Most fans who were eagerly waiting for the January 19th awards ceremony were stunned when they saw the sudden announcement of Shirogane's new serialization right before the event.
"Is Shirogane-sensei the hardest-working artist in the entire industry? Three manga in less than a year?"
"It's not that exaggerated. Her previous two series were short."
"Hikaru no Go? What kind of manga is that? Go? Souls? A battle series?"
"Impossible. Shirogane-sensei's previous works were all romance or emotional dramas. This one should be similar. Since pure romance appeals less to male readers, she probably added competitive elements."
"A sports-romance hybrid is more likely. But… which board game is it about?"
"Gomoku? Checkers? Ludo? Shōgi? Chess?"
"Come on, Gomoku? Whoever goes first wins! There's zero competitiveness."
"I'm looking forward to Shirogane-sensei's new work. If it passed Dream Comic's serialization meeting, it must be top-tier."
"Honestly, Shirogane-sensei is outrageous. Sakura-iro Weekly, then Ametsukage Weekly, and now Dream Comic. At this rate, maybe next year she'll win the Annual Manga Award itself."
"Winning the New Manga Artist Award in her debut year and the Annual Manga Award the next? Isn't that insane? Even nominees like Aira took five or six years of serialized work before reaching that level!"
"Anyway, the awards ceremony will be exciting this year. I'm a fan of both Aira and Shirogane-sensei. I hope they both win."
"I'm already looking forward to seeing Shirogane-sensei walk onto that stage. Even if she's not the beautiful high school girl the internet keeps hyping her up to be, maybe she's shorter or chubbier, who cares? I'm here for her skill."
"Same. I hate that 'genius beauty' marketing trope. She's not an actress. Those labels don't matter for a manga artist's growth."
More than a month after Tonight concluded, a single announcement from Hoshimori Group once again caused Shirogane's popularity to explode among fans and industry media alike.
And with her nomination for the Annual New Manga Artist Award, her influence among the candidates had already far surpassed the others.
Meanwhile, in reality, Rei was hard at work. Since Hikaru no Go had been officially approved by Dream Comic, he was drawing the full-color pages for the first chapter and creating promotional color illustrations for the magazine cover.
Things like the New Manga Artist Award were merely icing on the cake. Nice if he won, irrelevant if he didn't. His goal lay elsewhere.
Misaki, however, thought differently.
New manga artists like Rei, debuted less than one year, had virtually no advantage in the competitive environment of Dream Comic, where first-tier veterans dominated.
Those long-established artists had large, loyal fanbases who consistently voted for them each week.
When Hikaru no Go began serialization, Rei would face immense pressure.
If the series ranked poorly for one or two months… and if the first-week tankōbon sales showed it wouldn't even reach one million copies per volume…
Then the axe of cancellation would fall swiftly.
Passing the serialization meeting was merely the first gate. The real battlefield came afterward.
This was why Misaki placed enormous importance on the upcoming awards broadcast.
If Rei appeared at his best, he could attract a fresh wave of fans.
"Your appearance is actually quite good, you just don't know how to style yourself. Our manga division works with a regular makeup artist, and I know him well. I'll have him come measure you, choose suitable clothes, and handle your styling. By the night of the nineteenth… try to attend the ceremony in the best condition possible."
Those were Misaki's exact words when she visited Rei's home on the thirteenth.
Over the next few days, the stylist and tailor she hired also came by to check on him.
And time moved quickly, January 19th arrived.
It was a Monday.
Rei took personal leave from school.
Of course, his classmate Miyu also took personal leave.
Their teachers didn't think anything of it.
But their friends Yui and Hana definitely sensed something unusual.
Rumors about Rei and Miyu's relationship had already spread through the school for weeks. And now both of them had taken leave on the same day.
How could anyone not be suspicious?
At noon, the two girls met up and tried to analyze the situation, but before long, the discussion drifted back to manga.
"Forget it, let's not talk about those two, they're practically soaked in teenage romance. Anyway, the awards ceremony is tonight. Shirogane-sensei has a really high chance of winning the New Manga Artist Award. Do you want to come to my house to watch the live broadcast together?"
"But it starts at 9:30… isn't that too late?" Yui hesitated.
"You're sixteen, what are you afraid of? If your parents worry, I'll call them myself and say we're studying together and you're staying over. They know me, I've visited your place twice. Your aunt and uncle will definitely say yes," Hana insisted.
