Hey Guys.
Newest chapter so far. Edited from my patreon by my own hand. Shorter than the original. Not sure if it's better or worse.
___
# The Spark That Lit the Fire
**Location: Aya's Apartment, 6:03 AM, Five Days After Launch**
The buzzing dragged Aya from sleep like fingernails on glass.
Her phone lit up the dark room, Yuuki's name flashing insistently. She fumbled for it, nearly knocking over the glass of water she'd forgotten on her nightstand.
"Yuuki, it's six in the fucking morning—"
"Check HeroX. Now. Midnight just—oh my god, Aya, just check it."
The line went dead.
Aya sat up, suddenly wide awake. Midnight? As in the R-rated hero Midnight? She pulled up HeroX with fingers that weren't quite steady.
There it was. A simple post from @MidnightReal, blue checkmark and all:
*Didn't think I'd enjoy this. Was wrong. Surprisingly thoughtful. Grounded. Feels like someone gets it.*
*The Last Airbender — Ch. 1–3 now up on Everblue's site. I'll be reading the rest. You probably should too.*
Aya stared at the screen. Then she read it again. Then she screamed loud enough that her upstairs neighbor banged on the floor.
Her phone immediately exploded with notifications.
---
**8:15 AM - Everblue Office**
Aya burst through the office doors still in yesterday's jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt, coffee in one hand and her laptop bag sliding off her shoulder.
"Please tell me someone's been watching the numbers," she called out to the mostly empty office.
"Been here since seven," Yuuki replied from his desk, surrounded by empty energy drink cans. His eyes were bloodshot but bright. "We hit fifteen thousand unique visits in two hours. The servers are crying, but they're holding."
Hana looked up from her workstation where she had three monitors displaying various analytics dashboards. "Traffic's coming almost entirely from that tweet. Click-through rate is insane—people aren't just looking, they're actually reading."
Aya pulled up the real-time stats on her computer. The numbers kept climbing. New user registrations. Chapter completions. Comment activity.
"Holy shit," she breathed. "This isn't normal traffic. This is—"
"Viral," Chika finished from across the room. "Like, actually viral. Look at this."
She turned her screen around. Social media mentions were spiking across every platform. Screenshots of favorite quotes. Fan art that had appeared overnight. Discussion threads analyzing character motivations.
"People are staying up until three AM to finish chapters," Chika continued. "I've been monitoring the comments. They're not just reading—they're invested. Like, emotionally invested."
Aya felt that familiar surge of adrenaline she got when a project clicked. But this was bigger than anything they'd handled before.
"Okay," she said, grabbing a marker and heading to the whiteboard. "We need to not screw this up."
---
**Two Weeks Later - The Avalanche**
The initial spike from Midnight's tweet had been just the beginning.
By day three, #AvatarEverblue was trending. By day seven, BookTubers were uploading reaction videos. By day ten, someone had made a fan edit of Zuko's redemption arc set to a popular J-rock song that hit a million views overnight.
Aya had stopped sleeping regular hours. Every morning brought new developments—interview requests, licensing inquiries, fan communities organizing themselves around character theories.
"We're getting interest from overseas," their legal consultant mentioned during a video call that Tuesday. "Korean publishers, Chinese streaming platforms. There's a Vietnamese translator who's already done chapters one through five without permission."
"Should we be worried about that?" Aya asked.
"Honestly? Let them. It's free marketing in markets we couldn't afford to break into ourselves."
The numbers were staggering. Avatar had broken every record Everblue had for first-month performance. But more than that, it had staying power. People weren't just binge-reading and moving on—they were re-reading, discussing, creating content around it.
Aya found herself in the strange position of having to manage success rather than chase it.
---
**Three Weeks Later - The Tipping Point**
"We need to talk about merchandising," Yuuki said, dropping into the chair across from Aya's desk with a stack of printouts.
"Already? It's been less than a month."
"Look at these." He spread out screenshots of fan-made designs. Minimalist element symbols. Character quotes in elegant typography. "People are making this stuff themselves and posting it online. We could be selling official versions."
Aya picked up one of the designs—a simple image of Aang's glider against a sunset sky with the quote "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change."
"That's actually beautiful," she admitted.
"Right? And this is just fans working in their spare time. Imagine what we could do with an actual budget."
Before Aya could respond, her phone rang. The caller ID made her pause.
"Sunrise Studios?" she answered, putting it on speaker.
"Ms. Hoshino? This is Tanaka from Sunrise's development department. We've been following the Avatar project with great interest. Would you have time this week to discuss potential adaptation rights?"
Aya and Yuuki locked eyes. Adaptation rights. For their little web novel that had started as a long shot.
"I think we could find some time," Aya managed.
---
**One Month Later - The New Reality**
Ken stood in the manga section of a Shibuya bookstore, watching a middle school student flip through a physical copy of his book. The kid's friend peered over his shoulder.
"Is this the one everyone's talking about online?"
"Yeah. My sister read it and won't shut up about some character named Zuko. Says he's like the most realistic villain-turned-good-guy ever written."
"Isn't it set in a world without quirks? That sounds boring."
The first kid shrugged. "That's what I thought. But my sister cried reading chapter six, and she doesn't cry at anything. Plus Eraserhead posted about it."
"Wait, what? Eraserhead posted about a book?"
"On his hero agency's website. Some long thing about 'understanding power and responsibility.' It was weird but kind of cool."
Ken drifted away before they could notice him eavesdropping, but he couldn't stop grinning.
Outside the store, his phone buzzed with a text from his mother: *How does it feel to be famous?*
He looked around at the Tokyo streets, at the people walking by who had no idea that a fifteen-year-old kid had just overheard strangers discussing his work.
*Surreal,* he texted back. *And kind of terrifying.*
But mostly, if he was being honest, it felt incredible.
---
**That Evening - Ken's Room**
"You've been staring at that laptop for two hours," his mother said from the doorway.
Ken didn't look up from the screen. "Did you know there are university professors assigning it as reading now? Like, actual college courses."
"I did not know that."
"And someone made a fan theory video that's three hours long. Three hours! About a story I wrote!" He finally turned around. "There are people online who know more about the Avatar world than I do at this point."
His mother sat on his bed, studying his face. "You know, most successful authors do interviews. Talk shows. Convention appearances."
Ken's excitement dimmed slightly. "Yeah, but then everyone would know it's just me. A high school student who should be focused on hero training."
"Should be?"
The question hung between them. Ken realized he hadn't thought about U.A. applications or training routines in weeks. His mind had been entirely consumed by this—by watching his story spread beyond anything he'd imagined possible.
"I forgot about training again," he admitted.
____
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters by joining my Patreon!
💧 WATER TIER (5$) – Read 3 chapters ahead of public releases
🌍 EARTH TIER ($7) – Read 5 chapters ahead, with bonus lore, author notes, and behind-the-scenes content
🔥 FIRE TIER ($10) – Read 8 chapters ahead, get full access to all extras, and vote in exclusive polls for bonus content
📎 Patreon.com/Future805
Even a small pledge makes a huge difference — thank you for reading and being