Selection

"After tallying the scores, these are the five works that have advanced to the final selection stage."

"Iron Fist Geli, average score: 73."

The editor of this work wasn't surprised that it had made it to the final selection stage, but he wasn't the least bit pleased, either.

Most editors understood that after Dong Yun had shaken things up, three of the five works that had advanced to the final selection stage stood no chance at all. They were merely there to make up the numbers.

They all had a good eye and knew perfectly well that the winner of this Serialization Meeting would almost certainly be decided between Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal and Secret Girl.

The atmosphere in the conference room shifted.

Many editors kept glancing at Su Ruo and Song Jiayu.

Editor-in-Chief Pang Feng continued reading.

"Green Streets, average score: 69."

"Nightmare Descends, average score: 78."

At this, quite a few editors in the audience sighed.

At Serialization Meetings for vacant slots in Man Ying, if a work received an average score of over 75 from the editors, its serialization was usually all but guaranteed.

If Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal and Secret Girl hadn't been competing at this meeting, Nightmare Descends would have been all but certain to win a slot.

What a shame...

"Secret Girl, average score: 86."

The editors nodded. Dong Yun was a renowned manga artist at Feng Yu Comics, and it would have been strange if her work hadn't been this good.

"Rurouni Kenshin: Reminiscence Arc, average score... 93."

As soon as Pang Feng finished speaking, the editors in their seats began to stir.

"Ninety-three?"

"That high?"

"I really thought this work was excellent, so I gave it a 91. I figured my score would be dismissed as the highest one for being too generous, but I didn't expect all of you to be even bolder than me!"

"I thought the same thing. I gave it a 94."

At meetings like this, editors generally followed the same scoring standards. Even when a proposed work was poor, they usually gave it at least 60 points, just to spare their colleagues' feelings.

Above that, scores were divided into ten-point tiers. A score of 60 to 70 meant a work was cannon fodder. If no outstanding works were presented at a particular meeting, one of these might sneak onto Man Ying's schedule for a while. But if the story didn't improve, most would be cut short or transferred to another periodical within six months.

A score of 70 to 80 was the threshold for qualifying to serialize in Man Ying. As long as nothing went wrong and the quality didn't decline later on, the work could maintain average popularity all the way to its conclusion.

As for a score of 80 to 90, that meant the work had plenty of potential and the editors all had high hopes for it. Once serialized, as long as its quality held up, it was all but guaranteed to rank in the top four of Man Ying's Popularity Poll.

Anything above 90...

That was a rare sight, even once every few years.

Manga artists capable of producing work of that caliber had all gone off to Modu or even RB Island to make their names. Few would serialize a work like that in Man Ying.

In Man Ying's history, only a handful of works had earned an average score above 90 from editors based on their first three chapters at a Serialization Meeting. Nearly every one of them had greatly boosted the periodical's sales.

For that very reason, the editors wouldn't award a score that high unless a work had the potential to live up to it.

Su Ruo let out a long breath. She kept her composure and showed nothing on her face, but inside, she was over the moon.

Sometimes those closest to something couldn't see it clearly. Though Su Ruo genuinely thought Rurouni Kenshin: Reminiscence Arc was excellent, she still wondered if her judgment might be off.

But more than thirty editors had scored it, and even after their scores were averaged, it still received a 93. That could only mean the work had won over a group of people who spent every day dealing with all kinds of manga and, arguably, had the pickiest tastes in the entire Manga Industry.

More importantly, these scores weren't meaningless.

Five works had made it to the final discussion stage, but what exactly would they be discussing?

It wasn't that lower-scoring works weren't given a chance. But if a low-scoring work wanted to get a slot, what did it have to offer?

If your work had received scores in the seventies from most editors, what reason was there to bump an eighty-point work?

The editor responsible for the work had to present a convincing argument to everyone in the room and get the other editors to raise their hands in support.

If they couldn't, then the work that would be serialized in Man Ying would essentially be decided by the votes from the previous stage: the highest score won!

So once the five works reached this stage, whichever one had received the highest score in the editors' evaluations had an enormous advantage.

Su Ruo's eyes were bright with delight.

Song Jiayu, on the other hand, looked grim, and even his breathing seemed labored.

Editor-in-Chief Pang Feng coughed twice, and the noisy discussion among the editors fell silent.

"All right, we have the scores for the five works."

"Everyone has seen the quality of these works. To avoid wasting any more time, we'll focus the discussion on Rurouni Kenshin: Reminiscence Arc and Secret Girl."

"Editors responsible for Iron Fist Geli, Green Streets, and Nightmare Descends, do you have any objections?"

"None," the three editors replied in unison.

Pang Feng nodded and looked at Song Jiayu beside him.

"Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song, you're the editor responsible for Secret Girl. You certainly have a knack for talent, having brought Dong Yun to our Manga Company... Given her credentials, we would have assigned her a Serialization Seat in Man Ying without requiring her to attend a meeting like this."

"But since you submitted Dong Yun's new work, Secret Girl, to the Serialization Meeting for consideration, as Editor-in-Chief, I have no choice but to follow the decades-old rules of our company..."

"Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song and Editor Su Ruo may now speak freely and present their respective arguments."

"Once both of you have finished, the editors will vote to decide which work gets this Serialization Seat."

Song Jiayu stood up, though he was clearly reluctant.

After all, he was now at a disadvantage, while Su Ruo had the upper hand.

Su Ruo could say nothing and simply wait for the meeting to end. But if he couldn't make a clear and convincing case, then there was no doubt which work the editors who had favored Rurouni Kenshin: Reminiscence Arc from the start would vote for.

Though he had a great deal of influence within the Manga Company, he hadn't reached the point where a single look from him could make the editors ignore a work's quality and support him blindly. Otherwise, he wouldn't still have the word "Deputy" in his title.

"First, I'd like to make one thing clear."

Song Jiayu took a breath and began.

"Secret Girl is Teacher Dong Yun's new work. I'm sure everyone here knows Teacher Dong Yun, who created Heart Mystery, whose collected volumes sold millions of copies in Luo Province..."

"For years, Luo Province has had three major manga periodicals: Man Ying, Fire Dragon Comics, and Tian Yin Comics."

"The three periodicals have competed and carved up the market, maintaining a balance. But now, after putting in a great deal of effort, I've finally persuaded Teacher Dong Yun to serialize her new work with our Manga Company... This is a decision that will weaken our rivals and strengthen us."

"But if, in the end, she was willing to come over to our side and we still couldn't give her a chance to serialize her work..."

"Wouldn't that be ridiculous?"

Quite a few editors pondered his words.

"I disagree with Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song," Su Ruo said, raising her hand.

She stood and looked Song Jiayu straight in the eye.