On the music streaming app Panda Music, Haruto's profile was undergoing a transformation. The paid download count and streaming numbers for the song For River were skyrocketing at an almost terrifying pace.
Even within Minamijo, no one knew Haruto's true identity, let alone the rest of Japan. However, a creator must undergo strict copyright verification before they can distribute music on the platform. Since the rights for the song Secret Base from Anohana were linked to this specific profile, there was no longer any room for doubt among the fans.
The owner of this account was unquestionably the legendary author Shiori Takahashi.
At this very moment, the comment section of the profile was in a state of utter chaos.
From Hokkaido to Okinawa, fans from every corner of the country had converged on this digital space to voice their thoughts.
[Can Shiori-chan see my message? Please tell me if you are planning to write a spin off or a short story collection for To the Moon.]
[Shiori-sensei, please come out and say something to us!]
[Congratulations to Shiori-sensei for officially taking the number one spot in the Ascent of New Gods rankings!]
[The final results are not technically out until tomorrow at noon…]
[I am still crying. Is everyone else okay? My head is still a mess and the ending of To the Moon has left me completely depressed.]
[What is there to recover from? This was the best possible ending for Johnny and River.]
[That is true. River is already dead. Nothing Johnny does can change the fact that she passed away with regrets. However, in his artificial memories, Johnny finally fulfilled the promise they made as children. If we ever get lost, we will meet on the moon. That was the limit of what he could achieve.]
[But it still feels so unfair!]
[Life is rarely perfect, and stories are the same. It is precisely because the ending for Johnny and River was flawed that it touched us so deeply. We should accept this conclusion and send our blessings to both of them.]
[Even if they never truly understood the deepest parts of each other's hearts during their physical lives, they both spent their entire existence loving one another. They stayed together until the very end. That should be enough for us. We should not demand a perfectly polished fairytale.]
[I agree. There is no such thing as absolute perfection in this world. Johnny and River loved each other until their final breaths. What more could we ask for?]
[I just want to know who Shiori-sensei really is. To be honest, I find it hard to believe that a normal high school girl could write something as profound as To the Moon or Anohana.]
[That is a valid point. You can clearly feel the sheer gap in writing ability. Aika Miyamoto is already a prodigy, but Shiori Takahashi is on a completely different level. To the Moon utterly demolished Cyberpunk: Sin Domain. This is what it looks like when a genius among geniuses enters the fray.]
[I am going to die of curiosity. I want to know what Shiori looks like. I wonder if she is as pure and beautiful and cute as I imagine. Does anyone here go to school with her? Please DM me a photo.]
[I do not have a photo, but I have plenty of AI generated fakes!]
[What if Shiori turns out to be a massive, three hundred pound shut in?]
[That is impossible. We do not have any girls with that kind of build at Minamijo Third High School.]
[It does not matter to me. As long as the author is a girl, I will be a fan for life.]
[I am not that interested in her physical appearance. What I really want to know is if To the Moon is going to have a sequel.]
[A sequel? How would you even write a second part to that ending?]
[It could follow Neil and Eva again. They could continue their work of rewriting memories for other clients. It could be an episodic series where each volume is a different story. Volume one was To the Moon, volume two could be To Mars, and volume three could be To the Sun!]
[Wait, what? Shiori-sensei would probably tell you to take the pen and write that nonsense yourself.]
In less than half a day, the comment section on Haruto's music account had grown by hundreds of thousands of entries. The paid downloads for the theme song were also closing in on the one million mark.
As Haruto scrolled through the endless threads discussing his true identity, he started to feel the weight of the public's expectations. He realized that he could no longer stay silent or pretend to be dead. The readers were also quite perceptive. They had already identified the potential for the story to expand into a series. In the parallel world where the story originated, the game To the Moon had indeed received a successful sequel titled Finding Paradise. Haruto already possessed the full plot of that sequel within the memories he had inherited.
In the eyes of many players in that other world, Finding Paradise was actually superior to the original To the Moon. At the moment, however, Haruto was focused on the current success of his work. He had not yet formulated a concrete plan to introduce the sequel to the market.
After hesitating for a moment, he logged into his account as Shiori Takahashi and replied to the fan who had asked about a potential second volume.
[A sequel to To the Moon? I wonder if such a thing exists. Honestly, even I do not know yet.]
It was a vague and riddling response, a small bit of mischief on Haruto's part. However, this simple reply caused the entire comment section to explode with excitement.
Shiori-sensei actually replied to us!
And look at what she said!
She did not deny the possibility of a second volume!
Experienced readers knew exactly how to interpret such a statement. If a creator has no intention of writing a sequel, they will usually give a firm and final no. When an author starts playing word games, it almost always means they have a rough outline for the next installment already dancing in their head.
The news spread like wildfire. A screenshot of Haruto's reply appeared on the Ascent of New Gods official website, causing even more chaos. The fans who were still reeling from the emotional impact of the ending were suddenly energized.
A massive discussion thread titled Is To the Moon getting a sequel? quickly generated thousands of posts.
The heat of the debate showed no signs of cooling down even as night fell. While fifty one different stories had concluded on this day, nearly everyone on the internet was talking about To the Moon. This reality weighed heavily on the hearts of the other authors who had competed alongside Haruto. They all realized that they had merely been the supporting cast for Shiori Takahashi's rise to stardom in this year's competition.
The serialization of To the Moon had officially come to an end. However, the name Shiori Takahashi had been planted like a seed in the hearts of millions of readers. Given the massive success of both Anohana and To the Moon, it was clear that the work had the power to bring something truly special to the Japanese literary world.
The following day, the final voting results for the tenth issue were officially released. To the Moon finished with a total of 311,143 votes, securing the top spot with an absolute advantage. It also held the number one rank in ratings with a 9.5 out of 10 score, making it the only work in the entire magazine to score above a 9.0.
Cyberpunk: Sin Domain held onto the second spot in the popular vote with 91,456 votes, though its rating had slipped to fifth place. The results for the other entries were far more dismal. The surge of support for To the Moon in the final issue had essentially drained the votes from the rest of the field, leaving their final tallies looking quite pathetic. For many authors, their reader support in the final issue was actually lower than it had been in the first.
Reina's Fate of the Rainbow was one of the few stories that managed to hold its ground. She had benefited slightly from the association with Haruto as his fellow composer for the theme songs, which helped her maintain a steady growth in votes. In the end, she secured a spot in the overall top ten rankings.
The serialization period for the Ascent of New Gods had finally reached its conclusion. The final results were a shock to almost everyone in the industry, yet the quality of the work made the outcome undeniable. Even the established Tokyo authors like Yuma Kanda and Fuji had to admit that To the Moon was simply a better story than anything they had written.
Some authors felt the sting of defeat but could accept the reality of the situation. Others were consumed by jealousy and resentment, feeling that losing to a Minamijo based writer was a stain on their reputation. A few simply scoffed, believing that Shiori would be a flash in the pan without the backing of a major agency.
Regardless of their personal feelings, the result was etched in stone.
To the Moon was the undisputed champion of the Ascent of New Gods magazine. Shiori had won the heart of the public. With the final results confirmed, the organizing committee set the date for the official awards ceremony.
Inside Yukino's apartment, she looked over the official documents with a serious expression.
"Sunday, May 5th," she announced to the two young writers sitting before her.
"The awards ceremony will be broadcast live nationwide on Tokyo TV4. This will be the first time both of you will appear before the entire public as Shiori Takahashi and Airi."
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