The editorial team of Hoshimori Group, responsible for Sakura-iro Weekly, was buzzing with disbelief.
They had already announced the conclusion of High-Scoring Romance two weeks in advance.
For the past two months, that manga had been heavily criticized for its diluted, boring plot, but precisely because of that, the editorial team wanted to give it a respectable farewell by letting it take first place one last time.
And in fact, the fans really had supported it.
Out of goodwill, many still voted, which was the only reason High-Scoring Romance reached over 5,000 votes.
Support votes in weekly magazines were one of the most powerful indicators of a work's real market value.
Most manga readers were lazy, terribly lazy.
Even after finishing a chapter they loved, only a tiny fraction would actually bother to open a webpage, log in, and cast a vote.
Thus, the number of votes a manga could mobilize represented: how deeply it touched readers, how compatible it was with the market, how powerful its emotional impact was
So with two years of accumulated fanbase, and three weeks of pre-finale advertising, the editors were certain High-Scoring Romance would take the top spot.
But instead, It was crushed.
And not by a little.
Five Centimeters per Second: 7,356 votes; High-Scoring Romance: 5,012 votes
"This is absurd."
"I thought it was just a tragic romance. Why is the market reaction this huge?"
"The magazine has only been out for one day, and already about 1% of readers cast votes? For a weekly? That's outrageous."
"Something's off. The entire forum is overflowing with Five Centimeters per Second. The other finale this week, High-Scoring Romance, got completely overshadowed."
Everyone was whispering, glancing repeatedly at Misaki.
After all, she was the one who discovered Shirogane.
And not just Shirogane, but also Saki.
Hoshimori Group, a massive publisher, normally let its tertiary magazines like Sakura-iro Weekly handle new artists.
But when a newcomer displayed exceptional talent, HQ would quickly pull strings to give them access to: better magazines, bigger platforms, national distribution
And now?
Two high-school manga artists, Saki and Shirogane, had both achieved #1 rankings.
They were perfect for the company's theme of promoting "genius teenage creators."
Their talent was unmistakable.
Everyone in the office sensed the implications.
And so, their eyes toward Misaki were filled with: envy, jealousy, respect, and subtle bitterness.
...
During lunch break, Rei turned on the new phone he had just bought.
Two unread messages appeared from Misaki.
He opened the first.
'First place!'
Rei's eyes narrowed, then widened slightly.
It was the result he predicted, yet actually seeing it sent a thrill through him.
He took a deep breath and opened the second message.
"You mentioned working on a new manga before, right? Keep it up!If the Five Centimeters per Second tankōbon sells well, I might be able to submit your new work to a higher-tier magazine in the group!"
Rei froze.
Then excitement bubbled up.
Sakura-iro Weekly is only a third-tier magazine.
Which meant, there were second-tier journals.
And above those.
Fantasy Dream Comics
Weekly circulation: 16 million copies
Rei almost laughed.
In his previous life, the peak of Weekly Jump had only been six million.
But Japan here had: ten times the population, a stronger manga readership, better anti-piracy, wider distribution, deeper cultural penetration
With that environment, even 40–50 million copies was theoretically possible if readership habits matured.
However, the environment here was completely different from Rei's previous life.
In his past world, Jump had dominated the manga market for nearly twenty years, Saint Seiya, Yu Yu Hakusho, Slam Dunk, Dragon Ball;one giant after another had cemented Jump's dominance.
At its peak, Dragon Ball had pushed Jump's circulation to six million.Meanwhile, Magazine and Sunday hovered at just over two million.
One superpower, two strong contenders, a stable hierarchy.
But in this world, the situation was vastly different.
The six major manga companies all possessed powerful, beloved series. None had created a "market-killer" like Dragon Ball that crushed all competition.
The market is only so big, and when averaged out, it results in six manga journals with weekly sales exceeding ten million, which are also the only six primary manga journals in the market.
Below them were the secondary journals, each selling over one million copies weekly.
For Hoshimori Group:
Fantasy Dream Comics → Primary (16 million)
Ametsukage → Secondary (1.7 million)
Mirage Comics→ Secondary (2.6 million)
Sakura-iro Weekly → Tertiary
Misaki's message was now crystal clear. If Five Centimeters per Second's tankōbon sales were strong enough, If "Shirogane" proved capable, then Rei's next work might enter the serialization selection meeting for:
Ametsukage or Mirage.
The path of a manga artist was rigid but clear: Start from tertiary journals
Break out → advance to secondary journals
Achieve extraordinary results → enter the top six primary journals
Only proven creators with high emotional endurance were allowed into the "big leagues."
No primary magazine valued a new artist's "elementary school–level" experiment.
After all, there were many stories with strong beginnings, but very few creators who could: survive deadline pressure, endure reader criticism, avoid collapsing under heavy expectations, withstand obsessive extremist fans, handle millions of comments, resist mental burnout, keep creating even when sick, exhausted, or anxious
Countless new artists broke under pressure.
Some vanished. Some stopped drawing forever.
Some suffered breakdowns due to online abuse, unable to even touch a pen again.
Rei inhaled sharply.
It was going to be a long, grueling climb.
The manga world was a battlefield of capital and competition.
To succeed, a creator had to break out from a sea of tens of thousands.
Just as Rei collected his thoughts;
CLACK
The rooftop door behind him opened.