— — — — — —
[Ebina Hina: "I'm taking a screenshot of that and sending it to Yui-chan!"]
Oikawa froze.
Ebina really was terrifyingly devious. She had actually found a loophole in his wording and turned it into a weapon against him.
[Oikawa Toru: "I didn't say that. I don't think that. Stop making things up."]
[Ebina Hina: "Hahaha, alright then. If Oikawa-kun says he didn't mean it, then we'll pretend he didn't! But since I helped you out this time, does that mean we're even from now on?"]
[Oikawa Toru: "Yeah. Thanks for your help."]
Truthfully, Oikawa had never intended to hold favors over anyone's head. This time, he genuinely couldn't think of anyone else who could help.
Maybe Yui could have played Isshiki's opponent.
The problem was that, despite appearing cheerful and outgoing, Yui wasn't actually very good at dealing with strangers. Giving a speech in front of the student council would be even harder for her.
[Ebina Hina: "You're being too polite, Oikawa-kun. We're friends, aren't we? Friends are supposed to help each other. Ahem... as a friend, Oikawa-kun, can I ask you a question? Just one tiny, tiny, tiny little question!!!"]
Oikawa smiled calmly and replied, "No."
After sending that single word, he immediately exited LINE.
That woman had a hundred schemes hidden behind every smile. Whatever she wanted to ask, it was probably bad news.
After leaving LINE, Oikawa browsed Twitter for a while before posting a new tweet.
{Thirty days until the release of the healing novel Clannad.}
Once the tweet was sent, Oikawa opened Full-Drive Bunko's official website and checked the promotional plans for Clannad.
Chris Yamada had called him earlier and mentioned that the warm-up campaign had already begun. By mid-December, the full promotional push would start.
Apparently, they planned to recruit a large number of major Twitter influencers to post reviews and recommendations in hopes of pushing Clannad beyond the usual light novel audience.
Oikawa had spent quite a bit of time discussing the details of the marketing strategy with Chris. Thanks to that, he'd gained a lot of useful knowledge. At least now he wasn't completely clueless like before.
The moment he entered the publisher's homepage, he saw a pinned announcement.
Clannad will officially release on January 2nd. Author Copycat Transmigrator will hold a signing event in Tokyo on the same day.
Just one sentence. More effective than ten thousand advertisements.
The comments underneath had already climbed into the tens of thousands, and every refresh added another thousand.
The activity level was practically on par with the comment sections under popular internet idols.
"What?! Full-Drive Bunko actually got Copycat to do a signing event? Good. My knife is ready."
"Time to settle some old debts."
"When I finally stand face-to-face with that old bastard Copycat, let's see if he still dares call Your Lie in April a healing story!"
"Nobody better stop me. I'm absolutely going to roast that old dog Copycat in person. Why did my Kaori have to die?!"
"Respect for the courage, but I really want to know how much guts Copycat-sensei has to show up in public after what he did to us."
"Don't worry, Copycat-sensei. I'll call an ambulance the moment things start getting out of hand. Just kidding. I'll make sure nobody calls one so you can experience Kaori's pain for yourself.
"January 2nd. I've already started counting down the days. Time for the family katana to taste blood again."
Reading the comments, Oikawa suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Holy crap. They weren't actually going to organize a manhunt for him, were they?
Maybe... Maybe he should just cancel the signing event altogether.
After hesitating for a moment, Oikawa reached a decision.
His workout intensity needed to increase. Starting today, ten kilometers.
After changing into sportswear, he marched out the front door with complete determination. He needed the ability to protect himself.
...
..
Meanwhile, online discussions about Clannad's upcoming release and Copycat's signing event continued to spread.
As a rising star, Copycat Transmigrator was undeniably the dark horse among dark horses. Countless people were paying attention to his new book.
Not just fans.
Editors from rival publishers, fellow authors, and even bookstore owners were watching closely. Everyone wanted to know whether Clannad could live up to the hype.
For bookstore owners especially, this was crucial.
If the book turned out to be genuinely excellent, ordering over a thousand copies wouldn't be a problem. They'd sell eventually.
But if it started strong and collapsed halfway through, those thousand copies would end up gathering dust on the shelves.
After all, the publishing industry had seen plenty of authors who became famous overnight with a single masterpiece, only to fail to produce anything worthwhile afterward.
There was never a shortage of fallen prodigies.
Ozawa Yoji was one such bookstore owner. He ran a bookstore in Osaka called Yūseido, specializing in manga and light novels.
When the second volume of Your Lie in April had been released, Ozawa had correctly predicted that it would explode in popularity.
As a result, he'd boldly ordered a thousand copies in one go.
