In the silent room, Rei's pen scratched across the paper, meticulously detailing the artwork. The sound of the pen's friction was unusually clear in the quiet space. His gaze was intensely focused, his mind's entire processing power concentrated on the manga draft before him. If someone were to break into his home to steal, as long as they didn't take his drawing tools from the desk, Rei would likely remain completely unaware until the manga draft was finished.
Soon, the outline of a young girl's figure emerged, followed by the addition of details. Before long, a lifelike manga line art of a girl appeared.
She was Hino Maori, the female lead from Tonight, Even If This Love Disappears from the World!
Without a rough draft or preliminary sketches, Rei's manga creation method would leave other artists speechless.
The human brain's imaginative capacity has its limits. Even if one could visualize every scene detail perfectly in their mind, the hand would inevitably falter during the actual drawing process.
But perhaps due to the fusion of two souls, Rei's mental images were as clear as watching a film, allowing him to freely modify details at will. Moreover, his hand never trembled while drawing, and his drawing speed was remarkably fast.
Rei's ability to skip plot brainstorming, combined with his monstrous drawing skills, allowed him to adapt to weekly manga serialization without needing assistants.
The premise of his manga, Tonight, wasn't particularly novel in Rei's previous life.
The story centered on Hino Maori, a girl who suffered a car accident years ago while saving someone. After waking up, she was cursed with a devastating consequence: she could no longer retain memories.
Her memories froze on the day of the accident. She remembered everything before that day perfectly—her parents, friends, classmates, every detail was crystal clear.
But any memory formed after the accident would be automatically erased each time she fell asleep, completely forgotten.
The next morning, her memories would reset to the day of the accident, repeating the cycle endlessly.
She could never make new friends, because they would forget her.
She could never fall in love, because the person she loved would forget her the next day.
Her only way to understand her life over the past few years—the people she'd met, the events that had occurred—was through the diaries written by the countless "one-day versions of herself."
It was under these circumstances that the male lead, Kamiya Toru, confessed his feelings to her for reasons unknown.
This setup unfolds into a series of romantic and emotional stories.
The premise might seem cliché at first glance. Rei had similar reservations before reading the work himself.
Isn't this just a rehash of One Week Friends and Ef? he thought.
But after finishing it, he realized that while the setup was similar, the plot was vastly different.
How could a girl whose life never moved forward, her memories forever frozen on a single day, fall in love with a boy through the diary entries written by her past selves?
And how could she repeatedly fall for him within the span of that fleeting "one day"?
This was a classic manga that started sweet but turned heartbreakingly tragic later on.
In terms of emotional devastation, this work was no less devastating than 5 Centimeters Per Second.
Soon, a new manga draft appeared on Rei's desk. Of course, the artwork still needed some background details and wasn't yet a fully polished product.
Rei relaxed slightly and picked up his phone to check the time, only to discover several messages from Miyu.
Still drawing manga?
Since your new work has taken so long to complete, you must have accumulated quite a backlog of drafts. Why don't you send them over? I'd be happy to review them and point out any potential flaws.
Speaking of which, after 5 Centimeters Per Second is released next week, could you sign a few copies for me to keep as collector's items? As a return gift, I'll sign a complete set of Tale of Sorrow for you.
?
Why aren't you replying? Are you still drawing?
Hey, stop drawing! You're making me feel pressured. 5 Centimeters Per Second is already finished. High school students should rest during summer vacation—work hard, play hard! Rei!
As Rei read through the messages one by one, an involuntary smile crept across his face.
At school, Miyu presented herself as a model student, earning praise for her kind personality but maintaining a certain aloofness.
However, after getting to know her better and discovering they were both contracted manga artists for Hoshimori Publishing Group, Rei no longer sensed any distance. Instead, she would frequently text him during the summer vacation, peppering him with questions about various topics.
She was particularly fascinated by his new manga, especially after learning that Rei could maintain unwavering focus for over a dozen consecutive hours while drawing.
After the call, Miyu felt a surge of anxiety.
It was similar to the feeling of panic one gets when seeing a friend studying diligently while you've been slacking off.
Rei quickly replied with a playful text:
I'm not tired at all. I've been overflowing with inspiration today. I feel like I could draw manga all night!
Meanwhile, Miyu, who had been agonizing over her manga pages at home all day, received Rei's reply and her expression instantly changed.
"Damn it! Does he never get writer's block? Even if he doesn't, doesn't drawing manga for hours on end get boring?"
"He's human, isn't he?!"
Just then, her sister Misaki Yukishiro's cold voice echoed from outside her room:
"Miyu, your deadline is only two days away. Don't make me lock you in your room every weekend to force your creativity. If you don't finish the required number of original drafts for Tale of Sorrow by the deadline, your phone will be confiscated and you won't get any sleep either."
"I know," Miyu replied, a hint of resignation creeping across her delicate features.
She began to envy other high school students who were free to relax and play at home.
5 Centimeters Per Second had concluded, and High Score Romance had ended as well.
But her Tale of Sorrow still had its final arc to wrap up, and she estimated it would take several more weeks of serialization to finish.
As expected, Tale of Sorrow took first place in this week's Sakura Weekly. However, without its biggest rival, the victory felt hollow.
Meanwhile, outside the room, Misaki Yukishiro reminded her younger sister before pulling out her phone to draft a text message. Soon, a message was sent to Rei.
The message was simple: Rei should create accounts on Japan's major social media platforms, and she would arrange for the group to officially verify him as the mangaka "Shirogane."
With the single-volume edition of 5 Centimeters Per Second set to release in less than a week, establishing verified accounts on these platforms would allow Rei, as the creator, to connect with his fans and boost sales.
The weekend passed in a flash.
A new week began on Monday.
On Japan's major social media platforms and forums, the mangaka "Shirogane's" account was quietly verified.
An official announcement was pinned to the top of the Sakura Weekly forum.
With just three days until the single-volume release, fans of 5 Centimeters Per Second, who had been holding their breath for weeks, finally perked up.
Good!
We thought you'd hide forever, Shirogane, too scared of our criticism to ever create an official account.
So you waited a few weeks to get verified?
How naive! Did you really think we'd forget to criticize you just because some time passed?