---
Compared to the annual meeting on Saturday, Haruki was more concerned about the results of the popularity vote on Friday.
With Rurouni Kenshin Chapters 7 and 8 both taking first place in the manga ledar board, as long as Haruki's popularity vote today could secure first place again, there would only be three entries from Osaka in the Aurora manga Award—Rurouni Kenshin being one of them.
Because of this, although Haruki had already suggested that Kotone should rest for a few days and not come, she and Sora still showed up at Haruki's house on time.
It seemed like the excitement of waiting for the notification was also part of the fun of manga creation!
What would the support for the work be this week? Had the number of fans increased?
But the three of them were less nervous tonight than in the past.
After all, the number of votes for the previous week's eighth episode had exceeded Hidden Girl by nearly 10,000, with the total number of votes almost reaching 50,000.
Whether it was Hidden Girl or Demon World, the threat posed by Celestial Book to Rurouni Kenshin was relatively small.
"By the way, Haruki, Kotone, tomorrow's annual meeting starts at 6 o'clock in the afternoon and is expected to last until about midnight. The venue will be at Exhibition Center in the city center, which will be rented by the company. You should be mentally prepared and make sure you don't get lost!" Sora, who had just entered Haruki's house from the freezing temperature outside, was still trembling a bit.
"Lost?" Haruki asked, confused.
"Are you not driving with us tomorrow?"
"I think so, but in order to keep things running smoothly at the Kurokawa Annual Meeting, our editorial department will be assigning tasks, so I'll be there before noon. You'll have to go on your own in the afternoon."
"Anyway, here are your invitations," Sora said, taking out two red invitations and handing them to Haruki and Kotone. "Remember to bring them with you tomorrow, or you won't be able to get into the venue."
"And Haruki, you're the top author at our Kurokwa publishing. They've arranged for you to speak alongside some of our well-known mangake at the end of the event."
"When the time comes, you'll just need to give a brief speech, thanking the publishing house for their support and the editorial department for their guidance. Show your face, and after that, you can relax, eat, and enjoy the performance at the annual meeting," Sora said with a knowing look.
"Speak on stage?" Haruki groaned.
"It sounds so troublesome..."
"I would've known not to..." he sighed.
"Don't complain," Sora replied. "When your results weren't as good before, Kurokawa gave you a chance to refuse the invitation. Now? You have to go. It's the Kurokawa Annual Meeting. If you've made it this far, you won't get an invitation like this again."
As they talked, Sora's face became more serious, and she pulled out her phone from her pocket.
"Here it comes," she said, looking at her phone.
Haruki and Kotone immediately looked over.
"Hah!" Sora smiled after looking at the screen. "Although everyone could guess it, now I'm finally relieved."
"First place."
"Moreover, the number of votes has risen again, officially breaking the 50,000 mark..."
"Hahaha..." Sora couldn't help but laugh as she spoke.
Though she was trying to keep it contained, her trembling shoulders told Haruki just how happy she was.
"What's the matter? It can't be that big of a deal!" Haruki was also happy, but Sora's reaction was a little too much.
"No, I think we've won first place again, which means we've topped the rankings for three consecutive periods," Sora continued, almost beaming. "That locks in our qualification for the Aurora manga Award..."
"I just remembered that a certain someone raised objections to the qualifications for this year's Aurora manga Award a few weeks ago, as if they were already certain they would win..."
"Now, where is that person hiding?"
"For something like this, are you really so invested? I guess you wouldn't be happier if you got married tomorrow!" Haruki shook his head and said.
"We're all adults. Let's try to keep it dignified," he added with a smile.
---
While Sora was smiling at the results, Yuna also learned about the popularity rankings this week through a text message.
"I lost..."
Although Yuna's voice was a little low, she didn't seem too discouraged.
Yuna had always followed two key principles: First, she knew she was excellent and talented in the field of manga. Second, she also understood that there were others ahead of her—more talented people who had paved the way.
She had always believed that the true manga geniuses had already moved on to larger stages in the city, but she never expected that she would meet such a person at the Kurokawa publishing in Osaka.
The qualifications for the Aurora manga Award were now out of her reach. But that didn't matter much to Yuna. After all, she had already participated in the Aurora manga Award twice in the past but was eliminated before even passing the preliminary selection.
Although the reception for her new work, Hidden Girl, was better than before, Yuna couldn't help comparing it to the works that could truly pass the primary selection. She felt uncertain about her standing.
But that was fine. Since she hadn't succeeded this time, she would just keep working hard.
However, Rika's expression in front of Yuna wasn't quite as composed.
While Yuna had accepted the defeat with ease, it was clear that Rika wasn't as comfortable with the outcome.
Despite that, most people in the Kurokawa publishing weren't surprised by the results of today's vote.
So Rika returned to normal quickly.
"By the way," Rika said, lighting a cigarette as he looked at Yuna, "No one in the publishing has ever seen that manga artist, except for his editor..."
"That's right,"
---
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