Short Story 1

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Short Story

“Takkun.”

“What’s wrong, Ayako-san?”

“Somehow… things have become quite complicated out there.”

“Yeah, that’s right… I never thought it would turn into something so dire. It feels like an eternity ago when we were considering whether to hold the Olympics or not.” (TLN: This happened during March ~ May for those unaware.)

“In these circumstances, I don’t think we can hold them anymore.”

“The editorial industry as well… They seem to be going through a rough time.”

“Yeah. Now that all the editorial industries have to adhere to regulations, everyone is working from home.”

“I guess editors always have it hard.”

“Not just the editorial industry, but also the content industry such as anime seems to be changing.”

“Hm?”

“And I think it’s not just the content industry, but also other industries… Until now, all meetings we had were face-to-face, and a lot of times I wondered if it was really necessary to meet up when we could have simply made a videocall meeting. But then, all of this came, and we were asked to not have large meetings, so the use of videocalls for meetings became the norm immediately.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t approve of all of this that’s going on, but… Maybe it was necessary for some kind of event to happen so that old, deeply rooted traditions finally changed.”

“Well, it’s complicated.”

“There are a lot of people that surprisingly find telecommuting to be manageable in the editorial industry. Of course, there are tasks that can’t be done unless you go to an office… but even after all of this is done, I think that telecommuting in this industry can become a lot more common.”

“Hmhm.”

“Look at me for example. I’m an editor, right? I’m a single mother and I also work as a light novel and social games editor.”

“It’s your character setting, so to say.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Well, my setting of ‘light novel editor that lives in Tohoku and works from home’… to be honest, it’s too absurd.”

“Well… It’s a bit out of the norm.”

“Yes, very out of the norm, not to say impossible. There’s no way I live in Tohoku and work as an editor from home. There are a lot of things I can’t do without going to the office and there are a lot of meetings from people outside the company… Basically, working in the editorial industry is very tough.”

“In the first volume, the editorial industry wasn’t mentioned a lot.”

“That’s right. But well, that’s because my job isn’t my main job, so it was decided to go with the fantastical setting of making me an editor that lives in Tohoku and works from home… But.”

“But?”

“If the telecommuting culture becomes more common place in the future… Unexpectedly, being a telecommuter editor who lives in Tohoku would stop being a fantastical setting. In a not so far future, there will be a time where people can live in rural areas and also work as front-line editors. The Reiwa era editors can free themselves from the norm that you have to live in an urban area to be an editor.” (TLN: May 1^st, 2019 to Present.)

“It is true that this incident will change how we work certain jobs… for better or worse.”

“Yes, which means that… I’m the vanguard editor of this era.”

“…Huh?”

“This story is set in a city of the Tohoku region, where the author lives and I work in a company inspired by ‘Straight Edge’ lifestyle which the lead editor follows… And the result was a fantasy setting that could have never existed in real life; a telecommuting editor and single mother that lives in the Tohoku region… I never imagined that I would become the very image that would pioneer the editors of the new era… Unbelievable… That’s why literature is so interesting.” (TLN: Straight Edge is a lifestyle about maintaining a pure body and consciousness, commonly known for not using drugs or drinking alcohol. Feel free to search up if you’re interested.)

“A-Aren’t you spilling too much personal information…?”

“Well, in any case… We are in a difficult moment, but I hope that we can keep working together to overcome this emergency.”

“…Yeah, and to find a solution.”

“So please, wash your hands well and do gargles, and abstain from going outside when it’s not necessary or urgent. Of course, I want you to buy our books, but… please don’t risk your health to do so. And about sales… don’t worry about that. The editorials are already thinking about solutions and putting them in place.”

“That’s right. This short-stories project is also because of the editorial doing something for its readers that can’t go out and buy the books they want. However, despite this project being a great opportunity… why are we only talking about what happens behind the scenes?”

“Ugh… I-I had no choice! I thought about it a lot, but the editorial department ordered that, due to the current situation, I should write a happy romantic comedy story that made the readers happy… But…”

“But?”

“…After thinking about it for a long time, I couldn’t think of anything else but ‘Takkun and I washing our hands together.’ Something like you and I washing our hands at the same time, and before we realized it, ending up washing each other’s hands…”

“Eh? That’s okay, right? It’s pretty relevant right now and it’s convenient for a romantic comedy…”

“I know, but… How to say it… I felt that it could be similar to another one.”

“Huh…?”

“If we did that in this project in which all the short stories are released at once… I’m sure that someone would definitely do a story like that. ‘Washing hands with the heroine’… Probable also do stories like ‘Having a videocall with the heroine’ or ‘An online drinking party with the heroine’…”

“Yeah… That’s possible.”

“If you have to write a short story that won’t be included in the printed version, many authors would rely on current events… And in this case, the inspirations are quite limited. If a large number of people write short stories at the same time, there will definitely be some that will be similar…”

“…”

“The psychological battle between writers is currently happening. It’s possible that the writers avoided the story about washing hands with the heroine thinking that other people could also do that, and as a result, no one wrote it. Although, there are some authors that don’t think too hard on it and decide to write those stories without hesitation…”

“A-Aren’t you thinking too much into it…?”

“I know! I know… But once I started to worry about it, I couldn’t help it… And in the end, this turned into a story far from the rails…”

“Who are you saying that to?”

“Well… having said that, I would also be too embarrassed to turn in a meta humor story, thinking that, due to the nature of the project, there would definitely be similar stories… It’s like taking the easy way out of the situation.”

“True.”

“In any case! This is a special project, so please enjoy it! And don’t worry, I’m sure that the other authors will write a better story instead of this dumb story about what happens behind the scenes!”

“…So you were consciously divulging all that private information…”

Fin

『Funeral Scene At The Beginning Of Volume 1』

『Miu-chan forgot her lunch. A charming Ayako-mama is seen chasing after her while wearing a string less bra she uses while at home』

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Hello, translator here. Just a few things I’d like to say since it’s the end of the volume. I’d like to thank the user chaosdesu for providing an epub version of volume 1 and 2, if you’d like to download the novel on either epub or pdf format, click here or in the download link on the TOC. Thanks to Stray_SW for redrawing and Hajime107 for typesetting the extras on this chapter. And finally, you the reader for having patience with me. Volume 3 I can’t guarantee an upload schedule (Though I didn’t really follow mine on this volume now, did I?). The 2 main reasons for this is because it’s not fully translated on spanish, so even if I rushed it, I’d have to wait. The other reason is because of ‘opportunity’. It’s not because of free time, I’m actually ahead of schedule right now, it’s just that the opportunity to sit down and work is currently limited by the 2 other people occupying my room. So, until I can relocate and work somewhere else, my opportunities to work on the novel are limited. This is all to say that if you see a delay on chapters, it’s not because I’m not working on it anymore, just because of either one of those reasons. So on that note, hope you enjoyed volume 2 and see you on volume 3 in the following days!