Rei was interested in the Japan Newcomer Manga Award that Misaki had mentioned, but he didn't dwell on it too much.
After all, the selection committee automatically evaluated the works of newly emerging manga artists each year, so he didn't need to submit an application himself. Misaki had explicitly stated that with the success of 5 Centimeters and his current manga, Tonight, he stood a very good chance of being nominated. Naturally, being nominated and ultimately winning the award would be ideal.
Winning such an award would indeed significantly boost a manga artist's chances of having their work serialized in the Six Major Magazines.
However, as long as Rei could continue to recall those outstanding works from his previous life, he wasn't worried about his manga career stalling at this point.
That afternoon, to celebrate the success of Tonight, Rei specifically invited Misaki out for dinner to express his gratitude.
Tonight's manga had been so well-received by fans. As the editor, Misaki must have been working tirelessly behind the scenes at Hoshimori Publishing Group. Though she never said much, Rei couldn't possibly believe her job was as simple as submitting his weekly drafts.
Being a manga editor at Hoshimori Publishing Group was no easy task.
Of course, Rei also stopped by a nearby anime merchandise store to buy some popular anime-themed gifts, which he carefully wrapped.
Given Misaki's wealth, she might not appreciate expensive gifts, and such gestures could easily be misinterpreted. But knowing she was a hardcore otaku, he figured appealing to her interests would be the best approach.
During dinner, Misaki earnestly told Rei that given the manga's popularity tonight, the company would likely release a collected edition within a few weeks.
"The popularity rankings in the magazines only reflect market expectations," she explained. "The true value of a manga is measured by its collected edition sales. Many decisions about anime adaptations and film adaptations are based on this data."
"Whether you plan to advance to higher platforms in the future or aim to win the Manga Newcomer Award this year, the sales data of your collected volumes will be a crucial reference point. If all goes as expected, the release date of your first volume will coincide with the serialization of your eighth chapter," Misaki said, turning to Rei.
"You took a gamble by designing such a dramatic plot twist. That moment will mark the eruption of the risks you've taken. You need to be mentally prepared."
"Understood," Rei nodded earnestly.
In the new week, the popularity and critical acclaim of Tonight began to fully ferment within the Japanese manga industry.
Ametsukage Weekly, after all, ranked among the top fifteen best-selling manga magazines in Japan.
For a manga to climb into the top five rankings within just four weeks of serialization in such a prestigious magazine—especially when the artist was rumored to be a high school student—created an overwhelming buzz.
In recent years, Japan had seen several high school and university students debut as manga artists, and the anime adaptations of their works had sparked widespread discussion. As a result, the industry now held a different attitude toward these young newcomers.
Multiple manga-related magazines and journals began comprehensive coverage of the newcomer Shirogane.
"Genius Manga Artist Shirogane's Debut Work, '5 Centimeters Per Second,' Surpasses 800,000 Copies! Reaching a Million by Year's End Is Only a Matter of Time. Who Exactly Is Shirogane?"
"Ametsukage Weekly's Popular Manga, 'Tonight, Let This Love Fade Away!' Receives Rave Reviews After Just One Month of Serialization. Its Rapid Growth Reminds Us of Ren and Minami Aoi's Rise Earlier This Year. Could the Race for the Newcomer Manga Grand Prize Still Be Up for Grabs?"
"'5 Centimeters Per Second' tells the story of a couple's thirteen-year entanglement in just five chapters. In contrast, 'Tonight' focuses on portraying protagonist Hino Maori's daily life. Newcomer manga artist Shirogane's works dissect the impact of time on relationships with remarkable depth. Is she really just a high school student?"
"Newcomer manga 'Tonight' is rapidly gaining popularity across Japan. Veteran manga artists are frequently mentioning Shirogane."
Renowned manga artist Hoshizaki Aira has once again praised the manga "Tonight," stating that although Shirogane is her junior, she has become a weekly follower of his work.
Miyu scrolled through online manga news articles about Rei on her phone, her expression a mix of happiness and envy.
"Come to think of it, his first work started serialization in June, right? It's only been five months, and he's already become so famous in the Japanese manga industry?"
Remembering how she had spent three years climbing to the top of Sakura Weekly's popularity charts and how she used to brag about this achievement to Rei, Miyu suddenly felt her face flush as she slumped over her desk.
