Early that Saturday morning, Rei was already awake.
Not because he was a morning person, but because today was important.
The Five Centimeters per Second tankōbon had been on sale for over two months now, and total sales had officially crossed 850,000 copies.
In his past life, 850k per volume would've launched a manga artist straight into the top tier.
But in Japan's much larger market in this world, where everything is ten times bigger?
This only placed him at the lower end of second-tier or the upper end of third-tier.
Which sounded modest, but the earnings were absolutely not.
Just the royalties from Five Centimeters per Second had deposited over 5 million yen into his account after tax.
And when he added his manuscript fees for Five Centimeters and Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes From the World…
A 16-year-old high schooler now had a net worth over 6 million yen.
A shame Five Centimeters was a single-volume story. Had it been longer, the income would've exploded.
But Rei was already satisfied.
In just two more weeks, Tonight would release its first volume.
And two months after that, when royalties were paid, his net worth might double or even triple.
"Being a mangaka in this Japan, it really is profitable."
Rei ran mental numbers out of habit, quickly piecing together how this world's manga ecosystem worked.
Third-tier manga artists easily earned tens of millions of yen a year.
Second-tier earned hundreds of millions.
Top-tier earned billions annually.
And that was only from tankōbon sales.
Anime, movies, and merchandise royalties were an additional mountain of income.
Meanwhile, the average citizen earned ¥3,00,000–5,00,000 a month, with a relatively low cost of living.
That difference was enormous.
"Shame both works I recalled so far are short. Just give me a series with six or seven volumes, that's enough to print money."
Rei's fingers twitched as he unconsciously began calculating projections like a businessman rather than an artist.
To him, manga wasn't just passion, it was strategy.
He understood perfectly: Story is the soul. Art and polish are the flesh and bones.
But however brilliant a story was, global influence required a final ingredient: money.
If Dragon Ball had been created in a poor, undeveloped country, it never would've become a world-dominating IP. Without big studios, big marketing, big investment, not even a masterpiece could spread.
For Rei, being a manga artist was just the opening move.
His endgame?
To become a giant, investor, producer, and powerbroker, in Japan's anime industry.
To remake the masterpieces that were butchered in his previous world by bad anime or live-action adaptations, and give every great story the adaptation it deserved.
If he earned enough money…?
He already knew the answer.
Tonight, Five Centimeters, and all the slice-of-life romances from his past life had potential.
But because Rei was still a new face in Ametsukage Weekly, no investor would dare approach his publisher to buy adaptation rights.
He didn't need them anyway.
If he became wealthy enough, he could invest in himself.
And for the stories in his memory that weren't suitable for manga?
He would simply create them as films or novels.
Once someone starts dreaming with desire, the ideas never stop.
Rei was so absorbed in his plans that before he knew it, it was already 11 a.m.
And right on cue, Misaki called.
The popularity data for Ametsukage Weekly had arrived.
"Rei, chapter seven of Tonight ranked third this week.9,253 votes. You surpassed Headless Ghost."
Her voice trembled from excitement.
Breaking into the top three of Ametsukage Weekly meant, Rei now had the qualifications to submit future works to Dream Comics, the highest-tier magazine under Hoshimori Publishing.
Although Hoshimori Group has never stated that Dream Comic only accepts submissions from experienced, successful manga artists, theoretically, as long as you are a normal human, you can submit.
But of course, any new manga artist who actually believed anyone could serialize in Dream Comics would be an idiot.
It was like college entrance exams in Rei's previous life: Sure, theoretically anyone who reached the minimum score could apply to top universities, but if you only barely scraped past the line and submitted those choices, people would laugh you out of the room.
Likewise, Dream Comics was not somewhere a barely-qualified newcomer could simply "apply" to.
Rei's manga first needed to stabilize in Ametsukage Weekly's top three, not just spike for one miraculous week.
A one-week wonder was meaningless.
And when Misaki thought about this, she couldn't help recalling chapter 8, which would be serialized next week.
She exhaled quietly.
She loved Rei's manga deeply, especially the ending, which was both agonizing and beautiful.
But would readers accept that ending?
Only the market could answer that.
Over the following week, Rei noticed the discussions about Tonight, Even If This Love Vanishes from the World at school increasing dramatically.
Hana and Yui practically dragged Miyu into heated debates about Tonight every day.
Especially Hana, every time she mentioned Shirogane, her eyes sparkled with pure admiration.
Miyu often turned to look at Rei.
This wasn't the typical "I love this manga."
This was the dangerous stage: When the fan's affection shifts from the work → to the author.
It happens all the time.
Like how people fall for an actor after loving the character they played.
There were many fans like this in Japan's manga scene.
But Miyu thought:
'If you knew that the 'beautiful genius high school girl manga artist' you worship, is actually Rei, who sits three meters away from you sleeping at his desk every noon because he's drawing until 3 a.m. every night, would you still be a die-hard Shirogane fan?'
But then she remembered Hana's dramatic declaration:
"Even if Shirogane-sensei turns out to be a balding old man, I'll still love his manga!"
Miyu's expression wobbled.
And then another thought hit her, If Rei really got nominated for the New Artist Award, and he actually got top three, he would have to appear on live national TV.
Once he walked on stage, Shirogane's identity would be exposed instantly.
And Hana would absolutely be glued to her TV during the broadcast.
Miyu suddenly pictured it: Hana staring at the TV, excited, then Rei calmly walking onto the award stage, Hana's soul leaving her body.
Miyu burst out laughing.
Hana blinked.
"Miyu? What are you laughing at?"
"Me? Ah… I'm just thinking about what sweet development Shirogane-sensei will give us in chapter eight!" Miyu grinned.
Another Friday arrived.
After a week of hype and media recommendations, Tonight's momentum had grown even stronger.
Being ranked top three in the magazine was on a completely different level compared to top five.
This week's Ametsukage Weekly cover reflected it:
The male lead, Tōru Kamiya, was placed prominently at the left-side C-position, a placement reserved for the hottest titles.
Early that morning, Kana walked into a bookstore, snatched up the new issue, paid, and sat down right there without even leaving the store.
She immediately flipped to Tonight's chapter.
She had spent the entire week replaying the fireworks scene, the confession, and wondering what happened later to cause Izumi and Tōru to drift apart.
Then her eyes fell on this week's chapter title:
"The Accident of Life."
Kana froze.
Why… this title?
...
Read 30+ chapters ahead at [email protected]/c/Ashnoir