"People who've waited for so long don't want someone to cut in line!"
"At that moment, even though everyone was hungry, they started arguing immediately."
Though Akifumi hadn't seen it in person, he could easily imagine the intensity of the argument.
The serialization slots were tied to their performance!
More slots meant more bonuses.
No one would want to back down.
Even though the result was already known, hearing about the process was still interesting.
"Editor-in-Chief Minano was clearly prepared!"
"She stood her ground against the other editors-in-chief without backing down!"
"Shueisha always lets the quality of the work speak for itself! Why should we push mediocre works when we have great ones ready? This is the start of declining!"
Mihari spoke excitedly, as if she had been the one making the argument.
"The other editors-in-chief turned pale and couldn't say a word!"
"It was only when the editor-in-chief stepped in and suggested that they look at your work that they calmed down."
"The rest... well, I already mentioned that at the start. No need to repeat it."
"Anyway, congratulations again, Akifumi-sensei!"
"Thank you, and thank you for your hard work."
Akifumi smiled, then added, "By the way, didn't you still owe me a meal?"
"..."
Mihari Otosuna groaned: "You're a big-shot with a seven-figure royalty, and you're still thinking about getting a free meal from me!?"
Akifumi couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't worry, I was just joking before."
"Since you've worked hard, this time the meal is on me."
"Now that's better."
Mihari Otosuna hummed, then suddenly realized: "And what do you mean I didn't do anything for you?"
"I played a huge part of it, you know!"
"Yes, yes, Editor Otosuna Mihari also played a huge part" Akifumi replied dismissively.
"So, then when should we do this?"
"This Saturday at noon. Also, could you invite Minano-san? I want to thank her in person."
Wait... am I just the extra in this?
Never mind. It's clear now, Minano is the extra! Not her!
Mihari comforted herself silently, then agreed: "No problem."
"But I don't know if Minano-san will have time."
"That's fine. Just go and tell her, and I'll confirm the time and place in a few days."
"Got it."
"By the way, when does the new work release?"
"From the first week of July. Also, you don't have any backlog for this week, so don't forget to draw the next chapters in the next few days."
"You don't think I'm that unreliable, do you?"
"Well, it's just a friendly reminder from your editor. If you can't submit on time, beware of my hellish reminders!"
Even though he knew she couldn't see him, Akifumi still rolled his eyes.
"That won't happen. Don't worry."
"Okay then, Good night!"
"Good night, take care."
Mihari was about to end the call when a new message popped up on her phone.
She squinted and saw the new task list sent by Minano.
It was clear that this new project would be far from easy.
But this time, she felt more determined than ever.
The struggles, the meetings, and the doubtsit was all worth it.
She wasn't just there to pass time.
She was there to prove she could do this!
With a new sense of purpose, she decided: No more self-doubt.
She would rise to the challenge, learn more, and get even better.
The smile returned to her face.
"Thank you, Akifumi-sensei, for always being so reassuring."
"Thank you for reminding me of the bigger picture."
She took a deep breath, knowing she was ready to take on whatever came next.
Her phone buzzed again.
It was Akifumi:
"Also, don't forget to eat. You're working too hard. Take care of yourself, okay?"
She chuckled, shaking her head.
"Yeah, yeah, I will."
It wasn't just about the work.
It was about growing, learning, and becoming the best she could bestarting with tonight.
[TL Note]
Hey there! If you're enjoying this, be sure to check out
p-atreon.com/InsomniaTL
Please remove the hyphen to access the page normally! Just a heads-up, there will be new advanced chapters every week in there! And thank you so much for reading!
[057] Everyone owes the Author an apology!!
"Sigh."
"Akifumi, you've been looking visibly tired these past few days."
Kato rested her face in her hand, looking in the direction of Akifumi.
Shiina Mahiru, sitting behind him, had just gone out with some classmates.
"Could it be because of that rumor?"
"But the rumor should've quieted down by now."
Akifumi, lying face down on the desk, didn't even look up as he spoke:
"Even if you keep think it's strange Kato, I'm not telling you anything."
"Eh, i don't really want to know"
Kato continued in her usual airy tone:
"But we're friends, aren't we? Isn't it only natural to share the burden of others and support them?"
