After class, the late afternoon chill had already taken over the street in front of the school.
Ren left through the gate along with the flow of students; on the other side of the avenue, cars passed in sequence, and further up, the distant sound of the commuter train cut through the air like a reminder that Yokohama never truly slowed down.
In the next block, very close to a subway station and a street full of illuminated vertical signs, there was a small bookstore, one of those that survived through stubbornness and habit. It had magazines at the entrance, manga stacked to the ceiling, and a literature section with narrow shelves where there was always someone browsing without intending to buy.
Ren entered trying to appear casual, although inside he was tense.
He already knew what he wanted: the latest issue of 'Momentary Blossoms'.
His novel was there for the first time. The debut. The first chance for the world to look at 'Ao Haru Ride' and say, "yes" or "no."
After all, it was the first edition, and he definitely wanted to contribute to sales.
"If I appear in a magazine, I buy the magazine," he thought, as if this simple rule could bring good luck.
He picked up a copy and held the edge of the cover for a second. The texture of the paper, the smell of printing, the real weight of something that wasn't just a file on the computer… it hit him in a different way.
Even so, he didn't rush to the checkout. While he was there, he also carefully observed the sales of the various romance magazines in the bookstore.
The bookstore had a typical layout: on the left, the most visible section, the internal "showcase." And, as expected, the publisher's main magazine, Red Violet, was in the most eye-catching spot. It was the queen of the counter, the product that any frequent reader recognized from afar.
Meanwhile, 'Momentary Blossoms' was stacked right next to it, in a still good, but clearly secondary, spot. Still, you could see it was selling. It had that air of a magazine that doesn't need shouting; whoever wants it gets it.
And what caught Ren's attention wasn't the students, although they were there, coming and going. It was the adults.
Workers in loose suits, loosened ties, briefcases in hand; women in long coats and shoulder bags; people who entered with the precision of those who do this every week. They came straight in, without looking at the rest: they grabbed Red Violet, sometimes also 'Momentary Blossoms', and left as if they were buying bread.
These customers were clearly avid readers of both magazines.
Ren was a little apprehensive. He didn't know how the first edition of 'Ao Haru Ride' had been received. After observing for a long time in the bookstore, he hadn't managed to get any useful information and ended up taking the books home by subway.
He stood there longer than he should have, trying to catch a conversation, a comment, any sign of how the chapter of 'Ao Haru Ride' was being received. But nobody said anything aloud. Nobody pointed to the page. There was no way to know what they were thinking.
To break his own nervousness, he opened the magazine and went straight to the table of contents.
And then, a short sentence made his heart beat a little faster.
"Hmm? 'The Light of Yesterday's Stars'…?"
He knew that title.
And with it came the automatic image: a girl in a mask, in line at Red Violet Literature, a few weeks earlier. Someone who had also gone to deliver a manuscript in person, which meant one simple and important thing:
She was, basically, in the same place as him.
Unlike Shiori, who proactively sought out Miyuki to inquire about competing novels being serialized around the same time, even before the magazine's publication, he only now realized that this novel was also being serialized in 'Momentary Blossoms'.
Curiosity got the better of him. Right there, with the train swaying and the announcements of the next station echoing through the loudspeakers, he began to read.
Time contracted.
Ten minutes later, he carefully closed the magazine, as if he had just watched a first episode that "ended too soon."
"It's really very well written!"
The plot of the first chapter of yesterday's novel 'The Light of Yesterday's Stars' flashed through his mind. Although he had finished the first chapter quickly, his curiosity about the subsequent plot was like a hook, tugging at his heartstrings.
He stared at his own hand for a second, as if slightly annoyed by his own honesty.
"That girl looked to be about my age, and she was in line with me for Miyuki's novel review that day. That means she didn't have a known editor and submitted the work internally; she was a newcomer like me. I didn't expect a newcomer like her to write such a wonderful novel."
Ren swallow hard.
"And yet… she wrote something like this?"
"Maybe… she is what people usually call a literary genius," Ren thought as he stood up and left the subway.
The word "genius" was dangerous. It was comfortable and cruel at the same time. Comfortable because you can blame fate. Cruel because, deep down, it means: someone was born with a kind of knife that you don't have.
But Ren didn't allow himself to sink into that. He got off the subway when he reached his station and walked towards home.
The streets of the neighborhood were lit with warm lights. Near a convenience store, two children were playing, and their mother was calling impatiently. A man was walking his dog and seemed to be in no hurry at all, as if he owned time.
Before he even reached his front door, his phone rang. His heart leaped into his throat.
"Hello, Miyuki," Ren hesitated for a moment, then called Miyuki directly onto the phone.
On the other end, her voice was calm and soft.
"Congratulations, Ren."
He blinked, stopping mid-way, his backpack tugging at his shoulder.
"Congratulations? Congratulations for what?"
The answer came bluntly, like someone delivering an exam result.
"At 7 PM today, according to reader voting data and feedback on the company's official website, your novel, 'Ao Haru Ride', is in fourth place in votes and first in ranking, with a score of 9.2."
Ren said nothing. He just… processed it.
On the other side, Miyuki also remained silent, waiting for his reaction as if letting the student understand the weight of a high grade.
"Is this impressive? This result?"
He could sense from her tone that it was a big deal, but since he didn't know the details of the other competitors' works, he didn't have a clear understanding of the data and could only cautiously ask another question.
