As an editor who has been working at the publishing house for nearly two years, Hosokawa Koharu often works overtime.

For example, if the author can't hand in the original manuscript temporarily, and has to find a replacement work, including the already designed table of contents and covers, he has to do it all over again... These things are definitely not uncommon.

After all, the privileges that Japanese publishers have over authors are indeed very large.

In other words, it's more common to work overtime because of an author's lack of manuscript.

But like this, overtime for the sake of pure form statistics... Hosokawa Koharu is indeed the first time I have seen it.

But this overtime makes sense.

After all, it is necessary to make a horizontal comparison between the results of "Kazuyo" and the results of "Chiyo".

And the consequence of this overtime is...

Hosokawa Koharu rubbed his sleepy eyes and got up from his desk, while not forgetting to pick up his toothcup and toothbrush.

Because she often works overtime, she also prepares a set of dental sets at the publishing house.

After walking to the toilet and brushing her teeth and washing, she bought a can of coffee and walked to her desk while rubbing her slightly swollen face.

Today is the day to announce the number of readers' praise votes and support rate, and she has to fight again.

"The data department sent me the form... It should be eight o'clock, right? ”

Hosokawa Koharu opened the computer in front of him, pinched the coffee can, and glanced at the time.

It's only seven o'clock, and there's still an hour left before the data is released...

"Hmm... I don't know what Higashino-sensei's grades will be this time..."

First of all, what can be determined is that the readers' praise of Tsukasa Higashino's "Hanzawa Naoki" this time will definitely not be bad.

After all, it has caused a certain amount of discussion yesterday, which is enough to see that his new work is very popular with readers.

The key is the level of welcome...

"If Higashino-sensei is here... What will he predict for himself? ”

Hosokawa Koharu couldn't help but substitute his thoughts into Tsukasa Higashino.

If it's Tsukasa Higashino... That must be extremely confident, and it must be more than 800 positive votes when you open your mouth, right?

Thinking of this, Hosokawa Koharu couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Indeed, a person like Tsukasa Higashino, who has confidence in his work, will definitely not have less than 800 votes for "Naoki Hanzawa" this time.

So... What will be the actual result?

Hosokawa Koharu couldn't help but continue to think.

And in the process, the editors who worked overtime together last night also woke up one after another.

Some people went downstairs and found a convenience store to buy something to fill their stomachs, while others stayed in front of the computer screen with a serious face, just like Hosokawa Koharu.

The next statistical table... It is something that the entire Toshima editorial department is concerned about.

It's not even just the entire Toshima editorial department.

Even some of the manga writers of the former Fuji Press and the former Urashima Press are very concerned about today's statistical results.

Nagayasu Hojo, who had had a slight disagreement with Suzuki in the past, was one of them, and this time he met with another manga writer from the former Urashima publishing house.

The manga author's name is Kusaku Ueda.

Unlike Hojo Nagayasu, Ueda Kusaku didn't really care much about the fact that Tsukasa Higashino squeezed out the cover of his work.

"Huh...? Doesn't Ueda-sensei care at all? ”

Hojo Nagayasu listened to Ueda Kusaku's words, and his expression was a little surprised.

He originally thought that there would be people among the manga writers of the old Urashima publishing house who had the same idea as him.

As a result, Ueda Kusaku didn't care at all?

"Hojo-sensei, you haven't been serialized in Urashima Press, so you don't know."

Compared with Hojo Nagayasu's surprise, Ueda Hisaku's performance was calm and calm.

"Is there something going on here?"

Seeing that he was not in a hurry to light a cigarette, Hojo Nagayasu couldn't help but whisper a question.

"What's the inside story... It's just that Mr. Hojo, you haven't experienced that feeling. ”

Ueda Kusaku's eyes are like dead fish.

His appearance made Hojo Nagayasu even more confused: "What do you feel?" ”

Listening to Hojo Nagayasu's question, Ueda Hisaku couldn't help but sigh and slowly explained:

"It's the kind of... No matter how hard you draw comics, no matter how much you practice to strengthen your shortcomings... But it's just the feeling that I can't catch up with Higashino-sensei..."

Belch...

Listening to Ueda Kusaku's self-defeating speech as if he had been held down by Higashino Tsukasa for centuries, Hojo Nagayasu was stunned.

He had heard of Ueda Hisaku when he was at Fuji Press.

I have the impression that the other party should be a comic book author with a very hot temper.

Why is it that now that they have actually met, he does not have the rumored violent temper, but looks half-dead, and has a feeling that he has doubted life?

Hojo Nagayasu didn't understand at all, so he could only touch his head.

"Give up, Hojo-sensei."

seems to understand what happened to Hojo Nagayasu calling him out to meet this time.

