Chapter 240 Meeting in the Cafe
After spending a relatively pleasant day, Sawayama Haruno went to and from school as usual the next day.
He also took the time to ask his teacher for leave.
Originally, the teacher was somewhat dissatisfied with his frequent absences, but after hearing that his new book was about to be published, his attitude changed subtly.
Of course, this comes at a price.
That is, at the end of the semester, Sawayama Haruno has to write an additional project report on the publication of his novel, so as to make up for his lack of attendance points. Otherwise, he will have to retake most of the courses next semester.
In order to avoid failing the exam, Sawayama Haruno had no choice but to agree to the teacher's condition.
As for giving the other person a signed copy of "Norwegian Wood", it seems much simpler.
I just wonder what kind of expression the other party will have when he finds out that "Norwegian Wood" will become a hit across the island country.
Sawayama Haruno left the school while sighing.
His schedule today was as full as usual. He had to rush to Bunkyo Ward to get the things that Morikawa Riho had prepared for him. After he was done with that, he had to rush to Ota Ward to meet Esaki Suguha.
I also have to find time to help Mine Shiori move, and discuss the salmon balls with her. After all, the time to go to Macau has been set, which is in two days.
After taking the train to Bunkyo Ward, Sawayama Haruno's destination was clear. After arriving at Otowa-cho where Kodansha was located, he walked all the way forward until he saw the familiar coffee shop appear on the side of the street, then he slowed down.
When I pushed the door, the wind chimes kept shaking.
Morikawa Riho, who was sitting inside, noticed him as soon as she looked up.
"Kiriyama-sensei."
Morikawa Riho raised her hand and shook it a few times with a smile, motioning the other party to come over and sit down.
Although it is the weekend today, there seems to be quite a few customers in the store. Some of them subconsciously looked over after hearing Riho Morikawa's voice, and showed curious looks after seeing Haruno Sawayama and Riho Morikawa.
"What's up with these people?"
After Zeshan Haruno sat down, he said in surprise.
"Colleague, you are also a newcomer."
Morikawa Riho pushed the coffee she had ordered in advance over to him and said with a smile, "Isn't it September now?"
"It's almost time for the next batch of fresh graduates to start their internship, so the group is also recruiting people during this period. Most of them are applicants or have been successfully hired."
"So that's it."
Sawayama Haruno nodded as if he suddenly understood something.
That's right, this cafe is located inside Otowa-cho, and it serves more employees of the Otowa Group than passers-by.
"Just get to the point."
Morikawa Riho didn't mind the looks from others at all.
After picking up the bag beside her, she placed it in front of Sawayama Haruno.
The heavy weight suddenly made a soft "bang" sound on the table, which even scared Sawayama Haruno.
“Are these printed?”
Sawayama Haruno was a little surprised.
"So many?"
"That's not a lot. I only brought ten."
Morikawa Riho said unhappily, "I did this especially for Mr. Kiriyama's sake. You have a lot to give away, right?"
"It is indeed a gift, but you don't need to bring so many books at once, right?"
Sawayama Haruno felt a little helpless.
He opened the bag and took a look, and sure enough, there were ten freshly printed books inside.
There was not even time to remove the plastic film on it.
The appearance, style, pages and cover of the book look exactly the same as the previous version of "Norwegian Wood".
Without my interference, Kodansha still prints according to the style of the original version in the previous life. I just don’t know if it will change later.
Sawayama Haruno took out one of the books and touched the plastic film covering the outside with some emotion.
Although the plagiarist's plan was decided long ago, when it actually became a reality, it still made people feel an indescribable complex emotion.
I can be said to have brought this kind of literary masterpiece to a world where it does not exist. Although the main purpose is for money and fame, it is also a good thing to be able to promote this kind of literature here.
At least from a cultural perspective, this is what should be happening.
“It’s really printed. I don’t know why it feels so unreal.”
Sawayama Haruno looked at the book in his hand seriously and said casually, "It feels like I just said I would start writing a few days ago, but now I see the physical book on the table. It will be sold in the offline market in a few days."
"Teacher Kiriyama isn't as excited as I thought."
Morikawa Riho propped up her chin and asked curiously, "I thought Mr. Kiriyama would be even more excited, like being so excited that he couldn't sleep, or he would send me messages every now and then to ask about my situation."
