— — — — — —
After walking Kawasaki home, Oikawa returned to his apartment and immediately collapsed into bed.
By the time he woke up again, it was already close to eleven.
He unlocked his phone to find it overflowing with unread messages. Nearly everyone he knew had sent him New Year's greetings.
『Saki Kawasaki』:My family's gone to the shrine. I'll pray for a good-luck charm to keep you safe... Also, Happy New Year. I hope tomorrow's signing is a huge success.
『Yui Yuigahama』:Happy New Year, Oikawa-kun!
『Utaha Kasumigaoka』:Happy New Year, Oikawa-senpai. I went to the shrine with my family today. Wishing you lots of success at tomorrow's signing. Don't forget our plans on the 3rd. I'm looking forward to it.
『Iroha Isshiki』:Happy New Year, Senpai! Don't forget your promise to help me practice confessing!
『Yoshiteru Zaimokuza』: Oikawa, if you're reading this... Happy New Year. And please.. please get me out of here. I don't want to be an editor anymore.
『Shizuka Hiratsuka』:Happy New Year...
『Hachiman Hikigaya』: Happy New Year...
Seeing all those New Year's wishes made Oikawa smile.
He replied to everyone one by one before stretching and climbing out of bed.
After thinking it over for a moment, he sent Yukino a New Year's message, even though she hadn't sent him one. But well, she was probably busy too. After all, if he'd had the time yesterday, he would've sent New Year's greetings to everyone first.
...
After tidying up the aftermath of losing his virginity, Oikawa headed into the kitchen.
Yesterday's leftovers were still sitting on the table. He reheated everything and made it his lunch.
He was starving.
After finishing his meal, he opened Twitter and logged into his author account. His inbox was filled with New Year's greetings from readers.
Yeah, surprisingly, instead of the usual: "You deserve to die!" or "Just wait until I stab you!"
...people were actually being nice for once.
The corners of Oikawa's lips curled upward.
After a moment's thought, he typed out a post.
Happy New Year, everyone! Tomorrow is the release event and signing for Clannad. I've been looking forward to this day for a long time.
He attached a festive New Year's image and hit Post.
The replies flooded in almost immediately.
[Since it's New Year's, I'll let you off without insulting you today.]
[Even though you're still a disgusting old bastard, Copycat, Happy New Year. Keep working harder than everyone else this year!]
[LMAO, "working harder than everyone else" is killing me. Copycat is already insane. He released books during summer vacation, autumn break, and winter break. Don't tell me the second volume of Clannad is coming during spring break too?]
[Now I'm jealous. Why can't Fuse update Tensura this fast? I'm going to his Twitter to beg for updates.]
[Fuse really has gotten lazy. Before he became famous, he released two volumes a year. Now it's one volume a year, and they're getting shorter too.]
[Update requests! We need more update requests! It's time for the entire light novel industry to start competing!]
Reading through the comments, Oikawa grinned to himself.
Yes. Compete harder.
Oikawa had been dissatisfied with light novel authors for ages.
After thinking it over, Oikawa decided to throw a little more fuel on the fire.
He pinned a new reply beneath his own tweet, along with a screenshot.
Sigh... I'm just too hardworking. Clannad Volume 1 hasn't even been released yet, and I've already written seventy thousand words for Volume 2. If there were an award for hardest-working author, it'd definitely belong to me. (Image)
Helping someone in need wasn't nearly as satisfying as adding fuel to the flames.
Sure enough, the comment section exploded.
[WHAT?! Volume 2 already has seventy thousand words?! You've got to be kidding!]
[So you're saying it's high quality, updates fast, and gives readers plenty to eat? You really aren't leaving any dignity for the rest of the industry.]
[Now I'm suddenly thinking about Togashi... Is Hunter × Hunter ever going to finish?]
[Looking at it this way... Copycat's actually pretty conscientious. Other than insisting on emotionally destroying his readers every book, he doesn't really have any flaws.]
[...Now that you mention it, you're right. Have we all been too harsh on Copycat? There really isn't another light novel author who writes this fast.]
[I think we owe Copycat-sensei an apology. I'll start. Ahem... Copycat, I'm sorry. I misunderstood you before. I shouldn't have wanted to stab you. I was foolish. I let my emotions get the better of me instead of trusting your writing. Please accept my sincerest apology. I'll reflect on my actions and strive to become a better reader from now on.]
