Intuition

Bang--

Tang Yao hadn't walked far before the sound of papers, folders, and other items being slammed off a desk came from behind her.

Clearly, Ding Yilong had lost his composure.

But Tang Yao didn't even look back. To be honest, even though she had been mentally prepared and knew the editor-in-chief was a despicable person.

She still hadn't expected him to be so shameless.

She had personally reported Ou Congquan's problem two days ago. It was one thing that he ignored it, but now he had the nerve to make her take the blame.

He even adopted an attitude of, "What have you written? Explain it to me quickly, then figure out a solution."

As the editor-in-chief.

The readers had already suffered.

Now that there was pressure, he finally thought about solving the problem.

It was utterly ridiculous!

On the other side.

Shang Tao looked at Tang Yao's retreating figure, then turned to look at Ding Yilong, his face full of shock. He didn't know if he was shocked by Tang Yao's insubordination or by Ding Yilong's attitude of not even looking at the original manuscript and ignoring it even after being informed by the editor.

"Did you see that?"

Ding Yilong seemed to notice Shang Tao's gaze, stiffened abruptly, then slowly turned his head, panting, and said, "This is the editor under me! Lawless! I don't know why HR arranged for such a person to enter the Editorial Department, but Teacher Ou drawing that kind of plot! It absolutely has something to do with her! The thing I regret most now is letting her be responsible for the magazine's star manga artist. I will immediately proceed with the process of dismissing her.

Such a person is a cancer to the entire Editorial Department! When encountering problems, instead of immediately thinking of solving them, she shifts the blame and is presumptuous enough to talk back to her superior. If the Vice President personally saw an editor like this, he would probably immediately understand why such a thing happened."

"..."

Shang Tao looked at the panting Ding Yilong and frowned upon hearing his words.

He could understand self-preservation.

After all, people are selfish.

But he had just been completely in the wrong, unable to say a word, only able to rage impotently. Now that the other party had left, he immediately started shifting the blame, acting as if nothing had happened.

It just felt... ridiculous.

Did he really think others were blind?

Shang Tao couldn't help but say, "I remember you met every editor before they joined."

In any legitimate company, it was impossible to hire someone without even asking the department head.

"That was my oversight."

"..."

Shang Tao stopped paying attention to him after hearing that.

Because combined with what Tang Yao had just said, it made him realize something.

This Ding Yilong might be the most unreliable person in the entire Editorial Department!

So Shang Tao no longer wanted to deal with him. Instead, he looked at Tang Yao's retreating figure and fell into deep thought.

He had truly poured a lot of effort into this website. Now that such a thing had happened, it was impossible for him not to be angry!

He felt like killing Ding Yilong and Ou Congquan beside him!

Why choose this time to release a controversial plot and provoke the readers' emotions? Was he sick!

If you could have just waited a week! Just one week!

But now that the incident had happened, there was no point in saying more. The problem was how to solve it.

He was extremely, extremely unwilling to postpone the website's launch because not everyone in the company was optimistic about new media... If not for Vice President Zhao Fang Sheng overriding the objections, the website might not even have launched, and the project could have died in the cradle.

If this were to be postponed now, there would be more variables. Who knew what would happen later!

But he also knew... in a magazine, content is paramount, and profit is paramount. He had no way or right to interfere with the creative work of the manga artists under the content department, nor could he ignore it. Without knowing how Ou Congquan would draw next, he couldn't follow President Zhao's idea of heavily promoting that phrase AORI to appease the readers.

What if it developed as the phrase AORI suggested?

What if it didn't? If they heavily promoted it now, and readers' expectations were raised, only to be fed garbage in the next issue.

Then he would be the one in trouble.

His visit to the Editorial Department this time was to get the answer he wanted from the responsible editor.

But he witnessed such a scene...

Speaking of which.

Could just one phrase, AORI, really calm the readers down and shift their attention to the manga awards and the newly launched website?

He didn't think it was possible.

