Great Mangaka

That night, Tsukimoto Genji's proposals, of course, aimed for Takumi to agree to publish.

He calmly recounted the uproar of the past two days and that Tsukimoto Genji needed to moderate his stance. Due to the priority clause, the publication of Five Centimeters Per Second would have to be handed over to Hinotori Publishing sooner or later, but Takumi had the freedom to decide when.

Takumi nodded, regretting in his heart that the changes were too fast. 'At first, he was worried that Tsukimoto Genji would force him to remove Five Centimeters Per Second from the internet, but he hadn't expected the readers' uproar to change his attitude, and he even took the initiative to request its publication.'

Upon returning home, Takumi turned on his computer, thinking about how to calm the situation.

He checked the comments in his personal space, and readers were full of complaints, which seemed very lively. Manga sales exceeded 40,000 copies, a higher figure than expected and enough to cover Miyuki's medical needs.

Takumi breathed a sigh of relief. 'As long as he waited for Miyuki to have a vacation and found a way to invite her to the hospital, he could repay the favor he owed her in his previous life.' Takumi was happy. He logged into his account. Upon successfully logging in, a lot of notifications appeared on the website. They were just comments and replies. There were even 5,000 private messages, which had reached his inbox limit.

He closed the notifications and didn't read the private messages. 'He knew what they contained without reading them.'

The last time The Legend of Wukong was published, private messages also skyrocketed. There were many reader reviews praising the book, as well as selfies from female readers and requests for adaptation rights from publishers and film production companies.

This time, Five Centimeters Per Second was no different. Takumi was too lazy to read them. He wanted to calm the readers' unrest. After thinking about it, he began to write:

"Hello everyone, this is Mirai-sensei."

"Please excuse my absence over the past two days. I have read everyone's opinions. I am surprised that Five Centimeters Per Second has caused such a stir. Please allow me to make the following statement regarding this."

"First: There is no estrangement between Hinotori Publishing and me. They did not make things difficult for me. Five Centimeters Per Second will release a manga version this month. Second: Regarding the ending of Five Centimeters Per Second, I do not want to change the published ending. I am very satisfied with it, and I believe some readers also like it."

"But I don't like tragedy either. Detective Conan and Inuyasha will not have tragic endings. The ending of the manga version of Five Centimeters Per Second will be different from the online version. If you want to see the new ending, please buy the manga."

At that moment, Takumi considered it acceptable. He clicked publish and soon received a reply:

"Mirai-sensei's couch!"

"Couch!"

"First floor writing at full speed!"

The first few sentences were meaningless. After reading the statement, readers slowly reacted and became excited.

"The manga version has a new ending, long live Mirai-sensei!"

"I feel completely relieved to see that Detective Conan and Inuyasha will not have tragic endings. I've been scared these past two days..."

"Haha, I said it was a rumor a long time ago. Congratulations to Mirai-sensei for publishing four works! I remember no one seemed to have published four different works in a month. Is that a record?"

"He definitely broke the record, at least the ten-year record!"

"Something smells fishy. Is this an exaggeration? Did Mirai-sensei publish a tragedy on purpose and then use a new ending to promote the manga? How could it be fixed? I was tricked!"

"The conspiracy theorist above, I believe in Mirai-sensei and I'm willing to buy manga."

"Mirai-sensei, please help me! My little sister is twenty years old, she can warm the bed and cook, and she sent you a private message with a picture!"

The replies multiplied. Takumi scrolled through a few pages and found that readers were very excited. He nodded with satisfaction and was about to turn off the computer when he found another strange reply:

"Mirai-sensei, the Five Centimeters Per Second manga will be released in December. When will the animation from Kira Kira Animation Studio be released? Will you participate in the animation production of Five Centimeters Per Second?"

These reader's words surprised Takumi a little. 'Kira Kira Animation Studio, what did that mean? He hadn't sold the animation rights yet!'

But no one questioned the readers; instead, they worried.

"+1 above, I want to know too."

"I heard that the animation adaptation rights for Mirai-sensei's Detective Conan and Inuyasha were also transferred to Kira Kira Animation Studio. Is that true?"

This situation made Takumi's heart skip a beat. 'How could that be true?'

He searched for Kira Kira Animation Studio online. The results showed that this studio was unknown, but it was a normal animation production company. And there was a huge headline on the main page of their official website:

"We enthusiastically celebrate the decision to animate Five Centimeters Per Second!"

Takumi frowned slightly. 'Copyright laws in Japan are so strict, he hadn't expected someone to dare to blatantly lie. And wasn't he supposed to announce the animation news himself?'

The copyright for "Five Centimeters Per Second" was still held by Takumi. Even if he submitted it, anyone wanting to adapt the animation would have to notify him. Tsukimoto Genji hadn't mentioned this matter during dinner, and Hinotori Publishing shouldn't know about it. 'Who is Kira Kira Animation Studio?'

Just as Takumi was thinking about it, his charging mobile phone rang. It was an unknown number.

"Hello?"

Takumi answered and heard a young man's voice.

"Are you Mirai-sensei? I'm Taro Tanaka from Kira Kira Animation Studio. We're very optimistic about your Five Centimeters Per Second and plan to turn it into an animated film. We'll buy it for 50,000 yen. You can come sign the contract tomorrow!"

"The address is..."

The man's voice was full of arrogance, but it didn't matter.

"Sorry, wrong number."

Takumi hung up the phone with a grim face. 'Had his identity been leaked?'

The man's tone was very confident. Takumi suspected he had internal contacts at Hinotori Publishing; otherwise, he wouldn't be so confident...

The phone rang again.

"Mirai-sensei, aren't you convinced by the price? That 80,000 yen is our biggest concession!"

"I said you have the wrong number. I'm not Mirai-sensei."

Takumi hung up the phone and blacklisted the number. 'Buy the animated adaptation for 80,000 yen? What kind of joke is this? Is it to drive away beggars? He had earned more money online.'

After thinking about it, Takumi called Tsukimoto Genji's number that he had gotten that night.

"Who is Taro Tanaka?"

he asked bluntly. 'He was so sure of his identity, and his arrogance and desire to obtain the copyright for Five Centimeters Per Second at a low price convinced him even more of the man's identity. He had a connection with Hinotori Publishing.'

"Taro Tanaka?" Tsukimoto Genji seemed surprised: "How do you know him?"

The old man's voice suddenly grew quiet.

"Did he cause you trouble?"

"Yes."

- - - -

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