As evening fell, the news broadcast transitioned from reporting on national affairs to a brief but significant segment. For about fifteen seconds, the anchor introduced a literary phenomenon sweeping the nation: the Ascent of New Gods light novel competition. The report focused on the extraordinary grassroots movement where a massive wave of fans had taken it upon themselves to promote a specific entry titled To the Moon.
A poignant tale regarding love, a story centered on forgotten memories and a sacred promise.
The news report offered only this brief summary of To the Moon, yet its mere inclusion in a major televised broadcast spoke volumes about how quickly its influence was spreading. In literary hubs, veteran critics and light novel reviewers found themselves suddenly overwhelmed with work. Usually, there was little left to say about the established titans of the industry whose styles were known to every reader in Japan, but To the Moon was different.
It was a work produced by a newcomer from the distant Minamijo region.
In a high stakes competition like the Ascent of New Gods, which was usually dominated by massive marketing budgets and corporate backing, this story had climbed to the very top of the rankings by the eighth installment based purely on its own merit. It held the number one spot in ratings among fifty one contestants and had surged to second place in the popular vote.
Such a feat was unprecedented in the history of the competition.
By the end of the week, nearly every light novel magazine and critic recommendation list in the Tokyo and Osaka areas featured the title To the Moon prominently.
[I spent my life believing that I was the one taking care of you and your autism, but in reality, you spent your entire life trying to help me remember who I truly was. To the Moon is a masterpiece that touches the deepest parts of the human heart when you least expect it.]
Another critic highlighted the core romance of the story, stating that the most moving confession in modern fiction is the line, If we ever get lost, then we will meet on the moon. A childhood promise that spans the entire lifetime of two people is the foundation of this work. As the standout title of the spring season, To the Moon is a journey that will not disappoint.
[I once believed that this work was simply the author Shiori Takahashi indulging in self satisfaction. By the fifth chapter, I had already prepared a draft to mock the story once the competition ended. However, the reality is that Shiori Takahashi has used this romantic tale to deliver a stinging rebuke to my cynicism. She has managed to draw out tears that I have not shed in over three years.]
[Shiori Takahashi is a mysterious author from Minamijo who only debuted last year. By April of this year, she is already on the verge of conquering the Ascent of New Gods rankings. I am eagerly awaiting the moment she makes history as the first author from outside the major metropolitan publishing circles of Tokyo to take the top spot in this prestigious magazine.]
[A beautiful yet heartbreaking story of love. The more romantic and ethereal the first meeting between Johnny and River in chapter eight feels, the more agonizing their eventual end in the first chapter becomes. Even though the novel is not yet finished, the conclusion feels set in stone. River died without ever managing to wake Johnny's memories of their childhood. If you feel like your life needs a touch of genuine emotion, then you must read To the Moon.]
[This is not a work that belongs in a mere newcomer competition. I firmly believe that even if To the Moon were serialized in the most competitive light novel magazines in Japan, it would stand out as a superior piece of literature.]
The unanimous praise from the media caused the reputation of the story to expand with lightning speed. The Ascent of New Gods was essentially a proving ground for the industry, much like a prestigious newcomer award. While its influence within the subculture was significant, it still could not quite match the massive cultural celebration of major national prizes or the frenzy surrounding the annual Anime of the Year ceremonies. Those events were the equivalent of the Academy Awards for the otaku community.
The total circulation for the Ascent of New Gods magazine sat at approximately three million copies. While that would be an astronomical figure in almost any other market, it was only a small fraction of the massive audience in Japan and the hundreds of millions of fans worldwide who consume Japanese pop culture.
If one were to rank the sales of all manga and light novel periodicals on a single chart, the three million sales of the Ascent of New Gods magazine would only place it somewhere in the top thirty. Its influence was notable but not yet universal. Many mainstream readers only became aware of the story because of the relentless recommendations from these professional critics. Even though they were not joining the weekly readership right away since the serialization was already at its eighth installment, the name To the Moon was now etched into their minds.
They walked away with the distinct impression that there was a deeply moving and excellent novel that every expert was currently praising. This brand recognition was invaluable.
Even if only a small percentage of these casual observers decided to buy the compiled tankobon volumes later, the resulting sales would be massive.
Meanwhile, the committee head appointed by the seven major publishing houses to oversee the Ascent of New Gods magazine was feeling quite overwhelmed. The sudden rise of To the Moon had completely disrupted their meticulously planned marketing strategy.
