You guys don't know how much bullshit I'm having to remove from this fic.
***
Nanami knew the experimental targeted drug hadn't gone through clinical trials—there was only a probability it might work.
Whether it could save her son's life, she couldn't be certain.
Still, she held onto hope.
"Youichi, rest for now. Once you're feeling a bit better, you can draw then, okay?" Nanami's face was creased with worry.
"Mom, please—just let me draw for a little while!" Youichi pleaded. "This is the one thing I'm asking for!"
"But Youichi, your body..."
"Mom, I know what condition I'm in. I'll only draw for a bit—I'll be fine!"
"But what if..."
"Mom, if something happens, I'll stop right away. I promise!"
Eriri couldn't understand their conversation in their native language, but she could piece together the general meaning.
Seeing how desperately anxious Youichi looked, her heart ached. Before she could stop herself, she pulled the manuscript from her bag.
Nanami knew her son had always been stubborn. She'd doted on him since childhood, and now her resolve wavered.
"All right, but only for a short while. If you start feeling worse, you stop immediately. Understand?"
"Yes! I will!" Relief flooded Youichi's face. He looked at Eriri and switched to Japanese. "Sawamura, my mom says I can draw..."
Since even Youichi's mother had agreed, Eriri couldn't really object, though worry still gnawed at her.
Seeing Eriri's concerned expression, Nanami felt touched. This girl genuinely cared about her son.
What a kind-hearted young woman...
Nanami said gently, "Eriri, my Youichi is strong. Please don't worry."
Her words finally eased Eriri's concerns. She handed over the manuscript.
"Thank you!" Youichi took it gratefully.
[Do you wish to use today's 2 hours of extended consciousness?]
"Yes."
Youichi gave the system his command.
He began sketching with his pencil, throwing himself completely into the work.
Right now, speed mattered more than perfection.
Since he didn't need to plan panel layouts or compositions, Youichi's drawing speed was incredibly fast. His pencil moved across the page with swift, mechanical precision.
For an artist, this level of flow usually only happened during speed sketching. Skilled professionals could complete a portrait in two or three minutes.
Youichi's manga creation looked exactly like speed sketching, which left Eriri stunned.
When he finished, Youichi let out a long breath.
"Volume one, complete." He handed the manuscript back to Eriri. "Sawamura, thank you for everything. I'm putting the entire publication of Titan in your hands. You can have half of whatever earnings come from it—consider it my thanks."
Youichi didn't know how else to express his gratitude.
"Don't say that. I'm not helping you for money." Eriri took the manuscript, her tone slightly reproachful. "Just focus on getting better. You can thank me properly once you've recovered."
Nanami added, "That's right, Youichi. You've finished your drawing, so listen to Eriri and rest now."
Not wanting to worry his mother further, Youichi lay back down.
"Get some rest now. We won't disturb you..." Nanami turned to Eriri. "Eriri, why don't we go talk outside for a bit?"
"Sure." Eriri tucked the manuscript into her bag and followed Nanami out.
They stepped into the hallway.
"Eriri, the nurse told me how you've been looking after Youichi this whole time. Thank you so much," Nanami said.
"Oh, please don't mention it. I really haven't done much."
Nanami studied Eriri for a moment, a gentle smile crossing her face. "Youichi can be quite stubborn. Thank you for being patient with him."
"It's nothing, really. He's sick, and as his classmate, it's natural to be concerned." Eriri shook her head, then noticed the tear tracks on Nanami's face. Her expression softened. "Please take care of yourself too. I'm sure Youichi will get better soon."
"I hope you're right..." Nanami reached out and gently took Eriri's hand. "You're such a good person. Youichi is lucky to have a friend like you."
They chatted for a while longer. Nanami learned about Youichi's manga from Eriri.
Both Nanami and Reijun had always been open-minded about their son's interests, never interfering too much.
That their son might leave behind some creative work before the end... that was something they could take comfort in.
After exchanging phone numbers, Eriri said her goodbyes.
