Dates?
John Grayson, I wish you well in your future endeavours. May you thrive, achieve your wishes, and make the world a better place under the blessing of the Goddess of Wishes.
—Sincerely, A.R.C.A.D.I.A.
"The Goddess of Wishes? ARCADIA? Is that who sent me here?" He looked at the panel that slowly disappeared, as if dissolving into thin air.
He had questions, many of them. What wishes was it talking about? Was he brought into this world for a purpose? Something he had no idea about?
"My head…" There was a sharp pain in his brain when he tried to think about how he ended up here.
He was sure he hadn't met anyone named the Goddess of Wishes or ARCADIA, or anyone for that matter, not before or even after the transmigration.
'My wishes, what were they?' John sat at the edge of the bed, massaging his temple.
What could a writer wish for if not that his stories bring peace and joy to someone, maybe help them along a harsh stretch of their life, or make them forget about a hard day as they laugh reading their lines so they could face another day?
There wasn't anything more than that a writer could wish for, at least for John there wasn't.
'I was thinking that when I finished my novel, wasn't I?' He remembered that night, looking out of the window in the starless night as he drifted into a deep sleep, or into another world in this case.
Was his wish heard by this Goddess of Wishes and ARCADIA fellow, landing him here after he passed away in his sleep? Were they behind the system and this messed-up timeline too?
The only thing John knew was that he wouldn't get an answer; there wasn't any customer support section in this damned system. No matter what he clicked or fiddled with, no one answered him. And no one would.
The System, true to its words, had no intentions of interfering with what he did.
'I'll take that as a win.' He didn't have it in him to live under constant death threat or fear of something worse happening if he failed to do a task. That would just take the joy out of his new life.
Yeah, his new life.
John looked at the illustration he was working on. It was the last scene of 5 centimetres per second. Takaki was smiling, walking ahead, leaving behind the empty train tracks and the falling cherry blossoms.
Sure, John could sit here for the night and try to get an answer he wasn't sure would arrive, or he could move forward with a clear mind.
The system had completed its job and fell silent. Now, he could continue what he wanted.
'Another night of labour.' John cracked his knuckles and took his seat with a quiet smile.
This night was also a starless one, but the moon was bright enough to make up for it.
***
A little over a week had passed since the ending of 5 Centimetre per Second, and the readers had done their darndest to spread the word.
One small difference was that they got others to read Your Name first, then sent them down the gallows of heartbreak.
And they had damn good fun doing it.
TheOnlyreader—@imanahaq I won't forgive you bitch, how could you do this to me?! You will pay!!!
TheEmperor—What did our resident kidnapper do?
DammS—Think she got another victim.
JohnDoe4Life—For real? I mean, I am happy to have the readerhood increase, but isn't she too good at this?
Imanahaq—Who is talking about me behind my back? My ears are itchy.
IdrisIllaIlla—The witch's here, run!
The readers scattered as long lines of 'witch' comments were spammed.
If 100 readers had read John Doe's novels, 50 of them were brought in by Imanahaq. No one really knew how she did it, but they were happy regardless.
It was one thing to go through a heartbreaking ending, but totally another to watch someone else howl while cursing at the same ending. It finally made them understand why John Doe enjoyed tormenting them.
'It feels good to see others going through it, but we hope he has mercy on us.' That was the current consensus among the readers as they kept recruiting more assuming souls to the road of suffering.
However, just as things were calming down, John Doe uploaded a new post on his profile.
Thank you for all your support for the works I have shared so far. The donations have been helpful, and I am beyond grateful.
Now, if you wish to buy a physical copy of the novels, please visit this site: www.JohnDoe.com
From now on, all of my works will be released there.
Thank you for your continued support.
The entire community had been thinking where the writer had gone after dropping two bombs on them, and here he came carrying another. They were worried that he would take a long break, which they couldn't blame him for.
But a physical copy of the novel? A full-blown website? Was this guy secretly rich and just wanted to see them cry?
