Cooperation

Although he felt that The Garden of Words was very much to his taste, it would be useless if it didn't appeal to the editors at the Magazine Agency.

Chu Yu immersed his consciousness into the System Space, and seeing the various works from the Earth Plane displayed as locked, he felt a genuine itch.

This was because unlocking those works required varying amounts of World Points.

According to the system, the only way to obtain World Points was for Chu Yu to become a Manga Artist and spread works from the Earth Plane; the more popular the work, the more World Points he would gain. Of course, this was the ideal scenario.

In reality, the beginner's reward granted upon the system's binding—the free work The Garden of Words—was facing the awkward situation of having been submitted for ten days without a single inquiry.

Chu Yu felt quite helpless about this.

Forget it. If the editors at those three Magazine Agencies didn't like it, he would just publish it online for free when the time came.

Anyway, as long as the work spread in this world, regardless of the channel, as long as someone read it and genuinely thought it was good, World Points would be credited. However, the reach would likely be far inferior to serialization in a Magazine Agency.

Sighing, Chu Yu's consciousness was interrupted by the school bell, and he exited the System Space.

At that moment, the phone in Chu Yu's pocket suddenly vibrated.

Chu Yu picked up his phone to take a look, and his eyes suddenly narrowed.

A SMS had arrived.

"Hello, I am Su Ruo, an editor at Ink Fish Manga Company. Our magazine has a Cooperation Intention regarding your submitted work, The Garden of Words. We invite you to come to the magazine office tomorrow at 10:00 AM for an interview. The address is..."

Although Chu Yu wanted to maintain a cool, expressionless demeanor and finish by showing off with a line like, "This was all within my expectations."

The smile he couldn't help but wear betrayed him. After all, having his work—which he had spent over ten days copying—recognized by someone made it impossible for him to stay low-key.

He had waited ten days, and finally, it had arrived.

A few seconds later, Chu Yu realized that the entire class was staring at him intently.

Standing in front of Chu Yu, the Math Teacher, a man in his fifties, was looking at him with an unfriendly expression.

The smile on Chu Yu's face froze.

The Next Day, 10:00 AM.

Chu Yu arrived alone at the office location of Ink Fish Manga Company, situated on the 18th floor of a building in the city center.

After explaining his purpose, he was led by the Front Desk Lady through the noisy Office Area and into an office.

The office was not large, only about ten square meters, containing one office chair and one desk.

Various documents and sketches were scattered messily across the desktop, and a woman wearing black-rimmed glasses was looking down, carefully examining the sketches in front of her.

Her reading speed started off slow, then became faster and faster, but she eventually browsed through the work in its entirety.

"No, the level is too far off!"

The woman Shook Head.

"Hello!" Chu Yu interrupted her at the right moment.

Because Chu Yu saw that she was already preparing to reach for the next work.

She's too focused, right? I've been in here for two minutes, and she hasn't noticed me yet?

"Whoa!" Su Ruo was a bit startled.

She raised her head, revealing a fair and delicate face turned toward Chu Yu, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Who are you?"

"Let me introduce myself first." Chu Yu didn't dislike people who were serious about their work.

"My real name is Chu Yu, and my pen name is... Shui Xin."

"I received the SMS you sent yesterday..."

"You are, Teacher Shui Xin?" Su Ruo's eyes widened as she looked Chu Yu up and down.

"You are... a man?"

A look of embarrassment appeared on Chu Yu's face.

"Uh, do I look like a Woman?"

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that I always thought Teacher Shui Xin, who drew The Garden of Words, was a girl. After all, it's that style of manga, and the pen name is also..." Su Ruo hurriedly waved her hands.

The pen name also Tend Towards being feminine, right?

Chu Yu knew what Su Ruo wanted to say.

To Be Honest, it was reasonable for the other party to have such thoughts. After all, in the Dragon Country, most male Manga Artists tended towards mystery, suspense, and battle-oriented manga. Youth-oriented manga similar to The Garden of Words were mostly created by female Manga Artists.

As for the pen name "Shui Xin," it was a homophone for "following one's heart."

After all, Chu Yu was someone who struggled with choosing a pen name; Back Then, he had agonized over it for a long time before just picking this name on a whim.

"Oh, by the way, nice to meet you. I am Su Ruo, an editor at Ink Fish Manga Company." Only then did Su Ruo realize she hadn't introduced herself to Chu Yu for quite a while.

"Please, sit!" Su Ruo straightened her expression and pointed to the chair beside her.

After Chu Yu sat down.

"I won't waste any time; let's get straight to the point," Su Ruo said, looking at Chu Yu.

"Mr. Chu Yu, our manga company received your submission, The Garden of Words, eight days ago, and I am the reviewer for This Work."

