Great Mangaka

In the early hours of Thursday morning, a heavy downpour suddenly arrived.

"It's so cold, take shelter!"

"Why is it raining? The forecast didn't say so..."

Many shops were still closed, but thousands of people were running frantically down the street.

Today, Weekly Shōnen is released. A small group went out to buy the magazine before dawn. These active readers are Mirai-sensei's loyal fans. They had already decided which bookstore would open first. They bought the magazine before the crowd arrived, but 'who would have thought it would suddenly rain?'

Tomato ran under an eave with the magazine in his arms. Like everyone else around him, after wiping the rain from his face, the first thing he did was check if Weekly Shōnen was wet.

"Luckily it's not wet. If it were, I'd have to buy it again."

"I wonder why the magazine has to be covered with a film on the outside. It turns out it's waterproof!"

The voices of other readers came from the side, and Tomato couldn't help but smile. 'If Weekly Shōnen got wet, it would be troublesome to buy it again. When he left, the bookstore already had a queue.'

Tomato had gone to buy it today purely out of curiosity. As Detective Conan's assistant, it cost him nothing to want a magazine. But something good happened last night that kept him awake all night. Too excited, he ran out to buy it early in the morning.

Although he had the bad luck of encountering heavy rain, Tomato felt a wave of excitement as he recalled what happened the night before.

He looked at the sky and saw that the rain wouldn't stop for a while, so he called someone to pick it up and then looked for a place to sit. He put Weekly Shōnen magazine on his lap.

Tomato was very curious about Takumi's new manga. Bakuman's workplace was Hinotori Publishing. He had never had the opportunity to read it.

After tearing off the film, Weekly Shōnen's cover clearly appeared before him. The cover showed a studio with manga magazines everywhere. The case on the table was full of brushes. A handsome boy stood in front of the table with a brush in his hand, as if thinking about what to draw.

"To achieve the glory that only a few can achieve, both embarked on the difficult and arduous path of manga. One is very skilled at drawing, and the other is good at writing. They work together to create a new manga legend...".

"New series: Bakuman."

The introduction of the new manga is printed at the top of the cover, and in the center appears the golden title of Bakuman, with the author's pseudonym in the bottom right corner.

"They printed Mirai-sensei's pseudonym in such a remote place!"

'What a long introduction, but I don't understand what it means. With this cover and introduction, will Mirai-sensei's new manga not be about a mangaka's story?'

Surprised voices were heard around Tomato. He looked up and saw that the people taking shelter from the rain had gathered around him. They didn't want to open Weekly Shōnen. Everyone looked at Tomato.

"Uncle, open it quickly and take a look."

"Anyway, it's already open. You're not afraid of getting wet in the rain, so let's take a look first,"

they urged, and Tomato had to open the magazine. As expected, the new series Bakuman took the top spot in the manga section.

The manga begins with the introduction of the male protagonist. This male protagonist, Moritaka, has a good sense of being an understudy. He is a normal high school student, not a handsome boy, with a normal family and academic performance. He lives day by day and has won a certificate at a children's art exhibition.

"I also won awards as a child."

"I came in second in the school's Math Olympiad!" the two young men said. 'Indeed, many people always have one or two things to brag about from their youth.' Bakuman's beginning is very good, especially when Moritaka doesn't go to class and secretly draws a portrait of his crush on a classmate. His image comes to light, and the outline is simple and perfect.

Common, ordinary, like people you see everywhere in real life...

Tomato really likes this beginning. He believes that ordinary people's beginnings are better than Detective Conan's. Detective Conan's male protagonist starts out tall, rich, and handsome, with no sense of being an understudy. Tomato still likes ordinary protagonists.

Bakuman's beginning is very good. Everyone can see their own shadow in Moritaka. It's very real and easier to connect with.

However, the sense of being an understudy is a technique that only mangaka pay attention to. Manga readers won't notice those professional details. They will only perceive that the protagonist is very real, and then their eyes will wander to other things.

"Is this the female protagonist?"

"She's very beautiful and calm, unlike Detective Conan and Inuyasha."

"I like calm girls, but she shouldn't be the female protagonist. Generally, the beginning of novels and manga is like this... The girl the male protagonist is initially in love with is not the true female protagonist, and another woman will appear later."

"That's right; it makes sense."

The readers around Tomato started a discussion. Tomato shook his head inwardly. 'Mirai-sensei never played by the rules. Using other plots to guess the development of Bakuman would probably be tragic.'

He continued flipping through it. Moritaka returned home from school and found that he had forgotten his math notebook. In that notebook, there was a portrait of a classmate he had secretly drawn. If someone discovered it, Moritaka's crush would be exposed...

