"YES! Shirogane is finally showing up! His last public appearance was that award ceremony three months ago!"
"I'm definitely rushing to the venue. Anyone want to join my fan group? I'll take photos of Teacher Shirogane and send them!"
"Hey hey hey, taking a group photo at the event is fine, but don't just dump private photos of him online!"
"Aren't the photos of him zoning out during class already all over the internet?"
"Those students at his school are rude enough. Don't be like them."
"Anyway, I'm going. If you don't see him now, before Hikaru no Go explodes even more, you'll regret it when future autograph events have limited slots."
"April 4th… damn, I have work on Thursday..."
"I have to study."
"All excuses. You can take leave. Doesn't Shirogane ALSO have to study? Yet he's holding this event."
"LOL I'm cosplaying Sai at the signing! Hope Teacher Shirogane compliments me!"
"He's only seventeen! And already this famous. It's insane."
"Do you remember what he said months ago? 'Next January, Hikaru no Go will win Manga of the Year.' This is just the start…"
After Hikaru no Go broke into the top ten, Hoshimori Group went ALL IN.
They immediately sent lawyers over to finalize a huge supplementary contract with Rei regarding the future development of the manga IP.
And then they poured a massive budget into advertising.
Everywhere Rei went, he could see huge promotional posters of Hikaru no Go.
Although Go-themed manga is notoriously hard to monetize with character goods, somehow, the pre-orders for Sai's ancient-style cosplay outfit and folding fan exceeded TEN THOUSAND on day one.
Meanwhile, Hoshimori had already begun talks with top Go-equipment manufacturers about co-branded boards and stones.
Two weeks ago, when Rei signed the supplementary agreement, he had felt uncomfortable.
Some clauses were brutal: very low adaptation royalties, very little creative control over future adaptations, nearly all authority concentrated in the company's hands
But with his current fame, he had no leverage.
He would only be able to renegotiate once he became far more influential.
Still, despite acting like cutthroat capitalists, Hoshimori Group had undeniable power.
Once copyright things were settled, the amount of promotional firepower they pushed into Hikaru no Go was overwhelming.
And the results were immediate.
April 3rd- New issue released.
Chapter 11.
The story continued with Hikaru and his friends preparing for this year's school Go team competition.
But the Go club only had two strong players: Hikaru and Tsutsui.
At this time, a fellow student, Yuki Mitani, who had excellent Go skills but poor sportsmanship, often cheating by making subtle moves during the endgame, encountered an even more insidious gambling trap at a Go club outside of school..
One day, Yuki stepped into the wrong Go shop.
There, an adult gambler with even more disgusting cheating tactics swindled him, humiliating him and taking all his money.
Hikaru followed him, intending to tell Yuki to stop cheating. But instead, he witnessed Yuki losing everything and fleeing with red eyes while the man taunted him mercilessly.
Hikaru and Sai stood there, furious.
Sai sat down opposite the gambler.
Hikaru whispered nervously, worried the same cheating would happen during endgame counting.
Sai gently replied: "I won't even give him a chance to cheat. I will defeat him in the middle game."
And in less than twenty minutes, the gambler sat frozen, staring at the board, completely destroyed.
Barely a hundred moves had passed before Sai forced him to resign.
For two weeks, fans had watched Akira suffer bullying in his new Go club, quietly swallowing insults, and training alone, all for the chance to play Hikaru again.
Akira could endure it.
Fans could not.
And chapter 11 finally gave them catharsis.
"Shirogane, PLEASE draw more Sai! Sai matches are the BEST!"
"OMG that cheating uncle's expression when Sai crushed him, I SCREAMED."
"Hikaru playing? Nah. SAI playing is PEAK."
"SO SATISFYING! I'm waking up early tomorrow to get to the venue for Shirogane's signing session!"
"So next, we'll finally see Hikaru, Tsutsui, and Yuki team up for the school Go tournament! And then…the long-awaited third match between Hikaru and Akira!"
"It's crazy. More than a year passed in the manga, but in real life, it took us almost three months just to see them play three times."
Late at night, Rei quietly scrolled through Hikaru no Go forum posts on his laptop.
After lurking for a long while, he logged into his creator account and personally replied to several threads, then made one last announcement across platforms, confirming the time and location of tomorrow's autograph session.
