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

Shincho Publishing House, Intern Editor Section.

Guan Guqiu was the only intern editor who entered the program without passing any assessments. He was short and stout, and although he wore designer clothes, they were dirty and tattered, and upon closer inspection, they appeared to be counterfeit.

When he speaks to people, he always talks about Western literature, with names like Kafka, Joyce, and Proust popping out one after another, as if the more he talks, the more talented he is.

At first, the other interns knew he got the job through connections and looked down on him, but they didn't dare to offend him outwardly.

But they soon discovered that this man's work ability was completely inversely proportional to his literary taste.

If you ask him to proofread the manuscript, he might misspell the author's name.

Let him contact the author, otherwise the deadline for commissioning the article will get mixed up.

He was always being scolded by the editors who were in charge of him, and after they finished scolding him, he still had a look on his face that said, "You all don't understand me."

This often made people laugh, and later, the intern editors gave him a nickname, calling him Guan Gu the Confused.

Every morning, as soon as Guan Gu Qiu arrives at work, all the intern editors look at him and laugh, some saying, "Guan Gu, you're so forgetful! You still have rice grains on your face that you didn't wipe off properly!"

He didn't answer, but went to his workstation, laid out the nine novels he had written on the table, and read them over and over again.

Someone else said deliberately, "You must have eaten the discounted rice balls from the convenience store downstairs again!"

Guan Gu Qiu opened his eyes wide and said, "How could you slander me like this out of thin air!"

"How is this slander? I saw you arguing with the clerk at the convenience store last night over a discounted rice ball, and you ate it standing at the store entrance after you bought it."

Guan Guqiu's face flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead, as he argued, "Bargaining doesn't count as arguing... Can editing matters be considered arguing?"

Then came a string of incomprehensible remarks, such as "My talent is Western-style" and "Editors these days don't understand literature," which made everyone laugh.

The atmosphere inside and outside the intern editing area was cheerful.

Guan Gu Qiu sat back down at his workstation, drank half a can of coffee, and his flushed face gradually returned to normal. Someone then leaned over and asked, "Guan Gu, you're really good at writing novels?"

Guan Guqiu looked at the person who asked him, showing an air of disdain for arguing.

He then continued, "But how come you can't even win half a literary award?" Guan Guqiu immediately looked dejected and uneasy, his face turning ashen.

He was muttering something under his breath, something about Western literature, but no one could understand him.

At these times, everyone would burst into laughter, filling the air with a joyful atmosphere.

Just then.

"Sekiya Aki, Editor Kurokawa wants you to go to his office."

Deputy Editor-in-Chief's Office.

Kurokawa Akuta sat behind his desk, his coffee already cold. He looked at Sekiya Aki standing in the doorway, but this time he didn't let him sit down.

"Pack your things, let's go home today."

"You don't need to do the rest of the work; I'll hand it over to someone else."

Sekiya Aki opened his mouth as if to say something, but Kurokawa Akuta didn't give him the chance.

"Your internship salary is 80,000 yen. Use that to offset the 100,000 yen you have to pay back to the company. I'll pay the remaining 20,000 yen for you. You don't need to worry about paying me back."

He picked up his coffee cup, then put it down again.

"I have done more than enough for you during this time."

"Among the intern editors, you're always the last to arrive and the first to leave, using my name to slack off, and I turn a blind eye. As long as you do your job well, none of this matters."

He looked at Guan Guqiu's face, which showed no guilt, no panic, only a numbness that said, "You all don't understand me."

Kurokawa Akuta's peripheral vision fell on a corner of the desk, on a sample copy of the first volume of Sword Art Online.

He thought of Guan Gufeng, the young man who walked out of the convenience store, and sighed.

"I don't want to say anything unpleasant. If there's nothing else, please leave."

Guan Guqiu turned and walked out without bowing, thanking anyone, or even closing the door.

Ten minutes later, in the intern editing area.

