I'm Really a Superstar

Drawing.

Cooking dinner.

Washing the dishes.

Drawing again into the night.

Back at home.

Zhang Ye started a video conference call.

Ha Qiqi and the others were already waiting on the other end.

Everyone asked: "Director Zhang, is something the matter?"

Zhang Ye smiled and said: "Check your emails. I've sent something to everyone."

Ha Qiqi was taken aback. "What's the email about?"

Zhang Ye said: "The comics, of course. I just drew another series. Get someone to submit it immediately. Remember not to expose your identity."

Zhang Zuo was stunned. "What? Another series?"

Little Wang stared with wide eyes. "Ah?"

Little Sun was dumbfounded. "You have the energy to do another series?"

Zhang Ye smiled and said: "I have nothing to do at home anyway."

When Ha Qiqi heard that, she got all excited. She finally understood what Director Zhang meant when he said those words yesterday. This was the real deal. "Alright, I'll see to it immediately. Don't worry about it, Director Zhang!"

Zhang Ye told her: "Little Sun's sister has represented us before. Don't let her do it again, or she'll get found out. Oh right, is Little Sun's brother-in-law free to do it?"

Little Sun said: "Ah, he's free."

Zhang Ye replied: "Alright, then I'll be troubling your brother-in-law for his help?"

Ha Qiqi asked: "Then what pen name will you use this time?"

Zhang Ye thought for a bit. "Let's go with Ozawa."

Everyone looked at one another suspiciously.

Ozawa?

Aoi?

What kinda names are those!

…

The next day.

Tokyo, Japan.

POO Studios.

This was one of the top three publishing studios for weekly comic magazines in Japan.

One Piece had become too popular!

And Shōnen Publishing was now ferociously leading the industry!

A gap had always existed between POO Studios and Shōnen Publishing. Whether it was their sales figures or influence, Shōnen Publishing was always ahead in first place while they placed second. So now that a national cartoon like One Piece had appeared, that lead was extended even longer. They were already finding it difficult to keep up with the pace of Shōnen Publishing. With just One Piece alone, Shōnen Magazine's sales figures had spiked by 30%!

What was there still left to compete on?

How could they still chase after them?

This crisis of their survivability was imminent!

After the meeting.

"What should we do now?"

"Shōnen Publishing is so lucky."

"That's right, it's a national cartoon that only appears once every few years. But somehow, those series always end up with Shōnen Publishing. There's no justice in that."

"Stop talking. Hurry up and go through the manuscripts."

"Go through them for what! There are too few good comics around."

"Titles on the level of a series like One Piece might not even appear once every five years."

The telephone on the desk rang.

Fujiwara Koji picked it up listlessly.

"Hello?"

"Fujiwara, someone wants to submit a manuscript."

"Is it by a newcomer?"

"Yes, they're downstairs."

"Alright, I'll go down to meet them."

After hanging up, Fujiwara wasn't really looking forward to meeting the person and proceeded downstairs without haste.

A good comic!

Where is the good comic that I am looking for!

Downstairs.

In the reception room.

In one of the partitions, Fujiwara spotted the person.

"Please take a seat."

"This is the manuscript."

"Alright, let me have a look."

Fujiwara was not really interested and flipped through the manuscript without a care like he usually did. However, when he flipped to the fifth page, he was stunned. He sat bolt upright and breathed in deeply. Then he hurriedly flipped backwards to read it again from the beginning!

One page!

Five pages!

Ten pages!

Fujiwara was dumbfounded!

He became a little excited and was somewhat in disbelief. Then, he reread it again!

Ten minutes later.

Fujiwara ran back here at full speed and shouted, "I've found it! I've found it!"

"Fujiwara, what's going on?"

"What did you find?"

"Look at how excited you are. What just happened?"

Fujiwara said loudly, "Quick, come and read this manuscript!"

"Aiya." Fujiwara anxiously said, "Read it before you speak further!"

Ozawa?

Naruto?

"What sort of an art style is this?"

"It's indeed by a newcomer."

"The supporting characters are all designed pretty well, but what's with the main character?"

"Yeah, Uzumaki Naruto? Why does he have whiskers?"

"The whiskers are so ugly."

"Fujiwara, is this the good comic that you were talking about?"

They finished reading it!

Fujiwara hurriedly said, "Couldn't be truer!"

Fujiwara said, "When I told him that his manuscript was quite good, he said that he was looking to serialize it. So I told him to go back and wait for the news while I discussed it with you first. I've gotten his contact details, though it didn't seem like the other party was the author himself. He should be the author's representative instead. He sounded like he was unwilling to reveal the author's identity, so perhaps it might not be a newcomer but some well-known cartoonist who wishes to change their pen name? That could be a possibility, I don't know."

Fujiwara said excitedly, "Understood!"

"There's no need for that!"

"It's very good!"

"If this doesn't get serialized, that wouldn't do it justice."

"With it, we've finally got something on our hands to compete with One Piece!"

"Can it really compete with that?"

"Of course! This comic is definitely no worse than One Piece! And Naruto does the pacing of the lead-in to the main plot even faster than One Piece!"

"Our patience has finally paid off now that this work has come to us!"

"Hahaha, luck is on our side this time!"

"Ahhh! We're gonna make a comeback with this!"