At Dengeki Bunko, the newly appointed editor-in-chief, Uemura Ikuji, stared blankly at the tweet on his screen.
Leaning back in his office chair, he muttered in disbelief, "Fifty-seven thousand copies... There's no way. Did they make a mistake? That's not... the first week's sales, is it?"
He simply couldn't believe it.
After all, Dengeki Bunko's best-selling title, The Misfit of Demon King Academy, had sold only thirteen thousand copies on its first day. They'd even thrown a celebration for that achievement.
Before this... When Oikawa Toru had left Dengeki Bunko, Uemura had only felt a twinge of regret.
Now? He wanted to drag the former editor-in-chief, Miki Kazuma, back into the office and beat him senseless.
A million copies. There was no doubt in his mind now. Clannad was destined to become a million-selling light novel.
Uemura slumped deeper into his chair, filled with overwhelming regret.
Just then, someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in."
A salaryman with heavy dark circles from endless overtime hurried inside, barely containing his excitement. "Chief Uemura! We just got a call from Full-Drive Bunko. They want to run a bundled sales campaign featuring Your Lie in April and Clannad."
"What should we tell them? Do we agree? Clannad is the number-one trending topic on Twitter right now. If the bundle goes through, Your Lie in April's sales will absolutely skyrocket."
"..."
Uemura blinked.
After digesting what he'd just heard, he fell into deep thought.
This wasn't a decision he could make lightly.
_ _ _
Meanwhile, at Fujimi Fantasia Bunko—
Sonoko Machida, still stuck working overtime, saw the announcement that Clannad had sold 57,000 copies on its first day.
She completely shut down.
After lying limp in her chair for several minutes, she picked up her phone and posted: "Once, a legendary author stood right in front of me... but I failed to appreciate him. Now that he's gone, all I have left is regret. There is no greater pain in life than this. If I had another chance, I'd say just three words to that legendary author... I'll sign you, no cindions asked!"
It didn't take long before Utaha replied, ["Editor Machida... what's gotten into you? Besides Copycat-sensei, which genius author did you miss this time?"]
Sonoko responded with tears in her eyes, ["It is Copycat!"]
Then she sent another message, ["Utaha, go seduce him! If you can lure him over to Fujimi Bunko, I'll do absolutely anything you ask for afterward. I swear!"]
Utaha shot back almost instantly. ["Yeah, right! Who's going to seduce that jerk? You do it yourself!"]
Sonoko looked like she was about to cry.
If she were ten years younger, she'd have thrown herself at him already.
A seventeen-year-old author with two future million-selling light novels wasn't just marriage material anymore. He was practically a money-printing machine.
And she'd also heard that Your Lie in April had been signed under a performance-based contract. Once sales exceeded one million copies, Copycat's royalties would jump to 25%.
That was a ridiculous amount of money.
Sonoko slowly opened Google and searched: (How to become younger.)
The first result was cosmetic surgery.
She stared at it in despair, looking like a fish gasping for air, before murmuring, "When I wasn't born, you weren't here. When you were finally born... I'd already grown old."
_ _ _
It wasn't just publishers and editors who were stunned. The readers couldn't believe it either.
Light novel forums, ACG communities, and social media were all buzzing over whether the 57,000-copy figure was even real.
Most people's first reaction... was skepticism.
["Clannad sold Fifty-seven thousand copies? No way. Absolutely no way. How many copies did That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime sell on day one? Around thirty thousand, right? You're telling me Clannad beat Slime?"]
["That's not a fair comparison. Slime exploded after the anime came out. The only light novel I remember with a higher first-day launch is Sword Art Online. If I remember correctly, it sold around sixty-five thousand copies."]
["Feels like the numbers are inflated. Some publishers love pulling little tricks like that."
[...]
Not long after the doubts spread, Full-Drive Bunko released the complete sales data.
Every bookstore in Japan. Every single copy sold that day. Everything had been meticulously recorded.
The spreadsheet was so densely packed with numbers it was almost intimidating.
No wonder it had taken until nine o'clock that night to finish tallying the results.
One bookstore owner commented: ["I own Yuseido Bookstore in Osaka. The numbers Full-Drive Bunko published are identical to the sales report I submitted."]
...
Online, the praise and skepticism continued to battle back and forth.
Oikawa had been following the discussions as well. But a little after nine, just as he was about to take a shower and head to bed...
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
He walked over and opened the door. Standing outside was Saki Kawasaki, holding a lunchbox.
"I brought you dinner. You were busy in Tokyo all day. You probably haven't eaten yet."
She wore a simple white jacket, a gentle smile resting on her face.
The moment Oikawa saw her... it felt as though someone had smashed a hammer straight into his heart.
He had been busy in Tokyo. Very busy.
Just... Busy flirting with another girl.
He looked at Kawasaki in silence for a long moment.
Then he opened his arms, "Come here."
Kawasaki lowered her head shyly before stepping into his embrace.
The scene was warm. Comforting.
And somehow... Painfully ironic.
.
.
.