After the written interview ran, Edgerunners' momentum jumped noticeably.
Chapter 7's reader poll had placed it twelfth. But chapters 8 and 9 pushed things further, with David completing his first real job with the Sandevistan, earning his place in Maine's crew. Then came the introduction of Rebecca, Pilar's younger sister, that explosive double-tailed firecracker of a girl.
Chapter 11 and her first big scene with David sent the rankings flying up to tenth place, the highest Edgerunners had hit yet.
A well-written female character with personality will do that to a series' numbers every time.
Over those eleven chapters, David settled into the crew and put the Sandevistan to work, with missions, income, and growth. The team was getting somewhere.
Back in the online group chat, which had gradually stopped being a sci-fi discussion group and started being a dedicated Edgerunners fan space:
{ForceKing: "Brothers, did you all read the newest chapter?!"}
{EngineerBro: "Obviously. Though the fight scenes have been moving fast; some of them are just one panel and they're over."}
{GalaxySoldier: "It's a mid-length series, that's just how it is."}
{ForceKing: "Wait, what?"}
{EngineerBro: "Wait, what?"}
{LingersNotOrange: "Wait, what?"}
{GalaxySoldier: "You guys didn't know? Edgerunners is a debut competition entry. Those are all mid-length works; forty chapters max, then it wraps."}
{EngineerBro: "No way... we're already at chapter 11. That means it's done in twenty-nine more?"}
{ForceKing: "Come on, no; I feel like this can keep going. How is David supposed to take down Arasaka Corp in twenty chapters?"}
{GalaxySoldier: "That's not my problem; file a complaint with Manga World Publishers."}
{ForceKing: "Never mind, I guess the author's got a plan if the pacing is moving this fast."}
{ForceKing: "Anyway, doesn't anyone else think the combat mechanics in this world are just ridiculously interesting?"}
{ForceKing: "Best designed sci-fi combat system I've seen in any manga."}
{EngineerBro: "They've got hackers, which is different at least?"}
In the Edgerunners fight scenes, the team's hacker, Kiwi, had a memorable sequence where she crashed enemy systems mid-battle, disabling implants and weapons simultaneously, so most readers had caught that much.
{ForceKing: "No no no, look at Lucy's thing; she uses that wire. And then there's Maine's fight back in that early chapter against the guy with blade implants."}
{GalaxySoldier: "Doesn't matter how flashy it is, I'm putting one bullet through it."}
{ForceKing: "Okay but what if I had the Sandevistan."}
{GalaxySoldier: "You think that thing's meant for a normal person?"}
{ForceKing: "That's not the point; we're talking about the combat system design, aren't we? Blade builds with Sandevistan, that'd be terrifying compared to a gunfighter."}
{EngineerBro: "Honestly that sounds like an assassin build."}
{GalaxySoldier: "Wait... if you think about it, hackers are basically mages in a standard RPG."}
...
Ryo Shien was posting with increasing enthusiasm when GalaxySoldier's offhand comment landed.
He stopped mid-message.
'Could the Edgerunners setting actually work as a game?' he thought slowly.
Hackers, blade builds, gunfighters; wasn't that essentially mage, assassin, and ranged DPS? One tank class away from a complete traditional RPG roster.
As someone who ran a game development company, Ryo Shien's brain started turning with intent.
More importantly, he genuinely loved this manga. And he had a gut feeling about it: if someone built a game around Edgerunners' world and mechanics, it would sell massively.
But before any of that could happen, there was a critical first step.
He needed the game adaptation rights to Edgerunners.
Ryo Shien stood up from his desk, grabbed the magazine, and walked out of his office.
"Games department, business development, everyone into the conference room. Now."
"Yes sir!"
---
"Pochitaaa!"
Akane crouched down and scratched the little dog behind the ears.
"Woof!" Pochita answered, tail going at full speed.
Beside them, Aoyama looked absolutely wrecked, yawning wide with eyes halfway closed.
"Did you stay up all night gaming again?" Akane said, giving him the look.
"That's great news," he replied, flat and easy.
He kept saying things like that, offhand comments that sounded almost like he was hoping something would quietly take him out. Staying up all night, eating badly, barely sleeping. Half the time it felt like he didn't care whether he was alive.
The truth was, he'd only been half-joking. He'd long stopped actively trying to find a way back to his original world. This one had grown on him, the freedom, the money, the comfortable rhythm of his days here. Pochita had Akane to look after her. Ayumi could wrap up the Edgerunners serialization with the manuscripts he'd already finished. There weren't many loose threads.
So he'd just let things run their course. No rush. No plan.
"You can't talk like that," Akane said, tone sharpening slightly.
"You're right, my bad, ha." Aoyama held up his hands.
Akane let it drop.
"Hey, shouldn't you be in class?" he asked, blinking at her. Normally she only came by on weekends. "It's Thursday."
"One of my courses ended last week, so I have a free block today." She straightened up, still holding Pochita. "I also came because I have something to ask you."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]