Getting Ready

Obviously.

Li Xue had already read the twenty-odd works released ahead of the Manga Award—or, more accurately, she had read the two works that Tang Yao had enthusiastically recommended... and had also drawn herself.

There was no need to mention Uzumaki. Li Xue had already read it.

But this was Li Xue's first time reading Fate/Zero.

Tang Yao hadn't found a chance to show it to her.

After all, she'd drawn it later, and to meet the Manga Award's schedule, Tang Yao had only just finished it when the original pages went straight to Shang Tao.

So, like any other ordinary reader, Li Xue was reading Fate/Zero for the first time. It was her first time seeing the manga Tang Yao had described as... a game scenario.

And after she finished it...

Li Xue's only thought was: This is supposed to be a game scenario? What a waste of such a masterpiece.

Most importantly, she wasn't the only one who thought the manga was good. Plenty of readers thought so too.

In that case... Tang Yao could easily make her debut as a manga artist!

So...

She called Tang Yao right away.

"Miss Li, I know what's going on with the website, too..."

Hearing the older woman's excited words from the other end of the phone, Tang Yao couldn't help laughing. "But I really have no intention of becoming a manga artist."

"...Won't you at least give it a try?"

Li Xue fell silent for a moment, then continued to urge her. "Fate/Zero's current opening... is already good enough to serialize."

"There's no need to try."

Tang Yao lay with her head on Xun's lap, gazing at the ceiling. "If I really wanted to serialize it, I wouldn't have given the original pages to Shang Tao. The manga's popularity after it went up was a little beyond what I expected, sure, but I've already made up my mind. I'm not changing it. Besides..."

At that, Tang Yao recalled the topic they'd discussed earlier and joked, "I'm planning to take you away from the Literary Arts Magazine. How could I become a manga artist? What would you do then? Would you become an editor? You don't handle Male-oriented works, so of course I have to try my hand at games, where the potential is higher. That way, I can make more money and feel at ease taking you away from the Literary Arts Magazine... taking you home!"

"..."

Li Xue suddenly fell silent.

At the same time...

Tang Xun looked at her older sister.

Tang Yao noticed and looked at her in confusion, silently asking, What's wrong?

But whether Xun hadn't understood or didn't want to interrupt, she didn't say anything. She only kept staring at her.

"...I don't actually care that much about the deputy editor position."

Just as the sisters were looking at each other, Li Xue's voice came through again. The excitement in it was gone. Instead, she sounded a little... shy?

Why does she sound so strange?

Tang Yao was puzzled. She turned her gaze away from her sister for the moment and replied, "I care about it... Anyway, I've already made up my mind. Miss Li, please help me get in touch with your relative."

"I've already contacted him..."

On the other end of the phone...

Li Xue seemed to take a deep breath, then muttered something too softly to make out. Her tone gradually returned to normal. "But what about Fate/Zero? You put it on the website this time to promote it, right? What about the updates after this?"

"Hmm... I'll wait until it gets a little more popular."

Tang Yao thought it over before replying, "Then I'll release a new chapter every week, for free, on Tuesday or Wednesday."

"Release it for free?"

"Yeah. To avoid any unnecessary copyright disputes."

"What about after the whole thing's been released? Will you publish a volume?"

"Uh..."

"Have you not thought about that? Royalties from collected volumes are an important source of income for manga artists. They can make up forty percent of an artist's total income. Even if you update for free and don't care about payment for the original pages, you can't give up on collected volumes entirely. With the manga as popular as it is now, as long as the rest is good enough, the volumes will definitely sell."

"I really haven't thought about it..."

"Then give me some time to think it over. I'll help you plan things out. Releasing the series for free is fine, but you can't pass up the income it might bring in later."

"...It's still too early to think about all that."

Hearing the seriousness in Li Xue's voice, Tang Yao felt a little embarrassed. Hesitantly, she said, "We've barely even gotten started. At most, we've made a good first step. And I can't keep causing you trouble."

"This isn't trouble!"

Li Xue replied without hesitation. "Even if it were trouble, I'd still help you... But I want to confirm one last time, Tang Yao. Are you really planning to quit?"

Tang Yao gave her a definite answer. "Yes."

Li Xue was silent for a while, then said, "Then promise me this first: if it doesn't work out, don't give up on yourself. You have to come back and draw manga. If it comes to that, I can quit and become a freelance editor to help you. I really don't care that much about this deputy editor position."

"Okay."

"Then get ready... I've arranged to meet my relative on Wednesday. I'll have him come to the company building, and I'll go with you."

"..."

