What does it have to do with me if they hate vests?

Chapter 125 Important Mission

There was a gloomy mood inside Maple Leaf Publishing House.

Shirakawa Kyo, who just graduated from university this year and is an intern editor, asked his senior in confusion: "Senior, what happened in the company?"

Although Maple Leaf Publishing is not well-known among the general public and cannot compare with popular publishing houses such as Fuzugawa Shoten and FULLDRIVE Bunko, it enjoys a high reputation in the cultural circle.

It's not just because Maple Leaf Publishing House has almost exclusive rights to publish all the works of Natsume Makuru, the only great writer in Japan and a national treasure, but more because Maple Leaf Publishing House is very "pure".

In this world, all library publishing houses are following the trend. If school harem becomes popular, they will publish all school harem light novels. If the other world becomes popular, they will publish all other world novels. In short, if a book is popular, they can't wait to fill their library's release list with novels of this type immediately, regardless of their quality.

The final result is naturally that the market is flooded with such cookie-cutter novels, and this situation of bad money driving out good money will continue until the next trend comes.

But there is nothing to blame. After all, publishers are also businessmen. As long as they are businessmen, their nature is to pursue profits. Everything else is just noise to them.

And it was at this time that Maple Leaf Publishing House came into being.

Apart from works like Natsume Makuru that ordinary authors cannot even keep up with, almost every book published by Maple Leaf Publishing has its own shining points. Even pure literature, which is rare in modern times, can get the opportunity to be published as long as the ideas are profound enough and can impress the editors, regardless of the commercial prospects.

It is precisely because of this literature-only and quality-only behavior style that Maple Leaf Publishing House has won extremely high praise among literature lovers and the cultural circle, and has almost become a holy place.

This is why Shirakawa Kyo chose to come here for internship without hesitation.

And what she saw and heard after coming here did not disappoint her expectations of this place.

The editors are all people with a certain degree of ethics and bottom line. They are like the most fanatical gold diggers. With the attitude of looking for gold, they search for excellent works that can be published among countless manuscripts every day. They will be as happy as children when they encounter excellent works. When contacting the authors, they will also wholeheartedly give their opinions and suggestions on the manuscripts. Occasionally, they will enthusiastically invite some authors who have a difficult life or are slow to produce manuscripts to come to Tokyo and stay in the writers' apartment belonging to Maple Leaf Publishing House for a while. They will not be released from Xiaohei... the writers' apartment with complete living facilities until the manuscripts are completed.

As for those excellent literary works, after they were published, most of them were just well-received but not popular, and the final sales were very mediocre. Only the works of Natsume Makuro Ryu successfully recovered their investment and made a lot of money... But even so, the editors still enjoy doing it.

After all, Maple Leaf Publishing House is backed by Maple Leaf Technology. As long as the latter survives, Maple Leaf Publishing House can maintain its purity and continue to generate power with love for pure literature...

Shirakawa Jing believes that here he can become the professional editor he dreams of.

But I didn't expect that such a peaceful society would have such gloomy moments.

"Yes, there is a big problem." Her intellectual and strong female predecessor nodded heavily.

This made the girl, who had just graduated from college, feel a little uneasy: Could it be that Maple Leaf Technology saw that the publishing house had not made any money and could only rely on their continuous subsidies to maintain operations, so they wanted to lay off employees and reduce operating costs?

Wouldn't interns like her be the first to be laid off?

Shirakawa Kyo suddenly felt lost.

Why is this so?

For the first time, she became the editor she had always aspired to be. She successfully entered the publishing house she had always dreamed of. These two happy things overlapped, and these two joys brought her more joy. What she got was a happy time like a dream.

But why does it become like this...

"Jing, you should have heard about the actions of Maple Leaf Technology, right?" Senior Sang did not notice the girl's sad expression, but just pushed his glasses and said in a deep voice.

Shirakawa Kyo came back to his senses and answered subconsciously: "Did they announce that they will enter the gaming industry? And it seems that it is a different track from the traditional gaming industry..."

She hadn't specifically looked into the matter, but Maple Leaf Technology was after all the parent company of Maple Leaf Publishing, where she currently worked. Whenever she heard the name in the news, she would naturally pay attention to it subconsciously.

