Leaving Seiji Fujiwara's apartment, Sonoko Machida felt like she was walking on air. Her whole body buzzed with the dizzy afterglow of excitement.
She didn't hesitate for even a second. In the back of the taxi, she immediately dialed Ryuji Aida.
"Chief Editor! Chief Editor!"
"Machida? What's wrong? Warukawa-sensei—he's not… he's not breaking down under the pressure, is he?" Ryuji Aida's voice was sharp with alarm, bracing for the worst.
"No! Not at all!" Machida sucked in a deep breath. "Chief Editor, Warukawa-sensei finished volume two! I've got the manuscript with me right now—I'm bringing it back! You have to read it yourself, you absolutely must!"
Volume two?
Aida blinked, pulling the phone away to rub his ear, as if he'd misheard.
Under this much pressure, for a boy his age, just staying calm would already be extraordinary.
But to actually keep writing? To finish another volume?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
He didn't believe it—but he didn't show it either. His tone stayed steady. "I understand. Bring the manuscript back."
"Yes, sir!" Machida nodded hard, not noticing his doubt.
Half an hour later, she burst into his office.
"Chief Editor, here!"
Without pause she pulled the manuscript for Index II from her bag and presented it with both hands.
"Alright."
Aida accepted it, poured himself a cup of tea, and settled in to read.
But the moment his eyes passed the opening lines, his casual expression froze. His brows twitched.
Page after page, his eyes widened further, disbelief carving itself deeper into his face.
By the time he reached the end, he was trembling.
"Genius!" he blurted, slapping the desk. Then corrected himself, voice breaking into a laugh of awe. "No… not a genius. A monster! A demon!"
Machida, sitting nearby, couldn't hold back her grin.
She was Warukawa-sensei's editor. The better Index became, the more she shone too.
With achievements like this under her belt, her future promotion to editor-in-chief was practically guaranteed.
Maybe even higher.
"Summon all department heads! Meeting in thirty minutes!" Aida's eyes gleamed as he barked the order into the phone, then turned back to Machida with genuine admiration.
"Well done, Machida."
"It's only thanks to your guidance," she said modestly.
"I may have helped, but the credit's yours," Aida replied with a smile. "Machida, make sure you protect your relationship with Warukawa-sensei. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" she answered firmly.
"Good."
Because Seiji Fujiwara wasn't just her future—he was Aida's too. If Index kept selling, his own career could soar higher than he had ever dreamed.
How could he not stake everything on it?
…
…
Half an hour later, the conference room was packed with Fushikawa Bunko's senior staff.
Many looked uneasy, expecting grim news.
Instead, Aida's opening line left them stunned.
"The plan to quietly delay Index volume two? Canceled."
Canceled?!
The executives traded startled glances.
"Volume two will be released as scheduled. And the first print run will be four hundred thousand copies."
Boom.
The words hit the room like thunder.
Everyone's eyes went wide.
The head of marketing was the first to leap up. "Chief Editor Aida, are you serious?!"
"You know how badly the book is being trashed right now. Publishing now, and with a four-hundred-thousand print run? That's suicide! Our distributors won't even take stock!"
Aida said nothing, expression unreadable.
Next, the head of publicity stood. "Exactly! Every media outlet is waiting to laugh at us. Spend on marketing now, and all we'll buy is more abuse!"
Aida still didn't respond.
Finally, the head of distribution scowled. "Four hundred thousand… if those pile up unsold, the storage fees and paper costs alone will wreck next quarter's reports. How are we supposed to explain that to the board?"
The room nodded in agreement.
To launch in the middle of a smear campaign, with that many copies? Madness.
But Aida only smiled faintly. He gestured for his secretary to distribute photocopies of the manuscript excerpts.
"You've all worked at Fushikawa long enough to know quality when you see it. Read first. Then decide."
The executives passed the pages around skeptically.
At first, their expressions stayed guarded. But soon, whispers began to spread.
"This opening… actually pretty sharp," muttered the head of marketing.
The publicity director pushed up his glasses. "The foreshadowing… is this really that deep?"
The distribution chief's breathing grew heavier as he flipped faster and faster. "The character work… so much stronger than the first volume…"
"Warukawa-sensei's leveled up again?"
"This prose… this doesn't even feel like a light novel anymore."
Silence fell, broken only by the furious rustle of turning pages.
Ten minutes later, the head of marketing—who had argued the loudest—stood up first.
He bowed deeply. "I retract my words, Chief Editor Aida. And… frankly, four hundred thousand feels conservative."
The dam broke.
Voices rose one after another.
"Yes, the second volume blows the first away!"
"We should go bold—six hundred thousand!"
"There's nothing else on the market right now that can compete!"
Excitement rippled through the room.
