Hikigaya Hachiman is still in the dark

Perhaps, there must be something that cannot be said that touched Sea Star! It was like someone had touched the deepest secret in her heart...

When was the last time I cried?

Chapter 227 Such a hateful thing should not have appeared in the first place

When the school magazine's activities ended, it was already dark.

Recently, there is nothing that must be done. After all, the school magazine is published monthly, and it is impossible to always require such a high intensity of work.

These days, the activities between our department seem to be just ordinary chatting and aimless discussion of the theme of the next issue of the school magazine.

Thinking about it this way, maybe this job is really easy... It would be even better if there was no deadline. No matter how good your mood is, once there is something like a deadline, it will be quickly destroyed.

Really, wouldn’t it be better if such a hateful thing didn’t appear in the first place!

After saying goodbye to Umineko Tamasaka, I wandered around the streets not knowing what to do.

Everyone has this situation: you are very busy, but when you suddenly become free, you don’t know what to do. How to put it, you always feel at a loss.

I feel the same way now. I was so busy a few days ago, but after all the things were done, I didn't know what to do. Habits are really terrible. It's like when you get used to being busy, you don't know how to adapt to being idle.

When I came to my senses, I arrived at the convenience store that I passed by when I went to pick up Ben Chugui.

Maybe this is part of my habit. I just walked aimlessly and ended up here. I don’t know what to say to myself.

Can't figure it out? Maybe not, but as a senior said, if you can't figure it out, don't think about it. As long as you keep working hard, then a turning point will definitely appear.

It's a really optimistic attitude. If you keep moving forward, you will definitely find a way. But this is a trick used by adults to deceive children. Many times you will find that once a problem is not solved, you will become more and more desperate.

It's no use wandering around the streets like this. How about making a long-awaited visit to the publishing house?

By the way, I am also writing a new book. If possible, it would be better to meet the editor-in-chief and communicate with them. If any problems arise, I can solve them quickly.

It’s decided. Let’s go to the publishing house after a long absence!

I don’t know if those authors are here. We haven’t seen each other for a long time. I also don’t know if they still remember me.

It's normal to have such concerns. I haven't been there for a long time. It's like going to see old classmates I haven't seen for a long time.

Speaking of old classmates, it seems that Yuigahama and the others had a reunion during the first month of the year... Never mind, don't think too much about it. When I arrived at the office building where the magazine was located, I couldn't help swallowing.

No matter how many times I come here, I still think it is amazing. After all, our magazine is the number one publishing house in the industry, so the scale of the building is about twice as large as that of ordinary publishing houses. Coupled with this unique building, no matter how you look at it, it makes people feel impressive.

However, this building is still as bad taste as ever!

The building was designed to imitate the shape of a pen, but due to the difficulty of its construction, it was changed to an ordinary architectural style halfway through. As a result, it finally became the strange building it is today.

The instigator of this incident is naturally the editor-in-chief who has a wild imagination and ignores reality.

Please be a little more considerate of the feelings of the people working under you. If you are always so willful, you will be taught a lesson by Senior Ai Shang.

But wait, what the editor said sounds very much like the vicious dog raised by Senior Ai Shang. Maybe that sinister senior did this on purpose.

Ahahaha, how is this possible? Even if he is a senior, he would never do that... Well, he is Senior Ai Shang after all, it seems that he can do such a thing...

"Hikigaya?"

"Hey!"

I was thinking it was very rude, but the sudden greeting from Senior Ai Shang really gave me a big shock. It was like you were talking about someone behind their back, and that person suddenly appeared in front of you. It would be unrealistic not to be scared.

I patted my chest to calm myself down, and when I looked back, Senior Ai Shang was looking at me with a smile.

"It's really you. Since you usually don't come, I thought I was seeing things."

Senior Ai Shang looked at me calmly with a smile on his face.

It’s super scary, really super scary, someone come and save me, there’s a sinister guy here who wants to kill people!

"how?"

"Senior... What a coincidence, I actually meet you here."

I was sweating profusely and spoke to him with a trembling voice.

"Why are you so nervous? Isn't it normal to meet me here? I'm different from someone else. I love this publishing house very much and I come back almost every week."

