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

A week has passed.

Word-of-mouth among young people, long queues outside bookstores, and joint promotions with Nintendo.

The triple effect resulted in the reprint of 100,000 copies selling out quickly.

Shinchosha generously added another 50,000 copies.

This time, each book cover features an additional dust jacket with a dark blue background and white lettering, bearing Nintendo's endorsement.

"Just like this game, bring adventure to your daily life." — Nintendo

Nintendo certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity to ride the wave of popularity, using it as a perfect way to generate buzz for the release of its Game Boy next month.

Of course, it's a win-win situation; the better Nintendo sells, the fuller Guan Gufeng's pockets will be.

Guan Gufeng originally wanted to treat himself to a good meal and experience the high cost of living in Ginza.

But the rain started in the morning and hasn't stopped.

He stood by the window, looked at the gray sky outside, sighed, and turned back to his desk.

The draw count has just been refreshed.

[Using one lottery draw attempt, spatial portal is forming]

For some reason, he didn't feel dizzy this time.

A flash of white light appeared before his eyes, and he found himself on solid ground. He looked around intently.

The familiar study, the familiar jazz music, the familiar whiskey.

"No." Guan Gufeng's lips twitched. "System, are you doing this on purpose? Why did you end up in Murakami-sensei's study again?"

He felt no joy at returning to the place; on the contrary, he was terrified.

He quickly looked around, worried that he had been discovered taking the pen last time, and even more worried that there was a surveillance camera installed in the study this time.

If they were discovered, the next day the Yomiuri Shimbun would carry a headline: "Bestselling New Author Breaks into Haruki Murakami's Study to Steal," and that would be quite a spectacle.

Although he has a bit of a fun-loving mentality, he doesn't want to become the fun himself.

Fortunately, the room was no different from the last time I came. There was no noise outside the window and no footsteps in the corridor.

But he remained vigilant, prepared to flee at the slightest sign of trouble.

The system guide points to the desktop.

[Equipable item detected: Haruki Murakami's fountain pen]

[Entry Preview: Enhances literary skills, enabling you to independently write excellent works]

[Item Description: Good pen]

[Preview of permanent conditions for this entry: Read more books and newspapers, and maintain three hours of reading time daily for a week]

[Note: The host already has a related permanent entry. After this equipment becomes permanent, its effect can be added to the existing entry to form a new "Literature" category entry.]

[Equipped?]

Guan Gufeng's lips twitched again.

Although the items I drew this time were good, the conditions for completion were simple, and there was even a system update.

But system, you can't just target Murakami-sensei alone, you've really caused me a lot of trouble.

He hesitated, wondering whether to give up this opportunity. The first time, he had to give up because he was forced to make a living.

Now that he's not short of money, he can't get over the mental hurdle of stealing again.

But the equipment stats are indeed good...

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of an open drawer on the desk, filled with a considerable amount of money—a jumble of banknotes and coins mixed together, like loose change tossed in haphazardly.

"This... is probably where Mr. Murakami keeps his change. Oh well, never mind."

Guan Gu Feng paused for a moment, then quickly stuffed all the money in his pocket, nearly 400,000 yen, which he had originally intended to use to reward himself, into the drawer.

Then he covered it with the money that was already in the drawer, trying to keep it as it was as it was.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Murakami," he murmured to himself. "That's all I have. I'll definitely thank you in person sometime."

"leave."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished instantly.

Back in his room, Guan Gufeng sat at his desk and, after his heartbeat calmed down, quickly brought up the system panel.

Current equipment slots: 1 (Expansion progress: 5/10)

【Equipped Items: None】

Current number of draws: 0 (refreshes weekly, can be accumulated)

[Permanent entry (Literature): Increases writing inspiration and boosts handwriting speed to 1500 words/hour]

[Permanent Entry (Anime): Gain professional-level drawing skills, drawing comics and illustrations with an additional 50% increase in skill and efficiency]

[Permanent Entry (Business): Gain elite-level business skills, easily spotting traps in various contracts and finding solutions]

[New Environmental Lottery Feature Launched: Hosts can now choose to use the lottery in their daily lives. After a lottery draw, special items within a one-kilometer radius will be marked by the system. Each lottery draw requires 5 attempts.]

Guan Gufeng stared at the panel for a long time; the system had updated a lot of things this time.

The progress of expanding the equipment slots should be related to the number of draws, and the number of draws can be accumulated.

The entries are divided into major categories, and related entries can be directly attached in the future.

Most importantly, he no longer has to nervously participate in the lottery, and the places the system takes him to are usually deserted.

What if one day the system just throws him into a women's bathhouse? Wouldn't that be...?

Moreover, since the lottery draws can be accumulated, he no longer needs to rush to draw a lottery every time the page refreshes.

There's no way around it; the habit of "emptying stamina as soon as it's full" that I developed from playing secondhand games in my past life has carried over into my daily life.

The environmental lottery only requires a month to accumulate points, after which you can "hunt for treasure" in the real world.

However, what exactly this "special item" refers to still needs further investigation.

"Gurgle~"

My stomach is protesting loudly.

Since things have come to this, let's eat first.

Meanwhile, in Haruki Murakami's study.

"I...drank too much again?" Haruki Murakami looked at the pen holder in front of him, his expression puzzled. "Why does it feel like another pen is missing?"

"Strange." He glanced at the glass of whiskey. "Could it be because we didn't add ice balls today?"

He thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"That's enough."

He opened the drawer, ready to take some change downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes, then his hand stopped.

The money in the drawer... seems to be more than before?

He flipped through the pages to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"When did I ever leave so much cash here?"

He scratched his head, thought for a few seconds, and then gave up.

"I probably drank too much today."

……

Xinchaoshe, Department of Literature.

The entire office area was enveloped in a festive atmosphere, as if Christmas had arrived early.

The success of Sword Art Online has brought smiles to everyone's faces.

As the editor of Guan Gufeng, Kurokawa Akuta naturally received a substantial bonus.

"Tonight," he said, waving his hand dismissively as he stood in the center of the office area, "the izakaya downstairs is on me. All you can eat and drink!"

"oh--!!"

Just as he was walking back to his office, Yuto Akiyama rushed towards him, his face pale.

"Editor Kurokawa! Something terrible has happened!"

"Calm down." Kurokawa Akuta pulled him into the office and closed the door. "What's wrong?"

Yuto Akiyama took a deep breath and handed over a magazine.

"Toru Sakamoto used his previously accumulated connections to team up with some writers and wrote an article in Weekly Bunshun to discredit Sword Art Online."

Kurokawa Akuta took the magazine and glanced at the headline.

"The Bubble of Fantasy Awards: The Decline of the Literary World or a Tragedy of the Times?"

He looked down expressionlessly.

Weekly Bunshun is known for exposing scandals and dirt, and is called "Bunshun Cannon" in the industry. Negative articles that make it into this magazine are often enough to determine the fate of a public figure.

"Weekly Bunshun is still the same old thing." He put the magazine on the table. "Every time something becomes popular, they have to come up with some gimmick to ride the wave."

"Just contact the person in charge of our 'Weekly Shincho' magazine and write a response."

Weekly Shincho and Weekly Bunshun are old rivals, known for their sharp commentary and exclusive scoops.

Come and don't go indecent.

"If only Sakamoto Tetsumitsu had addressed the issue of the storytelling," Akiyama Yuto said with a wry smile. "But he also...insulted Sekiya-sensei himself in the article."

Kurokawa Akutagawa's expression changed drastically.

"What?!"

He picked up the magazine again, quickly scanned the second half, and a few seconds later...

"Bang!"

He slammed the sample copy heavily onto the table.

"He dares!"