"Hahaha, I'm glad you all agree." Aida clasped his hands behind his back, calm as ever. "But four hundred thousand is plenty."
"Remember, the first volume came out barely over a month ago. Readers' wallets haven't had time to recover. We can't expect them to buy endlessly. Four hundred thousand is perfect. If demand exceeds that, we'll reprint."
Realization dawned across the room.
"Of course—Chief Editor, you're right."
"No wonder you're in charge."
He'd struck the balance perfectly.
The meeting ended on a high note. Fushikawa's departments quickly set to work, preparing for the official announcement:
A Certain Magical Index volume two, first print run—400,000 copies.
The news detonated like a bomb across the industry.
…
Ginza. A private room in a luxury café.
Two veteran editors, one from Kadokawa, one from Dengeki Bunko, sipped coffee with smug smiles.
The Kadokawa editor slammed the table, laughing. "Aida's lost his mind! Publishing Index II now, with a four-hundred-thousand print run?!"
Across from him, the Dengeki editor chuckled. "We rattled him so hard, he thinks he can gamble big. But this will only kill him faster."
"Exactly!" Kadokawa's man sneered. "When the sales tank, we'll buy up the media coverage. I've already got the headline in mind—'Fall of a Genius? Index Sequel Crashes Hard!' That'll be the end of Aida's career."
Dengeki's editor raised his cup. "A newbie like Warukawa-sensei? He thinks he can fight us? Let's toast—to our victory."
They clinked cups, grins full of confidence, as if they'd already watched Fushikawa go down in flames.
…
Elsewhere, Osamu Ono was on the phone with his own editor.
"What?! Four hundred thousand first print?!"
Then came his laugh, loud and manic. "Hahaha! Fushikawa's setting the stage for me!"
"Exactly, Ono-sensei! The higher they climb, the harder they fall. The media will line up to compare your depth with his shallowness. Your new book, Tears of Tokyo, is destined to explode!"
Pleased, Ono nodded. "On release day, I'll buy a copy myself. Then I'll write a scathing critique and crush him completely."
"Ono-sensei, brilliant as always!" the editor gushed.
…
Meanwhile, on Japan's largest anonymous forum, 2ch—acgn board.
A hot new thread shot to the top:
[速報] Fushikawa defies the storm—Index II first print run: 400,000!!!
The replies poured in.
1L: "Seriously? Reliable source? That's insane!"
2L: "Reliable! Insider leak! My friend's in Fushikawa's marketing team—he's already quitting, hahaha!"
3L: "Shut up! This proves Warukawa-sensei's power! Volume two will be a masterpiece! Why else would Fushikawa risk it? I'm buying ten copies to spread the gospel! Haters, get ready to eat crow!"
4L: "Delusional fanboy, get lost! Four hundred thousand piles of trash are still trash. Waiting for the bomb to drop!"
5L: "Calm down, everyone. There are only two possibilities: one, Aida and Warukawa both lost their minds. Two, volume two's quality is so overwhelming it can crush all the negativity. There's no middle ground."
6L: "Damn, now I'm hyped. Will this be publishing's biggest joke, or the greatest comeback in history? I'm buying a copy on day one. I want to witness it!"
7L: "+1! My wallet's ready!"
Shock spread across the board. The entire industry held its breath, waiting—would Index II crash and burn, or make history?
…
In a run-down villa, Eriri Spencer Sawamura read the headline too.
She was stunned at Fushikawa's guts. What kind of volume two gave them this much confidence?
But poverty made the decision for her. She couldn't afford to buy it.
"Damn… I really wanted to support Warukawa-sensei right away," she muttered. Every yen mattered too much now.
"I'll just wait for a cheap secondhand copy."
Her heart sank—until a new email notification popped up.
Sender: Fushikawa Bunko · Illustration Dept.
Subject: Regarding Acceptance of Your Submission and Collaboration Invitation
Her heart skipped. She clicked instantly.
The message praised her art skills, confirmed her submission had been accepted, and included a contract for collaboration.
And at the very end—
"To celebrate our future partnership, and as encouragement for a talented new illustrator like yourself, the editorial team has decided to send you a special advance copy of our upcoming flagship title—A Certain Magical Index volume two. We hope you enjoy it."
"Eh? Ehhhhh?!"
Eriri's eyes went wide. She squealed in delight.
"My art got accepted? And they're sending me a copy of Index II?!"
A double blessing.
She hadn't expected this bonus at all.
"Yes! I'll get to read Warukawa-sensei's new book right away—without spending a yen!"
Throwing her arms up, she let out a bright, unrestrained laugh, a spark of joy she hadn't felt in a long time.
"Right, I need to reply to the email—now!"
Still grinning, Eriri scrambled to type her response, fingers flying across the keyboard.