Shueisha Editorial Department.
In the main hall, the ringing of telephones and the hurried footsteps of editors mixed with the scent of cigarettes and coffee. Editor Oonishi, having just finished a headache-inducing consultation with an author regarding future manga plotlines, returned to his desk.
He picked up the tea he had brewed earlier—now cold due to the delay in attending to the author—and prepared to take a sip, only to be interrupted once again by an assistant.
"Editor Oonishi, Oda-sensei is approaching his 'death date' again. To prevent a last-minute hiatus like last time, could you please go and urge him?"
The assistant spoke cautiously, observing Editor Oonishi's face, which had already darkened.
"I know. I'll go immediately."
Editor Oonishi rubbed the space between his eyebrows and waved his hand, signaling the assistant to return to their own work. After the assistant bowed with a smile and left, Oonishi downed the cold tea in one gulp, stood up, grabbed his suit jacket and briefcase, and left Shueisha.
Just as Editor Oonishi exited the building and prepared to head to the train station, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
It seems the new issue of 'Comic Kairakuten' is out. Should I go buy a copy first?
I wonder if there's a new work by Xuanyayi-sensei in this issue?
Thinking this, Editor Oonishi turned around and walked toward the nearby convenience store.
As usual, upon entering the store, his professional habits kicked in. He first checked the remaining stack thickness of his own company's Weekly Shonen JUMP, compared it with the thickness of competing products from other publishers, and finally nodded. He then walked to the other side, spotted the latest issue of Comic Kairakuten, picked up a copy, and went directly to the register to pay.
After coming out, Editor Oonishi took the train directly to Oda-sensei's house.
He rang the doorbell first, and just in case, he knocked on the door twice.
Dong, dong.
"Oda-sensei, it's Oonishi. Are you home?"
"The door isn't locked. Just push it open and come in."
Has he completely given up on running away?
Good. It saves me the trouble of chasing him all over the place.
Editor Oonishi nodded in approval of Oda-sensei's sensibility this time, then pushed the door open and walked in.
The room was, as always, littered with crumpled paper balls and discarded drafts, and the tatami mats were stained with ink.
Oda-sensei was also sitting cross-legged on the low table as usual, constantly grabbing at his own hair with a pained expression.
"Oda-sensei, the deadline is approaching again. How is your manuscript coming along?"
"Hmph, don't disturb my thinking. I am completing a great chapter!"
Editor Oonishi, standing at the doorway, was stunned.
He had never seen such a tough side of Oda-sensei before.
Not only did he not run away, but he's getting angry at me?
What's wrong with Oda-sensei today? Since when did he have such... guts!
With a face full of confusion, Editor Oonishi walked up to Oda-sensei and knelt down.
He noticed a stack of seemingly completed manuscripts beside Oda-sensei's table, so he picked them up and started flipping through them.
A moment later, Editor Oonishi revealed a satisfied smile as he looked at Oda-sensei, who was still staring at the drafts in deep contemplation.
"Isn't this finished very well? Why didn't you contact the Editorial Department to pick up the manuscript?"
"No, it's not finished."
"It's still missing one step. Just one step!"
Oda-sensei mumbled obsessively while anxiously biting his fingernails.
"What exactly is missing?" Editor Oonishi asked curiously.
"It's missing how the male protagonist should naturally fall in love with the female protagonist!"
Editor Oonishi's face instantly darkened again.
"Oda-sensei, if I recall correctly, this is a hot-blooded shonen manga, right?"
"In the plot we discussed previously, there didn't seem to be any development regarding romantic feelings between the male and female leads, right?"
Oda-sensei looked at Editor Oonishi.
"Didn't you notice that the positive rating in the reader surveys went up last time?"
Editor Oonishi smiled and nodded in agreement.
"The battles and paneling in the last issue were indeed magnificent."
"It seems reading Xuanyayi-sensei's manga wasn't a waste of time for you; you actually learned some real skills."
"No, not that!" Oda-sensei immediately denied it.
"I'm saying that in the last issue, I tried to give the male and female leads more 'CP' chemistry."
"Sure enough, the readers really ate that up. I think that's the reason the votes improved."
"Oda-sensei, this is not a shoujo manga. You should focus on the battles and the plot!"
"There's no need to form any pairings for the time being. It's very dangerous, you know?"
"Ara, I just happened to read a very good shoujo manga recently, so I wanted to try it out."
Oda-sensei, losing his previous 'guts,' looked at the darkened face of Editor Oonishi and spoke with a hint of grievance.
"You actually have time to read shoujo manga?"
Oda-sensei hurriedly changed the subject.
"By the way, speaking of Xuanyayi-sensei, the latest issue of Comic Kairakuten should be out, right? I wonder if Xuanyayi-sensei is in it this time. Did you buy one on your way here, Editor Oonishi?"
Editor Oonishi glanced at Oda, but in the end, he pulled Comic Kairakuten out of his briefcase.
"Since Oda-sensei has finished the manuscript, I'll rest here for a bit before heading back."
"By the way, stop doing the shipping stuff!"
Ignoring Editor Oonishi, Oda hurriedly took the book, placed it on the table, and spread it open.
"Alright, let's read it first."
Then, the two of them flipped to Xuanyayi-sensei's work in the latest issue: The Housewife Next Door is Alone Today Too.
"It's actually NTL? And the art style has changed!"
"This housewife is drawn as cute and moving as a young girl."
"Wuwuwuwu, the housewife is so pitiful."
"If I had half the diligence of the male protagonist, I probably wouldn't be single like this."
"The portrayal of the housewife's inner monologue is so delicate."
"I think I have inspiration for the emotional development between my male and female leads now!"
Oda ceaselessly praised the manga and its content, while Editor Oonishi quietly watched and turned the pages.
They continued until they finished reading the entire manga and saw the large preview for the 'Second Part' on the last page.
Oda and Oonishi both looked at each other in confusion.
"Oonishi-san, did you accidentally buy a general-audience manga?"
After speaking, Oda closed the book and checked the cover again.
"It really is Comic Kairakuten!"
...
After Editor Oonishi rested at Oda's place for a while, he finally returned to the Editorial Department with the original manuscript.
As soon as he entered the main hall of the Editorial Department, he saw his colleagues gathered around the Editor-in-Chief's desk, discussing something.
When one of the editors saw Oonishi return, he called out.
"Editor Oonishi, come over and look at this."
When Editor Oonishi walked closer, he saw that everyone, including the Editor-in-Chief, was gathered around the new issue of Comic Kairakuten—the very same one he had just bought—discussing The Housewife Next Door which they had already read.
"What is WANI thinking? To actually let a general-audience work be published directly in an adult magazine?"
"Is this some kind of brand-new experiment?"
"Aren't they afraid of being scolded by readers? After all, even if Xuanyayi-sensei's fans don't scold them, other readers will, right?"
"Does WANI even have readers who aren't Xuanyayi-sensei's fans anymore?"
"And Xuanyayi-sensei even changed his art style. If the author wasn't explicitly stated, I wouldn't have been able to tell it was drawn by Xuanyayi-sensei!"
Amidst the chatter of the editors, the Editor-in-Chief sitting in the main seat suddenly spoke up.
"How foolish. To actually abandon the most marketable art style and try a different one."
Plus...
"If he's drawing general-audience manga, why didn't Xuanyayi-sensei come to Shueisha!"
____
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