Impossible

"You mean..."

Much later.

Zhao Fang Sheng looked at Shang Tao. He seemed to have finally caught on, and raised an eyebrow before slowly saying, "You want to use the uproar over Girl, Boy, and Sword to promote the Manga Award and the online website?"

Shang Tao knew his superior well enough to recognize this as the prelude to his displeasure, so he hurried to explain. "From an operational standpoint, that's right. But we don't have much choice. You've seen it yourself, President: right now, all the readers are taking out their anger on the Manga Award and the website..."

He repeated the theory Tang Yao had just put forward: even bad publicity was still publicity.

"..."

After hearing Shang Tao out, Vice President Zhao Fang Sheng's raised eyebrow slowly lowered. He seemed to understand Shang Tao's plan, and tapped the desk with his fingers. "Then, by your reasoning, while you're releasing the Manga Award entries ahead of schedule, are you also going to bring up Girl, Boy, and Sword from time to time to highlight how 'normal' the Manga Award entries are?"

"That could actually work..."

Shang Tao's eyes lit up at the suggestion, but he had barely started speaking when he noticed the look on the vice president's face.

That was practically the same as stepping on their flagship series to get ahead.

It was too underhanded.

He hurriedly explained, "No, no, I won't do that. I'll only make use of the readers' current resentment. I won't actively promote this issue of Girl, Boy, and Sword and its infuriating... bizarre developments."

"That still puts Girl, Boy, and Sword on the hot seat."

Seeing Shang Tao change his tune at the last moment, Zhao Fang Sheng's expression softened a little, but he was still angry. "Do you really think I'm Ding Yilong? The readers are angry at the Manga Award, so the award people release their entries early, acting like they want to show everyone how excellent the work is. Isn't that basically telling the readers to compare them?

"You want to put our flagship series on the hot seat? Do you know how many people inside the company are against the New Media Department? Sure, the website might take off, but if Ou Congquan has another episode afterward and Girl, Boy, and Sword goes under, do you know how many knives will be aimed at the New Media Department—and at me?"

"I do."

Shang Tao answered at once. Then, noticing the doubt in his superior's eyes, he continued, "I really do, Vice President. I raised the same concern just now, but Editor Tang said she could solve it. She said... she'd make that line, AORI, come true. This issue of Girl, Boy, and Sword wouldn't be another episode—it would just be taking the long way around to set up the explosive developments coming next."

"Editor Tang?"

Zhao Fang Sheng's anger stalled. Seeing the confidence on Shang Tao's face, he finally understood. "The editor responsible for the line AORI? So... there really is a reversal coming in Girl, Boy, and Sword?"

"Right now, there probably isn't."

Shang Tao gave a bitter smile, then began recounting what he'd seen at the Editorial Department, along with the background behind this issue's plot.

He didn't embellish anything.

Even the unvarnished version was enough to make anyone's blood pressure skyrocket.

Ding Yilong was an editor-in-chief who didn't even look at the original manuscript. When one of his editors spotted a problem and kept trying to change the manga artist's mind, he told her to stay out of it.

As for helping his subordinates, that was pure fantasy.

Not only did he fail to help; afterward, he did everything he could to pin the blame on the editor who'd been trying so hard.

Anyone with a lick of sense would have had an aneurysm hearing this.

As Shang Tao spoke,

Zhao Fang Sheng's face slowly flushed red. "I swear to—"

He'd already known Ding Yilong had serious problems, but even so, he couldn't stop himself from swearing.

It was just too outrageous!

"I was shocked too."

Shang Tao gave a bitter smile. "But I guess it's not that surprising. He's been around as long as you have, President, and he used to get results. He's gotten far too complacent..."

"Past success doesn't mean a thing now!"

Zhao Fang Sheng slapped the desk. "There's a problem now, isn't there? Who does he think he is, the emperor of the Editorial Department?"

Shang Tao didn't say anything.

Because, for all he knew, Ding Yilong really did think that.

Meanwhile,

Zhao Fang Sheng was furious, but after slamming the desk, he calmed down. He took several deep breaths, forcing himself to regain his composure, then said, "Shang Tao, you should know why I sent you to the Editorial Department under the pretext of AORI."

"Mm."

Shang Tao nodded. "To see what Ding Yilong was up to, and how much control he had over the important artists under his wing. Ding Yilong probably suspected as much, which is why he kept trying to shift the blame in front of me."

"I always thought that line, AORI, came from the editor and the manga artist working together. I thought things weren't that bad."

Zhao Fang Sheng tried to keep his composure, but he couldn't help laughing in anger as he continued. "And now you're telling me the editor was forced to write it to comfort the readers?"