According to industry tradition, the final cover of the Ascent of New Gods magazine for the season was reserved for the story that had the greatest impact and highest ratings over the three month period. Usually, the winner was obvious by the ninth issue, making the decision for the tenth issue cover a simple formality.
However, this time was different.
No matter how the supervisor looked at the data, the current frontrunner, Cyberpunk: Sin Domain, looked incredibly vulnerable. It was not just a concern for the tenth issue; he had a sinking feeling that by the time the ninth issue hit the stands in four days, the top spot would have already changed hands.
If To the Moon truly took the lead, the entire focus of the televised awards ceremony following the serialization would have to change. The spotlight would shift away from the favored authors from Tokyo and Osaka and land squarely on the mysterious boy from Minamijo, the author known as Shiori Takahashi.
As the calendar turned to April, the spring anime season drew to a close. In the world of animation, the series Anohana ended its run as the second highest rated show of the quarter.
In the publishing world, however, the impact was even greater. The compiled volumes of the Anohana light novel were almost impossible to find in stores. The publishers at Crimson Maple Literature had ordered the printing presses to work overtime to ship copies to every prefecture, but demand continued to far outpace supply. Online orders on the official website alone had already surpassed one million copies.
It was only now, about two weeks after the anime had finished airing, that the true power of the adaptation was manifesting in the sales of the original source material.
Back on the Ascent of New Gods competition front, ten days was still a relatively short amount of time for the fame of To the Moon to reach the general public. However, within the dedicated community of magazine buyers, the story had become an absolute sensation.
On Thursday, April 4th, the ninth issue of the Ascent of New Gods was officially released.
Outside the major bookstores, crowds of fans gathered long before the doors opened. They stood in the morning chill, engaged in heated discussions about the plot.
"I read To the Moon from the very beginning again this week. I realized that the second time through is even more heartbreaking than the first."
"Please do not even talk about it. I do not have the heart to read it a second time. Right now, I just want to see how Shiori Takahashi sensei handles the plot in chapters nine and ten."
"To be honest, while the story is beautiful, the ending is destined to be unhappy. The real River is already dead. No matter what the author writes from here on out, there is no way to hide the fact that this is a tragedy."
"Everything depends on how the author handles the ninth chapter. If the quality drops, it might have been better to just end it at chapter eight. It could have remained a tragic love story about the struggle to save someone and be saved in return. The ending might not have been perfect, but at least they both tried their hardest."
"We should just wait and see, another voice chimed in. Why are you panicking when the chapters are not even out yet?"
"I am just afraid that Shiori Takahashi sensei might mishandle the late game plot and ruin the aesthetic of the novel. Sometimes authors add unnecessary details at the end that cause the entire structure of the story to collapse."
"That is true. She spent seven chapters building the foundation and used the eighth chapter to elevate the story to a higher level. I am terrified that she might mess it up in these last two installments."
"You have to have faith in Shiori Takahashi sensei. She is already an experienced author. Even though I cannot find a single copy of Anohana in any bookstore and my online order is still ten days away from shipping, the quality of the ending of the Anohana anime proves that she is a stable writer."
"A mature author? You seem to have forgotten that she is only a seventeen year old high school student. The university entrance exams are only a few months away. Who knows if the academic pressure will cause her writing to suffer?"
The group fell silent for a moment.
"Do not say things like that. You are making me nervous."
"I feel the same way. Talking like that just reminds me of the tragedy of authors who burn out early. Please do not jinx."
Outside the bookstore, the crowd continued to passionately discuss Shiori Takahashi and To the Moon. Over the last few days, as her fame grew, the image of Shiori Takahashi as a high school prodigy from Minamijo had become firmly established in the hearts of readers across the country. Since the locals in Minamijo insisted this was the case, readers in other regions had no reason to doubt the identity of the author.
In the past, if a group of magazine fans gathered to talk, they would usually be debating the merits of Cyberpunk: Sin Domain or The Great Scientist. But the moment the bookstore doors opened, the talking stopped instantly.
Juna moved fast. Even though she was a young woman, she managed to navigate through the crowd with surprising speed. Her light, energetic steps betrayed the nervous excitement she was feeling.
She grabbed the thick magazine from the shelf, paid for it, and rushed straight home. With a heart full of trepidation, she opened the ninth chapter of To the Moon.
