At ten in the morning, Misaki was working from home, when a new message from the Manga Group popped up.
It was an electronic document.
She took a slow breath and opened it.
Her eyes immediately locked onto the first line.
Rank: 1
Work: Tonight, Even If This Love Disappears From the World
Total votes: 15,362
The rest of the data didn't matter.
Misaki stared at that number, heart pounding with a mix of disbelief and pride.
She had no talent for drawing manga herself, but she loved this industry deeply, inheriting that passion from her mother.
And over time, her dream changed:
If she couldn't become a great manga artist, she would discover one.
Three years after graduating, she'd been stuck managing third-tier magazine works. Steady results, but never outstanding. And she always felt a bit restless because of it.
But after meeting Rei, everything shifted.
In just half a year, she'd risen to handling a second-tier magazine.And now, the work she oversaw had taken rank one.
A small part of Rei's success, belonged to her too.
Misaki typed a message: Congrats, Tonight ranked first this week.
Rei's reply came quickly: Congrats to us. We created it together.
She stared at that line much longer than she expected, then typed again:
Come to my place tonight. We're having a celebration.
She wasn't someone who celebrated often.
But if ranking first wasn't worth celebrating, what in her life was?
Still, she added one more message immediately after: And Rei, the new work must reach me by January. If you miss the window, the next Dream Comic slot may be half a year away.
Celebration is celebration. But deadlines were life-or-death in the industry.
Time waits for no one, and she didn't want Rei, who was in a career upswing, to miss this opportunity.
Saturday passed. Sunday morning arrived.
This time, Rei didn't get a text, he got a phone call.
He blinked at the clock.
8:30 AM.
"Misaki-San? I got home late after the party. Why are you calling this early on a Sunday?"
Her voice carried a noticeable tremble of excitement.
"Rei, I have important news."
"Do you know the first-week sales of Tonight's volume one?"
Rei froze.
Right, today made a full week since the release. The numbers should've been compiled overnight.
"Hm… maybe 400,000?" he guessed cautiously.
He still unconsciously used his previous world as a reference.Breaking 400k first-week was already insane over there.
Misaki inhaled sharply.
"550,000. Five hundred fifty thousand copies, Rei."
Her excitement slipped through her voice.
"I thought matching 5cm/s's 360k would already be amazing, but this…"
Rei fell silent.
550,000 meant average-sales breaking one million was basically certain.
As Misaki spoke, her grip on the phone tightened slightly.If things continued this way, the top three for the Best New Manga Artist Award would undoubtedly be Rei, Minami, and Ren.
The only mystery left was who would take first place.
Rei laughed softly.
"I said before, save the discouragement for after they actually win."Then he added, half-teasing, "Editor Misaki, your celebration party yesterday was too early. Otherwise, we could've celebrated again today."
He was surprised, of course, but not overwhelmed.
Tonight had taken first place, Ametsukage Weekly's circulation had just passed two million, and online discussion had stayed hot for weeks. It was a big jump, but still within what he considered reasonable.
What concerned Rei most at this moment, though, was… money.At his core, he was simple, when his manga succeeded, the first thing he thought about was earnings.
After hanging up, he sat quietly for a while, still feeling a bit dazed.
Meanwhile, the outstanding rankings and tankōbon sales caught far more eyes than just theirs.
Critics and media across the country reacted immediately once the numbers came out.
If last week they praised him with restraint, this week they went into full "genius discovered once in five years" mode.
Several articles declared he was the guaranteed winner of the New Artist Award.
Rei could feel the effect the moment he stepped into school the next week.
His class, the hallways, even groups of girls chatting, everywhere he heard fragments of Tonight, Shirogane, and excited whispers.
The industry's expectations for this high-school newcomer were now at an all-time high.
His debut year was ending next week with the final chapter, and no matter what he achieved after this, the legend was already set.Sixteen years old, five months since debut, two works topping Sakura Weekly and Ametsukage Weekly, what more perfect "genius manga artist template" could exist?
Under that atmosphere, another week went by in a blink.
Friday arrived, and the Hoshimori Group's heavy promotion was obvious everywhere.
Bookstores across cities had Tonight posters covering entire manga sections.
Even the new Ametsukage Weekly cover featured a large, smiling portrait of Toru, the deceased male lead, front and center.
It was clear the publisher was giving the finale its all.
Early that morning, the first customer stepped into a the bookstore. She headed straight for the Ametsukage shelf and paused at the cover illustration for a few seconds.
Her pale, slender hand lifted a copy from the stack.
"I hope Shirogane-sensei meant it, that the final chapter will really give us a beautiful dream."
With that wish in mind, Hinata walked toward the cashier, full of anticipation.