With the One-Punch Man anime now airing, the original manga's Monster Association arc had reached its mid-to-late stage, and the most brilliant portion of the source material was approaching its conclusion.
Rei naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity. As an investor, he was prepared to inject whatever additional marketing budget was needed.
The revenue-sharing adaptation deal between One-Punch Man and the Pacific Federation, leading game company, was finalized at lightning speed.
Rei not only served as the IP provider for One-Punch Man, but also contributed additional funding toward the game's development and early promotion. After launch, he would personally support marketing as the original creator, as stipulated in the agreement.
He held partial decision-making authority over the game. Once it went live, his opinions on operations and content updates carried real weight. In exchange, he received 20% of all post-launch revenue.
At first glance, that percentage might seem low. In reality, most anime-IP games returned only around 10% to the rights holder. The rest was divided among the development studio, the publisher, and distribution platforms, Android and iOS in Rei's past life, or Steam for PC titles. Securing 20% was possible only because One-Punch Man was white-hot and because Rei negotiated from a position of overwhelming leverage, brandishing his copyright ownership to demand a slice of development funding.
Once the contracts were signed and the money wired, Rei could comfortably step back into a hands-off chairman's role.
Although he retained voting rights over operations, he had no intention of exercising them unless the development team steered the project into truly absurd territory.
He understood his role clearly: it was far better to devote his energy to producing more content, continuing to import blockbuster ideas from his past life into this Japan, than to micromanage business operations.
Naturally, One-Punch Man's game adaptations would not stop at a single title. Mobile games, PC releases, even casual mini-games were already under discussion, and film studios were lining up to inquire about live-action rights. Truthfully, Rei had been devoting more monthly effort to One-Punch Man than to Hunter × Hunter.
"But finally… it's almost over."
Glancing at his phone's calendar, Rei saw that in less than two months, the four-season juggernaut that had ignited the Japan, and the world, would pause, its current run temporarily concluded.
Meanwhile, Hunter × Hunter's manga still had another month before the Phantom Troupe arc wrapped up and the story transitioned into Greed Island. At the current pace, by January of the following year, the series would reach its iconic Chimera Ant arc.
Given Hunter's popularity, Hoshimori Group had long since scheduled game adaptations. It was even possible that a One-Punch Man title would launch alongside a Hunter × Hunter game, pitting the two IPs directly against each other.
Rei considered the thought briefly, then shrugged it off.
Over the next few days, two topics dominated conversations surrounding him.
First, Hunter × Hunter's anime debut sent tankōbon sales soaring. On Tuesday, Hoshimori Group announced that the series had surpassed sixteen million copies per volume.
Every industry insider had predicted exactly this outcome.
Even before the anime aired, Hunter had averaged around fifteen million copies per volume. The adaptation simply poured rocket fuel onto an already blazing fire.
And this milestone had been reached barely a month after the first episode's broadcast.
On the day the numbers were released, the animation press flooded the airwaves with coverage.
By comparison, Echoes of the End currently stood at 19.5 million copies per volume nationwide.
Despite the launch of its sixth anime season, the boost to its manga sales had clearly plateaued. Everyone who could be converted already had been.
But Hunter, who could guess its ceiling?
After the Yorknew City arc, could Shirogane deliver something even more gripping?
With Hunter now at sixteen million copies per volume, could the 3.5-million gap be closed during the anime's run, allowing it to overtake Echoes of the End and become Japan's top-selling ongoing manga? And more importantly, how would the stock-market duel between Hoshimori Group and NeonNest Group, the conglomerate backing Monogatari Comic, play out?
If Hunter seized the number-one spot, could it also propel Dream Comic to weekly sales supremacy?
Media outlets sprouted articles on the rivalry like bamboo after spring rain.
Fans of Rei and Echoes of the End finally realized what this race meant for their favorite creators.
Online skirmishes between the two camps sharpened into open warfare.
Yet before the weekend episodes arrived, Friday stole every headline.
That day, every other voice in Japan's anime sphere was drowned out.
After a week of relentless cliff-hangers, ten million One-Punch Man fans finally got what they had been craving.
From early afternoon onward, the fandom surged online.
"Friday at last, bros, do you know how long I've waited?"
"Seven days!"
"Wrong, seven years. Every day felt like a year!"
"Same! When I started watching, I didn't care about Saitama at all. Now I only want King!"
"So the anime really ends at six episodes? I refuse to believe it!"
"It's not ending, just pausing. And honestly, that's fine. Saitama never grows stronger; every arc fleshes out the side characters. Let Shirogane recharge and come back for season five when inspiration hits."
"Forget seasons, tonight belongs to King! I won't forgive the show if it disrespects my King!"
"Yeah… I still can't imagine how King survives this battlefield, but I trust Shirogane."
"Shirogane, please, no tearful farewells, no power-exposure sobbing apologies. Just let King shine!"