Tokyo Girlfriend Guide

Chapter 969: Kasumigaoka Utaha's Confession

Wako City, Fushigawa Bookstore Publishing House

The design of this five-story building is very good. The main office area can receive sufficient light from the sun during the day, which allows the office workers in it to distinguish between day and night.

When the lights are off it is daytime, and when the lights are on it is night. Although it is all work, it adds a sense of ritual.

However, one of the small meeting rooms was not so good. Even if all the blinds were opened, the window facing the street only let in dim light. If someone tactless sat in front of the window, the light would be blocked immediately.

Because this conference room only has two lockers on the left and right sides and a ten-seat conference table in the middle, several incandescent lamps are still turned on even during the day.

"…If you are aiming for the Naoki Prize or something like that, then the subject matter you decided on previously is not appropriate."

"give up."

The sound was crisp and sharp, like a sickle cutting through the grass.

"This... is such a pity. Teacher Kasumi Shiko, you have been preparing for a long time, haven't you? Everyone in the editorial department thinks this is a work with great potential. It may even perform better than the previous one. If you give up so easily..."

"It doesn't matter. You can get as much as you want as long as you spend some time on it."

"Having said that, we also believe in your ability, Ms. Kasumi Shiko, but it would be a shame to let all the previous efforts go to waste. Please give it more consideration. Everyone in the editorial department, I, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Machida all have high hopes for that book..."

"give up."

Just as sharp as before, but with a hint of coldness.

Kasumigaoka Utaha leaned back in her chair, took a sip of her coffee, and looked a little tired.

The ten seats in the small conference room were almost full, with people from various departments of the publishing house gathered here.

The girl's firm attitude made the editor-in-chief opposite named Yada Hisao feel embarrassed and he kept stroking his shiny bald head. He didn't dare to argue with the publishing house's beloved writer, so he could only wink at Machida Yuanzi who was next to Xia Shizi.

Machida Sonoko rolled her eyes and pretended not to see anything.

What a joke! Although she, as the editor, has taken care of Kasumigaoka Utaha like both a father and a mother for so many years, she doesn't think she has the ability to make this girl change her mind. It would be more appropriate to replace her with Hojo Kyosuke.

As a small editor, her biggest role was probably to stay at Shiyu's house when she was urging him to submit his manuscripts, to help her take out the trash, order takeout, and to communicate with Kasumigaoka's parents, and to help her report safety to them regularly...

That's all, just a tool.

Although writers are the capital and eat meat in Neon Publishing House, their status is higher than most people imagine. They beg writers to write articles, and when writers don’t want to write, editors visit them three times a day and chat with them desperately to build relationships.

In order to help writers find inspiration, it is common to use the publisher's funds to treat them to field trips or vacations. Helping to find information, determine the subject matter, and research character settings and plots...

If the writer is hesitant and wants to write but is too lazy to start, then "you dictate and I'll write, and I can also find three beauties to help you relax and massage at the same time."

If you really don't want to write a whole article, then just do a casual interview, there is no limit to the topic, even if it's just talking about what you do every day. Or talk about the ideas that you didn't write down when you were writing before, etc.

You don't have to write or think, just open your mouth.

This is the happy life of Japanese writers.

Today, Kasumigaoka Utaha, who has become a top-ranked best-selling author in the Fuzugawa Bunko with the "Love Metronome" series, is also enjoying the same treatment. When the final chapter was published and surpassed the previous work and achieved sales of 700,000, she has become a hot writer in the publishing house.

Of course, he cannot be compared with Hojo Kyosuke, whose single volume sells millions of copies. He is a mystery novelist who can be ranked alongside serious literature. They are not on the same level.

Before she entered her third year of high school, the editorial department of the Fuzugawa Bunko had discussed matters with her countless times, and everyone fully supported her no matter what she wanted to write.

However, teacher Xia Shizi, who was not short of money, was always hesitant. Finally, recently, with the blessing of Jesus Christ, teacher Xia Shizi finally got the motivation and took the initiative to contact the editorial department.