"Well… I'll call home this afternoon and check. If they agree, then it's settled."
Classes ended for the day.
January was bitterly cold, and a light rain had begun to fall. Groups of High School Students, wrapped tightly in thick coats and clutching umbrellas, streamed out of the school one after another.
Yui's phone call to her parents went smoothly. Since Hana's family knew her well, staying over for a night under the excuse of studying didn't raise much concern.
At 7 PM, after dinner at Yui's house, the two girls hurried into her room, turned on the computer, and navigated to the official livestream page.
Meanwhile, Rei had changed into the light red suit picked out by the stylist hired by Misaki. His hair had been professionally styled, and his makeup neatly applied.
Then he, Misaki, and Miyu arrived at the awards venue.
At the entrance, security checked invitations. Once Rei presented the official invitation sent by the organizing committee, he was waved through without delay.
"I really didn't expect you to look this good once you've dressed up and had your makeup done, Rei," Miyu said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "After tonight, I bet a lot of your fans, once their 'genius beautiful girl' fantasy collapses, will start loving you even more."
Rei ignored her teasing; he knew exactly what she was doing.
"Alright, enough," Misaki said with a frown. She was sitting to Rei's right.
The venue was filled with famous manga artists and key figures from the manga publishing world.
Rei even spotted three Editor-in-Chiefs from the six major publishers, several currently trending first-tier manga artists, and a swarm of industry reporters.
In Japan, the manga industry was huge. Its award ceremonies could easily rival those for movie stars in terms of spectacle.
While Rei and the others waited for the ceremony to begin, a large number of Shirogane's fans tuned in through their phones, computers, and TVs, just like Yui and Hana.
Before the broadcast officially started, Shirogane's fans were already arguing online with fans of other New Manga Artist Award nominees, including rising star Ren and Minami.
Time ticked by. While Yui and Hana were still fighting anti-fans in the comment section, at exactly 9:30, the countdown disappeared, and the camera cut to a magnificent, glittering hall.
The host stepped onto the stage and began reciting, almost like chanting, the achievements of the various New Manga Artists who had risen to prominence over the past year.
Among them were the nominees for the New Manga Artist Award, including Shirogane.
New Manga Artists were defined as creators whose debut works had begun serialization last year and had achieved massive popularity within a year.
For example:
Ren Kanzaki's fantasy battle manga Zero-Style Contract
Minami's psychological thriller Memory Marionette
Before long, not only the audience in the venue, but even the fans watching online were growing impatient.
"Hurry up already, organizing committee! There are only a handful of awards. This could've been done in ten minutes. Why are you still rambling after half an hour? We KNOW who these artists are! Just announce the winners!"
"Exactly! This is ridiculous. They're dragging it out on purpose!"
"Did you guys notice? When the camera panned over the audience, I saw two insanely beautiful girls sitting next to a boy in a red suit! One of them looked really young. Could that be Shirogane-sensei?!"
"Really? I missed it!"
"It was super quick. Hold on, I'm watching on my computer. I can rewind, let me screenshot it!"
Yui and Hana were multitasking: one eye on livestream, the other scrolling through forums.
When the screenshot was posted online, Yui immediately spit a mouthful of drink straight onto Hana's face.
"Yui… you owe me an explanation," Hana said, wiping her face with a tissue.
"Look at this…" Yui handed her phone over with trembling hands.
A moment later, Hana started coughing violently, unable to breathe properly.
"Rei? And the one sitting next to Rei… that looks like Miyu."
"Weren't those two absent from school today?" Hana's voice trailed off.
"So they took leave just to attend the awards ceremony?"
"Where did they even get the invitations to get in?"
"I don't know," Yui said quietly, "but it's rumored that Miyu's family is wealthy. For rich people, getting invitations like this probably isn't hard. But, it looks like a lot of people online are mistaking Miyu for Shirogane."
"Hahaha, mistaking Miyu for Shirogane?!"
Hana burst out laughing.
But as she kept laughing, she noticed the serious look on her best friend's face…
"Wait. Don't tell me, could that actually be possible?"
"It shouldn't be possible, right?" Yui whispered.
"Miyu's grades have always been first in our class and in the top three of the entire grade. If she wants to maintain scores like that, she wouldn't have the time or energy to draw manga."
"I think so too," Hana agreed. "And whenever Miyu talked with us before, she always asked for our opinions on Saki's works. She seemed like a genuine fan of Saki-sensei. She even complained sometimes that Shirogane's works kept outperforming Saki's. If she were actually Shirogane, why would she act like that?"
