They don't actually think I like them, do they?

Most people found it outrageous; how could reading a novel lead to such obsession? Couldn't the world of anime and manga go somewhere else to indulge in its madness?

However, some curious people, who never read light novels, still went to the bookstore to buy one to read.

Light novels, a niche genre that had been dormant for many years, have now broken into the mainstream!

043. Explosive sales! (3K)

Many netizens who read "How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend" for the first time felt as if they had discovered a whole new world!

For the first time, they learned that there were novels with three female protagonists, that there was such a thing as a tsundere (a character archetype), that aloof upperclassmen were so appealing, and that being a happy otaku was such a blissful thing...

Wow, light novels are so good!

Holy crap, novels can be written like this?!

Many people suddenly find that the "classics" they have in their hands suddenly don't seem so appealing anymore!

Novels that don't require much brainpower but genuinely bring joy are a godsend for many students.

"Damn it, there are novels like this?! Why didn't you recommend them to me sooner?!"

"This novel is so addictive, I can't stop reading!"

"I'll say it again, it's utterly shameful for you people to call your wives 'wife'!"

Within just one week of its release, "Passerby" saw a surge in online discussions about wives, and the first volume alone sold 120,000 copies in its first week.

Even on the entire physical book market, this is quite explosive.

JC Staff never expected that "Mob" would sell so well, because the light novel market is only so big, so they printed a relatively conservative number of copies.

This resulted in "Passerby" selling out in less than a week!

During this period, in bookstores in almost every city in China, you could see people craning their necks to ask questions in front of the counter.

"Sister, is there still any 'Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend'?"

"Sister, has the 'Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend' arrived yet?!"

And often, the response people get is – sold out, come back another day!

The physical copy of "The Passerby" instantly became a highly sought-after commodity online, with many people driving the price up to two or three hundred yuan per copy. People were willing to spend exorbitant sums to buy it!

This is not only because of the high appeal of the book "Passerby", but also because the book has unknowingly become a favorite among students.

The influence of "essential reading for students" is quite terrifying. In junior and senior high schools, almost everyone knows "The Passerby". The book is often passed around by the whole class.

in case,

As a student, owning a copy of "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend" means you'll be at the forefront of internet trends!

You will be able to become the knowledgeable guy in class, and under the admiring gazes of countless girls, you can talk endlessly about the rest of the story.

You will be the object of your classmates' flattery; everyone will want to borrow your book, and the queue has already stretched to a month in advance.

Therefore, owning a copy of "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend" is a symbol of status and prestige, which is even more useful than the buff of having dark skin. It's like directly obtaining priority access to the school!

Because of the unexpected popularity of "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend", the JC editorial department has been extremely busy these past few days.

The president astutely realized that this might be the only chance for light novels to officially enter the public eye, so he personally stepped in and mobilized the entire company to use all its resources to promote "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend" and its author, Coffee Sauce!

JC's editorial department invited the best illustrators in Beijing to create a large number of illustrations for "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend" under the supervision of the author, Coffee Sauce.

Editor-in-Chief Hu Yi made the direct decision to reduce the printing and sales of other light novels and to reprint "Passerby" in batches on a large scale, and to open a new round of pre-orders online.

JC's series of actions naturally aroused dissatisfaction among many veteran authors.

Gong Ye, the top author of last year's Best Author Award, has been extremely depressed these past few days.

This year, he released his new work, "The Tragedy of War," which is completely consistent with the theme of last year's Gold Award-winning work, "Black Dragon," and even has many similar settings.

Although there's a suspicion of reskinning, it doesn't matter. Light novel readers love this kind of thing anyway, and no matter how much reskinning it is, they'll still happily spend their money on it.

Therefore, Gong Ye is very confident about this. With his fame and popularity, it is not a problem for him to win the gold medal again this year!

However, unexpectedly, in the last month before the deadline for submissions to the Niu Award, this book, "The Passionate Girlfriend," emerged!

The featured spot that was originally mine was taken by this author called Coffee Sauce.

All the illustrations that were originally hers were given to "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend," and the posters at the entrance of the editorial department were replaced with his books.

Now, even the printing and sale of novels are subject to **!

Is there still law?! Is there still law?!

This has caused Gong Ye to lose his mood for writing these past few days. He can't stand the thought of a new author named Coffee constantly shoving nonsense at him!

He insisted on seeing what this tattered book was all about!

The weekend was sunny.

Gong Ye put on her clothes and a mask, and went to a nearby bookstore.

The reason for disguising himself was mainly because he was worried about being recognized. If he were photographed buying "Passerby" to read, it would be extremely embarrassing.

According to JC Publishing's announcement, the third reprint of "Passerby" was released to bookstores nationwide today.

Gong Ye made a point of arriving a little earlier, at 8:30 in the morning.

He was shocked by the scene before him as soon as he arrived at the bookstore.

The queue stretched from the bookstore all the way to the main road.

Miyano wasn't worried about the stock selling out by the time it was her turn, since the print run was larger than the number of pre-orders, and even if two more days passed, there would probably still be stock available.

