Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

"It's because of an agreement with an important friend."

"Junior high school classmate?"

"Ah."

“Are you still in touch now?”

"temporarily unavailable."

Iruma Hibiki is like a frank criminal, and Machida Sonoko is the interrogator at this moment.

"Teacher Iruma, do you really like your current life and everything you do? Even though they may seem good and right, sometimes, choosing a different life and doing something unique is a privilege for children your age."

"Well, didn't someone say that abandoning your own personality is equivalent to death?"

"In my opinion, Mr. Iruma, what you like and love is probably writing and your promise, not what you are doing now."

"It's only natural to be unhappy when you're always doing what you think is right, rather than what you enjoy. Mr. Iruma, how many days have you not written? Don't worry, I'm not asking you this from an editor's perspective. Well, you can think of me as a psychiatrist."

Machida Sonoko briefly diverted from the heavy topic and then slightly eased the atmosphere.

"It would be more serious to discuss this topic with a psychiatrist than with an editor."

Iruma Hibiki complained helplessly.

54 Running in both directions

If someone wants to be my friend, I will do anything.

To some extent, there are probably many people in this world who have had such thoughts. This is the voice from the depths of the hearts of the vast majority of lonely, socially anxious and excluded people at some point in time.

Goto Ichiri's idea probably lasted until now, and eventually turned into—

If Iruma-san is willing to be my friend, I will do anything for you.

But for Nagasaki Suyo, this idea is even more greedy——

If someone is willing to build a place that feels like home around me, I will do anything.

And Iruma Hibiki actually had a period of time when he thought this way.

That was probably after I graduated from junior high school.

In fact, to some extent, he owed Goto Ichiri.

Although interpersonal relationships are certainly not as simple as saying who owes whom or who benefits from whom, for Iruma Hibiki, Goto Ichiri is, to some extent, his friend.

The brat friend who fantasizes about being a time traveler and desperately wants to get to the center of the story.

He was also the only one who stayed by his side.

So naturally, during spring break when she was away.

When only that promise remained between the two of them—

Yes, for him at that time, writing a novel and a work was the fulfillment of his promise of "I will do anything".

It just happened that writing was something he liked.

Of course, these are just afterthoughts, and the current affairs are the notes on book signing events that Machida Sonoko had previously mentioned, as well as some of the sympathy that the Fuzugawa Bunko has for new authors.

In other words, at the beginning of everything, new authors are given a shot of prevention, and told that it is possible that no one will come to the book signing event. After all, they are newcomers. How much of the online popularity and awards they have received can be converted into actual fans and novel sales is something that even the most experienced editors of the library cannot predict.

In other words, there are authors who are very busy at the new author's book signing event, but there are also those who don't show up at all the day.

Don't use successful experiences as your own standard, but look at those poor people, so that you won't have your expectations dashed and end up so devastated that you can't write subsequent works.

A writer's career is not about one book or one moment of success or failure, but about what comes next.

Of course, to some extent, this is just chicken soup. Generally speaking, those who fail at the newcomer signing event will probably only leave a complete memory to the industry.

However, to a certain extent, this level of psychological construction is inevitable.

After all, behind every outrageous system, there is an even more outrageous story.

"Don't worry, Editor Machida. I'll be prepared for any unexpected situation at the book signing, and I'm also prepared for no one to come back."

Iruma Hibiki changed the subject.

He unilaterally wanted to end the private chat he had started earlier.

"Okay, I understand. Now that everything is confirmed, Mr. Iruma, please sign this document. The first column is your pen name, the second is your real name, and then stamp it with your seal."

Machida Sonoko also immediately changed the topic to the main business.

Only after all the documents were completed and the book signing event became a sure thing.

"Iruma-sensei, although I've been pushing you, summer is still a long way off. You can take your time to think about the new book."

When she left, Machida Sonoko left these words.

And Iruma Hibiki also smiled, which was rare.

To be honest, this is not a consolation at all. Instead, it is like a weasel wishing a happy new year to a chicken.

It's like compared to scolding and blaming, parents' sighs and letting things go are more terrifying. For example,

"Just play, don't study, it's okay."

Once these words were spoken, they would definitely shock most of Hibiki Iruma's peers.

"Do you think I'm being sarcastic? I'm serious, Mr. Iruma. You probably can't write anything good right now, so it's best to relax a little. And as a high school author..."

There was a look of distress on Machida Sonoko's face.

"Mr. Iruma, I'm sure you understand that becoming a writer in high school means you have to sacrifice a lot, make a lot of sacrifices, and miss out on many things that others take for granted. And your high school career has only just begun."

"This is my personal concern for you as an elder. Please keep it confidential. This is beyond my scope of work and can even be said to be completely contrary to it."

Machida Sonoko couldn't help but say more to Iruma Hibiki.

Maybe it was because she saw someone's shadow in Iruma Hibiki.

"I understand. Thank you, Editor Machida."

Iruma thanked him, but Machida Sonoko was surprised by his frank attitude.

In fact, she was also conflicted.