"Forget about that. Miyu, you need to work harder and surpass him. Don't get discouraged."
With that thought, Miyu glanced at Rei, who was napping at the desk beside her during the lunch break.
Lately, Rei had stopped drawing manga during school hours. The distractions at school were too disruptive to his creative flow. Instead, he now chose to compress his sleep time at night and catch up on rest during lunch breaks in the classroom.
Rei's work ethic was all about catching up on sleep.
Without a manga assistant, he's drawing all these pages himself every week while still keeping up with his studies. And in just five months, he's already made a name for himself in the industry.
Miyu sighed again.
Only someone in the industry could truly understand how absurd this was.
And then there was the Newcomer Manga Grand Prize nomination her sister had mentioned.
When Miyu debuted at thirteen, her work was so terrible she was nowhere near nomination material. By the time her second series gained traction the following year, she was no longer eligible as a newcomer.
Seeing Rei's chance at a nomination, or even winning the prize, filled her with envy.
Some honors, if not achieved in youth, leave a lingering regret no matter how successful one becomes later.
Her mother had won the Newcomer Manga Grand Prize's annual Gold Prize in the very year she debuted as a manga artist at twenty.
Miyu, who had always idolized her mother, had surpassed her mother's achievements at the same age. Yet this particular award remained forever out of reach.
Rei, give it your all! If you get nominated for the Grand Prize, I'll skip school to support you at the live awards ceremony. You'd better at least make it into the top three and win a medal, or I'll look like such an idiot! Miyu thought to herself.
Over the next two weeks, the manga Tonight shifted its perspective from the female lead, Hino Maori, to the male lead, Kamiya Toru.
Kamiya Toru discovered his father's secret: ever since his mother's death from congenital heart disease, his father had been paralyzed by indecision, repeatedly quitting his job to pursue full-time writing. Yet, for years, he had been a coward, never daring to submit any of his novels for publication. After his wife's death, he had simply remained stuck in place, retreating from society, responsibility, work, and reality.
The true identity of Kamiya Toru's older sister was also revealed: she was the acclaimed literary author "Nishikawa," who had been repeatedly mentioned in earlier chapters.
The revelation that their runaway daughter had become a famous writer, while their full-time writer father lacked the courage to submit his own novels, sparked a fierce argument among the three family members.
After the conflict, the family members began to unravel their long-held resentments and misunderstandings.
Of course, Hino Maori played a crucial role in this process.
During these two weeks, the plot made little progress in advancing the romantic relationship between the male and female leads. Instead, the focus shifted to deepening the characterization of Kamiya Toru.
As a result, the manga's popularity ranking remained stagnant. Chapter 5 maintained its fifth-place position, failing to climb higher as it had in previous weeks.
After the sixth chapter was serialized, the ranking dropped one place to sixth.
Since the main plot hadn't progressed, it was natural that many readers' support had waned.
This situation greatly increased the pressure on Misaki, the manga editor.
Although the current results were already higher than her initial predictions for Tonight, who could accept a decline in a work's performance?
Moreover, the pivotal eighth chapter was scheduled for release in two weeks, and the company had decided to publish the first volume of the manga in four weeks.
Everything was unfolding exactly as she had predicted, all converging at once.
But by now, she knew that worrying wouldn't help.
In mid-October, Misaki submitted Miyu's new manga to fill a vacant slot in Ametsukage Weekly.
However, the competition at that serialization meeting was fierce. Miyu's new work ultimately lost to another manga by a narrow margin, leaving her so frustrated that she couldn't sleep well for days.
But that's how manga serialization works—opportunities aren't granted simply because she wants them.
Misaki had also suggested submitting the new work to Fantasy Realm or continuing to submit to Sakura Weekly's serialization meetings, but Miyu flatly refused.
She hadn't forgotten her conversation with Rei before tonight's serialization.
Next time we compete for serialization, I'll definitely beat you.
Would submitting to another magazine be admitting defeat?
But while she was still waiting for the next serialization meeting at Ametsukage Weekly, in late October, Rei brought the storyboard for the eleventh chapter of his manga to Misaki's house.
"This is the final chapter," Rei said with a smile as he handed over the storyboard. "This manga only has eleven chapters in total."
"So short?" Miyu couldn't help but ask.
