Hikari stared at the screen in surprise.
It wasn't a song or a videoit was a document.
You could click to choose whether to download it.
"Sensei really knows how to keep us on our toes!" he said, shaking his head.
Without hesitation, he chose to download it.
The file wasn't largejust over 100 MB.
With the current internet speed, it downloaded almost instantly.
After extracting the file, there were three documents inside.
The three files were titled: Madoka Magica, Anohana, and WorldEnd.
"Wow, sensei really went all out this time!" Hikari couldn't help but feel impressed.
Over 100 MB wasn't too big, but if they were songs, you could probably fit about 10 of them, even with high quality.
Of course, if they were videos, 100 MB would seem a bit small.
"Then again, with videos, it wouldn't be split into three parts," Hikari mused as he clicked on the WorldEnd file.
After all, that was the work that had rekindled his passion for this kind of content.
For him, it was incredibly meaningful!
Although he liked the other two works too, they would have to wait.
WorldEnd held a special place in his heart.
"Eh, it's just images?"
Hikari was even more surprised.
After all, hadn't sensei already posted the gift art in the dynamic updates?
Why were there six more pictures now?
Confused, he decided to stop overthinking and just looked at them.
The content of the six pictures wasn't long, and Hikari finished viewing them in just two minutes.
But after finishing, he couldn't help but rewind and watch them again.
This time, he spent at least two minutes on each picture, and it took him 15 minutes to go through them all.
A smile, like that of a proud aunt, spread across his face.
"This is so sweet!" he thought.
These six images told a short story. It wasn't set in the apocalypse or 500 years ago, but in a distant future where technology was advanced.
The "beasts" had disappeared from the world, and various races lived harmoniously with humans.
The story was about a girl, who looked just like Chtholly, starting her job.
She met a man who looked like William, and they became lovers, eventually embarking on the journey toward marriage.
There was no major plot twistjust a simple, peaceful story about daily life, full of sweet moments that made the heart flutter!
Even though it didn't explicitly say these two were Chtholly and William, Hikari couldn't help but feel incredibly satisfied.
"Wow, sensei's New Year's gift is amazing!" Hikari thought. He hadn't expected such a sweet gift to heal his broken heart.
The sadness from being dumped now seemed so trivial in comparison.
Just watching the two of them find happiness together made him feel so content.
'Is this sensei's magic?' he thought.
Eagerly, he clicked on the files for Madoka Magica and Anohana.
The two stories inside were just as sweet.
'Oh no, I want to fall in love again!' he thought.
Even though he had just been dumped, here he was, longing for a relationship like the one in the stories.
"I really want a relationship like that!" he sighed. "I'm so envious, so envious!!"
"Wait," he suddenly thought. "I bet those silly kids don't know, right?"
Everyone thought sensei's New Year's gift would be full of "slashing" comments, so they were too scared to look.
But who would have thought that this time, sensei would give such a heartfelt gift!
"I need to tell them quickly."
With that in mind, Hikari wrote a comment at the end of the post:
"Guys, sensei's New Year's gift is amazing! My heart feels like it's melting from all the sweetness!!"
Less than 10 seconds after posting, Hikari was surprised to see several replies.
Excitedly, he clicked to check.
But his smile quickly faded.
"Ah, right, you're totally right!"
"Come on, man, it's okay to joke around with your buddies, but don't fool yourself!"
"As we all know, the old thief has no heartdo you really think there won't be any 'knives' this time?"
"Next time, at least come up with a more believable lie, like saying it's a preview for sensei's new work. Maybe some naive folks will believe it."
Clearly, everyone thought Hikari was joking.
But thinking about it, it made sense.
If he hadn't seen it himself and didn't know the outcome, he would have probably slapped anyone who told him sensei's gift wasn't a "knife" but was sweet.
'Well, whether you believe it or not,' Hikari thought, shaking his head.
He didn't bother checking the other comments.
He clicked on the link again to open one of the three short stories downloaded from sensei's gift.
"Damn it, why is it so short!?"
If only it were a bit longer!
He would pay for it if needed, just to get more of it!