"After returning to Tokyo, you have never asked me about the progress of the publication until now."
"Excited? I don't seem to be very moved." Sawayama Haruno put down the book and said with a smile, "But I still want to thank Ms. Morikawa for coming to give me the book on her day off."
Perhaps he would not be able to feel excited until the books actually turned into his own income. After all, what he was doing now was just transferring the literary culture he had in his previous life, so of course there was no sense of accomplishment.
After all, the real author of "Norwegian Wood" is Haruki Murakami. Even if you go to a different world where Haruki Murakami does not exist and write the book yourself, you will not have that kind of complacent and smug sense of accomplishment.
At least Sawayama Haruno feels that he would not have the feeling of "thinking that he is the real Haruki Murakami".
“Whether you take a vacation or not is just a small matter.”
Morikawa Riho waved her hand.
"The first batch has been fully printed, and the first print run is about 10,000 to 12,000."
“So little?”
"This is the first print run. Do you think they will print a lot of them for you at once?" Morikawa Riho glared at him and said unhappily, "This is the most realistic data. What's more, the second batch of printing is already on the schedule, but the final print run has not yet been finalized."
"Ten thousand. I didn't know much about it before."
Sawayama Haruno touched his chin, smiled and did not ask any further questions.
If you think about it carefully, in today's era, a first print run of 10,000 is actually a lot.
What's more, the main purpose of the first print run is to test the potential of the book. It is impossible to print 100,000 or 1 million copies at the beginning. It is hard to say whether there are so many people in the island country who will buy so many books in such a short time.
This type of sales still needs to be viewed in the long term.
"What about time?"
Sawayama Haruno thought about it and asked curiously, "How long will it take before it can be put on sale?"
"quickly."
Morikawa Riho shrugged.
"The first batch of books has been packed and is ready to be shipped to wholesale companies and bookstores in and around Tokyo. The number is about 6,000 to 8,000."
"Another 4,000 to 5,000 copies will be sold online, and the remaining 1,000 to 2,000 copies will be distributed as free reading promotions and will be given to our own channels."
"It's so complicated." Sawayama Haruno took a sip of coffee and said helplessly, "Ms. Morikawa, please give me a specific time."
"At the earliest, you'll be able to see it in a bookstore in Tokyo in two days."
Morikawa Riho paused and said jokingly, "But you're going abroad in two days, right?"
"It really is"
Sawayama Haruno breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that I can’t sneak into the bookstore to see other people buying my books?
But this is also a good thing. After I come back from traveling, I will probably be able to see the initial sales data.
"The overseas sales plan will be put off for a while, at least until the third batch of printing. There is no need to consider this aspect for the short term."
Riho Morikawa took out an opened copy of "Norwegian Wood" from her bag and handed it over with a pen.
"In short?"
She looked at Sawayama Haruno with a smile.
"Please ask Mr. Kiriyama to sign an autograph for me first."
"Ms. Morikawa, why are you like this?"
Sawayama Haruno couldn't help laughing.
After taking the pen, he subconsciously asked one more question.
"By the way, should I sign 'Fog Mountain Winter Sea' for you or should I sign my own name?"
"If you don't know which one to sign, then sign both."
Morikawa Riho immediately took out another book from the bag she had given to Sawayama Haruno and said with a smile, "Maybe you will have to use your real name to publish books in the future. But if you do that, the name of Kiriyama Fuyumi will probably become more valuable."
"You really have a business mind for this."
Sawayama Haruno burst out laughing.
But if you think about it carefully, what the other party said doesn't make sense.
Some people who are very interested in literary books will deliberately collect autographed versions and first print editions.
A personal signature + first print + a pseudonym signature that was used in the past but is no longer used is estimated to be more valuable.
You know, "Norwegian Wood" is bound to be a hit, and the collector's edition of this book will only be more valuable than before.
In Sawayama Haruno's previous life, there were also many people who wanted to get books signed by Haruki Murakami.
"Signed."
While thinking this, Sawayama Haruno had already written two different names in the two books.
When returning it to Riho Morikawa, he joked, "If Ms. Morikawa is short of money in the future, don't sell this, or I will be very sad."
"Then remember to lend me money when the time comes."
Morikawa Riho gave him a charming look.
(End of this chapter)
