"The number you have dialed is not in service or has been turned off."
"Could something have happened again? Like a car accident?" Claire frowned as she read this part.
Such scenarios made her feel like she was encountering a cliché storyline.
As she suspected, the two characters could no longer switch bodies after this. Calls couldn't get through, and even text messages couldn't be sent.
Later, Taki, in an effort to find the location of Mitsuha's village, started to draw and examine maps to try to find the address of the village where Mitsuha lived.
"Hey, didn't they think to exchange contact information or make a courtesy call beforehand?" Claire couldn't help but comment as she read.
But she quickly realized something.
It seemed that Mitsuha's place was very remote, and they even had to use a notebook to communicate with each other.
Continuing to read, Taki and his friends searched all day without finding the village. Finally, while eating in a ramen shop, a staff member recognized the scenery Taki had drawn—it was Itomori.
Just as Taki was overjoyed thinking he had found the place, he was told that the town had been destroyed three years ago by a comet strike.
Not only that, the information Mitsuha originally left on his phone was also gone.
"She died three years ago? No way?" Seeing this twist, Claire couldn't wait to turn the page.
And then…
There was no more to read; a big "To Be Continued" appeared before Claire's eyes.
"Why is there no more?!" Claire let out a beast-like cry of frustration.
Her hands pounded on the pillow she was holding, as if she wanted to beat up the author.
Meanwhile, as Claire vented her frustration by beating on the pillow…
Daniel, a comic critic, was contently closing the comic book with a smile: "Very good, worthy of the manga artist I had my eyes on. The standard is maintained very well, but this cliffhanger really makes me impatient."
He had completely forgotten how he had banged on the table when he thought the story was going to turn into a melodramatic twist.
He opened his laptop, ready to praise the work again, giving it a five-star must-read recommendation.
After all, he felt that such original works with great artistic style deserved all the support they could get to prevent youth romance comics from becoming too formulaic.
Not only them…
After this issue was released, the discussion about "Your Name" surged online. Many forums and threads related to comics were buzzing with posts about this work.
"Highly recommend 'Your Name'!"
"I read this comic, it's really good, and even has an endorsement from the bigwig 'Daniel Lee~"
"My favorite genre is youth romance, and it's been years since a comic really caught my eye like this one!"
"After the second episode, I thought it was going to fall back into the typical accident trope, but I didn't expect the female lead had already died!"
"I'm now very curious about how the male lead is going to bring the female lead back to life."
"I'm thinking of sending razor blades to the Porter."
Of course.
The discussions online weren't just about the plot; many also discussed the artwork in the comic because it was simply too beautiful.
"Too bad there isn't such beautiful scenery in real life."
"Exactly, but it's because these beautiful things only appear in comics that I love reading them."
However, just as people lamented the lack of such scenery in real life, a post suddenly appeared at the top of the "Your Name" forum—"'Your Name's Comic Background is Actually Here!"
Many people clicked in out of curiosity.
Inside, they found photos comparing the comic's scenery with real-life images.
They discovered that the comic's scenery and the photos were almost identical!
The poster explained where these scenes were located.
"My hometown is the desolate city. After discovering this comic, what first seemed familiar was the dance that Mitsuha performs, which is held every few years on Mount Buzhou near my home. I went back home specifically to compare them, and I realized that apart from a lake similar to a meteorite crater, the mountains, rivers, and other elements are exactly like my hometown!"
"I have to say, this Porter guy's drawing skill is really top-notch, not just the scenery here, but even the scenes of Beijing are similar to the actual Beijing!"
After reading the poster's comments, everyone searched for the so-called desolate city.
And the forum exploded.
Everyone expressed their intentions to visit the desolate city to see the scenery.
However, an inappropriate topic was suddenly raised by a netizen.
"Scenery or not, I just want to know if your local specialty is kuchikamizake?"
This comment was instantly liked many times.
"Damn it, let me post that first!"
"Ugh, there's no perfect kuchikamizake, but how about some foot-scratching booze from a burly man?"
"I don't care about the booze, I mainly just want to drink a beauty's oral secretions."
"You guys are a bunch of perverts!"
Quickly, the entire thread went off-topic.
Some even shared pictures of homemade chewing wine they made.
Meanwhile, at Picca Comics...
Everyone was gathered around a computer, all incredibly anxious.
Because they were about to see the first day's sales figures for this issue.
They had printed a lot of this issue to avoid running out of stock.
"So, I'm opening the webpage now!" the editor-in-chief said, trembling as he moved the mouse.
Because all the bookstores were going to report their sales figures.
The moment the webpage loaded, the entire office fell silent.
"No... no way..."
"This is too..."
Those close by murmured.
"What happened? Tell us!"
"Speak up!"
Those who couldn't see the screen pressed for details.
"By 5 PM, this issue of Picca Comics sold a total of 95,400 copies! That means we..."
"Succeeded!"
"Our salaries are going up!!!"
"Ohhhh!"
A tumultuous clamor erupted in the hall, and people started shouting.
The figures far exceeded their expectations.
Though it was still a bit shy of their peak, it was only slightly, not vastly!
From 8 AM to 5 PM, Picca Comics had moved nearly 100,000 copies in just nine hours!
At this moment, Jada's secretary came out, clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, and announced, "The boss said, everyone has worked hard these past few months, so this month's salaries will be doubled!"
"Oh, oooooh!"
"Long live the boss!!"
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