Despite the sweltering September heat, Miyano stood in line for over an hour. As she approached the counter, she heard excited voices from the students in front of her.

"Sister, give me three copies of 'Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend,' three of each volume!"

"Sister, sister, I want five copies of 'Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend'!"

No, you guys are here to buy goods?!

Gong Ye was horrified to discover that many of the people who came to buy were buying basket after basket.

His heart leaped into his throat, his eyes fixed on each person leaving the counter.

Finally, when it was Gong Ye's turn, he excitedly ran to the counter and was told by the receptionist.

Sold out.

TMD!

Gong Ye was devastated, as were the large group of people waiting in line behind her.

Everyone had no choice but to leave dejectedly. As they left, Gong Ye could still hear some people around him muttering to themselves.

"Hmph! It's just a tattered book. If it's gone, it's gone. I didn't even want to read it anyway!"

"I don't believe it's as exaggerated as they say. It's just a novel, how good can it be?"

"Tch! Whatever, I'm still alive even if I didn't buy any."

Just as everyone reached the door, they suddenly saw a little boy sitting at the bookstore entrance, holding a newly bought copy of "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend" and starting to read it.

The boy, holding the book, would laugh like an idiot one moment, then laugh slyly and shamelessly the next, and then laugh in a way that was both lewd and shameless.

"Hehehe... Eriri... Hehehe... Eriri......"

The boy smiled sheepishly.

"My wife is so cute!"

This move immediately broke down the defenses of those who had just failed to buy the book.

Damn it, if you buy a book, go home and read it! Are you reading your mother's epitaph here?!

Who exactly is Eriri, the girl you all keep talking about? Why do you call a fictional character your wife? Is she really that good-looking?!

The more the group thought about it, the angrier and more aggrieved they became. Finally, they couldn't take it anymore and went up and beat him up. Their reason was that his expression was too lewd in public.

The boy hugged the book and ran home crying.

Just as Gong Ye was feeling melancholy, a reader at the scene recognized him.

"Miyaha-sama?"

Gong Ye looked up in confusion; it was a male reader.

The male reader exclaimed excitedly, "It really is you! Wow!"

"Hello." Since she had been recognized, Gong Ye had no choice but to take off her mask and greet her.

"What are you doing here, Miyano-san? Are you here to buy 'Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend' too?"

"No, no!" Miyaba quickly denied.

The male reader scratched his head and said with a smile,

"Oh, it's alright then. I was just saying, if Miyano-sensei couldn't buy it, I just bought ten copies..."

Gong Ye immediately grasped the male reader's hand and said seriously,

"Please give me one."

......

Back home, Miyako immediately closed the bedroom door, turned on the desk lamp, and opened the book "How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend" on the table.

Time ticked by, and in the quiet room, the only sounds were the occasional rustling of pages turning and laughter that one tried to suppress but could not control.

As the last page fell, Miyano, who had been extremely excited, felt utterly terrible after stepping out of the world outside the book.

Even when the featured spot was taken and the novel's print run was reduced, Miyaha had never been this frustrated!

This book is so innovative!

The novel subject matter, the novel writing style, and the novel character design bring unexpected surprises at every turn.

It contains many bizarre and wonderful ideas, some of which seem out of place for writers of this era!

No wonder it's so incredibly popular!

Compared to this light novel, all other light novels are simply outclassed!

Miyano's distress stemmed from the realization that he had lost completely.

While new writers are already producing groundbreaking works, he's still living off his past achievements! He's just reskinning "Black Dragon" with similar settings and a similar worldview to keep making money!

Have to admit,

In the early days, so many people criticized "Passerby" as an insult to light novels.

What truly ruined Chinese light novels were precisely these "top authors" who stagnated, refused to innovate, and used the same formula while consuming a large amount of resources!

Miyano, increasingly annoyed, stared at the manuscript on her computer screen.

Once upon a time, he was also a writer with lofty ambitions, dreaming of creating unparalleled masterpieces.

In the end, however, he succumbed to the lure of money and became trapped in his comfort zone.

Gong Ye sighed, and dejectedly shut down his computer, then called his editor.

"Huo Mao-sensei? Could you please give me a set of volumes two, three, and four of 'Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend'? I can't wait any longer, I need to see it right now!"

044. Fang Yumeng, the glutton (3K)

Even Lin Han himself did not expect that the success of "Saekano: The Boring Girlfriend" would come so quickly.

It became an overnight sensation across the entire internet.

As a result, Lin Han made a fortune. What was originally just a side job of writing novels turned into a huge financial burden for him.

As Lin Han's financial resources grew, he gradually sensed that he was not far from breaking away from the company and going solo.

Before that, we still need to expedite the completion of the performance-based agreement.

Therefore, Lin Han plans to accelerate the creation of music and release his third album as soon as possible.

However, there was another matter that troubled Lin Han.

Because of the huge success of "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend", more and more people online are paying attention to this new writer named "Coffee Sauce".