Chapter 86: White Album, Truck-kun and Transfer Student From Russia!
The summer Comiket was held as scheduled on that Saturday and Sunday in Chiba.
Yukima Azuma, Kasumigaoka Utaha, Kato Megumi, and Eriri all participated.
However, only Yukima Azuma and Kato Megumi were at the booth.
Kasumigaoka Utaha, the genius, beauty, and light novel author, had gained so much fame since the signing event for the 4th volume of The Metronome in Love that she was now beyond ordinary recognition.
Her popularity was now so high.
If she publicly appeared at Comiket, she would definitely be surrounded by crowds asking for her autograph.
Therefore, she could only disguise herself slightly and walk around the exhibition.
As for Eriri,
This girl couldn't even show her face.
As the famous R18 artist, Kashiwagi Eiri, her name was listed on the artist roster for the game.
In such a situation, of course, Eriri could not appear at the booth.
However, she didn't need to disguise herself like Utaha; she freely roamed around Comiket to buy limited edition items.
...
At the booth.
Behind Yukima Azuma was a pile of boxes stacked high.
Inside were a thousand game discs.
This number was quite staggering.
"Do you really think we can sell them all?"
Kato Megumi asked, curiously looking at the pile of boxes.
"Let's see."
Yukima Azuma shrugged.
In reality, the booth at the summer Comiket exhibition was mostly for increasing recognition.
The actual sales revenue here was only a small fraction.
Popular works usually only needed about two to three hundred copies per day to be enough.
Bringing a thousand copies, even with the large crowd at the summer Comiket, it would be very difficult to sell out.
However, there were exceptions.
As soon as the event began,
The sound of hurried footsteps, like a flood rushing toward them, could be heard.
Kato Megumi looked over, blinking in astonishment.
A large group of visitors was rushing toward them.
Since running was prohibited in the exhibition area, the crowd was almost like participating in a race walking competition.
Before even reaching the booth, they had already lined up in a long queue.
They completely ignored the game experience area and went straight to the sales area of the two of them.
"Hello, please give me three copies of White Album."
The first customer, breathing heavily, quickly said.
Yukima Azuma shrugged at Kato Megumi.
It was as if to say: See?
Kato Megumi helplessly shrugged back.
It was as if to say: Fine.
She packaged three copies of White Album and handed them over.
Yukima Azuma took care of the money collection beside her.
Most customers bought three copies at once.
Those who only bought one copy were even fewer than those who bought multiple copies.
It could be said that there was no way they would have unsold stock.
Yukima Azuma had once said:
If the game doesn't sell, he would definitely go after the advertisers to collect the debt.
As long as the promotion was good,
Fans of galgames, after watching the trailer and trying out the demo of White Album, would mostly be attracted.
This was also why most people bought three copies.
As the otaku community often says:
One to collect, one to watch, and one to spread.
...
After two hours of the exhibition,
More than half of the boxes behind the two were empty.
By lunchtime,
The boxes were now filled with empties.
The only remaining box with stock inside was placed on the table.
The quantity of goods inside had clearly decreased.
"Sorry, there are only 20 copies left, customers standing behind please come back tomorrow."
"To give everyone a fair chance to experience the game, each person can only buy one copy, we ask for your understanding."
Yukima Azuma stood up and announced loudly.
Even so, the last 20 copies quickly disappeared in an instant.
Some customers standing behind didn't want to give up, their faces showing clear regret.
Yukima Azuma stretched his neck a bit to relax.
Kato Megumi also stretched her wrists for comfort.
"Tomorrow, we should hire someone to help look after the booth."
Yukima Azuma said.
The hard work, making money wasn't the most important part; what mattered was witnessing the customers' enthusiasm firsthand.
Now that they had seen it,
There was no need to wear themselves out anymore.
The two quickly tidied up the booth,
Then stood up and headed toward the outside of the exhibition.
The four had agreed to meet at a family restaurant.
When the two arrived, Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri were already seated, waiting for them.
"Super popular! I've never seen a anime/manga event with such a long line like that!"
Before they could sit down,
Eriri excitedly said.
"Well, I guess it's okay, the script I wrote wasn't in vain."
Kasumigaoka Utaha said this,
But her eyes clearly showed joy.
"Now you two can relax, right?"
Yukima Azuma sat down and sighed.
"I wasn't worried from the beginning!"
Eriri looked up.
"I wonder who was running around like a headless chicken out there before the event started."
Kasumigaoka Utaha mocked.
The two started bickering again.
Yukima Azuma realized that
Kasumigaoka Utaha really liked teasing Eriri.
"Alright, to celebrate the huge success, cheers!"
At that moment, drinks were brought over, and Yukima Azuma raised his glass of cola.
The three girls looked at each other for a moment, then also picked up their glasses.
The four glasses clinked together, making a clear and pleasant sound.
The three girls were clearly very excited.
At this moment, Yukima Azuma took out three bank cards from his pocket.
"These are your payments. The revenue from the game will be paid daily to the cards."
After saying that, Yukima Azuma pushed the three cards toward the three girls.
The atmosphere at the table paused slightly.
Noticing the girls' thoughts,
Yukima Azuma sighed helplessly.
"What are you planning? Why does this feel like a farewell dinner? This is just your well-deserved pay."
