Tsukamatsu Hayato

Early morning, the sunlight was bright.

Xia Jie changed into a clean, neat outfit and headed out. Following a spotless street, he walked through the doors of a café.

Two days earlier, he had submitted a contract application through the author backend. The next day, he received a friend request from an L.Q. editor, along with a request to meet in person.

Online literature in Japan had developed nowhere near as quickly as it had in China. Editors still needed to meet contracted authors in person to settle the future direction of their works and the specific details of the contract.

Fortunately, L.Q.'s headquarters was in Tokyo, so it was not particularly troublesome for Xia Jie to meet the editor. The two quickly settled on a time.

The editor handling Xia Jie's contract was a middle-aged man in his thirties. He had regular features and an astute, capable air about him.

"Excuse me, are you Editor Tsukamatsu Hayato?" Xia Jie asked the man at the table.

"Huh?" Tsukamatsu Hayato, the editor seated there, was initially startled. He then rose to his feet in surprise and said, "That's me. And you are?"

"We spoke through email before. I'm JOJO. Jie. My real name is Xia Jie. Please take care of me."

"Huh?" Tsukamatsu Hayato was instantly stunned. He had met many writers, but this was the first time he had encountered a high school student like Xia Jie.

It was not as if L.Q. had never received submissions from high school students, but generally speaking, their writing skills were limited and they lacked life experience. The books they published rarely received contract offers.

Xia Jie's Parasite Spirit, published on L.Q., had solid writing and especially eye-catching updates. As a result, many L.Q. editors had unanimously concluded that the author of Parasite Spirit had to be a young person who had graduated several years ago and possessed extensive writing experience.

"My apologies, Mr. Xia Jie! Please forgive my rudeness, but you... you're simply too young!" Realizing that his attitude had been inappropriate, Tsukamatsu Hayato hurriedly apologized.

"Just call me Xia Jie, Editor Tsukamatsu. Then, may I first take a look at your company's contract?" Xia Jie went straight to the point.

"Oh, certainly! Xia Jie." Tsukamatsu Hayato took a contract from his briefcase and handed it over.

Xia Jie examined it carefully and found that it was basically the same as the contracts offered by Chinese websites. Authors received 70% of channel revenue, while consistent updates earned a certain attendance bonus. The copyright terms differed somewhat: after an author signed with the platform, half of a work's copyright belonged to the platform.

Xia Jie did not particularly care how much money his work could earn. After all, he was not short on money right now. He had written this book entirely to collect Legend Points.

Still, he naturally would not pass up an opportunity to make money.

"Is there anything about the contract that you're dissatisfied with, Xia Jie?" Tsukamatsu Hayato asked when he saw Xia Jie studying it for a long time.

Many L.Q. editors believed Xia Jie's work had the potential to become wildly popular. That was why L.Q.'s editor-in-chief had specifically assigned him, an outstanding editor of the year, to contact Xia Jie.

"It's not that I'm dissatisfied," Xia Jie replied. "It's just that, regarding copyright, I want to retain the right to publish the work overseas."

Tsukamatsu Hayato paused. "Overseas publication? You mean...?"

"My work is also published on foreign websites, so I'm informing you in advance," Xia Jie said. "If I sign with L.Q., my work will still be updated simultaneously on foreign websites."

"This..." Tsukamatsu Hayato said in surprise, "Which country have you also published your work in, Xia Jie?"

"China!" Xia Jie answered. "I'm originally of Chinese descent, so I also publish my work in Chinese on websites in China."

"I see!" Tsukamatsu Hayato thought for a moment before asking tentatively, "After signing with us, can't you stop updating the work overseas?"

"That would be irresponsible toward my Chinese readers. I won't do that!" Xia Jie refused outright.

Tsukamatsu Hayato had not expected Xia Jie's attitude to be so resolute, and he was somewhat surprised.

L.Q. was Japan's largest online novel website. A high school student Xia Jie's age should have been ecstatic to sign with L.Q., so why would he raise such unnecessary demands?

Naturally, Tsukamatsu Hayato could not have known that Xia Jie did not care at all about how much money his work could make. He only cared about how many people could read it.

The reason he had come to discuss matters with Tsukamatsu Hayato was not entirely for the sake of signing a contract. It was also to secure more and better recommendations for his work on L.Q.

Tsukamatsu Hayato could not fathom Xia Jie's thoughts, but as an experienced editor who had dealt with many authors, he knew how to satisfy authors while securing greater benefits for the platform.

"We can grant you the overseas publication rights," Tsukamatsu Hayato said after some thought. "But L.Q. must have priority rights to adapt and create derivative works from your novel. You may not authorize any other organization!"

Adaptation?

The word from Tsukamatsu Hayato's mouth made Xia Jie's eyes light up. Since the other party had brought up adaptation, it meant L.Q. thought highly of his work and believed it had the potential to become a hit.

That was undoubtedly an exciting sign!

Xia Jie pretended to consider it before agreeing to Tsukamatsu Hayato's terms.

Tsukamatsu Hayato relaxed slightly. What he feared most was an author who knew nothing yet demanded everything, but Xia Jie seemed quite easy to communicate with.

Next, Xia Jie and Tsukamatsu Hayato discussed the work's main plot development, daily updates, platform recommendations, and other matters in greater depth. During that time, Tsukamatsu Hayato brought up adaptation again.

Just as Xia Jie had expected, L.Q. intended to adapt his work into a manga, but it had to meet two conditions:

1. The work had to exceed one million words.

2. The work had to be completed at a normal level of quality.

If Xia Jie dropped the work halfway through or forcibly ended it while disregarding the editor's opinions, it would be considered an intentional breach of contract, and L.Q. would seek a large amount of compensation from him.

Tsukamatsu Hayato told Xia Jie that if he agreed, he could return to the company and draft a new contract. Naturally, Xia Jie had no reason to object.

If the work were adapted into a manga, it would spread even faster.

As for whether Tsukamatsu Hayato was using this as bait, deliberately making empty promises to trick him into signing some unfair contract, Xia Jie's personal judgment was that he was not.

Based on their interactions so far, Tsukamatsu Hayato was an approachable editor with a considerable understanding of online literature.

During their discussion, Tsukamatsu Hayato had also given many pertinent suggestions about the work, pointing out flaws in the original that even Xia Jie had failed to notice.

Xia Jie could tell that Tsukamatsu Hayato was a serious person who loved online literature, which was why he paid such close attention to Xia Jie's work.

Therefore, Xia Jie was more inclined to believe that the man would not use such underhanded methods to deceive him.

Of course, it was also possible that Tsukamatsu Hayato had hidden it too well, and Xia Jie had misjudged him.

But so what?

If things truly came to that, Shadow Maru and Thunder Maru were not just for show. Xia Jie would naturally have ways to deal with it.