She didn't want to lose an author like Hibiki Iruma, but at the same time, she didn't want the regrets of a friend she had known for many years to happen to Hibiki Iruma again.

Besides, Iruma Hibiki is much more awkward than her.

【Is Xiang’s meeting over? 】

Noon, 12 o'clock.

Nagasaki Motoyo's message appeared on Iruma Hibiki's phone on time. If it wasn't a coincidence, the other party probably had typed it out and deliberately waited until now to send it out.

After all, most conference courses will end around 12 o'clock, and then it will be lunch time until 1 o'clock.

It's over. It went smoothly.

Iruma Hibiki replied as he boarded the train back home, completely ignoring the thought of shopping outside again.

After quickly replying to Nagasaki Suyo, he opened his Guitar Hero account.

In the comments section of the latest video on the Guitar Hero account, Hibiki Iruma saw a part that he had been concerned about before.

Guitar Hero has really disappeared. She's already missed two updates, despite having been running smoothly for the past two years.

Is anyone a real-life friend of Guitar Hero? Could you please let me know you're safe? I really care! Please!

……

Ignoring the second comment about Ijichi Kouka, Iruma Hibiki continued to flip through the pages.

The topic of the disappearance of Guitar Hero actually started from the day he saw it, and many of the people participating in this discussion were her acquaintances, such as Yamada Ryo who suddenly borrowed money from Ijichi Hongka in the middle of the discussion.

[Is it really just because school starts and I’m busy? ]

[Back then, Guitar Hero wouldn't stop updating during the first week of school. That's quite interesting, haha. (Could it be that Guitar Hero isn't about high school girls, but about otaku?)]

[It would be better to think of her as a high school girl. Please don't break my fantasy.]

……

The comments after that started to get a little weird.

After hesitating for a moment, Hibiki Iruma showed his decisiveness. He opened the private message of Guitar Hero. The two of them had been following each other for a long time, so they could send private messages.

He thought for a long time and typed a long message to Guitar Hero.

As an Iruma-kun.

55 Make an appointment

【Is Xiang home now? 】

On the other side, Nagasaki Suyo stared at the message that had not been replied for a long time and began to become a little anxious.

She wanted to change her mood, so she turned on a documentary and started watching it.

But at this moment, her mind was not on the documentary at all. She would look back at her conversation with Iruma Hibiki almost every few minutes.

In the band’s group, she didn’t receive any response to what she said at noon.

A familiar feeling is sweeping over Nagasaki Suyo.

She covered her eyes with her forearms and placed her phone face down on the bed. Until now, she was still huddled in her room in her pajamas.

Because there is no need to change clothes.

There is no reason to go out.

When her mother is not around, she can do whatever she wants alone.

1 pm.

Nagasaki Suyo's message still has not received a response.

It wasn't until a while later that Iruma Hibiki's response finally came.

He just contacted Guitar Hero. Although he didn't know whether this counted as breaking the agreement, compared with the disappearance of Goto Ichiri, these were just trivial matters.

He needed to make sure she was okay and how high school was going.

After all, a guy like Goto Ichiri is always a cause for concern.

While answering Nagasaki Suyo, Iruma Hibiki frowned and thought about something in his mind, looking a little absent-minded.

He felt that he had been a little... too inconsiderate and uncaring in the past. In short, suppose, just suppose, Goto Ichiri missed the opportunity to build a circle in the first week of school like him, and then did not meet anyone like Ijichi Nikka in the following days. What should he do?

When such a hypothesis came up, many scenarios emerged in Hibiki Iruma's mind.

Many of them are quite scary.

Ultimately, someone as socially inept as Goto Ichiri would never be able to manage their life properly without making drastic changes.

Combined with the topic of the disappearance of Guitar Hero, a trace of worry emerged in Iruma Hibiki's heart.

With such emotions, he chatted with Nagasaki Suyo while waiting for the response from Guitar Hero.

Iruma-san, I can confirm the rehearsal time for next week now. We can schedule it on Tuesday or Wednesday.

At this time, Ijichi Hongxia also sent a private message. She did not chat about the rehearsal in the group like before. The reason was very simple. She was worried that such behavior would add pressure to Chihaya Aine who was busy during the week.

Nagasaki-san, Chiba (;p三Z), and I, along with Reizaki-san, will confirm this.

"But didn't Chihaya-san seem troubled during the discussion earlier? Wouldn't it be better for us to practice during the week?"

Seeing that Iruma Hibiki didn't get the point of her private message, Ijichi Hongxia took the initiative to remind her.

"But it wouldn't be good if Chihaya-san knew we were secretly practicing."

On the other hand, Hibiki Iruma was worried about another aspect.

[That's true...]

So Ijichi Hongxia fell into a dilemma.

Do they have to wait until everyone is gathered before rehearsing can begin?

In that case, the only time I can practice every week is Saturday afternoon.

For Ijichi Hongxia, no matter how busy she was, this rehearsal time was a little too short. If she continued at this pace, the newly established Bond Band would soon become, as her sister said, a playful band.

Ijichi Hongxia didn't want this.