September 11th
"Takumi, breakfast is ready!"
Takumi was brushing his teeth in the bathroom when a voice came from the living room.
He rubbed his eyelids in front of the mirror while brushing. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt as if he had dark circles under his eyes.
After washing up, Takumi returned to the living room, worried.
"Mom, do I have dark circles under my eyes?"
Aika, stunned, looked closely at his face: "No, you're seeing things."
Takumi sat down to eat breakfast calmly. He didn't want to have dark circles at such a young age.
"Takumi." Aika poured him a glass of milk and asked, "Today is the day the manga are released. Do you want to buy one?"
"No." There was a bowl of noodles on the table. Takumi picked up the noodles with chopsticks: "The publisher will send us some copies, so we don't have to buy them ourselves."
He ate the noodles happily. The release of the individual volume is considered the actual publication of his own manga. Hinotori Publishing will prepare some copies for him. Takumi even sent a message last night saying he would send one to Shiori.
The academic master replied happily: "It just so happens that I don't have any money. I'll pay you back with the next individual volume."
But Takumi always has some individual volumes whenever they are published. 'Why does he need Shiori to send them to him?'
"So Alice is coming tomorrow?"
Aika sat next to Takumi and ate noodles, thinking about Alice: "Lately she's been busy with your manga. She should be able to have some peace and quiet after this release."
Alice and Takumi have been very busy lately, and Aika is very worried.
Suddenly, she thought of something else: "Takumi, how much do you think a single volume will sell for, and how much money will it make?"
"Well, if it's nationwide, will 100,000 copies be sold?"
Takumi didn't want to scare Aika, so he used cautious words: "My royalties are very high, but taxes have to be deducted. I estimate I can earn more than 20,000,000 yen!"
The biggest preferential treatment Hinotori Publishing gave Takumi was a 10% royalty, and his calculation method had no problem. However, there is a big loophole in the figure. Japan is vast and rich in resources. The first edition of Detective Conan exceeded 100,000 copies, and final sales will undoubtedly be higher.
However, Aika was still scared.
"Two, 2,000,000 yen...". She could barely hold her chopsticks. 'What does 2,000,000 yen mean? With that money, they could buy a house in Osaka, and it would be paid for all at once!'
After buying the house, they would be completely Osakan. If they told others, Aika's siblings would probably faint.
"Takumi, don't spend money recklessly!"
Aika suddenly remembered a saying that men turn bad when they have money. She couldn't calm down: "From now on, you must tell your mother if you need money!"
Takumi turned his head, looked at her, and smiled.
"It's okay, Mom, don't worry."
He doesn't gamble or play around, and he has no hobbies, much less does anything that would make Aika sad.
In the morning, Alice arrived with some books, accompanied by a delivery person.
"Did you buy a treadmill?"
Alice looked at the delivery person carefully carrying the treadmill home and was surprised: "How much?"
"Six hundred thousand yen, for home use." Takumi led Alice to the studio and asked Aika to help her adjust the treadmill outside: "Did you bring the volume?"
Alice took the volume of Detective Conan from her bag. As soon as it appeared, Takumi's eyes lit up. The cover of the volume was the same as the subway poster, with the image of the hero and heroine together.
"You really know how to do business."
Takumi was very satisfied. 'It turned out that the poster had that use. He wondered if Kurosawa had planned it a long time ago.'
"There's more!"
Alice laughed and turned to the last page: "Look, what's this?"
"This is..."
Takumi was surprised again. He saw a beautiful maple leaf bookmark, but the image was of Kaito Kid.
"We turned your three images into bookmarks and randomly placed them on the last page of each book, so we delayed the release until today." Alice took out different bookmarks from other books, each very delicate: "It's a shame the bookmarks are too small and don't reflect the artistic conception of the images."
Although she said so, Alice was still a little proud. These bookmarks were very well made and would undoubtedly surprise readers.
Takumi praised the bookmarks, and the quality of the individual volume was also good. The publisher spared no expense, and 600 yen was a good deal.
"By the way, Takumi."
Alice hesitated for a moment and continued: "The sales of The Detective Sherlock are very high. Yesterday, 70,000 copies were sold in Osaka alone. The editor-in-chief hopes you won't be discouraged."
"70,000 copies in Osaka?" Takumi was stunned, then shook his head and said: "It seems I underestimated the market. The first print run of Detective Conan is 150,000 copies. I think they should print more copies immediately."
Alice was stunned.
"Do you think Detective Conan will surpass The Detective Sherlock?" She swallowed: "Is that your idea?"
Takumi smiled slightly.
"I used to think of Sherlock the novel as a rival..."
If Mach could vividly describe the novel, Takumi might not have the confidence to win, but he was disappointed after reading the manga.
There is still a crowd in front of Qingyuan Bookstore. Yesterday's bestseller, The Detective Sherlock, is still on the cover today, and next to it, Detective Conan, which has just been released.
"Oji-san, are you going to buy this?"
An old man with a cane slowly approached. The bookseller's eyes lit up. Seeing that the customer was clearly a fan of The Detective Sherlock, she quickly picked up the book and handed it to him.
"I don't want this...". However, to everyone's surprise, the old man reached out to push The Detective Sherlock away and turned to Detective Conan: "This is it. I've seen this picture on the subway and bus. How much does this book cost?"
The bookseller was stunned.
Miyuki took advantage of her break to read a manga, and her mobile phone suddenly rang. She took it out and saw it was a text message.
"Miyuki, this is Mach-sensei. What time do you get off work today?"
The content of the message made her frown slightly. The otaku who had passed away yesterday turned out to be Mach, but 'who leaked her mobile number?'
She thought about it and replied:
"At 6:30 PM."
The work end time is 5:00 PM. Miyuki closed her phone indifferently and continued reading Detective Conan.
"That idiot drew The Detective Sherlock like that! He really thinks he's great!"
Miyuki, an expert in manga, understands that The Detective Sherlock is a classic example of traditional mystery novels. Its charm lies in the suspense and tension that permeate the entire story. However, Mach's drawing is too sharp, attracting the reader's attention to the characters' appearance, and completely lacks the original atmosphere.
Most people don't know it, but Miyuki sighed in her heart, 'drawing a cold story in a girls' manga, isn't this courting death in front of young Mirai-sensei...?'