Kasumigaoka Utaha put down her coffee cup. The negotiation had been going on for a long time, and even someone like her who could write for two consecutive days without sleeping felt a little tired.

But she didn't have any negative emotions. Although these guys kept trying to persuade her to replicate the success of the previous book, which made her a little irritated, she was not an unreasonable person...

Well, she is.

At any other time, the girl would have turned into a poisonous snake and sprayed venom, but not now. She still needs the help of these people to complete her new book.

I used to write youth romance light novels like "Love Metronome" to express my ideas but also because of my own limitations.

Kasumigaoka Utaha is very smart, both in terms of IQ and her ability to interpret people's hearts. But she is only a girl in her teens after all, and still has a lot of shortcomings.

Unable to write a true story that can touch people's hearts, she can only use powerful writing skills to play with people's hearts. The biggest flash, or the one that can make Eriri cry, is the character created based on herself...Sayuka.

That gloomy, lonely, unsocial, stubborn and unkind girl.

In the novel, she is gloomy and stubborn, but she finally meets a boy who can see through her lonely and sensitive heart.

It wasn't a very good story, it was twisted, far-fetched, and uncomfortable.

Such a novel would naturally not be popular. Even if she used words as a means of deception, how many people would be foolish enough to fall into the trap of words?

(Eri: Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Do you want to die?! Don’t you know that I was the one who recommended you to some stupid errand boy?! I would have become a Buddha long ago if I hadn’t fallen for it!)

In reality, she is lonely and paranoid, just like Sayuka, except that her novel fails and ends up being cut short.

Fortunately, creating something based on yourself does seem to bring good luck.

A male protagonist appeared, even more perfect than the one in his book.

He doesn't even need to face himself; he can easily see through himself through the books he wrote.

By reading the story about Sayuka, you can see into the soul of Kasumi Shiko.

Not only that, although people are pursuing to be understood throughout their lives, if that’s all, why not do a survey?

Kasumigaoka Utaha is stubborn and obstinate. She longs to prove her strength. Self-respect and self-reliance are the core of her soul, and her aloof and cold temperament is the embodiment of her inner self.

Save? Is she some weak creature?

That kind of weak thing will never happen to me. Kasumigaoka Utaha can only be defeated.

That man, with just a few words, could lift her to the throne of a best-selling author, which should have destroyed her self-confidence and arrogance. But... that man knew her so well, it was as if they had a soul fusion.

Even the blue curtains that came to her mind while she was writing, he could guess what she was thinking at the time.

She was completely seen through, as if she was naked, her soul had been pulled out of her body and was revealed to him without reservation.

It was terrifying, those countless nights, the countless nights before I met him.

Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had taken off all her clothes, was sleeping on the bed. Her fair skin was trembling and turning red, with tiny bumps all over it.

She imagined that he threw her onto the bed, her clothes were torn, and she was seen through by him as completely as she was in the book.

She fantasized about him appearing in her book, replacing that useless male protagonist, holding her hand and destroying everything. In the process, she would hug him with her legs...

what--

After a sigh, there is endless emptiness.

The only thing that can make a proud soul remain proud is a stronger and prouder soul.

On the road to chasing her dreams, she doesn't need a companion to walk side by side with her and support each other, she just needs a figure behind her that allows her to catch up.

Arrogant and paranoid, she could not accept her own failure, but his existence did not deny her talent, but allowed her to see a wider world and a limitless future.

She loved herself more than anything, but then there appeared in the world a man who surpassed everything.

She is, Kasumigaoka Utaha.

He is, Hojo Kyosuke.

Although the name is missing one character, it is terribly powerful.

Although there is nothing wrong with being defeated and captured by Kyosuke, it is actually good.

But there were too many people in the prisoner-of-war camp and the competition was too fierce.

Kasumigaoka Utaha is eager to break through herself. Even the idiot Sawamura who is obsessed with picture books has a dream. How can she admit defeat?

Next time, she would not bribe the organizer with money to pretend to be the award presenter, but would accept the invitation as a writer together with Kyosuke, and even go on the podium together.

