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'A new editor again?' Haruto blinked in surprise.
Since joining the Kiyozawa publishing house, Naoya was the third editor the company had assigned to him. When Parasyte first began its run in the secondary magazine, he was paired with a young woman.
Once the series was promoted to the flagship magazine, the company had immediately swapped her for a veteran editor, a woman in her fifties. Now that he was submitting a brand-new work, they had changed his contact person yet again.
Haruto let out a small sigh. While he understood that the publisher was constantly adjusting his support staff to match his rising status, talent, and popularity, he personally did not enjoy having to build a rapport with new people every few months.
"Hello, Shiori-sensei. I am your new editor-in-charge," Naoya.
Naoya's smile was genuinely endearing. With his round face and sincere eyes, he had the kind of friendly aura that made it easy for Haruto to feel comfortable around him.
After the three of them exchanged pleasantries in Haruto's living room, Ms. Hime cut straight to the chase.
"Haruto, you mentioned last week that the new project would be ready today. Did you manage to finish it?" she asked.
Naturally. Haruto was not one for stalling. He quickly stepped into his room and returned with two stacks of photocopied manuscripts, handing one to each of them.
Ms. Hime's gaze sharpened. Her primary role was managing Haruto's image, handling commercial promotions, organizing autograph sessions, and scheduling his appearances.
While she had a decent eye for good stories, she was not a professional editor. However, she still needed to read the content. If a novel could not move a regular reader like her, it was unlikely to captivate the public.
Naoya, however, was far more professional and clinical.
The moment his hands touched the manuscript, he entered a state of deep concentration. On the surface, the core premise of Sword Art Online seemed somewhat conventional.
In a market like this, the concept of a Full Dive VRMMORPG, a virtual world accessed via a specialized helmet, was a staple of the genre. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of stories with similar foundations.
But details matter. What was a standard trope in one world could feel vibrantly fresh in another. Just as certain subculture trends would be hailed as revolutionary in a different market, the specific execution of SAO immediately piqued Naoya's interest.
Even by the end of the first chapter, the detailed world-building of the GearSystem and the mechanics of the game had Naoya hooked.
'This is interesting…' he thought. 'A genius who can crack the top six of the Naoki Awards with his work is no joke.'
He could not help but glance over at Haruto.
The young man was sitting nearby, focused on drawing something with a pen. Looking closer, Naoya realized they were sketches for a project.
'Storyboards for a manga? No, too rough. Layout drafts?'
Only then did Naoya remember that Haruto was also the mastermind behind the massive hit manga, Initial D.
'He's incredibly diligent,' Naoya thought with a silent whistle of admiration. He does not waste a single minute of his day. Success like his is not a stroke of luck; it is forged through relentless work.
After mentally offering Haruto a standing ovation, Naoya returned his focus to the pages of Sword Art Online.
The story detailed the launch of the revolutionary game SAO and its accompanying hardware.
Through delicate prose, the author introduced the technology and the game's environment, pulling Naoya, a gamer himself, into the narrative. He found himself genuinely anticipating the world described on the paper.
The protagonist, a middle-schooler named Kazuto Kirigaya, known by his avatar Kirito, activated his machine, experienced a brief moment of vertigo, and opened his eyes to a brand-new reality.
The starting city, the player plaza, the floating castle of Aincrad... piece by piece, the elements of the world were established with concise, effective descriptions.
At a glance, the first chapter of SAO felt like a standard daily life narrative of a gamer. Kirito spent the day hunting monsters and meeting new friends, showcasing the wonders of the virtual world.
As a former beta tester, Kirito was established as a knowledgeable player who knew exactly how to maximize experience points and how the game's sword skills and combat systems functioned.
Naoya figured he had a handle on the style of the work. It felt like a light-hearted, game-centric adventure, a popular genre where protagonists balance their in-game progress with romantic subplots. He had no doubts about the quality, given Haruto's track record with To the Moon and Parasyte.
However, just as Naoya thought he had predicted the trajectory of the story, he hit the midpoint of the chapter. Kirito and his new friend Klein realized the unthinkable.
They could not log out.
Naoya's expression shifted instantly.
A writer does not include a detail like that without a narrative purpose. No logout button? What is going on?
After a brief technical discussion between the characters about the hardware, Naoya's brows furrowed. 'A server bug? Or perhaps…'
The answer came quickly. The creator of the game, Akihiko Kayaba, appeared in the player plaza in the form of a colossal, spectral figure. The true nature of SAO was revealed. It was no longer a game, but a death trap.
Removing the helmet or cutting the power would result in a fatal microwave pulse to the brain. Dying in the game meant dying in the real world.
The only way to escape the nightmare and return to reality was to conquer all one hundred floors of Aincrad and clear the game.
Furthermore, Kayaba disabled the avatar functions, forcing every player to look like their real-world selves, revealing their true genders and ages to everyone.
The settings hit Naoya like a rapid-fire volley. He especially loved the forced real face feature. As someone who hated being deceived by male players playing as female characters in games, he felt a surge of satisfaction.
Driven by his own ego, Kayaba had dragged tens of thousands of people into a life-or-death struggle. Standing against that madness was Kirito, a Beater who knew the game's systems better than anyone.
'I... will survive!'
As Kirito abandoned his hesitation and sprinted toward a wolf monster, his blade piercing the creature while his internal monologue echoed his resolve, the first chapter came to a sharp conclusion. The tension was perfectly balanced, leaving the reader desperate for more.
Naoya closed his eyes, savoring the experience.
"Incredible, Shiori-sensei. It has been a long time since I've read a first chapter this gripping," he said.
The pacing, the stakes, and the innovative setting were flawless.
Ms. Hime, having finished her copy, nodded in agreement. "I feel the same way. The setting is fresh, but more importantly, the narrative rhythm is unlike anything else in the current market. It feels like your signature style. No other novelist could replicate this specific atmosphere."
Haruto blinked. My signature style? You mean the otaku aesthetic of modern light novels?
"So, about the manuscript…" Haruto paused, looking at his visitors.
"I have no objections. This work is exceptional and almost guaranteed to be a hit. I fully support submitting this to the company," Naoya said with a smile.
"I agree," Ms. Hime added.
"That's a relief. So, when is the next serialization meeting for Weekly Prime?" Haruto asked, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders.
"The serialization meeting?" Ms. Hime looked at him, a faint smile touching her lips. "Who said your work was going to a serialization meeting?"
"What do you mean?" Haruto asked.
"What we meant by submitting the manuscript was that we are calling an emergency meeting of the editorial board specifically to discuss launching your series immediately. Why would we put a creator of your caliber through a standard meeting?" Ms. Hime explained.
She saw the look of confusion on his face and added,
"The world has changed, Haruto. Your standing as an award winner and the creator of one of the most popular manga gives us more than enough justification to give you special treatment."
Haruto thought about it. "Right... I keep forgetting how much my status has changed."
Back when he was just a newcomer, he needed every edge just to get into a magazine. Now, as the man behind the legendary Initial D, the red carpet was rolled out for him.
After a few more minutes of discussion, the visitors left his apartment, clutching the manuscripts with visible excitement. Haruto exhaled a long breath of relief.
Phase one complete. The editor and agent are on board. Over the next few days, the halls of the Kiyozawa publishing house were filled with heated debate.
The question was whether Sword Art Online deserved to bypass the standard selection process and move straight to serialization.
While the editors argued, another major event was brewing. The promotional campaign for the To the Moon movie was officially beginning.