"Please try to limit your questions to the award itself. Thank you for your support."
A staff member at the scene noticed that the media's questions were starting to go astray and interjected this reminder. However, the reporters couldn't care less about such things.
"Hello, Mr. Hachiman, and congratulations on the award," one reporter began. "The movie adaptation of your novel Confessions is currently being filmed, and the crew has released a video of you visiting the set. Could you tell us something about the current filming situation?" As the questions became more in-depth, they strayed into areas that had nothing to do with literature.
"I'm sorry, I can't say much about that," Hachiman replied. "The only thing I can confirm is that this movie will be excellent. I hope everyone will buy a ticket to the cinema to see it in the future."
"Mr. Hachiman, the TV series adapted from your novel Malice received good ratings at the beginning of the year. Will you have any follow-up cooperation with NHK TV?"
"Well, please stay tuned. That's all I can say." It was already well known that the adaptation rights for Hachiman's The Newcomer had been bought by NHK, so there was no need to mention it. However, the original script he would be providing to them in the future had not yet been formally signed and was still confidential.
"Mr. Hachiman, will you continue to write orthodox mystery stories after the publication of The Clockwork Museum Incident? If so, do you have any ideas?" This was a concern for many orthodox mystery fans, who worried that the genre's poor market performance might discourage him.
"Of course," he answered. "I will continue to write both classical and social fiction. I believe detective fiction needs to develop in a diversified way, and the types of stories people read should also be diverse. Only then can it be considered healthy."
"As for subsequent orthodox creations, of course there are, and I'm already writing them. You can follow my Twitter page; maybe some information will be revealed one day. I can give you a hint: the orthodox mystery I'm writing now is in a very unpopular category." Hachiman decided to create some suspense, which was also a way to increase discussion about himself.
"Writer Hachiman! Please tell us your sales expectations for The Clockwork Museum Incident!"
At that moment, Hachiman's interview session was over. He was reminded by the staff, expressed his gratitude to the interviewers, and stood up to leave. However, many reporters still had questions, and some even shouted them out as he was walking away. Hachiman naturally couldn't go back to the microphone, so he simply turned around, stretched out his right hand, and held up two fingers.
"What does that mean? Two million copies?" "Nonsense, it's clearly two hundred thousand copies on the first day!" "You're all wrong. He's just posing for us to take pictures!"
The various media outlets began arguing among themselves. However, they all agreed on one point: since Mr. Hachiman hadn't said a word and had only made a gesture, it didn't matter what they wrote. It was all speculation anyway.
At this point, Hachiman didn't care how the media would interpret his actions. He was a little sleepy and just wanted to take a car back to Chiba, have a good bath in the huge bathtub at the Yukinoshita's, and then go to the guest room for a long sleep.
"Please make way, Yukino. I need to take breakfast to Hikigaya-kun. Go on to the dining room; Mom and Dad are waiting for you there." The next morning, Yukinoshita Haruno, who was pushing a food cart toward Hachiman's room, was blocked by her sister.
"Excuse me, sister," Yukino teased, looking at the breakfast-for-two that was plain to see on the cart. "If this breakfast is for Hikigaya-kun alone, isn't it a bit much?"
"Well, okay, I am indeed going to go in and have breakfast with him," Haruno admitted, placing great emphasis on her next words. "But Yukino, you know that my identity now is not only Hikigaya-kun's senior but also the financial director of Hachiman Studio. So, this is actually a breakfast meeting. I have work matters to report to my boss."
At this, Yukino gave up her attack. After all, Mrs. Yukinoshita was on the advisory team for Hachiman's studio. If she delayed the work, her mother would not let her off easy.
"Good morning, boss," Yukinoshita Haruno said as she opened the sliding door to Hachiman's room, her voice neither too loud nor too soft—just enough for Yukino at the other end of the corridor to hear.
"...What are you doing?" Hachiman watched speechlessly as his senior, dressed in full OL attire, slowly pushed a food cart into his room.
"Of course, it's a breakfast meeting," she explained. "Many companies have this tradition, right? Managers report on the situation while eating. It's a very efficient way of working."
"I don't know if it's efficient, but it's definitely not good for digestion," Hachiman complained, but he still tied a napkin around his neck and prepared to eat.
"It has been a little over a month since I took over the studio's finances," Haruno began, opening her notebook instead of eating. "Currently, there are three large items of income:
First, the television copyright fee for The Newcomer, for which NHK paid 15 million yen, resulting in 11.52 million yen after tax.
Second, the film copyright fee for Confessions paid by Toho Films, totaling 20 million yen, resulting in 15.36 million yen after tax.
The third payment was the biggest income this month. Sakuraba Publishing House printed 500,000 paperback copies of Disintegration of Various Causes in one go and paid us a total of 52.5 million yen in royalties. After tax, the income was 40.43 million yen.
In the past month or so, the studio account has received a total of 67.31 million yen. Even after deducting the salaries for lawyer Yagami and assistant Sakamachi, this is pure profit."
Haruno finished her report and put away her notebook, but she didn't start eating. Instead, she stared at Hachiman with her big eyes blinking.
"Senior, just eat after you're done talking. Why are you staring at me?" Hachiman felt a little embarrassed by her gaze.
"Hikigaya-kun," Haruno said in a somewhat pitiful tone, "as a boss, shouldn't you briefly comment on my report after listening to it...?"
"Well... how about I give you a reward?"
After saying that, Hachiman picked up a piece of sausage with his fork and held it up to Yukinoshita Haruno's mouth.
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