Scratching his head, Yazuki heartlessly shook off the memories that had just surfaced in his mind.
But… no good.
That image of the shy, cute little animal-like Shizuka kept creeping back in again—those moist eyes brimming with timid hesitation, that usually stern and dignified expression softening into a gentle, almost coy look… her cheeks glowing red like ripe apples begging for a bite.
Especially those lips—despite smoking often, they should've tasted like a gruff old man's—but no, they had become moist and soft, the corners of her mouth seeming to overflow with the sweetness of sugar candy.
No no, he couldn't let the cute Shizuka keep pestering him like this. Right, Ikaros, Ikaros!
His mind drifted to the morning again, to that captivating angel, and those lips he barely had time to savor.
Huh? What's this? As he tried to recall Ikaros, spicy images from before returning to the surface world started bleeding in.
A drenched goddess gasping softly? A timid female hero's private actions?
In the end, Shizuka did get pushed out of his thoughts, but he was now flushed again—he stuffed tissues up his nose.
"Focus," he told himself, quickly getting back to clipping Ikaros' beautiful bridal photo. He pulled suitable backgrounds from his landscape library.
"Whew~~"
Something that should've taken ten minutes had dragged on for nearly thirty.
Still, the result was a proper angel's wedding photo.
The angel wings behind her were photoshopped in, and while they wouldn't feel out of place to anyone else, he could see the flaws. If only they were Ikaros' real wings, naturally spread out—it would've been perfect.
He changed his desktop wallpaper, then opened his blog, Twitter, doujin manga site, and game forums, wondering where to begin browsing.
A quick glance at the first two stunned Yazuki. The hashtag #PuellaMagiMadokaMagica had shot to the top of the trending chart.
Looking at the comments, it was as expected—a complete roasting. But not of the work itself, rather the artist behind it.
Oh? Someone sounding like a self-important elder in the otaku world had posted an extremely sharp critique, saying the series would have a negative societal impact, and even going as far as accusing the author of having antisocial personality disorder, among other vicious slander.
Of course, not all comments were scathing.
Some thought the new take had opened a fresh world for the magical girl genre, but those were few and quickly drowned out by the negative noise.
Hmm? —The comments were coming in so fast that he had to scroll backward to get to the earlier ones. By the time it hit noon, the tone had changed—it was no longer entirely one-sided.
Still, many expressed that the author had scared them on purpose.
What was going on? The reason was that Episode 4 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica had been leaked.
Episode 4? That can't be right. He had only uploaded up to episode 3. Did someone hack his computer?
The comments suggested only episode 4 had been leaked. Something wasn't adding up.
The spoilers didn't match what he had planned for episode 4. He checked the forums for more detailed info. It was episode 4, alright—but not his episode 4. It was a fan-made doujin version.
The content had been altered from his original plot—specifically, the death of Mami-senpai. In this version, at the moment of her death in episode 3, Madoka suddenly entered a future-vision-like state.
Because of this vision, Madoka re-contracts as a magical girl at the last second, saving Mami-senpai in a flashy, dramatic battle against the witch.
In a way, it resembled many other magical girl awakenings that occur in moments of crisis.
Overall, whoever made this fan-made episode 4 had done a great job continuing the story from episode 3, appealing to the popular desire in the otaku community to see magical girls triumph.
In fact, many were convinced that this version had to be official, or at least that it was a leak from the real author.
While the hostility toward the creator had decreased, people were still riled up about the twist in tone—how it started dark and intense, but then dramatically reversed course with ultra-clear, highly detailed visuals, pushing emotions to the limit.
"Heh… very good. Very nice!!!"
Clutching his face, Yazuki laughed—an unsettling, razor-sharp laugh. His eyes gleamed with a dangerous light.
This so-called doujin Episode 4 didn't just change his plot out of dislike—it was a full-on challenge. He could feel it in every frame.
The art style and detailing were nearly identical to his. Even the panel layout mirrored his. The pacing felt incredibly smooth—it was practically indistinguishable from his own work.
No wonder people mistook it for the official fourth episode.
He accessed the backend of the manga doujin site he published on—his inbox was overflowing.
Suddenly, a pop-up chat window appeared.
This was a special feature available only to top creators on the platform—allowing one direct message to even the most closed-off accounts.
The message read: [So? Episode 4 was pretty good, right?... So now... I'm waiting for you to join me!]
It was blunt and straight to the point—she was confessing she made Episode 4.
She admired his drawing skills and wanted to "invite"—no, pressure—him into joining her company. Only her company, she claimed, could give him a proper platform.
Of course, the message implied that if he refused, she would sabotage his work—turn it into garbage.
Interesting.
She even guessed that his original Episode 4 would've been similar to hers, and assumed he was shocked at how close she came.
There was no doubt about her arrogance in the message.
So, who was she? She didn't hide her name: Akane Kosaka.
Anyone even slightly active in the otaku industry had heard of that name—accompanied by both praise and controversy.
Akane Kosaka had such an overpowering presence that everyone around her seemed to fade in comparison.
She demanded perfection in her work and was willing to throw money or aggressive marketing at it to ensure commercial success.
She would do whatever it took—no compromises.
She was the founder and original leader of the ultra-popular doujin circle Rouge en rouge, a workaholic powerhouse with an iron grip over her brand. She was a bestselling creator whose name was known industry-wide.
People she set her sights on were often recruited into her fold, whether willingly or not.
Many couldn't handle her harsh demands and broke down under the pressure—there were more failures than successes.
Put simply, Akane was a queen-like figure in the industry—ruthless and dominating.
To this queen-like figure, Yazuki replied with a three words: [Scram! You sow!]
Then he immediately blocked her.
Afterward, he began uploading Episode 4 and Episode 5 as originally intended.