All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends

Chapter 111: The Publication Day of "Saekano"

Sato Kazuma.

An otaku.

Normally, when he's not playing games, he's either reading light novels or watching anime.

He is the type of person who can seriously say:

"Yesterday, my team and I went through a hard adventure, overcoming dangerous challenges, and finally accomplished a great feat."

This could be used to describe the boss from the game we fought together yesterday.

Being able to get into Toyogasaki High School was definitely pure luck.

Picking random answers, but just right enough to pass.

Speaking of which, this guy Sato Kazuma has been very lucky since he was young.

He has never lost at rock-paper-scissors.

Today, the online game Sato Kazuma plays is undergoing maintenance and updates.

So, with nothing else to do, he casually reopened the light novel website "Let's Become a Novelist!" after a long time.

He skimmed through the rankings a bit.

"Honestly, can these authors just die already?"

On the rankings, from bottom to top:

"The Legend of the Phantom Blade", "Jujutsu Kaisen"...

He looked at them all.

They were all battle stories, fantasy.

Moreover, they were either the most famous works in the light novel industry, like Muramasa Senju-sensei's "The Legend of the Phantom Blade," or manga works that had been expanded into light novels, like "Jujutsu Kaisen."

Clearly, the industry is in trouble, and everyone is struggling to survive.

For this reason, Sato Kazuma had not visited the light novel website for a long time.

When he was about to close the website, the top-ranked work immediately caught his eye.

"The Youth of a Lonely Boy Will Not Dream of a Passerby Heroine."

It was a romance-comedy novel.

This was what made Sato Kazuma pay attention.

Even though he had previously criticized the industry as being on the brink of death, he couldn't do anything about it—the market currently favors battle stories, fantasy, and isekai.

This is an undeniable fact.

In this context, a romcom still managed to carve out its own niche to stand out.

Sato Kazuma couldn't wait and clicked on the page to read.

"Yukimi Azuma? This author's name is so similar to my friend's! Just one character different, almost the same pronunciation."

When he saw the author's name, Sato Kazuma froze for a moment.

But soon, he didn't care.

Just a casual thought, then he moved on.

There's no way that guy, the riajuu, could be the author of this light novel.

Then later.

"Holy Shit, looks like it really is that guy!"

Sato Kazuma held his head.

Why was he so sure?

Because he saw his own name in the novel.

The protagonist's best friend.

This time, he didn't even bother changing the name and used the original one directly.

It immediately made Sato Kazuma stunned.

After reading the posted content, Sato Kazuma was left in a daze.

After finishing reading, his first feeling was extreme jealousy.

"Sure enough, the top student in school writes really well."

As a seasoned otaku, Sato Kazuma had also tried writing light novels.

The result... don't ever bring it up again...

That's why he understood just how good "Yukimi Azuma" is work was.

With mixed emotions, Sato Kazuma opened his YouTube and Twitter accounts.

As an otaku, Sato Kazuma often livestreams gaming on YouTube.

On Twitter, he runs game and light novel reviews.

Both accounts combined have over a million followers.

On his accounts, Sato Kazuma started tweeting.

[Advocating of Gender Equality:

Book recommendation, not an advertisement, enjoy freely.

By the way, before introducing the book, I want to say to other light novel authors: Stop being stupid and copying each other, dominating the rankings with nearly identical stories all the time, just die already!

Main content: 10/10, 120% recommendation, "The Youth of a Lonely Boy Will Not Dream of a Passerby Heroine." by Yukimi Azuma-sensei.

Link here: (pa.treon.com/curse_heian_chef).

Reason for recommendation: Honestly, you'll understand once you read it, and if anyone doesn't like this book, all I can say is: "Go ahead and enjoy your brain-dead isekai harem stories"]

A tweet as sharp as this one is rarely posted even by bloggers who specialize in attracting attention.

But it's true, compared to ordinary tweets that are nothing special.

A sharp way of speaking like this easily piques people's curiosity.

There are quite a few fans of Sato Kazuma.

With the thought: "This guy is definitely getting paid for advertising," they clicked on the link.

Preparing to look at a few pages and then return to scold Sato Kazuma thoroughly.

However, almost no one came back.

"Saekano" was posted on the web light novel and reached the top of the rankings in just one day.

Apart from being introduced by many bloggers.

The quality of the book itself left people with nothing to say.

Especially in the context of an industry flooded with isekai and fantasy novels in the past few years.

Where readers have started to feel tired of these genres.

Before the real promotion campaign even started, the book's popularity had already reached its peak.

Izumi Sagiri's work was completed very quickly.

Within just a few days, all the beautiful illustrations were sent.

Yukima Azuma took a look.

The quality exceeded expectations.

After sending the illustrations, there was no further response.

Perhaps they had already fallen into a deep sleep.

These illustrations were definitely drawn with full effort, without rest.

The love the girl had for the work was clearly visible in every stroke.

