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[Game] Chapter 311: New Book Release
🕑 Added 2025-07-24 03:12:59 +0000 UTCOn Friday and Saturday, October 21st and 22nd, the second Persona livestream was successfully held on both Bilibili and YouTube.
Originally, Ichin hadn’t planned to appear in either livestream, but since some real-time translation was still required for the Bilibili side, he had no choice but to show up.
As for the voice actors, they invited the seiyuus for Ann Takamaki and Morgana—Mizuki Nana and Otani Ikue.
PV2 of the game was played right at the beginning of the livestream.
Although the protagonist’s voice actor, Fukuyama Jun—who had the most lines in the PV—wasn't present, the discussion flowed naturally from the PV's content, keeping the atmosphere lively.
Especially the scene of the protagonist awakening his Persona, which was packed with over-the-top “chuunibyou” energy—it continued to stir up discussion even after the stream ended.
With Fukuyama Jun’s performance combined with that signature dramatic tone, it was hard not to be reminded of certain iconic characters.
Not everyone from the company was present this time. The programming team, whose workload was heavier, left early after getting their signed goods. Only a few remained on-site to help with setup and manage the streaming equipment.
Then came Sunday, the day after the livestream ended—
Utaha’s new book My Love Story with My Boss officially launched.
As Utaha’s follow-up novel after the successful conclusion of The Metronome in Love, Fujikawa Publishing had poured significant resources into its promotion.
Places like Akihabara had already been covered in advertisements and bookstore posters for over two weeks. Any otaku who’d been in Akihabara recently had definitely seen them.
Outside Akihabara, any bookstore that sold light novels had some degree of promotional support from Fujikawa.
And the results spoke for themselves—even without a signing event, Utaha had already gained a loyal and stable reader base thanks to her performance in The Metronome in Love.
On the first day of release, some bookstores that had underestimated demand sold out completely and began calling the publisher for restocks.
Even though it was a weekend, Machida Sonoko—Utaha’s editor—had no plans to rest. She arrived at the publishing office early in the morning.
Upon learning of the stock-out situation, she immediately contacted several major bookstores. After gathering enough data, she quickly placed a call to Utaha.
By this time, it was nearing evening. Utaha was lounging on the living room sofa, cuddling the cat and watching TV leisurely.
She had made lunch that day, so dinner was Ichin’s responsibility.
When the phone rang, she glanced at the screen and answered.
“Hello, Sonoko? Is this about the book release?”
Excited, Machida Sonoko replied, “Yes! Utaha, I’m at the publishing office right now—tons of bookstores are requesting restocks! Even the big ones in Akihabara and elsewhere are seeing great sales. At this rate, they’ll need restocking in another day or two! It’s a huge success! But wait… why do you sound so calm?”
“Why would I not be?” Utaha responded with a light laugh. “I’m not a newbie anymore—I know the quality of my new book, and the publisher invested quite a bit into its promotion. After it launched this morning, I checked online reviews around noon. Based on the response, I already had a pretty clear idea of how it would do during the release period.”
“Tsk tsk… if nothing else, your attitude’s starting to resemble your boyfriend’s. The more critical the moment, the calmer you act.” After the jab, Sonoko continued, “Based on today’s nationwide sales, we’ve estimated that your book should appear on the monthly best-seller lists for both October and November. October might be a little lower, but once reader reviews fully circulate next month, there’ll be a big sales boost—your rank will definitely climb!”
Even though Utaha had already expected success, Sonoko’s enthusiasm still made her smile.
“That’s great to hear. Sonoko, want to come over after work? We can celebrate together with dinner.”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass. It’s your launch day, so I have to stay here and tally the day’s performance. We can celebrate later.”
With that, Sonoko hung up to get back to work.
Utaha set down her phone and shook her head with a chuckle. “No wonder she’s still single…”
Just then, Ichin poked his head out from the kitchen.
“Was that Sonoko? How’s the sales performance?”
Utaha gently set the cat aside, jogged over, and threw her arms around Ichin.
“Perfectly fine. Bookstores that didn’t stock enough are already calling for restocks. Even the big chains will need more soon. The launch day results are rock solid.”
“That’s great to hear.”
Ichin was genuinely happy about her success. Smiling, he kissed her and said, “Just wait a bit longer—the candlelight dinner’s almost ready.”
Originally, he had planned for the two of them to go out and celebrate the release, but since Utaha didn’t feel like going out, Ichin decided to prepare a candlelight dinner at home instead.
Utaha smiled and nodded, not wanting to interrupt, and quietly returned to wait for dinner.
---
Monday – School.
Compared to Ichin, whose identity as a game developer was now well-known throughout the school, only a few teachers knew Utaha’s identity as a light novel author.
After arriving in class, it was no surprise that the two overheard groups of girls excitedly discussing the content of Utaha’s novel—some of them even holding physical copies of the first volume.
As soon as she put down her bag, a few girls rushed over excitedly.
“Kasumigaoka-san! Have you read this new release? It just came out!”
Utaha hadn’t expected someone to ask her, the author, whether she had read her own novel.
Wearing a mysterious, unreadable smile, she nodded and replied, “Yes, of course I’ve read it. It’s a very good novel.”
Shameless self-praise.
Under Ichin’s amused gaze, the girls continued to chatter away with Utaha about her book. He nearly burst out laughing.
Before long, a few guys ran over to Ichin’s side to ask about Persona, and if they could get Mizuki Nana’s autograph.
Autographs, unfortunately, were out of the question. Ichin had only kept a few, which were reserved as giveaway prizes after the stream.
Still, seeing how excited his classmates were for the game, Ichin agreed to give each of them a poster once the official game merch and promotional materials were printed.
***