Nanami walked her to the hospital entrance before returning to keep watch over Youichi.
On the way home, Eriri read through the fourth chapter of Attack on Titan that Youichi had just drawn.
Because he'd rushed, some parts were rough, and certain details weren't as polished as they could be.
But it didn't diminish the overall quality. Eriri remained completely confident in the work.
She decided that once she got home, she'd make some adjustments and refinements before uploading it.
Back home, Eriri opened her computer to check the current vote standings.
The ranking had climbed higher.
[Attack on Titan, Author: Nagumo; Views: 3,288; Votes: 1,092; Ranking: 202/722]
Her mother, Sayuri Sawamura, mentioned that she'd shown the work to two manga editor friends that morning.
Both editors thought Titan had serious potential and helped promote it, giving the work some additional exposure.
"Still not enough visibility. We've got a long way to go."
Eriri glanced at the manga ranked just above them.
[That Time I Reincarnated as an Invincible T-Rex, Views: 78,288; Votes: 1,101; Ranking: 201/722]
"What even is this?"
The work right above Titan had twenty times the views but nearly the same number of votes.
Its view-to-vote ratio was about 70:1, which suggested pretty mediocre quality.
Eriri scanned through other entries. Most had ratios between 20:1 and 50:1—fairly standard numbers.
Only Attack on Titan had an astounding ratio of 3:1.
That meant one out of every three readers who viewed it voted for it.
It was clear proof of Titan's quality.
Eriri's confidence surged.
She was determined to push Attack on Titan into the top fifty and secure a publishing contract.
Today was the second day of voting.
The voting period lasted three days total, which meant there was only one day left.
Over the past few days, Weekly Shonen Magazine had been promoting the contest across the web, and its influence had grown considerably.
Currently, the top three entries on the leaderboard—Reincarnated as an Invincible Hero, I Build a Harem in Another World, I Save Elf Slaves and Build a Mega Farm in Another World, and Reincarnated as a Beautiful Girl to Adventure with Them—each had over a million views and more than 50,000 votes.
Online, countless readers were discussing these three works.
All three were decent quality, and rumors suggested that Weekly Shonen Magazine had already signed contracts with the authors to handle future publication.
Japan's manga industry was highly developed, with mature commercial operations.
Popularity meant traffic, and traffic could be monetized. That was the essence of the business.
Eriri compared the numbers and found that Attack on Titan was currently ranked around 202nd, with just over 1,000 votes.
With this level of exposure, breaking into the top fifty would be extremely difficult.
"I need to keep promoting. I'll post another tweet."
She logged into her "Kashiwagi Eri" account.
Checking the tweet she'd posted last night, she found dozens of readers who'd read Titan praising it enthusiastically in the comments.
Several readers were asking her to contact "Nagumo-sensei" and have him draw the next chapters as soon as possible—they couldn't wait to see what happened next.
Eriri suddenly remembered. She rushed upstairs to her room, pulled the manuscript from her bag, and began polishing and refining the artwork.
After finally finishing, she scanned and uploaded it.
Once she'd uploaded the final chapter of Titan's first volume to the site, the backend showed it was under review.
Ten seconds later, it showed as approved, with the new content now live.
Eriri was puzzled.
Instant approval? The review was that fast?
Was the review process just for show?
Then again, considering how many entries there were for this contest, the editors must be swamped. It made sense they couldn't review everything thoroughly.
After the new content went live, Eriri posted another tweet from her "Kashiwagi Eri" account:
[Thanks for waiting! New chapter of Attack on Titan by Nagumo-sensei is up! Volume 1 is now complete. Please show your support with votes!]
She attached the link, triple-checking it was correct before relaxing.
Within minutes of posting, fans began commenting.
[Reader A: OMG I'm so excited, going to read it now! Honestly, after reading the first three chapters yesterday, I was blown away. I was about to ask Kashiwagi-sensei to contact Nagumo-sensei for updates, and here it is! Kashiwagi-sensei is the best!]
