Xin Man Net, the largest gathering place for 2D fans in the Dragon Kingdom.
It was not only a place to buy all kinds of anime merchandise, but also where countless fans discussed the plots of anime and manga.
It was also a website where manga fans from each province could recommend excellent local manga.
There were only seven nationwide manga magazines in the Dragon Kingdom, all concentrated in Modu. Regional magazines were also held back by provincial industry barriers and couldn't circulate beyond their home provinces. As a result, a manga that was hugely popular in a neighboring province might not even be known by name in your own.
So, countless 2D fans who loved sharing gathered here to recommend what they considered great works to manga fans across the Dragon Kingdom.
Xia Yang was an ordinary university student in Yun Province. As a ten-year veteran manga fan, he often browsed Xin Man Net, especially its manga recommendation section.
As soon as he opened the section, he saw a post that had been pushed to the front page because of its high click count.
"Strongly recommend this new work from Man Ying, a manga magazine in Luo Province: Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal!"
"A work from Luo Province? How did it make the front page?" Xia Yang wondered.
Aside from the Modu Seven Great Manga Companies, Yun Province, Han Province, Ning Province, and four or five other provinces had the strongest manga industries in the Dragon Kingdom. Posts recommending works from those provinces were usually the ones that attracted attention on Xin Man Net.
But Luo Province...
As far as he could remember, not many particularly impressive manga had come out of there in recent years.
Could it have made the front page because it was so stupid that people were mocking it?
Generally speaking, only two kinds of works made it to the front page of the manga recommendation section: those so good that everyone raved about them, and those so awful that everyone tore into them.
Curious, Xia Yang clicked on the post!
As was customary, a manga recommendation post began by sharing the manga itself.
Although magazines from Luo Province weren't sold in other provinces, taking photos of manga with a phone and posting them online was second nature to people like them.
The original poster's phone camera wasn't very good, so the pictures were a little blurry, but they were still readable.
As Xia Yang read, he thought to himself:
Let's see what's so bad about this one that it got pushed to the front page.
Oh, found the first problem: the protagonist is an RB person.
Hmm, it's set on RB Island over a hundred years ago. RB Island hadn't been incorporated into the Dragon Kingdom yet, had it? That's the second problem, then.
Whoa, this is way too gory! Did they really have to draw the beheadings in such detail?
But when Xia Yang saw the young Kenshin spend an entire day burying the human traffickers who had tried to kill him alongside the women who had died saving him, he felt something stir inside him. By then, he'd already forgotten that he'd started reading the manga with the intention of picking it apart!
Fifteen minutes later, the manga ended on his computer with the image of a woman dressed in white, her face and hands stained with blood.
Only then did Xia Yang realize how long he'd been reading. If the original poster hadn't run out of pages to share, he might have kept going!
He'd completely forgotten that he'd clicked on the post intending to mock a terrible work.
Come on, OP, post the next chapter already!
Why did it have to stop here?
Xia Yang scrolled down, intending to tell the original poster to hurry up with the next update.
But all the comments were people clamoring for more. The post had been made at one that afternoon, and in just four hours, it had already received over twenty thousand views and more than five thousand comments. Eighty percent of the comments were requests for an update, while the other twenty percent discussed the story.
After reading the original poster's replies, Xia Yang got a sense of the manga's basic details.
It was a newcomer's work.
Only the chapters shown above had been released so far.
There was nothing to be done. He'd have to wait until the next update, then hope the original poster uploaded it. Xia Yang immediately bookmarked the post and left a comment.
"OP, when the next chapter comes out, could you take the photos with a clearer phone camera if possible? I've bookmarked the post. I'll come back next week to see the update!"
Luo Province. The same old Luo Province, and Ming City, as busy as ever. Every day seemed just like the last.
The temperature dropped again that Friday, and snow began to fall. It was only six, yet the sky was already gloomy.
At Chu Yu's home, the doors and windows were shut and the heater was on. The same three people sat together around a hot pot.
Su Ruo really did have a way of leading people astray.
Ever since they'd gotten to know each other, Su Ruo often showed up at Chu Yu's place before the end of the workday to mooch food and drinks. She even came up with the excuse that she was looking after the manga artist under her care and making sure Chu Yu didn't slack off.
Zhao Qinyin had also grown bolder from spending so much time with her. After school, she went straight to Chu Yu's place to work as his manga assistant. And before starting work, having dinner at the home of Chu Yu, her nominal boss, no longer embarrassed her at all.
"The second chapter came out today," Chu Yu said suddenly.
"Yeah, it did." Su Ruo took a sip of hot tea.
"I wonder how it'll do this week," Zhao Qinyin said with some concern.
Ever since Chu Yu had said last week that he wanted this work to rank first in Man Ying's Popularity Poll, the attitudes of both Zhao Qinyin and Su Ruo had changed over the past week.
Neither of them knew whether the manga could reach the top as Chu Yu hoped, but since he had set his sights on it, they were naturally willing to give him their full support!
Zhao Qinyin was now much stricter with herself about the quality of her illustrations. That meant she worked more slowly, so she often stayed up late working before going home. Sometimes, she even looked for Chu Yu at school during the day to discuss the manga's artwork.
As a result, rumors about the two of them had been spreading nonstop around campus.
People said they were dating, that they were childhood friends, that they were caught in a love triangle—every kind of nonsense.
As for Su Ruo, it was part of her job as an editor to discuss the plot and content with Chu Yu. But with a work like Rurouni Kenshin, she couldn't offer much input. The best she could do was help Chu Yu out in his daily life. If the house ran out of drinks or food, she'd buy more; after mooching a meal, she'd do the dishes.
The three of them were all a little indignant about how Rurouni Kenshin was being treated by Man Ying. The Editorial Department was one thing; after all, it had chosen the work. But under Song Jiayu's hint, the other departments had given Rurouni Kenshin almost no support. They all hoped it would achieve better results and answer the doubts of the other people at the Manga Company.
So although the three of them seemed calm tonight, they were all on edge inside.
Just what would the results for this issue be...?
Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal had four arcs: Executioner, Lost Cat, Yoshioka, and Cross Scar!
The first arc officially ended in the issue released today.
As the saying went, a good beginning was half the battle.
If the first arc had ended and still hadn't drawn many readers in, it was hardly likely that the later chapters would suddenly hook them.
Sometime between six and seven, Ink Fish Manga Company would send the poll results to the editors' phones.
And now... it was just about time!
Su Ruo set her phone on the table. The three of them sat on the sofa watching TV, but from the way they kept glancing at the phone, it was obvious that none of them was paying attention.
Bzz, bzz, bzz!
The phone on the table vibrated.
The faint, brief buzz instantly drew all three of their eyes to it.
They exchanged glances. Su Ruo hesitated, then picked up the phone.
Before you continue