It was no wonder Misaki and Miyu were staring at Rei like he had lost his mind.
Chapter 8's plot twist had completely stunned them.
Up to Chapter 7, Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes From the World had been emotional but still clearly a pure romance. The sort of story where readers naturally assume:
"No matter how painful the journey, the lovers will eventually end up together."
But Chapter 8?
Chapter 8 shattered that assumption.
"You're crazy."
Miyu looked at Rei helplessly. She might treat him as a rival in school, but she was also a fan of his work. From a reader's perspective, this twist made her scalp prickle.
"No, this was decided from the beginning," Rei said calmly.
"This is extremely risky."
Misaki finally spoke, her voice steady but cold, the voice of an editor who had seen countless series crash because of one reckless plot decision.
Serialization is a one-way arrow.
A single misstep can send the entire story collapsing like falling dominoes.
And Chapter 8, in her expert judgment, was exactly that critical chapter.
If this were any other situation, Misaki would have immediately ordered him to rewrite it.
But the problem was that Chapter 8's twist was tightly connected to Chapter 1, which had already been published in Ametsukage.
She could use her authority to force a change, but then what about the contradiction with Chapter 1?
Readers would notice, and the series would collapse anyway.
Misaki pressed her fingers to her forehead.
Rei blinked at the two sisters.
"Why the serious faces? You really think the plot is that problematic?"
"Of course it is!"
Miyu snapped. "Who suddenly turns pure romance into pure heartbreak in one chapter?!"
Rei shrugged, almost amused.
"Isn't 5 Centimeters Per Second like that too?"
"You..!"
Miyu genuinely wanted to strangle him.
"My fans should already be mentally prepared for this type of emotional direction," Rei said lightly.
Misaki exhaled.
"Rei, are you really not going to change the plot? If Chapter 8 is serialized as-is, your ranking might collapse. And that will directly affect your volume sales later."
Rei did not hesitate.
"This is the final version. Misaki, don't worry. I've thought through everything."
Then he looked into her eyes and said firmly:
"Not just this series. For all future works I publish under you, as long as the plot doesn't violate national laws or moral standards, I will not accept any revisions based on personal preference or commercial trends. That's my condition for working with you."
Miyu froze.
Rei spoke softly, but the weight of his words was tremendous.
And Miyu would never dare talk to her older sister like that, she had seen Misaki angry before, and it was terrifying.
She anxiously watched her sister, half expecting:
"Then we're done here."
But after ten long seconds, Misaki nodded.
"I understand. Chapter 8 is approved."
Rei finally relaxed.
Misaki knew the risks.
If Tonight continued its earlier tone, it would become a beautifully written, stable romance series.
Safe. Predictable. Comfortable.
But the works readers remember forever are never the safe ones.
They are either legendary hits, or complete disasters.
No middle ground exists.
Misaki still believed a stable path would benefit Rei more. If Tonight simply stayed within the top 10 of Ametsukage, it would: guarantee strong volume sales, stable income, build Rei's industry network, and eventually qualify him to submit new work to Dream Comic, Hoshimori Group's top magazine.
Given Rei's current age of sixteen, being able to serialize manga in Ametsukage while still in his early twenties would absolutely cement him as the new-generation genius of the industry.
Taking a risk like this now, however…If Chapter 8 caused his popularity to plummet, or worse, if Tonight ended up canceled, then getting future works accepted would become exponentially harder.
But Rei had made his stance clear.
So Misaki respected his decision.
Genius and fool are separated by only a paper-thin line, and she couldn't be certain her own judgment was right. Only the manga's future performance would prove who was correct.
The Next Morning
Misaki sent Rei the popularity ranking of Tonight's second chapter.
7th place.
Rei finally exhaled in relief.
Misaki also relaxed, the tension that had kept her awake half the night finally released.
This ranking meant the manga's quality was being recognized. Even without the "new series boost" that helps first chapters, Tonight was still receiving strong support purely from its story.
As usual, Hana and Yui dragged Miyu and Rei into a passionate discussion the moment homeroom ended.
Rei was now an official member of their tiny four-person "Shirogane Fan Club" in Class 3 of Year Two.
And Hana even pulled Rei into six or seven Shirogane fan group chats that had formed online.
Every day, when Rei opened his phone, he saw strangers passionately discussing which rival manga fandom they should fight with next, adamant that no one be allowed to badmouth Shirogane-sensei.
It was exactly like the infamous "Big Three" fan wars in Rei's previous life.
Even within a magazine like Ametsukage, the battles between fan groups were ferocious.
And Rei, a manga artist lurking inside his own fan groups, pretending to be a clueless newcomer cheering for himself, found that the experience was unexpectedly fun.
Friday
The third chapter of Tonight dropped.
This time, the story followed the female lead, Hino, entirely from her point of view.
She woke at five a.m. As always, she sat on her bed and read the diary entries her past self had written.
Aside from her parents and Izumi, she couldn't remember a single person she'd met in high school.
From the diary, she learned she was pretending to date a boy named Tōru Kamiya.
They even had a date scheduled for today.
She opened the photo album on her phone, there were pictures her past self had taken of him.
But to today's Hino, the boy on the screen was a complete stranger.Panic crept into her chest.
Still, she mustered her courage.
At noon, she arrived at the meeting spot, a fountain in the park, her hands trembling.
She saw the boy waiting.
Before she could greet him, she had to repeatedly confirm in her mind:
'Is that really him? Did I read the right entry? Am I mistaking someone else for him?'
Only after steadying her expression did she step forward.
Then, with a smile that hid her fear, she greeted him softly:
"Good morning… Kamiya-kun."
...
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