"Chihiro, you're really lucky. Someone actually spoke up for you. Otherwise, you would've really been in trouble this time! What a shame, I was planning to enjoy watching you make a fool of yourself."
Leaning against the wall, Eriri crossed her arms and cast a sidelong glance.
"I didn't expect to get through it so easily. The discussion circle inexplicably grew so large all of a sudden. But trouble or not, it doesn't matter... I still have some confidence. As long as the work reaches its completion, I can still turn around public opinion against puella magi madoka magica."
Izumi Chihiro said with a determined expression.
"That confident, huh?"
Eriri looked at him with one eye open, her expression dismissive.
It was as if she was saying, 'Go on, keep bragging!'
"If I'm not confident, how can I write works that satisfy myself and my readers? As a creator, confidence is essential."
His expression remained unchanged.
"Heh, you're quite the talker when it comes to big words... But no matter what, you've finally overcome this crisis, and even gained a lot of attention, though it's probably useless."
Eriri chuckled.
It's not easy to attract people from outside the circle. If it were an anime, it would be a different story, as it's easy to go viral. But for light novels, at most, it can only attract people genuinely interested in the magical girl genre, or readers looking for a change of pace.
But even so, the sales growth in the past week has been very encouraging.
Izumi Chihiro learned from Machida Sonoko that sales during this period have roughly doubled compared to usual!
Originally, his work's audience had already stabilized, and the increase of new readers was becoming slower and slower. But this wave of unique 'recommendations' has pushed the average volume sales of puella magi madoka magica to over 200,000 copies!
This time, it truly turned a misfortune into a blessing.
"Ni-san, that's great! It really scared me. I thought Ni-san had gotten into trouble playing with fire... I didn't expect it to turn out this way. We also have to thank Kui-sensei for speaking up for us."
Sagiri jumped up excitedly after hearing the news.
Not only because of their sibling relationship, but also because this was a work they created together. With the increase in sales, her joy was no less than Izumi Chihiro's.
"Yes, if we get a chance to meet, I definitely need to thank her properly."
He nodded.
Confidence is one thing, but the other party genuinely helped him, and he had to remember this kindness.
"Ni-san, strike while the iron is hot, hurry up and create the content for the third volume! I'm going back to practice drawing now..."
Sagiri urged him before she left.
Even without his sister saying it, Izumi Chihiro knew this, and he had always been like this.
As a middle school student, updating a volume in such a short time while maintaining high quality is something few people in the industry can achieve.
His efforts were also rewarded, achieving astonishing results.
Just then, his phone suddenly vibrated.
He opened it to check.
It was a message from Kani Nayuta.
["Senior, I'm sorry. I've been playing too much recently, and my deadline is approaching, so I've been holed up writing my novel. I didn't expect such a thing to happen and couldn't help Senior. Nayuta is truly useless..."]
["I appreciate the thought. Actually, even if Nayuta you had spoken up, it probably wouldn't have helped, because our professions don't align, and those people wouldn't have listened."]
The girl's sincere concern was touching, and Izumi Chihiro quickly replied.
["That's not what I meant, Nayuta..."]
["Wuwuwu, Nayuta is useless after all!"]
The girl immediately replied, making him imagine her teary-eyed appearance. So, he comforted her a few more times before ending the conversation.
"Alright, next up is the story of the third volume! I need to continue my high-level performance! No mistakes allowed!"
Izumi Chihiro stretched out his hands and patted his cheeks.
He was reminding himself.
The road ahead was still long; he had only taken a small step forward. The path ahead still required him to be unwavering to take solid steps.
If the death of the senior was a symbol, a reminder that the magical girls in puella magi madoka magica were not the magical girls everyone was familiar with, then the content that quickly followed completely confirmed a sentence the senior had said earlier—being a magical girl is not an easy job.
They would fight, cry, and also bleed and sacrifice themselves, despairing to death, unlike the super-positive characters in other works who always remained optimistic and could quickly get back up after a slight setback.
The content of the third volume, he planned it to roughly go until Sayaka transforms into a Witch. The focus during this period would, of course, be Sayaka and the character Sakura Kyoko, who only appeared in the second volume. As for the ordinary protagonist Madoka, she only needed to slightly show her presence.
The key points of this arc were also different from before. The dark, gloomy atmosphere no longer needed to be concealed as before, but had to fully erupt.
The sense of despair had to be elevated to the highest level, suppressed to the point of no return.
It could be said that this would be the most suspenseful volume, and the writing requirements for atmosphere creation reached a new height.
Could he achieve it?
It wasn't easy; it posed a considerable challenge, but it was still within his capabilities.
The empathy he focused on improving in his debut work, demon slayer, would play a crucial role in this volume.
The two characters, Sayaka and Sakura Kyoko, whom everyone didn't particularly like at first, would reach a point where people would feel pity for them.
He had the ability and the confidence to do it.
...
"Phew... Ni-san, I don't know what to say anymore. It's really well-written. I feel like my chest is tightening in pain! Both Sayaka and Kyoko, they're so pitiful... It's a shame I can't help them, so I can only punch Ni-san once to avenge them!"
Sagiri finished reading the last part of this volume, one hand clutching the pajama fabric over her chest, the other raising a small pink fist.
Izumi Chihiro didn't dodge, enduring the '-0' attack damage.
His sister no longer pursued the idea of changing the plot, but her own resentment needed to be vented to prevent it from affecting her ability to draw.
"Phew... that feels better."
Sagiri took a deep breath.
Now that she felt better, she could start drawing!
Although she couldn't do anything for them, at least she could preserve their smiles and voices from when they were alive, right?