"Reina?"
"Reina?"
"Reina Fujimoto!"
Yukino called her name three times, raising her voice more each time, before Reina finally snapped out of the fantasy world she had wandered into.
She knew writers were all prone to daydreaming.
Some of them could space out for an hour or two without even noticing. Still, someone as focused as Reina getting that deep into her own head was rare.
"I'm sorry." Reina flushed, embarrassed for a split second, but her expression shifted quickly, and the quiet, frosty mask she wore at school slid back into place as if nothing had happened.
Watching that transformation made Haruto's face turn a little strange.
Since he had started spending time around her, the halo he once associated with Reina, the untouchable genius honor student aura, had basically shattered into pieces.
And honestly, compared to her cool, distant image at school, these occasional clumsy, oddly cute moments made her feel more human.
More… adorable, even.
"Alright," Yukino said, her tone turning serious again. "I've explained everything clearly. Based on your chapter estimates, in about two weeks the publisher will have the complete manuscripts for Blue Spring Ride and Yesterday's Starlight."
She looked at them both.
"The end of these two series is only the beginning of your careers as light novel authors. Don't get arrogant, but don't get impatient either. That 'Ascent of New Gods' event is just a goal the company threw out there. It's not something you absolutely have to achieve. But writing a truly excellent novel that can earn a slot in Crimson Maple is a step you must take if you want to stand as professionals."
Her gaze sharpened.
"So work hard. Both of you."
Not long after, Haruto returned home and started turning over everything he had learned tonight.
Ever since his serialization began, he had slowly started finding real enjoyment in this work.
He was not the original creator of these stories, that much was true, but he was the first person in this world to ever encounter them through his own recollections and inspiration.
And just by putting what he felt, the charm and brilliance of those works, into words and delivering them to Japan's otaku readers, Haruto could already feel an immense sense of satisfaction.
On top of that, it paid.
What Yukino said tonight tempted him badly.
First, earning a serialization slot in Crimson Maple.
Second, obtaining a seed spot for The Ascent of New Gods.
Yukino stopped her ambitions there.
In her eyes, as long as Haruto and Reina could secure seed spots and get their work serialized in a nationwide magazine, that alone would be a massive victory. As for how well they would rank, she was not asking for miracles.
But the moment Haruto learned a competition like that existed, something in his chest stirred, a restless, nameless thrill.
If he could get a seed spot…
Then at the very least, he should aim for a result that exceeded everyone's expectations.
The problem was, Haruto had big dreams and an empty head. If he truly wanted to compete in The Ascent of New Gods, then over the next half a year he would need to produce at least two extremely high-quality works.
One of them would have to open the door to Crimson Maple, and do well enough there to strengthen his resume as a serialized author and help him secure the seed slot.
The second would be the novel he would serialize in The Ascent of New Gods itself after winning that spot, and it would need to be good enough to capture the hearts of light novel fans nationwide. Otherwise he could forget about ranking high.
But his dream method was unreliable.
Now, though…
He was not under pressure at all.
Haruto let out a sigh. Thanks to Blue Spring Ride exploding in popularity, his pay had risen steadily per installment. He could roughly estimate that by the time the remaining chapters were finished, his total manuscript payments would be substantial.
And with the tankōbon releasing at the end of the month, the royalties would almost certainly surpass the serialization pay.
His financial pressure was gone.
As for academics, there was nothing to talk about.
He was a hopeless slacker.
What academic pressure could he possibly feel?
If anyone was stressed, it was his homeroom teacher, who probably lay awake at night wondering how a class this hopeless would affect their year-end bonus. Even the serialization pressure was fading, because the remaining manuscript for Blue Spring Ride would be done soon.
Right now, he genuinely wanted something new to appear in his mind.
Anything at all.
Another great work.
Another story worth bringing into this world. Something that could help him push toward Crimson Maple.
But reality was cruel.
That convenient "fall asleep and suddenly get memories of famous works" situation was the definition of unreliable. It happened when it wanted to, and never when he needed it most.
"Life can't be smooth forever," he muttered in the dark. "Maybe one day I'll run into something that really annoys me, and stress will spike. Then that very night I'll get lucky."
Humans were like that.
Always dramatic.
Deep into the night, in a bedroom across town, Reina could not sleep.
The full plot outline for Yesterday's Starlight was already complete. All that remained was turning it into polished text.
The reason she could not rest was because she was thinking about her next project. She did not care much about The Ascent of New Gods itself.
But if Haruto's work could be selected…
Then she absolutely could not fall behind.
Her next work had to crush his arrogance in one decisive blow.
Under the blanket, the girl pumped herself up again and again, gathering courage like she was preparing for war.
Time passed.
Another week went by, and Blue Spring Ride released its next installments.
The plot unfolded almost exactly the way readers had feared.
Yuri really did fall for Kou, all because of that gentle moment when he helped her during the incident on the class outing.
And once that happened, the story pushed forward without mercy.
During everyday conversations at school, Yuri kept probing for information about Kou. She kept testing the waters, and in the end she confessed her feelings, pouring her heart out to Futaba, her "best friend," as if this was something safe to share.
And Futaba, hearing it all, was shoved into the worst possible corner.
Her love for Kou.
Her friendship with Yuri.
A choice that felt impossible.
The overall plot was simple, really. If you looked at romance novels from a distance, most of them were simple. The difference between bland and unforgettable was always the same thing.
Characters.
Details.
In these chapters, Futaba's painfully twisted personality, her inability to choose cleanly between love and friendship, was rendered through gentle, delicate prose. Bit by bit, it seeped into the readers' hearts.
The emotional knot that should have existed only inside the heroine was now sitting inside the audience too. Debate among fans grew hotter and hotter, and naturally, the vote counts rose with it.
When the next installment released, Blue Spring Ride went head-to-head with The Day We Said Goodbye for the top vote rank and lost narrowly.
But when the following issue hit stores…
The long-reigning king of Fleeting Blossoms, the series that had held first place in popularity votes for many issues, finally lost its crown.
It fell to second.
Blue Spring Ride hit the top in both votes and ratings.
First in both categories.
A clean, undeniable takeover.
Most of the editors had predicted it, and none of them were surprised. Even the author of The Day We Said Goodbye recovered quickly after hearing her long reign had ended.
There was, however, a piece of gossip circulating inside Crimson Maple Literature's editorial department. Apparently, the thing that bothered that author most was not losing first place.
It was the rumor that the author of Blue Spring Ride might be a guy. So she was losing at writing a shōjo romance to a male author now?
That possibility apparently scrambled her brain.
On the official Fleeting Blossoms forum hosted by Crimson Maple Literature, the staff even made a celebratory post.
As for the fans…
"It's finally first. This calls for a festival. Blue Spring Ride is number one in both categories at last."
"It took several installments to fully reach the top. That wasn't easy."
"The fanbase needed time to pull people over from other series. That's just how it is."
"But honestly, I'm more excited for what happens next than I am about the rankings. I have a bad feeling… the story might get kind of painful."
"Relax. Shiori-sensei won't do anything stupid. Probably."
"But she's still just a high schooler. I'm scared the plot might collapse. Still, all we can do is support it."
"Both Shiori and Airi are students at Minamijo Third High, right? Maybe they're even best friends in real life. If that's true, there's no way she'd write some horrible 'best friends tearing each other apart' storyline."
"Kou belongs with Futaba. No one gets to steal him, not even Yuri."
"No saintly heroine nonsense. If Futaba even thinks about giving Kou up to Yuri 'for friendship, I'll drop the series immediately."
"Same."
"Yeah. Same."
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