At Kanto Manga Company's Osaka branch, the editors of the male editorial department were discussing.
"Pokémon's viewership is 28%? Mirai-sensei is too scary...".
"Yes, at first I thought joining Kanto Manga Company would destroy Hinotori Publishing, but I didn't expect them to produce Pokémon...".
"It's a perfect move. Our company has no way to stop Mirai-sensei due to the lack of channels for animation."
"Kaze is in trouble now."
"Really? I saw him waiting in the editor-in-chief's office early in the morning, and now he's accompanying him to see the minister. Maybe it's because of this...".
"Will the minister really not let him eat feces?"
"Haha, of course not. How can there be such a scandal in the company!"
In the minister's office, Kazuki and Kaze remained stiff. In front of them sat a young man in his thirties. He was Yang, the head of Kanto Manga's Osaka affairs.
"There's no problem with Pokémon's ratings." Yang crossed his legs and spun his pen: "I asked someone to predict if the animation will surpass The Cat and Mouse Couple in four months at most. If it's fast, it could be next week."
"Kaze, what do you want us to do?"
Yang looked at Kaze with a smile.
Kaze flinched. 'He didn't like this shrewd minister. Before, he would hide as much as possible, but today the situation was different. He had to take the initiative.'
"This matter is my fault." I shouldn't have said such arrogant words."
Kaze bowed his head in apology. He had no reason not to. When he woke up that day, seeing the news in the newspaper, Kaze knew he had made a serious mistake.
Betting on the media to lose money. Remembering it, he was sweating.
"Minister, you must help me. I can't lose money. The Cat and Mouse Couple is the company's flagship animation. If I make a fool of myself, the company will become a laughingstock!"
Kaze thought he couldn't lose money. 'How could Kanto Manga Company let him lose money?'
"Are you threatening me?"
Yang smiled faintly. His gaze turned cold. 'What happened to this mangaka? He was in such a big mess, but he still didn't know how to talk!' No wonder he ended up like this.
"I don't dare, I don't dare!"
Kaze wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and explained, panicking: "I'm not good at talking. I just don't want the company's reputation to be damaged. The company has been very good to me and has spent a lot of money training me. If the company's reputation is affected because of me, I must feel guilty!"
After saying this, Kaze admired himself a little. 'His mind worked quickly and he could speak so righteously. This is also considered eloquent and witty among mangaka.'
"Do you really believe that?"
Yang's smile fully returned.
"Of course, of course!" Kaze felt relieved when he saw Yang's expression. He seemed to have hope.
He happily imagined the scene where Kanto Manga would take action, Hinotori Publishing would go bankrupt, Pokémon would be cut short, and The Cat and Mouse Couple would remain popular.
'What Mirai-sensei, what mangaka... in front of Kanto Manga Company, he was nothing.'
"That's good." Yang nodded with satisfaction: "Since you care so much about the company, you won't have any complaints about your dismissal."
Kaze was stunned, his face a little stiff. 'What did the minister say? Did he mishear? Fired?! He must have misheard!'
"Come in."
Yang clapped his hands. Two people entered from outside. Kaze turned around and discovered that one of them was Haru, the original author of The Cat and Mouse Couple.
And the other person...
"Allow me to introduce Akira. She is The Cat and Mouse Couple's new artist. Her pseudonym is Akira."
Yang said. Kaze looked at mangaka Akira. This mangaka was very young, no more than 20 years old. Her face was still childish. She lowered her head shyly and whispered:
"My name is Akira. Please give me more advice."
Kaze felt confused. 'Where did this insightful girl come from?'
"Akira is a manga intern from Tokyo University. She ranked 19th in her graduating class. She's good at drawing manga and cute manga. I think she can take over from Kaze and draw The Cat and Mouse Couple even better." Yang smiled and then looked at Haru: "Haru, what do you think?"
"I'm very satisfied." Haru didn't look at Kaze and smiled: "I've been discussing the plot with Akira these past two days. The new character, 'Golden Bird,' that she drew is beautiful. I think it could be added to The Cat and Mouse Couple's story."
At that moment, Kaze suddenly reacted and turned pale.
"Minister... Are you going to fire me?!"
"Yes," he said he didn't want to embarrass the company. "I appreciate your idea. You can come to the company to handle the resignation process in two days,"
Yang said with a smile. He knew Kaze's thoughts perfectly, but the central office reminded him not to take illegal actions. Kanto Manga Company couldn't stop Pokémon's continuous broadcast.