That particular last comment... had been posted by Oikawa himself using one of his alternate accounts.
Yeah, he was still nervous about the whole stabbing thing.
Sadly, before he could officially reply to his alt account and create a harmonious atmosphere, another reply appeared almost instantly.
[Kaori_Didn't_Die]: The hell is wrong with you? Apologize? Apologize for what? For making me cry for days? Apologize to him for killing Kaori?! Sure, I'll admit he's a hardworking author, but that damn guy's a sadistic menace. Nobody's better at breaking my heart than Copycat... Awoo... my Kaori...
"..."
A bitter smile spread across Oikawa's face.
His attempt to blend into the crowd and fish in troubled waters had failed.
Well, at least he'd achieved about half of what he wanted.
---
On New Year's Day, countless light novel authors posted on social media wishing their readers a happy holiday.
In previous years, the responses were always friendly. Most readers simply replied with a cheerful "Happy New Year."
At worst, a handful of fans might politely ask: "Sensei, when's the next volume of ____ coming out?"
The author would answer. Everyone stayed happy. That was how it had always been.
This year, however... the readers had come armed with murderous intent.
After returning home from visiting the shrine with his family, Fuse, the author of Tensura (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime), settled down to enjoy a bowl of zōni.
His favorite way to eat it was with a few chunks of tofu and slices of fish.
The longer tofu simmered, the better it soaked up the broth. The same went for fish.
It became wonderfully tender and flavorful.
Sitting comfortably beside the heater, Fuse happily finished a piece of tofu before pulling out his phone.
He snapped a picture and posted it to Twitter: ||Happy New Year to all my Slime readers! Tofu in zōni is absolutely delicious. (Photo)||
After posting, he took another bite of fish. His mood improved even more.
Then, smiling to himself, he opened the replies. And the smile vanished instantly.
[Forget eating tofu. Go update your novel already! You said the next volume was coming this year. Give us an actual date!]
[Why don't you choke on it? Hmph! Last year you promised the next volume during spring break, and it didn't come out until winter vacation. Now you're saying the next volume is coming this summer. What, should we expect it next spring instead?]
[Here's your deadline. Ten days. Two hundred thousand characters. Get writing.]
"..."
Fuse stared blankly at the screen.
His expression was one of complete confusion... And more than a little hurt.
"What... What happened?"
_ _ _
Meanwhile, in a luxurious villa in Tokyo, inside a private mahjong room—
The infamous "Hiatus x Hiatus Togashi" was happily playing mahjong with a few friends.
Looking at him now, there wasn't the slightest trace of the back pain he'd always blamed for the lack of Hunter × Hunter chapters.
He was staring so intensely at the tile his opponent had just discarded that his eyes were practically glowing.
"Pon!" Togashi instantly perked up, snatching the tile and discarding a Two Pins. "... Riichi!"
Looking at the nearly pure flush spread before him, excitement filled his face.
If he won this hand... It would be his first full flush of the year.
Surely that meant his mahjong luck would be incredible for the next twelve months.
"Five Sou... Come on... Five Souzu..." He silently prayed while watching each opponent discard their tiles.
Unfortunately, every single one of them discarded Pin tiles. Not a single Sou tile.
Togashi reached for his next draw. And the instant his fingers touched the tile, his eyes lit up.
A Sou tile. And it was five...
He never got to see it.
Suddenly the mahjong room door slammed open. A woman marched in, radiating enough killing intent to make everyone freeze.
It was his wife.
Naoko Takeuchi. The creator of Sailor Moon.
"Still playing mahjong?! Can you do something about your readers?! They've started attacking my comment section now!"
Naoko's face was a mix of anger and grievance.
She'd simply been sharing some New Year's happiness with her own fans. Then, out of nowhere, a swarm of furious readers had flooded into her replies and started tearing everything apart.
"Huh? What happened?" Togashi reluctantly set down the Five Sou he'd just drawn and looked at his wife.
It wasn't often he saw her this angry.
"What happened? See for yourself!" She shoved her phone into his hands.
The moment Togashi looked at the replies, he frowned.
[You shameless Togashi! Last year you promised Hunter × Hunter would resume. Where's your promise now?]
[Sorry, Takeuchi-sensei, but your husband is the worst. Please do something. A man who doesn't keep his promises isn't a man at all.]
