Thursday was arguably Rei's most mentally draining day of the entire week.
Not because of schoolwork or daily stress, but because Dream Comic released new chapters on Wednesday, and then rankings came out on Thursday.
Rei's identity had been exposed for long enough that his classmates were already used to having a nationally famous manga artist in their room.
No one screamed over him anymore when hikaru no go updated.
No more chaos.
Just quiet familiarity.
But outside of school? Completely different story.
That morning, Rei could already tell that fans of Sai and Akira, along with people who were simply fans of Rei himself, were camped outside the school gates again.
During break, Miyu noticed Rei staring blankly at the window and walked over with that teasing half-smile.
"Quite popular these days, aren't we, great manga artist?"
"Are you so bored that you came all the way here just to tease me?" Rei whispered back after checking that no one nearby was listening.
"Your Sakura Rain has entered its mid-late serialization with a steady magazine ranking at #2… That's still a long way from your claim that you'd 'quickly reach #1,' isn't it?"
"Of course I know that. You don't need to rub it in."
Her face darkened immediately.
For three straight weeks Sakura Rain had barely missed the top spot.
A few votes short each time. It made her miserable.
"And anyway," she fired back, "your hikaru no go hasn't climbed much either! You told me with full confidence that it would break into the top three, right now it looks like that dream is a long way off."
In Dream Comic, the top three works were in a different universe entirely, sales, influence, weekly vote count, everything.
The third-place manga alone received 50% more votes than the fourth place.
Hoshimori Group treated the top three like royalty.
Prime-time anime slots. Massive merchandise budgets. Front-page promotion.
Everyone below them fought over scraps.
But Rei didn't react to her jab, which only made Miyu more curious.
"So then, about the ending of hikaru no go. When will Hikaru finally become a professional? Will Akira and Sai have a fifth match? And what if Hikaru dies someday, when will Sai find a third host?"
"All of those are spoilers, and you know I don't spoil things." Rei smiled. "But I can tell you this: every one of your questions will be answered within one year, before our college entrance exams."
Miyu froze.
"You're only planning to serialize it for that short a time?"
"What else? How long do you expect a Go manga to run?"
"No, no, wait. Shouldn't it last four or five years?" She panicked. "I even researched all the world tournaments because of your manga! There are seven global Go championships! Plus Meijin, Tengen, Kisei titles… And the rivalry with the peninsula region is fiercer than ever."
She leaned forward, counting on her fingers.
"If Hikaru goes through the pro exam, becomes a 9-dan, wins titles, represents Japan internationally, fights world champions. That's hundreds of chapters! Don't you want that?"
Rei burst out laughing.
"What's the point of that?"
"This story is about a boy going from knowing nothing to loving Go. It's not about him becoming world number one. That'd be redundant, drawn-out, boring. Readers will drop it."
He shrugged.
Just like Slam Dunk. If it continued into the NBA with Sakuragi and Rukawa winning championships, it would've crashed in reputation like Prince of Tennis. Ending well matters more than dragging out success.
"But hikaru no go is insanely popular now. And you're ending it in just a year? What about Hoshimori Group?"
"That's not my problem. A manga should end when readers love it most. Don't milk fans dry."
And because Rei knew the original story's trajectory, he knew popularity would peak around the arc of Sai's disappearance.Dragging it out beyond that point would only hurt the work.
The conversation ended there as the bell rang.
Morning classes flew by.
By noon, Rei carried his lunch and his phone up to the rooftop, waiting for Misaki's Thursday call with the new ranking.
Right on time, Misaki's call came through.
"Rei, congratulations. hikaru no go's popularity ranking rose again this week, more than 400,000 votes, placing it at sixth!"
Through the phone, Rei could clearly hear both joy and disbelief tangled in her voice.
Breaking into the top six of Dream Comic meant the series had officially entered the league of country's truly popular works.
A few weeks ago, Misaki herself had warned Rei that hikaru no go might stall for a long period, that a Go-themed manga simply didn't have the legs to climb much further.
And yet here it was. Sixth place.
She honestly found it surreal.
She had known prodigies before.
But Rei was… something more.
From day one, hikaru no go had kept smashing every prediction she made.
She first thought the theme was too niche, that even if it passed the serialization board, it'd struggle around rank 10 to 15.
Then when it broke into the top ten, she assumed that was the ceiling.
Go was disadvantaged.
Even with Rei's god-tier pacing and paneling, top eight was supposed to be the optimal limit.
But in just a handful of chapters following the team arc, it had climbed again.
To sixth.
What was the real ceiling of this manga?
Could hikaru no go actually challenge the Big Three at the top of Dream Comic, Source War Chronicle, The Wanderer, and Fist Armor?
Logic told Misaki this was impossible. But emotion whispered…
"Why not dream?"
