Chapter 105: The Public Failure

Chapter 105: Chapter 105: The Public Failure

Haruki made the mistake at 2:17 AM.

The second mistake.

Not Chapter Twenty-Four.

Something worse.

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He replied to the email.

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The anonymous one.

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The Wrong Employee.

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Three words that should have been ignored.

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Instead, Haruki wrote:

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Who should I be looking at?

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Then pressed send.

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Immediately.

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Without consulting Mizuno.

Without consulting Suzune.

Without consulting common sense.

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The moment the message left his inbox, regret arrived.

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Not dramatic regret.

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Professional regret.

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The kind that appeared before consequences.

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The worst kind.

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No response came.

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Not that night.

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Not the next morning.

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Not the day after.

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Haruki almost convinced himself it didn’t matter.

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Then Friday happened.

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At exactly 11:03 AM.

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Chapter Twenty-Seven released.

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And everything exploded.

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Not because of the Chapter itself.

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Because of an interview.

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A short creator interview published by an industry website.

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Haruki forgot about it completely.

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The interview happened weeks ago.

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Before the leak.

Before the scandal.

Before the criticism.

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A harmless article.

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Or so he thought.

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The headline appeared everywhere.

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Threadless Gate Creator: "Readers Don’t Always Know What They Want."

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Silence.

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Actual silence.

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Because context died instantly.

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The quote wasn’t wrong.

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The quote wasn’t even complete.

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The full conversation discussed storytelling structure.

Long-term payoffs.

Creative vision.

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Nobody cared.

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The shortened version spread.

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Fast.

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Very fast.

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The internet did what it always did.

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It simplified.

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The reaction arrived immediately.

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Forums.

Comment sections.

Creator communities.

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Everything ignited.

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Some readers defended him.

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Many didn’t.

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One thread reached thousands of comments in under two hours.

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So now he’s insulting readers?

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First the rewrite. Then the leak. Now this?

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Success changed him.

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Haruki stared at the screen.

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The feeling in his stomach returned.

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The same feeling from Chapter Twenty-Four.

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Except bigger.

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Much bigger.

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Because this time the criticism wasn’t limited to readers.

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Creators joined.

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Review channels joined.

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Industry commentators joined.

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The story disappeared completely.

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The creator became the story.

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Exactly the scenario Rika’s article warned about.

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Exactly the scenario the system warned about.

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Exactly the scenario everyone warned about.

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Wonderful.

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Absolutely—

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No.

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Not doing that anymore.

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At 11:45 AM, Mizuno called.

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She sounded furious.

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A first.

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An actual first.

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"Why didn’t you tell me?"

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Haruki froze.

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"What?"

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"The interview."

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A pause.

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"The quote."

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Another.

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"The response."

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The anger wasn’t explosive.

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That made it worse.

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Far worse.

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Because Mizuno wasn’t angry about the criticism.

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She was angry about preparation.

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They could have prepared.

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Could have responded.

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Could have anticipated.

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Instead, the situation arrived unopposed.

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The editor exhaled sharply.

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Then:

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"Office. Now."

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The call ended.

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No discussion.

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No options.

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Just consequences.

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At Yamashita Publishing, the atmosphere felt different.

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Not busy.

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Focused.

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Dangerously focused.

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People looked at screens.

Phones.

Analytics.

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Nobody looked relaxed.

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Haruki entered the conference room.

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Mizuno sat at the table.

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Suzune sat beside her.

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Unexpected.

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Very unexpected.

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Several printed reports covered the desk.

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The mood felt wrong.

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Not hostile.

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Disappointed.

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The realization hit harder than anger would have.

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Mizuno pushed a sheet toward him.

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Traffic data.

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Mentions.

Engagement.

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The chart rose dramatically.

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Discussion increased.

Awareness increased.

Search volume increased.

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The manga readership didn’t.

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The work wasn’t growing.

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The controversy was.

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Nobody spoke for several seconds.

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Finally Suzune broke the silence.

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"Congratulations."

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Haruki blinked.

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"What?"

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The assistant editor tapped the graph.

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"You successfully became more interesting than your story."

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The statement landed like a hammer.

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Because it was true.

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Painfully true.

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No defense existed.

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No argument existed.

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Nothing.

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Just evidence.

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The room remained quiet.

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Not thoughtfully quiet.

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Exhausted quiet.

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A completely different feeling.

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Then Mizuno leaned back.

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"What happens now?"

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Haruki opened his mouth.

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Nothing emerged.

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Because he genuinely didn’t know.

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For once.

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No answer.

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No strategy.

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No analysis.

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Just uncertainty.

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The first truly public failure of his career sat openly on the table.

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Not a bad Chapter.

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Not a weak performance.

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A reputation mistake.

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Something everyone could see.

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Something everyone discussed.

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Something nobody could hide.

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At six o’clock, Haruki finally escaped the office.

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The rain had stopped.

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The city looked washed clean.

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He didn’t.

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His phone remained silent.

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No Yui.

No Takeda.

No Sora.

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For the first time all day, nobody contacted him.

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The silence felt wrong.

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Very wrong.

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Then he noticed why.

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A community center poster hung inside a station window.

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Volunteer Recognition Event.

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Tomorrow.

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Yui’s name appeared near the top.

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His chest tightened unexpectedly.

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Because he’d forgotten.

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Completely.

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The event.

The invitation.

The promise to attend.

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Gone.

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Buried beneath leaks and publishers and criticism.

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The realization arrived too late.

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Because tomorrow wasn’t the problem.

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The problem was that he’d forgotten at all.

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And for the first time since the consequence arc began, the damage wasn’t professional.

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It was personal.

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Back in his apartment, an unread email waited.

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Sender:

Unknown.

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Subject:

You Asked The Wrong Question

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Haruki stared.

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Then opened it.

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Inside sat a single sentence.

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You’re finally looking where we wanted.

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No explanation.

No signature.

No context.

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Just confirmation.

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Someone had manipulated him.

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The leak.

The email.

The investigation.

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Maybe more.

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Haruki leaned back in his chair.

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The public criticism still raged.

The story still suffered.

The mystery still grew.

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And somehow the thing that bothered him most wasn’t any of those.

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It was the community center event tomorrow.

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Because for the first time in months, he wasn’t sure Yui would believe "I was busy" was a good excuse.

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And the uncomfortable part?

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Neither did he.