One-Punch Man

Time seemed to fast-forward.

After Tony Stark returned, there was no more big news in America.

For Hollywood, the blockbuster summer season had passed, and the movie industry had entered its slow season.

Back in the late 1990s, movies routinely stayed in theaters for months, sometimes even more than half a year. Now, Hollywood movies moved through theaters much faster.

A movie earned the vast majority of its box office on its opening weekend, which could often account for half its total gross.

This was because movie marketing strategies had changed. Hollywood preferred to herd audiences into theaters from the start and harvest their cash.

As a result, since the turn of the century, cases like Titanic, which stayed in theaters for almost a year, had all but disappeared.

Starlight Pictures' Man of Steel had also ended its theatrical run. Li Chen took a quick look at its box office: over a billion worldwide.

What he cared about was the attention it would draw next.

The attention from its theatrical run was gone, but Hollywood movies had long since stopped relying on box office earnings to make money.

While Superman was in theaters, DC Comics merchandise had already been flying off the shelves. Superman dolls, Superman Suits, and the like had brought in even more than the movie's box office.

After all, a movie ticket cost only a few dollars, while a doll cost more than ten, if not more.

Unfortunately, that was all due to Superman's popularity, so it couldn't provide Li Chen with any additional reputation points.

Once a movie left theaters, it entered a new cycle.

It was worth mentioning that the internet had already risen to prominence at this point in the Marvel Universe.

As a result, DVDs and the like had quickly collapsed. Most people watched movies online.

Starlight Pictures therefore chose to go straight to streaming.

In fact, many movies that lost money at the box office could recoup their costs over a long period.

It just took so long that many movie companies went bankrupt before they could break even.

That was why the box office remained the most important measure of a movie's success.

Without a doubt, Superman had been a huge success.

Its box office success would drive interest in its streaming release, and Li Chen felt he could earn another batch of reputation points.

He checked his current reputation points. The total was staggering: after accumulating them over this period, he had broken ten thousand.

[Current reputation points: 11822.]

The movie wasn't entirely responsible for that; comics accounted for the lion's share.

Pirate King in particular was gradually becoming a phenomenon in North America and was preparing to "invade" the rest of the world.

Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World wasn't quite as explosive, but it was still very popular, holding firmly in the top ten of the rankings.

That was the difference between comics and movies. Every comic update brought a fresh wave of attention. Though it wasn't as overwhelming as a movie's, it provided a steady stream over time.

Thanks to Li Chen's "squeezing," the first season of Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World had ended a week ago, but they clearly weren't planning to make the second season right away.

With Ram and Rem in hand, Li Chen was going to switch targets.

No one else knew about it yet. Even Li Chen, capitalist that he was, had given his overworked staff a week off.

That left him facing a question.

What comic should I make next?

Li Chen thought to himself, once again regretting bringing out Pirate King.

It had completely tied up most of his staff, and now they were preparing to make a Pirate King anime too, which would require even more manpower and effort.

When the employees were all focused on making Pirate King, how could they make a new comic?

I've got power now, and there aren't many people in comics as strong as a Kryptonian.

Superman could do anything. Why else would he be called the "god among men"?

So Li Chen was no longer worried about power.

What did people live for?

Horny stuff, of course.

Just then, it struck Li Chen like a bolt of lightning, and he remembered an animated series he had always sat in front of the TV waiting to watch as a child.

Cat's Eye.

He hurriedly searched for it online.

"What a shame. It's already been made."

Li Chen looked at the search results and sighed.

His three sisters...

If he could summon them all, wouldn't he get a nosebleed every day?

How about making a live-action version?

Li Chen considered it, but still turned his attention to a new comic.

First, it had to suit North American tastes. If he made something like The Outcast, the Americans wouldn't understand it.

Thinking and searching online as he went, Li Chen soon found a target.

"You're the one."

The animation department staff returned to the studio after their week off. The place was filled with cheer as everyone talked about how they had spent their short break.

They had all worked on Re:Zero. Their bonuses hadn't been as big as the Pirate King team's, but they'd had time to rest!

Of course, that was how they comforted themselves. Who didn't want to make money?

On the sinful soil of America, anyone without a stable job would quickly fall into the "kill zone."

So after returning, they quickly got back into work mode, eagerly preparing to start making the second season of Re:Zero.

But just then, their supervisor Katherine came in with their boss, Li Chen.

"Guys, we have a new project."

Li Chen clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Boss, aren't we making the second season of Re:Zero?"

an employee asked.

"Not for now."

Li Chen nodded. "The first season only just ended, and its popularity hasn't fully taken off yet. Let's wait a little."

It was like a Hollywood movie franchise: sometimes years passed between installments.

If they came too close together, it was easy to overdevelop the IP and lose audiences.

The employees accepted this explanation and looked at their boss curiously.

As far as they were concerned, Li Chen was an absolute genius.

The ideas he had given them had all taken America by storm, earning their admiration.

He had come up with all the character concepts and plots himself, and had also supervised the character artwork.

Li Chen opened the presentation and said, "The new project will tell the story of a hero."

"A superhero comic... doesn't DC have too many of those?"

someone said hesitantly.

"No, no, no. This isn't an ordinary superhero story."

Li Chen smiled. "This is a hero who does it for fun."

Its name appeared on the screen.

"One-Punch Man"!

No comic was better suited to North America than One-Punch Man.

The environment here was naturally suited to superheroes, and compared with the hot-blooded comics people were tired of seeing, One-Punch Man had a completely different style.

As Li Chen explained it, everyone's eyes began to shine.

They could almost see the day One-Punch Man would take America by storm.

It was so different from the stories of superheroes like Superman and Batman.