In crossover anime, who isn't a childhood friend?

Who could stand this?

Readers who had been looking forward to it felt like they had been tricked and were furious. They took to social media to criticize Kodansha, accusing them of using a "hunger marketing" tactic like "Hachisun-tachi" to create a sense of scarcity when they wanted to read a novel!

Is this some kind of nonsense?! It's not like we can't afford it. Is there a shortage of paper or ink? Would it kill you to print more?!

Kodansha is actually quite wronged.

It's not fair to blame them for being unprepared; they genuinely didn't expect that in less than a day, before they could even react, the 30,000 novels they had put on the market were gone in an instant, leaving them no time to prepare stock.

It should be noted that, as is customary, the initial print run of novels that won the Rampo Prize was 10,000 copies.

Those favored by the judges might get an extra 5,000 copies at most, and that would be the limit.

Even so, most of them have to be sold intermittently for about a week.

Then, based on the specific sales data and the needs of each bookstore, decide how many more copies to print.

From a business perspective, Kodansha's actions are certainly not problematic, given that there are far too many cases where a product is critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful.

If too many novels are printed at once and they don't sell, that would be a tragedy.

Not to mention warehousing and printing costs, if too much stockpiles and offline bookstores can't sell it, the books will have to be returned to the printing plant for centralized destruction, which is another extra expense.

Therefore, the industry's approach is to proceed steadily and gradually, and only increase printing volume as sales improve.

But this time, the problem lies precisely in this conservatism.

However, the novel enthusiasts, whose enthusiasm was not satisfied, also spontaneously promoted Yuan Qianye and his novels from another perspective.

Television reporters even went to film the frenzy for buying the book "The Astrological Murder Mystery" in major bookstores, further expanding its influence.

This is what is known as the troubles of happiness.

Kodansha reacted quickly, first by arranging for several people to film a video of them bowing and apologizing for the private incident.

At the same time, they privately contacted a printing factory to urgently start reprinting.

Kodansha originally planned to reprint a conservative number of novels, at 200,000 copies.

However, after the online sales platform launched a pre-sale with no refunds, the number of people who made reservations and paid within just two hours reached 80,000, and it continues to increase over time, soon heading straight for 100,000.

So they made an emergency adjustment, doubling the number of copies to 400,000!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, Kodansha was laughing so hard they couldn't stop.

Yuan Qianye woke up in the morning, had dinner with her family, and watched Rikka and Toka leave for school one after another.

After calmly clearing the dishes from the table, he went upstairs to change his clothes.

Since the novel officially went on sale yesterday, his name has appeared on the trending topics of major social media platforms.

It was even more exaggerated than when he won the Jade Dragon Flag championship.

He was in PE class yesterday afternoon, and before school was even over, the area outside the school gate was already crowded with reporters from various tabloids who wanted to interview him.

While Kodansha's promotional efforts played a role, the majority of the success was due to the natural spread of word-of-mouth among the public.

The initial print run of 30,000 copies was met with urging from readers who missed out that Kodansha should quickly reprint it.

Most readers who bought the book were captivated by its ingenious puzzles and intricate plots after finishing it.

Following the judges of the Rampo Award, they spontaneously discussed and praised the novel's brilliance online.

Because of the high level of attention Yuan Qianye has been getting lately, he can be recognized and approached by people on the street.

Once or twice is fine; he can still maintain his patience.

But if it happens too often, it really will affect his normal life.

So he simply asked the school for leave and stayed home to have some peace and quiet until the hype died down.

Given his academic performance and personal circumstances, the school naturally gave him the green light.

Let alone taking a short leave, even if he doesn't come to school for the rest of the time, or even misses the graduation exam, Chuanlan Middle School will still rush to give him a graduation certificate from their own school.

There's really no way to avoid going to the baby's place.

For a second-year middle school student to achieve what Minamoto Chiyo has reached, it's impossible to say that there will be no one like him in the future, but it's certain that there's no one like him in the history of Japan.

in the afternoon.

Miss Kudo drove to the Minamoto residence and picked up Minamoto Chiya to head to the banquet.

This was something he had agreed to when he received a call from the Japanese Writers' Mystery Association.

On the way, we passed an intersection and encountered a red light that lasted for more than ninety seconds.

Taking advantage of this moment, Ms. Kudo, who was in a very good mood with a smile on her face, looked towards the passenger seat and found that her new boss was staring out the window with a blank expression.

His expression was so calm that it made her feel something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Qianye? Your novel has not only been recognized by professional judges, but readers also love it. Forty more copies have been urgently printed. Such a happy thing, why do you seem a little less enthusiastic?"

