Rei held the freshly drawn manuscript in his hands, feeling more and more satisfied with it.
Even without color, without music, without voice acting, the clean black-and-white lines of manga often carried emotions that animation could not match.
He had always felt that way in his previous life whenever he compared a manga to its anime adaptation.
He wondered if readers in this world would feel an even stronger impact from the manga version of Five Centimeters per Second than he once felt watching the film.
Thinking about it, Rei couldn't help but smile.
The heartbreak he once suffered had been painful, but imagining others falling into the same emotional trap felt strangely amusing.
Night passed quickly, and Rei woke up early the next morning. He washed up, made a simple breakfast and left for school.
High school life in this version of Japan was not nearly as suffocating as his previous life.
Society was structured differently here, and even students who did not pursue higher education could find stable jobs.
That was why Rei, despite being in his first year of high school, still attended a regular day school rather than a cram-school-style academy.
When he entered the classroom, the morning atmosphere was the same as always. The diligent students in the front row were discussing grades or sports.
The students in the back row were comparing manga, anime, and games.
Even though the school officially forbade it, magazines and light novels always found their way into backpacks.
It showed just how deeply the animation and manga culture permeated life here.
The two morning math periods went by quickly.
In his previous life, Rei had struggled as a manga artist, but he had actually graduated from a good university with a science and engineering major.
Although years had passed since he studied these subjects, his foundation was solid.
First-year math felt almost relaxing.
Besides, high schools in this world were far less competitive, and the average academic level was not very high.
'If I keep this up, maybe I could even get into a good university here,' Rei thought as the bell rang.
But his thought was cut short.
A lively, beautiful girl appeared at the classroom door, immediately drawing the attention of the boys.
Every school had one or two girls who naturally became the focus of everyone's admiration.
Miyu Yukishiro was definitely one of them.
Otherwise Rei would not have recognized her instantly on the rooftop yesterday.
"Rei. Yes, you. Come here for a second."
She waved brightly from the door, her voice clear and pleasant.
Every gaze in the classroom shifted from Miyu to Rei, the usually quiet boy who rarely stood out.
Rei, though good-looking, had a reserved personality. Naturally, he was not someone people noticed often.
When he looked up and saw Miyu, he already had a good guess why she was here.
He stood up and walked toward the door.
"Last night my editor and I..."
"Hold on. Are we talking here?"
Miyu glanced around at the curious faces staring at them.
"Let's go to the rooftop," she whispered with a small laugh.
She only revealed her identity as a manga artist to Rei because she saw him as a like-minded creator.
If random classmates found out, word would spread and the homeroom teacher would eventually show up at her house.
That would be a nightmare.
As the two left the classroom together, a wave of whispers immediately rippled through the room.
...
On the rooftop.
"I talked to my editor. She said she can set aside time to review your manuscript, but she won't show any favoritism just because of me," Miyu said immediately, skipping all small talk.
"In fact, let me be honest. Because I introduced you, her expectations will be much higher. She'll judge your work at least three times more strictly than a regular mailed submission. If the quality isn't clearly above average, she won't accept it."
"I understand," Rei replied after a short pause, nodding.
It was Five Centimeters per Second, after all.
If a solid one-shot like this could not even pass the review of a third-tier magazine's editor, then maybe that editor wasn't someone Rei should work with anyway.
Besides, Rei wasn't asking Miyu for special treatment.
He simply wanted his work to be taken seriously and not thrown aside like countless anonymous submissions.
Japan's population was enormous, and Tokyo alone had millions of residents.
Among them were countless aspiring manga artists. Every day, magazines received piles of envelopes containing drafts, dreams and desperation.
A responsible editor might carefully read through each one, hoping to discover a hidden gem.
But an irresponsible one could just flip through a few pages, sigh, and toss the envelope aside without a second thought.
"So, how should I arrange my schedule?" Rei asked.
Magazines did not operate on weekends, and Rei had school from Monday to Friday.
He had mentally prepared himself to request a day off to bring his manuscript in person.
"When will you finish the manga?" Miyu asked.
"Actually… it's already finished. The entire manuscript is in my bag in the classroom," Rei answered.
Last night, something had clicked inside him.
His inspiration surged, his hand moved effortlessly, and before he realized it, he had stayed up until 2 a.m. and completed what should have taken him another two or three days.
He still wanted to polish a few early pages for perfection, but the manuscript was easily good enough for submission.
"So fast?" Miyu blinked, genuinely surprised.
"Well then… how about this afternoon?"
"Eh? But we get out of school at 5:30, and Hoshimori Publishing Group's headquarters is in central Tokyo. By bus, it would take us until at least 7 p.m. Won't it be too late for your editor to wait?" Rei hesitated.
"Of course we aren't going to Hoshimori Group's editorial department," Miyu said with a small smile.
"We're going to my house."
Rei looked up at her, confused, and Miyu quickly continued before he could overthink it.
"The editor I mentioned is actually my sister. I can't ask her to go easy on your manuscript, but asking her to review it after work isn't a problem."
"Your sister?" Rei repeated.
"That's right. Surprised?"
Miyu laughed, her expression playful.
"But don't misunderstand. Like I said before, she's incredibly strict. Even with me. The only reason I managed to serialize in Sakura-iro Weekly is because my work genuinely beat the other submissions during that period."
She lifted a finger as if emphasizing a warning.
"In fact, she's probably harsher on me than on any other artist."
Rei blinked, processing this.
So the editor Miyu trusted most was also her older sister…This certainly explained the confidence Miyu had in suggesting a direct submission.
And it also explained why she had insisted he would receive no special treatment.