Or it would be nice to have Kyosuke give you an award~~

Now she is still paranoid, still arrogant, and still too proud to open her eyes to give even a glance to those "mortals".

But she doesn’t skimp on change.

In the past, Kasumigaoka Utaha could not defeat Hojo Kyosuke, and was not even as good as Kawamura Eriri, who had a monstrous talent and could increase the sales of her novels with just a fan book.

Then she denies her former self.

Negate previous works and take a completely different path.

Change yourself, change the way you write.

The former Kasumigaoka Utaha

Away from his parents, without friends, disdainful of talking to anyone, not even looking at the teacher in class, living alone in a luxurious tower, enjoying the burst of inspiration in solitude.

The current Kasumigaoka Utaha

I left my parents and made friends (?), at least people who would give me souvenirs after the holidays (Shirai Kuroko: (☆ω☆*) Happy, happy, happy!!), I would make up stories to drive someone crazy and tell them to my classmates, I lived in a huge villa, and talked to others more every day than in the past year, and my inspiration was like a dam breaking.

In the past, her works were full of false scenes made up of words, and the only real thing was herself. She could only write some youth love light novels to fool ignorant fat otakus.

Now she has heard countless stories from her friends and experienced countless things herself, and her head is full of material that is about to overflow...

A word

I, Kasumigaoka Utaha, am now incredibly strong!

Fuzuigawa Bunko is the light novel department under Fuzugawa Shoten. Its main published works are light novels. It is rare that it has a best-selling novelist like Kasumi Shiko.

Everyone in the publishing house hopes that Ms. Kasumi Shiko will continue to work hard and create greater success, and continue to write romance light novels along the established path to success.

But who would have thought that this young lady was unwilling to do so and insisted on trying her hand in the field of serious literature, determined to win a few major awards.

God damn...

The tug of war between the two sides has been going on for a long time, because Kasumigaoka Utaha is too powerful. While constantly arguing with others, she has even written a novel with a complete outline, plot, and character settings.

Well, probably:

"… This kind of thing? I can easily write a lot of them. The heroine is a ghost who came back to life after death. When she returns to school, she finds that her classmates… this and that. But what's the point? It's still the same as the last book. There's no point in making money."

“How can you come up with such a plot? Did you lose thirty years of memory and return to the Showa era? The hero shouldn’t have gone there at all…”

"..."

The editors endured the harsh criticism while recording frantically, and managed to compile a fairly good prototype of a novel from these seemingly abusive words.

Kasumigaoka Utaha was also helpless about this. If she wasn't short of money, she wouldn't be willing to do it either. She even wanted to ask you to find a ghostwriter to help her fill in the outline.

But with her arrogance and pride, she can't do such a thing. Really, being too outstanding is also a kind of torture.

If we had said nothing at the beginning and focused on discussing the new book that was competing for awards, there wouldn't be so much mess.

There was a knock on the door and it was the clerk asking if I needed food.

The editors, who were so busy and thirsty, only then realized that so much time had passed.

At the editor's signal, Machida Sonoko quietly asked her beloved author Shiyu what she wanted to eat. The publisher had sufficient funds, so even if she wanted to have a big meal, she also wanted to reward Shiyu.

After all, she knew the girl's personality well and understood that it was quite incredible for Shiyu to be able to sit here calmly and discuss with everyone for such a long time.

Generally speaking, it is normal to make an editor cry in five minutes like before.

The black-haired girl shook her head. After drinking a bellyful of coffee, she actually didn't feel very hungry. She even had an uncomfortable feeling of fullness.

It turns out that coffee should be enjoyed slowly in leisure time rather than used to replenish energy.

Machida Sonoko turned around, shrugged, and asked the clerk to order takeout.

Soon, lunch boxes were delivered from the surrounding shops. The publishing house was busy at first, and there was a fixed quota of takeaway lunch boxes on weekdays, so the delivery was quick.

A group of people crowded into the conference room and ate quickly. Kasumigaoka Utaha did the same. Although she had no appetite, she was well versed in health preservation and knew how to maintain her figure and energy. (End of this chapter)