Chapter 5: Getting fired from a company and then getting headhunted.
The company I work for is a large publishing company called Takanawa.
TAKANAWA Books is the publisher that I belong to.
It mainly deals with light novels, and in recent years it has published Digital Masters, which was made into an anime movie and became a social phenomenon.
They also have a very popular author, Kamimatsu, who is the author of Digimasu, and a genius, Prince Hakuba, who is the author of Arts Magic Online (AMO).
They belong to one of the top publisher in the novel industry, …….
“Okaya-kun, I’m sorry, but I need you to quit the TAKANAWA Books publisher.”
…… The person in front of me is the editor-in-chief.
Jyunikane-san.
She is a veteran female editor who has risen to the position of editor-in-chief at the age of 34.
She wears her black hair in a ponytail.
Her sharp eyes and glasses give her a cool impression.
” You said you wanted me to quit. …… Why are you suddenly doing that?”
As soon as I arrived at work in the morning, I was summoned by the editor-in-chief, Jyunikane.
We are facing each other like this in a small conference room.
“It’s simple. There’s a rumor going around the editorial department that you’re having an affair.”
“HA ……!? I’m having an affair? How could that be!”
It was a rumor with no basis in fact.
I mean, I was the one who was cheated on!
“Calm down. You’re married, aren’t you? You were having an affair with a young girl, right?”
“No, I did not! Who told you that bullshit?”
“It’s Kisogawa.”
…… It all makes sense now.
Kisogawa. The man my wife, Misae, is having an affair with.
He was just trying to save his …… own skin.
If he found out that he had been having an affair with someone else’s wife, it would make it difficult for him to stay at work.
So he made the first move.
…… The bad timing is that I left yesterday morning.
Kisogawa must have arrived at work at the same time and told Jyunikane-san about the hoax.
“Why don’t you think he’s lying?
“I don’t think so. Kisogawa-kun is not the kind of boy who tells lies.”
“…………”
I am sad.
It wasn’t sad that they thought I was the kind of guy who would cheat on my wife.
It is sad …… that she trust Kisogawa’s words more than mine.
…… It’s true, Kisogawa was very close to Jyunikane.
He probably decided that a younger but more communicative subordinate would be better …… than an unsociable subordinate buka who had worked in this editorial department for a long time and contributed a lot.
” …… Time to go”
“Eh?”
“No, …… it’s nothing. I understand. I’m quitting. This company.”
Jyunikane-san rolled her eyes.
“Y-You’re quitting ……?”
“Yes. Isn’t that just perfect? You were the one who asked me to leave, right?”
“N-no,……. you just have to leave the TAKANAWA Books publisher , but you don’t have to quit the company?”
“I don’t care. I’m quitting. Excuse me.”
…… I didn’t make an argument.
I felt like an idiot.
Kisogawa, as well as Jyunikane-san ……, or rather Jyunikane, are ultimately looking down on me.
“Damn it…….”
I left the conference room and sighed.
As I walked down the hallway, I saw a houseplant.
“Damn it!”
Annoyed, I kicked the houseplant.
The potted plant fell over, and someone…… put it back up.
“Hey, hey, don’t you feel sorry for the plant?”
“Deputy Editor Ugematsu…..”
There was a man with glasses who smiled softly.
Shoji Ugematsu
He is a deputy editor of our publisher , ……, which means he is the second most important person.
He’s a very nice person, soft-spoken to everyone, and always willing to talk to you when you’re in trouble.
“Hello. Okaya-kun. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
We were on the roof of the company.
I revealed everything to the deputy editor.
” I see. …… I understand. That’s why I thought it was a strange story.”
The deputy editor sighed.
“You’re a serious person, you would never have an affair. I also told Kane-kun that you would never cheat. She ignored me. I guess she won’t listen to what this old man has to say.”
The deputy editor said with a wry smile.
He’s older than Jyunikane, but he’s lower in rank than her.
Jyunikane always made fun of Ugematsu-san.
“Do you believe that I’m not having an affair?”
“Of course. You are not that kind of person. I can tell by looking at you.”
He smiles and taps me on the shoulder.
“You always stay late, you work more than anyone else and you contribute to our company. You’ve always supported us here at Takanawa Books, no matter what anyone thinks of you. There is no way that such a serious person like you would cheat.”
“…………”
Unlike Jyunikane, this person was looking at me as an individual.
” …… I’m glad.”
Tears are falling down …… in droplets.
There was someone who understood …… and acknowledged me.
“Do you want me to go to the top and ask them to cancel the publisher transfer?”
“…… No, I said I’m quitting the company.”
“Y-You quit?
“…… Yes. I didn’t want to be here anymore.
I didn’t want to see either Kisogawa or Jyunikane.
I didn’t even want to be in the same company.
” I see. ……hey, Okaya-kun. If you don’t mind. ……”
The deputy editor said with a serious face.
“Why don’t you start a new company with me?”
“Ah, you mean start a new publisher……?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of quitting here soon and starting a new light novel company.”
“A-A new publisher …… at this time?”
…… is too reckless.
The light novel market is saturated.
Even if you start a new company, there is no guarantee that it will work.
It’s more likely that …… will go under.
“There are many things that big publishers can’t do. For example, works with low points in Naro, for example, won’t get published here, will they?”
Naro means “Novelist” in Japanese.