However, the very opening of the chapter struck her like a bolt of lightning.
In the story, the protagonists had discovered the true reason why the elderly Johnny wanted to go to the moon. Naturally, they also realized exactly what they had to do to make his wish come true.
If we simply erase the existence of River from every period of Johnny's memory, then with the help of the memory machine, the elderly Johnny will no longer have the deep seated obsession caused by her absence. We can successfully rewrite his life and make him believe he went to the moon, Eva said to Neil.
This statement did not just shock Neil within the novel, it left Juna completely stunned as she read.
The entire reason Johnny had the desire to go to the moon in his old age and signed a contract with the agency was because his wife, River, had passed away. Because she was gone, the subconscious promise from his childhood, the idea that if they ever got lost they would meet on the moon, had taken root. Even though he had consciously forgotten the promise, he was driven by a primal urge to go to the moon to find her.
And what was Eva suggesting?
She wanted to completely remove River from Johnny's life. If he did not have her company from middle school onward, he would be driven by his subconscious to join the space agency and strive to become an astronaut. With that motivation, the memory machine could synchronize with Johnny's brain to construct a brand new life, one without regrets, where he eventually achieves his goal of going to the moon.
But would such a life have any meaning?
Johnny's purpose for going to the moon was the subconscious belief that he would find River there. To strip her away from his life just to fulfill the technicality of the wish seemed like sacrificing the soul of the dream for the sake of the result.
In the novel, Neil got into a fierce argument with Eva over this. They were merely employees of the company, and the old man's wish was to go to the moon, so they should fulfill it. Whether a life without River would be more painful for Johnny was a secondary concern to Eva, who felt bound by the terms of the contract.
Neil refused to agree. He even went as far as to battle Eva within the memory world for control of the machine to stop her.
But in the end, Neil failed.
At this point, Juna could no longer stop her tears from falling.
How could the author do this? They were already at chapter nine, and yet Shiori Takahashi was still twisting the knife. How could he have the heart to let Johnny lose the memories of the decades he spent together with River? What would going to the moon even mean to Johnny after that?
Eva gained control and began the process of systematically deleting every trace of River from Johnny's mind.
Haruto used incredibly detailed prose to describe this sequence. During their middle school years, when Johnny and River were supposed to meet, River's presence was hidden. The two of them passed each other by, becoming total strangers.
During their first date at the cinema, River was made to vanish. When River and Johnny were supposed to be riding horses together, she was removed from the scene. What would Johnny's life become without her there to accompany him?
Finally, in a high school classroom, a teacher asked Johnny a question for the first time in this new timeline.
What is your dream for the future?
I want to be an astronaut, Johnny replied with firm conviction.
Juna sobbed. She had thought that chapter eight was the peak of the emotional pain, but seeing this new life constructed by the memory machine was almost unbearable.
According to the rules of the story, the machine was only a tool.
The way the new memories were formed was still guided by Johnny's own subconscious. Because River was gone, his subconscious was desperate to find her on the moon, which is why he studied so hard and became an astronaut in this artificial life.
If chapter eight was a testament to River's lifelong love for Johnny, showing how she stayed by his side even when she could not express her feelings, then chapter nine depicted the depth of Johnny's love for her. Even in a world where his memories were being rewritten, there was never a single moment where he was not searching for the her that no longer existed.
In this new timeline, River had been missing from Johnny's life for over ten years. He had no conscious memory of his childhood. Yet, in the depths of his soul, the promise to meet on the moon remained. It drove him to work tirelessly from middle school onward toward the goal of space travel.
The memory of marrying River, of making a home on the coastline, of dancing with her in front of the lighthouse on the night before their wedding; all of it was gone. The promise to build a house to watch over the lighthouse together was erased. Every fragment of the decades they shared was removed, leaving behind only a vast emptiness and a determination to reach the moon that grew stronger with every passing year.
What was on the moon? He did not know.
Why did he want to go there? He did not know that either.
However, he felt that he absolutely had to do it. Even if he remembered nothing, even if these were just altered memories, the promise to the girl stayed with him. The vow that they would find each other on the moon if they were ever lost was something Johnny could forget on a mental level, but he could never forget it on a spiritual one.
Humans only forget how to breathe when they die, for breathing is an instinct. This love had become his instinct.
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