The Impact

Teacher Ou's latest chapter, which he had staked his career on, had indeed shocked readers like never before.

But it wasn't the kind of shock readers wanted.

After all, although this world had a mature manga industry, it wasn't Japan in Tang Yao's previous life.

This kind of sudden twist, this explosive turn of events, was still too new for readers in this world.

It was just plain awful.

So the readers' fury... even exceeded Tang Yao's expectations.

They had already started taking it out on the Manga Award.

The planning department at Wenxin Hall had come up with a pretty good idea. Taking advantage of the release of the latest issue of Big Comic, along with the release dates of the company's other magazines, they'd asked the manga artists with ongoing series to promote the company's specially promoted Wenxin Manga Award on their personal social media accounts.

This would let them use the excellent works already running in their magazines to lend credibility to the award, while also using the artists behind those works to advertise it.

See?

The artists whose works are serialized in our magazines recommend this award.

You must be interested in the works featured in the awards they recommend, right?

And if you want to become a manga artist, why not try entering an award recommended by those who've been there?

It was a great plan.

But then.

The company's star manga had run into trouble.

That was a bit of a disaster. Big Comic was the publishing house's bestselling and most important magazine, and Teacher Ou's Girl, Boy, and Sword was its most popular series.

It was easy to imagine how many readers of this magazine, which ranked among the industry's top five in sales, were there for Girl, Boy, and Sword.

Now that Girl, Boy, and Sword had pulled a stunt like this, pretty much all the readers were losing it!

First, they went to Teacher Ou's social media account to leave replies. In just two hours, the number of replies had shot past ten thousand.

Then, probably because Teacher Ou's last post had been about the Manga Award, and other manga artists had posted similar ads at around the same time, the furious, distraught readers noticed that Teacher Ou still hadn't shown his face. So they went to the other artists' social media accounts and, without stopping to think, started cursing them out!

These emotional reactions were a real headache... By the end, readers were even organizing themselves into groups and attacking posts related to the Manga Award!

The Manga Award had nothing to do with the situation, but thanks to Teacher Ou's brilliant move, it hadn't gained any popularity and had instead taken a hit.

The more levelheaded readers cursed Ou Congquan and Wenxin Hall in the comments under other artists' posts.

The less levelheaded ones cursed everyone! They cursed the Manga Award too! And the uproar just kept growing!

[Your number-one manga artist draws that kind of garbage, and you're holding a manga award too!]

Comments like that began spreading rapidly.

Before long.

Quite a few of the manga artists who'd posted ads noticed what was happening and were left dumbfounded.

As a result, before noon.

The entire Editorial Department was ringing with a barrage of phone calls.

Editor-in-chief Ding had just arrived at the Editorial Department when an urgent call came in. He was summoned away at once, looking grim.

At first, no one knew exactly what had happened.

But when the editors picked up the phone and heard the complaints from the manga artists they'd asked to post ads, they finally realized.

Something had gone wrong.

Quite a few editors looked toward the desk near the entrance.

Tang Yao's desk.

"If you want to delete the post, go ahead, but I wouldn't recommend it. I haven't received any notice from the company... Besides, they're not insulting you or your work. Just pretend you haven't seen it."

Tang Yao was on the phone too. The caller was another manga artist she handled, Shao Changqing.

Clearly.

His personal social media account had been caught up in the backlash too.

Tang Yao stayed calm. After giving him her advice, she hung up and leaned back in her chair, exhausted.

She'd known there would be a storm.

But she hadn't expected to get splattered with blood right from the start.

What a pain.

"Editor Tang... do you think the old crook Ou has a twist planned for later?"

Just then.

Kang Ming saw Tang Yao put down the phone and asked cautiously.

"If you mean the next chapter, there's no twist."

Tang Yao turned to him. "I checked as soon as I saw the storyboards. Back then, things between him and me weren't so strained, and he told me a little about what was coming. The escape arc will go on for another five or six chapters. Only after that will he bring the male lead back, resurrected as a spirit... And things won't get much better after the male lead returns. He seems to want to explore something about human nature or the like. At the very least, the situation won't improve for two months.

"That's why I kept telling him not to draw it this way. If he could pull off a clever twist, I wouldn't have minded.

"But it's obvious he never even considered that."

Kang Ming hesitated. "Then what about the promotional blurb you came up with..."

"I only gave readers a little hope out of professional courtesy, because I felt sorry for them. I can't interfere with how he draws the story, and I don't particularly want to."

Tang Yao replied casually. "If he insists on doing things his way, that's not my problem... I suspect Teacher Ou will most likely keep doing things his way. Arrogant, conceited people rarely come to their senses without some outside pressure."

"So the readers are going to have to eat shit for two months..."

Kang Ming glanced at his phone, his expression utterly bleak. "Maybe we should just let the readers tear him to shreds."

"Actually, the readers' outrage is the least of our worries. The Manga Award got caught in the crossfire this time, so pressure from the higher-ups will probably come soon. We'll see what they decide."

Tang Yao stood up to buy something to eat. "You should go get lunch too. You just got here. You can't change the situation, so there's no point worrying about it."

At the same time.

On the fourteenth floor, where the New Media Department was located.

In a conference room.

Shang Tao, the New Media director, glared at Ding Yilong, seated opposite him, breathing hard. He looked like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

The directors of the Planning Department and Operations Department seated beside him looked no happier.

After all, everything had been on track. The Wenxin Manga Award and its website were about to launch, and now this bombshell had dropped. Who could possibly look pleased?

With all three men staring at him, a sheen of sweat immediately appeared on Ding Yilong's forehead.