During this period, Maple Leaf Technology has been in the news quite a few times because it has opened up new business areas and is once again leading the world in many technologies. As a result, she has memorized some relevant information.

"They are planning to make a Sword and Demon Online game," Senior Sang said directly.

"Eh?"

Shirakawa Kyo was stunned.

"Sword Art Online" is the dark history of the national treasure writer Natsume Makuru, but it is also one of the most popular light novel series in the country. Half a year ago, the famous animation company UFO adapted the first two books into excellent TV animations and put them on TV screens. Once they were broadcast, they gained terrifying popularity, and now the sequel has been scheduled.

The problem is that in Natsume Makuru's novel, the world view of "Sword Online" has been almost revealed, and most of the hidden career promotion conditions in the game have been made public in the plot, not to mention the subsequent setting collections and the like.

If a game is released under such circumstances, isn't it the same as players using a guide to play a game they are already familiar with? This loses the "freshness" that is crucial for a brand new game, and the content becomes predictable at a glance. In that case, can this game really be operated well?

What's more, this is Natsume Makuru's debut work. Although the story is exciting, detailed and interesting, some of the descriptions of the game in it are problematic, even Shirakawa Kyo, who doesn't play online games very often, can see. Copying "Sword Art Online" is probably not a good choice.

"The game is not a problem. It is said that they only borrowed the settings from the novel, and did not directly copy the game in the novel." Senior Sang waved in front of her, bringing Shirakawa Kyo back to her senses.

"Isn't that just selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton?" Shirakawa Kyo said subconsciously: "Could it be that the senior editors in the company feel that this has tarnished Natsume-sensei's work, so they are in a bad mood?"

"That's not the case..." Senior Sang shook her head. She said, "Maple Leaf Technology gave us a strict order to talk to Mr. Natsume and write a spin-off for the game. It doesn't matter if it's not a long story, as long as it can serve as a gimmick for the launch of the game."

"..."

Hearing this, Shirakawa Kyo couldn't help but shiver when he thought of the hot-tempered Natsume teacher on TV who cursed everyone and everyone else.

No wonder everyone looks so gloomy.

The girl sighed inwardly and prepared to go back to her seat to continue processing the backlog of manuscripts.

However, before the girl returned to her workstation, she saw the usually serious editor-in-chief approaching her with a warm fake smile on his face.

"Xiao Jing, the club has an important task for you..."

Suddenly, Shirakawa Kyo felt his whole body numb.

Chapter 126 Idealistic Stupid Duck

Shirakawa Kyo wanted to refuse desperately: "You said that I am just an intern. How can I have the qualifications to negotiate with Mr. Natsume, the last great writer of the Heisei era, the national treasure, the ultimate humanoid weapon of Japanese literature, Mr. Tsurugi? Isn't this a slap in his face!"

The editor-in-chief smiled heartily: It has been decided within the company. From today on, you will be the editor-in-charge of Natsume-sensei. Do your best and we have confidence in you. Remember, don't refute whatever Natsume-sensei says. Just bear with it and it will pass.

Then Shirakawa Kyo was quickly converted to a full-time editor at Maple Leaf Publishing House. He was thrown out of Maple Leaf Publishing House with his certificate and a letter of authorization from Maple Leaf Technology, leaving the girl alone in the wind.

No matter how scared you are, you still have to do your job.

Shirakawa Kyo could only try to contact the other party through the phone number provided by the company.

The first time she called, she waited until the busy tone appeared but the other party didn't answer.

When I called for the second time, it just became a recording.

It was not until the girl called for the third time that she heard a younger voice, with dissatisfaction revealed in every byte.

【Hello? Which one? 】

"Hello, I'm an editor at Maple Leaf Publishing House, my name is Shirakawa Kyo..." the girl said nervously.

[The latest volume of "The Adventures of a Young Wizard" has not been completed yet.] The other party answered directly and decisively.

"Ah, don't worry, I'm not here to rush you to submit your manuscript."

【What's the matter? 】

"Well, actually...

Shirakawa Kyo swallowed and hesitated for a moment, thinking about how to tell this moody master about this matter.

[I'm going to hang up now.] He said to the other party without any emotion.

"Huh, huh, huh? Why?!" the girl was shocked.

