Early the next morning, the final data for the third chapter of Blue Spring Ride was released.
The rating remained unchanged, but reader support votes rose to 4,233, keeping it firmly in third place. However, the gap with second place had narrowed dramatically.
Compared to the previous issue's difference of more than a thousand votes, this time the margin was less than one hundred.
In other words, Summer Fireworks had only narrowly beaten Blue Spring Ride.
As for Yesterday's Starlight, its rating also remained unchanged, but its reader votes exceeded expectations, reaching 2,436.
It had been assumed it would remain fifth in the magazine rankings, but after final calculations, it secured fourth place instead.
Most of the vote increases for these two novels came from readers defecting from other series. Aside from Yesterday's Starlight and Blue Spring Ride, nearly every other serialized novel in the magazine saw their vote counts drop to varying degrees.
That was precisely why Yesterday's Starlight was able to climb to fourth place with just over 2,400 votes. After the third installment of Blue Spring Ride, the overall balance of the magazine shifted dramatically.
The novels that had previously ranked third and fourth were pushed down to fifth and sixth. Taking their places were the two newcomer serials, Blue Spring Ride and Yesterday's Starlight.
Naturally, the authors of the first and second ranked works, The Day We Said Goodbye and Summer Fireworks, were now under intense pressure.
The moment they arrived at Crimson Maple Literature, editors pulled them aside for serious discussions about their works, including plot direction, pacing, and future development.
They could no longer afford to coast along as usual. In the near future, both novels had to deliver major story climaxes to stabilize their popularity. They absolutely could not give the two challengers behind them any opening.
Magazine rankings were never just about pride.
A novel that ranked high in reader votes would take center position on the magazine cover. Its title and character illustrations would dominate the most eye-catching spots. Poster promotions would also use the most popular series as the magazine's representative image.
If external companies expressed interest in adaptations, serialized performance would be the primary reference for negotiations and pricing.
If these two series were overtaken by Blue Spring Ride, they would lose all of those advantages. Their exposure would drop, which would directly affect audiobook prospects, licensing value, and tankōbon sales. To put it bluntly, it was about money.
Meanwhile, back at school, Haruto and Reina were living very different versions of the same pressure.
To keep up with serialization deadlines, Haruto had started handwriting his drafts directly in class.
As long as he did not cause trouble, the teachers could not be bothered with what a struggling student like him did at his desk.
As for Reina, her eyes were on the blackboard as the math teacher explained double integrals and partial derivatives. The material was far too easy, so her thoughts drifted elsewhere.
Her mind replayed yesterday's game matches with Haruto, while she quietly calculated how to surpass him, both in serialization results and in gaming.
On Friday, Haruto received his first manuscript payment.
A little over sixty thousand yen.
It was his first income in his life.
That day, he was heading to Yukino's apartment to submit his completed manuscript. Before going, he stopped by a supermarket near her place and bought an expensive box of imported fruit.
Showing up empty-handed every time was one thing when he was broke. Being stingy on the very day he got paid was not something Haruto could bring himself to do. This meeting went smoothly. The manuscript was submitted without issue.
Then, during the following hour of gaming duels, he defeated Reina Fujimoto more than ten times again. A familiar layer of grievance misted over her refined, beautiful face.
In the end, Yukino could not stand it anymore.
She confiscated the game console outright and kicked both of them out of her apartment.
For Haruto, an ordinary Friday came to an end.
On Sunday, the fourth chapter of Blue Spring Ride was serialized as scheduled in Fleeting Blossoms.
This chapter mainly focused on interactions between the male and female leads, as well as subtle shifts in the relationships among Kou, Yuri, and Futaba.
Readers were often far more sensitive than authors expected. Many times, all it took was a tiny hint for them to accurately sense the writer's intent.
On the Crimson Maple Literature forum,
"Does anyone else feel like Yuri might become a third party between Futaba and Kou?"
"Damn, this is starting to hurt. Yuri and Futaba's friendship is so strong. Up to now, I've loved Yuri's friendship arc just as much as Kou's romance arc. If Yuri starts liking Kou, this is going to be brutal."
"Friendship or love? Is this why Shiori Takahashi created Yuri?"
"If this isn't handled well, the story could collapse. If Futaba abandons friendship for love, readers will curse her as heartless. If she abandons love for friendship, another group will call her naïve and self-sacrificing. Why set it up like this?"
"Every romance novel has love triangles, but a triangle where the heroine's best friend is completely innocent feels impossible to resolve. No matter how you write it, someone will be unhappy."
"Sigh. Let's trust the author. If she dares to write this, she must have something incredible planned."
"Whatever. I'm voting first."
At Crimson Maple Literature headquarters, Monday's regular meeting was underway.
The agenda was routine.
Weekly magazine sales were announced, along with performance highlights for notable works.
Aside from the flagship magazine Crimson Maple, the novels emphasized most heavily in the meeting were Blue Spring Ride and Yesterday's Starlight.
A staff member read aloud,
"Performance summary for Yesterday's Starlight. After four installments in Fleeting Blossoms, its ranking among the thirteen serialized novels by rating has been fourth, fourth, fourth, and third. Its reader vote rankings have been seventh, fifth, fourth, and fourth. For a debut work by a new light novel author, 'Airi' has achieved the second best results among all newcomers signed by Crimson Maple Literature in recent years."
"And regarding the top-performing newcomer work in recent years, Blue Spring Ride has now run for four installments. Its rating rank among the thirteen novels has been first every time. Its vote ranking has climbed from fourth to third, then third again, and now second. Additionally, its popularity continues to spread throughout the Prefecture."
"The number of fan letters received by the company for Blue Spring Ride has already surpassed those for The Day We Said Goodbye, which is currently the most popular series in Fleeting Blossoms."
As these numbers were read out, a wave of murmurs swept through the editorial staff.
"It's already second in votes? That fast?"
"Is this a joke? Summer Fireworks just lost like that? A series that's been running for half a year, with such a massive fanbase, losing in reader support to something that's only been serialized this long?"
"This is absurd. I don't think we've ever had a newcomer this strong before."
Quiet discussions filled the meeting room. The staff member continued.
"In light of the outstanding performance of both works, after joint discussions between the editorial department and other divisions, the company has decided to officially release the first tankōbon volumes of Blue Spring Ride and Yesterday's Starlight before next month."
The moment that decision was announced, the room fell silent. Everyone had expected collected volumes eventually.
But this was fast.
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