I felt like my chest was hit hard by an invisible fist.

"Yeah, that's right. I also have a lot of things to do, so I can't spare the time to go to the publishing house!"

"I was in college before, and now I'm a teacher. It's really hard to free up time on weekends." The senior's face remained calm.

Pfft, why do I feel like I was shot in the heart by an invisible arrow?

"Well, um, senior..." I said weakly.

"What's wrong? Your expression just now was very unnatural. Are you thinking about something weird? Like me or Xiaozhi?"

The senior who was speaking at this time looked very cheerful, just like the Water Pipe-kun in the light novel.

But why do I feel like I’m being attacked by many invisible weapons? Could this be the upgraded version of Shirou Emiya’s “Infinite Sword Works”, the “Invisible Infinite Sword Works”?

I have never heard of such a bug-like skill in this world. If it is really that powerful, why don’t you go and unify the world, senior?

"I'm so sorry, senior!" I bowed deeply to my senior. Although I didn't know why things turned out like this, it would definitely be right if I bowed!

"Yeah!" The senior smiled knowingly, and looked really warm.

"It's not appropriate to just stand in front of the door. How about we go in together?"

"Yes, thank you for your care."

"There's no need to use honorifics, just speak like an ordinary friend."

"Yes, I will do as you say."

"I said……"

"By the way, why did you come to the editorial office today?"

"I'm still writing my new novel, right? So I want to ask the other editors and authors for their opinions."

"Yeah, really?" Senior Ai Shang looked at me with a meaningful smile. Although I felt cold sweat on my back, I still looked at him without backing off.

After staring at me like this for a few seconds, the senior finally withdrew his gaze.

"That's true. Even if it's a part-time job, it's important to have a good relationship with your colleagues! I suffered from this. I'm not very good at getting along with others, so other people seem to have a deep misunderstanding of me!"

Senior, you are the one who has a deep misunderstanding about this... In fact, everyone is just simply afraid of you.

Chapter 228: Ito Osamu has no dignity at all

Walking in the editorial building, although I haven't been here for a long time, the general style has not changed much. The editorial building is actually no different from an ordinary building. The only difference is that there are many novel promotional posters and production plans posted in the corridor.

It is still as messy as before, and in some rooms you can see many authors typing, and some people are receiving lectures from editors.

Many of them are new faces. It seems that a lot of editors and authors were recruited here while I was away.

After all, it is the number one publishing house in the industry, so it is natural that it has such popularity. Although the layout of some places in the publishing house is very messy, there are still some very strict rules. The most cruel and strict one should be the floors. Different floors have different treatments. Those on the first floor can only be newcomers who have just entered the industry, and those on the second floor may be writers who have written one or two works, and so on.

In other words, the higher the floor, the bigger the boss.

Of course, the time of writing cannot explain everything. Sometimes a new talent will emerge whose work can become a best-seller. At this time, he will be promoted to a higher level as an exception.

According to editor-in-chief Xiaozhi, this is a relatively normal incentive system. Compared with working hard for some illusory goals, specific goals such as "reaching a higher level" may be more motivating for people to strive for success.

This arrangement is indeed ingenious, if we don’t take into account that the editor-in-chief’s office is on the top floor.

"Well, we should be almost there." The senior who was walking in front suddenly turned around and said to me.

"Yeah, that's true."

The floor I am on is the one below the editor-in-chief, which is what we call the core writers. In other words, I am also the backbone of our publishing house.

However, such treatment is natural. After all, it has won the "This Light Novel is Really Good" championship for three consecutive years, so such treatment is well deserved.

"By the way, Hikigaya, according to the publisher's rules, no matter what kind of writer it is, even if their previous works were very popular, if they have stopped writing for a while and then rejoin, they will be considered newcomers. My sister's original words were that novels are not something to be taken lightly, so if you want to write, just write. If you don't want to write, just don't write. Just die a hundred times." This price is too heavy, isn't it...

"So, now that you are a new novelist, you'd better be careful about your attitude."

"Well, I see."

Soon, my senior defeated my only strength, and I became dejected.

"Ah, Senior, good afternoon. Hey, what is this?"

