Chapter 39: The Mad Decision
The conference room was dead silent.
Everyone stared at Lee as if they hadn't understood a word he said.
"No... no advance notice?" Deputy Chief Wang was the first to react, his voice cracking. "Chief, this is too risky! A new serialization, especially one with such a drastically different style, if we don't warm it up beforehand, readers might not even notice it!"
"The point is to make them 'not notice' until it hits them." Lee's gaze was sharp as a knife. "Think about it—readers of Silver Spoon finish the warm, touching season finale, immersed in emotion, they turn the page—"
He stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and picked up a marker.
"Suddenly, they see this."
He drew an arrow on the whiteboard, pointing from "Warm, Bright Ranch" to "Rain-drenched, Gloomy Town."
"From Hachiken's growth story, jumping instantly to Edward's cruel fate. From 'I found what I want to do,' to 'I lost the most important thing.' That extreme contrast, that caught-off-guard impact—"
Lee turned around, facing everyone. "It will be more shocking than any trailer. Readers will freeze, doubt their eyes, flip back to check. Then they will realize the author is the same Alex Walker."
He paused. "That sense of astonishment—'What is this?'—that shock—'Alex Walker can draw this kind of work?'—will ignite the topic instantly."
The room was quiet for a few seconds. Everyone was digesting this crazy idea.
"But what if readers don't accept it?" The Head of Distribution couldn't help but ask. "What if they feel cheated? Feel like 'I want to see a warm farming manga, not this dark stuff,' and then drop the magazine?"
"Then we bet." Lee said decisively. "Bet on Alex's skill, bet on the quality of this work, bet that readers have enough taste and tolerance to recognize a masterpiece."
He looked at Kevin Zhang. "Kevin, you said this work has 'masterpiece potential,' right?"
"Absolutely!" Kevin nodded excitedly.
"Then a masterpiece deserves masterpiece treatment." Lee walked back to the head of the table, leaned forward, hands on the desk, speaking word by word:
"In mid-March, the issue containing the Silver Spoon Second Year finale, we will do something no one in this industry has ever done—"
He paused for three seconds, then announced the decision that made everyone gasp:
"Using fully thirty pages of color, immediately following the end of Silver Spoon, without any preview, we directly publish Chapter 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist! From the rainy town to the human transmutation, from the brother's tragedy to Edward fitting the automail. The entire first chapter, full color, released all at once!"
The conference room exploded.
"Thirty color pages?!" Wang jumped up. "Chief, this is insane! New serials usually get three to five color pages. Thirty... that's like giving the entire color section of an issue to one work!"
"And the printing cost!" The Distribution Head was anxious. "Full color printing costs three times as much as black and white! Thirty pages, plus Silver Spoon's color pages, the cost of this issue will go off the charts!"
"Then let it go off the charts." Lee was unmoved. "I want this issue to be a keepsake readers will treasure for a lifetime. Best paper, best printing, best binding. Cost is not the issue; I want the effect—the shock effect."
He scanned the room. "This is a big gamble. If we win, NextGen will own a work that goes down in history, and Alex Walker will become the iconic author of this era. If we lose..."
He paused. "We might suffer heavy losses. But some risks are worth taking."
Silence fell again. Everyone realized the weight of this decision.
"Sue," Lee looked at her. "How many chapters does Alex have in reserve?"
"Silver Spoon has ten chapters in stock, enough to run until mid-March, exactly finishing the Second Year arc," Sue said. "FMA has the first three chapters finished, but the detailed storyboards and outlines for twenty chapters are complete. He said if approved, he can start official drawing immediately."
"Can quality be guaranteed? Maintaining two series simultaneously."
"He says yes." Sue paused. "And he said the world of FMA already exists completely in his mind; he's just drawing it out."
Lee nodded. "Good. Communicate with Alex. Tell him to focus on finishing Silver Spoon Second Year. After that, give him one month to fully prepare the thirty color pages for FMA. No rushing, no disturbances. Give him whatever resources he needs."
"Understood!"
"Also," Lee added, "starting today, the editorial department enters 'FMA Prep State.' All departments coordinate. Printing plant reserves the best color press time, use the best coated paper. I want the March issue to be the industry benchmark."
He looked at everyone. "Confidentiality level: Top Secret. Before FMA Chapter 1 is published, everyone who has seen the manuscript signs a non-disclosure agreement. Externally, only say Alex is preparing a new work, but not a word about the genre, content, or style. We want to give readers a true—surprise."
