Fans of the Hikaru no Go TV series, anime, and manga had all become active over the past few days.
At present, on the Dream Comic official website, Hikaru no Go's topic popularity was undoubtedly the highest.
Everyone in the entire Hoshimori Group editorial department could now feel the pressure brought by Hikaru no Go.
Even Shin, the editor of Source War Chronicle, the current number-one ranked work in the magazine, maintained a calm and composed appearance.
But in reality, his heart had long been stretched tight.
After all, Source War Chronicle had held the number-one position in Dream Comic for thirty-nine consecutive months. There was absolutely no way Hikaru no Go could break that record here.
Not even for a single issue.
That was completely unacceptable.
Wednesday, January 13th.
Once again, it was time for the weekly release of Dream Comic.
As a loyal fan of Hikaru no Go, someone who had attended many of Shirogane's signing events to show her support, Mizuno woke up at seven in the morning and immediately began posting in the anime fan group she had joined.
"Wake up, everyone. Let's go. Time to buy Dream Comic!"
"So jealous. I still have to work. No chance to buy it right away."
"Please, those of you who read Hikaru no Go first, don't spoil anything. You can talk about it after I get off work at noon, okay?"
"Will this week's plot finally start the match between Sai and Toya?"
"Not sure. Maybe Shirogane-sensei will drag it out a bit more."
"This crappy job… I really don't want to work another day. Is there a rich woman who can suddenly appear in front of me? I don't want to struggle anymore."
"Stop thinking about shortcuts while you're young. If your stomach hurts, go see a doctor."
Scrolling through the joking comments from the group, Mizuno's mood improved slightly.
The only problem was that January in Tokyo was freezing, and walking outside felt unbearable.
After eating breakfast at a small diner, she timed her steps carefully and arrived at a nearby bookstore.
She headed straight for the familiar manga section.
As she got closer, she noticed that the promotional poster displayed there had changed.
It was a scene from Hikaru no Go.
Sai and Toya, sat opposite each other at a Go board, stones in hand, locked in play.
Mizuno's gaze shifted to the neatly stacked piles of Dream Comic beside the display.
The thick cover of the magazine once again gave Hikaru no Go the highest level of prominence.
This week, it was Hikaru and Akira who dominated the entire cover.
Since Hikaru no Go began serialization, this was already the fourth time it had claimed the cover.
And with its current growth momentum, no one doubted whether Hikaru no Go deserved such treatment from the Hoshimori Group.
Mizuno picked up a copy, paid at the counter, and stepped outside.
Without the warmth of the store's air conditioning, a cold gust of wind hit her, making her shiver.
She quickly took a photo of the magazine cover with her phone and uploaded it to the fan group, instantly stirring excitement.
Satisfied, she returned home.
Sitting at her desk with the heater running, Mizuno finally used her still-stiff fingers to tear open the plastic wrapping.
She took a deep breath and began flipping through the pages.
To keep costs low and make it affordable for elementary school students, the paper quality used for weekly manga magazines in Japan was not great.
It didn't smell bad, but the print clarity and texture were far inferior to tankōbon volumes.
Normally, Mizuno would complain internally about this.
Today, she didn't care at all.
She skipped straight past Source War Chronicle and The Wanderer, flipping directly to the Hikaru no Go pages.
The story began to build.
Because of illness and hospitalization, Toya Koyo could only play online Go using his computer.
On the Go website, Toya Koyo did not use a pseudonym. He registered directly under his real name and began playing.
With an overwhelmingly high win rate, he climbed the rankings at astonishing speed.
It wasn't until he defeated a well-known professional Go player on the platform that, Go enthusiasts across the entire website, both domestic and international, finally realized something.
This person was not someone pretending to be Toya Koyo.
He was Toya Koyo himself.
That five-time champion, the world's number one Go player.
The news that Toya Koyo had started playing online Go spread rapidly among Go enthusiasts.
Soon, a group of online Go fans began debating who was stronger: Toya Koyo, or Sai, who had appeared two years ago.
Mizuno flipped through the pages one by one.
Although she was anxious and desperate to see the match between Toya Koyo and Sai, she also understood something very clearly.
For a story to truly be good, foreshadowing was absolutely indispensable.
