At eight o'clock on Christmas night, all the members of the [Yosuganosora] animation studio had gathered together, looking toward Kamiyā Yuu seated at the computer desk. In addition, Kamiyā Sora, dressed in gothic-style winter clothing, had also become the center of attention. When Kamiyā Yuu introduced her, the expressions of the other members all carried some disbelief. Yūki Chinatsu, in particular, still hadn't recovered from the shock, unable to understand how the ordinary-looking Kamiyā Yuu could have such an extraordinarily beautiful younger sister.
Uehara Etsuki had brought along Busujima Murasaki, whom Kamiyā Yuu had met once before. She wore a light purple kimono, and every movement, word, and action of hers was modest and courteous, naturally inspiring goodwill in others.
*Click!*
The sound of a mouse click rang out in the office.
"Your work 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise' has been officially uploaded. Please patiently await the review staff's response."
Not long after the notification window appeared, another message popped up:
"Your work 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise' has officially passed review."
After finishing everything, Kamiyā Yuu stood up from his seat, raised a glass of fruit wine high into the air, and excitedly declared,
"To celebrate the official release of 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise,' cheers, everyone~!"
"Cheers!"
Everyone raised their glasses together, seeing the smiles and excitement on each other's faces. 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise' was the very first animation produced by the [Yosuganosora] animation studio, carrying extremely special and important meaning for everyone.
"I'm starving~! Hurry up and let's eat already!" Yūki Chinatsu urged while looking eagerly up at Kamiyā Yuu, waving her hand as though shooing away flies. A closer look would reveal that her gaze kept drifting curiously toward the computer screen.
"Chinatsu, you still haven't eaten this late?" Uehara Etsuki turned her head and asked with a frown.
Yūki Chinatsu snorted.
"I just wanted to eat my fill at the party... Besides, going to a convenience store alone on Christmas to buy a boxed meal—there should be a limit to how pathetic that gets, right!?"
By the end, her voice had weakened, carrying the sour self-mockery of a defeated loner.
Uehara Etsuki flicked Yūki Chinatsu on the forehead and gently scolded,
"No matter the reason, it's not an excuse to neglect your health. Aoi, is everything over there ready?"
Morishita Aoi, who still wore her thin black business suit despite it being Christmas, smiled and nodded.
"We can start anytime."
Uehara Etsuki turned back toward Kamiyā Yuu, silently asking for his opinion with her eyes. He chuckled and nodded.
"It's just a Christmas gathering. There's no need for so many formalities. Just like Aoi said, we can start whenever."
After a pause, he looked around at everyone and smiled.
"Then let's head next door and celebrate."
...
On Christmas Day, December 25th, Kamiyā Yuu fulfilled the promise he had made online. 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise' gave all the viewers who loved 'Red—Crescent Rose' a huge surprise.
In Shanghai, China, it was also Christmas. Lin Ye, who could have become one of life's winners on this day, instead chose to stay curled up at home together with the other members of the fan translation group, closely watching the developments surrounding 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise.' He stared at the screen, occasionally chatting with the other group members, sometimes opening video websites to watch funny clips, or opening music software to listen to songs. But no matter what he was doing, he constantly switched back to the "Fakebook" website to check for updates, clearly revealing the anticipation and anxiety in his heart.
This week, as a fan, he had seen quite a few slanderous comments beneath videos of 'Red—Crescent Rose.' Although they were insignificant compared to the overwhelming praise and positive reviews, he still wanted to refute those malicious comments as much as possible. At a time like this, the Christmas gift Yosuganosora had mentioned became especially crucial.
"Is it going to be a trailer or some other announcement? If only it could become an actual anime!" he muttered anxiously to himself, eventually switching directly to the updates page and staring blankly at it.
Not long afterward—
"The user Yosuganosora whom you follow has posted a new work. Would you like to watch it immediately?"
Lin Ye's heart jumped. He quickly clicked confirm with his mouse, jumping to a video playback page.
The very first thing he looked at was the video's progress bar.
12:36
*Smack!!*
Lin Ye slapped his thigh excitedly. The excessive force made his palm sting with pain.
"Holy shit! It's actually twelve minutes long! That's even one minute longer than 'Red—Crescent Rose'! So it really is another full episode introducing a new character!"
Lin Ye took a deep breath to calm his excitement. His reddened right hand trembled slightly as he gripped the mouse and clicked play immediately.
...
For Western countries, Christmas was equivalent to the Lunar New Year in China—a major annual holiday. Robert, who should already have been enjoying his vacation, was still absentmindedly flipping through company files on his laptop.
Under his direction, the 'RWBY' animation series had already signed a series of contracts with the "Fakebook" company. The company would appropriately invest in [Yosuganosora] to help complete the animation while requesting the majority of overseas licensing rights for the 'RWBY' series.
Robert felt extremely regretful about this because his original intention had been for the "Fakebook" company to completely buy out the series rather than merely obtaining usage licenses and exclusive streaming rights.
Unexpectedly, not only had the proposal been rejected by the upper management of "Fakebook," but the author Yosuganosora had also tactfully declined the suggestion.
"Those idiots really don't understand that the value brought by a famous animation brand can't possibly be compared to a mere few tens of millions of dollars."
Thinking this, Robert couldn't help ridiculing the intelligence of the company's executives. Their approach was excessively conservative—they planned to invest only after confirming whether the 'RWBY' animation series was truly worth it. What they failed to realize was that once 'RWBY' gained even greater fame, why would it remain tied to cooperation with "Fakebook"?
"If 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise' really is as outstanding as that Mr. Kamiyā says, then this release will be the loudest slap in those executives' faces!"
During this period, as a famous animation blogger, he had frequently discussed the production progress and various details of 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise' with Kamiyā Yuu on the "Fakebook" website. Based on the information Yosuganosora had revealed, Robert was confident that 'Yellow—Ashen Paradise' would become the turning point in the popularity of the 'RWBY' franchise.
"The user Yosuganosora whom you follow has posted a new work. Would you like to watch it immediately?"
Seeing the message appear on his computer screen, Robert could not help but smile excitedly and mutter to himself,
"Hah... It's been a long time since I've felt this kind of anticipation."