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"Holy crap, this novel is actually incredible!"
"A virtual reality helmet? This author really knows his stuff. That setting is top-tier. I honestly wish the big gaming giants would actually develop something like this by tomorrow. It would save me from having to swap out my graphics card every year just to endure the garbage optimization of modern AAA titles."
"I'd expect nothing less from Shiori-sensei. After a short hiatus, he comes back with a masterpiece this interesting. A virtual world, being trapped inside a game, and the 'if you die in the game, you die in real life' stakes? That is an absolutely brilliant hook."
"I am so jealous of the protagonist, Kirito. I'd give anything to play a game as immersive as SAO. Even if the conditions were that ruthless, where one mistake sends you straight to the afterlife, I think I could still accept it."
"Oh, give the 'tough guy' act a rest. It is easy to talk big on the internet about not fearing death for a good game, but in reality, you're probably the type of person who runs to the hospital for stitches after getting a paper cut from a fruit knife."
"Actually, he'd have to run pretty fast. If he's too slow, the wound would probably heal before he even finished registering at the reception desk! Hahaha!"
"Man, the netizens this year really know how to roast people."
"But seriously, those people talking big have no respect for life. In the world of SAO, death is final. What is the point of staying in such a dangerous world? If it were me, I wouldn't step foot in there for all the money in the world."
"However, if you think about it, you have a sense of pain, you can eat, you can sleep, and you have a sense of touch. If you die there, you're gone. Honestly, is there even a difference between that game and reality at that point?"
"If the protagonist Kirito hadn't entered the game as a young man but had been put into that VR helmet the moment he was born, living his entire life inside the system... would he have any choice but to view that world as the only reality?"
"That is... a terrifying thought."
"When you put it that way, it actually makes a lot of sense."
"It makes me wonder if the world we are living in right now is something similar. Could our physical bodies be lying inside some machine like a VR helmet while the signals for buying a house, reading novels, watching anime, and getting married are just electrical impulses being fed into our brains?"
"I feel like the setting of Sword Art Online is incredibly fresh. I bet that in the coming years, we are going to see a massive wave of light novel authors in Japan trying to imitate or borrow from this genre."
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In another world, the first chapter of Sword Art Online might have been considered merely excellent without necessarily blowing the readers' minds. However, in Japan, thanks to the various innovative settings that felt entirely new to this timeline, the story received immediate and overwhelming acclaim from the magazine's readership, even though Kirito hadn't even done much yet in the opening act.
After the first chapter was serialized, the approval rating on the internet skyrocketed. On the official publisher forums, the series even managed to claim the number one spot on the trending search list on the very day of its release. Of course, that top spot wasn't just due to the high volume of organic discussion; it was also bolstered by the Kiyozawa Library publishing house spending a significant amount of money on marketing and promotion.
This situation allowed Ms. Hime, Haruto's manager, to finally breathe a long sigh of relief. Looking at the comment sections on Haruto's creator accounts and the official Kiyozawa website, almost everyone discussing the plot of the first chapter was saying how fascinating the story was. Judging by the initial reception, the serialization results for Sword Art Online were bound to be impressive.
That evening, she immediately called Haruto to deliver the news. It just so happened that Haruto was already keeping a close eye on the online reputation of his work. While Sword Art Online had been a massive hit in the previous world, it was undeniable that its success there was largely due to the immense support of the capital market.
The anime adaptation, the theatrical films, the video games, and even the massive community of artists using the heroine Asuna as a template for secondary creations had kept the franchise alive for over a decade.
However, that didn't mean he could simply drop the work into the market without any support and expect it to become famous solely through word of mouth.
"I understand," Haruto said into the phone. "I will cooperate with the publishing house's promotional activities for the time being, and I'll also do some promotion on my own end."
Just like during the serialization of the Initial D manga, Kiyozawa Library had a standard operating procedure for building the prestige of their authors. Under the firm's arrangement, appearing on variety shows for interviews was a standard move. They would also arrange for authors to appear as special guests at anime conventions and gaming expos, followed by a coordinated blitz of media reports to keep the momentum going.
After hanging up with Ms. Hime, Haruto let out a long breath. He knew that for the foreseeable future, he was going to be incredibly busy.
The following day was Saturday. After being in theaters for half a month, and during a weekend with no major new releases, To the Moon once again topped the daily box office charts. Barring any surprises, it would likely hold the top spot on Sunday as well. To date, the total box office for To the Moon has reached 420 million yen.
It was now less than seven million yen away from overtaking the current monthly champion, The Lame Detective. Given that the latter's daily earnings had dipped below three million yen, it was almost certain that by Sunday, To the Moon would become the highest-grossing film of the month.
Although the box office for To the Moon had never reached astronomical daily peaks, its sheer resilience and "long-tail" performance had left many veterans in the film industry speechless.
Meanwhile, by Saturday night, the reader vote counts for the first chapter of Sword Art Online were finally tallied. The total number of votes reached 1,396,451, landing it in third place for the magazine issue.
The other three works in the top four were old acquaintances of Haruto's. The top series took first place with over 2.5 million votes, while the second-place entry secured over 1.5 million. Finally, the fourth-place series landed at nearly 986,512 votes.
Even during the serialization of Parasyte, Haruto had never been able to shake the top three rankings of those titans, even up until the final chapter. Yet, with just its first chapter, Sword Art Online had managed to push the established third-place holder, a massive hit that had held its spot for three consecutive years, down into fourth place.
