Great Mangaka

October 17th.

"Cheers!"

In the single apartment, three women clinked glasses with drinks, and the floor was covered with scattered snacks.

"Editor Liu-san, Weekly Shōjo Manga's sales surpassed Shōjo Manga's for the first time, and you only bought me one drink." A woman laughed and said, "Isn't that too stingy?"

"It's enough that I treated her to a meal." The second woman, Liu, editor of the Weekly Shōjo Manga Editorial Department, grabbed a potato chip and chewed it: "Weekly Shōjo Manga's triumph is due to Mirai-sensei and Sakura. Why are you joining the fun?"

"I'm just curious, right?"

The woman smiled and looked at the last person, Sakura, assistant of Inuyasha Manga: "Sakura-sensei, you're lucky now. You were very nervous before Inuyasha's release, but you didn't expect it to be so popular!"

At that moment, Weekly Shōjo Manga had been on sale for a day, and sales had already been tallied. The result was much better than expected. Its sales in Osaka and its surroundings surpassed those of Shōjo Manga, causing great astonishment.

Previously, Shōjo Manga had been the bestseller. This week, two magazines were launched simultaneously. Weekly Shōjo Manga not only filled the void but gradually expanded it.

Mirai-sensei once again created a miracle. His popularity in the market surprised thousands of media outlets. Online readers used the phrase "I'd rather believe in pigs and dogs than in the media" to express their anger at being deceived. Now, this phrase can be seen on various forums.

And the mangaka who knew that Sakura was Inuyasha's assistant also rushed to congratulate Sakura. In two days, they almost broke down Sakura's door, leaving her powerless.

"Actually, I didn't help much. These are all Mirai-sensei's achievements,"

Sakura always replied like that. The images and characters of Inuyasha were basically handled by Mirai-sensei, and she only dealt with more tedious things like shadows, lines, and dots. There was really no reason for congratulations.

"Sakura-sensei, don't be modest. But Mirai-sensei is truly incredible. His Detective Conan, serialized in Weekly Shōnen, has won first place in the Express, Kōhyō, and all reader surveys in recent months. Thousands of letters arrive at the editorial department every day!"

Liu took a sip of her drink and sighed: "He has become the company's pillar. I think Weekly Shōnen could also become his exclusive stage."

"You must strive to do well, especially Sakura-sensei!" Liu pointed to Sakura and said: "The editorial department has high expectations for you. When you are an assistant, you must study hard and ask Mirai-sensei for advice."

"I know."

Sakura nodded. She and Tomoko are carefully selected mangaka by the editorial department. Putting them next to Mirai-sensei is, in reality, studying more. The editorial department hopes that they can draw better manga in the future.

On October 18th, Sakura went to work at Takumi's house. The mid-term exam at Osaka's N.º 1 High School was held two days ago. Inuyasha's work was postponed until today.

As soon as she entered, Sakura heard voices coming from the studio. She was about to go in and take a look, but Aika pulled her down to sit.

"Drink some water first; they're arguing about something." Aika handed Sakura a glass of water and said with a smile: "Wait until they finish arguing, then you can come in."

"Okay, Aika-san." Sakura took a sip of water and asked curiously, "What are they talking about?"

"It seems the manuscript price is going up. Their company is really...". Aika smiled: "4,000 yen per drawing is enough; I didn't expect it to go up."

"Go up in price."

Sakura was not surprised. Takumi made a great contribution to Hinotori Publishing. It's normal for them to increase the manuscript fee.

Shortly after, Alice came out with a pile of documents in her hand.

"Is Sakura-sensei here? Excuse the delay. You can come in." Alice apologized. Sakura picked up her bag and headed to the studio. She heard Aika's voice behind her: "Alice, how much has the price gone up this time?"

"Well, 12,000 yen per drawing, and royalties are still 10%."

"Bang!" Sakura hit herself against the door frame and covered her forehead.

"12,000 yen per drawing! 10% royalties?!" No matter what standard is used, it will surprise many people. Hinotori Publishing's best mangaka only charges 6,000 yen per drawing, and royalties do not exceed 8%. Tatsuryū Publishing's mangaka charge many royalties, and there are quite a few who charge 16,000 yen

per drawing. However, due to copyright issues, those mangaka's royalties are only a maximum of 3%. Mirai-sensei is now the most valuable person in the manga industry. 'How much money can he earn with such a high price?' Sakura entered the studio in a daze.

"Sakura-sensei, get ready."

Takumi was organizing his painting tools and looked at Sakura's face: "What's wrong?"

"No... nothing." Sakura patted her face, forcing herself not to overthink, and smiled: "Congratulations, Mirai-sensei, Inuyasha's sales are very good, and it's also first in the rapid report."

"Have Weekly Shōjo Manga's sales surpassed Shōjo Manga's?"

Takumi was only interested in this result.

"More than that." Sakura nodded: "Yesterday, the new issue of Shōjo Manga increased its sales by 3,000 copies, but Weekly Shōjo Manga's sales increased by 30,000 copies."

She felt very envious. Weekly Shōjo Manga's sales benefited from Inuyasha, but the reason Inuyasha was able to show its impact so quickly was, of course, because Mirai-sensei's readers had already achieved a certain popularity.

"Mirai-sensei, your influence is comparable to that of top novelists!"

Sakura exclaimed, unable to help but praise him, but Takumi laughed: "I can't compare myself to their influence. It's good that I'm compared to those second-rate novelists."

The influence of novels in this world is much greater than that of manga, and Takumi's debut is very brief.

But Sakura didn't believe him: "Sensei, don't be modest. The writer that Shōjo Manga has launched this time is a little goddess, and her success in the market is not as good as yours!"

She used the sales comparison to measure influence, which was a wrong method.

"It's normal,"

Takumi replied, and then shook his head: "Manga and novels are different. You all... simply have too high an opinion of novelists."

He admitted that Tatsuryū Publishing's approach was very effective, but manga and novels are different things. Each chapter of a manga is only 20 pages, and the content of these pages must be reasonably organized. Those novelists know nothing about this, so 'how can they draw manga well?'

Although the mangaka who collaborate with them know it, they have a division of labor and cooperation, and novelists are the leaders, so it's easy not to cooperate well, and problems arise at any time.

Furthermore, what is the reason why manga adapted from novels are so popular? The original work, of course, is the original work; without the support of the original work, it sounds terrible for novelists to enter the manga industry, but 'how many readers will be interested in manga without the original work?'

'Do novelists become mangaka? How can the transformation be so simple? If you're not careful, it will become a big joke, especially for Takumi.' He competes with novelists by drawing manga, which means he will crush them...

He will crush them one by one without batting an eye.