"Yeah, it was never meant to be a long-running series. Once I've expressed what I wanted to, it's best to end it cleanly. The worst thing for a romance manga is dragging on past its natural conclusion, waiting until readers lose interest in the characters before finally ending it. What's the point in that?" Rei chuckled.
Miyu and Misaki exchanged glances, neither wanting to continue the conversation. Instead, they opened the storyboard for the final chapter of Rei's manga.
After a long silence, Misaki put down the storyboard and took a deep breath.
Misaki's eyes rimmed with red as she struggled to find the right words.
Both sisters simultaneously recalled Rei's earlier statement:
"There are no regrets between the male and female leads."
Rei hadn't lied.
But the problem was that readers like them, after finishing the story, felt immense regret—so much so that they wanted to stab someone!
Is this the kind of love story he likes?
Can't you be a decent person, Rei?
Miyu took a deep breath and uttered a sentence that made her sister Misaki turn her head in surprise:
"Rei, your manga fans are truly blessed."
As late October arrived, autumn deepened, and the temperature gradually dropped, the passion of Japan's manga fans remained undiminished.
Although the popularity poll numbers for Tonight hadn't increased in the past two weeks, this didn't mean the manga's fanbase hadn't grown. Many fans, disappointed by the lack of sweet moments between Hino Maori and Kamiya Toru, simply chose not to vote.
In reality,
early each morning, crowds flocked to bookstores, heading straight for the manga magazine shelves to select their favorite issues.
Among the magazines, Emi picked up the latest issue of Ametsukage Weekly and walked calmly to the cashier.
After paying, she returned home and immediately flipped to page seven of Tonight manga.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the story had shifted its focus away from Kamiya Toru's family.
Not that those scenes were bad.
But in a romance manga, spending too much time developing the protagonist's family felt redundant.
Fortunately, Shirogane Sensei seemed to have realized this, and chapter seven returned to the main couple's love story.
The chapter opened with Kamiya Toru watching Hino Maori sketch his portrait. He mused thoughtfully,
"Some skills, once learned, can never be forgotten."
Maori's memory issues might be manageable in daily life, but how would she cope with the demands of a job after entering society?
Her parents couldn't care for her forever, and she couldn't learn other skills to support herself.
So...
This is called procedural memory. It's like learning to ride a bicycle—once your body learns it, you'll never forget, no matter how long it's been since you last rode.
Emi thought about it. That makes sense!
What if we apply this to painting?
The female lead forgets her memories every day, but if she pursues painting as her future, would her painstakingly honed skills be completely erased by her memory loss?
Hino Maori, you must keep painting! Kamiya Toru's gaze was earnest as he stared at the girl.
This feeling...
A warm current surged through Emi's heart.
It's back.
The pure, sunny, and heartwarming youthful energy between them had returned.
In the manga panels, Hino Maori wielded her brush again and again.
Every morning, she would wake up, read her diary, and delve into her heart by examining Kamiya Toru's photos on her phone and the diary entries recording her most genuine feelings for him.
After recording Kamiya Toru's words in her diary, she never considered giving up painting again.
During classes, after school, and even during lunch breaks, her brush never stopped moving, and almost everything she painted was of the same person:
Kamiya Toru.
Even if memories can't be retained, they won't vanish without a trace.
The me in the diary seems to be gradually falling for him!
Emi took a deep breath.
"So, the sketchbook Hino Maori found in the first chapter contained sketches of Kamiya Toru. It was the past Hino Maori, day by day, meticulously drawing him."
A strange sweetness welled up in Emi's heart.
If procedural memories like riding a bicycle or drawing persist even when memories fade, would the moment someone truly falls in love with another person—would that love completely vanish with the next day's memory reset?
She understood Shirogane Sensei's intention behind this plot point.
She also realized why Hino Maori, despite having her memories wiped clean each day, always seemed so happy after meeting Kamiya Toru.
Though she herself didn't know it, each day's interaction with Kamiya Toru, the "stranger," was actually stirring up the feelings of love she had once held for him.
These daily encounters between the two were far from futile.
Soon, the plot intensified, reaching the night Kamiya Toru and Hino Maori had mentioned earlier—the fireworks festival.
In the manga, Kamiya Toru and Hino Maori met at the market, both dressed in elaborate attire and appearing somewhat reserved.
Seeing this, Emi felt a premonition.
Could it be...?
The corners of her lips curled up slightly.