Hearing that, Tang Yao immediately scrambled up from the sofa and smoothed her slightly messy hair as she asked, "Miss Li, really?"

"Yeah. But getting an investment isn't easy. Even with Fate/Zero so popular right now... if it doesn't work out in the end..."

"I know. I'll be prepared."

"We can discuss the details at the office on Monday. I need to think about the collected volumes and releasing the manga for free. Also, remember to dress maturely on Wednesday... Actually, never mind. You look fine the way you usually dress."

"..."

After that, the two chatted a little longer before finally hanging up.

Tang Yao slowly lowered her phone, took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, forcing herself to calm down.

She'd finally reached the most important step—getting the money.

There were still plenty of problems to solve, but this was undoubtedly the most important one.

"...Miss Li."

Just then, Tang Xun saw that her sister had finally hung up and asked, "Is she a coworker?"

"Yeah, a friend I met at the magazine."

Tang Yao came back to herself, nodded, and smiled brightly. "A really good friend!"

She could tell that Li Xue was genuinely invested in helping her with this.

And she was truly grateful.

Tang Xun hesitated for a moment, then asked, "...She's a woman, right?"

"Huh? I called her Miss Li. What else would she be?"

"Oh..."

Tang Xun lowered her eyes and thought about it for a moment, then didn't ask anything else.

"Let's not talk about that, Xun."

Tang Yao got off the sofa and came over to her younger sister. She held out a hand and said seriously, "I need you to do me a favor. It's important."

Tang Xun raised her fair chin slightly and looked at her older sister, who was still beautiful and captivating even in plain pajamas. A little puzzled, she nevertheless placed her hand in her sister's palm. "What is it?"

"Help me pick out clothes."

Tang Yao pulled her sister to her feet and led her into the bedroom.

Then...

Tang Yao stopped and spread her arms slightly. "Xun, I need an outfit that's a little androgynous... something that'll make me look more mature."

Li Xue hadn't finished what she was saying, but Tang Yao had still understood that she wanted her to dress maturely for the meeting.

And Tang Yao thought that made sense. After all, she was asking someone for money. She had to show the proper attitude.

At that, Tang Xun shook her head. "...That wouldn't suit you, and we don't have clothes like that at home."

"Then something Female-oriented will work too."

Tang Yao hesitated before replying.

Never mind.

She'd just have to go for it!

"..."

Hearing that, Tang Yao didn't say anything more. She simply looked her older sister up and down in her pajamas, thought for a moment, then turned and started searching.

About five minutes later...

"Xun, just one question. Why did you get tights and high heels?"

"Didn't you want mature-looking clothes?"

"...Maybe we should just forget it."

At the same time...

As Tang Yao prepared what to wear...

The Manga Award's popularity... continued to rise.

But as time went on...

The Manga Award, which had drawn huge traffic thanks to Ou Congquan, gradually had less and less to do with Ou Congquan.

And it seemed... to have less and less to do with the Manga Award itself, too.

Most readers weren't discussing the Manga Award at all. Instead, they'd started talking about a manga artist with a rather unusual name—Third-rate Painter.

As readers discussed the works... those two titles grew more and more popular, drawing in more and more readers who came out of curiosity.

And so a positive cycle began.

Then...

Even Kang Ming, who had already heard from Tang Yao that Ou Congquan had changed the paneling and was no longer paying attention to the Manga Award, came across those two works.

After reading them, he felt the same way most readers did: How could a manga be this interesting?!

But...

Aside from finding it interesting...

After reading Fate/Zero, Kang Ming also felt admiration—and got an idea.

"Holy Relics, Heroic Spirits and Servants, Command Spells, the summoning of Heroic Spirits, the Holy Grail War..."

Looking at the last page of Fate/Zero on his screen, Kang Ming said excitedly, "Where did Editor Tang find this manga artist? This is incredible! The worldbuilding is genius! If this were made into a game..."

As he thought about it...

Inspiration seemed to strike. Unable to resist, he opened a document and started writing something based on the manga's existing setting.

After all...

This new member of the Editorial Department preferred games.

So when he came across an original setting, the first thing he thought of was a game.

Only...

The manga had revealed too little of its setting so far.

Kang Ming was soon stumped.

He looked up again, grabbed the mouse, and switched back to the webpage. He was just about to refresh Fate/Zero and look for inspiration.

But as he stared at the black-and-white manga on the screen, he suddenly came to his senses... and gave a self-mocking smile.

...What am I doing?

The manga wasn't even finished, for one thing. And he was an editor now. Why was he still doing this stuff?

Besides, how could this possibly be made into a game?