The next morning.
In the living room of Miyu’s villa.
"Rejected?"
Rei’s eyes narrowed slightly at the news.
He had always known that, at the newcor stage, anything could happen.
But hearing that Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes from the World had failed to pass Mirage Weekly’s serialization eting, he still couldn’t help muttering under his breath.
In his previous life, Tonight had risen from the brutal competition of the light novel industry and even received a live-action film adaptation.
Its value had already been proven.
Yet here, it couldn’t clear this single serialization eting.
"Don’t get discouraged. There’s still Atsukage Weekly’s serialization eting next week," Misaki said.
"I know," Rei replied with a faint smile.
"I’m not upset, just a little disappointed."
"There’s nothing to regret," Misaki said gently.
"This might not be our loss."
A few days later, Atsukage Weekly’s serialization eting began.
The process was the sa as before.
Eleven works were up for review.
But this ti, Ichinose Kei, the editor-in-chief of Atsukage Weekly and one of the departnt heads of the Hoshimori Group, glanced at the author na on the submission for Tonight, and her eyes lit up.
"Is this the sa Shirogane who drew Five Centiters per Second?"
"Yes," Misaki replied.
"Director Ichinose, you know him?"
"Of course," Ichinose said with a warm smile.
"My daughter loves his manga."
"And I’ve read the collected volu myself. It moved deeply. It’s been years since a manga left such an impression on ."
The mont she said this, the expressions of the editors around the table shifted.
A flicker of envy even passed through a few of them as they glanced at Misaki.
The truth was simple:
At serialization etings, editors’ opinions were just opinions.Most editor-in-chiefs would listen to the room, but if they wanted to override everyone, they could.
Sales and performance were their responsibility. And with greater responsibility ca greater authority.
And Director Ichinose’s tone made her feelings very clear.
She was extrely interested in Shirogane’s new work.
Misaki blinked in surprise.
How could this week’s eting feel completely opposite to last week’s?
But manga is subjective.
Personal taste shapes professional judgnt.
Director Shidō of Mirage Weekly feared that serializing a newcor might result in unstable writing or a disappointing ending, further damaging Mirage Weekly’s already dropping sales.
But Director Ichinose wasn’t afraid.
Atsukage Weekly was currently third in sales among the group’s magazines. Even if a risk didn’t succeed, their ranking wouldn’t collapse.
Which ant for her, there was no downside to giving a fresh newcor a chance.
If anything, she welcod it.
By early August, as sumr vacation neared its end, Rei finally received the news he’d been waiting for.
"It was selected," ca Misaki’s calm voice over the phone.
"If all goes well, Tonight will debut in Atsukage Weekly three weeks from now."
"So please co by tomorrow to sign the contract."
"Understood," Rei said, exhaling slowly.
This ti, he was familiar with the process.
The royalty share for the tankōbon release had risen from 6% on his previous work to 7%.
And the page rate for manuscripts had increased from around 300 yen per page to 540 yen per page.
Naturally, the rate would fluctuate depending on popularity rankings.
There was nothing to hesitate over.
Rei signed imdiately.
"This will be completely different from when Five Centiters per Second was serialized," Misaki said as she put the contract away, her gaze falling on him.
"You handed all five Chapters at once back then, so there was never any issue of deadlines or manuscript reminders."
"But for Tonight..." Misaki fixed him with a serious look.
"Since you’ve committed to this, do it properly. Don’t beco one of those artists who procrastinate endlessly. If the editor doesn’t push them, they drown in delays and blow their submission deadlines."
Off to the side, Miyu gave her sister a puzzled look.
Sis...Are you talking about Rei? Are you calling out too?
"Of course," Rei said with a grin.
"Those kinds of manga artists you ntioned? They’re the type I hate the most."
He still rembered the pain of following Hunter × Hunter week by week in his previous life.
Although he couldn’t rember the exact events of the manga anymore, the agony of following it week by week was carved deep into his heart.
"Cough... cough..." Miyu cleared her throat lightly.
But Rei completely failed to notice what she was thinking and continued on with conviction.
"The most basic quality a manga artist must have is proper ti managent. eting your deadlines is the first rule of professionalism. Anyone who can’t even manage that isn’t worthy of being called a mangaka."
Misaki turned to look at Miyu.
Miyu’s ears had gone slightly red. She opened her mouth, wanting to say sothing, but in the end, she held it in.
Inside, she grumbled silently:
Rei, I don’t believe for a second that you’ll never hit writer’s block or miss a deadline. When that day cos, I’m absolutely going to repeat those exact words back to you.’
With the serialization confird, Rei began preparing for the launch of Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes from the World.
The first Chapter would receive a color-page promotion, as was customary for new serializations.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a full-color Chapter, just about six pages.
The cover of Atsukage Weekly would also feature a large illustration highlighting the new series.
Naturally, all of this had to be drawn by the mangaka himself.
So Rei spent the end of sumr extrely busy.
His social dia accounts across multiple platforms had also gained a significant following thanks to the success of the Five Centiters per Second volu.
With a new serialization coming up, he needed to let his fans know.
Although it was unclear how many Sakura-iro Weekly readers would switch over to Atsukage Weekly, it was still important.
"September 5th, Atsukage Weekly! My new series will begin."
A short announcent, but within half a day, it had spread throughout the fan communities of Five Centiters per Second.
Many of Rei’s ( Shirogane’s) fans were still carrying the emotional weight of that story.
New readers were constantly discovering it through the tankōbon release.
Most assud that Shirogane would take at least a few months, half a year, maybe even longer, before releasing a new work.
So mangaka took years between series.
But the Five Centiters per Second volu had only been released one month ago.
And Shirogane already had a new serialization?!
What kind of speed is that?!
At first, the fans were stunned.
Then excited.
Then the heaviness from the previous manga washed over them again.
@SakuraPetals_89: So you ARE planning to draw another serialized manga!!
@TrainStationRomantic: Here I thought you were done, thought you’d just drop one emotional bomb on us and retire forever!
@CryingUnderKotatsu: That ending destroyed us! And now you want us to support your next series??
@NotFallingForThisAgain: No way! I refuse! Not even a dog would read your next work!!
...
But then they saw the title:
@LateNightReader: Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes from the World. That...sounded pretty good.
’Another youth romance...?’
...
Bonus @1500
Read 30 Chapters ahead at /c/Ashnoir
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