He went to bed early.
And the next morning, before dawn...
knock, knock, knock.
At five a.m., someone was pounding on his door.
Rei opened it, half awake.
Misaki strode inside, immaculate as always.
"We're leaving," she said calmly. "The schedule's tight."
Before Rei even fully processed her words, she had already ushered him downstairs and into her car.
Soon after, they arrived at the Hoshimori Group headquarters.On the 17th floor, a specialized department was already waiting.
For nearly an hour, a professional stylist worked on Rei, adjusting his hair, complexion, outfit, and finally helping him into the clothes Hoshimori Group had prepared for the event.
Rei looked into the mirror.
He couldn't help but exhale.
"Makeup artists are terrifyingly good."
When he stepped out, Misaki's usual cool expression shifted ever so slightly. She looked him over and nodded.
"Not bad."
Rei rubbed his neck. "It's just a manga signing, you know. Isn't this a bit too formal?"
"Normally, yes," Misaki said, folding her arms. "But once the manga's quality is confirmed, promoting the manga artist is an extremely efficient marketing move."
She added, "Do you know why Aira became so explosively famous among young creators?"
Rei blinked. "Because her drawing skills are incredible?"
"No. Because she's stunningly beautiful. Ninety percent of manga artists look completely ordinary. And only a tiny portion both draw well and look good. You have the looks and the skills. The group would be foolish not to leverage that."
Rei stared.
Misaki continued, matter-of-fact:
"And the same treatment will be applied to Miyu once she's eligible to serialize in the Hoshimori flagship magazine."
Rei was silent for a few seconds before nodding. He followed Misaki to the car arranged by the company.
Inside, Misaki was already juggling calls, discussing logistics, security, media timing, and collector-edition handling. She barely stopped for a breath.
Meanwhile, Rei stared out the window, thinking about the only thing on his mind:
How many copies would Volume 1 sell tomorrow?
Works ranked in the top ten achieved around two million per volume.
And only the true giants, the legendary front-runners, hit the ten-million-per-volume benchmark.
To Rei, if the first volume of Hikaru no Go sold two million overall, that would already be a runaway success.
But first-week? To achieve that trajectory, he needed at least 600,000 copies sold in week one.
Across twenty-three provinces and thousands of cities.
Rei trusted his manga, but in decisive moments, old habits crept in. His mind immediately began listing low-probability worst-case scenarios.
Misaki noticed.
She ended a call and said gently:
"Relax. The sales of your manga won't disappoint us, or you. They'll surpass expectations."
Rei looked at her. "Editor Misaki, how can you be so sure?"
She smirked.
"You're wondering what data or report I'm citing, aren't you?"
Rei nodded.
"None," she said simply. "No data. No survey. It's my instinct. Before I'm an editor, I'm a reader. And as a reader, I know this volume will be loved."
The car pulled into the underground parking area of the stadium. Rei was escorted through a security passage, then entered the main hall reserved for the signing event.
And the moment he emerged, thunderous screams hit him like a wave.
A dense sea of fans crowded behind the barricades.
From a glance, sixty to seventy percent were women, unsurprising, considering both Hikaru no Go and Tonight had strong emotional elements that resonated with female readers.
As soon as they saw him, the crowd exploded.
"Shirogane!"
"Shirogane, look here!"
"Shirogane! Chapter eleven was amazing! Please let Sai play again in chapter twelve!"
"Shirogane is so cute! And handsome!"
"Teacher Shirogane, when it's finally my turn, could you sign an extra business card for me too?"
The deafening noise made Rei freeze for half a second.
But he quickly refocused.
Hoshimori Group had arranged for him to sign one thousand copies, but the crowd in front of him easily exceeded that number. And plenty of fans had bought multiple copies, one to read, one to preserve, one to gift.
Rei exhaled.
He'd taken the whole day off anyway. No matter how long it took, he just had to grind through it.
Once the event officially began, the host came on stage, gave a full introduction of Rei's identity, achievements, and career, and then invited him up for interaction, all while countless cameras from Hoshimori Group filmed, broadcasting everything across multiple livestream platforms.
Back at school, it was class time.
But in the back rows of several classrooms, students had already hidden their phones inside desk compartments, silently watching the livestream.
