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Tokyo.

At Shōnen Publishing.

The number of comic publishers in Japan was as many as the amount of hair on a cow. However, of all the comic magazines out there, there were always three publishers who led the circulation ¹ of such weekly serialized magazines targeted at teenage boys.

Shōnen Publishing ² .

Shūkansha.

POO Studios ³ .

And Shōnen Publishing was the one with the highest circulation figures.

—#1 in Japan, #1 in Asia, #1 in the industry.

In the editorial department.

Seto Kyoko looked down at a comic manuscript with a complicated expression. She had been thinking over it for several days. Her breakfast placed on the side had already turned cold. She hadn’t even taken a bite from it yet.

Beside her, an editor said, “What’s the matter, Kyoko?”

Kyoko gave a wry smile. “I don’t know whether to submit a manuscript I have for approval.”

The editor said, “Just submit it if you think it’s good. Otherwise, axe it.”

Kyoko said, scratching her head, “The plot is fine. It’s just that the art style and character designs are so weird that it’s unlike anything that I’ve seen in all my years as an editor.”

“Oh? Let me have a look.”

“Here.”

“Pfft!”

“Right? Right?”

“It’s indeed a little odd.”

“Forget it, I’ll just submit it and see how it goes.”

Across the room, someone shouted, “The meeting with the editor-in-chief is starting.”

Everyone in the editorial department stood up silently and proceeded to the innermost conference room.

13 people sat around a long table. They were the key leaders of Shōnen Publishing’s editorial department.

The editor-in-chief spoke, “Today, we’ll discuss the serializations for the upcoming issue.”

The deputy editor pushed up his spectacles and said, “We freed up two slots since Onee-chan’s Daily Life has ended, and with Monster’s Revenge coming in last place for the past three weeks in the reader polls, we’ve decided that we will cut it from serialization. We have to decide which other titles will take their places today.”

The editor-in-chief said, “Let’s have a look then.”

All the recommended works had already been placed onto the table by the various editors.

Everyone lowered their heads and scanned through them as the recommending editor explained their work.

“This won’t do.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely not going to work.”

“The plot moves too slowly.”

“Next.”

“This one is not bad.”

“But it’ll require some editing. The story’s setting is not so good.”

“Next.”

They went through the manuscripts one by one.

It finally came to Seto Kyoko’s recommended manuscript.

Kyoko said, “This work was submitted by a rookie, someone by the pen name of Aoi. I find the story and plot to be very good, so I submitted it for the meeting.”

An editor frowned. “Someone who hasn’t debuted?”

Kyoko said, “That’s right, a pure newcomer.”

Another editor said, “In principle, we would never go straight to serialization with a newcomer’s work.”

Kyoko said, “I know that. But the other party has submitted 10 chapters of the manuscript in one shot. I’ve gone through the work and find the continuity to be very strong. Furthermore, it really suits the style of our Shōnen Publishing.”

So everyone lowered their heads to read it and were dumbfounded.

What is this?

What kind of artistic style is this?

The deputy editor looked at her. “What’s with the character design?”

Another editor facepalmed. “This character design is done too casually!”

A male editor said, “Surely this won’t do, right? The story’s about pirates?”

A female editor said, “I think it’s quite good. The plot is interesting, although the character design is really ugly. Why are the eyes drawn like this?”

Everyone got into a heated debate.

Kyoko said, “I think we can forget it if it’s not good enough.”

The editor-in-chief said calmly, “Let’s move on to the next one.”

In the end, after going through a dozen different manuscripts, only one of them was unanimously approved. There was still a spot left for the serialization that no one could seem to agree on.

“Are there any more submissions?”

“There are no other ones. This is all we have for the coming issue.”

“We’re still short one title.”

“Any other works that the editors would like to recommend?”

“Nothing, everything is here.”

“Then let’s go through them from the beginning again.”

The dozen manuscripts made their way around the table again.

Half an hour.

An hour.

After a series of intense debates, and with no other good works left to choose from, the editor-in-chief picked up the manuscript of One Piece again and went through it twice in detail. “Alright, we’ll use this.”

“But what about its character design?”

“This work will surely be cut even if it gets serialized.”

“But there’s really no other work that meets our criteria.”

“That’s true.”

“There aren’t many precedents of a newcomer’s work being serialized either.”

“We can only give it a try.”

…

Elsewhere.

In the morning, Zhang Ye and company were having breakfast together.

At the dining table, Ha Qiqi asked, “They haven’t replied yet?”

Little Sun said anxiously, “No, not yet.”

Zhang Ye said, “Who submitted the manuscript?”

Little Sun said, “My older sister.”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Alright, we’ll have to thank you sister when the time comes.”

Little Sun hurriedly said, “There’s no need, Director Zhang. My sister is a diehard fan of you. When she heard that she would be submitting the final copy on your behalf, she reacted like she had been shot up with adrenaline.” With a pause, he said, “It’s been sent in for three days, but I still haven’t heard anything from my sister. It must be because there isn’t any news from Shōnen Publishing.”

Zhang Ye said, “Just wait a bit, there’s no hurry.”

Little Wang said worriedly, “The comics industry here is too advanced. In the streets, everyone can be seen walking around with a comic in their hands. Sister Ha and I even spotted quite a few aunties and uncles reading comics. We don’t know or understand anything about this industry, so could that One Piece comic of ours really work here?”

They were starting to get the feeling that Zhang Ye’s decision was made too hastily. Using a comic to circumvent the restriction order? Using comics and animation to break into the Japanese market? And extend that reach towards Asia? It sounded like a really good plan, and if it were successful, their popularity would surely jump by leaps and bounds. But they were laymen when it came to this, and it was even a case of being utterly inexperienced. So how could they possibly fight it out with the local, homegrown cartoonists of Japan? By depending on those weird character designs of Zhang Ye’s? That weird art style? Would it really work? At Zhang Ye’s Studio, they’d been slapping people’s faces for the entirety of their existence. What if they got slapped this time around? How humiliating would that be!

But Zhang Ye was firm as a rock. He didn’t while away his days at the Asakusa Hotel. Over there, he took a cursory glance at some of the most popular comic series in Japan over the past decades and analyzed them a little. He discovered that this world’s comics and animation styles were very similar to his previous world. The subject matter, genres, art styles, and many things were different, but the core was more or less the same, with a common selling point behind them. Thus, he didn’t see any problems with his plan.

At this moment, a call arrived.

Little Sun was startled. “It’s from my big sister.”

Little Wang urged him, “Quickly, take the call.”

When he answered, Little Sun’s sister could be heard yelling excitedly in such a loud voice that anyone within three meters of the phone could her.

His sister said excitedly: “It went through! It went through!”

Little Sun was taken aback. “Sis, what went through?”

His sister shouted: “Shōnen Publishing’s editor just called me! The manuscript was passed! One Piece is going to be serialized in the new issue of their weekly magazine!”

Little Sun said in surprise: “That’s great!”

Little Wang nearly sprang out of her seat. “Damn, it really went through?”

Zhang Ye said in amusement, “What do you mean by that? Were you hoping that it wouldn’t go through?”

Little Wang said repeatedly, “No, no, no, I…I just didn’t expect it!”

This news was exhilarating to hear. Although they didn’t know what kind of result One Piece could achieve, the first step had been taken!