It's such a small amount of content, did the mangaka think he wouldn't appreciate it?!
Damn it!!
In fact, it wasn't just Hikari Nohara who clicked on the link.
After all, Akifumi had millions of fans.
Even if just 1% of them clicked, that was over 10,000 people!
Without exception, all of them had the same reaction after reading they couldn't help but start thinking about wanting to fall in love.
Soon enough, just like Hikari, they all rushed to the comments section, excitedly declaring how amazing sensei's New Year gift was!
It was so sweet it was almost overwhelming!
These fans, just like Hikari, were met with the same fate.
However, as more and more people started commenting, things took an unexpected turn.
Although most people still believed that this was just a ruse to trick them into getting hurt again, they couldn't help but admit that the gift was better than expected.
After all, they had done similar things in the pastlike when "Madoka Magica" was first released as an anime or when they tricked their friends into getting hooked on "WorldEnd"
Fans who had read the stories simply found something special and wanted to share it with others.
If people believed it, they considered themselves lucky. If they didn't, well, that was their choice.
By this point, the comments section was filled with fans happily discussing their surprise.
"I didn't expect such a wonderful gift from sensei on the last day of the year! I feel so happy!!"
"At first, I thought it would be a knife, but I can't believe sensei actually gave us a sweet gift this time!!"
"Honestly, I opened it expecting to get hurt, but now I can't stop smiling. That sweet feeling just won't go away!"
"Ugh, this dusty heart of mine that's been locked away for almost 30 years is finally stirred up!!"
"On one hand, sensei is sending us pain, on the other, they're tricking us into falling in love! Such a villain!!"
"Who wants to have a sweet love like that?!"
"My teeth are practically rotting from all the sweetness!!"
"I hope sensei ends every story like this in the future. I love it so much!!"
"I bet sensei's sci-fi comics would be amazing!"
"Why would sci-fi comics be great?"
"Isn't that kind of unrealistic love exactly the point of the genre?"
As more and more fans joined in, naturally, more people clicked on the link, downloaded the story package, and began reading.
It didn't seem fake at all.
The stories felt genuine, and before long, they too found themselves grinning with joy, a lonely heart stirred by the sweetness.
By the next day, the trending searches online had changed to:
#The best New Year gift from the Warrior of Love and Hope
#Wanting a sweet love story!
#How thoughtful was the New Year gift this year?
#The most heartwarming gift for New Year!
#Other senseis should take notes!
The last one was especially confusing to manga artists who had just woken up that morning.
After seeing this trending topic, they were on the verge of breaking down.
"What the hell!"
In the past, a simple New Year illustration could make fans happy for a long time.
Maybe with a little extra gift, they'd be overjoyed.
But now, just a day later, instead of the usual "You're amazing, we'll keep supporting you" cheers, they were getting complaints about how lazy the gift was.
"Is this all you're giving us? After all the support, this is your New Year gift?"
"Look at the Warrior of Love and Hope-sensei gift! Now that's how you treat your fans!"
The compliments were few and far between.
The fans were now demanding moreshort stories, and they had to have romance?
"Idiot!" they muttered. "This is like a week's worth of work! Do you want me to give up on serialization?!"
Naturally, the blame fell squarely on the shoulders of the Warrior of Love and HopeAkifumi.
A New Year's gift was supposed to be symbolic, but now it was expected to be a mini story.
If it wasn't, it was seen as neglectful!
"Damn it! Why are you making this so complicated?!"
Before, a nice illustration would've been enough to satisfy everyone, but now things were out of control.
They were forced to deliver something extra, and who was going to bear the consequences of that?
"Why do we need to work harder just to please everyone?"
That's when Akifumi didn't realize that, in sending such a sweet gift, he was inadvertently harming his colleagues, the other manga artists.
.......
January 1st.
On the first day of the New Year, Weekly Shonen Jump was still being published, just like every year.
After visiting a shrine, Tanaka picked up a copy.
Even though he was a high school boy, he preferred stories with a bit more warmth than the usual action-packed ones.
So without hesitation, he opened up the latest release from the Warrior of Love and Hope, Your Lie in April.