This wasn't necessarily because the quality of the first chapter of Sword Art Online was already so high that it had converted everyone instantly. Rather, it was a result of the "fandom feedback" from Haruto's other works, To the Moon and Initial D.
The fans of the To the Moon animated film were fiercely loyal to Haruto. Meanwhile, Initial D had been holding the top position in Weekly Prime for a month, and its popularity had even climbed into the top five, or even top three, among all currently serialized manga across major publishers. Every week, the reader votes for Initial D exceeded the two-million mark.
Even though Haruto's new work was being serialized in the light novel magazine Kiyozawa Library, a significant portion of his manga readers had crossed over to offer their unconditional support.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Sword Art Online to garner such a staggering number of votes so quickly. It had only just begun, and before any major plot developments had even occurred, no setting, no matter how brilliant, could typically draw that much engagement based on merit alone.
Once these figures were released, Ms. Hime finally felt the weight lift off her shoulders. When she went into the office on Sunday to handle some paperwork, her expression was cool and perhaps a bit smug.
After all, she had used her influence to bypass certain internal hurdles to get Sword Art Online serialized in the flagship magazine. Many people had been unhappy with her and Haruto, and there had been plenty of criticism directed at the work behind closed doors.
But now, with over a million votes and a third-place ranking on the very first chapter, what more was there to say? The numbers spoke for themselves.
That night, when Kiyozawa Library officially announced the rankings for the current issue, it sent shockwaves through the light novel industry. Other major houses naturally paid close attention to their rival's performance.
The top three works in Kiyozawa Library, the top tier in Hoshizora, and the top tier in Seisawa were all long-running series that had been serialized for over two years. Among those ten series, the one with the lowest sales still boasted a record of millions of copies per volume.
They were the undisputed kings of the light novel industry.
The fact that the previous third-place holder had dropped to fourth place meant that, at least for this week, its popularity was no longer enough to maintain its status as one of the top ten series in the country. In the world of light novels, this was a massive event.
Professional groups and industry insiders were buzzing with activity.
"This is ridiculous! How can this Shiori's new series debut at third place in Kiyozawa Library? Even with the magazine having a massive nationwide circulation, where did over a million votes come from for a single chapter?"
"Did you forget that Shiori is also the author of the mega-hit manga Initial D? There is a huge overlap between manga fans and light novel readers. Combine that with the aggressive marketing from Kiyozawa Library, and everyone knows about Sword Art Online. Having this kind of debut isn't that far-fetched, but we really need to see the second week's data to gauge the series' actual staying power."
"Exactly. Fans of Initial D and To the Moon might give a courtesy vote out of loyalty for the first chapter. But from the second chapter onward, that trick won't work anymore. If the quality doesn't hold up, the audience won't keep voting just for the sake of sentimentality."
"I bet the votes will drop significantly by next week."
"Uh... why are you all so sure that the votes are just people piggybacking off his other works? Have you considered that maybe Sword Art Online is just genuinely interesting? You guys sound a little bitter."
"Is that even a question? It's pure jealousy. They see Shiori dominating the manga world and the film world, and if he conquers the light novel world too, they won't be able to sleep at night."
"To be honest, while I'm envious of Shiori, looking at the waves he's made over the last few months makes me feel more defeated than anything else. He's only nineteen! To the Moon has cleared 400 million yen. Initial D has hit a record-breaking ranking streak in Weekly Prime over the last six weeks. And now, he manages to knock a top-ten industry titan out of its spot with a single chapter... the guy is a freak of nature."
"It's only been about a year and a half, right? Back in early last year, he was just the winner of a newcomer award. By October of this year, he's grown into this? It's insane."
"The scariest part is his age. He's already an A-list creator in both manga and light novels. Even in the film industry, 400 million yen is a respectable haul. But he's only nineteen. His future is terrifyingly bright."
"In the last two years, we've had two new faces in the industry, one is 'Shiori Takahashi' and the other is 'The Warrior of Love.' Both of them are monsters who have completely disrupted the status quo. However, the Warrior of Love only has Madoka Magica as a phenomenon; we don't know if he'll be a flash in the pan. But Shiori Takahashi? His consistency is frightening. Blue Spring Tide, Anohana, To the Moon, Parasyte, Initial D, and now Sword Art Online... he doesn't have a single miss in terms of quality or popularity."
"I still don't see what's so great about Sword Art Online. I'm sticking to my guns, the votes will tank by the second chapter. Just wait and see."
Within the light novel industry, some colleagues were bitter, some were analytical, but most were simply in awe of Haruto's rise.
As for Haruto himself, he didn't know most of these people and wasn't part of any of their chat groups. He was currently focused on how to leverage his existing influence to help Sword Art Online rise to the top as quickly as possible.
Naturally, he turned to his "Warrior of Love" persona, which already had over ten million followers. Haruto decided to play both sides of the fence once again.
On the Warrior of Love account, he posted,
"I read a fantastic new light novel today called Sword Art Online. The plot is gripping and the setting is breathtaking. I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoyed Madoka Magica!"
Then, using his Shiori account, he tagged the Warrior of Love account and replied:
"Warrior-sensei, you certainly have excellent taste!"
This little interaction left the fans of both accounts completely bewildered. Just what on earth were these two up to?