Chapter 163 Maki's Special Proposal
"For the competition?"
"Yeah, I just heard it from my colleague."
Riho Morikawa flicked the ashtray beside her with an extremely lazy and elegant movement.
Combined with her extremely mature figure, she gives people the feeling of an inexplicable beauty.
"I told you last time that there are actually invisible requirements for winning the championship, right?"
"I know."
Sawayama Haruno nodded.
There's not much to say. It's a very common thing. After all, the money is provided by sponsors, so the winner can only be the book that the sponsor likes.
Many people mistakenly believe that this type of literary award competition should be fair, just and open, but in fact it is definitely not that simple.
Even within the Nobel Prize in Literature, there are many shady interests involved, not to mention such small awards held in an island country.
"The sponsor is actually the Ishizawa family, who are very famous in Kyoto. You may be unfamiliar with this surname, but the Ishizawa family is also well-known in the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the publishing and adaptation industry. In addition, many broadcasting stations also have shares of the Ishizawa family to a greater or lesser extent."
Seeing Sawayama Haruno frowning slightly, Morikawa Riho paused for a moment and explained, "In short, the Ishizawa family is very powerful. This competition is not just about whether it can be published. The winner may get the support of the Ishizawa family to adapt and publish it. You also know what this means, right?"
"Movies and TV series? But are those kinds of things their responsibility?" Sawayama Haruno couldn't help but ask.
"Of course they are not in charge, but the people in charge of these things are under the control of the Ishizawa family." Morikawa Riho shrugged and took another puff of cigarette, then said slowly, "In short, if the Ishizawa family thinks highly of you, it basically means that you have a bright future."
"You are very clear about your book, right? If it is published as a physical publication, the sales volume is absolutely limited. But if it can be released in the form of film and television adaptation, it can more or less boost the sales of your original work," she added.
“I probably know this.”
Sawayama Haruno nodded again.
These things were all within his expectations.
Just like the relationship between light novels and animation, the island country has an extremely complete industrial chain, which can drive the sales of original light novels through comic adaptations or animation.
Unlike the region where he lived in his previous life, the prerequisite for him to complete the anime adaptation in his previous life was that the original work must have high sales and be valuable before it could be adapted.
The island country seems to be more perfect. No matter how the original work sells, there is at least the possibility of adaptation, which is very common in the current market.
"Then, what does this have to do with me?"
Sawayama Haruno thought for a moment, but couldn't help asking, "There's no way the Ishizawa family would notice a newcomer like me, right?"
"I didn't ask you to come in to teach you these useless things. Teacher Kiriyama should be more patient in this matter."
Morikawa Riho put out her cigarette in the ashtray and said quietly, "Two reasons."
"First, the purpose of the sponsor this time seems to be to please the little princess of the Ishizawa family. She is probably in the third grade of junior high school. Girls of this age are in love, so the more love elements in the books in this competition, the more favorable it is."
"what"
Sawayama Haruno was a little dazed.
I didn't expect the opponent's pre-war analysis to be so down-to-earth.
Words like "middle school students are longing for love" came out, and it felt like the heroic spirit of the literati was gone in an instant.
"Don't underestimate this, it's very useful."
As if she saw Sawayama Haruno's confusion, Morikawa Riho chuckled and continued, "Let's ignore the analysis of the sponsor's hobbies for now. The next is the most important point. To be honest, I didn't expect you to hide it so deeply."
"what?"
"That girl is the tall girl next to you."
Morikawa Riho paused for a moment, revealed an envious look and said, "She is from the Ezaki family, right? Really. My colleague just told me that your accommodation location has been changed to be with her. Seeing how close you two are, are you dating?"
"No, I have a girlfriend." Sawayama Haruno explained helplessly, "I told Editor Morikawa about it before we set off just now, right?"
"Sorry sorry."
Morikawa Riho patted her forehead and couldn't help laughing, "But I can't think of any other reason. That girl named Mine Shiori was also specially arranged by her to come here for internship. Could it be that Kiriyama teacher is particularly good at pleasing girls?"
“It’s just a normal friendship.”
"Is that so? But if the eldest lady of the Ezaki family has spoken, it doesn't matter if we don't win this competition, right? The Ezaki family's influence in Kanto is even greater than that of the Ishizawa family."
"I hadn't imagined that."
"There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of this relationship occasionally." Seeing Sawayama Haruno's calm face, Morikawa Riho couldn't help but persuade him, "There's a Chinese saying that's very good, 'There are many good horses, but few good horse trainers'." Mr. Kiriyama should also understand the meaning of this sentence, right?"
"Um"
Sawayama Haruno rubbed his eyebrows, not knowing what to say.
He understood the implicit meaning of Morikawa Riho's words.
Just tell him that with Ezaki Suguha here, it doesn't matter even if this competition is rigged. After all, considering the status and position of the Ezaki family, it doesn't matter how many literary awards they want to hold to support him.