Everyone is busy with their own work. The short time they spend at work each morning is one of the few times of the day when they can do their own things.

Suddenly, they heard a voice. Although the voice was very low, it sounded particularly different in the quiet atmosphere.

Looking up, I couldn't bear to look at anyone.

Someone stood up and looked outside. Guan Guqiu was squatting under his workstation, packing his things into a cardboard box.

He moved slowly, as if afraid of being discovered.

"Guan Gu, you're so confused," the intern editor called out. "Have you handed over your work for today?"

Guan Gu Qiu replied dejectedly, looking up, "This... someone will come to take over."

Someone laughed and said to him, "Guan Gu, you've been fired, haven't you?"

This time, however, he didn't argue, only saying, "Don't make fun of me!"

"Making fun of you? If you were doing a good job, how come you got fired?"

Guan Gu Qiu said in a low voice, "It was my own choice to leave, my own choice to leave..."

A short while later, amidst the laughter and chatter of those around him, Guan Guqiu, carrying a cardboard box, quickly walked out of the office with his head down.

After leaving, the other interns went back to their own work.

Guan Guqiu is such a cheerful person, but without him, everyone else would just go on as usual.

……

Guan Gu Feng has been having a pretty good time lately.

I sleep until I naturally wake up, eat the food I like, and then write my novel.

Of course, apart from the calico cat in the park downstairs, which won't let you pet it unless you give it food, everything is great.

After talking with Sato at the bookstore that day, I was able to put his mind at ease for the time being and focus on writing his novel.

During this time, Kurokawa Akuta called and asked if he wanted to attend the company's discussion meeting on the marketing plan for "Sword Art Online".

Guan Gufeng refused. Regardless of his two lifetimes or the many novels he had read, he firmly believed in two things.

First, we must trust the wisdom of the ancients.

Second, leave professional matters to professionals.

He didn't want to interfere in things he didn't understand, but he wasn't doing nothing either.

Using the "Yoshihiro Togashi Mahjong" he won in the lottery that day, combined with his memory, he bought materials and spent a day drawing the cover illustration for the first volume of "Sword Art Online".

He sent the drawing to Shinchosha and personally handed it to Kurokawa Akuta.

Kurokawa Akuta was stunned when he first saw the cover.

"This...you drew this?"

"Um."

When did you learn to draw?

"Since my pen name is 'Guan Gu Shenqi,' I must know a little about comics."

Guan Gufeng left without making a sound.

Kurokawa Akuta didn't quite understand. He carefully put away the sketches, and then there was a knock on the office door.

"Editor Kurokawa, Editor-in-Chief Sakamoto is looking for you."

Editor-in-Chief's Office.

Tadao Sakamoto sat on a sofa chair, holding a neatly bound outline in his hand.

This outline is the same outline that Kurokawa Akuta submitted a few days ago for Sekiya Kaze's "The Twelve Kingdoms".

"Knock knock."

"Please come in."

Kurokawa Akuta pushed open the door and entered, bowing slightly.

"Editor-in-Chief Sakamoto, you wanted to see me?"

"Sit down." Tadao Sakamoto gestured to the chair opposite him, and after Kurokawa Akuta sat down, he handed him a cup of freshly brewed tea.

The aroma of tea filled the office.

"Kurokawa, you've been here... for twenty years, haven't you?"

"Yes."

Tadao Sakamoto picked up his teacup, blew away the foam, took a sip, and then got straight to the point.

Do you know what the current literary climate is like?

Kurokawa Akuta paused for a moment, his teacup hovering in mid-air.

"Hmm..." He didn't know how to respond to that.

"Say whatever comes to mind." Tadao Sakamoto looked at him seriously. "Don't say anything polite."

Kurokawa Akuta pondered for a moment, placed the teacup on the table, and sat up straight.

"Then I'll be frank."

"I think the current literary environment, no, the entire literary world, is already in its final stages." He stared into Tadao Sakamoto's eyes.

"To put it more pessimistically, literature has dried up."