Volume 1 - CH 20

“Of course! Check this out, Sensei!”

Mei-san aimed her smartphone at me.

It was the ranking page on a certain website.

…Wait, what!?

“W-What? Monthly ranking… and I’m in… 5th place!?”

No way, this is insane!

I was shocked and kept looking at the smartphone repeatedly.

“Oh, what’s the matter, Yuu-chan?”

My mother placed the tea in front of us.

“Well, um… the short story I posted yesterday at noon has already reached 5th place in the monthly overall ranking…”

“Oh, is that something amazing?”

Then Mei-san excitedly exclaimed.

“Yes! The monthly ranking is based on the total points accumulated over one month. Generally, if you can get around 60,000 points, you can make it to 5th place in the monthly ranking. However, even for a highly popular work, it usually takes two to three weeks to reach 5th place in the overall ranking.”

“Oh my, so Yuu-chan managed to reach that in just half a day?”

“That’s right! It’s already a monster… a monstrous work! It’s amazing! You’re truly incredible, Sensei!”

“You’re amazing, Yuu-chan ♡”

I… was genuinely surprised too.

Well, last night, I had already ranked 1st in the daily overall ranking with 30,000 points…

I was also thinking that I might rank quickly in the monthly ranking, but…

To think that it would happen in less than a day…

“Sensei, would it be possible for you to submit the serialized version today?”

“Huh… Well, it’s fine… but isn’t it too soon?”

“Haste makes waste, right?”

Well, she does have a point…

“Hey, Yuu-chan, what’s the serialized version?”

My mother asked.

“On this website, there are two types of submissions: short stories, where you can only post one episode, and serialized novels, where you can post as many episodes as you want. The serialized version is a novel that takes the short story version and divides it into multiple parts to form a longer story.”

“Oh… I don’t understand the complicated stuff, but don’t overdo it, okay?”

My mother said with concern.

That’s right, I have my studies to focus on, and I also have my ongoing serialization in Digital Master…

I appreciate her concern about whether handling two works simultaneously would be too much for me.

“Thank you, Mom. Don’t worry, I won’t push myself too hard.”

And in cases where the book offer comes with a comic adaptation, it’s often from a company that has its own manga app.

“Oh, and could you come to the editorial department sometime next week?”

“For the book version meeting?”

“Well, it’s not too far off. It’s an important discussion.”

“Related to Digital Master?”

“No, it’s about Bokugokoro.”

Bokugokoro is the abbreviation for my new work, “Dedicate My Heart to You.”

What could this important discussion be about…?

“It’s not about the anime adaptation, right? Surely not.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“…”

“…Huh?”

We looked at each other, puzzled.

“Mei-san? You’re joking, right?”

“Well… um, no. I’m not joking.”

N-No way…

Wait, because… I’ve only posted a short story! An anime adaptation… no way!

(TLN:that escalated quickly)

“Our publishing company group is also strong in anime adaptations, so it was easy to discuss.”

“Well, um… I know that! But… didn’t the talk about the Digital Master anime adaptation come around the time of the third volume or so!?”

“Ahaha, Sensei. The situation was different back then and now, you know?”

The situation… is different…?

“Sensei, you already have a track record with Digital Master. Your books sell like crazy, the anime DVDs sell like crazy, and the movie was a massive hit that made history. And now, as a legendary author, your new work has reached 5th place in the monthly rankings just a few hours after posting a trial short story.”

Now, Mei-san smiles and says.

“So, where do you think this would fail?”

“Well… um…”

TL notes: oh sheet! I was on a vacation/college work guys,sorry for the late post.

I’ll increase frequency soon enough.