Miyuki let out a short sound, something between laughter and a sigh.
"Ah, very impressive. If we consider only the data from the first chapter of a new 'serialized' novel, it's the best-performing novel in the three years since 'Momentary Blossoms' was published in the magazine."
"It's also the second best-performing 'first chapter' in the ten years since 'Momentary Blossoms' was founded. Of course, the final results will only be confirmed tomorrow at 9 am, but it's very likely that the ranking won't change."
Now Ren understood.
Even though 'Momentary Blossoms' wasn't the number one magazine at Red Violet Literature, it was still large and had a high circulation. The competition there wasn't amateurish. A good performance in that arena meant something.
And his performance achieved phenomenal results.
"What's number one?" Ren asked after thinking for a moment.
Miyuki answered as if she had expected this question.
"It's a novel called 'First Moon'. When it was serialized in Momentary Blossoms three years ago, the first chapter was incredibly captivating, and the plot resembled a social event of the time, resonating with readers. Because of this, it received an impressive 2,900 votes in the reader poll for that issue, and the novel's rating was 9.3."
Miyuki, holding her cell phone, sat in her office chair, observing the neon-lit night landscape, and spoke to Ren on the other end of the line.
Her voice continued, and the next part came like a cold blade.
"However, when the novel reached its tenth chapter, the number of votes dropped to 103, and the book's rating was also severely damaged by readers. Ultimately, the publisher canceled the entire work with a score of 5.4."
Ren froze upon hearing this. His body stiffened. The cold wind hit the back of his neck, but he didn't feel it.
"Ren, the first chapter of 'Ao Haru Ride' achieved excellent results. But this is only the beginning. Don't let these results fool you. A successful novel is one that continues to be supported by readers even on the day it ends; that's true success," Miyuki said softly.
Ren was afraid of success too. Afraid of the kind of success that becomes a burden, and then a downfall. Miyuki was simultaneously praising him and holding him by the collar so he wouldn't lose his way.
He was silent for a moment, listening to his own blood in his ear.
"I understand. I know what you mean," he said after a moment of silence.
"Since you understand, everything becomes easier," Miyuki replied, and it was clear she was pleased he hadn't drowned in euphoria.
"Easier? What's easier?" he asked.
On the other hand, Miyuki sighed like someone looking at a student discovering the world.
"You... really don't understand anything."
"Ren Yamamoto... Do you think our editors' job is just to collect your manuscripts every week and send them to the publisher for printing?"
Ren was speechless for a second.
"...Isn't it?"
Miyuki let out a small, innocent laugh, but one laden with reality.
"It's definitely not that simple! As your editor, I'm responsible for reviewing the plot quality of your novel, checking sensitive elements, and, to a certain extent, helping you control the direction of the plot."
After listening to Miyuki's words for a while, Ren understood what she meant.
He knew, theoretically, that editors existed. But he had never felt the editor as a real presence in the creative process. The editor responsible for a novel plays an important role in preventing the "participant," that is, the creator of the novel, from becoming "confused."
Because Miyuki wasn't speaking as an employee. She was speaking as someone who had seen writers destroy their own work by getting "too involved."
And she was right.
After all, many authors tend to get carried away while writing, resulting in plots like the death of the female protagonist, the death of the protagonist's entire family, adultery, prostitution, and breakups and reconciliations between the male and female protagonists. Because the author knows the subsequent plot and how the protagonist resolves the crises, they don't feel pressured while writing; instead, they think they've created a brilliant plot.
But readers suffer. Even before the twists begin, many abandon the book. The editor's role is to intervene, to a certain extent, during the creation of the plot, preventing the author from getting lost in self-indulgent writing and causing the collapse of the work's popularity and plot.
That was the pitfall of serialization.
Ren recalled old discussions about famous works. The kind of work that started impeccably and ended… strange, inflated, without the same soul. Many people said that change came when the editor changed, when the voice that held the author back from the outside disappeared.
In fact, the editor's role is quite significant in the serialization of many well-known works.
It prevented him from confusing "shock" with "depth."
It prevented him from sacrificing a character just to create easy drama.
It prevented him from turning the story into an ego exercise.
Consider, for example, the extremely popular work "Naruto" in a parallel universe. Why was the initial plot a masterpiece, but the later plot became questionable?
A large part of the reason is that the editor changed in the final stages of the manga.
What was the importance of the role of Naruto's first editor?
The original concept of the popular green-skinned character, "Rock Lee," was suggested to Kishimoto by the first editor. Of course, the character "Gaara" was also the result of discussions between the editor and the author Kishimoto.
Furthermore, the editor also played a significant role in the character design, art style, and personality development of the second protagonist, "Uchiha Sasuke."
Also, in Naruto's initial premise, the Third Hokage was to be a very powerful pet dog belonging to the Second Hokage. Rumors suggest this idea was rejected by the editors for being considered too unusual, leading to the creation of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi.
Even before the concept of Naruto existed, the initial suggestion to Kishimoto to create a ninja manga came from the first editor.
A good editor can be a great help to a work.
His hand tightened on the phone.
"So, what do you intend to do?" Ren asked.
On the other end, there was a brief pause.
As if Miyuki had expected exactly that question.
And as if, from that moment on, their relationship ceased to be "rookie author and editor" and became something closer to a partnership or real training.
End of Chapter 18