Chapter 103: The First Casualty

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: The First Casualty

The leak finally claimed its first victim.

It wasn’t Haruki.

That would have been easier.

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The message arrived at 7:32 AM.

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Suzune.

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Three words.

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We have problems.

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Wonderful.

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Three words had become increasingly dangerous lately.

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Haruki called immediately.

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The line connected after one ring.

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No greeting.

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No small talk.

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Professional panic.

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The assistant editor sounded irritated.

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A bad sign.

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A very bad sign.

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Because Suzune rarely sounded emotional.

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"What happened?"

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Paper rustled.

Voices moved somewhere behind her.

Phones rang.

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An office.

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A busy one.

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Finally:

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"Hoshikawa suspended an employee."

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Haruki frowned.

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"What?"

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The answer arrived instantly.

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"They think he leaked the document."

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Silence.

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Actual silence.

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Because the statement felt wrong.

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Not morally.

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Structurally.

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The pieces didn’t fit.

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The employee worked in data administration.

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Junior position.

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No public history.

No known motive.

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No connection to Haruki.

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Nothing.

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Too clean.

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Far too clean.

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Suzune continued.

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"He’s denying it."

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A pause.

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"Very loudly."

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That sounded human.

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The rest didn’t.

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Haruki stared through rain-covered glass.

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Cars crawled through morning traffic below.

People rushed toward trains.

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Life continued.

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Someone else’s life had just become significantly worse.

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Because of something connected to him.

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That thought lingered long after the call ended.

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At ten o’clock, the internet exploded again.

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The suspension leaked.

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Naturally.

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Everything leaked now.

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Discussion spread across creator forums.

Industry blogs.

News aggregation sites.

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The narrative formed quickly.

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Too quickly.

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Many believed the case was solved.

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Others didn’t.

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The debate turned ugly.

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People always became more confident when they possessed less information.

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A fascinating social phenomenon.

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A terrible one.

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At noon, Haruki met Sora.

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The creator arrived carrying food and bad opinions.

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A consistent combination.

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They sat inside a small ramen shop.

Steam filled the air.

Conversations echoed around them.

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The atmosphere felt real.

Messy.

Alive.

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Better than conference rooms.

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Haruki explained everything.

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The suspension.

The leak.

Suzune’s concerns.

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Sora listened while eating.

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An impressive skill.

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Eventually:

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"You don’t believe it."

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Not a question.

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Haruki shook his head.

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"No."

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"Why?"

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The answer took longer.

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Because instinct wasn’t evidence.

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Just discomfort.

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Finally:

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"It’s too convenient."

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Sora nodded.

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Immediately.

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No argument.

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Interesting.

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Then:

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"Good."

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The word was spreading.

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Like a disease.

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Haruki pointed accusingly.

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"Stop spending time with Mizuno."

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Sora laughed.

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Several nearby customers turned toward them.

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The conversation continued.

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No grand insight emerged.

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No perfect conclusion.

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Just uncertainty.

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For once, uncertainty felt more believable than answers.

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At three o’clock, Chapter Twenty-Six became the real disaster.

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Not because readers hated it.

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Because they ignored it.

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The analytics updated.

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Refresh.

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Refresh.

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Refresh.

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The retention drop continued.

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Again.

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Not catastrophic.

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Persistent.

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The worst kind.

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Comments discussed the leak.

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Publisher politics.

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Contract rumors.

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Almost nobody discussed the Chapter.

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That hurt more.

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Far more.

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Because criticism meant engagement.

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Silence meant indifference.

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Haruki stared at the data.

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The realization arrived slowly.

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His creator mistake now affected visibility.

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The conversation around Threadless Gate had shifted away from the story itself.

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Exactly the thing Kuroda warned about.

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Exactly the thing good creators feared.

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The manga stopped being the main discussion.

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The creator became the discussion.

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Dangerous.

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Very dangerous.

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At five, another email arrived.

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From Rika.

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Unexpected.

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Subject:

You Need To Read This

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The attachment contained an internal industry article.

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Not public.

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Not classified.

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Just difficult to access.

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The headline:

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When Creator Branding Overtakes Creative Output

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Haruki read every word.

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Mistake.

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A very educational mistake.

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The article analyzed dozens of careers.

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Creators who became famous.

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Then became controversial.

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Then became the story.

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Eventually their work disappeared behind their reputation.

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Some recovered.

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Most didn’t.

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One sentence stayed with him.

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The audience should care about the work first and the creator second.

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Haruki closed the file.

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Then looked toward Chapter Twenty-Seven.

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Still unfinished.

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Still waiting.

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The story wanted attention.

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The industry wanted drama.

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The audience wanted answers.

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Not always the same answers.

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His phone buzzed.

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Yui.

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The message contained a photograph.

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Community center event.

Children painting.

Volunteers laughing.

Someone accidentally covered a table with blue paint.

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Chaos.

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Human chaos.

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The caption:

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Today was ridiculous.

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No leak.

No publishers.

No contracts.

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Just life.

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Haruki smiled despite himself.

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Then another message arrived.

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You haven’t visited in weeks.

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The smile faded slightly.

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Because she was right.

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Not accusatory.

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Not angry.

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Just true.

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The problem with true statements was that they didn’t need decoration.

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At seven o’clock, Haruki finally left the apartment.

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No destination.

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Just movement.

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The city breathed around him.

Restaurants.

Neon lights.

Crowded sidewalks.

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Normal people living normal lives.

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Something he increasingly forgot existed.

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His phone buzzed again.

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System Notification.

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Reputation Vulnerability Alert

Current Risk:

Creator Overshadowing Work

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Severity:

Increasing

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Suggested Priority:

Return attention to creation.

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Haruki stared at the warning.

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Then laughed.

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Not because it was funny.

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Because everyone kept telling him the same thing.

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Kuroda.

Mizuno.

Rika.

Suzune.

The system.

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Different voices.

Same warning.

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The leak had its first casualty.

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Not the suspended employee.

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Not really.

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The first casualty was focus.

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And if Haruki wasn’t careful, the next casualty would be the manga itself.