Among them sat Hana and Yui, Rei's closest friends.
The moment first period ended, the second the teacher left, both of them whipped out their phones. Within seconds, half the class huddled around, staring with envy and admiration at the endlessly winding line of fans waiting for Rei's autograph, hundreds, probably thousands, stretching across the venue.
Watching fan after fan bow gratefully with a newly signed volume in hand, someone muttered:
"At least we don't need to line up for hours to get Rei's autograph!"
The class burst into laughter.
Up front, Miyu watched the screen, lips curling upward, her eyes fierce with renewed resolve.
She wanted that someday.
A signing event of her own, packed with people, just like this one.
"I'll work even harder," she whispered, clenching her fist.
The full-day signing session almost killed Rei's hands, numb, burning, trembling from overuse.
But right after that exhausted triumph came a tidal wave of full-network promotion from Hoshimori Group.
News outlets across the manga industry edited together photos, clips, interview snippets, and crowd videos from the signing event.
"Shirogane's first-volume release event, packed stadium!"
"Seventeen-year-old prodigy manga artist shocks the industry again."
Even manga readers who didn't usually buy the Comic Journal now knew: Hikaru no Go Volume 1 was newly released
Its creator, Shirogane, was only seventeen. And this high schooler had already published three works in a single year
The idea of "a genius Go manga" was attractive…
But the idea of "a genius high-school manga artist"? That was irresistible.
In major cities, bookstores cleared entire shelves for Hikaru no Go Volume 1.
Meanwhile, the Go Association pushed out official promotions supporting the release, posted articles, and even coordinated with TV sports channels. During off-peak broadcast hours, when professional Go matches played, the hosts would casually bring up:
"And recently, thanks to the rising popularity of the Go manga Hikaru no Go, created jointly by Hoshimori Group and the Go Association…"
And naturally, they'd mention: "A certain seventeen-year-old manga artist from Tokyo…"
With professional institutions, the manga group, bookstores, and the fanbase all aligning, Volume 1 sales exceeded expectations, even though first-week numbers would only be officially revealed on Thursday.
Rei kept living his usual double-life that week, studying during the day, drawing late into the night.
And then, Wednesday again.
The twelfth chapter of Hikaru no Go dropped on the Dream Comic Journal.
And this time, the long-awaited school Go team tournament finally began.
Hikaru took the position of third board player.
Akira, after learning the news, had originally been assigned as first board for Kaio Middle School in the team competition.
But the moment he heard Hikaru would be playing as third board, he immediately rushed to the Go club office, and begged the club advisor to switch him from main general to third general, just so he could face Hikaru in the tournament.
Even when his father questioned him, "Why run off to a middle-school tournament just to bully children?"
Akira could only look down, eyes filled with pain, and answer softly:
"If I don't play him, If I can't defeat Hikaru, I don't know if I can continue walking this path of Go."
Akira was terrified of Hikaru.
Terrified of the "Hikaru" who crushed him. Terrified of Sai, the real one he wanted to face.
Terrified of that shadow he couldn't escape.
But even if he was afraid, even if his father scolded him harshly…
And even if the Go club teacher refused, because for the sake of team results, he couldn't allow Akira to face the same Hikaru who had displayed god-like strength in last year's tournament…
Akira still bowed his head and begged.
He begged until tears hit the floor.
He begged them not to block him, he begged them to let him switch.
He begged for that third-board seat, the only seat that would allow him to fight Hikaru again.
All he wanted was their third game.
Just that.
The final page of chapter twelve showed the team competition scene, Hikaru walking toward his table as third board, Akira approaching from the opposite school.
Both stepping into their seats.
A still frame of the two of them locking eyes across the Go boards.
And that was it.
Chapter over.
Readers closed the magazine feeling a heaviness that sat in their chest.
A deep sigh, astab of emotion. And for Akira's pure admiration.
Now, everyone had the same question: What will Shirogane-sensei do?
If Hikaru truly sits opposite Akira, will Sai take over, answering Akira's desperate wish to face the real opponent he sensed?
Or will Hikaru insist on playing himself, shattering Akira's mental image of an invincible god, forcing him to face the truth that the "Hikaru" he feared might only exist in memory?
...
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