Chapter 6

Chu Yu, as one of the authors serialized in Man Ying, also bought a copy of this issue to show his support.

As the author, he understood that the work "The Garden of Words" was indeed too short, and the plot conflict wasn't very strong. For a Newcomer Manga Artist, serializing such a work as his first wasn't very suitable.

It was precisely because of this that Chu Yu had focused his energy on the art style, striving to attract readers' interest through his art in the early stages.

Although the original work was obtained from the system, Chu Yu was not entirely unfamiliar with such works in their original dimension.

While the system prohibited Chu Yu from browsing unlocked manga, it did not conceal information about the popularity, status, and creators of these works in their original world. Chu Yu could obtain this data within the System Space.

The original work was created by Makoto Shinkai, a renowned animation director in the Earth Plane, known as the Wallpaper Demon. Compared to the explosive popularity after the release of his later hit work "Your Name," the box office performance of "The Garden of Words" was undoubtedly much more modest, only being considered passable.

This was even with the director having a certain level of fame and promotional funding.

In this world, however, the author had become a newcomer like Chu Yu, and the serialized magazine was an ordinary publication with only tens of thousands of copies sold. Chu Yu had no confidence in what kind of results this work would achieve.

Chu Yu's expectation for "The Garden of Words" was simply to gain some readers, to make them genuinely like the work, and to earn more World Points, so that he could then redeem the second manga work in the system.

At the Ink Fish Manga Company headquarters, Su Ruo sat alone in her office after finishing the tasks at hand.

It was already afternoon, but she had not yet left her office because she was waiting.

Today was the day the first chapter of "The Garden of Words" was serialized.

In a manga company, whether a work is good or bad is not decided by the editors, nor by the Editor-in-Chief, but by the readers.

After each issue of the magazine is released, the manga company collects reader survey forms to learn which works in an issue are favored by the readers.

Of course, in today's society, such surveys no longer need to be mailed, and voting can be done directly online.

Although there is a certain lag in magazine distribution, the online votes twelve hours after the release of each issue generally align with the actual reader support.

"What? Still not leaving work?" A man walked directly into Su Ruo's office without knocking.

Song Jiayu smiled and sat down without ceremony.

"Su Ruo, since it's this time of day, how about we go out for a meal together?"

"I'm sorry, Vice Editor-in-Chief Song... I'm on a diet right now and don't eat dinner." A flicker of disgust flashed in Su Ruo's eyes, but she managed to suppress her reaction.

However, the word "Vice" made Song Jiayu slightly displeased.

"Waiting for the voting results of this issue of Ink Shadow?" Song Jiayu smiled. He was not surprised by Su Ruo's excuse, as he had failed to invite Su Ruo to dinner dozens of times in the past six months.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have used his authority to make things difficult for Su Ruo at work.

Normally, people would have given up by now, but Song Jiayu was not that kind of person.

He was a typical petty person, and even he saw himself that way.

What's wrong with being a petty person? It's much more comfortable than being a gentleman. A gentleman doesn't force others, and gives up cleanly after failing to pursue a girl, and they can still be friends afterward.

But Song Jiayu wasn't like that. He was the type of person who would destroy you if he couldn't have you, and disgust you. Since Su Ruo wasn't working as smoothly as he wished under him, he would definitely make things difficult for Su Ruo at every turn.

"I already said that work has no hope. You insisted on wasting an Ink Shadow serialization slot on it. You'll know when the results and investigation come out. Don't end up being the bottom-ranked in popularity among the eighteen serialized works on Ink Shadow..."

"By then, to have a manga that only lasted seven chapters get canceled, I really can't imagine... It would be a joke in the industry. When peers hear about this, they'll laugh at us, and the Editorial Department will re-examine your vision as a manga editor..."

"After all, it's been several months, and the new work serialization proposals under you have basically not been approved. Even if a few works were serialized in our company's secondary magazines, their popularity was very average..."

"Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song, are you finished? If you have nothing else, please leave me alone, okay?" Su Ruo's expression remained unmoved.

Song Jiayu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and left Su Ruo's office without another word.

However, the moment he closed the door, Song Jiayu's face turned grim.

He refused a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!

