Contract signed

Timeless River Library. 

This is the publishing house that Aki recommended to Kenichi.

When he took the train and arrived at the Timeless River Library, almost two hours had passed. 

His house was a bit too far from the publishing house.

"Do you have an appointment?" the pretty front desk lady asked in a gentle tone.

"Yes, my name is Hasegawa Kenichi, and I have an agreement with the editor, Machida Sonoko."

"Machida-san? She is supposed to have an appointment around this time. Please come in. Machida-san is in the editorial department on the fifth floor. Her name is on her office door. You can just go up on your own."

"Thank you."

Taking the elevator directly upstairs, according to what the young lady at the front desk said, he found the door with Machida's name written on it and knocked lightly.

"Please come in."

"Hello, Machida-san, I am Hasegawa Kenichi. The one who was recommended by Tomoya Aki." 

He said it politely after entering the room. 

He took a look at Machida Enko, who looked to be in her thirties and had short, sleek hair that just covered her ears. 

Not only her hair style but also her body exuded an aura that would make one think that she was capable. With just a superficial look, you can conclude that she is a strong woman who takes her work absolutely seriously and should be responsible.

"Hello, I am the editor of the Timeless River Library, Machida Sonoko." 

She stretched out her right hand and said to him. 

At the same time, she was observing Kenichi. It's not noticeable at all, however; his temperament was a little bit special.

After a very polite greeting ceremony, he handed a printed manuscript to Machida: "This is Tokyo Ghoul, written by me; please take a look."

"Tomoya-san strongly recommends Hasegawa-san's light novel, so I am also looking forward to finally reading it. Ultimately, the works Tomoya-san can suggest are always of high quality."

Machida looked at the manuscript handed over to her. As an editor, when she reads a manuscript, she usually takes a rough look at it first, gives a rough evaluation of the manuscript, and then determines whether it is worthy of further inquiry. 

After all, as an editor, her work is also relatively busy. If it weren't for Tomoya, she wouldn't take this recommendation too seriously.

High schoolers always submit light novel scripts to the publishing houses, and most of them are bad.

It was not that she did not believe that a high schooler could write a good novel; it was only that it was very rare for a high schooler to write a good novel. It was only that after so many letdowns, she began to have low expectations.

There are some cases where a high schooler writes good light novels, but unfortunately, she has only seen that in different publishing houses and editors.

Machida opened the manuscript and originally planned to skim through the contents of the manuscript. However, as she looked at it, her reading speed began to slow down.

To be honest, the writing style of this novel is not that outstanding. Of course, if compared with the average writing level of high school students, it is still very good. This did not surprise Machida. 

But the content of the novel surprised Machida.

Machida was not responsible for many novels of this type. 

She usually deals with slice-of-life and rom-com novels. However, she also has a high level of appreciation for other types of novels and hopes to become an editor for a different genre.

This was also one of the reasons why Aki recommended Machida to Kenichi.

After about two hours, Machida put down the manuscript in her hand, her eyes flashing with excitement. 

"Hasegawa-san, your novel is really quite good, though the writing is not exceptional. But using such simple and stable writing to outline a cruel and complex world composed of ghouls and humans—"

"Thank you for the compliment." A smile appeared on his face. 

For an author, receiving praise from an editor is undoubtedly a very happy experience. His novel should be published without any issues because the editor has given it her approval.

Kenichi quietly breathed a sigh of relief, although, because of the system, he had a certain degree of confidence. 

But actually, he still felt a little bit uneasy. Now, the stone in his heart was almost lifted.

After a brief chat, the novel was finally confirmed for publication. 

Machida, a senior editor, directly offered a publishing quota in her name. However, because he was a newcomer, the price the publisher gave him was not high.

An eight percent share. In other words, if a book sells for 500 yen, then Kenichi will get 40 yen from selling one copy.

This was not high, but for newcomers, this was an ideal price. Moreover, the reason for the slightly larger share cut was Machida's greater optimism regarding Kenichi's book.

These are not really important to him. He has aspirations of becoming wealthy, but he has not calculated his exact earnings.

At first, he just wanted to earn his own living expenses, plus school fees if possible. If he can, send some money home to cover the remaining amount.

Therefore, as long as he can make money by writing, he doesn't really care whether he makes more or less.

In particular, when he wrote this novel, his writing skills had just reached level 3, which was not a high level.

Kenichi thought that after the first volume is sold and the results are obtained, if the results are good, the next volume will naturally receive more royalties.

Moreover, even if the sales of Tokyo Ghoul he wrote are not good, or even if it is cut in half after two or three volumes, he does not care too much. 

He had a system, and his writing ability will only continue to improve. The novels he writes will get better and better, and it will not be difficult to make money in the future.

Of course, he wouldn't mind if the publisher paid more. It's just that, as a newcomer, he shouldn't be too demanding.

Writers in some fanfics can casually copy all the books they have read, and then when the novel is serialized or published, the publisher desperately raises the price. How could this happen in reality?

After signing the contract, he only needs to wait for the novel to be revised, arrange illustrations, and go through a series of other processes before it can be published.

The specific publication time of the novel is about one month or less, which may be enough.

At the same time, according to the contract, when this novel is published for the first time, approximately 10,000 copies will be printed. 

In other words, he will receive at least 400,000 yen in royalties.

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