This chapter of the manga deliberately avoided focusing on the protagonist, Hikaru, instead centering on other characters.
During Toya Koyo's hospitalization, he still had to defend his title.His challenger was his disciple, Seiji Ogata.
Their five-game title match reached a tense deadlock, with both sides tied at two wins apiece.
And although the game with Sai was "just" an online Go match, Toya Koyo began to prepare for it with complete seriousness.
After all, for him, while title matches were important, losing was not unacceptable.
Top Go players inevitably experience fluctuations in form.
Being called the world's number one referred to the upper limit and stability of one's skill, not an absolute guarantee of victory in every match.
Soon, the manga depicted the weekend morning that Hikaru and Toya Koyo had agreed upon.
Mizuno's heart immediately tightened.
Hikaru logged into the account named "Sai", which he had not used in two years.
When he searched for the name "Toya Koyo", he discovered that the other party had already logged in and was waiting.
Mizuno's heart began to pound.
For Sai, this might be the only chance in his existence to play Go against Toya Koyo.
For Toya Koyo, this was a match in which he had placed his professional career as a wager.
Meanwhile, on the Go platform, once it was confirmed that the account named "Toya Koyo" truly belonged to the five-time champion, an enormous number of users began following it daily.
When Toya Koyo created a new game room and invited Sai inside, Go fans across the internet erupted.
The perspective then shifted to Hikaru.
Sitting in an internet café, he followed Toya Koyo's prior instructions.Using the platform's system, they determined who would take the first move.
Toya Koyo took White.
Hikaru took Black.
A suffocating tension radiated from the manga pages.
Mizuno turned the page.
A scene appeared in which Toya Koyo and Sai seemed to be truly seated at the Go board, facing each other like warriors with weapons drawn.
She turned the page again.
And then, it jumped to the manuscript of an entirely different manga.
"?"
"That's it?"
"It cuts off again at this moment?"
Mizuno's anger surged.
Another cliffhanger?
It had been a whole year already, Teacher Shirogane. Could you please act like a human being?
She immediately opened the official Hoshimori Group website.
Just as she expected, Hikaru no Go fans across Japan had finally exploded, turning into furious keyboard warriors and mercilessly attacking Shirogane.
"This chapter is way too padded. Teacher Shirogane, hurry up and draw!"
"Teacher Shirogane, how does it feel to go to school? I'm suffering right now. Please send me the next Hikaru no Go manuscript!"
"Why would you end it here? Do you have some kind of twisted sense of humor?"
"I can't take this anymore. This cliffhanger is pure torture."
"So who wins in the end? I really don't understand."
"Nothing anyone says matters. Only what Teacher Shirogane says counts."
"How many weeks is this Toya Koyo vs. Sai match going to last? If it's like this every week, I'll vomit blood."
"Still, I blindly support Teacher Shirogane. He's already working hard enough. Don't be too harsh."
This plot arc between Sai and Toya Koyo was extremely substantial, mobilizing fan enthusiasm to an unprecedented level.
Many casual readers complained loudly after finishing the chapter, but their dissatisfaction was aimed only at Rei, not at Hikaru no Go as a work.
With its restrained and subtle storytelling, this chapter made one thing clear to fans across Japan.
Starting next week, the most classic match of the entire manga was about to begin.
Toya Koyo vs. Sai.
And this game would be watched by major Go players around the world.
The foreshadowing for this arc had finally come to an end.
The next day, the new rankings were released.
Just like the previous week, Hikaru no Go remained in second place.
Misaki stared at the data displayed on her computer.
Although Hikaru no Go was still ranked second, the gap separating it from Source War Chronicle in first place was steadily shrinking.
Everyone in the Hoshimori Group editorial department understood this clearly.
Hikaru no Go's momentum was unstoppable.
This manga was openly challenging Source War Chronicle's long-held throne.
The key question now was simple.
Could the Sai vs. Toya Koyo storyline truly meet the fans' expectations?
Could this game really be so brilliant that readers would believe it was a spark that only a thousand-year Go spirit and the world's strongest Go player could ignite?
A game that only they could possibly play?
...
Read 50+ chapters ahead @[email protected]/Ashnoir