Japan is vast, but the manga industry is largely concentrated in first-tier cities such as Tokyo City and Osaka.
More than 80% of the country's manga companies and industry professionals are clustered in these urban commercial districts.
Although Shirogane had finished Hikaru no Go the previous month and publicly announced that a new work would be released after the college entrance examination, many people in the industry did not truly believe it.
To them, this sounded no different from a game's announced release date, something you could say, but something few would actually keep. Delays were the norm; promises kept were rare.
A first-tier manga artist in Japan starting a brand-new serialization only two months after finishing a hit work?
That sounded almost impossible.
Public expectations for Shirogane's next manga were already comparable to, if not higher than, Hikaru no Go. Could anyone really conceive a work of that caliber in just two months?
If it were a story planned in advance, that seemed even less believable. During the serialization of Hikaru no Go, Shirogane averaged more than forty pages per week, all while attending school every day. These two months were also reserved for college entrance exam preparation.
Where, exactly, would he have found the time to prepare another masterpiece?
Unless Shirogane intended to hastily produce a third-rate manga, there was no way a new work could appear in June. Next year's June sounded far more realistic.
Yet, coincidentally, a piece of news began circulating quietly among manga artists across Japan:
At the late-April serialization meeting for Dream Comic Journal, Shirogane's new manga would participate in the selection.
Once people heard this, the implication was obvious.
As long as Shirogane's new work had no fatal flaws, the serialization slot was essentially guaranteed.
When comparing past achievements, potential, popularity, and fanbase, which of the other competing manga artists could possibly rival him?
The editors at Hoshimori Group were not fools. They would never create an industry-wide joke by rejecting Shirogane's new manga.
Originally, this information was known only to a small circle within Hoshimori Group.
But Shirogane's fame had grown too great. In a company of that size, loose tongues were inevitable, and the news soon spread through various channels.
On Hoshimori Group's official website, Hikaru no Go fans, who had recently shifted their attention to the TV drama and anime after the manga's conclusion, suddenly couldn't sit still anymore.
"Teacher Shirogane… already has a new manga ready for serialization?"
"So fast? It's only April! Hikaru no Go ended in March!"
"Didn't Shirogane say the new work would be released after June? If there's a delay, we might not see it until July, August, or even October."
"A manga released in June has to go to the serialization meeting in April. Do you think the magazines you buy today were drawn yesterday in someone's living room? With tens of millions of copies, printing and distribution take weeks!"
"This is insane. It's only been one month!"
"Are there any manga artists in Japan more hardworking than Teacher Shirogane? I'm in tears."
"Hard work means nothing without skill."
"Did the leak mention what genre his new work is?"
"I hope it's another sports competition manga."
"His romance manga is great too! 5 Centimeters per Second and Tonight are both being adapted into live-action films next year. That proves his romance works have serious market appeal."
"I'm so lucky. I only started reading Hikaru no Go last week, and in two months I'll already get to see Teacher Shirogane's new work!"
While Rei was fully immersed in polishing the first three chapters of Hunter × Hunter for submission to the serialization meeting, related news was already spreading rapidly online.
Even though Hoshimori Group had yet to officially promote anything, Shirogane's new manga had already become the focal point of Japan's manga industry that month.
Would this young genius's fourth work reach an even greater height and firmly establish his position in the manga world?
Or would it mark a turning point, his popularity fading, fans dispersing, and his brilliance proving to be only a fleeting flash?
By mid to late April, Rei took official leave from school and devoted himself entirely to refining the plot and details of Hunter × Hunter.
Ninety-nine percent of the original manga was perfectly fine, but some elements required adjustment.
For example, in the original first chapter, Gon's motivation for searching for his father conflicted slightly with contemporary mainstream values.
When his adoptive mother Mito told him that his father, Ging, had abandoned his wife and child to become a Hunter, Gon, not yet ten years old, did not feel anger. Instead, he replied:
"But if someone is willing to abandon their child for a job, doesn't that mean it must be an incredible job?"
In Rei's previous life, this line might not have seemed problematic.
But in modern Japan, such thinking was clearly unacceptable.
The prevailing belief was simple: no profession, no dream, and no ambition could ever take precedence over family.
However, these were ultimately minor details and did not affect the core direction of the story.
Moreover, the original manga was already highly regarded, especially in its early stages. Both the artwork and panel composition were solid and well above standard. Rei intended to stay as faithful to the original work as possible.
As for the later stages, when Yoshihiro Togashi's attitude became noticeably casual, relying on rough drafts, heavily blackened pages, and long blocks of dialogue that forced readers to imagine entire scenes as part of the serialized content, that was another matter entirely. Rei planned to carefully redesign those portions when Hunter × Hunter eventually reached that part of the story.
Time soon arrived at April 22nd.
Misaki personally came to Rei's home that day.
She spent a full two hours carefully reading the first three chapters of Hunter × Hunter that Rei had prepared.
After a long while, she closed her eyes and let out a slow breath.
"Well?" Rei asked with curiosity. "What do you think?"
"It's quite interesting," Misaki said without hesitation.
"But it only reaches the interesting stage."
Rei immediately understood what she meant.
For most manga artists, the early chapters of a work naturally focus on setup. Just like in Go or chess, everyone begins with standard openings, it's difficult to see any decisive advantage or disadvantage in the early phase.
This was even more true for a medium-to-long serialization like Hunter × Hunter. In the first few chapters, many key characters had not yet appeared, and the plot was still laying its groundwork. The explosive turning points Misaki was looking for simply couldn't appear that early.
However…
This was precisely the kind of manga that became more addictive the further one read, one that grew more profound and astonishing with each arc.
Whether Yoshihiro Togashi would leave it unfinished in the future was unknown. After all, he had a history of doing so. But at the very least, up through the Chimera Ant Arc, Hunter × Hunter was unquestionably worthy of being called a masterpiece.
In the following days, Rei also began progressing with the creation of One-Punch Man.
By comparison, there was far less he needed to modify.
The story was already set in an alternate fantasy world, and since Rei himself was acting as the investor, he didn't need to obsess over minor details. Although the animation production company had not yet been finalized, Rei had already begun designing characters for the project.
On April 26th, Hoshimori Group officially held the Dream Comic serialization meeting.
As for the outcome, there were no surprises.
"Hunter × Hunter" overwhelmingly crushed the other submitted works in terms of evaluation scores.
Naturally, this included Miyu's new manga.
This was her second time submitting a work to the Dream Comic serialization meeting, but unfortunately, she was eliminated again, this time as the fourth-place entry.
"Sigh…"
Although she couldn't help but sigh, Miyu possessed exceptionally strong emotional control.
Still, since this attempt had failed, her next opportunity would likely not come for several more months. As a result, her immediate focus inevitably shifted to another direction.
The Japanese college entrance examination, now only a month away.
As time moved into late April, and with Hunter × Hunter officially securing its serialization slot, Hoshimori Group began its promotional rollout.
An announcement was posted directly on the official website: Hoshimori Group's contracted manga artist Shirogane's new work will officially begin serialization in June.
This was no longer an online rumor or insider leak, it was confirmed, concrete information.
And the moment the announcement went live, Rei's fans erupted.
So everything people had been saying online…It was all true.
...
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