Regardless, the readers who had been enjoying the suffering of the newbies rushed to the website in droves.
There, they were slack-jawed seeing the listings. The price for the novels, Your Name and 5 centimetres per second, with that incredible cover, was $4 each. $7 if you bought them as a bundle; there were shipping charges, but still. It came with special illustrations of important scenes too.
They were crying over something cheaper than a damned Happy Meal!
And that wasn't all; there was an artbook for Your Name on sale as well. A rectangular book filled with over 220 illustrations depicting the world of Your Name for just $30.
The readers sucked in a sharp breath. The last time a novel or game had released an artbook, it was barely 100 pages and cost $40, not to mention the limited-edition ones. But that wasn't even the worst part.
The payment system was so smooth that everything was done in one click, resulting in impulse purchases before they even realised they had clicked the mouse.
Still, the readers weren't regretting it. There was a small movement in the comments about not buying the 5 Centimetre per second Novel out of protest, but when they saw the listing say that the letters from Takaki and Akari were included in the Novel, these were the first ones to buy.
Many had even preordered the artbook for 5 Centimetre per second since that was an option too. The best part was that they were provided with a digital version of the books and the artbook the moment their purchase went through.
'This is crazy!' That night, a new wave of tears and happiness washed over the readers as they reread the scenes that were provided with illustrations.
All of them only had one question.
"How is this guy doing all this?" Gwen hugged the physical version of Your Name close to her chest. The novel, alongside the artbook, had arrived in just 24 hours after the order was confirmed.
"Must be magic?" John shrugged. He really had no idea how the system handled the logistics and where it got the printing and stuff done.
The books had zero information or credits, aside from the writer's name, John Doe, printed in bold. Looking at the quality and the overwhelming praise from the community, he had no complaints and stopped thinking about it altogether.
"It might actually be magic." Gwen wasn't even sure if she meant that as a joke or not.
She flipped through the novel, watching the special illustrations that accompanied the text. The realization of the switch, the confession, the splitting comet, and finally the ending at the stairs.
It was drawn in a style that was straight out of Japan's anime, but because of the setting, didn't look out of place. But the biggest shock was the artbook for sure.
Just calling it an artbook was a crime. Gwen had spent the night reading the words in the novel while matching them to the pages in the artbook. The art spreads faithfully showed her the surroundings and the atmosphere of the world of Your Name. It almost felt like a silent film when she read it alongside the novel.
And some special scenes had more details, like the shrine maiden dance, crossing the boundary, the destroyed Itomori, and not to mention the key illustrations from the novel, now fully coloured.
Inside the mostly empty diner, John and Gwen were in the window-side booth, sitting on the same bench.
"Look, look, isn't the detail here insane?" Gwen leaned in, her thigh touching his.
When she thought about it after a moment, she was very close to him. However, John seemed not to have noticed that and leaned in too, trying to follow her finger. Gwen observed his eyes up close, the long lashes that tilted upwards, and the slight haggardness surrounding the clear eyes.
With the slightly messy hair and the light droop in his eyelids, John had this lazy vibe about him.
'It suits him though.' For a moment, Gwen had forgotten about the art book and stared at his face from a lower angle; his jawline looked sharper today.
"Something on my face?" And he noticed her eyes after a while, picking up a tissue to wipe his mouth. They had just had pancakes and hamburgers.
"Nothing. You look good." Gwen smiled as he paused for a moment and looked at the art book again.
A week had already passed; the bet had ended. But the two continued to have lunch outside of university every day. John paid most of the time, so it was good to have free food, but that wasn't all.
Yesterday they had spent some time in the park; the day before that they had roamed around a mall after studying. And today, after the diner, they had spontaneously entered the theatre to watch a movie.
'Aren't these just dates?' Gwen blinked
...
Want to support me and read ahead?
Visit p@treon.com/c/Over_The_Moon69 to read 20 chapters ahead.
Change the @ to 'a' first, though.