Adaptation and publication are of course no problem. Given the status of the Ezaki family, it should be easy to publish his books and spread them throughout the island country, right?
After all, the other party was just traveling in Kyoto, and could stay in a place like Ginkakuji directly.
But to be honest, he didn't really intend to rely on this kind of "power".
The debt of favor is the hardest thing to repay in this world.
Besides, he is not in a completely desperate situation yet. As long as there is a little chance, relying on the quality of "Norwegian Wood", it is not completely impossible for him to make a comeback.
That's why he never considered asking Suguha Ezaki to help him.
Of course, the biggest reason is that he is a bit of a male chauvinist. This behavior of using other girls to achieve his own goals is no different from being a gigolo. I would rather not write a book than rely on the other person to become famous.
Morikawa Riho, who was standing opposite him, seemed to have seen what he was thinking. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "Forget it. I can tell from your expression, Mr. Kiriyama."
"I am only fulfilling my responsibility as an editor and telling you what to do as best as I can. Since you don't have any ideas in this regard, I won't say anything."
"Of course, there is a possibility that you can get a good ranking. At least "Norwegian Wood" should be quite appealing to junior high school students," she comforted him.
“Does it really fit?”
Sawayama Haruno thought back to what he had written, and his face suddenly darkened.
There are quite a few hints and descriptions of that kind. If the little princess of the Ishizawa family saw this, would she accuse me of insulting literature or something?
I feel inexplicably worried.
"Don't worry, Mr. Kiriyama is so good at writing about women, he should also understand what women think."
Morikawa Riho yawned and said casually, "That's about all I have to say. It's up to Kiriyama-sensei to work hard on your own for the next two days. Once you finish the manuscript, you can spend the rest of your time strolling around Kyoto."
"I see."
Sawayama Haruno nodded.
The two left the smoking room, and Sawayama Haruno went to the bathroom as usual.
After he finished using the toilet, he stood in front of the sink, washing his hands and looking at himself in the mirror, and he couldn't help but be absent-minded.
Adapted into a TV series?
This was a path he had never imagined before.
Although many literary works have been adapted into movies or TV dramas, Sawayama Haruno has never paid much attention to this area before.
Now that I think about it, it seems to be a good way to go.
Although the information age has also caused a considerable impact on these two, compared with the physical market sector, the market for both movies and TV dramas appears to be much better.
Not to mention that they are more accessible to the international market.
It seems that I need to work harder in the future, strive to improve my fame and status as soon as possible, and then start working on adaptation and publication.
Sawayama Haruno took a deep breath and silently cheered himself up in the mirror.
When he shook the water off his hands, the cell phone in his pocket rang.
The timing was just right, and Miyazawa Maki called over via video.
Sawayama Haruno answered the call without hesitation, and a cute girl with messy hair immediately appeared on the phone screen.
"Hum-"
As soon as she saw the other person, Miyazawa Maki immediately snorted twice, and her beautiful eyes kept scanning meaningfully, which made Sawayama Haruno a little confused.
"What's wrong."
"Nothing, I'm just happy to see you." Miyazawa Maki pursed her lips, then couldn't help asking, "How's your side?"
"It's ok."
"Hasn't it arrived yet?"
"It's almost there. We'll probably be in Kyoto in less than a minute. Why do you look so happy?" Sawayama Haruno asked uncertainly.
"Secret!" Miyazawa Maki didn't know what she was thinking of, and said with a smile, "It's a secret anyway. I'll tell you when you come back from Kyoto."
She would never say that the thing she asked Ezaki Suguha to make had just been delivered to her door.
Although it was delivered a little late, it will come in handy when Sawayama Haruno returns from Kyoto!
Then she will be able to satisfy him.
Thinking of this, Miyazawa Maki couldn't help but blush a little, and she said shyly across the phone screen: "I miss you a little bit."
".But we just parted for one morning, right?"
"I want that for a morning."
Miyazawa Maki glared at him and threatened: "Don't talk too much with other girls during the competition in Kyoto."
"No, I have to stay in seclusion for the next two days to finish my manuscript." Zeshan Haruno said helplessly, "Let alone chatting with other girls, I'm afraid I won't have many opportunities to go out."
"That's good."
Miyazawa Maki couldn't help but mutter: "It's better not to go out."
"It's impossible for me to stay at home all the time. I was thinking of calling you when I go out for sightseeing so that you can see it too."
"Well"
Miyazawa Maki didn't know what she was thinking about. She suddenly bit her lip and whispered, "Speaking of the matter of making phone calls, I suddenly came up with a solution today."
"Solve. What?"
"It's just to meet the needs of both of us!"
Miyazawa Maki suddenly felt ashamed and whispered awkwardly, "Haven't you ever heard of Phone Sex?"
".It's not what I think it is, is it?"
Listening to the words coming from the other end of the phone, Sawayama Haruno's eyes twitched slightly.
(End of this chapter)