Ueda Kusaku said with a distant gaze: "I used to be like you, young, not very sensible, I feel that if I have a little talent in comics, I will be invincible in the world... But since Mr. Higashino officially came to "Bad Cold"..."

When he said this, Ueda Kusaku's tone paused, and an extremely frightened expression appeared on his face:

"You don't understand, Hojo-sensei, no matter how hard you try, no matter what kind of publicity resources you get... Tsukasa Higashino's works have always topped the list of readers' praise. ”

Belch...

Looking at Ueda Hisaku's expression, Hojo Nagayasu didn't understand what this manga author, known for his 'violent temper', had experienced under Tsukasa Higashino.

But before Ueda Kusaku could finish his words, his expression became even more excited.

"Hojo-sensei, think about it, no matter whether you are in the spring, summer, autumn and winter, and whether you are serialized and suspended, the first "Bad Cold" will always be a person, a name that will not change for thousands of years... Tsukasa Higashino... Especially... Do you know how big the difference is in the number of votes? ”

Ueda swallowed hard and stretched out his fingers: "My best result was three hundred and fifty-one votes from readers, which is this best result... There are more than 400 votes missing Mr. Higashino..."

What is despair?

It's called despair.

People have more than twice as many votes as you.

"It's not that I don't want to work hard! It's useless to work hard! What's the use of hard work! ”

Ueda Kusaku covered his face, and he really felt like he was being tortured by Tsukasa Higashino.

"But... Aren't the works of Mr. Ueda and Mr. Higashino all novellas or short stories? His rest time after the end... You always get the first place, right? ”

Hojo Nagayasu didn't experience the feeling of being dominated by Tsukasa Higashino, so he asked.

"The end...? The end may make me happy for a while, but Higashino-sensei's apprentice... Mr. Kuronomiya will take the opportunity to dominate the list again, and I have no chance at all. ”

Ueda Kusaku stood up in a daze, his face like a dead fish, and he looked like he had figured it out:

"So Hojo-sensei, let's figure it out quickly, don't struggle."

He actually persuaded Hojo Nagayasu next to him to be a salted fish.

This made Hojo Nagayasu completely unacceptable: "I won't be like Ueda-sensei!" ”

Hojo Nagayasu patted his chest vigorously: "Maybe there is a gap between me and Mr. Higashino, but that gap can definitely be filled by my efforts!" We can't have so many negative emotions! Ueda-sensei! ”

"Believe us, we will definitely be able to surpass Higashino-sensei! No matter how powerful he is, he's just one person! ”

He cheered for Ueda Kusaku next to him, and if it was a general comic or animation, or Japanese drama, maybe Ueda Kusaku would have been boiling with what he said.

But it's a pity that as the active comic author of "Bad Cold", who has been tortured by Tsukasa Higashino for two years, he no longer has the sharpness of 'Okay, let's rush, defeat Tsukasa Higashino' before.

Ueda Kusaku just looked at Hojo Nagayasu helplessly, and muttered to himself: "It's useless, it's useless to do anything, as long as the reader's praise is counted, Hojo-sensei, you will know what despair is." ”

"How is that possible!"

Hojo Nagayasu was obviously excited by what he said, he felt that he was still young and older than Higashino Division, and at the same time he was more experienced than Higashino Division, and he still had a lot of time to surpass Higashino Division, so he still had great confidence in his own stock.

"Then let's wait for the eight o'clock reader statistics notice."

Ueda Kusaku stopped talking, and only cared about eating.

Hojo Nagayasu didn't go any further.

He felt that instead of playing tricks here, it would be better to show the results to Ueda Kusaku.

It is precisely in this situation that both editors and authors are very concerned about this praise rate statistics.

Eight o'clock is also the right time to come.

"The statistics are out! I'll give you a list now! ”

The administrative department officer with a large stack of forms spoke.

But before he could finish speaking, the printouts in his hand had already been edited by a bunch of editors, one by one, and one by me, and they were taken up in an instant.

Yes.

It's really instantaneous.

It can also be seen from here how long the editors of Toshima Publishing Co., Ltd. have been waiting.

They flipped through the form, and—

At a glance, I saw "Naoki Hanzawa", which was ranked first.

"Sure enough, "Naoki Hanzawa" is really the first."

This ranking is very normal, and all the editors are not surprised, after all, the popularity of "Hanzawa Naoki" yesterday was already amazing.

"I'll see...The number of positive votes for "Naoki Hanzawa" is... uh..."

The muttering editor couldn't help but wipe his eyes, and then he looked at the other editors, a little incredulous: "Is there a mistake in the data of my printed material?" ”

"Huh...? What a coincidence... I also think I'm doing something wrong... How else could it be..."

