While Takahashi was overjoyed, the other competitors were writhing in regret, especially after watching the end of the video.
Seeing the flood of comments from netizens saying things like, "From now on, I'll only buy yukatas from Takahashi's," was unbearable for the competitors.
They were all in the yukata business, and now with most of the audience declaring loyalty to Takahashi's brand, what about their own brands? Was nobody going to buy from them anymore? That would mean a massive drop in sales!
Unable to accept this outcome, the competitors held a quick online meeting after seeing the video:
"We can't just sit here and do nothing!"
"Everyone knows we can't let Takahashi run wild like this, but what's the plan? Does anyone have a strategy to stop them?"
"This is the internet age; public opinion changes quickly. The Takahashi video is trending now, partly because of the fire but mostly because of its overall hype! So we need to suppress its momentum!"
"How do we do that?" At least someone had a suggestion, and naturally, everyone jumped into the discussion: "We're all small-time, running physical businesses. None of us have any connections or partnerships with video platforms."
"Even if we could suppress the hype, how would we do it? Spend money to suppress it? Do you know how expensive that would be? I've heard it's a bottomless pit—it's impossible to stop once you start."
"No need to go head-to-head with Takahashi. We can't suppress their video directly, but we can boost the popularity of other videos! As long as we push other videos up the rankings, Takahashi's will naturally lose its spot on the trending list."
"Good idea! We don't have to fight Takahashi directly. By promoting other videos, Takahashi's heat will naturally fade away."
"That's right! Let's do it!"
Of course, this kind of approach wouldn't work for a single competitor alone. They were all small-scale workshops, not major players in the market.
This was precisely why, back when the promotional ad for Fujii's eel farm went viral, there hadn't been much pushback from competitors. First, Fujii's reputation was spotless, and second, their success stemmed from playing fair—leveraging the popularity of AN High School to create an outstanding advertisement.
Secondly, individual competitors were reluctant to spend such a large amount of money suppressing the hype. After all, wouldn't that money be better spent on production or other business operations to make more profit?
However, when all the competitors banded together, pooling resources to suppress the video became feasible. Each business only had to contribute a small portion of their working capital, and crowdfunding made the effort manageable for everyone.
Gradually, as time passed, interest in Takahashi's video dwindled. On the latest trending charts, the once-dominant headline for Takahashi's video started to disappear.
Only then did the competitors finally relax, collectively letting out a sigh of relief.
On the other side, far removed from their celebrations, Yukio calmly noted the decline in Takahashi's video's popularity. He casually called Takahashi, instructing him to proceed to the next phase of their plan.
Unaware of this new development, the competitors were already making plans to celebrate over drinks.
"Ah, we've been at this for a while. Let's take a break—why don't we all grab a drink in Ginza? I know a madam who can get us a 30% discount."
"Sounds good! If someone's treating, we can't refuse!"
"Wait, hold on! Something's not right! How is Takahashi's video gaining traction again?! Did they pump more money into it?"
Just as the competitors were about to toast their success, one of them noticed Takahashi's video climbing the ranks once more. Alarmed, he shouted, causing everyone in the virtual meeting to refocus on the video.
Soon, they discovered the problem: another video had surfaced, sitting firmly above Takahashi's video, yet boosting both its own and Takahashi's popularity.
The new video's headline was just as clickbait-worthy: "Golden-haired senior from AN High School caught in a fire!"
With the mention of the prestigious AN High School and a fire, who wouldn't click to see what was going on?
Curious, the competitors clicked into the new video, only to realize it was a snippet from Takahashi's original footage. Specifically, it was the part showing employees working overtime to fulfill orders.
What drew attention, however, was a sharp-eyed "viewer" spotting Karuizawa among the workers. This discovery prompted the creation of the new video, which redirected traffic back to Takahashi's original content.
A sharp-eyed "viewer" even went to the extent of circling Karuizawa's position with a red marker to draw attention to it.
The moment Karuizawa appeared in the footage, the comments section erupted with excitement:
"Golden-haired senior spotted again!"
"Ahhh, this spring, I must get into AN High School!"
"Wow, who noticed this? I skimmed through Takahashi's fire video earlier and didn't catch this at all!"
This revelation left the competitors dumbfounded:
"Who is this? Is she famous? How… how does just one shot bring Takahashi's video back to the top?"*
"No idea, I don't recognize her. Judging by the title, she must be from AN High School?"
"A student? Why would a student be working here? Wait… isn't AN High School supposed to restrict students from leaving campus?"
"Hold on, I remember now! This girl appeared in a previous video—wasn't she featured in a promotional video for the school?"
Realizing this, someone dug up the Fujii Eel Farm promotional video. After cross-referencing, it became clear that this girl was indeed a student from AN High School. However, her presence at Takahashi's Yukata Workshop remained a mystery.
Karuizawa had been a rising figure of online interest. The intrigue surrounding AN High School—a unique and enigmatic institution—fueled widespread curiosity.
Had Karuizawa stayed out of the spotlight, her popularity might have dwindled quickly, fading from public memory.
However, with her sudden reappearance, the internet's fascination with her reignited. Her presence became a fresh attraction, throwing renewed interest onto Takahashi's original video, igniting it into a blazing trend once more!
This time, the heat couldn't be contained!
It was precisely for this reason that when Karuizawa happily approached Yukio, excitedly sharing how she had been chosen by Class D to star in their promotional ad, Yukio remarked that she had done him a huge favor.
Yukio had long foreseen that the competitors would collaborate to suppress the Takahashi video's popularity. Karuizawa's involvement was the perfect countermeasure, solidifying his strategy and delivering the final blow to secure victory.
"Look at this!" someone exclaimed. "Quick! Check the Yukata Contest website!"
Another competitor exclaimed in shock, prompting the group to switch over to the Yukata Contest website. There, they discovered that, after a long buildup of attention, Takahashi Yukata's design had risen to the top spot, accompanied by a statement from Takahashi himself.
The statement broadly explained that AN High School had selected Takahashi Yukata Workshop as a venue for its students to experience real-world social engagement, providing an explanation for Karuizawa's appearance in the video.
This wave of public relations mastery—coupled with the fire incident and the association with AN High School—left the competitors feeling utterly defeated, as though they had been beaten black and blue. There was no room left for them to fight back.
All they could do was bitterly watch as Takahashi Yukata Workshop walked away with both fame and future fortune.
At least, that was their perception.
In truth, Yukio's words to Takahashi were entirely accurate: gaining both prestige and future profits came at a cost. The price was the destruction of Takahashi's warehouse and part of the workshop. Although many items had been preemptively safeguarded, such as the goods stored in the warehouse, continuing to take orders and produce products would have to wait until reconstruction was completed.