For a conscientious and responsible office worker who nevertheless craved stability deep down, Sonoko Machida found Utaha Kasumigaoka, the writer under her charge, rather troublesome. It was just that...
When Love Metronome had received no attention, Miss Sonoko had actually felt quite guilty. After all, Utaha had not received the publicity she deserved. A work that had won the Newcomer Grand Prize had merely been advertised with a few promotional banners in bookstores—and those had even focused on Utaha Kasumigaoka's identity as a beautiful girl writer?
For a time, Sonoko Machida suspected that the people in the marketing department had water in their brains. However, the marketing department had their reasons too. During Love Metronome's release, new works by many bestselling authors had also come out. They admitted that Love Metronome was of excellent quality, but compared to those authors who already had sales and drawing power...
Capital pursued profit! That was all Sonoko Machida could sigh over, lamenting that Love Metronome had been born at the wrong time. Of course, she could have argued her case. If Love Metronome became a hit, her status would rise dramatically—but if it failed...
This country was inherently prejudiced against women. Even in the workplace, as a woman, if Sonoko Machida failed, all that awaited her was being told to pack up and leave. So she had chickened out. That was also why she felt guilty.
Fortunately, Love Metronome had still become popular through word-of-mouth promotion. That put Sonoko Machida at ease and made her feel immensely satisfied. Serves you blind fools right...
But the good times did not last. Just when Love Metronome had become a massive hit, enough that it could easily have continued for over a dozen more volumes, Utaha Kasumigaoka sent her an utterly baffling ending. What had been