[My grandchildren are going to inherit my dream of seeing the Dark Continent arc finished.]
[At this point, the hiatus is the main protagonist.]
Those... Those were actually some of the reasonable comments.
The less reasonable readers showed no restraint whatsoever. Some of their comments were so unhinged that Togashi couldn't help wondering how the site's moderation system had let them slip through.
Togashi frowned as he scrolled through the comments.
Sure, he'd been notorious for endless hiatuses for years. But his readers had never been this furious before.
Something... Something was definitely off. There had to be a reason.
He kept scrolling through the sea of abuse until one particular comment caught his eye: [Come on, Togashi, get it together. I'm not asking you to match that jerk Copycat's update speed, but at least keep your promises!]
"...Copycat?" Togashi muttered the name under his breath, looking puzzled.
He didn't remember any manga artist by that name.
So what exactly was going on? The fans' collective outburst swept through practically the entire ACGN community.
It wasn't just light novel authors. Manga artists, anime studios, and even game developers all found themselves caught in the crossfire.
Nisio Isin, author of the Monogatari series, found comments like: [Three volumes a year is already pretty fast, but why can't you be more like Copycat and release four? If somebody has to start working harder, why can't it be you? I don't care. I want another Monogatari book before winter break is over. Make it happen!]
Reading through the demands, Nisio Isin frowned.
"...Copycat? The guy who wrote Your Lie in April? What did he do this time?"
---
Meanwhile, Syougo Kinugasa, author of Classroom of the Elite, was receiving comments such as: [One volume a year? Seriously? Yeah, I'm talking about you, Kinugasa. If you can't write any faster... then I hope your manhood gets chopped off.]
Kinugasa himself hadn't even seen the comments. But the editors at MF Bunko certainly had.
It didn't take them long to figure out what had started the whole mess. And once they did... they were left speechless.
At first, they assumed the author of Your Lie in April had posted something inflammatory.
They'd even been preparing to have a little talk with this so-called "Copycat" about showing some respect to his senpai.
But it turned out the only thing he'd done wrong was write books at an absurdly fast pace.
So what were they supposed to do now?
...
..
Oikawa Toru, meanwhile, had absolutely no idea that one little comment about working harder had sparked a storm across the entire industry.
If he'd known... he definitely... definitely would've rubbed it in a little more. It would've been the perfect opportunity to stir the pot.
He would've grabbed one of his alternate accounts and headed straight to Togashi's comment section
Talk about karma. The wicked always got what was coming to them.
Unfortunately... Oikawa knew nothing about any of this. Right now, he was preparing to mail out the New Year's cards he'd written.
One was for his old professor. The others were for Ayame Kagurazaka and Chris Yamada.
He'd be seeing Chris again tomorrow at the signing event, but some greetings simply felt more meaningful when written by hand.
Over the past few weeks, Chris had practically worked himself to death preparing for the event. He'd even spent New Year's Eve at the office.
If Clannad failed to sell a million copies, Oikawa would honestly feel like he'd let Chris down.
From the way things looked, though... a million copies across Volumes 1 and 2 seemed very achievable.
Anything beyond that was harder to predict.
Even so, Oikawa was more than satisfied. Authors whose every light novel sold over a million copies were incredibly rare.
At the same time, it reminded him not to become complacent.
He might have countless stories stored in his memory... But that didn't mean he could stop learning.
Many bestselling novels became hits because they appeared at exactly the right moment. There was no guarantee that simply copying those stories into this era would produce the same results.
He had to keep adapting. His writing style, pacing, and even the stories themselves all needed to evolve with the times.
Once he'd sorted out his thoughts, Oikawa left his apartment and stepped onto the street.
It was the first day of January. But the air was still just as cold as it had been in December.
Yet somehow... everything felt warm.
Probably because he was in such a good mood.
Glancing around the street, Oikawa headed toward the nearest postbox.
The mailbox outside his apartment could only receive mail, not send it.
After wandering around for a while, he finally found a public mailbox where he could post the New Year's cards.
Just then... a familiar figure appeared, walking toward him. She stopped right in front of him.
It was Yukino Yukinoshita.
Oikawa blinked in surprise. He had no idea why she was here.
He was just about to ask when Yukino gave him a small, gentle smile. "This year as well... I hope we'll continue to get along."
.
.
.
You can read chapters ahead by supporting me on pat: patreon.com/_Coreal