Good News

When people face things they absolutely cannot accept.

They generally go through five stages.

And after Su Deqiang refreshed the webpage countless times, confirmed his internet connection was fine countless times, and confirmed the manga was gone, He smoothly entered the second stage, transitioning from denial and disbelief to anger.

"...Bastards! Fucking bastards!"

Su Deqiang let go of the mouse, slumping back in his chair, his fists clenched.

This was truly an unfinished work! It ended just as the story was getting interesting!

After an excellent start and introducing an extremely interesting and captivating concept... the manga just ran away!

Is this even human?!

Now he has to wait a week, maybe two weeks, for the next issue...

Wait.

Something's wrong.

Something's wrong.

As Su Deqiang thought, he suddenly realized something was off. He sat up straight again, looking at the screen in front of him, and vaguely recalled what he was doing here...

He was on summer vacation, woke up early in the morning to get revenge for the terrible development in this issue of Girl, Boy, and Sword. But since the next issue hadn't been released yet, he was focusing on the manga award Ou Congquan was advertising.

Manga award.

?

Su Deqiang spent a little effort and finally remembered what he had initially come for. At the same time, he recalled a very important thing: this wasn't a serialized work in a magazine, nor was it a work serialized on a website.

This seemed to be a submission... a one-time submission for a manga award.

So whether it was a week or two, this manga titled Fate/Zero might not be updated at all.

After all, he had heard that serialized works participating in manga awards were complete works.

Otherwise, what would they be judging? Would they wait until the manga was finished before awarding prizes?

So...

"...Bastards!"

Su Deqiang's eyes slowly widened, and he stared at the screen in disbelief. He cursed again, then quickly grabbed his mouse, wanting to see if there was any other explanation besides "to be continued," like the serialization magazine, the next update time, and so on.

But there was nothing.

The manga just started and then ended cleanly, leaving only a "to be continued."

No!

After repeatedly confirming he couldn't find what he was looking for... Su Deqiang completely lost it.

If it were just a matter of waiting, a week, two weeks, or even a month, he wouldn't have broken down.

After all, manga is different from other entertainment products... this special medium dictates extremely long update times. Weekly updates are already the limit, requiring the Manga Artist to work non-stop to maintain it. Basically, as soon as the manuscript for the current issue is submitted, they have to immediately start drawing the storyboard for the next issue to barely keep up, and that's assuming everything goes smoothly.

It's really not something an ordinary person can handle.

So in this parallel world, most manga magazines are bi-weekly or monthly.

This provides much more time. For example, the Big Comic where Tang Yao is located is a bi-weekly magazine, and some of its serialized works have backup drafts.

Readers like Su Deqiang were actually accustomed to waiting.

Although he was very impatient just now, truly impatient, wishing he could see the continuation immediately.

But deep down, after automatically categorizing it as a serialized work, he could still understand the decision to stop the story right when the Heroic Spirits appeared.

Rather, the first issue had so much content; it was already unexpectedly generous!

However.

All of this was based on the assumption that this manga was a serialized work, and he knew exactly when the next issue would be updated.

If he didn't even know when the next issue of this manga would be updated, the reader's reaction wouldn't just be impatience.

"It can't be, right? The manga award wouldn't release a half-finished product, would it? It should be serialized, right? Give us an exact date! Please! Even if you say the manga will be serialized after it officially launches on the website?"

At this moment.

Su Deqiang entered the third stage—bargaining.

He returned to the website's homepage and began searching repeatedly, trying to find even a single sentence explaining Fate/Zero.

But there was definitely no such thing.

After all, the reason Fate/Zero appeared here was entirely Zhao Fang Sheng's impulsive decision... because the manga was too outstanding, and he unilaterally felt that the magazine serialization was being blocked by Ding Yilong, and Tang Yao had no choice but to recommend it to Shang Tao.

Now that things had happened, Zhao Fang Sheng decided to let readers see it first and see their reception before deciding on further releases.

Zhao Fang Sheng and Ding Yilong both felt that this work would definitely be serialized in the magazine in the end, and they certainly wouldn't have thought of adding any explanations.

But the problem now is, the readers' acceptance level is too high...

Absurdly high.

"Seriously, there's nothing???"

Su De Qiang searched every corner of the website but couldn't find any explanations.

He didn't believe it. He clicked on the synopsis page for the manga Fate/Zero again, glanced at the author's name, thought for a moment, then opened his chat software and clicked on the R-rated... no, the fan group he frequented, determined to ask other fans if anyone had heard of this Manga Artist.

Did anyone know anything about the manga Fate/Zero?

But as soon as he opened the group, before he could even type out his question, dense messages started popping up.

"Everyone!! Urgent!!! Has anyone heard of the Third-rate Painter?"

"I want to ask too!! It's urgent!!"

"Yeah, does anyone know whose alias this is!? I don't think someone who can draw such a work is unknown! This is simply genius! Uzumaki! And that Fate/Zero, where is this work planned to be serialized?"

"Same here, his works are really interesting! I originally wanted to flame, but after reading it, I was completely conquered by the Third-rate Painter's work!"

"Huh? You all read it too...?"

"The category is so obvious, how could I not read it? I was just planning to read for fun, but I didn't expect to discover such an interesting Manga Artist! He's truly a genius!"

"It's really good! So does anyone know who the Third-rate Painter is?"

"...You don't need to ask anymore. We've already discussed it. Which legitimate Manga Artist would use a name like that? Probably only the editor knows. As for Fate/Zero, we haven't found any related information either, and the Wenxin Manga Award's social media accounts haven't said anything."

"Huh? Then Fate/Zero isn't finished... it won't just be one chapter, will it!?"

"Currently, it seems to be only one issue. As for when the next issue will come out and whether it will be serialized, it's completely unknown... If we consider it as a work submitted for the manga award, then it should be finished, right?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

As the helpful fan answered, ellipses began to flood the group chat.

Then, various exclamations like "What the hell, are you kidding me" popped out, and the entire group exploded.

And Su De Qiang... also exploded!

BOOM--

An hour later.

Literary Hall.

The office of Vice President Zhao Fang Sheng was abruptly pushed open.

Shang Tao rushed in frantically.

"...What's wrong?"

Zhao Fang Sheng looked up at Shang Tao, who was sweating profusely, looking guilty and anxious, and asked with a frown, "Are there problems with the manga award entries released early?"

"..."

Shang Tao panted slightly. Hearing Zhao Fang Sheng's words, the guilt on his face became even more apparent. He hesitated for a long time before replying in a low voice, "It's not exactly a problem..."

"Just tell me the bad news directly,"

Zhao Fang Sheng put down the document in his hand and said calmly, "Don't beat around the bush."

He was not only in charge of the new media department, so he wasn't like the readers, staying up early waiting for the manga award entries to be released, and of course, he couldn't pay attention to the readers' feedback.

"Uh, President, it's really not bad news... it's good news."

"Good news? What good news?"

"..."

Shang Tao looked at Zhao Fang Sheng, then said guiltily, "The good news is that readers are no longer paying attention to Ou Congquan's controversial plot development this issue. The strategy of releasing the manga award entries early has also been successful..."

Zhao Fang Sheng knew he hadn't finished, so he asked, "And then?"

"And then... there's also some bad news."

Shang Tao's face was full of misery, "The bad news is... two of the early released works are too popular! Or more accurately, Fate/Zero is too popular! It seems like no one is looking at the other works anymore! And the readers' attention has shifted to the manga awards, shifted to our new media department!"

Zhao Fang Sheng: "..."