"Heh, hehe..." This world was never short on smart people. Before Sogo Doma could finish, Sonoko Machida cut him off with a cold laugh. "Do you think we haven't considered that? But the final volume of Utaha's work promotes Lilies Bloom. How are we supposed to handle that? Promote same-sex marriage laws? Or make the declining birthrate even worse...?"
"So, you need a light novel capable of changing that trend of thought!"
"You make it sound easy. Although Utaha didn't listen to me back then, I have to admit that her idea made that final volume a phenomenon. No, even 'phenomenon' can no longer describe it. If it hadn't promoted ideas like Lilies Bloom, then calling her a god after just one volume would have been...
"Under those circumstances, you want me to find something that can stand against it..."
"Is that difficult?" Sogo Doma asked with a light chuckle.
"You think it isn't? Even Utaha herself admitted that, even if she wrote another one, it would be impossible to reach the level of this final volume..." Sonoko Machida said coldly.
"Fine..." Sogo Doma paused. "Actually, I happen to have a freshly completed light novel on hand. It could probably go head-to-head with Utaha's newly released final volume."
"..." After a long silence, Sonoko Machida finally said, "Y-You'd better not be talking big. Have you even read Utaha's final volume? That thing is..."
"Editor Machida, if I remember correctly, you once urged Utaha to revise it because you were worried the final volume wouldn't be accepted by the market. What's this? Now you're going to sing its praises?" Sogo Doma asked with a smile.
"I..." In truth, even now, Sonoko Machida still had plenty of complaints about that final volume. Unfortunately, the market was not something ordinary people could ever