Over the past few days of collaboration, Ms. Kudo and Ms. Minamoto Chiya have become increasingly familiar with each other, and their relationship has become more and more harmonious. She has even started to call him by his first name, showing great intimacy.

Of course, in the presence of outsiders, she still did not forget her responsibilities and addressed him as "Teacher Yuan" just like everyone else. This is how the leader's status was elevated by his subordinates.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Qianye smiled and casually made up an excuse that he hadn't slept well these past few days because he was too excited.

Ms. Kudo exclaimed in surprise, "I see," and then began to explain the various arrangements for the banquet that would follow.

Yuan Qianye listened silently, occasionally nodding slightly in agreement.

It's not appropriate to say outright what Miss Kudo just noticed about his situation.

But there wasn't any complicated reason; it was simply because of Shihua.

She is becoming increasingly aware of that sense of alienation from herself.

If I see her cooking and want to help, she will refuse very firmly.

They still wash my clothes, but they don't fold them afterward. Now that task has fallen to Rikka.

Even when moving around normally in the living room, she now deliberately keeps her distance from him. When they pass each other, she turns her shoulder and walks sideways to avoid physical contact.

Although it was just a very small movement, Gen Chiya did notice it.

Am I some kind of untouchable bacteria or virus?

Yuan Qianye was quite depressed, and at the same time, he thought that things couldn't go on like this. That night, he knocked on the door, wanting to have a proper talk with Toka about what happened between them.

He thought that even if he had to lie, he would at least temporarily bring her back to her previous normal state.

But the result was that when Toka heard the knocking, she said to wait a moment and came out of her room instead of inviting him in. The two of them just stood there in the hallway, looking at each other and talking.

Midway through, Rikka heard the two voices and peeked out to check.

In the end, they naturally didn't reach a conclusion.

Yuan Qianye is currently quite distressed.

Even though he could see from God's perspective that Shihua's lips were slightly upturned and her eyes held a different kind of emotion as she read her novel.

He was 90% certain that Shika didn't dislike him at all; in fact, she definitely liked him and had a lot of affection for him.

So the key issue, it turns out, lies in the family relationship between sworn siblings.

Ugh...so worrying.

"Qianye, I can help you postpone the schedule for tomorrow and the day after. After all, you are a student, and this identity is very useful. Everyone will understand."

Miss Kudo caught a glimpse of Chiya Minamoto sighing softly out of the corner of her eye. She assumed that his hectic schedule had made him feel tired, so she kindly offered some advice.

Yuan Qianye shook her head: "It's alright, Miyoko-nee. Let's just leave things as they are."

He's the kind of person who likes to clear his schedule as soon as possible once he has something planned out, otherwise he doesn't know why he always feels like there's something he hasn't done yet, and he gets a slight sense of anxiety.

At the banquet organized by the Neon Mystery Association that afternoon, Gen Chiya met quite a few industry veterans and bigwigs.

I also exchanged business cards with quite a few journalists and self-media workers.

With Miss Kudo by her side, Chiya followed all the rules and regulations.

He has gradually become accustomed to business socializing and knows how to respond to different people.

Knowing he was just a newcomer, he was very humble, and made many good connections over drinks.

All in all, everything went smoothly.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

One o'clock in the morning.

Four Palaces Villa.

Leaning against the headboard, Hayasaka Aihe tapped the astrological murder magic book in her hand and let out a long sigh of relief.

It was already late at night, but the maid, who had been busy all day, was not sleepy at all.

She regretted it a little; she should have saved such a wonderful novel for her day off.

Right now, her mind is filled with the details of the novel, she's a little excited, and she can't sleep at all.

The maid didn't usually read novels, but at this moment she felt genuinely glad that she had chosen to buy this book.

Now, after reading it, I also have a strange urge to confide in and discuss it with Yuan Qianye...

He's really amazing.

She glanced at the time; it was already quite late, and everyone should be asleep by now. It wouldn't be appropriate to disturb them at this hour.

But looking at his profile picture on my phone, the longing in my heart ultimately overcame the conservative nature of daily etiquette.

[Hayasaka Ai: I just finished reading your novel, it's really amazing and wonderful.]

She sent the message and stared at it quietly for a while, but it remained unread on the other end.

This was a situation she had anticipated, but when it actually happened, she was still slightly disappointed.

She put down her phone and decided to go to the restroom.

And then, at that very moment, her phone suddenly emitted a boosting sound.

Hayasaka Ai picked up her phone almost instantly and turned on the screen.

[Yuan Qianye: ?]