In mid-December, the second volume of the manga series Tonight, Even If This Love Disappears From the World! was officially released.
In this second volume, Rei added a short extra chapter, adapting side scenes from the original novel that hadn't appeared in the main story.
As expected, volume two sold even better than volume one. Its first-week sales hit 670,000 copies, surpassing the debut numbers of several "safe, recycled" series by slightly past-their-prime first-tier artists.
If you only looked at first-week volume sales for new artists this year, Tonight's second volume was clearly ranked first.
And with the usual rule of thumb, that lifetime sales are generally a bit more than three times the first week, the industry estimated that volume two would easily pass two million copies in total.
Once those figures came out, people all across the Japanese manga world took notice. Editors, assistants, veterans, mid-tier creators, hungry newcomers, everyone remembered the same name: Shirogane, the rumored high-school rookie.
To achieve this level of success at sixteen, even with only short works so far, was terrifying in itself.
Between Five Centimeters per Second and Tonight, Shirogane had already shown frightening narrative control: concise structure, delicate emotions, and endings that hit like a truck.
Given time, there was no telling whether he might become the top romance manga author of his generation.
And in January, during the nationally broadcast manga awards ceremony, everyone would find out: among Shirogane, Rei, and the other rising star, who would actually take New Manga Artist of the Year?
Originally, Shirogane had been slightly behind the other two in prestige. Now, in raw performance and public buzz, he had begun to stand ahead of the pack…
"This is so good. Sakura Rain… can someone really improve this fast?"
Rei's classmate murmured, eyes shining as she turned the glossy pages.
"It feels completely different from Saki's older series," Hana said, leaning over her shoulder. "The art's cleaner, the pacing's better, everything leveled up."
"Of course it did," Yui chimed in. "They said on the forum that Sakura Rain ranked sixth in last week's Ametsukage Weekly poll!"
"No wonder Saki and Shirogane are such good friends," Hana sighed. "Apparently only geniuses are allowed in that little circle."
"That's not necessarily true." Miyu gave a theatrical shrug. "Maybe they're surrounded by totally ordinary manga nerds like you, Yui. If their identities got exposed, the whole school would chase them around like zoo exhibits."
"Hey, with how fast news spreads online, if either Shirogane or Saki ever slipped up, their names would be everywhere in a week," Yui said. "But January isn't far. Once the awards ceremony airs, we'll get to see Shirogane's real face on TV anyway."
"That would be… terrible," Rei muttered, expression stiffening.
A few days earlier, he'd already received the official notice confirming his nomination as New Manga Artist of the Year.Miyu had snatched the envelope, stared at it for a full hour, then reluctantly returned it to him.
If he attended the ceremony, the anonymous "high-school girl genius Shirogane" persona would die on the spot. But skipping the award wasn't realistic either, what manga artist refuses such a thing?
And if his manga ever got an anime adaptation, constant meetings with the studio would make secrecy impossible.
Once you chose the manga path, having your true identity exposed was only a matter of time.
"Terrible? Why terrible?" Hana asked.
"I mean terrible for Shirogane," Rei coughed. "His peaceful school life is probably doomed. And once people connect Shirogane to this school, Saki, his 'mysterious friend', won't be able to hide for long either."
Miyu's smile froze for a moment.
The rest of the class didn't notice a thing.
To them, Rei, Miyu, Hana, and Yui were just the usual manga-obsessed quartet chatting in the back row like always.
After all, most readers never really believe manga plots could happen in real life.
And January was creeping closer, the awards ceremony, the nominations, and Shirogane's make-or-break shot at a Dream Comic serialization meeting were all waiting there together.
A rush of thoughts flickered through Rei's mind, but the ringing of the school bell quickly washed everything away.
At the end of December, Dream Comic, one of the six major weekly manga magazines in Japan, boasting a massive weekly circulation of sixteen million, posted an announcement on its official website.
The long-running series "Thunderous Emblem," serialized for two years, would be ending soon.
For readers of Dream Comic, the news barely caused a ripple.
"Thunderous Emblem" had been drifting in the lower half of the rankings for ages. In recent months, it had hovered dangerously close to dead last, and most readers had long abandoned any hope for it.
If the creator chose to end it voluntarily, the magazine could at least give them a dignified exit.
But if they stubbornly dragged the series on… that was how reputations crumbled.
It reminded Rei of Gintama from his previous life, Jump gave the author multiple chances to end things beautifully, announced "Final Arc!" over and over, only for the story to be dragged endlessly until Jump eventually just relocated it elsewhere. Years passed before it was finally put to rest.
Of course, "Thunderous Emblem" ending wasn't a big deal to the general readership.
But within the professional manga world, especially among the many artists who had been quietly waiting for their chance, this announcement spread like venom.
A series "ending soon" meant, realistically, one month until the slot opened.
And that meant exactly one thing:
Dream Comic's serialization meeting was imminent.
On December 30th, at the Hoshimori Group editorial floor, Misaki, who had been reviewing the manuscripts of Sakura Rain, suddenly heard a ripple of excitement spread through the department.
Someone whispered urgently near her desk.
She opened her work inbox.
A new email from headquarters:
On January 9th, the Hoshimori Group Editorial Board will hold a serialization selection meeting to choose the successor series for the slot soon to be vacated by Thunderous Emblem.
At the bottom, the email reminded all editors:
"If you have artists under your care with strong prior performance, potential for growth, and a ready manuscript suitable for submission, contact them immediately."
Misaki's fingers trembled slightly.
So it was here.
This was how opportunities truly arrived in the manga industry, suddenly. Without preparation time. Without mercy.
Serialization meetings were never announced months beforehand. The editors who survived long in this field were the ones who always kept a brilliant new work in their pocket, waiting for the day the gun went off.
Rei only had Hikaru no Go ready because Editor-in-Chief Han had warned Misaki months in advance, and she had pushed Rei relentlessly.
But their competitors?
Some of them had likely prepared for months, maybe half a year, polishing their masterpieces in secret.
Getting serialized in a high-tier magazine meant near-automatic financial freedom.
Everyone was waiting for the moment the slot finally opened.
Misaki stared at the date at the top of the email:
January 9th.
Ten days left.