As time passed, the editors in the office took their seats one by one, and working hours finally began.
Misaki quickly handled the work at hand, while glancing at the time on her computer every few minutes.
And under that nervous tension, at a certain moment, a new email arrived in her inbox.
Misaki took several deep breaths before finally opening it.
What greeted her eyes was the very first line of the document—
[Voting Rank 1: Hunter x Hunter, Total Votes: 900,012 votes!]
Misaki stared at the screen in a daze for nearly half a minute.
Although, given hunter x hunter's reputation, reaching the top of Dream Comic had only been a matter of time, when it truly happened, it still felt unreal.
After all… it had only been four months since hunter x hunter began serialization.
At that moment, many people in the editorial department unconsciously turned their gazes toward her.
In the first half of this year, hikaru no go had dominated the journal.
In the second half of the year, hunter x hunter had now also reached the top.
One manga artist, two works, both topping the charts in the same year in a top Japanese manga journal like Dream Comic, who would have dared imagine such a thing?
"So hunter x hunter really took first place."
"I never expected the record held by source war chronicle for three consecutive years to be broken twice in a single year, by Shirogane, no less."
"It's not that source war chronicle has declined. It's just that hikaru no go and hunter x hunter are too popular."
"And anyone with eyes can see that hunter x hunter's potential is far greater than hikaru no go's. The group has already made it a key IP, animation, movies, games, merchandise, everything is in motion."
"Misaki is really lucky. She managed to discover two such terrifying talents."
"You mean Saki, whose new work will begin serialization next month?"
"Exactly. That work is quite interesting too, it's just that Shirogane has always overshadowed him."
"It's really a pity about one-punch man. Shirogane was originally planning to submit it to our journal."
"Editor-in-Chief Han even consulted higher management, but it was rejected outright due to regulations…"
"If one-punch man had been serialized here as well, Dream Comic Journal might have broken 20 million weekly sales with two top-tier hits."
As the editors spoke, their expressions became complicated.
Envy toward Misaki was inevitable, but so was regret over one-punch man.
Shirogane had self-funded an animation, partnered with a relatively small production company, and aired it in an upper-middle time slot on Capital TV Station.
And yet, within two weeks of airing, its ratings had already approached 5%, directly challenging burning sin Season Four, the second-ranked adaptation from Monogatari Comic.
If one-punch man had truly been serialized in Dream Comic, its popularity might not have been inferior to hunter x hunter.
As for journal sales, they always fluctuated.
Strong works could push sales up rapidly, while the conclusion of pillar titles without replacements could cause drops of four to five million copies.
With hunter x hunter's continued serialization and word-of-mouth spread, Hoshimori Comic had already attracted many readers from rival journals.
Its weekly sales had risen by nearly one million copies, reaching 18.6 million, temporarily surpassing Kōken Manga and ranking third on last week's national sales chart.
If another top-tier hit had joined the lineup, it might not have surpassed Monogatari Comic's 25 million weekly sales, but overtaking Mecca Manga's 21 million was not impossible.
But now…
"What a pity," an editor sighed softly.
Even if hunter x hunter remained at the top, it would still be difficult for Dream Comic to surpass Mecca Manga in the short term.
Everyone in the editorial department understood this.
Editor-in-Chief Han understood it.
The group's upper management understood it as well.
But compared to the quiet regret of lower-level editors, the higher-ups felt something closer to irritation and resentment.
After all, what was worse than missing out on a popular work?
Missing out on a popular work that was originally meant for your own journal, had been personally approved by the Editor-in-Chief, and was only rejected due to rigid regulations.
Compared to rules, works like hikaru no go and hunter x hunter were infinitely more valuable.
But who could have expected Shirogane to be so abnormal?
Releasing one hit after another.
News of Hoshimori Group rejecting one-punch man quickly spread throughout the industry and online.
Mockery and ridicule piled up, placing immense pressure on the group's executives.
They weren't board members, just senior employees.
If public opinion continued to escalate, the consequences would be serious.
Though the decision had been theirs, tracing it back…
It was still Shirogane who caused the trouble.
You're only eighteen, why are you working like a model laborer?
Why not wait until hunter x hunter finished serialization before submitting one-punch man?
Instead, you went off to make an anime yourself.
Do you really have the resources and connections to fully exploit that IP?
What a waste…
But no matter how dissatisfied they felt, they dared not voice it.
The die had been cast.
All they could do was hope that one-punch man's popularity would stop growing.
As for hunter x hunter;
Now that it had surpassed source war chronicle, it had officially become the journal's flagship title.
Top-tier promotional resources would be continuously poured into it for the foreseeable future.
And indeed, that was exactly what happened.
In the evening, Hoshimori Group officially announced Hunter x Hunter's achievements on its website. That same night, on major search platforms and manga forums, the hot search terms and discussion intensity for Hunter x Hunter increased significantly.
Many manga critics also, by prior arrangement, began creating manga review videos for Hunter x Hunter.
Having received promotional fees, the necessary publicity naturally had to be implemented as quickly as possible.
Rei did not know, nor did he want to know, what the people at Hoshimori Group were thinking.
That evening, Misaki invited Rei and her sister Miyu to dinner at a restaurant in the center of Tokyo, which also served as a celebration for Hunter x Hunter reaching the top spot.
The two sisters, Misaki in a red dress and Miyu in a black dress, sat in the restaurant, radiant and captivating, frequently attracting the gazes of the surrounding diners.
When Rei arrived right on time, many people present sighed.
"Oh… sorry, I'm the last one to arrive," Rei said with a wave and a smile.
"You're too slow. My sister and I have been waiting for you for twenty minutes," Miyu said.
"There are still three minutes until the scheduled time. I'm not late."
"When you're eating with girls, can't you arrive half an hour early?"
"Half an hour? When I'm in good form, that's enough time for me to draw more than half a page of a manga manuscript," Rei said calmly.
"Time is precious. How can it be wasted like that?"
Miyu gasped and looked at her sister, only to see Misaki gazing at Rei with clear approval.
It was over. These two had completely abnormal thought processes.
She did not know whether to complain about Rei's inhuman drawing speed, or about the fact that, in his eyes, their first real meeting in a month was less important than half a manga page.
At this moment, Misaki spoke.
"Congratulations, Rei. Hunter x Hunter has reached the top spot."
"Same to you," Rei replied with a smile.
"And Miyu, although I already congratulated you, let me say it again in person. Congratulations on Touch of Glass getting serialization approval. I hope its popularity climbs quickly and reaches second place."
"Second?" Miyu scoffed. "That's nonsense."
"It's definitely going to reach the top."
"Before Hunter x Hunter finishes, you don't have a chance," Rei replied mercilessly.
...
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