---
The room had gone completely still.
Haruki could hear his own breathing—slow, shallow. His shoulders tensed without him realizing it.
Kotone, sitting beside him, was just as tense. She might only be assisting with the artwork, but at this moment, her heart was pounding too.
Sora picked up the phone, unlocked the screen, and stared quietly at the message.
She didn't say a word.
"...So? What's the result?" Kotone asked, her voice low and cautious.
"It's... better than last week's ranking. The plot just hit a major turning point, so I figured we'd at least break into the top ten," Haruki said, trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
But Sora still didn't speak.
"Don't tell me… we dropped lower than eleventh?" Kotone asked, brows furrowing.
If that were true, things could get difficult. No matter how strong the content was, the manga world didn't run on logic alone. If readers didn't click with something, you couldn't force them to.
Kotone still believed in the strength of Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance. The writing, the pacing, the emotional depth—it was all there. But the setting was a gamble.
A story grounded in Meiji-era Japan, heavy with historical elements... It wasn't common in mainstream manga. Even if the editorial team was behind it, that didn't mean readers would be.
And there was precedent. Ten years ago, a beloved romance series had tried to shake up its narrative with an unconventional twist. The supporting characters who lost out in love got paired off in a way that alienated the fanbase. Despite the creator and editor thinking it was fine, the backlash was swift—and fatal. The series never recovered.
Kotone feared something similar could happen here. That no matter how good Kenshin was, the unfamiliar setting could sink it.
Haruki's thoughts were spiraling too.
Had they really dropped in ranking?
That would be brutal. Just last week, he'd said he wanted to reach the top. Would he really get slapped down that fast?
If they came in lower than eleventh again... what then? Could he frame it as a slow climb? Could he still make good on that bold claim?
He shook his head, clearing the doubts.
"Just say it, Sora. I can take it," he said, drawing in a deep breath.
Sora looked at her phone one last time, then up at both of them.
"Fourth," she said plainly.
Kotone blinked. "Tenth?"
Her worried expression started to ease.
"That's not bad at all—it's still better than last week."
"Not tenth." Sora smiled faintly. "Fourth."
She raised four fingers, then turned her phone around so they could see the message.
The text was simple.
---
The message at the top of the screen read:
*Reader Voting Results – Issue #721 of Sora*
1st place – Demon Realm – 34,626 votes
2nd place – Hidden Girl – 33,977 votes
3rd place – Celestial Book – 28,403 votes
4th place – Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance – 14,703 votes
5th place – Yokai Academy – 8,413 votes
…
20th place – My Huskie become Perfect – 761 votes
For readers of Sora, voting was voluntary, and most readers supported multiple titles. Out of the 300,000-plus readers who bought the issue, only around 40,000 to 50,000 typically logged into the magazine's website to vote.
"Fourth place? And more than ten thousand votes…" Kotone's voice was hesitant, even a little stunned.
Unlike Haruki, who had only joined Kurokawa Publishing a few months ago, Kotone understood exactly what this meant.
It wasn't just about landing in the top five. The real shock was breaking the ten-thousand-vote threshold.
Among serialized works in Sora, only a select few creators could maintain that level of consistent reader engagement. In Osaka's manga scene, those who reached it were considered the elite—at the top of their field.
Haruki exhaled deeply, finally able to breathe now that the results were out. He didn't have to awkwardly spin his "I'll reach the top" talk into some ironic reverse journey.
But as his eyes drifted back to the rankings, he sighed again.
"Fourth place, huh…"
There was still a gap—over 20,000 votes between him and first. It was... daunting.
"Why do you sound disappointed?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow.
Truthfully, she was still reeling.
For her, it was never just about the quality of Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance—it was whether a historical narrative like this would resonate with today's readers.
Some might argue that the story should come first, regardless of setting. But imagine if a classic samurai tale—one featuring a hero like Kenshin—was suddenly reimagined with all the characters relocated to a completely different era or place. Would it still resonate the same way with the audience?
Probably not.
But if readers did accept it… then Sora was confident: Remembrance would become a hit.
And yet—even she didn't expect this.
four chapters in. Only four chapters. And Remembrance had leapt from eleventh to fourth.
More than ten thousand people voted for it.
That wasn't just strong—it was unprecedented.
Across all the manga serialized not just in Sora, but also in its sister magazine Inkbolt Series and even rival publishers throughout the Osaka region, the number of works breaking 10,000 votes could be counted on one hand.
Before this, only two series had ever reached that tier: Demon Realm and Celestial Book, both long-running juggernauts with years of fanbase buildup. The authors were legends at Kurokawa, widely regarded as the magazine's two central pillars. They got top billing, the best marketing slots, and priority for merchandise and spin-offs.
And then came Hidden Girl, a breakout debut just last issue by none other than Yuna Takahashi. Its very first chapter nearly dethroned Demon Realm, which had held the top spot for over a year. Everyone in the editorial department had been stunned by how sharply Hidden Girl had surged, overtaking Celestial Book with ease.
But what Sora saw now shocked her even more.
The fourth chapter of Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance had done the impossible—amassing more than ten thousand votes, despite Haruki being virtually unknown until just months ago.
He didn't have seven years of fandom behind him like Yuna. He wasn't a celebrity author.
He had nothing but The Garden of Words, a quiet, modestly performing drama, and this—this explosive new hit.
To Sora, that made his accomplishment even more remarkable.
She could already picture the stunned expressions on the faces of the other editors once they saw these numbers.
And as she looked at Haruki, remembering what he had boldly declared just a week ago—"I'm going to reach the top"—she realized something:
It didn't sound so far-fetched anymore.
Watching his conflicted expression—part awe, part dissatisfaction—she thought to herself:
Genius? No... Monster might be more accurate.
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