towards him.

She exudes a mature and intellectual charm that makes people feel good just by looking at her.

"They came too slowly."

The girl frowned, her voice suddenly turning cold: "Do you know what kind of humiliation I suffered while you were away?"

"Eh……"

Upon hearing this, the woman looked at Akizuki Makoto with a strange expression.

It seems she misunderstood something.

Akizuki Makoto quickly explained, "A few people came up to her just now, and I chased them away for her."

"Oh, sorry!"

The woman quickly bowed her head and apologized, then said, "Thank you so much, you've been a great help!"

"It's nothing, just a small favor... I'll be going now."

Akizuki Makoto smiled and waved his hand, then turned and walked to the innermost part of the coffee shop. At the same time, he took out his phone and contacted Komatsu Reika to meet up with her.

"...Is he the author of Snow Country?"

The girl watched Akizuki Makoto's retreating figure and frowned slightly when she saw him sitting with a woman wearing glasses and an office lady uniform.

……

"I'm sorry, Ms. Akizuki, I should have waited for you at the door."

Komatsu Reika looked at the handsome young man in front of her, bowing repeatedly in apology, while her heart was filled with astonishment.

She never imagined that the person who could write "Snow Country" would be such a young and handsome boy.

As she imagined, the other person must have been a middle-aged man who had experienced a lot in life, otherwise he would never have been able to write such delicate and emotional words.

"It's alright, it's alright. I should be apologizing for being five minutes late."

Akizuki Makoto smiled and pulled out a chair to sit down first. Otherwise, according to the complicated etiquette of the island nation, Komatsu Reihan would definitely have had to keep bowing and apologizing the whole time.

In island nations, writers hold a very high status—provided, of course, that they are talented and accomplished writers.

Although Makoto Akizuki is not yet a famous writer, the fact that his works have received unanimous high praise from several editors-in-chief of Shinchosha is enough to foreshadow his future success.

"Would you like something to drink, Ms. Qiuyue? Let me order for you, and then we can start talking about work, shall we?"

"Just an iced Americano will do."

"Ok!"

Komatsu Reika immediately called over a waiter, ordered an iced Americano, then opened her briefcase, pulled out a stack of documents, and respectfully handed them to Akizuki Makoto with both hands.

"Teacher Akizuki, I won't waste any more words. You must know about Shincho-sha's strength before you chose us."

"That's why we won't let you down. Let's get straight to the most crucial issue—royalties and the first print run."

Both of these involve money. Royalties are a percentage of the profits, and the number of copies printed in the first edition determines how many copies he can receive.

Physical books typically follow a distribution royalty system, meaning the publisher decides how many copies to print and pays them accordingly, unlike sales royalties where you only receive payment for each copy sold.

"Logically speaking, as a newcomer to the industry, Ms. Qiuyue, your share of the profits should be relatively low, usually around 6% to 10%. Are you aware of this?"

"Ok, I know."

Akizuki nodded, appearing quite calm and composed upon hearing about the royalties.

Because he knew that what Komatsu Fireworks said was generally true, and wouldn't apply to him.

As expected, seeing his calm reaction, Komatsu quickly explained, "But we believe you are not an ordinary author, so we will give you... 15%!"

Don't underestimate the 5% increase; this is the treatment many top-tier writers receive. Just based on this revenue sharing alone, he has already become a leading author.

Moreover, these were conditions offered by the powerful Shinchosha.

With such confidence, the initial print run must have been quite large.

For publishers, sales of 10,000 copies are equivalent to losses, 30,000 copies can be considered a safe line, and if they want to make money, they need to sell at least 50,000 copies.

Moreover, this was under the condition of offering relatively low royalties.

Given that they offered a 15% royalty rate for "Snow Country," their initial print run was...

"First printing, 100,000 copies! Price: 980 yen!"

Reika Komatsu pushed up her half-rimmed glasses, her tone carrying an air of overwhelming pride.

Based on 980 yen, 100,000 copies, and a 15% royalty rate, he would receive 14,700,000 yen!
If you deduct 12% personal income tax, the net income would be 12,936,000 yen!
This is just the first printing. If it sells well and sells out within a few months or even half a year, it will be printed again and then developed into TV series, animation, movies, etc., earning a considerable amount of copyright fees.

"The conditions are very favorable."

Akizuki Makoto nodded in agreement with Komatsu Fireworks' conditions. His original expectation was that the royalties would be no less than 12% and the first edition would print 50,000 copies.

"So, Ms. Qiuyue is considering signing a contract?"

Komatsu Fireworks' face lit up with joy, and she quickly said, "Then please take a look at the contract and confirm it. If there are no problems, please sign it. The royalties will be deposited into your account within a week." "Okay, let me see."

