All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

”It’s undeniable that Izumi Ki’s popularity and sales are chart-topping. But we can’t overlook the other authors participating in the submission contest just because of one person’s outstanding performance. That’s a narrow perspective. This contest has brought out quite a few promising newcomers, and some veteran authors have even broken through their bottlenecks.”

”Heh, that sounds awfully righteous. Aren’t you just trying to show off that some of the authors you’re in charge of achieved results in the contest?

”Unfortunately, that won’t work on me. The authors under my supervision were too busy writing their current projects to participate. Oh, and by the way, one of my authors just sold the audio drama adaptation rights.

”How about the authors under your supervision? Any achievements in adaptation rights?” Editor Iwata shot back with a grin.

Just as the tension between the two editors was heating up, Yuko Hiratsuka cleared her throat lightly, signaling them to stop.

”Ahem. We extended this meeting to discuss the issue currently facing the Dengeki Bunko official Twitter account—or rather, the issue facing Dengeki Bunko as a whole. If the two of you want to argue, you can find an empty lot after work and settle it there.”

”My apologies.”

”Sorry about that.”

After that, Yuko Hiratsuka turned to Haruno Yukinoshita.

”Editor Yukinoshita, you’re Izumi Ki’s assigned editor. What’s your take on this?”

Haruno Yukinoshita, who had been looking down at Twitter, finally raised her head and smiled helplessly.

”I think there’s something more important we should be paying attention to right now.”

”Hm? What is it?”

Yuko Hiratsuka asked in surprise. She had carefully read through the Operations Department’s summary earlier. Although readers were currently agitated in the comment section, it was an easy problem to resolve. All they had to do was announce in advance that Sword Art Online would participate in the Dengeki Festival.

Haruno Yukinoshita sighed softly.

”Chief Editor Hiratsuka, try opening Twitter and take a look at Izumi Ki’s personal account.”

Although Haruno did not say it outright, as chief editor, Yuko Hiratsuka immediately sensed a possibility. Her mood grew tense.

Reader anger could be easily resolved. But what if Izumi Ki—the author of Sword Art Online—was angry as well?

Anxious to check, Yuko Hiratsuka fumbled several times and even entered her phone password incorrectly before finally opening Twitter and entering Izumi Ki’s official account.

The first thing she saw was a tweet posted a few hours ago.

Izumi Ki: [Not in a great mood lately, so I took my laptop and went traveling. I originally planned to work out the plot for Sword Art Online, but the more I wrote, the worse my mood became. Why is that~ I don’t know either. Maybe my fate with Sword Art Online has come to an end. I suppose I should start thinking about a new project instead. It just so happens I’ve had a lot of ideas for something new lately.]

The moment she read the tweet, Yuko Hiratsuka was stunned.

Not a single word directly mentioned Dengeki Bunko or the Dengeki Festival. Yet between the lines—and even in every punctuation mark—it practically felt like Izumi Ki was riding on Dengeki Bunko’s neck and scolding them.

Yuko Hiratsuka twitched her lips and let out a helpless, bitter laugh.

”Is Izumi Ki feeling wronged...? Well, that’s understandable. The participation list has already been published. Seeing her work absent from the list, she’d naturally be unhappy. She’s still relatively new, after all. She wouldn’t know we intentionally left it out to preserve the mystery of the signing event at the festival.”

Then she suddenly realized something.

”Wait—Haruno. You haven’t even told Izumi Ki about the signing event yet, have you?”

”Nope.” Haruno Yukinoshita nodded. ”I asked you earlier whether we should inform Izumi Ki in advance that we’d be holding a signing event for her at the Dengeki Festival. You refused. You said the festival signing event is different from regular ones—it’s less solemn and more lively. So not only should it be a surprise for the readers, it should also be a surprise for the author.”

After Haruno repeated Yuko Hiratsuka’s earlier words, Ai Kagami, who was sitting beside her, could not help but snort with laughter.

A surprise, a surprise. Now it had turned into a full-blown scare for the entire Dengeki Bunko editorial department.