Great Mangaka

After a quick and soft piano sound, Takumi took his hands off the piano.

He looked at the calendar and found that it was already November. Today was Friday. Yesterday, Kaya Hoshino launched a new Shōjo Manga series. The preliminary sales statistics for the magazine should already be complete.

The strength of the princess of romance will become evident with the arrival of Alice and Sakura.

With a "click," Aika, who was buying groceries, opened the door and entered.

"Takumi, are you hungry? I bought you radish nikuman."

Aika entered the house with a basket of vegetables. After handing Takumi breakfast, she went to the kitchen and got to work: "There are many dishes today. There will be delicious food for lunch."

Ever since Sakura and Tomato came to help, Takumi's house has become much livelier. Aika has to buy groceries every day. She's obsessed with preparing all kinds of dishes. To buy fresh vegetables, she always left early in the morning.

"Mom, you don't have to be so troublesome."

Takumi ate dumplings, poured himself a glass of milk, and said, "Lately, Alice complains that you cook better and better, which makes her gain weight."

"Isn't that great?" Aika exclaimed, laughing from the kitchen: "She's not young anymore. She should settle down and have a child. When I was her age, you would be her helper."

"That won't work." Takumi shook his head and said, "If she leaves, who will help me?"

He felt more and more that Alice was indispensable. She was like a full-time nanny. Not to mention the distance; if Alice wasn't around, he would have to spend half a day driving to learn to play the piano.

But sometimes, Takumi also felt that Alice was too dedicated. If she really intended to go home and have a child, he wouldn't refuse.

After breakfast, Alice and Sakura also arrived, and neither had their usual smile.

"What's wrong?"

Takumi was about to ask, but then he said, "Well, you don't have to tell me, let me see the girls' manga first."

He knew they must be aware of the manga sales, but Takumi decided to take a look first; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to objectively evaluate Kaya Hoshino's manga due to the sales.

Sakura handed Takumi the manga, who opened it and began to read. The girls' manga published by Kaya Hoshino is called "Hoshi," a very simple name, and the protagonist is also named Hoshi.

Hoshi is a beautiful girl whose parents are divorced. She has lived with her father since she was little. Hoshi also has a twin brother who lives with their mother and is the lead singer of Group Sky, the most famous in Japan.

One day, Hoshi's brother had a car accident and the entire Group Sky disbanded, so Hoshi's mother found her and asked her to disguise herself as a man...

The first episode of Hoshi ends here. It is a typical girls' manga. Takumi knows how the story will unfold without reading the rest: 'Sky is a star group full of handsome boys; how can a girl appear in it? Of course, everything revolves around love and hate, and love triangles...'

Takumi thinks that Hoshi's theme is outdated, but outdated is outdated. Stars and handsome men are elements that women like. They like this. If this manga is well-drawn, it will be popular.

And you know what, it's really well drawn...

This is what surprised Takumi the most. The quality of Hoshi's manga is excellent. Although it's not as good as Takumi's, it also looks like the work of professional mangaka, and Kaya Hoshino's name is printed on the page.

"Did Kaya Hoshino draw it herself?"

Takumi asked.

"Yes, it's hard to believe. She said she likes to draw. And she publicly displayed her drawing skills. It must be her drawing." Alice's expression was a little solemn: "Although she has some assistants, she is the main artist. I didn't expect her to not only be able to write books, but also have such excellent manga skills."

It's incredible. The genius girl truly lives up to her reputation.

"And what about the sales?"

Takumi asked, putting down the magazine and inquiring about the topic.

"Sales volume..." Sakura looked at Alice and took the initiative to reply: "Mirai-sensei, this week's Shōjo Manga sales are 20,000 less than Weekly Shōjo Manga's."

The 20,000 difference is the preliminary statistical result. At first glance, Weekly Shōjo Manga won, but Shōjo Manga did not lose either.

A month ago, Weekly Shōjo Manga sold 2,000 less than Shōjo Manga, and Takumi relied on Inuyasha to make up the difference and widen the gap. Then, last week, Weekly Shōjo Manga's preliminary statistical results were 5,000 more than Shōjo Manga's.

After the release of Kaya Hoshino's new manga, the difference narrowed by 30,000, which almost destroyed the advantage Takumi had established. And this is only the preliminary statistical result. The two magazines will sell in... In the coming days, the gap will narrow even further.

Takumi's fan base is the largest in Osaka and its surroundings. Outside, his influence is similar to that of second-tier authors. After all, other places don't have Osaka's advertising advantage.

Kaya Hoshino has boosted Shōjo Manga's sales to the current level in Takumi's main battleground. And what about her in Japan? Her popularity there is much higher than Takumi's.

"Weekly Shōjo Manga" is in danger.

"Takumi, don't get discouraged, this isn't your problem." Alice saw Takumi deep in thought and thought he was sad, so she comforted him: "The company knows that Kaya Hoshino is a threat." "Yesterday we did a random test and the results showed that Inuyasha is more popular than Hoshi, so you didn't lose."

As for the plot and style, Inuyasha has reached a very high level. Although Kaya Hoshino is a genius, she cannot surpass Takumi.

The reason for this situation is simple:

"Your influence is not equal to Kaya Hoshino's. She has two years of experience and thousands of fans." Alice said: "You are still young. In two years, you will undoubtedly be more popular than her."

It is undeniable that Takumi became famous quickly, but his foundations were fragile. His fame was limited to the manga industry, while Kaya Hoshino was already famous throughout the country thanks to her novels and television series.

This competition was uneven. The number of people who knew Kaya Hoshino was several times greater than Takumi's. The only chance Takumi had of winning lay in hoping that Kaya Hoshino's paintings weren't good. As long as her paintings were well-received by fans, Takumi wouldn't have any chance of winning.

This was a huge gap between fame and influence, difficult to bridge. No matter how good Takumi's manga were, he didn't have the same number of readers as Kaya Hoshino.

"What else can I do?"

Takumi pondered. "Shōjo Manga" had not yet surpassed "Weekly Shōjo Manga," and he certainly didn't want to sit idly by waiting for death. But to surpass Kaya Hoshino, he only had one path left.

That was to make as many people as possible know him or the manga Inuyasha in the shortest possible time.

However, it was too difficult. Even if Hinotori Publishing promoted him with all its might, the effect wouldn't be as fast, and other methods would be slower.

"I have a way to try."

Alice hesitated for a moment, her eyes fluttering, and said: "If Takumi is willing to speak up and tell everyone that you are Mirai-sensei, then I believe all media will focus on you."

"The young genius who debuted at 15 and just turned 16 will undoubtedly attract more attention than Kaya Hoshino!"