As soon as we entered, the people inside greeted me and the seniors who came before me.

"Hey, good afternoon." I leaned forward and greeted the person in front of me.

"Ah? Hikigaya?" the person in front said uncertainly.

"I'm not wrong." I nodded.

"Haven't we met before? He is Hikigaya for sure." Senior Ai Shang also stated my identity.

"Hey, is it really Mr. Hikigaya?" The person inside looked at me carefully, and after he confirmed it, he quickly came up and shook my hand.

"I just heard not long ago that Mr. Hikigaya was going to start writing novels again. I was so shocked that I thought they were joking. I didn't expect it to be true. Mr. Hikigaya really surprised me!"

"Oh, is that so?" I scratched my head embarrassedly. I was treated so warmly when I just met someone. I was really embarrassed.

"That's right, Mr. Hikigaya, don't be so modest..." The man wanted to say something else, but he stopped talking after being patted lightly by his senior.

"Now's not the time to talk about that, is it?"

"That's right..." After responding like this, the man turned around and spoke to the rest of the people.

"Everyone, stop what you are doing for a moment and see who is here?"

"Hey, is anyone coming?"

"Who's here? Is it the editor-in-chief? Wanting us to stop working on purpose?"

"What the editor said is impossible, right? At this moment she should be hanging out with Senior Ai Shang..." The man was halfway through his sentence when he saw Senior Ai Shang with a smile.

What a fearless man he is. He is brave enough to go into a lion's den even though he knows it is a lion's den. He is indeed a true warrior!

I looked around and saw that there were about four people in the office, and they all happened to be people I knew.

The first person who came to greet me was named "Zero". Putting aside this flirty name, this person's appearance is still ordinary. To put it bluntly, he is the kind of middle-aged man you can see everywhere on the street, struggling for work and life.

Behind him, the person who was typing in the upper right corner of the room was named Dongfang Jing, and she was Zero’s sister.

One of the brother and sister's names is in Western style, and the other is in Eastern style. I don't know whose bad taste it is, but I can't be sure that these two names are their real names. Maybe they are nicknames or something like that.

By the way, those two people are siblings, and they are real siblings, not siblings who met each other on their own like Senior Ai Shang and Editor-in-Chief Xiaozhi.

Dongfang Jing's appearance is very special, with very flowing long hair, but her long bangs almost cover most of her face, and most of the time you can only see her mouth.

Plus, she writes dark novels, so sometimes when you see her, it's creepy.

In the upper left corner of the room is Ito Osamu, whom I am not very good at dealing with.

First of all, I find this person’s hairstyle very difficult to accept. He is obviously a man, but he has long hair that almost reaches his shoulders. What’s more exaggerated is that his hair is dyed a very bright red. At the same time, in order to keep up with the fashion, he deliberately braided his hair into small braids.

Simply put, that guy was an outlier, and what he wrote was something I couldn’t accept… Add to that, and his fairly handsome features were perfectly modified, turning him into one of those people I didn’t want to deal with.

Opposite Ito Osamu was Kunihara, the editor who was previously in charge of me. It seemed that the two of them were discussing the topic of novels.

"Well, Ito Shu, what did you just say there? If possible, could you please say it again?"

"No, I didn't say anything. Maybe you heard it wrong, Senior Ai Shang!"

Ito-kun straightened his body out of fear, and he looked like a student who was caught slacking off in physical education class by the teacher.

"That's good. In fact, I still have some of your writings well preserved. If you suddenly say something you shouldn't, maybe one day I might accidentally make those things public. If that happens, I don't know what to do. By the way, how do you think we should deal with the police in Chiba?" Senior Ai Shang said distressedly.

"Huh!" Ito Osamu and I shuddered at the same time. It was so scary, this person was so scary.

"Senior, I haven't said anything, and I will follow you all my life!" Ito Xiu shamelessly knelt on the ground and hugged Senior Ai Shang's thighs tightly. He shed tears and begged.

This guy really has no dignity at all!

Chapter 229 Friends do the same things

"Senior, I will follow you all my life!"

Ito Osamu hugged Senior Ai Shang's thighs tightly and wailed.

"This, this really makes us sigh at the wonder of power in this world!"