As expected. The gamble paid off spectacularly.
By ordering over a thousand copies, he not only secured a discounted wholesale price from Dengeki Bunko, but also attracted countless fans who couldn't find the book anywhere else.
That month, Yūseido recorded the highest sales revenue in its entire history.
However... When it came to Clannad, he hesitated.
A genius author's second light novel. A different publisher. And such a short gap since his last release.
Every one of those factors worried him.
Sitting behind the bookstore register, Ozawa endlessly scrolled through Twitter, searching for any information about Clannad that might put his mind at ease.
One post after another— Nothing.
The internet was filled almost entirely with people cursing Copycat-sensei.
Countless readers swore they would never touch another one of his novels. They accused him of disguising a depressing tragedy as a healing story.
Disgusting. Liar. Shameless author.
Those words appeared every few posts, and the more Ozawa read, the deeper his frown became.
"Looking at it this way, Clannad's future doesn't seem very promising... But why do I keep feeling like someone's deliberately trying to smear it?"
He clicked into the profiles of several users posting negative reviews, hoping to find evidence that they were paid trolls.
Unfortunately, they were all real accounts.
"Then I'll play it safe and order three hundred copies first. If they end up sitting unsold in the store, that'll be a disaster."
Ozawa set down his phone and rubbed his temples.
The constant concentration was starting to wear him out.
Just then, one of his employees walked over. "Boss, we should definitely stock more copies of Clannad. It'll sell really well."
"Hm?" Ozawa looked up. "The online reception is terrible. Why are you so sure it'll sell?"
"Look at this."
The employee handed over his phone.
Displayed on the screen was a group chat with nearly a hundred members.
Everyone was posting screenshots of themselves trashing Clannad on social media, along with increasingly vicious insults directed at Copycat.
The language was downright brutal.
The strange part was the group's name, Your Lie in April Hate Club.
Interested, Ozawa started scrolling through the chat history.
A moment later, an incredibly complicated expression appeared on his face.
Confusion. Disbelief. And utter astonishment.
"..."
As a fourth-year university student, Kenichiro Koto had more free time than he knew what to do with. After the first volume of Your Lie in April was released, he gathered several readers from an online forum and created a group chat.
At first, the group had only a dozen members. All of them devoted fans.
Now, however, membership had grown to nearly a hundred people.
Of course, the group's purpose had changed as well. Originally, it had existed to support Your Lie in April. To support Copycat.
Now it had become a daily gathering dedicated to criticizing him. In communities, most people still proudly called themselves loyal readers of "Copycat Transmigrator."
But inside this group chat? Everyone wore a different face.
"Damn, that felt good. My tweet already has over a hundred likes. Hahaha!"
"Holy crap, Copycat really managed to anger everyone. The replies are full of people roasting him. I'm dying of laughter."
"But does this actually work? I barely see anyone talking about buying Clannad online. What if all this effort is pointless?"
The moment that message appeared, agreement flooded the chat.
"Yeah, it does feel kind of stupid, but I have to admit it's satisfying. Besides, I curse that bastard Copycat every day anyway."
"What if Clannad is bad?"
"I saw some bloggers saying they'll receive advance review copies of Clannad soon. Once that happens, we'll finally know whether it's any good."
"Fellas, you can never criticize Copycat's writing."
At some point, the conversation had completely drifted off topic. Only when Kenichiro spoke up did the flood of messages finally slow down, "Brothers, of course this works! Did you already forget what happened when the second volume of Your Lie in April came out? Half the people in our group couldn't buy a copy! Wasn't it exactly the same back then? The internet was flooded with criticism too. Some people are just born that way. The harder they curse something online, the faster they run to buy it in real life."
The chat fell silent.
Because... Wasn't that exactly what he'd done last time?
Actually, most of them had. They'd spent weeks flaming Copycat online, only to line up outside bookstores first thing in the morning on release day.
Completely oblivious to the irony, Kenichiro continued his rant. "Brothers, this time we have to stay committed to the plan. One word: flame! Two words: flame harder! We've still got a whole month before Clannad comes out. We need to trash its reputation until it's lying at rock bottom. I don't care about anyone else. We just need to make sure we can buy our copies when release day comes. Stay strong, brothers."
"..."
Reading those messages, Ozawa was completely dumbfounded.
So they were trashing the book so they could buy it themselves more easily, while openly admitting that all the trashing would only make more people want to buy it, just like what happened with Your Lie in April... thus making the task harder.
Then what was the point of trashing it in the first place? What the hell were these people doing?
Ozawa felt as if his brain had short-circuited. He couldn't make sense of it at all.
.
.
.