[Reader B: If Kashiwagi-sensei recommends it, I'm supporting it for sure!]
[Reader C: Sorry sensei, I read it but it's not my type. Still voted though!]
[Reader D: Sensei, I already voted! Where's that Isuzu-chan drawing you promised? Looking forward to it!]
Many familiar readers in the comments said they'd already read Titan and voted for it.
Eriri realized her promotional efforts might not make much more difference at this point.
After a while, she checked the official site again. Titan's view count and votes had increased slightly, but not by much.
However, Eriri noticed that Titan now had nearly a hundred comments below it.
She scrolled through them—universally positive reviews.
In the comment section, plenty of organic readers were already promoting it on their own.
Eriri thought there was still over a day until voting ended. Once word of mouth spread, there might still be a chance for a comeback.
After browsing a dozen comments, she realized sitting here anxiously wouldn't help. She closed her computer and went to work on her Isuzu Sento fan art instead.
"System, check task progress."
[Task: Create and publish a manga work within 5 days. Reach 5,000 viewers to receive 5 additional days of life!]
[Task Progress: Attack on Titan Volume 1 completed and published. Current viewers: 4,188. Reminder: Task incomplete. Time remaining: 2 days.]
Late that night, the first thing Youichi did after waking was check his task progress.
Seeing actual progress for the first time, he felt a surge of relief.
At this rate, he should reach the goal before the deadline.
Completing the task would give him five more days of life.
Not bad at all.
Additionally, the system would assess the work's quality and impact to determine a longevity reward.
Youichi figured that with a work as good as Attack on Titan, the system ought to reward him with at least ten days, maybe half a month.
That would buy him time—enough to create new works and earn more days of life.
"Eriri, you really are my lucky star."
Before he could enjoy the thought, searing pain shot through his body again. Youichi blacked out.
The next day, Tuesday morning.
When Youichi woke, he noticed the hospital room door wasn't fully closed. He could faintly hear voices outside.
"The patient's condition continues to deteriorate. Conservative estimate gives him three days. The family should prepare themselves..."
[Host: Youichi Okita]
[Remaining Lifespan: 3 days]
[Health: 5/100 (2 hours of extended consciousness available per day)]
Glancing at his status screen, Youichi confirmed he didn't have much time left.
"If you only had three days to live, how would you spend them?"
Long ago, before he'd ended up in this world, Youichi had seriously considered that question.
Back then, he'd thought if he only had three days left, he'd do all the things he'd never tried in life.
But reality was different. For most people, their last three days were spent lying in a hospital bed, suffering through their final moments.
Just like he was now...
Sometimes Youichi thought reality was cruel, and life terribly fragile.
In a person's brief existence, so many unexpected things could happen. No one knew if the sun would rise tomorrow, or if they'd wake up in another world...
After this bout of melancholy, Youichi checked his task progress again.
[Task: Create and publish a manga work within 5 days. Reach 5,000 viewers to receive 5 additional days of life!]
[Task Progress: Attack on Titan Volume 1 completed and published. Current viewers: 4,188. Reminder: Task incomplete. Time remaining: 1 day.]
"Huh? Why is it still 4,188?"
The viewer count hadn't changed at all. Youichi felt confused.
That didn't make sense.
Suspecting the data hadn't updated yet, he decided to check again later and drifted back to sleep.
About two hours later, Youichi woke again.
"System, check task progress."
[Task: Create and publish a manga work within 5 days. Reach 5,000 viewers to receive 5 additional days of life!]
[Task Progress: Attack on Titan Volume 1 completed and published. Current viewers: 4,188. Reminder: Task incomplete. Time remaining: 1 day.]
The number still hadn't changed. Panic set in.
"System, what's going on? Give me an explanation!"
[Answer: The manga work created by the host has been removed from publication and is currently in an unpublished state.]
"Removed?"
Hearing the system's response, Youichi froze.
What the hell was happening?