It really should be postponed. They should wait for the storm to pass and then make plans...

Shang Tao rubbed his temples, wanting to give up.

But as soon as this thought arose.

The faces of executives who strongly opposed online manga websites flashed through his mind.

"…No."

Shang Tao immediately put down his hand, his resolve firm once more.

The launch dates for the website and the manga awards absolutely could not be postponed.

She looked again in the direction Tang Yao had disappeared, then, completely ignoring Ding Yilong who was still talking, she strode forward.

Although he didn't understand the situation in the Editorial Department, and this was the first time he'd met the editor named Tang Yao.

But he understood Ding Yilong… Just as Tang Yao had said, once you work with someone for a long time, it's easy to tell who among your colleagues is capable, who is cunning, who slacks off, and who is a useless bastard… And Ding Yilong undoubtedly belonged to the latter category!

Moreover, what had just happened had shown Shang Tao just how much of a bastard Ding Yilong was.

After all, he wasn't deaf or blind. He didn't want to hear a single word Ding Yilong was saying now. Compared to that, Shang Tao actually found the utterly wicked Tang Yao in Ding Yilong's words more reliable.

After all, compared to the useless Ding Yilong… Tang Yao had discovered the problem during the storyboarding phase and had even considered changing Teacher Ou's mind. Combined with that phrase "AORI," perhaps… she might have a solution? Whether it was changing Teacher Ou's mind or something else, he'd give it a try.

Although it was just a hunch, he had no other options right now.

Shang Tao thought as he strode towards Tang Yao.

Meanwhile.

Ding Yilong was still cleaning up the pot when he suddenly noticed Shang Tao had left. He was slightly stunned, then immediately turned his head, only to see Shang Tao striding towards Tang Yao's position. His face instantly darkened like the bottom of a pot.

He immediately realized that Tang Yao's words had influenced Shang Tao.

And Shang Tao had been sent by Vice President Zhao…

Thinking of this.

Ding Yilong's breath hitched, his expression turning somewhat ferocious. He glared fiercely at Tang Yao's cubicle, then lowered his head and picked up his phone from the desk.

Then.

He woke up his phone, opened his contacts, and stared at Ou Congquan's name, his expression shifting unpredictably as he pondered something.

Meanwhile.

After Tang Yao returned to her cubicle, she first adjusted her mood, suppressing the unpleasant thoughts, and then took out her drawing paper.

She had encountered many such troublesome matters in her past life, just not with such an exaggerated intensity, nor with such incompetent leaders.

Perhaps it was because this parallel world had the Sakura Prefecture Autonomous Region?

Tang Yao couldn't figure it out, nor did she want to spend time thinking about the reason for now, as it could easily confuse her. After all, she had lived for over twenty years in her previous life… And yet, the geographical knowledge from her past life and the current world didn't match up anywhere. So, it was better to accept it gradually and implicitly, otherwise, she feared she might say something completely contrary to common sense one day.

Besides, she didn't want to waste any more time on that incompetent editor-in-chief. Her work had reached a temporary pause, and she might as well continue drawing Fate Zero with this time.

After all, even the magazine agency was embracing new media. Tang Yao was genuinely worried that this parallel world might also create a gacha mobile game, and not having a first-mover advantage wouldn't be fun.

Especially since Fate Zero was indeed difficult to draw.

Many people didn't know that Fate Zero actually had a manga version. But honestly… perhaps due to the brilliance of the anime, the different medium of manga, and the need to differentiate it from the anime version, the overall viewing experience wasn't as good as the anime.

Most importantly, the length was too long…

Tang Yao didn't have that much time to draw a full fourteen volumes and slowly unfold the entire story.

By then, let alone a mobile game, it would be too late.

So, she was more inclined to reference the anime, introducing the main characters in the most concise way at the beginning, and then having the main characters summon Heroic Spirits together.

But the difficulty was still considerable.

