Although The Garden of Words and Leaves was very much to Haruki's taste, it didn't matter if the editor didn't feel the same.
Haruki's consciousness drifted into the system space, where a vast collection of manga titles floated in midair, each marked with a locked or unlocked status. His fingers twitched slightly with impatience.
Unlocking these works required World Points.
According to the system, the only way to earn World Points was to become a mangaka and spread these works across this world. The more popular a series became, the more points he would receive. In theory, it sounded simple.
But in reality, the only reason The Garden of Words was even available was because it came as a free beginner reward from the system. And even then, after submitting the manuscript ten days ago... no one had reached out.
Haruki could only sigh.
If those three publishers didn't like the manuscript, then he would just release it online for free.
As long as the work spread—regardless of medium or platform—as long as people read it and genuinely enjoyed it, the system would reward him with World Points. But that was a long road.
Just as he sighed and prepared to exit the system space, the classroom bell jolted him back to reality.
Then, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Haruki glanced at the screen—and his eyes widened.
"Hello, this is Sora Riku from Kurokawa Comics. We're interested in the work you submitted and would like to invite you for an interview tomorrow morning at 10 AM. The meeting will be held at our main office in Minato-ku…"
Haruki tried to stay cool and act like this was expected.
He failed. A wide grin took over his face.
Finally—after ten days of waiting—someone had noticed his work.
Unfortunately, that smile drew the entire classroom's attention.
Especially the math teacher, a stern older man in his fifties, who looked at him with a scowl.
Haruki's smile froze instantly.
The next day, 10 AM.
Haruki arrived alone at the Kurokawa Comics office, located on the 18th floor of a high-rise in central Tokyo.
After explaining his reason for visiting, a receptionist led him through a bustling office space before ushering him into a modest room—no more than ten square meters, with a single desk and chair. The desk was cluttered with reference materials, sketchbooks, and manuscript pages.
Behind it sat a woman in glasses, her eyes fixed on the page in front of her. She read slowly at first, then faster as she flipped through the pages.
Her lips moved. "Hmm… no, the quality isn't there."
Haruki cleared his throat. "Excuse me."
She flinched, startled, and looked up to find him standing just a few steps away.
"Oh! You startled me. Who are you?"
Haruki smiled and introduced himself. "My real name is Haruki, pen name Mizushiro. I received a text from you yesterday—"
"You're Mizushiro-sensei?" Sora's eyes widened. She looked him up and down. "You're… a guy?"
Haruki blinked. "Do I look like a woman?"
"No—no, I didn't mean it like that! It's just that your manga… The Garden of Words and Leaves has such a delicate tone, and your pen name sounds so soft, I just assumed…"
Haruki chuckled awkwardly. Yeah, I figured.
In truth, her assumption wasn't unreasonable. In Japan, most male mangaka gravitated toward action, mystery, or fantasy genres. Romance stories like The Garden of Words and Leaves were often penned by female authors.
As for his pen name "Mizushiro," it was just a homophone for "casual." He hadn't put too much thought into it when picking it—he simply went with something that sounded good.
"Oh, right!" Sora straightened in her seat. "Nice to meet you properly. I'm Sora Riku, editor at Kurokawa . Please, have a seat."
Haruki sat down, and Sora got straight to the point.
"We received your submission for The Garden of Words and Leaves about eight days ago, and I was the one who reviewed it."
She paused, gathering her thoughts.
"To be honest, I personally think your work has everything it takes to be serialized in our magazine *Manyō*, in terms of story, structure, and art style."
"Hm," Haruki nodded along, trying to look composed. But inside, he was already impatient.
*Didn't she say she'd get to the point? Then just take out the contract already!*
"But…" Sora's tone shifted.
Haruki's expression tensed.
*Here it comes. A twist?*
"I proposed the idea of serializing it during our editorial meeting three days ago," she said. "But… the editor-in-chief turned it down."
"Turned it down?" Haruki frowned. "Why? Did he think the story wasn't good enough?"
"It's not that he thought it wasn't good," Sora clarified. "The issue is the length—it's too short."
"Too short?"
Haruki's face froze slightly.
Sora went on, "Our publishing house runs several periodicals, but *Manyō* is by far the most prestigious. It's one of the top three manga magazines in Tokyo, alongside *Tenon* from Tōfūsha and *Fire Drake* from Ryūga Publishing. Each issue sells over 300,000 copies and is distributed nationwide."
"The series we serialize in *Manyō* typically run for 20 chapters or more."
"But your *Garden of Words* wraps up in just seven."
"So…" Haruki muttered, his brow easing as he let out a quiet sigh. "You're saying the editorial team felt the series lacked commercial potential due to its short length?"
Sora nodded slightly.
Haruki wasn't unreasonable. As confident as he was in the quality of his work, he understood that from a business standpoint, short stories offered less value for long-term serialization. And he wasn't the one calling the shots.
Still… it was disappointing.
"I see," Haruki said. "So, Miss Sora, you asked me to come all this way just to deliver that rejection in person?"
"You could've just texted me. Would've saved me from skipping class."
Sora blinked. "Skipping class? You're still in school?"
Haruki waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it."
He stood. "Well then, I won't waste your time any further."
But before he could turn toward the door—
"Wait!"
Sora stood as well. "I'm not finished."
Haruki paused and turned back.
"You're way too quick to give up," she said, sounding exasperated. "I told you the editor-in-chief rejected it for *Manyō*. But I also said *I* think the work is excellent."
"After some discussion, he agreed to let the story run in *Inkshade*, one of our sister publications."
"That's why I invited you here today—to talk about the possibility of serializing *The Garden of Words * in *Inkshade*."
"If you're open to it, we'd be happy to move forward with publication through that channel."
Her tone was completely serious.
Haruki blinked.
*Inkshade*, huh?
It was a lesser-known magazine under Kurokawa's umbrella, known for publishing shorter or experimental works. Its reach was nowhere near *Manyō*—issues sold somewhere between ten to twenty thousand copies per release—but…
*Do I really have a choice?*
He had access to a treasure trove of legendary manga in the system, but they were all locked behind a paywall of *World Points*—which he could only earn by spreading his current work and gaining genuine reader engagement.
Whether the magazine had 300,000 readers or just 10,000, it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting people to read and love his manga.
Compared to throwing it up on the internet for free and hoping it got noticed, this was *much* better.
So after barely three seconds of hesitation, Haruki sat back down with a polite smile.
"I think we should talk specifics about the contract."