Chapter 23: Industry Legend
In the countryside of Chiba.
A short-haired beautiful girl, dressed in a kimono with refined features, walked along the road with a composed expression, revealing a mature and cool demeanor that belied her appearance.
After twenty minutes of long travel and walking through several streets, she finally arrived at a bookstore.
"I want to buy this."
The short-haired girl's gaze swept across the bookshelves in the store, and then her eyes suddenly lit up, pointing to a spot.
"I understand."
The store owner put the book into a bag and handed it to her.
"Here."
The short-haired girl untied the knot, took out enough coins from the cloth bag she carried to pay, and then took the item.
She then opened the bag and glanced at the second volume of demon slayer lying quietly inside, a look of satisfaction on her face.
With a lighter step than when she arrived, she wanted to return to her home, which resembled a samurai mansion, as quickly as possible to read.
As she passed by the fields, she ran into her father, Umezono Rintaro.
"flower, you walked so far, what did you buy? Is it a book?"
Umezono Rintaro walked over and looked down at the pocket, but he couldn't clearly see the words.
"It's a light novel."
She lowered her head slightly as if shy, her composed demeanor softening.
"…Then I'll be truly sad. I've never seen flower so enthusiastic about my novels. Whose book is so captivating?"
Umezono Rintaro pretended to be angry, saying it jokingly.
He said this because her father was a very famous historical novelist, which was also the reason their house was built like a samurai mansion.
Since the short-haired girl came from a scholarly family, and her deceased mother also had great literary accomplishments, she was heavily influenced in this regard.
Therefore, in addition to the novelist expressing his affection for his family, she also felt a strong sense of connection to some of the content written in demon slayer, which is why she liked it so much.
"Never mind, I won't tease you anymore."
Seeing his daughter didn't answer, Umezono Rintaro smiled, stepped aside, and then added.
"I already read the first volume when I was tidying up the room. It's not bad. Although the plot isn't great and the writing is very immature, I really like the charm that flows from the pen."
He could understand why his daughter showed such affection, because he had similar feelings.
"Huh?"
The short-haired girl looked up, her eyes widening.
She hadn't expected her preferences to be recognized by her father.
Logically speaking, shouldn't traditional novelists feel a sense of rejection towards light novelists?
No…
How could her father's perspective be the same?
The short-haired girl quickly understood and, after watching her father walk towards the stream, quickly withdrew her gaze and returned to her home in the samurai mansion.
She read smoothly, suppressing the various thoughts that arose in her heart, and instead immersed herself in the story's plot.
She wasn't focused on the writing style, nor on the exciting plot, but on something more fundamental, an emotion that resonated with her.
As a girl from a scholarly family, she not only had excellent guidance from her parents but also possessed exceptionally powerful talent, having long surpassed her peers in the literary field. Thus, she could see things that most people couldn't.
But so far, she had only been moved by the writing style of one person—Izumi Masamune.
If life were only as it was at first sight.
She felt that she probably wouldn't find any more works that she found as interesting in the future.
Even works that others considered higher quality were the same.
Unlike others' surprise, she felt a sense of inevitability about Flame Pillar's sacrifice; it wasn't precognition, but a natural feeling.
It was as if the story was meant to unfold that way.
Following the narrative's Veins, she had already roughly grasped the creator's intentions, so she had a general idea of how the upcoming plot would unfold.
This was a terrifying talent.
But she suppressed her thoughts and instead looked forward… looking forward to the upcoming third volume, hoping it would bring her the same emotion.
After finishing it, various thoughts that had arisen in her heart surfaced, and she wished she could have the author answer them all and engage in a full discussion.
Because some of the plot points also moved her, making her heart pound.
She also wanted to ask some childish questions as a fan.
But unfortunately, she couldn't meet the author in person, so she could only keep her little thoughts hidden in her heart…
Perhaps one day, this dream would come true.
The corners of her mouth curved slightly upward, and then she took out a brand new envelope from a small wooden box, wrote some of her scattered thoughts on a piece of paper, and then, when she went to school, she would find an opportunity to mail it.
"Can Izumi see it? What does he think when he sees it? I wish I could get a reply…"
The girl looked at the sunset outside the window, and a feeling of melancholy welled up in her heart.
…
Chihiro didn't know that he was being thought of so much by the girl. His main focus now was the online reviews and how the sales for this week would turn out.
Besides the sales of the new volume, another point of interest was the effect it would have on the sales of the first volume, which he was eagerly anticipating.
As the time drew near, his body tensed up involuntarily.
On Saturday night, he received a call from his Machida Editor, Sonoko, and got some exciting news.
"Izumi, the sales of the second volume have increased quite a bit! I knew I wasn't wrong about you! Compared to the previous sales of over 4,300, this time it has risen to over 7,500. Even the slowly growing first volume has seen an increase. It's truly eye-catching…
"After all, we didn't do much more promotion on our end; it was entirely natural growth. To have such an increase shows that the readers of the first volume have truly become fans."
Hearing what Sonoko said, Chihiro couldn't help but beam with joy.
This achievement was already quite good for a new author, as many people's first-week sales for their second volume might even decrease. This time, the increase, besides Eriri's promotion, also indicated a certain improvement in his writing skills.
With these current figures, for someone with low demands, it could completely be considered a job.
Of course, this was still very, very far from the goal of becoming a Light Novel Master.
After all, based on the data he knew, only by selling over three million copies a year was there a certain possibility of being worthy of the title 'Light Novel Master.'
This was truly a despair-inducing number.
Actually, this statement was just a concept proposed by a famous light novelist more than a decade ago, when light novels, as a niche culture, finally began to flourish. It symbolized a beautiful vision for the future of the industry.
However, because it spread widely, it became a generally accepted method of judgment.
As long as one could become a Light Novel Master, one could make history and rule the world!
But even now, in an industry that can be described as thriving, no one has been able to achieve it…
Now, everyone has come to regard it as an industry legend, believing it to be an unattainable realm, merely a simple aspiration.