"Onī-chan seems to be in a really good mood today."
The moment Hachiman Hikigaya returned home, his little sister Komachi, sitting in the living room watching TV, looked up at him.
"Don't speak yet! Let me guess."
He was about to answer, but Komachi raised her hand to halt him.
"You didn't attend club activities and came home almost an hour later than usual. If I'm not mistaken, today is the official release of your Summer Reprise, right? Could it be… you went to the bookstore to spy on it?"
Komachi's tone was teasing.
"'Spy' sounds harsh. I just… took a look," he replied, his expression serious.
"Hehe, seeing you this happy… it looks like things went well, huh?"
Komachi blinked innocently, her playful charm in full display.
"Who knows," he dragged his voice out deliberately.
"Onī-chan, you're so naughty!"
Komachi pouted, clearly annoyed.
It was the kind of half-said comment that left one feeling unsettled.
"It was fine… I just checked out one bookstore," he finally admitted.
"That's a good omen! Debut today, go viral in a week, then get an anime adaptation… Onī-chan, I can already see it! The characters you wrote appearing alive on TV!"
Her eyes sparkled with admiration and excitement.
"You seem more confident than me… It's like you're mocking me," he muttered with a frown.
"You just lack self-confidence! People need confidence; if you can't believe in your own work, how can readers like it?"
Komachi frowned, her brows furrowed.
"That's not something you'd normally say," he snorted.
"I've been reading a little about light novels lately… and I happened to see someone say that," she explained.
"I see," Hachiman nodded lightly.
At the same time, he realized that his little sister had quietly been looking out for him all along. In a family that didn't give him much attention, having her was a kind of balanced exchange.
After a light novel's release, the only way to check concrete sales data was to wait a week for official statistics or ask the editor.
Until then, reader reviews were a good indicator.
Having rewritten Summer Reprise, Hachiman felt confident it was better than before. With Eromanga Sensei's illustrations assisting, sales were likely to have a solid foundation.
The next day, he visited Izukawa Bunko's website and navigated to the review section for Summer Reprise Volume 1.
Even though it had only been a day since release, quite a few readers had already taken the time to leave feedback.
Magical Girl Shining Bright: I noticed this work during the Newcomer Award. With the first volume out, I immediately supported the author. The rewrite was a big surprise—reading it now feels much smoother, and the plot is easier to understand.
How Many Floors Can a Bag of Rice Carry: Amazing! I happened to see the new release at a nearby bookstore and got attracted by the promo image. The content was the real surprise. It's been a while since I read a time-loop story like this, and the Shadow Disease setup is really interesting.
The Sage in Gensokyo: I like the protagonist's setup. It was easy to understand what was happening, unlike other stories where the time loop confuses everything. Plus, the enemies are clever too—makes for a fun setup.
A Certain Scientific Little Blacky: The illustrations caught my eye, but the author's writing held my attention. The atmosphere is well-crafted, especially the protagonist dying multiple times and the timing of his rebirth—had me genuinely terrified.
Overall, positive reviews far outweighed negative ones.
This was normal, of course. Most readers had already intended to buy the book; works that attract negative attention typically have extreme situations, like grossly unpleasant content or "toilet-paper-tier" stories.
Most of Hachiman's readers had discovered Summer Reprise during the Newcomer Award; those who came through later promotions were still in the minority.
If word-of-mouth stayed positive, the "snowball effect" would boost sales further, and Hachiman hoped for that.
Five days later, before he could even ask, Ms. Machida called him with good news.
"Tsukishiro-sensei, I'm calling with some excellent news."
"Good news?" Hachiman perked up instantly.
"All bookstores have already sold through a significant portion, estimated at over 60%. At this pace, a reprint of 10,000 copies is necessary. If sales continue steadily… that would be ideal."
After hearing this, Hachiman slept a very sound sleep.
Of course, he didn't get carried away. The numbers were good, but to claim instant fame would be naive. The genre itself wasn't the most mainstream—it still belonged to the "otherworldly escapism" category.
What if it quickly hit its sell-through limit? That was entirely possible.
Eromanga Sensei, as the illustrator, also sent congratulations, and he replied: "Likewise."
Now, their fates were intertwined. Higher sales meant more recognition for Eromanga Sensei, benefiting her future career as well.
Over time, unless a debut caused a sensation, daily sales would stabilize.
Regrettably, though his work was good—better than many—it wasn't extraordinary by industry standards. This world had too many prodigies; the gap between them and ordinary creators was massive. Even Yamada-san's debut with Bakuen no Dark Elf outperformed him.
Although Hachiman judged Yamada-san's writing as mediocre, even at a roughly elementary level, and found some plot points crude, she had accurately targeted her audience, hit the right "fun points," and with Elmie's excellent illustrations, achieved great results.
Sales were the ultimate metric for authors. One couldn't deny reality: if someone was better, they were better. Even with criticism, Hachiman had to acknowledge that Yamada-san was a unique talent.
Now, he was curious—how would Yamada-san evaluate him in reality?
He wanted to know.