Shang Tao realized he'd better clarify. "That's about to change."

Zhao Fang Sheng glanced at Shang Tao. "You have that much faith in the editor?"

"I wouldn't call it faith so much as hope."

Shang Tao sighed. "Otherwise, whether or not I put Teacher Ou on the hot seat, things won't look good for Girl, Boy, and Sword."

"..."

Zhao Fang Sheng fell silent at that. After a long while, he said, "So according to Ou Congquan's original plan, he'll keep drawing the story as it is now?"

"According to Editor Tang, yes. There's no reversal... The next two months will all be about the underworld, and the protagonist won't reappear until the very end, when he comes back to life."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I was shocked too..."

"So why couldn't Editor Tang change Ou Congquan's mind after trying four times?"

"Partly because Ding Yilong did nothing. He didn't get involved at all, and even undermined the editor under him. The other reason was probably that the manga artist didn't trust her... Editor Tang is too young, and too pretty."

Zhao Fang Sheng looked surprised. "A woman?"

Shang Tao nodded, then made a strange face. "Yeah. She doesn't look like an editor at all. She looks more like a girl group member—the kind who takes center stage and makes everyone around her fade into the background..."

"..."

Zhao Fang Sheng gave him a look that said, "What are you talking about?" but didn't pursue the subject. "So why does she think she can change Ou Congquan's mind this time?"

"Uh..."

Shang Tao got stuck. After a long while, he said, "Ou Congquan can see the readers' feedback too, right? Maybe he'll soften his stance?"

"What if he digs in his heels and insists there's nothing wrong with what he drew?"

Zhao Fang Sheng shook his head. "It's not impossible. When I was an editor, I ran into manga artists who, when readers pointed out a problem, deliberately went against them just to prove they were right."

Shang Tao froze. His excitement was doused like a fire with a bucket of water, cooling in an instant.

That was true.

Editor Tang hadn't managed to persuade him the first four times.

Could she really do it this time?

"Unless..."

Just then,

Zhao Fang Sheng thought of the line AORI and furrowed his brow. "Unless that editor named Tang has her own unique vision for where the story should go—maybe she even understands better than Ou Congquan how it should be drawn from here. And unless she also knows how to make it flow seamlessly from what's already been drawn. If so, perhaps she could use the readers' dissatisfaction with the current story to..."

Shang Tao's eyes lit up again, and the heart that had been doused with cold water burned hot once more.

"But the odds are too low."

Zhao Fang Sheng shook his head, dousing Shang Tao's hopes with another bucket of cold water. After thinking it over, he said, "Still, let her try first. You can release the Manga Award entries early, so go make the preparations.

"Editor Tang is right; this really is a good opportunity. But for now, just make preparations, and keep an eye on how things are going with that editor named Tang."

"Okay."

At last,

Shang Tao's heart stopped going from hot to cold and back again like steel being quenched.

"Go ahead."

Zhao Fang Sheng stood up. "Keep a close eye on things. If Editor Tang can't do it, I'll go with her to visit Ou Congquan... And the content division can't go on like this. They've already lost control of their manga artists. Ding Yilong... that Ding Yilong."

"Okay."

Shang Tao nodded. As for anything else, he didn't add his two cents. "Then I'll go prepare and select the entries to release early."

"Mm."

Zhao Fang Sheng answered, then remembered something else. "By the way, what's the name of that editor named Tang?"

"Tang Yao."

"Tang Yao... Got it."

Zhao Fang Sheng nodded and said nothing more.

He was already thinking about when to visit Ou Congquan with Tang Yao the next day, as well as how to restructure the Young Adult Magazine Editorial Department.

It wasn't that he didn't believe in Tang Yao. From Shang Tao's account and that line AORI, he could tell she was capable. It was just that Ding Yilong's conduct was completely outrageous.

But even a capable editor would have a hard time coming up with her own unique ideas while also matching the original creator's vision, let alone making them fit seamlessly with the story that had already been drawn.

It was too difficult.

It was unlikely.

If she really could do it... then she could replace Ding Yilong outright.

Although she was thirty... Wait, how old was Editor Tang again?

Zhao Fang Sheng furrowed his brow, recalling Shang Tao's description of the editor—young and pretty. Probably around thirty. It wasn't as if a woman that age couldn't be an editor-in-chief; the Shoujo Manga editorial team even had a very young deputy editor-in-chief.

Wait... What was he thinking?

As he thought it over,

Zhao Fang Sheng finally realized what he was doing and shook his head with a self-mocking smile.

He'd actually been seriously considering something impossible.

...Maybe he was just that desperate to replace Ding Yilong.