"I won't mention their real names," Yukino said calmly. "I'll just talk about their pen names.
They're all well known in the Minamijo light novel scene, so if you read regularly, you should have heard of them."
"For example, Nanto. He's been working with our publisher for over ten years and has produced multiple hit series. Just in terms of novels with an average volume sales figure exceeding two hundred thousand copies, he has written three over the years."
"Then there's Tori. He's a light novel author who rose to prominence in recent years and has also written a work with average volume sales above two hundred thousand."
"And there's also Tayu. He used to collaborate mainly with Blue Sky Publishing, but after his contract expired last year, he got in touch with one of our editors. Four years ago, he was even rated as one of Minamijo's top ten most popular novelists of the year. That was his peak, though. Things went downhill after that, but even so, a camel is still bigger than a horse when it's thin. His fanbase is still enormous."
Yukino slowly listed the names of the authors participating in this round of competition.
For a magazine at the level of Crimson Maple, once a work began serialization, as long as its popularity did not decline significantly, the author would usually stretch it out for as long as possible.
After all, as long as a novel ran in this magazine, even the minimum manuscript fee was close to two million yen. No one would argue with money. As long as they could keep writing, they would gladly continue.
At the same time, serialization standards for this magazine were extremely strict. If a novel's popularity failed to meet the benchmarks, the publisher would immediately intervene, either cutting it short or transferring it to a lower tier magazine to finish.
Even so, having three serialization slots open within a span of one or two weeks was rare, which explained why so many popular Minamijo authors were paying close attention.
"Don't look so tense," Yukino said quickly when she saw their serious expressions. "Those people are all famous writers in Minamijo, sure, but you two aren't inferior either. The debut results for both of you were honestly outstanding."
"Haruto, if nothing unexpected happens, Blue Spring Ride will have an average volume sales figure exceeding five hundred thousand copies. Among the dozen or so authors competing this time, purely in terms of past performance, you rank first."
"And Reina, Yesterday's Starlight will very likely reach an average of two hundred thousand copies per volume as well. Compared to them, that's not weak at all."
As Yukino spoke, she could not help feeling emotional herself.
Who were the people she had just mentioned?
They were all writers who had been active on the front lines of the light novel industry in Minamijo for over a decade. Every one of them had struggled in the field for many years to reach their current standing.
And yet Haruto and Reina had debuted only a few months ago.
If the editors at the serialization meeting judged purely by an author's historical performance, these two were not at a disadvantage at all. In fact, they held a clear edge.
A genius who became famous with a single book naturally carried a halo effect. What publisher did not like youthful prodigies? Especially Haruto.
With Blue Spring Ride's average volume sales almost guaranteed to surpass five hundred thousand copies, that figure alone was staggering.
To be honest, among the fourteen novels currently serialized in Crimson Maple, only one or two had ever reached that level after their tankōbon release.
"But," Yukino continued, changing her tone, "past achievements belong to the past."
"When two novels are roughly equal in quality, the editorial department may consider an author's history. But if your new work is clearly inferior compared to your competitors, then no amount of past glory will help."
She looked directly at the two of them.
"In the light novel industry, the ones who truly decide your fate are the readers, not editors like us. Readers don't care how impressive your history is."
"I understand," Reina said.
"I get it," Haruto said, nodding as well.
"Good. Then hand me your new manuscripts for review."
Two months later, Haruto and Reina once again took out the game console at Yukino's apartment. This time, however, their attention was not on the game at all. From start to finish, their focus stayed fixed on Yukino.
Their matches were full of mistakes, completely lacking their usual sharpness. After all, Yukino was the first reader of their new novels.
"Star Sea" was the title of Reina Fujimoto's new work.
Like Yesterday's Starlight, it was a fantasy adventure novel blended with romance, and the genre was very similar.
A chosen girl. A starry ocean appeared in her dreams. Fragments tied to saving the world. Looking only at the elements, nothing stood out as especially novel.
To be honest, coming up with a truly original concept in terms of genre or setting had become extremely difficult.
Over the years, most interesting ideas had already been explored by earlier authors. Later writers could at best dress old wine in new bottles.
But while setting mattered, what truly determined whether a novel was engaging was character writing.
And Star Sea…
In terms of setting, it could only be said to have some freshness. But when it came to character portrayal, the improvement compared to Yesterday's Starlight was obvious at a glance.
After finishing the first chapter, Yukino felt her nose sting. She took a deep breath before recovering. Killing off two characters in the first chapter alone, the heroine's mother and the heroine's close friend, Reina really showed no mercy.
Yet at the same time, waves stirred in Yukino's heart.
'This girl is terrifying,' she thought. 'This is only her second novel. How are her characters already this deep?'
'And these cliffhangers. Who did she learn them from? Why does it feel so much like Haruto's style?'
Suppressing her restless thoughts, Yukino continued reading. Twenty minutes later, she had finished the first three chapters of Star Sea. After a minute of contemplation, she let out a long breath of relief.
One word surfaced in her mind.
Solid.
The setting, the plot, the pacing, the character development. Everything felt sharp and engaging.
If Yesterday's Starlight still showed traces of inexperience, with a few pitfalls typical of newcomers, then in this work, Yukino could hardly find any.
During serialization, Reina had not read the reader comments on the official forum for nothing. No one was born knowing everything. Writing was the same. Some pitfalls only became obvious after readers rejected them.
But for someone with true talent, even a small amount of negative feedback was enough to extrapolate and produce a story that readers could not put down.
Unlike Haruto, Reina had kept multiple notebooks of writing and reading notes based on reader feedback during Yesterday's Starlight's run. From Yukino's perspective, her growth was genuinely shocking. She had entered the industry barely four or five months ago.
Was this what a true light novel genius looked like?
Without pause, Yukino immediately picked up Haruto's new manuscript.
[Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day]
Yukino blinked.
This… What kind of title was that?
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