Time ticked by, second by second.

By 7 PM, the popularity support ratings for the manga journal Ink Shadow were released and sent to the emails of all editors at Ink Fish Manga Company by the relevant staff.

Su Ruo opened her email immediately.

"First place, Magic Monk, with 1,263 votes."

Su Ruo bit her lip. Although she knew the chances were slim, she hadn't completely dismissed the possibility. She continued to read.

"Second place, Black Cat, with 1,005 votes."

Su Ruo looked further down, and a spark appeared in her eyes.

"Third place, The Garden of Words, with 998 votes!"

Phew, Su Ruo let out a long sigh. Honestly, as long as it wasn't at the bottom in popularity and wasn't canceled, Su Ruo believed that by the time The Garden of Words concluded, people's evaluation of it would definitely not be bad.

Fortunately, it seemed that this year's audience had a good impression of such a fresh and light manga.

Otherwise, if it really ended up at the bottom in popularity, the situation would be as Song Jiayu said. The Editorial Department, led by Song Jiayu, would attack her.

After all, the process didn't matter. Song Jiayu would use the actual facts he created to hold her accountable.

When that day came, she would either have to submit to him or leave this manga company where she had worked for several years.

Driving a sports car, Song Jiayu, who was about to pick up his girlfriend, also took a moment to glance at the latest Ink Shadow Works popularity poll.

Seeing that The Garden of Words had already reached third place with just its first chapter's vote count, his eyes lingered for several seconds.

But then, he chuckled.

"It's just an Ink Shadow level manga journal, after all."

"Su Ruo, if you continue like this, don't blame me. After all, I held back before."

"But who is this person named Shui Xin? To throw themselves under Su Ruo at such a critical juncture..."

Originally, Song Jiayu had already used threats or inducements to force the talented manga artists under Su Ruo to join other editors.

For a full three months, five of the eight serialized works Su Ruo was previously responsible for had their creators requesting a change of editor, citing Su Ruo's failure to fulfill her editorial duties.

The remaining three works were insignificant minor series, and on top of that, Su Ruo's serialization proposals had been rejected for three consecutive months.

He thought he had cornered Su Ruo.

Unexpectedly, Su Ruo had discovered a decent work.

To know that when Su Ruo proposed to serialize The Garden of Words on Man Ying during the serialization meeting, he had strongly opposed it, even publicly commenting that the work's quality was too low for even elementary school students to bother reading. Although he believed other editors would have objected even if he hadn't, as Man Ying was the top journal under Ink Fish, letting a newcomer serialize so casually would be too childish, he had in fact played the role of the antagonist.

If The Garden of Words truly topped the popularity poll on Ink Shadow, it would, no matter what, make him lose face.

Achoo!

At home, Chu Yu, watching television, sneezed violently!

"Who's thinking of me?"

Chu Yu had no idea that he was being targeted while sitting at home.

He had simply chosen Su Ruo's contact information from the editor list on the Ink Fish Manga Company's official website and mailed his work, only to be labeled as a manga artist under Su Ruo's faction by Song Jiayu, earning him resentment.

Ding-ding-dong-dong!

His phone rang, and Chu Yu looked at it.

It was Su Ruo calling.

"Hello, Su Laoda, is something wrong?"

"I've told you many times, call me Su Jiejie, or Su Meinv, anything but Su Laoda, what is that?"

"Oh, I get it, Su Laoda. What do you need me for?"

"..."

"It's nothing major. Isn't today the release day for Ink Shadow magazine? The first chapter of The Garden of Words is officially published in it."

"Honestly, judging by the online votes for The Garden of Words so far, it's had a good start."

"It's an industry tradition. As your editor, I should treat you to a meal. I wonder if you have time?"

"Treat me to a meal?"

Chu Yu thought about it.

Might as well. I haven't eaten yet, and if someone's treating, I'm happy to go.

"Where are you then?" Chu Yu asked.

"Downstairs from your place!"

Downstairs?

Chu Yu ran to the window and peeked out.

Downstairs, Su Ruo's car was parked on the street. She held her phone in one hand while waving at him with the other.

"Stop looking and come down quickly. This Young Lady hasn't even had lunch. I'm starving now!"