Even though WorldEnd was also a new release, he had already read the light novel, so it could wait for a bit.
In the manga, the characters were speaking:
...........
"How do you think I am?"
"How... am I?"
"Pretty great, huh?"
"Well... it's okay."
As they talked, the girl's arm trembled slightly.
"I've never seen someone get flowers in the first round of preliminaries before."
"And those kids, you don't even know them, right?"
"That means those flowers weren't prepared in advance."
"After hearing your performance, they rushed out to buy flowers for you."
"They'll never forget today."
"That's probably what your performance was like."
After hearing that, the girl smiled, her face glowing like a scene from a movie.
Even thoughhe was just a friend of hers.
................
Tanaka, still reading, sighed in admiration: "I'm really feeling it more and more!"
"I'm so excited to see what happens next!"
"Plus, with the gift from yesterday"
"It looks like sensei is really thinking about switching things up!"
Though he did miss sensei's straightforwardness with the knives, he couldn't help but admit, this new style was also great!
"And"
"Even though music manga is hard to express, sensei's incredible skills let him convey what should be seen, through just listening!"
For Tanaka, who didn't understand music at all, it felt like he could sense the difference in the way the character played, just by reading.
This feeling was amazing!
"Staying at home during the New Year, reading my favorite manga... this is true happiness!"
Little did he know, in the near future, he'd regret his hasty judgment from that day.
After all, the healing he thought he was experiencing was something he had completely misunderstood from the start...
[147] Volume 4 of WorldEnd! Is Steins;Gate Trash? [300 PS]
"Akifumi-sensei, when do you plan to start writing Volume 4 of WorldEnd?"
Hearing the voice on the other end of the call, Akifumi sighed helplessly.
"Machida-san, didn't you say before that if we release too quickly, the exposure might not be enough, which could ultimately impact sales?"
I did say that...
But for someone like you, that logic doesn't apply at all!
Machida Sonoko internally screamed.
The first volume, the second, the thirdeach one outselling the last in its debut month.
This kind of sales trajectory was unheard of in her years as an editor!
Sure, it was nice not having to work overtime during the New Year holidays, but without the explosive sales of WorldEnd, it felt like she was missing out on a hefty bonus.
More importantly, she had been seeing countless readers bombarding Akifumi's social media, asking about Volume 4.
In fact, because this volume was taking longer than usual (one volume per month had been the norm), rumors had even begun spreading that he was experiencing writer's block after finishing Volume 3!
As his editor, how could she ignore this?
With firm conviction, Machida Sonoko declared, "Akifumi-sensei, you're a genius! You can't compare yourself to ordinary people!"
"That might be true for others, but for someone like you, a true genius, sales figures are nothing but a mere formality!"
Today was January 4th.
The corporate workforce was back in action, which was exactly why Machida was making this call in the afternoon.
Because calling about work during the holidays?
That would make her a slave to the system!
Akifumi chuckled, unbothered by her flattery.
"Don't worry, Machida-san. I've already started writing Volume 4."
Machida Sonoko's eyes lit up. "When can we expect the manuscript?"
It wasn't that she doubted him.
She worked with plenty of authors who confidently assured her:
'Don't worry, I'm writing it!'
'Just give it a little more time, I'll send it over soon!'
'It's all under control, you have nothing to worry about!'
Only for her to check in right before the deadline and discover they had barely written a few pages.
But Akifumi was different.
As the best friend of her colleague Minano Matome, Machida knew for a fact that he had never missed a deadline.
In fact, every time his new series began serialization, if the publisher requested a compiled volume, he could immediately provide an entire finished work.
Considering his insane efficiency, Machida had no concerns about him lying.
She was only confirming the timeline to help with scheduling.
"Mid-month," Akifumi replied without hesitation.
Machida's smile grew even wider. "Looks like I worried for nothing."
If he said mid-month, that meant he had already written a significant portion.
Even if she hadn't called, she might have received a manuscript within a few days.
"I was a little too impatient," she admitted to herself.
After some brief small talk, she ended the call.