Akizuki Makoto picked up the contract and carefully examined it to check for any hidden traps or wordplay.

Komatsu Fireworks waited quietly, admiring the handsome appearance of the young man before her.

Judging from Akizuki Makoto's school uniform, she could tell he was still a high school student, and it was hard to imagine how he could have written such a masterpiece as "Snow Country".

That kind of exquisite beauty of the pathos of things, and the subtlety of emotions, cannot be described by talent alone; it absolutely requires a certain amount of experience.

However, given Akizuki Makoto's handsome appearance and brilliant talent, it's not surprising that he says "Snow Country" is a work of documentary literature based on his personal experiences.

After about ten minutes, Akizuki Makoto finished reading all the terms of the contract, looked up and smiled, "There's no problem. Can I just sign and stamp it?"

Yes, do you have your personal seal with you?

"Yes, I brought it."

Akizuki nodded and took out a pen and his personal seal from his schoolbag.

A personal seal is a seal made with one's surname or full name, used to sign various contracts.

His personal seal was made when he rented an apartment in Tokyo.

Afterwards, under the guidance of Reika Komatsu, Makoto Akizuki signed two contracts, one for himself and one for the publisher.

Once everything was finished, Komatsu Fireworks smiled and extended a hand, saying, "Teacher Akizuki, it was a pleasure working with you. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions in the future."

"Pleasant to work with."

Akizuki Makoto smiled and grasped Komatsu Reiwa's hand in return, but they parted after a brief touch.

"call……"

After shaking hands, Komatsu Lihua raised her hands above her head and stretched, revealing her voluptuous figure.

The buttons on her chest were taut, as if they were groaning and about to burst open at any moment.

Unfortunately, he withstood the pressure in the end, and the much-anticipated lucky pervert incident did not occur.

"Now that work is finished, do you have time to spend some more time with me, Ms. Qiuyue?"

Komatsu Reika rested her chin on her hands, a slight smile playing on her lips, and her eyes, hidden behind her half-rimmed glasses, shone with an inexplicable brilliance.

"Sure, if it's just casual conversation, I'd be happy to keep you company."

"Haha, don't worry, it's just casual conversation. I wouldn't dare to lay a hand on an active male high school student."

Reika Komatsu smiled and then asked, "I just want to know about Akizuki-sensei's creative process."

"Well... it was a sudden flash of inspiration, and then I wrote it down."

What kind of inner journey did Akizuki Makoto have? He can't possibly say that he's a plagiarist who copied a work from a parallel universe that won the Nobel Prize, can he?

"Is it really not realistic? I always feel that Teacher Qiuyue is writing about her own personal experiences. The characters are vividly and realistically portrayed, and the scenes and atmosphere are also described very well."

Komatsu Reika still couldn't quite believe that such a work could be conceived through mere imagination.

"How could it possibly be a personal experience?"

Makoto Akizuki chuckled helplessly, took a sip of his coffee, and continued, "Miss Komatsu, do I look like someone like Shimamura?"

"..."

Faced with this question, Komatsu Fireworks fell silent.

To be honest, she thought Akizuki Makoto resembled him, but she didn't really know him, so it would be too presumptuous of her to tell the truth.

So she changed the subject: "Ah... speaking of which, there's actually an inside story behind how high your royalties are, you know? We originally agreed on 12%, and the first print run was 40,000 copies."

"Oh? Then why was it mentioned as 15% later? And so many were printed."

Upon hearing this, Akizuki Makoto became interested and didn't notice Komatsu Fireworks' sudden silence and change of topic.

"This is the president's daughter's decision. After reading your work, she decided to give such a high royalty and a large initial print run. We editors-in-chief don't have the right to decide these things."

When the president's daughter was mentioned, Reika Komatsu's expression became somewhat subtle, as if she had a headache and was troubled, making her smile have a slightly bitter meaning.

After all, with such high royalties and a large initial print run, the losses would be enormous if something went wrong.

"Then you must convey my gratitude to that young lady; she made me a fortune."

Akizuki Makoto eased the tension with a smile, and Komatsu Reika's face also broke into a bright smile again.

"Teacher Qiuyue, you're really interesting... But if you actually met that young lady and spent some time with her, you wouldn't think that way."

Afterwards, the two chatted for a long time until dusk before saying their goodbyes.

On the way back, Akizuki Makoto felt as if someone was watching him from behind, making his back itch. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

But each time he looked back, he found nothing, and could only attribute it to a delusion.

"Sigh, ever since I awakened the Funeral System, I've become a bit neurotic, constantly paranoid..."

Akizuki sighed. Even though he would receive a large sum of money within a week, he still felt no joy, as the sword of Damocles still hung over his head.

(End of this chapter)