However, Anon didn't stay happy for long—because there were simply too many people asking for autographs.
Even those who didn't want signatures crowded over anyway, as if they were overwhelmingly curious about the two of them.
Drowned in a sea of Haneoka JKs, completely at a loss.
In that kind of environment, they could barely even move an inch.
In the end, unable to take it anymore, Miss Anon hastily came up with an excuse and dragged Tomori away to escape.
Although she did quite enjoy the feeling of being like a big celebrity…
Everyone was just a little too enthusiastic.
And there were way too many of them.
Anon couldn't help but raise a hand to wipe the nonexistent sweat from her forehead.
Was that scumbag's anime really that popular?
Why did it feel like everyone had watched it?
Since it was live-action, Anon had been too busy immersing herself in the performance to even notice the actual production quality.
But… no one's chasing after us, right?
For now, it should be safe.
Of course, Anon didn't dislike being popular.
She just wasn't used to it yet.
Recalling the earlier scene, the corners of her mouth were practically impossible to suppress.
I'm not that charming.
There's no need to like me that much!
Beside her, Tomori tilted her head slightly in confusion as she watched someone standing there grinning foolishly.
After quite a while, Superstar Ano finally adjusted her emotions and headed to their classroom with Tomori.
And then—
Another group of girls surrounded them.
Fortunately, since these were their actual classmates, they were relatively restrained. They weren't so overwhelming that Anon felt the urge to run again.
"Anon-chan, was that anime made based on you guys? It was so interesting!"
"That idea was amazing!"
"It feels like anime characters stepping into real life…"
"Is everything in the anime true? Tomori actually went through something like that…"
"Waaah, we would never hate Tomori! She's obviously so cute…"
Unlike the earlier crowd, their classmates were more interested in the anime itself—and even more protective of Tomori.
It was as if they had coordinated beforehand: a whole group of girls started giving Tomori penguin bandages, nearly filling her entire desk.
Even Tomori, who tended to be withdrawn, couldn't help but feel a little moved by a scene like this.
Of course, Tomori knew very clearly who had brought her all of this.
Mutsuki…
Eh?
Why is everyone crowding around Tomori?
Is my part already over?
Although "Saint Anon" would later become practically superhuman, in these first three episodes it clearly wasn't her time to shine yet.
And this was Tomori's home turf, after all.
So once people had asked Anon the questions they were curious about, most of them drifted over to Tomori instead.
So the real superstar… isn't me, but Tomori?
Even though Anon's smile stiffened slightly, there wasn't any real negativity in her heart.
No matter what, she would never be jealous of Tomori.
She's such an adorable little creature—what would I even be jealous of?
That she kissed Kamijou Mutsuki last night?
Wait.
Why did I suddenly think of that?!
Miss Ano's cheeks flushed bright red as she hurriedly shook her head.
"Anon, your anime was seriously so interesting! We all loved it!"
Even if she wasn't getting as much attention as Tomori, Anon was by no means being ignored. But the moment she saw who had come to talk to her, her expression froze.
It was her new friends at Haneoka—the "Traffic Light Trio."
Crap.
I was so carried away earlier that I forgot about this.
"Ano-chan? What's wrong?"
The three girls noticed her sudden change in expression and immediately looked concerned.
"Um… about before. I'm sorry."
Anon cared a lot about saving face—but now that the anime had already exposed her true thoughts, she honestly apologized.
"Huh? About what?"
The trio looked confused.
"It's just… about the band. I lied to you before. I turned you down because I didn't want to stand in the corner…"
Her cheeks were completely red by now.
Publicly admitting her vanity felt like a social execution.
"Ohhh, that?"
The three exchanged glances—then burst into laughter.
"Ano-chan, you don't have to take it so seriously. Wanting to be the lead vocalist is totally normal. We get it."
"Besides, seeing you with your little schemes actually makes you even cuter…"
"It's that thing—what do you call it? Gap moe, right?"
"Yeah, that's it!"
Anon had almost been moved to tears.
But after hearing the second half of their conversation, her expression instantly turned complicated.
Don't discuss my "cute points" right in front of me!
Crap.
I really feel like I've become an anime character!
"And besides, if Anon joined our band, wouldn't that mean she couldn't form one with Tomori? Wouldn't that make us unforgivable?"
"Exactly! I'm an Anon × Tomori shipper!"
Clearly, shipping CPs was an essential part of watching MyGO.
"No one ships Anon × Soyo? Tomori belongs to everyone!"
"Heretic. Anon × Sakiko is number one!"
"Are you sick?"
"Obvious bait."
"Sooo… does no one ship Anon × Mutsumi?"
"That's way too niche, okay?"
"You guys—"
Watching her classmates casually start shipping her with the other band girls mid-conversation, Anon—feeling like her public image was being destroyed—completely lost it, her face turning bright red.
"…Don't randomly ship weird CPs!"
"Eh? Tomori, why are you standing so far away from me?"
"…I'm afraid Mutsuki will misunderstand."
Anon: ?
-----------------------------------
Naturally, Kamijou Mutsuki had no idea about the chaos among the girls.
Since he didn't need to attend school, he headed straight to the company instead—just in time to check on the reception after MyGO's broadcast.
After all, even though the anime's quality was solid and there weren't any real competitors this season, you could never guarantee there wouldn't be surprises before the results came in.
"Boss, MyGO is really blowing up this time!"
Inside the building of Houbun Animation, Myaamori looked at the compiled data, barely able to hide the joy on her face.
After all, even though the script was written by Kamijou Mutsuki, they were the actual producers of MyGO.
"The first episode only had about an 8.1% rating because there wasn't much promotion. But episode two shot up to 14.2%, and it's still climbing—by episode three, it's already reached 15.8%!"
"At this rate, MyGO absolutely has the potential to become the second K-On!!"
After all, even in prime time, a 10% rating was already considered excellent.
And aside from the first episode, MyGO had far surpassed that benchmark.
Of course, a peak rating of 15.8% was still far from the once-phenomenal K-On!.
But MyGO had only just begun.
The real explosive moments were still to come.
That would be when MyGO truly shone.
..................