More than half a month had passed since the closing ceremony.
Summer vacation had officially settled into a routine; the initial novelty and excitement had faded, leaving behind large blocks of free time to be spent at will.
Imaizumi Keita's pace of life remained as regular as ever.
In the mornings, he would go for a run or sleep in; in the afternoons, he'd go for a walk or have a date with Yanami Anna, doing things he enjoyed.
In the evenings, he would unfailingly talk on the phone with Yanami Anna, listening to her various spoiled complaints and the interesting things that had happened recently.
Afternoon.
Imaizumi Keita was checking the sales status of his light novel when a new message suddenly popped up in the Literature Club group chat.
Imaizumi Keita opened the chat group with some surprise and found it was a message from Komari Chika.
Komari Chika rarely spoke in the group, mostly lurking or engaging in repetitive posting behaviors.
She had sent a photo taken in a bookstore.
The photo showed the new book recommendation stand in the light novel section, where several stacks of brand-new bunko books were neatly arranged.
And the one being photographed was Imaizumi Keita's work—"my youth romantic comedy is wrong, as i expected."
Following the photo was Komari Chika's message, filled with intense surprise and confusion.
[Um...@Imaizumi Keita, Imaizumi... why has your book been published already? I thought we were still in the competition stage of the Light Novel Grand Prize?]
A few seconds later, Shioyaki Lemon's reply also came through: [Whoa! For real?! Imai-chan, your book is published?! [Shocked Shiba Inu.jpg]]
[Ohhh! Congratulations, Imaizumi! The physical book looks great! I didn't expect it to be published so soon!]
[Congratulations, Imaizumi-kun! That's truly a remarkable achievement!]
These two successive congratulatory messages were sent by President Tamaki Shintaro and Vice President Tsukinoki Koto, followed closely by Yanami Anna's repetitive congratulation.
Looking at the screen filled with congratulations and inquiries, Imaizumi Keita smiled and began to explain.
[Sorry, I forgot to tell everyone. I only just finished signing the contract with the website's editor.]
He briefly recounted the course of events.
[So, the editorial department felt the work's data performance was quite outstanding and decided to skip the subsequent selection process and go directly into the publishing phase. It was a special case.]
[A special case?! That sounds so amazing!]
[Hahaha, I knew your work would be fine, Imaizumi! I thought it had plenty of potential the moment I saw it!]
[To make the website break the rules for you, Imaizumi-kun's strength really shouldn't be underestimated. But why didn't you tell us this good news sooner?]
This was also the question Komari Chika and Shioyaki Lemon wanted to ask.
[Because I wasn't sure how the physical book sales would go at the time, I thought I'd wait until the sales situation stabilized a bit before saying anything, to avoid getting everyone's hopes up for nothing.]
This reason sounded humble and steady, which fit his usual style quite well.
At this point, Komari Chika, who had been lurking, popped up again, breaking through Imaizumi Keita's humility.
[Um... I stood in the bookstore for a bit just now... it felt like... quite a lot of people were buying Imaizumi's book... the shelf seems to be nearly half empty...]
[Looking at the sales of other light novels... I feel like there's a high probability Imaizumi's book will be a bestseller...]
Shioyaki Lemon quickly expressed her excitement about the light novel's sales: [Bestseller?! Imai-chan, you've become a bestselling author?]
[Are that many people really buying it! I was originally worried that I was the only one who liked reading this type of book...]
[That's because most of the books you usually read are very strange, okay...]
...
Yanami Anna was lying on her stomach on her bed, her feet swinging restlessly.
She looked at the screen of her phone, seeing everyone's unreserved praise for Imaizumi Keita. Her face was full of excitement, and she couldn't help but feel proud in her heart.
See, this is the man I, Yanami Anna, have my eyes on.
Even though this guy has a nasty personality, always likes to tease people, and has a head full of improper thoughts.
But when he gets serious, he's just so dazzling and talented.
At the thought of this, she couldn't help but bury her face in her pillow, letting out a series of hums filled with secret joy.
Anyway, she was just very happy.
Yanami Anna kept tossing and turning on the bed, and the idea of going to find Imaizumi Keita suddenly sprouted in her mind.
...
On the other side, Shioyaki Lemon, who had just finished her Track and Field Club training, was sitting on the train home.
She leaned against the window, watching the street scenery recede rapidly, her mind replaying the contents of the group chat.
Imai-chan... he's much more amazing than I imagined...
She had always known Imaizumi Keita was smart; whether it was his grades or writing novels, there was always a sense of effortless ease.
But she never thought that this "amazing" quality could reach the level of making a publishing house handle things as a special case.
It was a kind of halo belonging to another world, one she had never touched.
The person she liked was such a distant and shining existence.
Yet in daily interactions, he gave off a feeling of being within reach, making one unable to resist wanting to grab hold of him...
This feeling filled Shioyaki Lemon's heart with joy and pride, but also involuntarily caused a faint sense of pressure to rise.
She... seemed to need to work a little harder too.
At least, she couldn't be left too far behind by him, right?
...
Komari Chika stood before the new book recommendation stand, reaching out her hand to gently stroke Imaizumi Keita's light novel.
Looking down at the book cover, the black-haired male protagonist seemed to be making eye contact with her through the paper.
Komari Chika couldn't help but feel a sense of loss in her heart.
So...
That Imaizumi, who had a nasty personality and stole her bread, was such an incredible person...
Komari Chika thought somewhat blankly, silently taking a copy from the shelf and hugging it to her chest.
In the idle chatter of the Literature Club group chat, the President and Vice President's topic suddenly turned to her.
[Speaking of which, Komari's novel results are also very good! The bookmarks and likes on the website have been growing steadily!]
[Yeah, yeah, Komari's book has its own style. Don't be discouraged just because of Imaizumi-kun's results; we all like your story very much.]
Looking at the encouragement from the President and the upperclassman, Komari Chika felt her nose tingle. The slight loss she felt from the sense of disparity was suddenly filled with warmth.
She quickly tapped on the screen, expressing her gratitude.
[Thank you, President and Vice President! I will keep working hard!]
Everyone chatted for a while longer about their respective summer vacations, sharing interesting things they had encountered.
Just as the topic was about to end, Tsukinoki Koto suddenly remembered something important and hurriedly sent a message to inform everyone.
[Ah, right, speaking of summer vacation, there's something I forgot to notify everyone about earlier.]
[The Student Council issued a task to all clubs this year, requiring every club to submit a summer activity report. Can everyone find some time to come to school this week? We need to get together and discuss it.]
[Even if we don't hold a summer activity, we should discuss how to write the summer activity report. Does anyone have any opinions?]
This news made everyone pause for a moment, but then they felt that this kind of thing wasn't really a hassle.
After all, for high school students who were somewhat bored during summer vacation, a group activity wasn't a bad thing.
[Sure! I'm free anytime!]
[Mhm, I can go over.]
[I, I can too.]
The messages from the others followed.
Seeing that everyone indicated they had no problem, Imaizumi Keita also followed up with a reply: [I have no objection.]
[Great! Then the specific time will be later this week; I'll notify the group then. Well then, see you all at school!]
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Rexlent
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"