While the two girls were whispering and speculating, the host on stage continued another long-winded introduction.
Finally, the opening segment ended, and the official awards ceremony began.
The first person to take the stage was a tall, beautiful woman wearing a green dress.
She looked to be in her twenties, with long, flowing hair and striking features, and walked with confidence toward the podium.
"Hello everyone, I am Comic Artist Aira!"
"So that's Aira," Rei murmured, looking unusually serious.
He hadn't forgotten that when Five Centimeters per Second was released in tankōbon form, she had voluntarily promoted it to her fans.
"Annual Manga Award…" Miyu sighed with admiration.
"This is officially recognized as the best manga produced in Japan last year."
"I wonder when we'll get to hold that award."
"Next year," Rei said casually, chuckling.
"Next year?" Miyu's eyes immediately lit up. "You have that much confidence in my new work Sakura Rain?"
"Nope. I'm talking about my new series, Hikaru no Go," Rei said, laughing.
"For your work to win Best of the Year, it would at least need to be serialized in one of the six major magazines first. Otherwise, it won't build up the necessary recognition."
"Shameless," Miyu said with a dramatic eye roll. "I've never seen anyone brag like this."
"Well, now you have," Rei teased.
Aira's acceptance speech lasted about ten minutes. Afterward, the host invited the second- and third-place winners of the Annual Manga Award to join her on stage for a commemorative photo.
By now, it was past nine o'clock, and the pace of the ceremony began to speed up.
The host lifted the microphone again.
"Next, we will announce the winner of the Bronze Award in this year's New Manga Artist Award…"
"Comic Artist Minami!"
Spotlights swept across the venue, finally settling on a beautiful woman in her early thirties on the right side of the hall.
Her expression froze for a moment, Bronze Award… third place?
Even so, she stood up with a polite smile and made her way onto the stage.
She thanked her fans as usual.
Many of Minami's supporters sighed.
After she stepped down, the host spoke again:
"Please welcome the winner of the Silver Award for this year's New Manga Artist Award… Comic Artist Ren Kanzaki!"
Aside from reserved seats for industry veterans, all other seating was assigned and recorded during check-in.
The spotlight quickly landed on Ren, seated near the center.
His expression was stiff, Silver Award meant second place. Which meant that the Gold Award winner was obvious.
Reluctantly, he stepped onto the stage.
The speech that followed was almost identical to the one Comic Artist Minami had just given.
"Haha, those two are having a rough time now. They're basically just filling the lineup."
"Shirogane-sensei is amazing!"
"They both thought the Annual New Manga Artist Award was guaranteed for them earlier this year. In interviews they boldly declared they would win, and their 'already-holding-champagne' attitude became legendary online. Now look, neither of them even got the Gold Award, hahaha!"
"Host, hurry up! Let Shirogane-sensei come on stage already!"
Even Yui and Hana, sitting on the floor in front of the TV, stared at the screen in suspense.
Shirogane… who exactly is she? Who will walk onto that stage?
At that moment, the host smiled as he looked down at the cue card in his hand.
"Now, please welcome Shirogane-sensei, the winner of the Gold Award for this year's Annual New Manga Artist Award!"
The massive projection screen behind him switched to the live camera feed. A bright spotlight swept across the hall and finally stopped, illuminating a small section of the audience.
Standing in that circle of light was a boy in a sharp red suit, Rei Kirishima.
Beside him, Misaki and Miyu were also caught halfway in the light.
The livestream chat exploded.
Yui and Hana were left speechless.
"R-Rei…? Rei Kirishima?!"
Online fans typed so fast their fingers nearly broke.
"The lighting engineer needs a beating! They aimed the spotlight wrong, it hit some random boy! The cute girl on his left is Shirogane-sensei!"
"Fire that lighting tech! How do you miss the author like this?!"
But within seconds, all those furious fans fell silent.
Even Aira, seated below the stage after receiving her own award, leaned forward with interest, eyes fixed on the screen.
Because, Rei stood up. And walked toward the stage.
Every moment was broadcast on the giant screen behind the podium.
When Rei reached the host and took the microphone, his voice, young, steady, and full of confidence, echoed through the entire venue.
"Hello everyone. I am the author of Five Centimeters per Second and Tonight, the manga artist Shirogane."
...
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