"I've started a company! How could I just do it once and then give up?"
"Do I look like the kind of person who wouldn't pay you and would make you work for free?"
Yukima Azuma's teasing made the three girls unable to stop themselves from laughing.
"Actually, no matter how grumpy he is, Lonely-kun isn't really a bad person."
Kasumigaoka Utaha was the first to take her card.
"Since you said it like that, hehe, I guess I'll buy something new! A new digital drawing tablet!"
Eriri snatched her card, grinning widely.
Kato Megumi placed her finger on the card.
"I didn't do anything to help you guys."
Yukima Azuma pushed the card into her hand.
"Being a tester is an important job too, the money on the card is divided proportionally, Megumi deserves it as well."
After a moment, Kato Megumi was convinced.
"We won't stop here. We'll go even further together!"
Yukima Azuma said, then raised his glass of cola again.
In the cheerful atmosphere, the four raised their glasses to celebrate.
...
The next day.
The sales for the first day of White Album were announced.
The number of copies sold on the first day surpassed 200,000.
Unlike light novels or manga, game discs have a higher price and require players to have a certain level of understanding.
The galgame market is smaller than the broader Otaku market.
This figure was already a phenomenon.
On the four cards, the amount in the accounts had reached a staggering number.
Even Kato Megumi, with the lowest share ratio,
after just one day, had an amount on her card that no high school student could ever achieve.
The total sales of White Album were predicted to exceed a million copies.
An undeniable major victory.
Thanks to White Album, many people learned about the name and logo of Laplace for the first time.
And in the second week after the game's release,
something big happened.
The reason why the summer Comiket was important
was because it would soon be followed by the award voting by IGN.
White Album—a groundbreaking galgame,
was nominated in six award categories.
In the end, it won:
IGN's Best Story Award,
IGN's Best Independent Game Award.
As soon as the awards were announced,
not only did it boost the game's sales once again,
but it also firmly solidified White Album's position and reputation within the galgame community.
It had almost become the origin story that every galgame fan must experience later on.
And on the day the awards were announced,
A guy named Aki Tomoya went mad.
Aki Tomoya couldn't accept that a game he wasn't involved in had achieved accomplishments he couldn't even dream of.
The best galgame.
Especially when he learned that the game was produced by Yukima Azuma, the script was by Kasumi Utako, and the illustrations were by Kashiwagi Eri.
After screaming in anger at home,
Aki Tomoya ran outside.
"I can't accept this! I absolutely don't acknowledge this!"
While yelling, a large truck came speeding toward him from a distance.
(Note: LOL, seriously, I almost choked on water on my laptop while translating this. Luckily, I managed to hold it in, but I still ended up wetting the sofa. I thought Lord Kuzuma would be the first to meet Truck-kun.)
.....
At Yukima's house.
Kirisu Mafuyu received a phone call, looking surprised.
Yukima Azuma, holding Shiratamaru, curiously asked:
"Kirisu-sensei, what's going on?"
Kirisu Mafuyu quietly nodded.
She sighed, then spoke:
"Aki Tomoya from our class had a truck accident this morning. He was rushed to the hospital, but he didn't make it. He's dead."
Yukima Azuma blinked after hearing this.
Who?
Aki Tomoya really met truck-sama?
So, is this an isekai situation now?
Yukima Azuma really wanted to make some excuses, saying that he brought it on himself.
But if the police had the perspective of a reader, they would definitely keep Yukima Azuma for questioning for two days.
However, it wasn't Yukima Azuma who ride the truck.
It can only be said that there are thousands of vehicles on the road, but safety is the most important.
If you don't follow traffic laws and go crazy in the middle of the street, you'll have to pay the price.
"So... do we need to organize a visit to his family?"
Yukima Azuma asked.
He's dead already.
As a teacher, Kirisu Mafuyu had to visit the family of the student.
To help Kirisu Mafuyu, Yukima Azuma was also ready to act along.
Kirisu Mafuyu shook her head.
"A visit... maybe it's not necessary. After all, he didn't really have any friends in the class."
"The parents also said there's no need to inform anyone else about his death. Just tell them next week that he transferred schools."
"By coincidence, we'll have a transfer student joining our class next week. With the new student coming and going, no one will really pay attention to it."
Yukima Azuma was a bit surprised after hearing this.
"A transfer student? At this time?"
The summer exams are almost here.
Kirisu Mafuyu rubbed her forehead.
Indeed, when the topic of the transfer student was brought up, even Yukima Azuma, who knew the bad news, shifted his focus to something else.
Perhaps when the announcement is made next week, the entire class will have a reaction like Yukima Azuma's, where no one really cares much about Aki Tomoya.
"Yes, this transfer student is supposedly from Russia."
Kirisu Mafuyu casually said.
Yukima Azuma blinked.
Oh, from Russia.
That's not too surprising.
The school systems in Japan and other countries are not synchronized.
If a student is from another country, it's normal for them to appear at any time.
"When she arrives, you should help her, assist her in adjusting to the class!"
Kirisu Mafuyu instructed.
We can't have another student isolated like the one before.
"Ehh? Me? I'm really busy!"
Yukima Azuma pointed at himself.
Kirisu Mafuyu raised her hand, ready to pinch Yukima Azuma's ear.
Yukima Azuma quickly apologized and agreed to help.
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