He'd only just gotten a handle on the situation. He'd only just learned what his beloved Teacher Ou had done.

Tang Yao had, as usual, left the manuscript on his desk.

But he... hadn't read it.

Call it confidence, call it trust in Teacher Ou, call it lack of interest... Whatever the reason, he hadn't read it.

In fact.

Only a few minutes earlier.

He'd found out that readers had gone after every manga artist who'd promoted the Manga Award.

"This really is a mess."

Just then, Zhao Fang Sheng, the deputy publisher of Wenxin Hall, who sat at the head of the table, set down the magazine in his hands. He gently rubbed his brow and looked at Ding Yilong. "It's no wonder the readers are so worked up."

Wenxin Hall had a typical top-down organizational structure. In simple terms... Deputy Publisher Zhao Fang Sheng was everyone's direct superior.

"Editor-in-chief Ding, I need you to explain this to me. Do you know how much effort everyone in the New Media Department has put into this website and this Manga Award?"

Hearing this, Shang Tao, the New Media director, finally lost his temper. He growled, "Why? Why did this have to happen right as the website is about to launch and the Manga Award is about to open? We talked about the schedule ages ago, didn't we? We told you the launch date ages ago, didn't we? Now the readers are all up in arms, and the Manga Award and the website that's about to launch have both been dragged into it. What are we supposed to do? Are we still holding the award?"

"I..."

The sweat on Ding Yilong's forehead thickened. The real pressure wasn't coming from the New Media director, of course, but from the deputy publisher's assessment of the situation.

In fact.

If the New Media Department were the only one involved.

He could have rubbed it in their faces all he wanted. He was from the Content Department, while they were just a newly established department.

But with the deputy publisher sitting there and calling the situation a mess, things were different—especially since this parachuted-in deputy publisher had quite a lot of clout.

Still, no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't say a thing.

This whole situation had caught him completely off guard.

And he hadn't even read the original manuscript! He had no idea what had happened!

So after struggling for a while, all he managed to say was, "I'll have to ask the editor in charge..."

Hearing this, Shang Tao got even more furious. He slapped the table and snapped, "You're the editor-in-chief! How could you not know what the hell was going on?"

Ding Yilong's gaze wandered.

"Arguing about who's at fault is pointless. The question now is how to contain the damage."

At last, the Planning Department director cut Shang Tao off, giving Ding Yilong a way out. "Ding Yilong, first we need to know what Teacher Ou plans to do with the story going forward. Is there a twist?"

At that.

"I..."

Ding Yilong was sweating profusely.

The consequences of his arrogance and conceit were starting to show.

He stammered, but couldn't explain anything.

"It's pointless to discuss what happens later, because that's two weeks away."

Seeing Ding Yilong like this, the Operations Department director looked a little disdainful, but still spoke up to defuse the situation. "The emotional readers aren't going to care about that right now. Ultimately, our most important work has just published a controversial chapter, and it happened to coincide with the Manga Award and the website launch. There's no changing that. I think we should postpone the award and the website launch.

"Girl, Boy, and Sword is the most important work in the company. We need to take the readers' feelings into account. Forcing the launch now will only leave everyone worse off."

"I disagree."

As soon as the Operations Department director finished speaking.

Shang Tao flatly refused. "We're already in the final stages of promotion and buildup. I can't accept letting all the hard work my entire department has put in for so long go to waste over this absurd reason."

"I understand how you feel, but..."

"I absolutely disagree, Editor-in-chief Ding! Surely you have something to say!"

Shang Tao suddenly turned to Ding Yilong, who hadn't said a word since the meeting began.

He knew perfectly well that, in the eyes of these 'old hands,' he, the new New Media director, was their common enemy. They'd definitely side with Ding Yilong for their own shared interests.

So he chose to bypass everyone else and confront Ding Yilong directly.

Everyone else turned to look at him too.

In fact.

The Content Department had caused this whole mess.

But from the start, Ding Yilong, as the head of the Content Department, hadn't said a word.

"..."

With so many eyes on him, Ding Yilong wanted to put on a strong front.

Unfortunately, he really hadn't been paying attention to Ou Congquan's work lately. After all, Ou Congquan was the company's star artist, and his reader survey rankings had always been far ahead of everyone else's.

Who could've expected him to pull a stunt like this?

At the head of the table, Deputy Publisher Zhao Fang Sheng studied Ding Yilong for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and suddenly spoke. "Stop arguing. I've heard everyone's opinions. Shang Tao, discuss this with Ding Yilong and see if there's any way to ease the readers' anger and contain the damage. Then assess the impact on the Manga Award and the website launch. If the impact is manageable, proceed as planned. If not, postpone them."

Shang Tao looked troubled. "But, Deputy Publisher, how are we supposed to..."

Zhao Fang Sheng opened the magazine on the table again and said calmly, "If you want my suggestion, I'd use this issue's AORI to reassure the readers first. But that means confirming the story's future direction with Teacher Ou."

Shang Tao blinked. "AORI?"

Zhao Fang Sheng didn't answer. He simply pushed the magazine across the table.

Not toward Shang Tao, but toward Ding Yilong.

Ding Yilong blinked too, but still nervously picked up the magazine and looked at the AORI—the promotional blurb approved by the editor—on the final page of Girl, Boy, and Sword: [Next time! The embodiment of all malice! An unexpected twist! Is it a dream? Or reality?]

"..."

What was this supposed to mean?

Ding Yilong blinked again, then instinctively looked up.

As soon as he did, he caught the deputy publisher's cold gaze.

"It seems you not only have no idea how the story will develop... you haven't even read the AORI! Go ask the editor responsible for it."