Kaze's bet was lost. In that case, if Kanto Manga Company wanted to stay out of it, they would have to expel Kaze.
"Minister, you can't do this! Editor-in-chief, please help me persuade the minister!"
Kaze looked at Kazuki with hope, but Kazuki shook his head: "Kaze, this is a consequence of your scandalous words. You cannot let the company bear the blame."
Kazuki hated him for not fighting for it. 'Kaze was seeking his own demise.'
No company would easily change an animation artist, as that would have an unknown impact on the company. Kanto Manga Company decided to fire Kaze, mainly because of his bet and, secondly, because of his disappointing work attitude.
Bluntly refusing to discuss the plot with Haru was not the attitude an aggressive mangaka should have.
"You can't do this! I have no merit, but I've worked hard!"
"How can I be lacking in Kanto Manga Company? I'm a veteran mangaka. How can those young people compare to me!"
Kaze was eager to fight for it, but Yang didn't give him another chance to explain and asked the security guard to take him out.
"Calm down today and come tomorrow to complete the resignation procedures."
Two security guards took Kaze out of the building, threw him down, and left him sitting on the cold ground.
The ground was freezing, and Kaze's face was pale, thinking that everything was over. Without Kanto Manga Company's protection, he wouldn't have a job, and even his life would be difficult to maintain.
When The Cat and Mouse Couple was popular, Kaze lived a life of drunkenness and debauchery daily. He spent a lot of money, but looking back, he found that he had little left; he was in a desperate situation.
"Tap, tap..."
Footsteps approached Kaze. Kaze looked up and saw Mach's face.
"Are you here to laugh at me?"
Kaze asked bitterly. He had been using Mach for the past six months and knew he was dissatisfied with him.
"I really want to laugh," Mach said with disdain. 'As expected, evil will be punished.' Two days ago, he just thought Kaze would be finished sooner or later, but he hadn't expected it to come true so soon.
This reminded him of himself six months ago. When he faced Mirai-sensei, it seemed he had nothing overnight.
Mirai-sensei was undoubtedly a genius beyond his time, and he was destined to make whoever was in front of him fail. Mach was the first, Kaya Hoshino the second, and Kaze the third... but not the last.
"You're luckier than me," Mach said. "When I was defeated by Mirai-sensei, like you, I didn't regret it in time, but adopted an extreme attitude...".
He remembered how foolish he was to naively ask a network promoter to discredit Mirai-sensei, but it ended in complete defeat.
"I can't go back to the past to save him, but Kaze, you still have a chance...". Mach turned around and said: "Let's go find Mirai-sensei. As long as he forgives your comments, you'll be fine."
Kaze was a little stunned, and his eyes lit up.
Yes, as long as Mirai-sensei publicly forgave him, Pokémon's viewership would surpass The Cat and Mouse Couple's, Kaze wouldn't have to fulfill the bet, and no media could threaten him.
And so, Kanto Manga Company wouldn't expel Kaze.
"Okay, this will work!" Kaze felt a wave of warmth in his heart and quickly got up from the ground, followed Mach's back, and said gratefully: "Brother, thank you. If you hadn't reminded me, I would have been finished this time!"
Brothers are brothers. 'Kaze felt guilty for treating Mach like that, but he helped him out at a critical moment. Mach has changed a lot in the past six months. He's not as naive as he was six months ago, and his heart is much better.'
"Don't thank me. Whether Mirai-sensei agrees depends on your sincerity."
Mach quickened his pace.
That day, Hinotori Publishing was filled with joy.
As soon as Pokémon's animation ratings were published, thousands of media outlets requested interviews. It was the first time Hinotori Publishing had faced such a large media influx since Kanto Manga Company was founded.
Genji ordered the company's employees to accept everyone who came, and the journalists' footsteps almost broke down the animation production department's door.
However, in this large-scale interview, Takumi remained silent. He received invitations from several local television stations for Pokémon's broadcasting rights, and then accepted four of them without conflict.
The broadcasting price of Pokémon amounted to 220,000,000 yen per episode, and the revenue was seven times higher, creating another miracle in animation history.
Upon seeing this figure, Genji and Kenji Sato, excited like children, took Takumi to congratulate him at noon.
The employees relayed the figures to the journalists, which caused another scandal. Pokémon's revenue rate was astonishing, definitely surpassing that of television series and films. Some news websites published reports that same day, promoting animation as a highly profitable industry.
Hinotori Publishing once again became the center of attention for all media. To maintain attention, Takumi invited some media to publicize his meeting with Hinotori Publishing's mangaka.
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