Chapter 60: Heading To Shueisha
Sakamoto Ken didn’t dress up specially, changed into a clean set of casual clothes, simply tidied his hair, took the file bag containing the manuscripts for two chapters, and went out.
First, he arrived at Aoba Law Office near Ochanomizu Station in Chiyoda Ward.
The agency was in an ordinary five-story office building, with a small storefront but neat and orderly inside.
Sakamoto Ken pushed the door open, explained his purpose to the staff at the front desk, and was led to the office inside.
“Sakamoto-san, you’ve arrived.”
“Lawyer Uchida, good afternoon.”
The two didn’t exchange much small talk; the law office seemed quite busy, and Uchida Shunta directly pushed a document in front of Sakamoto Ken.
“The situation is the same as what was said on the phone,” Lawyer Uchida said. “After final negotiations, the creditor agreed to waive all accumulated interest and a small portion of the principal… ultimately settling at 24.7 million yen.”
Sakamoto Ken nodded calmly: “I have no objections.”
“Regarding the repayment plan…” Lawyer Uchida flipped to the later pages of the document and pointed to the clauses above. “Considering that you’re about to enroll and have no stable income source, the other party agreed to postpone the repayment start date to four years later, that is, starting from the month you graduate from university.”
He paused, then added: “Pay it off in installments over five years, with monthly repayments of around 410,000 yen, of course, if you have the ability, you can prepay the full or partial amount at any time.”
410,000 yen a month—this figure was actually quite challenging for an ordinary university graduate.
After all, an ordinary fresh university graduate’s monthly salary was just over 200,000 yen, and after deducting taxes and insurance, the take-home pay was about 160,000 to 170,000 yen.
Unless entering a well-known foreign company like Google, Apple, or Goldman Sachs, a fresh graduate’s monthly salary wouldn’t exceed 410,000 yen.
In his previous life, he was crushed by this debt; besides drawing manga, he had to do part-time jobs, and the convenience store provided bentos, which saved on food expenses.
Moreover, both were considered freelance work, with no insurance payments at all, so the proportion of take-home money was higher than full-time jobs.
But he actually didn’t bear the debt pressure for too long; this money was funded by Haruna…
But now it’s different.
Sakamoto Ken carefully reviewed every clause of the contract. The public interest lawyer provided free legal aid, and negotiating the initial over 30 million yen debt down to this point was already the result of Lawyer Uchida’s maximum effort.
After confirming all clauses were correct, Sakamoto Ken didn’t hesitate and signed his name at the end of the document, then stamped it.
“Thank you, Lawyer Uchida, you’ve worked hard during this time.” He pushed the document back.
“This is my job.”
Uchida Shunta put away the document. He also knew that this amount was still a big number for Sakamoto Ken, but they had indeed done their best.
Strictly speaking, he could only help Sakamoto Ken negotiate with the other party as much as possible; he couldn’t pay it off for him.
“By the way, Sakamoto-san hasn’t had dinner yet, right?” Uchida asked.
“Not yet.” Sakamoto Ken replied.
“It’s almost dinnertime. The office always orders a few extra meals. Would you like to join us?” Uchida Shunta was actually out of sympathy; after all, during this time helping Sakamoto Ken negotiate this debt issue, he also knew about his family situation.
“That sounds great.” Sakamoto Ken didn’t stand on ceremony at all. “Then thank you, Uchida-san.”
In the agency’s public area, Sakamoto Ken and Lawyer Uchida sat facing each other at the dining table, with a very hearty bento in front of them.
Unlike convenience store bentos, this one was clearly freshly made; buying it himself would probably cost around 1,500 yen.
Lawyer Uchida silently finished his bento and said solemnly to Sakamoto Ken: “Sakamoto-san, if you have any legal matters in the future, you can come to me too.”
“Definitely, and I’ll pay next time,” Sakamoto Ken said.
“Haha, my fees aren’t cheap,” Lawyer Uchida joked.
“I’ll earn enough money.” After Sakamoto Ken finished speaking, he threw the bento box into the trash can nearby and said, “This is the last time applying for public aid; next time I’ll definitely pay normally.”
“Good, besides litigation-related services, our firm also has tax, property rights, and asset management services. Of course, we also do criminal defense, but I hope you never need it.”
Criminal defense? Does being killed by three women count? Sakamoto Ken thought to himself.
Uchida looked at Sakamoto Ken; it had been over a month since they last met, and he felt the boy in front of him had changed a lot.
Just now, when Sakamoto Ken said, “I’ll pay next time,” it didn’t feel like a joke at all.
When Sakamoto Ken got up to leave, Uchida shook his hand and saw him downstairs.
This kid might really have a future.
……
Sakamoto Ken left Aoba Law Office, transferred to a bus, and arrived near Shueisha, also in Chiyoda Ward.
The live broadcast was at eight in the evening; it was just past seven now.
After telling his editor on LINE, Editor Kaji Keiko came to wait for him in the lobby downstairs.
When Editor Kaji Keiko saw Sakamoto Ken, she immediately came up with a smile.
“Sakamoto Sensei, you’ve arrived.”
Sakamoto Ken handed her a thick file bag: “Editor-san, these are the latest two chapters’ manuscripts.”
“You’ve worked hard.” Editor Kaji Keiko took the file bag and could clearly feel the weight inside. “The live broadcast is at eight, with nearly an hour left. Let’s go to the rest room by the editorial department first and take a look at the latest manuscripts.”
“Okay, thank you, Editor-san.”
Editor Kaji Keiko took him to the rest room specially prepared for writers next to the editorial department.
The room wasn’t big, filled with bookshelves of manga, and simple furniture like sofas and a coffee table; the environment was very comfortable.
“Sakamoto Sensei, coffee or tea?” Editor Kaji Keiko asked.
“Just a glass of water is fine.”
Editor Kaji Keiko quickly poured him a glass of iced water, then eagerly sat on the sofa next to Sakamoto Ken, opened the file bag, and took out the manuscripts inside.
These were chapters 15 and 16 of Chainsaw Man.
“I’ll finish reading soon.”
Editor Kaji Keiko said, then immediately immersed herself in the manga.
Sakamoto Ken sat on the sofa, looking at Editor Kaji Keiko’s focused profile, feeling a subtle sense of peace in his heart.
He noticed that Editor Kaji Keiko’s makeup was more refined than usual today, and her outfit was slightly more formal, probably in preparation for the live broadcast.
After all, it was an interview live broadcast about his work, and as the editor-in-charge, she would probably appear on camera too.
When Sakamoto Ken talked about manga with Editor Kaji Keiko, he could clearly feel her strong passion for manga, and her reading scope was also very broad.
He didn’t need Editor Kaji’s help with creation, but all the work behind the scenes relied on her.
Whether a work becomes popular and to what extent depends on quality as the foundation.
If subsequent operations are done well with more resources invested, or the right team is found for adaptation, even an originally mediocre work can explode in popularity.
If promotion and operations fall short, there are plenty of hidden gems gathering dust on the market.
Having such a professional and diligent editor was indeed a fortunate thing.
