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Chapter 17
After hearing Ryuo's thoughts,
the female editor smiled gently.
"Leave the matter with Eromanga-sensei to me. Come in first and sign the contract."
"Mr. Ikaros, would you like something to drink?"
Fujii Yuuna led Ryuo into a small meeting room, her expression soft but professional.
"Coke."
"That may take a while. I'll have to go downstairs to buy it."
"Forget it then, just coffee."
"Wait!" Fujii Yuuna's eyes suddenly lit up when she heard the word coffee.
After a short while, she returned with two cups in hand. Both had intricate latte art designs swirling on top.
"…Does your company hire a barista?" Ryuo blinked in surprise.
"No, I made them myself." Fujii Yuuna gave a slightly proud smile. "My main job in the office is actually making coffee for my seniors, so I've gotten very skilled. Sorry if it embarrassed you."
"What the heck! How can an editor make coffee this well?" Ryuo muttered, clearly shocked.
Fujii giggled. "Because I've been here for over a year, and I'm still an assistant editor in the Kagurazaka Group. Editor-in-Chief Kagurazaka has been looking out for me. He assigned you to me, saying you're an unprecedented genius with unmatched potential. If I manage to help cultivate you into a top author, it'll be as miraculous as leading Steve Jobs and the Sharks to win the NBA Finals. Then I'll finally be promoted to a full editor."
Ryuo: "…"
Be serious!
Assigning a Newcomer Award winner to a rookie assistant editor with no track record?
Good thing he had the system. Otherwise, he'd be panicking right now.
"Ms. Fujii, Yamada Elf is also a well-known writer in the industry, at least more famous than me. Why did you treat her like that earlier…?"
"She's too troublesome, and she's not under our group." Fujii Yuuna adjusted her glasses, her tone as if it were obvious.
Ryuo hesitated. As a fellow author, this kind of bluntness might earn her enemies…
You'll end up with no friends like that.
No wonder you drive a Mazda and always end up stuck in traffic…
But that wasn't his problem.
At least after spending time with her these past days, Ryuo had grown to like her as an editor.
She truly cared about his work.
She really did her best to secure advantages for him.
She even offered to go downstairs just to buy Coke for him.
That was admirable.
---
The rest of the afternoon was spent signing the formal contract.
Although Your Lie in April was the Rookie Award-winning work, Dengeki Bunko did not offer special treatment regarding royalties. The terms were the standard ones given to most new authors.
Ryuo understood.
After all, it hadn't yet been tested by the market.
If he continued to write successful works,
if he became a best-selling author,
then the share of royalties would naturally rise.
And if he were lucky enough to become a "Thunder God"-tier writer within Dengeki Bunko,
he could even dictate the terms of his own contract—things like copyright percentages, buyout pricing, and stable income guarantees.
But that was still far away.
For now, it was just his first book.
The Newcomer Award prize money itself totaled 3 million yen.
The company deducted 20% tax upfront, with adjustments at year's end.
In the end, Ryuo Tenshin walked out with a check for 2.4 million yen in his hand.
According to Ms. Fujii, there would still be additional taxes—resident tax, reconstruction tax, and so on. He'd probably owe around 375,000 yen more by year's end.
Ryuo could only grumble internally—
Damn it, this world's taxes are brutal!
Still, it wasn't unbearable.
After all, this was just the prize money. Once Your Lie in April was formally published, he'd begin earning royalties.
That would be the real income stream.
As long as people kept buying the volumes of Your Lie in April, royalties would continue flowing.
If he got lucky…
maybe he could even live off writing.
And if the novel performed really well—
if it got an anime adaptation—
then he'd have to start a proper company. That way, he could deal with the publisher as a business and even save on taxes.
He remembered that Yamada Elf had registered a company called Office MOONSIDE for exactly that reason.
But for now, just the 2.4 million yen check was enough to make his heart race.
So many yen in one piece of paper!
Even Ryuo, usually calm and composed, couldn't stop the thrill rising inside him.
---
Still, he didn't leave Dengeki Bunko right away.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he pulled out his phone and dialed his aunt, who was currently working part-time at a lingerie shop.
The call connected quickly. A tired but gentle voice came through:
"Tenshin, what's wrong? Do you need money for something at Sobu High? Oh, right, you're in your second year now, so you'll need a cram school for the summer vacation. How much does it cost? Auntie will transfer it to you immediately."
"No, nothing like that."
Ryuo hurried to explain. "I actually have good news to tell you…"
But before he could finish, another voice shouted loudly on the other end:
"Oi, Kaori! Where are you? The stock is blocking the doorway, hurry up and move it to the warehouse!"
The line went dead.
…
Ten minutes later, his aunt called back, her voice lowered apologetically.
"Sorry, Tenshin, the signal was bad earlier. What good news did you want to tell me? Oh, and don't forget, you really should enroll in a cram school this summer. Aim for a good university, don't worry about the money."
Ryuo felt a lump rising in his throat.
"No, Aunt Kaori, you don't need to worry. My grades are good, so I'll likely get into a good university anyway. What I wanted to tell you is… I wrote a novel recently. It actually won a prize. After taxes, I earned around two million yen."
"…Two million yen? From writing a novel?"
Aunt Kaori's voice, which had sounded relieved just moments ago, suddenly froze in disbelief.
End of the chapter
200ps=1 extra chapter