"Meeting adjourned." Lee put away the storyboard. "Sue, to my office. Others, get to work."
In the Chief's office, after the door closed, Lee leaned back in his chair and exhaled a long breath.
"Honestly, Sue," he looked at the ceiling, "half of my decision just now was instinct. But that work... is too special. Special enough that I feel if I don't gamble this once, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
Sue nodded. "When I first saw the storyboard, I got goosebumps."
"Tell Alex," Lee sat up straight, eyes serious, "we are betting everything on this work. Printing costs, promotional resources, magazine reputation—all in. But I need him to guarantee one thing—"
"What?"
"Quality." Lee enunciated clearly. "The quality of FMA must be worthy of all the resources we give it, worthy of reader expectations, and must—deserve the word 'masterpiece'."
"He will do it," Sue said. "He said this work has existed in his mind for years; he was just waiting for the right time to bring it to this world."
"Good." Lee nodded. "Then tell him, the time is now. March. Let the world see what true—shock looks like."
That afternoon, everyone in the editorial department who had seen the FMA storyboard signed the NDA. The terms were terrifyingly strict—immediate termination and legal action for any leak.
But as they signed, their expressions weren't fearful, but excited. They knew they were participating in a gamble that could change industry history.
After signing, Kevin Zhang told Sue: "Tell Alex, I've been an editor for twenty years waiting for a work like this. Let him draw freely. If the sky falls, I'll hold it up."
Sue smiled. "He doesn't need anyone to hold it up. He alone can prop up the sky."
From January to March, Silver Spoon continued its steady serialization. Readers were immersed in Hachiken's third-year life, completely unaware of the storm brewing.
Inside the editorial department, nerves were taut. The art department secretly began coloring FMA Chapter 1. The printing plant reserved the best machines. Distribution prepared reprint plans.
Lee asked for progress every day, but not from Sue—he asked Kevin Zhang directly. The veteran editor had become FMA's "Chief Believer," spending every day in the art department supervising every panel's coloring.
"Here, heavier shadows, emphasize the oppression."
"The sheen on the automail isn't right; it needs a cold metallic feel."
"The Human Transmutation panels need more artistic lighting—convey cruelty without being too graphic."
Kevin's strictness made the art department groan, but the results were stunning. In early March, when the thirty fully colored pages were finished, everyone who saw them fell silent.
It wasn't a manga; it was art.
Lee looked at the finished product, silent for a long time, and finally said one word: "Worth it."
---------------------------------------------------------
March 15th.
Silver Spoon Chapter 55
The Second Year Finale—was released.
This chapter was warm and moving: Hachiken finished his second year, standing on the Ag High field, watching the sunset, telling Komaba and Mikage:
"Third year, let's keep going."
The final line was: "Here, I found what I want to do, and who I want to become."
Readers were touched. The forum was full of threads: "Reluctant to see it end," "Looking forward to third year," "Hachiken grew so much."
No one knew what shock was hidden at the very end of this magazine that moved them so much.
March 20th. Magazine printing complete, shipped to bookstores nationwide.
In the printing plant, Lee held a fresh sample copy, flipping to the last page. It should have been the end of Silver Spoon. But now—
Turning past the warm, bright ranch scene, the next page was a rain-drenched, gloomy town.
Fullmetal Alchemist, Chapter 1.
Thirty pages of full color. From the rainy town to the human transmutation, from the brothers' tragedy to Edward fitting the automail. The exquisite art, the shocking narrative, the dark style formed an extreme contrast with the warmth of Silver Spoon before it.
On the last page, Edward, fitted with automail, looked at the rain outside the window and whispered: "Just wait, Al. I will definitely get our bodies back."
Below was a line of small text: "Fullmetal Alchemist, officially serialized starting April. The journey of redemption in darkness begins."
Lee closed the magazine and said to Sue beside him, "Tomorrow, the industry will quake."
Sue nodded. "Readers will go crazy."
"Then let them go crazy." Lee smiled. "Manga is supposed to make people crazy."
March 21st, Saturday. The new issue of NextGen Manga Monthly hit the shelves.
In bookstores, old readers bought the magazine as usual, ready to continue enjoying the warmth of Silver Spoon.
No one knew they were about to experience the most shocking reading experience of their lives.
(To be Continued)
Read Advanced chapter at Petreon.com/ Otaku_Reader
Please Support me there and get daily Updates.
---------------------------------------------------------
Reward Milestones:
💎 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
💎 300 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
💎 600 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
💎 1000 Power Stones = Mass Release (5 Chapters!)