Hikigaya wants to be a novelist

The scorching sun in Chiba in September has not faded, but Hikigaya is also in a very anxious mood.

" I hate waiting the most . "

He said so.

Hikigaya is very confident about the quality of the first volume of "Confessions". Although there is a possibility that a strong man from the same year's competitor will suddenly appear and take away his rookie award, even if this happens, it is a foregone conclusion that "Confessions" will get the candidate spot.

The " all reading" Newcomer Award receives about 2,000 submissions every year. There is only one winning work, and there is a prize of 500,000 yen. The number of candidate works is generally less than five, and these works will be published in the November issue of " all reading" on October 22nd of each year.

Getting the reserve spot was not completely unacceptable to Hachiman Hikigaya, but the loss of 500,000 yen in bonus was a bit painful for him, as he was counting on this money to buy a good typewriter.

" Hikigaya-san , Are you free tomorrow? "

Hikigaya Hachiman, who was in a daze, was attracted by a sudden email on his mobile phone. The sender turned out to be Kaori Orimoto, with whom he had not communicated for a long time .

" What does she want to do, a date? "

Hikigaya was very surprised. Now he was not interested in Orimoto, or even the opposite sex. He just wanted to write (move) books well, and socializing was a hindrance.

" I'm actually quite busy lately . What's up, Orimoto-san? "

Now it only takes Hikigaya a dozen seconds to reply to Orimoto Kaori's email.

Soon, Orimoto's reply came again.

" Well, it's nothing serious. My friends and I are not doing very well in Chinese class, so we are planning to have a study session tomorrow, Saturday, and we would like to ask you to tutor us ... But since you are not available, forget it. "

" Okay, let's talk about it later . Good night, Orimoto-san. "

He didn't want to communicate too much and just said good night.

This little episode did not attract much attention from him.

... ...

All Reading Editorial Department, Bungeishunju Publishing House, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

" Since there were so many submissions for this year's Newcomer Award, the judges spent a long time reviewing them. Now that the results have been confirmed and will be published on October 22, we only have half a month left to sign contracts with the winning and alternate authors and discuss future cooperation matters. "

Things sound urgent, but Matsui Koichi's voice sounds unhurried. He is the current editor-in-chief of " All Readings", and he has called several editors from the magazine to a meeting to arrange matters related to the Newcomer Award.

" This year's situation is quite special. Several judges voted unanimously for this mystery novel titled "Confessions", which is rare. I also think it is a rare masterpiece among the works that have been awarded in recent years. Editor Imamura? "

" yes! "

When her name was called, Naho Imamura stood up immediately. She was the new editor of " all reading" magazine this year, responsible for connecting with mystery novel writers. She was also the only editor in the entire publishing house who was under 30 years old.

" You are responsible for contacting Mr. Hachiman. After discussing with the judges, I think there is great potential for the follow-up of this chapter. If the level of this chapter can be maintained, it may become a classic. Our magazine All Readings has provided many excellent mystery novels to Bungeishunju. Now this task is handed over to you. "

" I understand, Editor-in-Chief . I will start the process as soon as possible. "

Naho Imamura took the file bag containing the copy of "Confessions", returned to her workstation and began to read it carefully.

She just became an editor of " All Readings" magazine at the beginning of this year , is an avid mystery novel fan. When she was in college, she also wanted to become a writer and write amazing mystery literature. But obviously she didn't have the talent. After graduation, she resigned herself to her fate and entered the publishing industry. With her high education and rich experience in mystery novel theory, she officially became an editor at the age of 28, responsible for her favorite mystery novels.

As a qualified editor, Imamura's best thing is to read quickly but carefully. He finished reading the 20,000-word manuscript in just 20 minutes.

" Is this really a new author …?"

Naho Imamura was shocked, and as a person in the publishing industry, she quickly came to the same conclusion as the editor-in-chief at the meeting: the 20,000-word submission was just the tip of the iceberg, and the story the author wanted to tell must be more than that.

" We need to get in touch with this writer Hachiman as soon as possible ..."

... ...

" Hikigaya-san, Hikigaya-san? "

Hikigaya , who was taking a nap on the table after lunch , felt someone calling him, but he didn't want to pay attention. He was finishing "Confessions" recently, and he was very particular about words and would stay up late if he wasn't careful.

Poke ... poke ...

Hikigaya , whose skin was tickled, jumped up from the table helplessly. Next to him stood a girl with short brown hair, who looked quiet and gentle. Hikigaya recognized her as a member of Kaori Orimoto's group, who was the one who rarely spoke and was in charge of listening.

" Excuse me, Nakamachi-san? "

" Ah! So Hikigaya-san knows my name . I was going to introduce myself to you. "

Hikigaya has a good memory. He can match the appearances and names of all his classmates in a short time after entering the second grade of junior high school. However, some of his classmates only give him the comment .

" Don't be so surprised . If you woke me up just to introduce yourself, I'm going to go back to sleep. "

" Eh ? Hikigaya-san, I came here with good intentions to return a personal item you lost, but you are so cold and indifferent. "

" What on earth are you talking about, really ..."

As he spoke, Hikigaya subconsciously wanted to take out his flip phone to check the time, but he was stunned. The pocket where he usually put his phone was empty.

Meanwhile, Nakamachi was looking at Hikigaya with a smile . She was holding a lanyard in her right hand and shaking the cell phone tied to the end of the lanyard as if to hypnotize Hikigaya Hachiman.

" ... Thank you very much , Nakamachi-san. Where did you find it? "

" It's at the place where you always eat your bento by yourself, Hikigaya-san . By the way, Hikigaya-san, you've been really absent-minded lately. Even after Orimoto-san rejected you, you weren't this listless. "

" ... Let's not talk about that. I just had poor sleep quality. Thank you for your concern. "

Nakamachi seemed to be still saying something, but Hikigaya had no intention of listening. He noticed that there were several missed calls from unknown numbers on his phone. No outsider would call a junior high school student like him for no reason. He seemed to realize something.

-----