So weird!!!
Su Deqiang stared at the last page of the comic on his computer screen, thinking back over the second half of the story, when everything had spun out of control. Those striking images had left him reeling. He could sum it up in one thought: this comic was so damn weird! So freaking insane!
The comic wasn't using bizarre imagery to depict the heroine overcoming her inner turmoil.
There really were head balloons!
But what kind of person could come up with a plot like this?
Why!!!
What was the deal with head balloons?
Why had something so freaky suddenly appeared?
Did the comic explain it?
...It didn't seem to.
After that, it was just a huge, wild horror spectacle.
Then, at the climax, it ended outright, leaving just a faint aftertaste and endless room for speculation.
It didn't explain any of the causes or consequences.
So could the heroine escape?
How was she supposed to get away?
Each person had a corresponding head balloon, and the balloons would actively seek out their owners and hang them...
The sky outside was full of head balloons. There was no way anyone could escape in that situation.
Wait.
Maybe they could cut the strings with a knife?
At that moment,
Su Deqiang completely forgot why he had come in the first place. As he replayed the comic in his mind, he seriously began considering how he would escape if he encountered head balloons in real life.
After all... even Li Xue, a veteran editor, had never seen a horror comic like this before.
And neither had Su Deqiang, a horror fan!
He'd been cursing it as insane the whole time.
But it was precisely because it was so unexpected, because he'd never seen a horror comic like it... that he'd called it insane!
It was so damn good—no, so damn crazy!
"...Wait."
The last page of the comic was still up on the screen in front of Su Deqiang. He'd spent ages thinking about the fascinating head-balloon concept.
Then he suddenly came to his senses... He was here to tear the work apart! To get revenge!
What the hell was he doing?!
Su Deqiang put on a stern face again, gripped the mouse, and closed the page in front of him. He seemed to have forgotten all about criticizing the comic.
He returned to the website's homepage, gathered his thoughts, and tried to shake off the influence of the comic he'd just read...
But... he just couldn't shake it off!
His mind was full of head balloons!
"..."
Su Deqiang took a deep breath, then slowly scrolled down the website with the mouse, turning his attention once more to the twenty-some works laid out like items in a cabinet for readers to pick from.
Something was off.
Something was off about that comic... It had made his anger vanish! What a lunatic of an author!
No. He couldn't let this happen.
He'd find another one.
Su Deqiang decided to pick another comic at random... and get his bearings back.
That old scoundrel Give It Your All was beyond forgiveness!
How could he let him off? How could he let him—and that shameless Manga Award he was advertising—off the hook?
Right.
He'd find another one and get back in the mood.
Su Deqiang scanned the page, his eyes wandering as he tried to pick a comic at random... but after looking around for a while, his gaze still landed on the section enthusiastically recommended by editor Ou Congquan.
Apart from Uzumaki, there seemed to be another one.
He hadn't read it yet...
Su Deqiang stared at the remaining comic, hesitated for a moment, then clicked on it despite himself.
That damn editor's recommended comics were so interesting... No, so weird!
Way too weird!
So he'd take another look! Just one!
Su Deqiang made up his mind and leaned slightly toward the screen.
His mood had quietly shifted.
Fate Zero?
When Su Deqiang made out the title of the second comic, he felt a little puzzled... It didn't look like a horror comic.
Fate Zero?
What a strange name.
Unlike the previous comic, whose title had given everything away... Call it Head Balloons, and there were head balloons.
This title had a certain subtlety to it.
With that thought, Su Deqiang glanced at the author's name.
"Hm? The Third-rate Painter again?"
Su Deqiang was surprised. The name of this comic's author was... exactly the same as the author of the previous one.
Why would the same comic artist use such different naming styles?
Was this comic different?
Surely not?
So was it a horror comic after all?
With that question in mind, Su Deqiang clicked the read button and began.
The comic's opening took him by surprise.
The previous Uzumaki had used a realistic art style, but this comic didn't.
It had a distinctly anime-like style... though that might not be quite the right way to put it.
More accurately, the comic looked... normal?
Su Deqiang wasn't sure how to describe it. Basically, unlike Uzumaki, which strove to make its characters' features as close to real-life proportions as possible in order to make its distortions all the more shocking, this comic looked as if even its most distorted images wouldn't have much impact.
It looked like the kind of comic you'd find serialized in any magazine. Still, certain details gave away that it was drawn by the same person.
