The Editor's Job

Actually, in Tang Yao's game plan,

the thing she had always worried about most was promotion.

Of course, that wasn't to say that everything would be fine as long as the promotion went well, or that all the other problems would sort themselves out.

No.

Promotion was the prerequisite for everything going smoothly.

After all, even the finest wine feared being hidden away in a deep alley. And that was even more true at the dawn of the mobile internet, when this was a completely new type of game, untested by the market.

The reason she wanted to draw Fate Zero was that she worried a "new game" like this would go unnoticed. With so few people knowing about it, it might ultimately fail and become nothing more than a stepping stone for someone else's inspiration, remembered only as the first of its kind.

But that raised another question—once Fate Zero was drawn, how was she supposed to promote it?

That was right.

Just like a set of nested dolls, she now had to think about promoting the work that would promote the game.

She couldn't draw it as a serial, because then the copyright wouldn't belong to her anymore.

But if she didn't serialize it... how could she get readers to discover the manga? Online serial platforms weren't thriving here. Otherwise, Shang Tao wouldn't have had such a hard time setting up an online manga-reading website.

At first,

Tang Yao's idea had been to use a pen name, make a name for herself through the Manga Award, and then release Fate Zero.

But there was an obvious problem with that. Could a single Manga Award short story really attract enough readers?

Fate Zero couldn't enter the Manga Award. Copyright issues aside, it was a serial, after all.

So she had been troubled by this for a long time.

But just now,

she had found a solution.

That was right.

She could use this opportunity to trick... no, persuade the new media director in front of her to do her a favor.

There was no way she could get many readers to discover her manga on her own. A magazine publisher was different, especially its new media department, which was dedicated to attracting more manga readers to its website.

As long as the new media director in front of her believed what Tang Yao had said, he would surely do everything he could to put the Manga Award's outstanding works in front of readers so his website could launch successfully.

And among the works he presented... would be Fate Zero.

Besides,

although Tang Yao's motives weren't pure... she wasn't making things up, either. The current controversy was troublesome, but it really could bring tremendous exposure to the website and the Manga Award.

Exposure!

That was what Tang Yao wanted most.

Although it would probably be a little difficult later to persuade the new media director to promote an unfinished serial, that was one of the reasons she had agreed to change Ou Congquan's mind. It would give her another bargaining chip.

But she had already taken the first step.

"...Then I'll leave Teacher Ou to you. I need to go report this first."

Shang Tao had been completely won over by Tang Yao. He had gone over the details with her, and the more they talked, the more feasible it seemed. He could hardly sit still. He raised his wrist to check the time, then said, "Let me know right away if there's any progress on your end."

"No problem."

"Then let's exchange contact information. If it looks feasible on my end, I'll let you know right away."

"Sure."

The two exchanged contact information.

Then Shang Tao hurried off, looking noticeably more excited on his way out than he had been when he arrived, worried sick.

He had clearly realized that, if handled properly, this controversy presented an excellent opportunity for the website.

Tang Yao watched him leave, then turned her chair back toward her desk.

...She needed to speed things up herself, too.

After all, this rare opportunity would be gone if she missed it. No matter what, she had to draw the opening of Fate Zero in the next few days... She could start by adapting the anime scene by scene.

Then she could see how it turned out.

But before that...

Tang Yao looked at the latest issue of Big Comic on her desk.

She had to deal with Teacher Ou's problem first.

After all, Director Shang Tao had said he would report it, not that it was sure to work. The plan to use this controversy to build momentum for the Manga Award and release its entries ahead of schedule would probably still need approval from the higher-ups.

In fact,

Director Shang had probably come to the content department because one of the higher-ups had given him the go-ahead.

And Director Shang Tao had been right about one thing: at a magazine publisher, content was everything... The higher-ups would never agree to put the publisher's flagship manga on the chopping block for the sake of an award and a website.

Unless things turned out the way Tang Yao had described... Unless that AORI line became reality, and this issue's plot development wasn't just a case of losing his mind, but a detour that laid the groundwork for the explosive developments to come.

Even if she couldn't manage that, she still had to get Ou Congquan's condition to improve.

So next issue, she absolutely couldn't let Ou Congquan draw whatever he wanted.

"What a hassle."

That was easy enough to say.

But when Tang Yao thought about what she had to do next, she still knitted her brows and muttered under her breath.

Then she opened a drawer and took out a revised draft... or, more accurately, a proposal.

Although she personally didn't like Teacher Ou... in fact, she even disliked him a little, especially after seeing his almost arrogant attitude during several of her later visits.

But disliking him was one thing. Tang Yao wouldn't let a personal feeling like that make her dismiss everything about him... nor would she bring those feelings into her work.

Unless... he was like Editor Ding.

But Ou Congquan clearly wasn't like Editor Ding. He was indeed conceited and arrogant, but if he'd been like Editor Ding, all arrogance and conceit with no ability whatsoever, he couldn't have drawn a flagship manga.

His drawing skills and ideas were both pretty good, actually. Tang Yao had once found the time to read his serial from beginning to end. The plot was a little clichéd, but she could tell how much care he put into it and how much he loved manga.

His arrogance mainly came from being overly confident in himself, as well as... not trusting Tang Yao, an editor who was far too young.

But that didn't keep Tang Yao from taking responsibility for her job... or, more accurately, it hadn't kept her from doing so last week.

She was an editor. She wouldn't slack off because of personal likes and dislikes. Once she had accepted the reality of being transported to another world, she had accepted the job along with it.

That was also why she had read through Ou Congquan's work.

She actually understood why Teacher Ou had gone for that highly controversial plot development, what he was trying to express.

It was just that his approach was idiotic.

Tang Yao had tried both talking to him and explaining things in writing, hoping to get him to change course.

But Ou Congquan was clearly too confident in himself. If he had even glanced at the revision proposal Tang Yao had given him—just taken one look—he probably wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

But when her last attempt to persuade him failed, that idiot Ding Yilong wouldn't get involved, either.

Tang Yao really had been furious. She had decided to leave him to it, but at least she had kept the proposal... That AORI line had actually been prepared for the revised plot.

"I hope seeing the readers' reactions will bring you to your senses. If it doesn't, then you can just die."

Tang Yao took a deep breath, picked up the revised draft, and stood up to head out.

...She could think of it as doing it for her first pot of gold.

Besides,

Tang Yao held the revised draft and looked in the direction of Ding Yilong's office, narrowing her eyes.

She had a feeling that editor-in-chief was going to stir up trouble. This was the perfect chance to check Ou Congquan's attitude.

If things really did develop in the way she least wanted, and the two of them tried to dump all the blame on her,

she wouldn't mind switching to another plan.

At the same time,

after leaving the Editorial Department, Shang Tao found Vice President Zhao Fang Sheng and excitedly explained Tang Yao's idea.

Zhao Fang Sheng sat behind his desk. After hearing Shang Tao out, he fell silent.

I asked you to ask about the manga... and you came back with this?

Sorry... It looks like I still can't change my update schedule after all.

I'll keep updating around midnight from now on... I'm more used to it that way. Guess I'll stick to posting in the early hours.