The Situation

Wang He, who is nearly thirty years old, has been a contracted manga artist for Ink Fish since he debuted at nineteen. Step by step, he went from serializing short manga in Ink Fish's second and third-tier magazines to currently holding a solid second place in the popularity rankings on Ink Fish's top magazine, Man Ying, with his work Tian Shu for two consecutive years.

As a manga artist, he could be considered to have achieved success through years of persistence. He had gained fame and fortune, and with his manga income, he lived the affluent life he desired. Although the position of the first-place work, Magic Realm, was unshakeable on Man Ying, he was already content.

However, this situation changed three weeks ago when the serialization of two new works began.

Although he was shocked that Dong Yun's new work, Secret Girl, pushed him to third place in its very first chapter, he still had a realistic understanding of himself.

Indeed, in terms of status among manga artists in Luo Province, he was somewhat inferior to Dong Yun. According to last year's media statistics, he barely surpassed tenth place, ranking ninth in Luo Province's manga artist popularity rankings.

Dong Yun, on the other hand, had been firmly in the top three for two years.

While surprised by the fierce momentum of Dong Yun's new work, he had somewhat anticipated being surpassed in ranking by Dong Yun's new creation.

But he never imagined that after being "penetrated" by Dong Yun's new work two weeks ago and dropping to third place, the new work Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal, serialized alongside Secret Girl, would also be eyeing him with aggressive intent.

He definitely couldn't stand for this. No matter what, he was an old author for Ink Fish. He could grudgingly accept being surpassed by Dong Yun, who had switched companies, but being surpassed by a newcomer's work would surely lead to him being mocked by those guys at future Luo Province manga artist gatherings.

Currently, at his home, he and his three assistants are diligently working on the latest chapter of Tian Shu. Stimulated by Secret Girl and Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal, Wang He has also accelerated the plot in the latest chapter, redesigning the protagonists' combat actions. Compared to the original visual conception, the new designs look much cooler, though such scenes are also much harder to draw.

He completes these crucial panels himself, his Drawing Pen moving steadily, his eyes as focused as they were when he first entered the industry eleven years ago.

He harbored no resentment towards Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal for the threat it posed. The manga industry is naturally a case of the waves behind pushing the waves ahead. However, regardless, he is one of Luo Province's top manga artists, and if truly challenged by a new work, he wouldn't surrender so easily.

Across the entire Ink Fish Manga Company, while Dong Yun's new work continuously holding second place in popularity rankings for three consecutive chapters had caused a stir, the new work by newcomer manga artist Shui Xin, which showed signs of even challenging Wang He's Tian Shu, had moved them even more.

Such an event had never happened in the history of Luo Province's manga industry.

Many people weren't just looking at the present; if... Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal's popularity surpassed Tian Shu, who would be its next opponent?

Looking further up, there were only two works left!

Secret Girl, currently in second place, was steadily closing the gap in votes with the first-place work.

And Magic Realm, which had held the first place in popularity on Man Ying for a full three years, the flagship manga of Ink Fish...

Could Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal create a miracle?

Soon, the fourth chapter of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal was released.

That evening, the voting statistics from first to fourth place were also released.

First place was still Magic Realm, with over thirty-seven thousand votes.

Second place was Secret Girl, with over thirty-five thousand votes.

Third place, Tian Shu, over 28,000 votes.

Fourth place, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal, over 25,000 votes.

Upon learning the voting results, the editors at Ink Fish Manga Company fell silent for a time.

On the surface, the rankings for this issue seemed unchanged from the last.

But in reality, the situation was vastly different.

Firstly, the vote counts for first and second place, Magic Realm and Secret Girl, both showed an upward trend, proving that the battle for first place on Man Ying between the two had already spread to their respective fan bases.

Some loyal fans of many years, who usually didn't bother voting online after buying their manga, couldn't sit still this time and cast their votes to support their favorite works.

Meanwhile, Tian Shu had fallen from the mark of over 30,000 votes, while Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal had once again experienced a surge in popularity.

Chapter one, over 4,000 votes, chapter two, over 14,000 votes, chapter three, over 19,000 votes.

Now, in chapter four, it had broken through the 20,000 vote mark, reaching over 25,000 votes.

Currently, the top four most popular manga on Man Ying presented a peculiar situation.

Secret Girl was eyeing Magic Realm's top spot, and at this rate, if Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal maintained this growth next issue, it should push Tian Shu out of third place.

Let alone Ink Fish Manga Company, the entire Luo Province manga industry was stunned by the competition between these four works on Man Ying.

With the competition between these four works, Man Ying had also seen a surge in sales due to the addition of Secret Girl and Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal.

From a past weekly sales of around 350,000, it had now increased by 100,000.

It had instantly become the highest-selling periodical among all manga periodicals currently distributed in Luo Province.

In a certain tavern, Wang He, the author of Tian Shu, sat drinking with another man.

"It's over, little brother, I feel like I can't hold on! Next issue, I'll probably be surpassed by that newcomer's work." Wang He's slightly overweight face was flushed, and his tone was filled with nothing but helplessness.

"Shen Xin, you have to hold on. How can we, manga artists who grew up in Ink Fish, let Dong Yun, who just switched over, easily reach the top? That would be too embarrassing..."

Shen Xin was the author of the super popular work Magic Realm on Man Ying. He looked even younger than Wang He and had a more refined appearance.

"I feel like I'm almost there too. Within a few weeks, I should also be pushed out of the first position," Wang He said self-deprecatingly.

Both of them understood what it meant for a new work to have such popularity in its early serialization.

The only reason Shen Xin's Magic Realm could still hold the first position was that the work had been serialized for a long time, and the reader base was large enough. But as the number of chapters for Secret Girl increased, it was only a matter of time before Magic Realm was surpassed.

"Sigh!" Wang He sighed.

"All the veteran Manga Artists in our Ink Shadow are watching us!"

"After all, Dong Yun and I were rivals before. She was the number one at Feng Yu, and now if she comes over and we're still number one, wouldn't that prove that our Ink Fish Manga Artists aren't good enough..."

"Number one?" Shen Xin shook his head.

"I don't think so."

"I feel like it will take at least several weeks for Secret Girl to push me down. By then, who knows what the situation will be!"

"You mean?" Wang He also realized Shen Xin's meaning.

"Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal..."