[You are speaking too slowly. Don't waste my time. ]

“Why, why is this…Wait a minute, at least let me finish my request first?!”

[Then I'll give you five seconds to tell you a boring and unpopular trivia. ]

"Super abrupt and weird request?!"

【5, 4, 3...】

"The day when the French guillotine becomes practical is April 4!"

[It doesn't matter what happens.] The other party said impatiently.

"That's too much... You were the one who asked me to say that..."

Shirakawa-kyō sniffed in grievance.

[I'll give you a chance to tell me what it is. ]

This time, Shirakawa Jing didn't dare to hesitate any longer and could only tell the other party the general whole story.

After she finished speaking, there was silence for a long time.

Just when she was terrified and thought that a thunderstorm was about to come, she heard a cold laugh from the receiver of the mobile phone.

[Hmph, so that's what's going on. ]

"Will you agree to it?" Shirakawa Kyo asked cautiously.

To the girl's surprise, the other party did not answer the question directly.

[Then do you want me to agree? ]

"Eh?"

Although she didn't understand why the other party brought her up, the girl nodded anyway. Then she immediately realized that the two of them were talking on the phone and the other party couldn't see her nodding, so she added: "Of course I do. After all, this is also my job..."

【Then you should turn around twice and then bark like a dog. 】

"Eh eh eh?!"

Shirakawa Jing was stunned for a moment, and then he felt uncomfortable and blocked in his heart: "Why would I do this?"

[Although I don't think there's any need to explain... I'll just say it for now. To me, your request just now was not much friendlier than mine.]

The girl was stunned and understood what he meant: considering Natsume Makuryu's current identity and position, asking him to go back and write a sequel to the dark history light novel is no different from walking in circles and barking like a dog in public, both of which are extremely insulting behaviors.

[Look, you are just an ordinary wage earner, but even you are unwilling to imitate the barking of a dog in public, and you ask me not only to do something shameful like this, but also to publish it and make it known to the public. Do you think I will be happy to agree to this? ]

"..."

Shirakawa Kyo held the phone with a complicated expression, holding it so tightly that he didn't even notice that his knuckles had turned white.

Suddenly, ignoring the surprised looks of passers-by around her, the girl turned around twice, then gritted her teeth and barked twice cutely.

【…】

The person on the other end of the phone was obviously also reduced by one level of attack power by her shouting. After a moment of silence, he said, "Do you think I will agree to write that?"

"not like this."

Shirakawa Kyo said seriously.

"I wanted to be an editor because a friend of mine in college was a light novelist. After reading his novels, I gradually fell in love with novels... At that time, I only had vague ideas, until I read your works, Mr. Natsume, and I was completely attracted! It turns out that the world depicted by words is so colorful, and it turns out that words can manipulate people's emotions so delicately... So I became your fan!"

[Humph, I have so many fans.] The other party said softly, but did not interrupt the girl intentionally.

"So from then on, I wanted to become an editor! Even if it's only once in my life, I want to personally turn excellent texts like yours into books, so that those beautiful words can be turned into lead type and preserved forever! Let other people in this world also have the opportunity to see those beautiful words!"

The girl spoke loudly into the phone.

"I didn't bark like a dog just now to force you to make a decision, but I wanted to understand how you feel right now. As expected, doing that kind of thing in public is really embarrassing... So I will definitely help you and try my best to find a way so that you won't feel insulted and can accept it happily!"

[Foolish idealist.] The other party commented mercilessly.

"Who made me a fool who likes romantic things like words..."

The girl said softly.

【…】

There was silence again for a moment on the other side, and Shirakawa Kyo even thought he could hear the other person's breathing.

After a while, Natsume Makuryu finally spoke again.

【Walk forward and see if you see that family restaurant. 】

"what?"

[Come in directly and go to the booth by the window on the second floor. ]

"Eh, eh, eh? Could it be that you can see me?"

A bright red flush appeared on Shirakawa Kyo's face, and his tone became shy, completely lacking the solemnity he had just had.

[It was clear from the beginning. Your movements were quite clumsy. I imagined you would spin gracefully like Swan Lake, but you spun like a stupid duck.]

"... Natsume-sensei, you are unexpectedly mean."

[Since you are my fan, please don’t take this kind of teasing to heart. ]

Chapter 127 Running Dog