NOVEL WEB Chapter 55
At the same time, in the bustling discussion square of the Attack on Titan forum on social media, a new wave of chatter ignited.
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[Astolfo_68]: Did you guys hear? Whale-sensei's Slam Dunk suddenly blew up overnight!
[BirdRant]: Eh? Sakurajima Mai, my goddess, is actually following Whale-sensei's Slam Dunk! I didn't expect her to be into manga like this!
[Auzzo]: The story is heating up so much. Don't wait any longer, go read it now!
[Wanderingsock]: Alright, alright, I'm going to binge it right away!
[Chuyoda]: By the way, have you guys checked out Titanfall in Weekly Shonen Magazine?
[Hagryph]: I skimmed it. Honestly, it feels like just a follow-up knockoff. Doesn't interest me.
[Excreed]: Hold on, that's the new work from the veteran mangaka Kim Jung-gun. Even if it's a spiritual successor, Weekly Shonen Magazine is pushing it like crazy. It's all over advertisements. Right now, Titanfall dominates the conversation in the manga world. If this keeps up, casual readers might even start thinking Attack on Titan is the derivative instead.
[Kevaughn Cooper]: That's the sad truth. After all, Attack on Titan is from a completely new author. Whale-sensei isn't famous yet like Kim Jung-gun. And Jump can't just pour excessive resources into promotion—if they did, people would whisper about favoritism, and other mangaka would definitely be upset.
[Sowdy3js]: Unless, of course, the quality of Attack on Titan is so overwhelming that it shuts down all doubt.
[Sergio Labra]: Rumor has it Whale-sensei has already completed the manuscript for Volume 2 of Attack on Titan. The serialization of the second arc will follow immediately after the first.
[Hunter Waldo]: What?! That's insane. Whale-sensei is a monster! He's serializing two different works at the same time—Attack on Titan and Slam Dunk! There are barely any mangaka alive who can handle that workload!
[Joel Vincent]: A lot of big-name mangaka who juggle multiple series rely heavily on assistants. I'd bet Whale-sensei has an assistant team too. Maybe they're helping draft parts of Slam Dunk while he focuses on Attack on Titan.
[Shakekiller]: Heh… after graduation, I'm definitely applying to be a mangaka's assistant. Imagine working under Whale-sensei…
The threads stretched endlessly, with netizens bouncing back and forth between admiration, doubt, and wild speculation.
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Late Night – Manga Jump Editorial Office
Despite the hour growing late, the bright lights of the Manga Jump editorial department refused to dim. Editors crowded around the long meeting table, papers stacked high, coffee cups abandoned like fallen soldiers.
Tonight's agenda: how to counter the provocation of Weekly Shonen Magazine.
One editor adjusted his glasses and spoke with worry.
"Right now, the entire manga community is pitting Attack on Titan against Titanfall. Weekly Shonen Magazine invested an obscene amount into advertising Titanfall, and with Kim Jung-gun's fame, its popularity has already surged far past Attack on Titan."
Another leaned forward. "From what I've heard, Titanfall isn't just Kim Jung-gun alone—there's an entire production team backing him. That means not only will the quality stay consistent, but the update schedule will be rock solid."
Someone else hesitated before speaking softly. "Whale-sensei's talent and output speed are extraordinary, but…"
The room fell into silence.
"…but his health condition is concerning. I've heard he's relying on costly medication just to keep going. At most… he might have half a year left."
Gasps circled the table.
"Half a year? That's cruel… such talent, shackled by fate."
"What a waste. God really is jealous of geniuses."
Another tapped his pen against his notebook nervously. "If that rumor's true, can we even count on Attack on Titan reaching completion? If it's cut short halfway, it'll devastate the readership."
"Then… do we still fight this battle against Weekly Shonen Magazine?"
For a long moment, no one dared to speak.
Then, an editor with fiery eyes slammed the table.
"Of course we fight! Will we just let Attack on Titan be smothered by Titanfall without resistance? Never!"
The debate reignited, voices clashing against one another. Yet even after more than ten minutes of heated back-and-forth, no consensus emerged.
At last, all eyes turned toward the man seated at the head of the table—Funao Yuto, the editor-in-chief of Manga Jump.
Calm and composed, Yuto took a long sip of his tea before speaking.
"Tell me. Has anyone here read Whale-sensei's Slam Dunk?"
One editor cautiously raised his hand.
"I've gone through the first volume. It's good, certainly—but nowhere near as commercially explosive as Attack on Titan. The protagonist's personality is too unconventional, and the heroine… well, her affection for a supporting character might rub mainstream readers the wrong way."
Another chimed in with agreement. "Yes, exactly. It feels too… atypical to become a nationwide hit."
But Yuto Funao only chuckled, shaking his head.
"You're evaluating as editors. You're searching for obvious 'selling points.' But readers—real readers—don't think that way."
He leaned forward, eyes glinting with conviction.
"I've seen the latest chapters of Slam Dunk. And I'll tell you this—my intuition says its cultural impact might grow even greater than Attack on Titan itself."
The room froze.
Shock painted every face. Could Slam Dunk, a high school basketball manga, truly surpass the colossal momentum of Attack on Titan?
Before the editors could argue, Iida Ayano, who had been scrolling frantically on her phone, suddenly leapt up.
"Chief! Look!" she cried. "Slam Dunk just hit the trending searches! It's blowing up all over the net!"
Everyone immediately pulled out their phones. Sure enough, hashtags linked to Sakurajima Mai and Kaede Rukawa were climbing fast, and the name Whale-sensei was now being discussed nationwide.
The energy in the room shifted instantly from doubt to exhilaration.
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Decisions of the Night
By dawn, under the firm approval of Editor-in-Chief Funao Yuto, the Manga Jump editorial team finalized three critical strategies:
1. Manga Jump will officially wage a head-on battle with Weekly Shonen Magazine. All promotional channels will be mobilized to push Attack on Titan and ensure it does not get buried beneath Titanfall.
2. The upcoming issue of Manga Jump will place Attack on Titan on its cover, showcasing Whale-sensei's series as the pride of the magazine.
3. Editor Iida Ayano will directly contact Whale-sensei to discuss the publication of Slam Dunk, with the intention of serializing it in Manga Month, the monthly sister magazine of Manga Jump.
The war between magazines had officially begun—yet no one could predict that Whale-sensei, under the pen name, was about to reshape the very landscape of manga
End of the chapter
250ps=1 extra chapter