NOVEL WEB Chapter 54 Bonus chapter
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"I didn't expect that Mai Sakurajima is actually a reader of Slam Dunk!"
Eri Kashiwagi stared at the glowing screen in disbelief. The popular actress, loved nationwide, had just posted a tweet mentioning Kaede Rukawa—the cool, stoic ace of Slam Dunk, a character created by none other than Whale… Lucien D. Blackthorn himself.
Her heart raced. This wasn't just some random celebrity name-dropping a manga. This was Mai Sakurajima, the Mai Sakurajima, openly showing interest in a character from Lucien's work.
Eri quickly scrolled down to the comment section. It was chaos.
> Netizen A: Sakurajima Mai, my goddess! Don't you want me anymore?!
> Netizen B: The guy above was just released from the hospital, right? By the way, who's Rukawa Kaede? Has the goddess gone public with a boyfriend?!
> Netizen C: No way! Mai-chan, didn't you say you'd focus on acting and exams and not date for now?!
> Netizen D: Rukawa Kaede, from today on, we're enemies!
> Netizen E: Rukawa Kaede sounds like a guy! Who is he?
> Netizen F: Big news! Sakurajima Mai just made it official?! Paparazzi, get on this!
> Netizen G: I think Rukawa Kaede's a basketball player.
> Netizen H: All of you are clueless! Rukawa Kaede's a manga character from Slam Dunk, written by Whale-sensei! I didn't think my goddess was reading it—this is amazing!
> Netizen I: Wait… Whale-sensei? Isn't he the one who wrote Attack on Titan too?
Eri shook her head, half amused, half exasperated. Clearly, most netizens didn't know Slam Dunk, let alone Rukawa Kaede. Many were convinced he was Mai Sakurajima's new boyfriend.
Within an hour of posting, the tweet had already exceeded one million views. A true testament to Mai's nationwide popularity.
The comment section was practically exploding. Readers who actually knew Slam Dunk tried to explain, but their voices were buried under waves of heartbroken fans and absurd speculation.
Eri couldn't stop laughing.
"Hahaha! These fans… their imaginations are wild!" she chuckled to herself. "When did Mai Sakurajima become your girlfriend? In a dream?"
Her eyes softened slightly as she looked at the tweet again. There was no romantic implication here—just shared admiration for a fictional character. Still, it made Eri like Mai Sakurajima a little more.
It wasn't romantic love—just genuine support and appreciation.
"She has good taste," Eri murmured. "We both like Rukawa Kaede. That makes us kindred spirits."
She thought about how perfectly Lucien had written him—handsome, cool, confident, with just enough aloofness to be endearing. No wonder girls couldn't resist.
Without hesitation, she liked Mai Sakurajima's tweet, then clicked onto the actress's profile to see if there were more posts about Slam Dunk.
Nothing. Just promotional posts for movies, dramas, and endorsements.
"Huh? Wait…" Eri's eyes widened. "She liked Lucien's post?"
Sure enough, two hours earlier, Mai Sakurajima had liked the post Whale-sensei made about Volume 3, Chapter 22 of Slam Dunk.
"That means… she just became a reader today."
Eri grinned. "Lucien would freak out if he knew a star like her noticed his work."
She couldn't wait to tell him. She wanted to see his reaction when he heard the news.
After browsing a bit more gossip, Eri yawned and shut down her computer. Her mother's words echoed in her head: Don't stay up too late—early to bed, early to rise keeps you healthy and beautiful.
Meanwhile, late at night, the internet was still ablaze with arguments. The Mai Sakurajima x Rukawa Kaede debate was heating up.
Some loyal fans were working overtime to defend her, others were digging through old posts for clues, and a few self-appointed "investigators" had begun deep-diving into Rukawa Kaede's identity.
The irony? Mai Sakurajima herself was fast asleep, blissfully unaware that her single tweet had sparked a nationwide frenzy.
At 1:00 AM, the truth finally surfaced.
Ayano Iida, an editor from Weekly Shōnen Jump, retweeted Mai's post with clarification:
"Rukawa Kaede is a character from Slam Dunk, a manga by Whale-sensei."
With that, the mystery evaporated. Relief washed over Mai's more protective fans. The ones who had rage-unfollowed her quickly came crawling back. Those who had insulted Rukawa Kaede quietly deleted their comments.
The storm died down… but something unexpected happened.
Curiosity took hold. Thousands of people began searching for Slam Dunk that very night, eager to learn more about this basketball player who had caught Mai Sakurajima's attention.
As a result, Lucien D. Blackthorn's account—Whale—gained thousands of followers overnight.
And Slam Dunk, without any deliberate promotion, suddenly found itself trending
End of the chapter
250ps=1 extra chapter