Akifumi lifted his head to glance at the girl.
"You're not wrong, but the premise is that we can share the burden, right?"
"If I tell you, Kato, it wouldn't help at all. It would only give you another headache."
Unfortunately, the girl wasn't about to give up that easily.
"If Akifumi doesn't say it, how will you know if I can't help?"
"..."
Trying to twist my words, huh?
Akifumi glared at her, then slumped back down on the desk:
"Forget it, Kato. This is one thing that I absolutely won't tell you!"
Because of a mistake he made, leading to unimaginable consequences, no one would want to share such an embarrassing thing!
It was now Thursday.
Three days had passed since Akifumi posted that SNS message.
In those three days, the internet had been full of twists and turns.
It all started with that SNS post from three days ago!
To Akifumi, he was just a slightly popular newbie manga artist.
He didn't think anyone would pay much attention to him.
But he was wronghis followers were several times more than he had imagined.
The moment that post appeared, many fans expressed their discontent.
The general sentiment was:
" "Second work? Does that mean both will be serialized at the same time!?"
" "Is the Shueisha editor crazy? How could they let this happen!?"
" "I followed you because of 'Madoka Magica,' and I couldn't care less about your new project, not to mention supporting it!"
" "Honestly, is 'Madoka Magica's' success going to your head? Do you think just any random thing you draw will have fans? To be blunt, if this is your approach, I won't even look forward to 'Madoka Magica' anymore."
" "I remember the announcement from Shueisha mentioned you're still in high school, right? Even full-time artists struggle to keep up weekly serialization with the help of assistants."
" "How are you going to handle two serialized works while also managing your studies?"
" "How can you manage two serials at once without mixing up the characters and plotlines? /laugh"
" "I remember the last manga artist who thought they could serialize two works at the same time. We haven't heard their name in the industry since."
" "Why not just focus on finishing 'Madoka Magica' instead of starting a new project?"
But the thing is, I've already finished 'Madoka Magica'!
Faced with these comments, Akifumi felt helpless.
Even if he clarified that 'Madoka Magica' was already finish, the fans would probably think he was just making excuses, and not believe him.
After all, who in their right mind would abandon a hot-selling work?
Of course, not all the comments were negativethere were also fans excited about the new work, 'Anohana'
But they were only a small minority, probably not even 5% of the comments.
Once he realized things were escalating, Akifumi decided to release an early announcement for Friday.
The second volume of 'Madoka Magica,' which could also be considered the final volume, would be released in August!
Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned.
"Since things have already reached this point, let it continue."
"Time will prove who was right and who was wrong."
It wasn't that Akifumi was convinced by Chief Editor Minano's reasoning.
It was after Minano analyzed the potential benefits and drawbacks that Akifumi decided to stick with the original plan.
The frustration he had on his face these past few days wasn't so much because of this matter, but because he had been mocked by someone!
The Trio boys in his class wasn't bold enough to laugh out loud.
If anyone was laughing, it was behind closed doors.
The real culprit was... Hiratsuka sensei!
After reading the 'Madoka Magica' volumes, that woman quickly became one of his biggest fans.
So, when she heard about the situation, she immediately pulled Akifumi into her office to ask for details.
Once she knew everything, that woman couldn't hold back and laughed openly.
"I will hold this grudge for now!"
Akifumi wrote it down in his notebook with a menacing look.
[058] "Anohana" First Issue!
The day passed quickly.
The weekend passed without much event, and soon, the final week of the semester arrived.
It was also the week when Anohana made its debut in the Weekly Shonen Jump.
On Monday afternoon, after school ended, Tanaka was the first to dash out of the classroom.
"This guy, he actually ran off alone!" Tadakuni and Tabata stared in disbelief at Tanaka's retreating figure before quickly following him.
It wasn't long before Tanaka arrived at the newsstand.
"Boss, I'll take the latest Weekly Shonen Jump!" he called out.
"You're in luck, kid, this is the last one left," the shopkeeper said with a grin.
"Heh heh," Tanaka grinned, paid, and took the magazine with a look of satisfaction.
But just as he was about to leave, Tadakuni and Tabata grabbed him from both sides.