"You too?"

"Wouldn't it...?"

In this kind of situation where editors look at each other and can't believe each other.

Hosokawa Koharu saw at a glance the number of readers' praise votes for "Naoki Hanzawa".

First place in the reader's survey, "Naoki Hanzawa", 865 votes.

“865？？？”

Looking at this terrifying number, Hosokawa Koharu couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

The first place "Naoki Hanzawa" has 865 votes.

surpassed the second place Kuronomiya Akisa's 503 votes for "Island of Wild Evil" by a full 362 votes?

This...?

Isn't that scary?

"Naoki Hanzawa" really wrote the word 'invincible' on his face directly?

Who can fight this with "Naoki Hanzawa"?

Whether it's all the manga works of "Kazuyo" or all the manga works of "Chiyo"...

These more than forty comic works...

It is estimated that none of them can catch the punch of "Naoki Hanzawa", right?

"It's horrible," muttered a few editors of the old Fuji Press in a whisper.

When I was working at Fuji Press, I fought with this kind of monster?

Isn't this our own death?

Can you pick out a piece that fights with a monster with 865 votes?

They looked at each other, their faces full of desire to speak, but they didn't know what words to use to describe the emotions in their hearts.

But soon some editors shook their heads and continued to look down.

After all, that's the number of positive votes from readers... Next is the number of votes for the protagonist's support rate.。

And then...

The names of Naoki Hanzawa and Hanzawa Hana are directly at the top of the list, Naoki Hanzawa 854 votes, Hanzawa Hana 697 votes...

No. 1 on the double list... Take it steadily.

And when they looked further down, they found that most of them were characters from the manga works of Shiniwazuki Publishing House's "Chiyo", and only the characters of Kuronomiya Akisa and Suzuki Yu squeezed into the top ten.

Toshima Press... It's really just a work of "Naoki Hanzawa"... I leveled the "Chiyo" manga magazine next door.

This result made the editors feel both fortunate and full of crisis.

The overall quality of "Heshi" is really not as good as "Chiyo" next door.

However, this time "Hanzawa Naoki" won the first place, and it cannot be said that they lost, it can only be said that they are open to five or five with the other party - among these five or five opens, "Hanzawa Naoki" accounts for at least 4.5 percent.

Now that the number of readers' positive votes has been counted, the next step is, of course, to notify the author.

And Hojo Nagayasu and Ueda Hisaku, who were serialized on "Washi", were the objects of notification.

Hojo Nagayasu, who had been waiting at the café for a long time, finally received a call from the editor.

He was in a mood that immediately became excited, and at the same time showed it to Kusaku Ueda on the other side: "Mr. Ueda, I'll turn on the hands-free now, let's do it together!" ”

"......" Ueda Kusaku.

His editor hadn't called yet, presumably to inform the others.

But he didn't really care.

Anyway, the first place is definitely Tsukasa Higashino.

Thinking so, Ueda Kusaku pinched the handle of the coffee cup, glanced at Hojo Nagayasu again, and signaled that he could connect to the phone.

"Okay." Hojo Nagayasu pressed the button to turn on the phone.

And then...

"Mr. Hojo, your work ranked seventh in this reader survey, with 260 votes, which is not bad, please keep it up."

265 votes.

This result is really not bad, after all, "Kazuyo" is not as serialized as before in Fuji Press, and this magazine is full of high-quality works.

But Hojo Nagayasu was not very satisfied... The most important thing is that he hasn't heard about Higashino's results yet.

So before the editor wanted to hang up the phone, Hojo Nagayasu took the initiative to stop and ask: "How is Higashino-sensei's reader survey?" Is it the first? ”

"Huh...? Yes... That one... Higashino-sensei's "Naoki Hanzawa" is indeed the first. ”

The editor over there replied as he pondered the words.

"I'd like to ask what the number of votes for Higashino-sensei is?"

Hojo Nagayasu had been prepared for the first result of Tsukasa Higashino for a long time, so it was not too surprising.

More than that, he wanted to know what the number of votes for Tsukasa Higashino was.

As long as you can know the number of votes of Tsukasa Higashino, it doesn't matter what the result is.

He! Hojo Nagayasu can gladly accept it!

"Huh? Votes... This one... Because it's information from other authors... Well, if Hojo-sensei you want to know. ”

The editor over there wanted to excuse himself a little, but he couldn't resist Hojo Nagayasu, so he relented.

"Higashino-sensei's "Naoki Hanzawa" has 865 positive votes."

“865？！！！！”

Hojo Nagayasu's mouth opened wide, and his eyes almost didn't bulge.

He now has a sentence written all over his face-

I can't take it.