There was no choice. Fate's settings were too numerous, and the cast of characters was large. The first episode of the Fate Zero anime, lasting over forty minutes, wasn't without reason. Many old viewers likely still remembered the famous "two-person crosstalk" scene from the anime… That was also a necessary measure to explain the plot.

Tang Yao actually felt a headache just thinking about it that day. Fortunately, she had the anime to reference.

In her previous life, the manga was released after the anime, and there was no logical reason for an anime-to-manga adaptation. Moreover, with the popularity of Fate Zero, if you drew it exactly like the anime, who would watch it?

But it was different here. There was no Fate Zero anime here.

There was more room for maneuverability.

However, even saying that, manga couldn't move… The anime could do a crosstalk, but what about manga?

Tang Yao was also troubled. Although she had tentatively decided on a crosstalk approach as well…

"Editor Tang?"

Tang Yao was contemplating the manga on her drawing paper.

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

"..."

Tang Yao snapped back to attention and found Director Shang Tao standing beside her. "Director Shang, is there something you need?"

"I wanted to ask about the follow-up development of that Teacher Ou's work."

Shang Tao hesitated for a moment, organized his thoughts, and then said, "If it's possible, I would trouble you to inform me."

"...Okay."

Tang Yao only had an issue with the editor-in-chief who did nothing all day; she didn't dislike Director Shang at all. He was quite polite, so she didn't hesitate and directly told him about Teacher Ou's future plans.

In short, it was still going to be terrible.

"..."

Shang Tao heard the outrageous plot Teacher Ou planned to draw and fell silent. After a while, he asked, "Then what are your thoughts on that final promotional slogan?"

"Someone asked me the same question not long ago. To be perfectly honest, out of a sense of editorial responsibility, it's out of pity... The readers are just too pitiful."

Tang Yao didn't hide anything and casually replied, "I think this part of the plot could have been handled better. Without changing Ou Congquan's mind, it could have been expressed in a more suitable way, but unfortunately, Ou Congquan didn't look at any of the revision suggestions I sent over, or anything else.

And reminding our editor-in-chief was completely useless.

This ultimately led to this result.

That slogan, AORI, was a last resort. I foresaw the readers exploding, but there was nothing I could do to change it, so I added that AORI to leave the readers with a sliver of hope, which also carried a reminder and left some room for maneuver. If Ou Congquan also read the reader feedback, and saw his own poorly drawn developments, perhaps seeing the final AORI would make him change his mind. After all, the bi-weekly schedule still had plenty of time, even though this hope was extremely slim."

"..."

Shang Tao was slightly stunned upon hearing this, then felt a bit emotional. This Editor Tang... was indeed more reliable than Ding Yilong, much more reliable.

And Ding Yilong was a real bastard.

But soon, she couldn't afford to be emotional anymore. She slumped as if deflated, "Slim? You don't think he'll change?"

Tang Yao casually replied while doodling on a piece of paper, "It's difficult. He's a stubborn and arrogant manga artist."

"So we still have to postpone it..."

Shang Tao couldn't help but rub his temples again. "So all the effort we've put in so far will be wasted? The website and the manga awards are about to launch, and everything is ready on all channels, but this happens..."

"..."

The pen tip on the paper suddenly paused.

Hearing Shang Tao's casual remark, Tang Yao suddenly realized something.

She looked at the word 'Promotion' at the top of the paper, tilted her head, and a flash of inspiration made her eyes light up.

"Director Shang."

Tang Yao's thoughts raced. After a while, she managed to suppress her surging emotions, slowly looked up, and suddenly asked, "You're the new media director, right?"

"Huh? Yes."

Shang Tao looked down at the young, beautiful girl in front of him, somewhat confused by her sudden question.

"Actually..."

A pure, flawless smile spread across Tang Yao's fair face. "I have a suggestion. Are you willing to listen?"

Promotional window!

Channel issues!

Copyright issues!

The answer to solving all these problems was right in front of her.