"Traitor!"
"We agreed to get it together, but you ran off ahead!" they yelled.
Tanaka, ever the righteous one, retorted, "You're the one who is stupid enough to believe me!"
"Today is the day of sensei's new work debut in Weekly Shonen Jumpdo you know how many people were eyeing this magazine?"
"If I was even a bit late, I might've missed out on this last copy!"
"Friendship is nothing compared to this! for sensei's sake, I'd throw it all away!"
[TL Note — The definition of plastic friends lol}
"Now, let go of me!"
Tadakuni and Tabata exchanged a look and nodded in agreement. "We get it now."
Without another word, they grabbed the magazine from Tanaka's hands.
Tanaka's eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing?!"
The two of them grinned evilly. "Hehehe."
Five minutes later, Tanaka was kneeling on the ground, his face filled with despair, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Demon!"
"You two are demon!!"
"My magazine! My Anohana!!"
Just when Tadakuni and Tabata were about to leave, they suddenly reappeared from nowhere.
"You regret it now?" they asked.
"I regret it!" Tanaka sobbed.
"Will you do this again in the future?" Tadakuni asked.
"No, never again!" Tanaka shamefully confessed.
"You guys are my best friends, and when I did something like this again. I'm not human!"
"Well, it's not that serious," Tabata said nonchalantly.
"Forget that. Let's go somewhere and read it together?" Tadakuni suggested.
"Yeah!!" Tanaka nodded eagerly.
Before long, the three of them found themselves sitting at a family restaurant, eagerly flipping through the pages of the magazine.
They quickly reached the section for Anohana.
Because of Madoka Magica, the three of them were now die-hard fans of The Warriors of Love and Hope!
Even when rumors about the series had been circulating online recently, they remained unwavering in their support.
And now, their faith had been vindicated.
As they looked at the full-color illustration on the cover, their faces lit up in awe.
"No matter how many times I see it, Sensei's stunning style always amazes me!"
"Especially in this color illustrationit's just perfect!"
"If only Madoka Magica could have a full-color collector's edition!" Tanaka sighed wistfully.
After marveling at the artwork, the trio's attention shifted back to the story itself.
"So, is this the main girl? Kawaii!" Tanaka said, eyes wide.
"She's totally my type!" Tadakuni added.
"I hereby declarethis is my new wife!" Tabata announced confidently.
"You already have to many wife," Tanaka said.
"My wife skin is so smooth," Tadakuni chimed in.
"??"
They all went back to reading the manga, thoroughly immersed in the story.
With only 20 pages of content in the first chapter, it didn't take long before they finished.
But...
"Something feels a little off," Tanaka said, frowning.
"Yeah, it feels a bit too slow?" Tadakuni replied, puzzled.
"It's the first chapter, so it's probably just introducing the main characters," Tabata reasoned.
"That's true, but... it still feels kind of empty," Tanaka said.
"The main character just seems aimless. Nothing's really been explained yet."
"You're right. With Sensei's level of skill, this can't be it! Maybe we missed something? How about we check the comments online?"
The three of them agreed, and soon their phones were out, searching for posts about Anohana.
Since Weekly Shonen Jump had been released that morning, many people had already seen the content.
It didn't take long for them to find posts discussing the new series.
But as they scrolled through the comments, they realized something surprising.
"Wait, these reactions are exactly like ours...?" Tabata asked, bewildered.
"Could it be that this series isn't as great as we thought?" Tanaka wondered aloud.
Just as that thought crossed their minds, they stumbled upon a post that caught their attention.
The post read:
"Did anyone really think that Sensei's Anohana isn't up to par? Let's take a look at some of the hidden foreshadowing that you might have missed!"
The three of them's eyes lit up at the same time.
Without hesitation, they clicked on the post.
[059] Anoha Subtle Details
"I'm sure many of you who clicked on this thread have read Puella Magi Madoka Magica."
"I still remember when the announcement for Madoka Magica was first made by warrior of love and hope -sensei."
"Everyone was confused and skeptical, and there were countless heated discussions online. And there is no need for me to elaborate on that."
"But in the end, the author gave us a strong slap in the face, making us realize how different his magical girls were from the typical ones."
