Chapter 119: The Offer

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: The Offer

The call came on a Tuesday.

At 10:43 AM.

While Haruki was drawing backgrounds.

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The timing felt intentional.

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Life often attacked during productive moments.

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His phone vibrated across the desk.

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Unknown number.

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Haruki immediately considered ignoring it.

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Reasonable.

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Very reasonable.

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The last few months had trained him well.

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Unknown numbers usually meant trouble.

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Unfortunately, responsible adults answered phones.

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Occasionally.

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Haruki accepted the call.

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"Hello?"

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A woman answered.

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Professional voice.

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Confident.

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Not mysterious.

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Already an improvement.

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"Haruki Sato?"

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"Yes."

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A brief pause.

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Then:

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"This is Kanzaki from Horizon Creative."

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The name hit instantly.

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Because Horizon Creative was not small.

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Not medium.

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Large.

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Very large.

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The company managed creators, intellectual property, adaptations, and several entertainment ventures.

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A serious player.

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Haruki sat up immediately.

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The conversation lasted eleven minutes.

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When it ended, he stared at the phone.

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Then at the wall.

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Then back at the phone.

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The information remained unchanged.

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Rude.

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Very rude.

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At noon, Haruki found himself in a conference room with Mizuno, Suzune, and Nakamura.

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Emergency meeting.

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The publishing industry’s favorite hobby.

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The room felt tense.

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Not panic.

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Calculation.

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Different.

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More dangerous.

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Haruki explained the call.

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Horizon Creative wanted a meeting.

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A formal meeting.

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Not about publishing.

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Not about serialization.

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Representation.

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The room became thoughtful.

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Not quiet.

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Thoughtful.

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Different.

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Useful.

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Suzune immediately grabbed a notebook.

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Mizuno folded her arms.

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Nakamura rubbed his forehead.

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Three completely different reactions.

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Exactly as expected.

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Finally Mizuno spoke.

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"What do they want?"

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"The official answer?"

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A pause.

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"They think I’m undervalued."

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Silence.

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Actual silence.

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Because everyone understood the implications.

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Publisher relationships.

Contract leverage.

Future negotiations.

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Power.

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The meeting suddenly became much larger than a simple phone call.

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Suzune started writing furiously.

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A dangerous sign.

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The assistant editor only wrote that fast when disasters approached.

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Eventually Nakamura asked the obvious question.

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"What do you want?"

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The answer should have been simple.

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It wasn’t.

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Haruki thought about the question.

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Longer than expected.

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Then:

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"I want Threadless Gate to succeed."

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Mizuno nodded.

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Immediately.

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No disagreement.

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Because that answer made sense.

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The editor leaned forward.

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"Good."

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The infection remained undefeated.

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Then she continued.

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"Remember that answer."

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A pause.

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"Before everybody starts offering different ones."

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The statement stayed with him.

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Not because it was dramatic.

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Because it felt accurate.

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The meeting ended an hour later.

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No decisions.

No commitments.

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Just preparation.

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At three o’clock, Haruki met Takeda.

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The friend listened patiently.

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An increasingly rare skill.

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They sat outside a convenience store.

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Coffee.

Plastic chairs.

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Ordinary surroundings.

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Useful surroundings.

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Haruki explained everything.

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The call.

The offer.

The meeting.

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Takeda listened.

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Then immediately asked:

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"Do they have money?"

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Haruki stared.

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"That’s your question?"

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"Absolutely."

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Fair.

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Very fair.

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The friend shrugged.

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"Everybody else is going to overcomplicate this."

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A pause.

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"So I’m covering the basics."

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The conversation continued.

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Unlike editors and publishers, Takeda approached problems like a normal person.

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A valuable perspective.

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An undervalued one.

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Eventually the friend became serious.

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Unexpected.

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Potentially dangerous.

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"You know what worries me?"

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Haruki waited.

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Takeda pointed toward him.

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"You’re starting to matter."

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The answer sounded ridiculous.

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Then Takeda elaborated.

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"Before, bad decisions mostly hurt you."

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A pause.

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"Now they hurt editors."

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Another.

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"Publishers."

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Another.

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"Staff."

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The realization landed slowly.

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Because it was true.

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Success expanded responsibility.

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Nobody mentioned that part often enough.

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At six o’clock, Haruki returned home.

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The Osaka offer still sat on his desk.

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Now another offer existed too.

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Different.

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Bigger.

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More complicated.

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The future kept multiplying.

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An exhausting habit.

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The manuscript pages waited beside the offers.

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Threadless Gate.

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The actual reason all these opportunities existed.

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The actual reason any of this mattered.

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Haruki sat down.

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Then started drawing.

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Not because the decisions were solved.

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Because they weren’t.

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The uncertainty remained.

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The pressure remained.

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The opportunities remained.

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The work remained too.

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Two hours later, his phone buzzed.

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Yui.

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Simple message.

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Interview results arrive tomorrow.

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The words felt heavier than they should have.

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Because tomorrow changed things.

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One way or another.

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Haruki stared at the screen.

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Then typed:

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You’ll be okay.

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The response arrived almost immediately.

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That’s not what you’re worried about.

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Haruki laughed.

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Because she was right.

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Again.

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Dangerous woman.

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Very dangerous woman.

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The conversation ended shortly afterward.

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Not because they ran out of things to say.

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Because neither wanted to say the thing they were actually thinking.

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Outside, rain began falling across Tokyo.

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Inside, manuscript pages slowly accumulated.

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And somewhere between contracts, rankings, opportunities, and future choices, Haruki finally understood the next stage of his career.

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Failure had consequences.

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Success did too.

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The uncomfortable difference?

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Success usually arrived carrying more paperwork.