Why was the same comic artist's style so different?
Was he trying out a different style? Or something else?
But why try something this different?
How strange.
As he wondered about it, Su Deqiang turned to the next page and continued reading.
It all began with a war for the Holy Grail...
The Holy Grail, a wish-granting device capable of granting any wish.
In every Holy Grail War, the Grail chose seven Masters to command Servants. They summoned Heroic Spirits as familiars and made them fight one another... Heroes from different eras and nations would awaken in the modern age and battle for supremacy. That was the Holy Grail War.
The Fourth Holy Grail War was about to begin. To win the Grail, the participating magi began gathering information on one another...
"..."
At this point,
Su Deqiang had confirmed that this wasn't a horror comic. It seemed more like... fantasy?
But could the same comic artist really pull that off? He was so good at horror—could he also draw fantasy well?
Was he that confident?
Surely not.
Still, the premise... A Holy Grail that could grant any wish? Heroic Spirits? A war? It was pretty interesting.
After hesitating for a moment, Su Deqiang continued reading.
After giving a general introduction to the setting, the comic began its story with a man named Matou Kariya...
Following Matou Kariya's perspective, the world of the comic gradually unfolded.
The story was paced just right—not too slow or too rushed. Instead, it had a leisurely, steadily unfolding feel.
One by one, the various settings, characters, and factions made their appearances.
Tohsaka Tokiomi, the fifth head of the Tohsaka family...
Kirei Kotomine, representing the Holy Church...
Kaineth, a lecturer in the Clock Tower's Department of Spiritual Evocation...
Matou Kariya, heir to the Matou Family...
Waver, a student at the Clock Tower...
Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer...
As Su Deqiang read on, he gradually became completely immersed in the story. He was so absorbed that he might as well have forgotten himself.
At that moment, he seemed to have forgotten all about the Manga Award, Ou Congquan, and being cuckolded.
His mind was entirely on the comic.
Before he knew it, he'd been drawn in.
He couldn't help it. Even setting everything else aside, the premise of figures from history or mythology becoming familiars and fighting one another was enough to draw anyone in.
And the story and characters were excellent, too!
Tang Yao had put an enormous amount of effort into carefully adjusting the pacing of the original story to suit readers in this parallel world.
A fresh premise, vividly distinct characters, and tightly paced storytelling.
Put all those elements together... and the result was far more than the sum of its parts.
If reading Uzumaki had left Su Deqiang reeling, thinking the author was both a lunatic and a genius,
then reading Fate Zero made him feel as if he were reading a comic for the first time.
No!
How could something this interesting exist in the world?!
Su Deqiang leaned closer, staring intently at the screen. Its glow was reflected in his pupils, and his face was filled with excitement and anticipation for what came next. His finger kept clicking the next-page button.
Next page, next page...
And the comic didn't disappoint. The story gradually went in the direction he'd been hoping for.
Heroic Spirit summoning.
The vividly distinct characters who had appeared earlier summoned Heroic Spirits at different locations, using Holy Relics.
As one magic circle after another appeared on the screen,
as one Master after another raised a hand and spoke the words of summoning,
Su Deqiang leaned in even closer, completely absorbed!
And when the Heroic Spirits appeared, the final image settled on a female Heroic Spirit. She stood before the stained-glass windows of a church, dressed in a flowing battle skirt, dignified and beautiful. She asked, "Are you my Master?"
Su Deqiang was even more excited. His right index finger rapidly clicked the next-page button.
But.
This time.
When he clicked the next-page button, the page number didn't change. Instead, a message popped up.
[This is the last page~]
"Hm...?"
Su Deqiang stared at the message, dumbfounded, then anxiously clicked the next-page button several more times.
But the same message kept appearing.
"Is there a bug? No! What happens next? What happens next? Get out here!!!"
Su Deqiang started to panic! No! The story was just getting good! The Heroic Spirits had appeared! How could it end here? Don't do this to me!!
He hurriedly refreshed the page.
As for his original purpose...
Ou Congquan could do whatever he wanted! He could even die for all Su Deqiang cared!
Right now, he just wanted to know what happened next in the comic!
But.
After he refreshed,
the next page still didn't appear.
Only then did Su Deqiang finally notice the page number... and realize that the page he'd just read was the comic's final page.
He also noticed the small line of text beneath it: To be continued.
Su Deqiang: "..."
Before you continue