March 25th, Saturday.
For most people in Japan, it was just another ordinary weekend.
But for a large group of novel fans in the Minamijo Prefecture, who had already been bombarded online by Blue Spring Ride readers relentlessly recommending the book over the past few weeks, this day carried a very different sense of anticipation.
Light novel readers in Minamijo could roughly be divided into many different camps. There were diehard fans of Crimson Maple Literature's flagship youth romance titles, devoted readers of Cloud Peak Library's mystery and suspense light novels, and enthusiasts of fantasy battle series published by Imagination Press.
Because of differences in taste and limited personal time, it was impossible for anyone to follow every magazine or buy every series.
However, once a publishing house produced a genuinely high-quality work, these different reader communities would inevitably recommend it to each other through group chats and online forums.
Even readers who normally did not care much for youth romance novels did not mind occasionally changing things up. Many were willing to buy the standalone volume and see for themselves whether Blue Spring Ride, the highly praised series serialized under Crimson Maple Literature, truly lived up to the hype.
Early in the morning, in most bookstores across Minamijo, two standalone novels were placed prominently on shelves near the entrance.
Blue Spring Ride.
And Yesterday's Starlight.
At the same time, bookstores had swapped out their posters for new promotional displays featuring both titles. The slogans on the posters were broadly similar.
They all focused on the impressive serialization results the two novels had achieved in Fleeting Blossoms, combined with heavy emphasis on the fact that both authors were high school students.
The copy was exaggerated, flashy, and designed to grab attention in every possible way. After all, neither the five major Minamijo publishing houses nor the nationally famous novelists had any new releases scheduled around this time. The timing of the standalone releases for Haruto and Reina Fujimoto's novels was unusually favorable, with no serious competition.
As a result, many local Minamijo readers were immediately drawn to the promotional posters the moment they entered a bookstore.
To readers, all of this felt perfectly normal. New standalone novels were released, bookstores put up posters, and the books were placed in eye-catching locations.
That was how things usually worked. But in reality, this level of treatment was reserved for books published by major nationwide publishers or top-tier Minamijo-based publishing houses.
Crimson Maple Literature happened to be headquartered in Minamijo, and its industry influence was not insignificant. That was why it could negotiate with retailers to secure this level of visibility for its titles.
Outside Minamijo, however, the situation was very different. In medium and large cities across Japan, most bookstores had indeed stocked a few copies of Blue Spring Ride and Yesterday's Starlight.
But those copies were usually tucked away in quiet corners. Crimson Maple Literature simply did not have much influence beyond Minamijo.
Within Minamijo, sales of both standalone volumes steadily climbed from the early morning onward.
Outside the region, things were noticeably quieter.
Still, there would always be people who enjoyed digging for hidden gems.
Miori Sato was one of them.
She had no particular hobbies beyond reading, and on weekends like this, she usually spent her free time wandering through bookstores in search of something interesting.
For readers who had just fallen into the light novel world, the early stage was the happiest. There were countless excellent works waiting to be discovered, and almost anything felt enjoyable.
But as the years passed, one year, two years, five years, even ten years, and the number of books read continued to grow, formulaic plots stopped stirring any excitement in veteran readers.
Even if there were ten thousand novels she had never read, most of them failed to spark even the slightest emotional response.
After wandering through the bookstore for an entire hour, Miori realized that not a single recently released book had managed to catch her interest.
"Blue Spring Ride? Yesterday's Starlight?"
When she spotted the two novels in a secluded corner of the store, her first instinct was to walk right past them.
Then a line of promotional text on the cover caught her eye.
"A debut work by genius high school novelist Shiori Takahashi. A deeply moving masterpiece that scored 9.5 from over ten thousand readers during its serialization under Crimson Maple Literature."
"Nine point five?" Miori stopped in her tracks.
Advertising regulations in Japan were strict. Publishers could exaggerate stylistically, but outright false claims were forbidden.
Phrases like "a masterpiece you will regret missing" or "a tearjerker that moved millions" were allowed as subjective descriptions.
But a concrete claim like ten thousand readers giving a 9.5 rating had to be real.
"Nine point five. Is that even possible?" Miori knew the current state of the novel industry well.
No matter the size of a magazine's circulation, readers were extremely picky. They might not harshly nitpick every flaw, but their definition of what qualified as "excellent" was very strict.
A novel with an 8.0 rating was not necessarily outstanding. Many readers found books boring but would not deliberately give low scores unless the plot was genuinely unbearable, such as killing off the protagonist's entire family for no reason or inserting absurd betrayal arcs.
But a novel maintaining a 9.5 rating under ten thousand reviews was absurdly rare.
Once a book crossed the 9.0 threshold, every 0.1 increase became exponentially harder. It was like the difference between raising a test score from 60 to 90 versus raising it from 90 to 95.
"Well, I'm bored anyway. I might as well take it home and see," Miori muttered.
After spending an hour in the bookstore with nothing to show for it, leaving empty-handed felt worse.
She paid and brought both books home.
She was the type of person who saved the strawberry on her cake for the very last bite.
From the descriptions alone, it was obvious that Blue Spring Ride was considered the stronger work.
Which meant she would read Yesterday's Starlight first.
She peeled off the plastic wrap and opened the book with a critical, almost harsh gaze, letting her eyes fall on the very first line of the novel.
[That day, I met a black cat.]
A few minutes later, the quiet sound of turning pages filled the room. At first, she flipped through the pages quickly. But gradually, the pace slowed.
She needed time to stop and think.
This was a novel that demanded attention.
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