It was just three ranks away.
Yes, battle manga and sci-fi giants had a much broader commercial ecosystem than a Go story.
But in the magazine rankings alone…? Top three wasn't impossible.
"Sixth?" Rei finally exhaled in relief.
He believed in the series, but even he had grown restless after weeks of stagnation.
"There's also something important I need to discuss with you…" Misaki said.
"Go ahead."
"The broadcast date for the hikaru no go anime has been set for January next year. And the manga has dramatically boosted the Go industry. Registrations for youth Go classes across the country increased 40% year-over-year…"
Rei blinked. He didn't expect that number.
"And because Go isn't usually mainstream," Misaki continued, "the Go Association, being a semi-official organization, has been aggressively promoting it. With their push, plus investors swarming in, all adaptation rights sold quickly. Animation rights of course, but the live-action drama rights have also been sold."
Rei's eyes widened.
So that was why everything felt so "smooth."
The Go Association was quietly backing the series.
They had every reason to.
Unlike commercial studios, the Association didn't care about profit.They cared about national Go participation.
And nothing, no world title, no championship run could grow the national Go population faster than a smash-hit manga spreading through every school in the country.
Hikaru no go had already done more for Go's popularity than a decade of official events.
"So what's the part you need to discuss with me?" Rei asked.
Misaki inhaled.
"The animation team and the TV drama production team both want to invite you, the original creator, to serve as a creative consultant. But since you're a student and entering your final high-school year, they were hesitant to ask directly. So the editorial department asked me to check with you first."
"Consultant?"
Upon hearing this, Rei immediately recalled the two versions of Hikaru no Go from his previous life, the anime's legendary soundtrack, the iconic voice actors, and even the live-action casting choices.
Misaki, however, completely misread his pause. To her, Rei sounded timid.
"Of course, you don't need to learn the entire production workflow," Misaki quickly added. "You'd only be exercising your aesthetic judgment as the original creator, giving input on character design, actor casting, voice actor selection, and how certain scenes should be adapted for animation and the drama."
She didn't mention the real reason, the investors needed Rei's name as a shield.
If extreme fans complained after the adaptation aired?
They could simply say: "This was personally approved by the original creator, Shirogane-sensei."
Instant damage control.
Even the angriest fans would limit how harshly they criticized once they knew the original mangaka oversaw it.
"No problem. I can accept it," Rei nodded.
Misaki froze.
"Then… your studies?"
"Hikaru no Go is more important to me than test scores right now," Rei said, smiling lightly. "My goal is to be a first-class manga artist, not a first-class university student."
With the knowledge he carried from his previous life, getting into a mid-tier key university wouldn't be difficult anyway.
Misaki's heart skipped.
At seventeen, Rei's clarity and decisiveness were unnervingly sharp.
"But…" Rei continued, leaning forward slightly.
"Since they're inviting me as a consultant, I don't want to just be a mascot. I want the production teams to take my opinions seriously. On character designs, music direction, casting, I want real decision power. Please help me negotiate this."
He wasn't joking.
In his previous world, the anime's soundtrack was iconic, practically a spiritual core of the series. If they were inviting him properly, then he'd demand the right to preserve (or surpass) those classics in this world.
Misaki thought for a moment.
"No problem. But if you want influence, you'll have to be genuinely involved. Rights only come with responsibilities."
"And… animation takes time. Four to six months, minimum. But the live-action drama? That's different."
She sighed.
"Japan's TV dramas are filmed and broadcast in tight cycles. Some start shooting and air within two to three months. If Hikaru no Go's drama begins production soon, it might air before the anime, maybe even ahead of the manga's progress."
"If you accept the consultant role, you'll have extra workload for months. And during that time, you cannot stop updating Hikaru no Go. Can you handle it?"
"No problem."
Three simple words.
Rei didn't overthink it.
Hoshimori Group had adapted countless works; he wasn't intimidated.
After Rei formally accepted, the company's promotional machinery began moving at high speed.
Hoshimori Group dropped a bombshell on their official site:
"Shirogane's manga Hikaru no Go will begin production on a live-action TV drama.
Shirogane-sensei will join the crew as a creative consultant.
Public casting auditions will begin soon."
The entire fandom froze.
Last month, it was the anime announcement.
This month, the TV drama.
The speed of the IP expansion was insane.
The other five major manga groups immediately felt threatened.
Is Hoshimori out of its mind?
A series only serialized for a few months, and they've already greenlit both the anime and live-action?
What if the plot collapses later?
Are they ready for the embarrassment?
But ordinary manga fans didn't think that far.
Within half a day, the news tore through the Hikaru no Go fandom.
Shirogane's comment section exploded with activity. It was the busiest it had ever been.