He ran to school in a panic.

"This is going to be a good show!"

the excited readers exclaimed.

"You see, I was right. I saw what was going to happen next. When Moritaka comes back for the notebook, he'll meet the second female protagonist. The second female protagonist sees the notebook and knows that Moritaka is in love with a classmate, so she'll threaten him to pretend to be his boyfriend or do something else."

Then, the second female protagonist and the male protagonist will get to know each other better, and little by little, the story will turn into a love triangle, and the male protagonist will fall in love with the second female protagonist.

This conjecture gave Tomato a lot of reason, but it shouldn't be. 'Could Mirai-sensei really want to write a love triangle? This pace was too annoying,' and Tomato quickly turned to the next page.

The scene changed, and Moritaka entered the classroom, and everyone was stunned.

"Hahahaha, it's a man!"

"Why isn't it the second female protagonist?"

The one waiting for Moritaka in the classroom was a boy, which surprised Tomato. In addition, this boy was a top student with the best grades of the school year, a handsome boy, and the typical villain of all novels and manga.

The top student took the notes. He knew Moritaka's weakness. 'How will the story unfold next?'

"I have a disgusting feeling."

"The protagonist must be forced to do something. It's so frustrating!"

"If the handsome and rich one forces Moritaka to help the handsome and rich one pursue the female protagonist, I'll throw the book away immediately...".

The readers were indignant, and Tomato calmed his surprise and continued reading. As a result, the more he read, the more surprised he was. Bakuman's handsome and rich student is different from other stories. He didn't force Moritaka, but praised him for his beautiful drawings.

He also invited him: "Moritaka! You and I will be drawing partners!"

Seeing this, everyone was surprised.

"We all guessed wrong! Mirai-sensei's new manga isn't about love or fighting; it's actually a story about mangaka!"

"I like this kind of story!"

"Do you remember the introduction? Two people embarked on a difficult and arduous path in the world of manga. It must be about Moritaka and Akito!"

Tomato suddenly understood that, in the manga, Moritaka had won the Children's Art Award and secretly drew portraits of classmates, which was a foreshadowing to show his drawing skills. The handsome Akito was not a villain, and his first place in the class proved his literary talent.

"One has great talent for painting, and the other is good at writing. They work together to create a new manga legend...".

Recalling the cover's introduction, Tomato felt a little uneasy. Mirai-sensei was so amazing that he used such a plot to introduce the two protagonists.

He didn't notice at all. Mirai-sensei, discreetly, used some details to describe the characteristics of both characters, so Akito invited Moritaka to be a mangaka, and readers wouldn't feel strange, but surprised, because their images would be revealed.

This turn of events was not sudden. 'If Tomato had written this story, he would undoubtedly have started with two good friends joining forces to draw manga. It definitely wouldn't have been such an interesting story.'

"No, I need to review the details carefully."

Bakuman's plot is very long. Tomato is very eager to flip through the rest, but as a mangaka, he is more anxious to reread the beginning and learn how Mirai-sensei uses his manga skills to achieve his goals.

Before Akito made that invitation, 'who would have thought that the details at the beginning were just a foreshadowing?' Tomato reread it and started reading. His action made the readers around him a little uncomfortable.

"Uncle, why are you like that? You haven't even finished reading yet!"

"If you want to read, read yours!" Tomato shouted impatiently. The readers looked at each other and turned away: "If you don't want to read it, don't read it. Great. We have it too."

Bakuman's story is very good. Just a few pages sparked the interest of these people. They gathered on the other side and started reading.

So when Tomato finished reading the beginning and continued reading, there was only a man with a mask next to him. The man stood behind him, saying nothing, and simply lowered his gaze.

Tomato found him. 'This man gave him a familiar feeling...'

He had a candidate in mind, but his temperament didn't seem right, so Tomato frowned and hesitantly asked: "Mach-sensei, what are you doing here?"

The man was stunned: "Do you know me?"

Indeed, it was Mach-sensei. 'How had Tomato not recognized him? He was the mangaka he hated for ten years; he recognized him just by touching him.' But, unfortunately, Mach-sensei seemed to have forgotten Tomato.

Tomato, annoyed, his voice turned cold: "Mach, do you still remember the person who drew 'Ter' with you ten years ago?"

"Ten years ago...".

Mach looked Tomato up and down, his eyes wide: "It turns out it's you, the heartbroken man!"

"You broke my heart..." Tomato was excited: "I warn you, don't mention that nickname; my heart won't be broken anymore!"

"I successfully confessed last night!" he said proudly.

- - - - - -

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