Yukima Azuma packed up the illustrations and went to Laplace.

The seventh floor of the Laplace building.

Currently, this is the office of Laplace Bunko.

It was previously Dengeki Bunko, and after the name change, the original team still works here.

Machida Sonoko had also resigned from Fujikawa and moved here.

Upon meeting, Machida Sonoko couldn't hold back and immediately asked:

"How about the illustrator, have you found one?"

"There will be a storm coming soon, it will affect distribution, if we hesitate any longer, we'll have to wait until July to release it."

"By then, the current hype online will be wasted, we need to act fast!"

Yukima Azuma said nothing, just handed the materials to Machida Sonoko.

Machida Sonoko took them, opened them up.

Immediately, she was overwhelmed by the exquisitely surreal illustrations.

She widened her eyes, staring at Yukima Azuma.

She couldn't understand at all.

Yukima Azuma, a rookie in the light novel industry, had no connections.

How could she find such a talented artist in such a short time?

This isn't something that can be solved just with money.

She took an illustration out of the file.

Machida Sonoko looked at the bottom right corner where the signature was.

When she saw the name Eromanga-sensei, she no longer wanted to ask anything.

This is ridiculous.

Nevertheless, Machida Sonoko only wanted to say the more ridiculous, the better.

She had gambled her whole career when she moved here.

Yukima Azuma was even more of a monster that ordinary people could not understand.

She felt even more excited.

"Everything's ready, then let's start the marketing campaign immediately, we'll officially release it this Saturday."

"With the current hype online and Eromanga-sensei's fanbase."

"It will definitely succeed, it must succeed! Hey, kid, what's the first print run, you decide."

"My plan is at least 500,000 copies!"

Machida Sonoko said excitedly.

A rookie and a new work, a first print run of 500,000 copies.

Saying it like this, there will definitely be people thinking this editor is crazy.

Usually, for a new work from a rookie, if it can print 10,000 copies in the first run, it's considered a success.

And 500,000 copies.

Currently, the record for first-day sales in the light novel industry is nearly that.

And this record was set by a work that had accumulated countless fans, a work that had gone through multiple volumes.

After hearing Machida Sonoko's words, Yukima Azuma thought for a moment.

Then gave his response.

"For the first print... one million copies."

Machida Sonoko, in her excitement, froze for a moment, staring at Yukima Azuma.

Then said nothing and continued with her work.

The office, which was previously quiet, immediately became busy.

It was once Dengeki Bunko, now Laplace Bunko.

This is a third-tier publisher that has been in the industry for many years.

Its revenue is always neither high nor low.

Although it's not bankrupt, it really doesn't have much fame.

The people still working at this publishing house.

Without mentioning anything else, at least they have a deep attachment to the publisher.

When it was acquired by Laplace Corporation and directly renamed.

The editors of the publishing house felt a sense of melancholy.

Although the higher-ups announced there would be no staff cuts, just a change of some positions.

It was impossible to avoid the feeling of sadness.

Working in a publishing house, perhaps it's due to a love for literature.

All editors around the world hope their publishing house can publish an extremely successful work.

To stand out in the industry.

Only in this way can they attract better authors.

However, the editors of Dengeki Bunko had never seen their hope become a reality.

Until now, the name of the publishing house no longer existed.

However, this feeling of disappointment.

When they saw the next work that would be accepted, it quickly disappeared.

Each person who read the manuscript of Saekano.

Felt their hearts beat faster.

"The story has endured ten years of frost, but the passion is still burning."

That's the current situation.

The editors of the publishing house felt like they saw a glimmer of hope, one that could change the entire industry, gradually igniting in their hands.

This work in their hands could change the entire market trend.

The glimmer of hope that created a legend for the industry.

Being able to participate in this legendary work.

Anyone who loves editorial work would be moved to the point of trembling, right?

What? You say the name of the publishing house is no longer there?

Who says it's gone?

Aren't we Laplace Bunko?

Rebirth from the ashes, revival, starts with changing the name.

Today, we, Laplace Bunko, will shock the industry!

From today onward.

Every bookstore began hanging posters promoting Saekano.

On the screens of the Ginza building.

Advertisements for famous brands were replaced.

The artwork created by Eromanga-sensei appeared on the screens and played continuously.

Honestly, no publishing house would spend money like this.

Even if they truly owned a work like Saekano.

Other publishers wouldn't be able to invest such a large amount in advertising.

This is unreasonable.

The stronger the advertisement, the more it clearly helps increase sales.

But the nature of revenue is to make money, and such a large investment isn't justified by the profit.

However, Laplace Bunko practically wanted to write on their faces: "We are not lacking in money!"

Although it's a third-tier publisher, certainly lacking in relationships and with no guaranteed reputation.

But Laplace Corporation has money!

Therefore, in such an intense marketing campaign.

Time passed until Saturday, the day of the book release.