On his day off, Dejan Lu was forced to work on his manuscript in a café.
Kumatani Gensuke stared at Dejan Lu without blinking, afraid that if he looked away for even a second, Dejan Lu would pull the old trick of swapping finished pages for blank paper.
As an editor with ambition, he still wanted to become editor-in-chief.
This assignment to Europe was extremely important. Pokémon could be called Shonen Sunday's ultimate trump card, and everyone at Shogakukan was counting on this work.
With so many Pokémon, the IP had enormous potential for the future!
If Dejan Lu had not drawn so little of it so far, they would already have begun planning an anime adaptation.
Even so, they had recently been promoting Dejan Lu as an artist together with the Suzuki Group.
"Kumatani, what do you think about having Akinna Nakamori become my assistant? I have this condition where I can't find inspiration without a pretty girl by my side," Dejan Lu asked.
"Please don't joke around, sir. She has a lot of trouble lately. You absolutely cannot get involved with her."
Kumatani Gensuke said as he wiped away sweat with a handkerchief.
Akinna Nakamori had been at the height of her fame a few years ago, but unfortunately, she fell for that scumbag Masahiko Kondo, the original singer of "Song of a Thousand Songs."
That bastard's affairs were truly impossible to sum up in a few words.
He claimed he was buying a house to get married and conned his girlfriend out of 80 million, then turned around and went racing.
He juggled several women at once. When he happened to meet Anita Mui, he lied to her and said he did not have a girlfriend.
After being exposed, he even fucking told Anita Mui, "You're strong, but Akinna is fragile. She can't live without me."
There were far too many incidents like that.
His rotten love life was one thing, but when his own mother was in a car accident, he did not even dare take her to the hospital immediately in order to avoid reporters, which led to her death. Even in Japan, that kind of mother-hunter was utterly outrageous.
Even though Dejan Lu had expected the entertainment industry to have no bottom line, this man still refreshed his understanding.
"What do ordinary Japanese people think of her?"
Dejan Lu asked curiously.
"Most people think she doesn't respect herself. She drinks herself silly every day now, and newspapers can't even be bothered to photograph her anymore," Kumatani Gensuke said.
"Shouldn't the problem be Kondo?"
"His agency, Johnny's, is very powerful."
Kumatani Gensuke said.
Dejan Lu curled his lip. Akinna Nakamori really was pitiful, being so love-struck.
Her career, money, and love were all gone, and in the end, she had not even kept her reputation.
That afternoon, chairman Paolo Mantovani came to see him.
After sitting down, the kind old chairman got straight to the point. "I heard Monica is taking exams recently. Once the results are out, I'd like to invite the whole team to celebrate for her."
"Wouldn't that be a little too high-profile, Mr. Chairman? Besides, she's already passed."
Dejan Lu asked.
It was being treated like an admission banquet. Was he supposed to collect red envelopes too?
"It's fine," Mantovani said. "A sponsor has approached us recently. I wanted to ask what you think."
"Shouldn't this sort of thing be discussed in the dressing room?"
Dejan Lu said.
Mantovani drained his coffee in one gulp before saying, "The main thing is, they don't really understand this stuff. Japanese sponsors are very interested in sponsoring us now."
Dejan Lu glanced at Kumatani Gensuke.
Looking somewhat aggrieved, Kumatani Gensuke got up and left the room.
Only then did Dejan Lu say, "Personally, I think we should ask for as much as possible, sign early, make the contract long-term, and include title bonuses as well as bonuses for players' individual honors."
"The Japanese certainly are rich." Mantovani nodded. "But I don't know how much we should ask for. There are very few examples like this in football. I heard Manchester United gets 100,000 Pound Sterling a year from Sharp. Should we ask for 150,000?"
"Add another zero, Mr. Chairman," Dejan Lu urged.
Mantovani froze completely.
He had not expected Dejan Lu to have such a huge appetite.
Even if the Premier League did not hold much status in European football right now, Britain had many colonies, so its reach was still guaranteed.
No matter how impressive a Serie A club was, asking for an extra hundred thousand or so was about the limit.
"The Japanese don't lack money now, but they need influence," Dejan Lu persuaded him. "We're currently the most high-profile team in Serie A, which means we're the team making the biggest splash in football. Spending a little more to sponsor us would be well worth it."
"That's far too much. I'll ask their representatives. There are a lot of companies."
Mantovani said.
That did not matter. Competition drove prices up.
Right now, they were fucking loaded.
Those people did not care about this little bit of money at all.
"Try to sign as soon as possible and make it long-term. It would be best if there are clauses for increases based on titles and results," Dejan Lu said.
Once Japan's bubble burst, there would be no chance of getting sponsorship fees that high again.
What a pity Sharp was a broke little company. Otherwise, when they commentated on Serie A in the future, they could have Teacher Han deliver another legendary line.
Aside from shirt-front sponsors, Adidas had the most kit sponsorships right now. Some Italian clubs used domestic brands, such as Sampdoria, whose sponsor was Kappa.
If he really wanted to create competition, he would have to wait for the Americans to make a move.
It probably would not be many more years before Nike began aggressively staking out territory.
With their instincts, perhaps they had already set their sights on Sampdoria.
After Mantovani left, Kumatani Gensuke returned to his seat.
"Sir, if you don't have inspiration next time, could you tell me in advance?" Kumatani Gensuke asked pitifully.
"Don't worry, Kumatani. I'm doing this for the magazine's sake too. The readers need to understand that updating on time is already extremely rare, and they must learn to cherish it. In our country, some writers may only update a few thousand words in an entire year."
Dejan Lu said.
"Will you keep working after you get home?"
Kumatani Gensuke asked uneasily.
"Of course. I'll get these two issues' manuscripts to you as soon as possible," Dejan Lu said.
Kumatani Gensuke nodded.
Getting Dejan Lu to work in a café for an entire day was already rare enough.
He could not exactly hold Dejan Lu hostage and stop him from going home.
After packing up, Kumatani Gensuke prepared to leave as well. Since the job had shifted from temporary to long-term, the company had even rented him a place in Genoa, with the office below and living quarters above.
Kumatani Gensuke's future was now intertwined with Dejan Lu's.
He had no other choice.
When Dejan Lu got home, he found an especially lavish dinner waiting for him, with candles arranged on the table.
"I did well. I think I passed!" Monica immediately announced the good news.
"That's great."
Dejan Lu kissed her forehead before sitting down to eat.
After dinner, they did not even clear the dishes before tumbling into the bedroom.
Their bedroom shared a wall with Roberto Mancini's living room.
The house had good soundproofing, but the headboard kept slamming against the wall, still making Roberto Mancini extremely irritated.
Fuck, are they going to let me watch TV or not?
He got up and pounded hard on the wall several times, but it had no effect. When he turned around, his legs went weak and he nearly dropped to his knees. Federica's eyes were practically melting.
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