Su Ruo looked at Chu Yu, organizing her thoughts In the Mind.

"To Be Honest, after reading This Work, I personally believe that whether it's the story, structure, or Huafeng, it is fully qualified to be Serialized on 'Man Ying,' the manga magazine under our Ink Fish Manga Company!"

"Mm, mm!" Chu Yu nodded repeatedly On the surface, but he was complaining internally.

Didn't you say you were getting to the point? Why are you just rambling on?

Aren't you supposed to have me sign a contract? Bring out the contract!

"However..."

Su Ruo's tone suddenly shifted.

Chu Yu's breath hitched slightly.

Has something changed?

"After I proposed this suggestion at the Serialization Meeting three days ago... it was rejected by the Editor-in-Chief."

"Rejected?" Chu Yu frowned slightly.

"Why? Does the Editor-in-Chief think The Garden of Words isn't good enough?"

"It's not that he thinks it's not good," Su Ruo said.

"It's that it's too short!"

Not good?

Too short?

For a moment, Chu Yu's expression looked unnatural.

"Our company has many periodicals, but the most famous one is the manga periodical 'Man Ying'."

"'Man Ying,' along with 'Tian Yin Comics' under Feng Yu Comics and 'Fire Dragon Comics' under Dragon Fang Comics, are known as The Three Great Manga periodicals in Luo Province."

"Its distribution channels cover all major, medium, and small cities in the province, with sales exceeding 300,000 copies per issue."

"The manga Serialized on it must have at least twenty chapters."

"But Teacher Shui Xin, your The Garden of Words concludes in only seven chapters."

"So..."

"So, your company feels that because The Garden of Words is a short story, its commercial value is low, which is why you didn't agree to serialize it?" Chu Yu's furrowed brows gradually smoothed out, and he let out a soft sigh.

As expected, things are never that smooth!

Chu Yu is not an unreasonable person. Although he believes The Garden of Words is an excellent manga, he has nothing to say if the company rejects his work for commercial reasons. After all, he isn't the boss of this company.

Once he thought it through, he felt quite open-minded about it.

It's just a pity for this work...

"Then, Miss Su Ruo, did you have me come here today just to inform me in person that my work has been rejected?"

"You could have just sent an SMS for This Kind of Thing, and I wouldn't have had to Skip Class to attend this meeting!" Chu Yu Shook Head and said.

"Skip Class?" Su Ruo was Stunned. She could tell from Chu Yu's age that he was a student, but she hadn't expected him to Skip Class to come here.

However, Chu Yu was just complaining casually; he didn't mean to blame Su Ruo. After all, she had tried to fight for an opportunity for him, even if it didn't succeed!

"Since that's the case, let's end it here for today!" Chu Yu didn't drag things out and stood up, ready to leave.

"Wait a moment..."

"I haven't finished speaking yet!"

Behind him, Su Ruo's voice rang out.

Chu Yu turned around and looked at Su Ruo.

"Teacher Shui Xin, you are too impatient!"

Su Ruo looked helpless.

"Although the Editor-in-Chief didn't agree to serialize The Garden of Words in 'Man Ying'..."

"I still think this work is excellent. After discussing it with the Editor-in-Chief, he agreed that we could place this work in 'Ink Shadow,' another periodical under our company, to be serialized."

"I invited Teacher Shui Xin here today to discuss this matter with you."

"Teacher, your submission of The Garden of Words was intended for serialization in 'Man Ying,' but if you are willing, our company is prepared to serialize your work in 'Ink Shadow'..."

"I just don't know what you think, Teacher Shui Xin!"

Opposite Chu Yu, Su Ruo looked very serious.

'Ink Shadow'?

Chu Yu thought for a moment.

This is another manga periodical under the Ink Fish Manga Company, specifically for publishing short-form manga. However, the quality of the works published there is generally quite average. Compared to the flagship 'Man Ying' under the Ink Fish Manga Company, 'Ink Shadow' undoubtedly has much less influence, with sales of only a few tens of thousands per issue.

But did he have a choice?

Chu Yu gave a bitter smile.

As things stood, he possessed a mountain of treasure but lacked the key to unlock it.

Within the Manga System, one masterpiece after another lay dormant in a locked state, waiting for him to earn the World Points required to unlock them through the circulation and popularity of The Garden of Words.

Although Ink Shadow had mediocre sales, serializing The Garden of Words there was still far better than Chu Yu uploading his work Online for free just to gain recognition!

Thus, it took Chu Yu only three seconds to return to his seat.

He looked at Su Ruo with a smile on his face.

"I think we can discuss the specific Details of our cooperation!"