Chapter 65 - 64

Words : 1223 Updated : Sep 30th, 2025

Chapter 65 of "I just want to quietly draw manga" opens presenting: The next morning, just as the sky began to lighten, Haruki was stirred awake by... Don’t stop now!

The next morning, just as the sky began to lighten, Haruki was stirred awake by the buzzing of his phone. Still half-asleep, he squinted at the screen. Sora? Why was she calling this early? He groggily picked up. "Hello...? It's New Year's Day. Morning already? What's going on?" "Why are you still in bed?!" Sora's voice came through the line, sharp and impatient. "Why wouldn't I be in bed? It's New Year's..." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. His head was still foggy, but he was waking up fast. "Ugh..." Sora let out a frustrated sigh. "You're seriously acting like an idiot right now. I can't believe you're not even curious!" "About what?" "Just shut up and check the official site for the Awards. Now. The results for Rurouni Kenshin: —you need to see them for yourself." Click. She hung up without another word. Haruki blinked at his phone, now silent. Well, so much for sleeping in. He dragged himself out of bed, went through his morning routine, then threw together a quick breakfast—instant noodles and a cold bottle of cola. Nothing fancy, just something to wake him up. Once he was done, he sat down at his desk and pulled up the Awards website. A wave of entries from across the country filled the homepage. At the top of the rankings sat Blazing Feather, comfortably leading in paid views. The ranking system was straightforward—every time a reader paid to unlock a chapter, the series gained a "fan point." At the end of the first four weeks, the top ten series with the highest fan points would move on to the next round. Blazing Feather had already racked up over 230,000 points. Second place, Battle Spirit, was close behind with 160,000. Other notable entries included a quirky slice-of-life series called The Secret Between My Teacher and I, a charming mystery featuring talking animals titled Detective Kōgī, and a high-energy sports manga from Hanshū Prefecture called Ute! Bureiku Sumasshu!! Tenth place was held by National Football Coach, another sports series out of Gakushū Prefecture. Their fan values ranged anywhere from 100,000 down to around 50,000. Haruki scrolled through the list slowly—from top to bottom, then bottom to top. Then again, just to be sure. No sign of Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance. His stomach dropped. So that's what Sora meant by "beyond expectations"... He leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the screen. No wonder she called him so early. Was it really doing that badly? His thoughts wandered back to the bold words he'd spoken during the New Year's party—not just to others, but to himself. He'd actually started imagining it... what it might feel like to take first place. The thrill. The system's reward. Maybe B-tier. Maybe A... or even S-tier. But now—if it didn't even make the top ten? He grimaced. Ding! His phone buzzed again. This time it was Kotone. "Haruki! Check the Awards site—quick! Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance—" "I know, I know," he cut her off. "It's only the first day. Don't panic," he said, trying to sound steady. "Remember when it first launched? The debut wasn't strong either. But it caught on slowly, right?" "We've got four weeks. Anything can happen. Even if it looks bad now, it still has a shot to come from behind." There was silence on the other end. Kotone seemed taken aback by how calm he sounded. "What is he even saying?" Kotone stared at her screen, baffled. Rurouni Kenshin: Remembrance held a staggering 9.8 rating, with over 18,000 reader votes. Poor performance? If that was considered bad... then what exactly counted as good? She tapped her pen against the desk, mentally crunching the numbers. At that rating, it meant roughly 3,600 people gave it 9 stars, and 14,400 gave it a perfect 10. Wasn't it normal for some readers to score things conservatively? Even Blazing Feather, currently sitting at number two overall, had only managed an 8.9 average—and that was considered a strong showing. "Haruki," she muttered, opening a video call window. "You've always been hard on yourself, but this is something else." The call connected. Haruki appeared on-screen, bleary-eyed in a hoodie, hair still a mess from bed. "Number one?" he repeated after Kotone finished scolding him. "Wait—hold on." He scrolled down the rankings, his brows slowly drawing together. "There. Rurouni Kenshin... twenty-ninth place. Just over 40,000 fan points," he said with a sigh. "The top series has over 230,000. That's... nearly 200,000 more than us." Kotone blinked. Fan points? That's what he was talking about? Then it hit her—what he said earlier suddenly made sense. "Wait a sec... Haruki, you don't seriously think Rurouni Kenshin was going to take first today, do you? Like, in the first round?" "Of course I did," he answered, sounding genuinely puzzled. "Didn't I say? I'm going for first. I'm not here to play for second or third." There was a pause. Kotone just stared at him. "...You're unbelievable." But honestly, it wasn't all that surprising. Haruki's system only rewarded first-place achievements—just like how he received a B-rank draw when The Garden of Words topped the rankings. When another work placed third? He got nothing. So to him, winning first place in the overall competition wasn't just a goal. It was the only outcome that mattered. What he didn't realize was that everyone else—Kotone, Sora, the editorial staff, even rival manga artists—had a completely different interpretation of what he meant by "taking first." They assumed he meant making the top ten in the first round, based on fan points. And that alone would already be a major accomplishment—especially for someone outside the central circles of the big-name publishers. The real expectation was that Rurouni Kenshin would stand out during the second round, when official judges reviewed the works. With its exceptional reviews and strong storytelling, it had a good shot at winning their votes—that was when it could take first place in the final round. That was how most people saw it. After all, works like Blazing Feather, backed by a powerhouse publisher and a massive regional fanbase, were practically guaranteed a top ten spot. The sheer volume of readers from those areas made sure of it. But Rurouni Kenshin? It didn't have that kind of regional support to lean on. Even with all the buzz from the holiday media cycle, the controversy surrounding Yuna Takahashi's departure from her previous publisher, and the added attention brought by characters like Keiji and Shinji... the series had sold just over 600,000 copies. Impressive on its own—but when it came to raw voting power? Even if 10% of readers took the time to vote, it still wouldn't be enough to break into the top ten. Not in the first round. Not against fanbases that were ten times the size. Shout out to Grey_Phantom, Adrien Caserotto, This is number 11 of section B for joining my p-atreon! your support means everything to me. (TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 50+ advanced chapters)

Chapter 65 - 64

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