— — — — — —
The moment he finished typing, he muted the group chat.
Then he lay back on the sofa, hands tucked behind his head, and muttered to himself,
"Well, now I just have to look forward to tomorrow. I'm not about to get labeled the greatest con artist of the 21st century… right?"
After a moment's thought, he picked up his phone again and messaged Kawasaki, "Did you read the first volume of Your Lie in April yet?"
"I heard the second volume comes out tomorrow. Want to go buy it together?"
Above those two messages were five or six others— All left on read.
Oikawa had assumed she wouldn't reply this time either. The past couple of days, while he'd been tutoring her, Kawasaki had kept a cold expression, her clothes wrapped tightly around her, like she was wearing her guard on the outside.
But just a few seconds later, a reply came. "Yeah, let's go together. I want to read the second volume too."
Oikawa snapped his fingers.
Mission accomplished. They'd buy it together tomorrow, and then read it side by side. He was definitely going to see whether Kawasaki would start crying.
Then they would end up cursing the author together, even as their relationship gradually warmed.
A crying girl—and Oikawa, the so-called hero—offering her warmth when she needed it most.
...
..
Inside Dengeki Bunko editorial department—
Ayame Kagurazaka frowned deeply as she read through the negative comments on social media.
Some of the usernames criticizing the novel looked very familiar.
A dark suspicion crept into her mind.
After thinking it over for a long time, she finally walked over to one of the chief editors and asked,
"Editor Kimura… Mizukagami Kito is one of your authors, isn't he?"
Mizukagami Kito. The blogger with 290,000 followers on Twitter. Also a top-tier author under Dengeki Bunko.
On Twitter, he had criticized Your Lie in April more than once.
"Ah… yes, Kito-sensei is one of my authors."
Seeing Kagurazaka approach, Kimura looked a bit awkward. He clearly knew why she was here.
"Editor Kagurazaka, you manage authors too. You understand how difficult this is."
"Especially with someone like Kito-sensei. My words don't carry much weight with him. I've tried to persuade him… but it hasn't done much."
Kagurazaka's frown deepened.
Hesitating slightly, she asked, "Editor Kimura, if I remember correctly… Kito isn't exactly young, right?"
Kimura nodded. "Yeah, he's already in his forties. That might be part of why he's so hostile toward Oikawa-sensei."
No matter the industry, jealousy toward talent was nothing new.
A man who had spent his entire life writing light novels, only reaching the top tier in his forties… it was perfectly natural for him to feel envy toward a seventeen-year-old high schooler who shot to fame with a single book.
Most authors just didn't make it so obvious.
Kagurazaka paused, then asked another question. "Editor Kimura, Kito-sensei's previous editor… if I recall correctly, wasn't it the editor-in-chief himself?"
"That's right. When I transferred here a few years ago, the editor-in-chief Miki handed him over to me. I've always been grateful for that."
Kagurazaka fell into thought. After a brief exchange, she returned to her desk.
Why?
She couldn't understand why the editor-in-chief would do something like that.
Wasn't this harming Dengeki Bunko's own interests?
Lately, so many bloggers had suddenly appeared, all attacking Your Lie in April. She had assumed it was rival publishers trying to take advantage of the situation.
But she never expected the source to be from within Dengeki itself.
She wanted to go ask the editor-in-chief directly.
But after hesitating for a long time, she gave up.
Even if she asked… what would it change?
"…Could it be because of that tweet?"
She suddenly recalled the tweet where Oikawa had recommended a novel from Fujikawa Bunko.
The wave of online attacks seemed to have started right after that.
"Do they think Oikawa-kun is planning to jump ship to Fujikawa?"
The thought drained all the strength from her body.
Dengeki no longer felt like the same place she once believed in.
"Or is it because they still don't want to give up the profits from the second volume of Your Lie in April?"
"No, no.... If they truly wanted to crush Oikawa-kun completely, they would've already exposed the fact that it's a tragedy."
Kagurazaka still held onto a sliver of hope—
Hope for Dengeki Bunko.
Hope for Editor-in-Chief Kazuma Miki.
…
..
10 PM—
Several posts suddenly shot to the top of trending charts across major social media platforms.
#The Massive Lie—Your Lie in April Is Actually a Tragedy?#
#Unbelievable—The Reason Kaori Miyazono Didn't Show Up for the Competition Is Because She Has a Terminal Illness!#
#It Was All a Scam From the Start—The Author Has Been Fooling Readers Like Idiots, He Doesn't Deserve to Be a Writer#
#Healing story? More like emotional destruction!#
In less than an hour, the news spread to every light novel forum and fan community.
Then—
The readers exploded.
"Huh?"
"?????"
"No way. How could Your Lie in April be depressing? The first volume was so sweet. Are you telling me the second volume is going to stab us?"
"Damn it, I don't believe this. If it really is a tragedy, I'm going to stab this damn author."
"Count me in. I'll personally go give him a stab too."
"This has to be rival publishers smearing it, right? There's no way it's a depressing story. The author promised a happy ending."
"But… the rumors kind of make sense. Like why Kaori didn't show up for the competition…"
"No way. I still don't buy it. I'm in the same group as Oikawa-Sensei, I'll ask him myself."
...
..
Inside Dengeki Bunko—
The lights in the editor-in-chief's office were still on.
Kazuma Miki stared at the flood of comments online, his expression unreadable.
And yes, these rumors had been released by him.
He set his phone down and let out a long breath. "Better to betray than be betrayed."
"If you won't work for me, if you can't bring value to Dengeki… and you're even thinking about going to another publisher…"
"Then I can only destroy you."
"It's just a shame. Such a talented kid."
"Sigh~ Why is it that geniuses like you always have to be so arrogant? Wouldn't it be better to just quietly write books and make money? Why insist on doing something so foolish?"
"Fortunately, the initial print run was only seventy thousand copies. The losses won't be too severe."
Miki sighed, a trace of regret in his voice.
After a moment, he picked up his phone again.
"Release some solid proof that Your Lie in April is a tragedy." He spoke calmly, as if making an ordinary business decision.
.
.
.