Kai understood the reason behind Rin's strange behavior and explained the whole situation.
"It's just that Fujima's book is so badly written. Anyone who buys it is going to get judged."
Rin patted her chest and let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you hated me, Fujin. Turns out that's not it at all."
She laughed, her whole face lighting up with genuine joy. "That's such a relief."
Kai's heart skipped a beat, like it had been nicked by something sharp. Then he heard what Rin said next.
"I don't want to lose you as a friend, Fujin."
"Yeah, yeah. We've only known each other for a little while," Kai muttered. "We can only be friends, really."
...
Monday morning. Kai was flipping through the newspaper.
[I Am a Murderer sales surpass 3,000 copies. A major hit.]
Looking at this promotional piece, Kai wondered. 'Who on earth is buying Fujima's book?'
[The publisher has decided to reprint 100,000 copies to meet overwhelming demand.]
Kai scratched his head. He couldn't figure this out if he thought about it for a hundred years.
To move 100,000 copies of I Am a Murderer, they'd probably have to stock it in every public restroom in Tokyo.
Had the publisher lost their mind?
Grumbling quietly to himself, he kept flipping through the pages. The rest of the content didn't interest him, so he skimmed quickly until he reached the entertainment section.
Then he froze.
The article occupying the entire page was titled: "The Fall of the 24-Year King, Jump."
Kai could actually stomach the dramatic headline. He'd only just joined Jump, and his sense of belonging wasn't that deep yet.
But why was the article illustrated with the cover of Jump Issue No. 23?
That was the issue with Death Note on the cover.
The title "Death Note" sat right there in his line of sight, with Light Yagami and Ryuk taking up the main position.
It was practically saying that Death Note was the reason Jump had fallen.
Suppressing his anger, Kai started reading.
The article opened by reviewing Jump's history. Founded in the seventies, surviving in the gap between the two giants, Magazine and Sunday, carving out a space for itself by leaning into edgier content.
Early hits like Harenchi Gakuen and Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daisho became Jump's original pillars and calling cards. Prioritizing fun above everything else, Jump pulled in a massive young readership.
Later, with the arrival of masterworks like KochiKame, Fist of the North Star, Slam Dunk, and Yu Yu Hakusho, Jump gradually became Japan's number one shonen manga magazine.
At its peak, Jump was supported by six million readers.
But as the great series ended, Jump began its decline.
In just two and a half years, two million readers were lost. Magazine overtook them, and Jump couldn't recover.
The article continued with the journalist's own commentary.
The writer lamented Jump's decline and questioned whether the magazine could recover under Kazuhiko Torishima's leadership or whether it would fade from readers' view entirely.
He predicted the latter, arguing that Jump had no successors and was relying on a manga like Death Note to carry the weight.
He dismissed it as gimmick-driven, criticized Kanzaki's art and panel composition, and suggested it wouldn't have even been serialized in Jump's stronger days.
He ended with a nostalgic plea, hoping Jump would eventually produce another top-level manga, but conceding that it might take five years of waiting.
The article didn't spend much ink directly attacking Death Note, nor did it mention anything problematic about the content. But with just a few strokes, it painted Death Note as worthless.
Kai couldn't even bring himself to argue.
He genuinely wasn't good at panel composition or drawing yet. Those weaknesses were lowering Death Note's ceiling.
All he could do was hold his breath and keep pushing himself forward.
...
When the assistants arrived at the Studio, Yuta didn't greet them. Instead, he silently directed their eyes toward the newspaper.
The two assistants tiptoed to the sofa, doing their best not to disturb Kai, and started reading the article.
"That's... that's ridiculous." Amasaki blurted out instinctively, then caught himself. He lowered his voice and whispered to Majima, "Sure, Sensei's drawing isn't the strongest and his paneling is average, but he works harder than anyone."
Kai's only real downtime was watching the news or reading the paper in the morning. Every other waking hour was spent drawing manga, studying, and improving.
Sensei worked that hard. How could anyone talk about him like that?
Kai was eavesdropping and felt even more embarrassed.
Majima glared at Amasaki, his own voice rising slightly. "What gimmick? The plot of Death Note is clearly exceptional. It's the most stunning mystery manga I've ever read."
"And Sensei has been growing the whole time. His drawing has improved a lot. Give it a little longer and he won't lose to an average manga artist. This article is garbage. Attributing all of Sensei's success to gimmicks is just dishonest."
Kai nodded silently, feeling a quiet comfort.
Majima's uncomfortable-looking mohawk actually seemed kind of endearing right now.
From that point on, however, Kai cancelled his morning leisure time entirely.
When he had the skill level of Yoshihiro Togashi, then he'd think about relaxing.
...
When Heishi arrived at the editorial department early that morning, he found the atmosphere in the office was toxic.
Nobody was chatting. Some editors looked furious. Others had their heads down, lost in thought. The silence was suffocating.
It felt like the department had been dragged back in time.
Which was strange, because Death Note's strong performance had actually been warming things up around the office lately.
"Sasaki-san, what happened? Did Editor-in-Chief Torishima blow up at someone?"
Heishi grabbed Hisashi Sasaki as he passed by and asked in a low voice.
"It's an article."
Sasaki handed him the newspaper.
Heishi's face turned red as he read.
Wasn't this journalist openly slapping them in the face?
The accusation that the editors had failed to discover interesting manga was a direct attack on their competence.
"This is garbage!"
"Everyone actually agrees with parts of it," Sasaki said quietly.
"Why?"
"Because Jump started declining on our watch. And everyone is worried that Death Note might follow the same path as Level E."
"Plenty of manga start with a bang and end with a whimper."
"Hold on to that frustration. Use it to work harder."
Sasaki patted Heishi on the shoulder and went back to his own work.
For the next serialization meeting, he was going to get One Piece approved. No matter what.
______________________
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