There is a point rating system there.
The higher the points, the higher the rating, and the more popular the work, the more publisher are interested in publishing it.
So many publisher approach popular works, and those with low points don’t get approached very often.
This is especially true for my company.
“There are interesting works even with low points. I don’t like it when they disappear without seeing the light of day. But it’s hard to get them out here. That’s why I want to create a new company……, and provide a place for buried talent to flourish.”
I was impressed by the philosophy of the …… deputy editor.
It’s not always what’s shining brightly on the front page that’s good.
There are also things that you can’t see but are still working hard.
…… I was overlapping myself with these works.
“And I’m not happy with the way things are done here, either. It’s strange that we have to work on weekends and go home in the morning. We are employees, right? I mean, isn’t it normal to wake up in the morning and go home at night?”
…… Akari pointed this out to me before I left the house.
Yeah, that’s crazy. ……
“I want to create a company where the writers and the editors can laugh.”
Suddenly ……, the deputy editor reaches out to me.
“I want you to help me. Why don’t you come with me?”
…… I quit TAKANAWA.
It wasn’t just because I was dissatisfied with the editor-in-chief, Jyunikane, and the employee, Kisogawa.
I was also dissatisfied with the way things were done and the way we worked.
I would like to follow Deputy Editor Agematsu, who understands me better than Jyunikane. ……
” By all means, please take care of me.”
I took the hand of the deputy editor ……, no, Ugematsu-san.
This is how I was able to find a new job the very same day I quit my job.
Mitsuhiko Okaya has decided to start a new label with Deputy Editor Ugematsu.
The editor-in-chief, Toshie Jyunikane, hears about it later.
“Fun~ That’s okay. That guy was a burden to our company. I’m glad we were able to get rid of him.”
The editor-in-chief didn’t know.
In fact, it was Okaya who had been supporting the company from behind the scenes.
After Okaya was gone…….
Jyunikane came to know everything.
The importance of Okaya and his true ability.
And that it was Kisogawa who was having an affair. ……
It wasn’t long before she realized the whole mistake and came with Kisogawa to Okaya, crying and on her knees.
Aeginleif
September 20, 2021 at 12:34 amAn editor-in-chief who doesn’t realize how much one person contributed to the company is just pathetic… I’m happy Okaya finally quits
some mob
September 20, 2021 at 5:07 amThat’s nothing more than another example of karma at the work……or well, the phrase”you reap what you sow” more exactly.
kirindas
September 20, 2021 at 1:37 amThanks for the new chapter!
some mob
September 20, 2021 at 5:17 am…….Well, it appears there are still people who believes in our MC.
He goes there to quit and was told to quit to save the company’s face(or well that rag they call face) and he was being framed….he was going to quit either way but is still infuriating.
Just as he quits he gets another job and with a superior who understands him and realizes how valuable he has been for the company.
Being capable of supporting behind the scenes is also very important people who can’t realize that are a bunch of incompetents.
In any case, the amount of people that need to kneel in front of the MC are increasing…..wow.
Everything so good so far.
shuranomichi
September 22, 2021 at 4:55 ambruh, Kamimatsu!? is this the same author as that other work, hahahahaha.
Khronos Aion
January 15, 2022 at 8:23 amI’m crying as I read this because I can relate, I had a girlfriend who cheated on me with my friend, I caught them going inside the hotel, just the two of them while I was on the way home from my part time job, I couldn’t believe it was them, it might be not them since I’m a little bit far from where those two are so I decided to wait for them, after 3 hours the two come out, tears comes flowing out from my eyes as I confronted the two the next day at school I found out that they started the rumors that I’m two timing, before I knew it even my friends seems to doubt me, then there is a girl from my class who’s always rugged she’s my girlfriend’s friend btw, she then asked me to meet near the school’s gate, I thought she was going to slap me but she asked if it’s true, I told her the truth while sobbing, when she heard the story she almost cried after I realized that she seems believe in me I feel that my knees weakened, I fell down on my knees crying, she then hugged me. After a year the girl and I became in relationship, we’re just celebrate our 4 years anniversary!
Khronos Aion
January 15, 2022 at 8:37 amBy the way there are other students saw the incident, some saw the two of them goinf in hotel and some saw that they’re coming out from it and I confronted them crying, those guys defended me from the rumors, they’re not my friend that time but now it seems like we’re siblings, some of them made us an sponsor for thw christening of their child. I realized that there is always a rainbow after the rain
DudeComeUp
March 5, 2023 at 6:08 pmVery late reply, but glad you found a true happiness. Treasure that girl and all those bros who protected you, my guy. You deserve a medal.
demonkingslayer
February 9, 2022 at 11:42 pmThis terrible editor-in-chief believed the words of some new comer over a veteran employee simply cause the best guy has better looks and treated another employee like crap simply because he was older than her yet lower ranked. And above all she scoffed at the Mc for leaving and thought of him as dead weight when in fact he was the most hard working of them all. Only when she learned how important the MC was did she regret her decision, simply because it threatens her position. What a shallow woman.
Akirei
December 7, 2022 at 5:42 pmWhat a mistake, I thought the translator was taking on account to order of the names. But since the full name weren’t mentioned very often I didn’t notice he was using the japanese names with the incorrect order. It’s not that is a bad thing, but as a reader, I can’t completely accept this detail because I know and feel it’s not correct.