Chapter 30: The Fierce Competition of JUMP
Inside the Chief Editor's office, the Chief Editor silently looked at the manga on the table.
To be honest, although he had asked Naoto to draw a new manga, he hadn't expected that Naoto could actually create such an exceptionally good manga.
Many mangaka's works are often accidental; after the first one becomes popular, subsequent mangas might become mediocre and fall into cliché.
Like the famous Kishimoto, after Naruto ended, he released a few other manga, but they generally failed to spark interest. There are many, many such examples.
For a high school mangaka like Naoto, for his first manga to be so popular, his later works should have been more ordinary. But what was unexpected was that the work Naoto submitted this time was of such high quality.
Just the first chapter alone could pique extremely high interest.
Although there was no combat, it exuded the passion typically found in free-form battles.
Moreover, the story's background was even set in an older version of China, and in recent years, as China grew stronger, the number of people who loved that country also continuously climbed.
This move, one must say, was truly brilliant.
Especially the last section on cooking and critiques, it was so appetizing just by looking at it.
That feeling of ravenous hunger was like not having eaten for several weeks, making one wish to immediately go to a Chinese food street and feast.
Purely from a viewing perspective, the Chief Editor's approval of this Cooking Master Boy was even above Bloodline. When he thought that this book was going to a monthly magazine, the Chief Editor's heart was actually bleeding.
If this were on a weekly magazine, it would definitely be a huge hit, and it might even replace the soon-to-be-finished Toriko, becoming an even more classic cooking manga.
The Chief Editor even had an impulse to trade Bloodline for it with the monthly magazine.
But after careful consideration, he decided against it.
After all, the matter with Saiko's uncle was still vivid in the Chief Editor's mind; in his opinion, probably nothing was more important than the mangaka himself.
Although he was very reluctant to part with this manga, since it was an already decided matter, he would not go back on his word.
Besides, this time, it wasn't just this one manga facing the challenge.
At this moment, the Chief Editor picked up two other manga manuscripts from the table.
One of them was a work by the Ashirogi Muto duo, "The World Relies on Money and Wisdom."
It boldly used money and wisdom as its theme, depicting various dark sides and the protagonist's cunning battles, making it a classic example of an unconventional manga.
Perhaps these two kids didn't even realize it themselves, but this unique manga indeed had a lot of character, and it might attract many readers who enjoy this type of manga.
The other was Niizuma Eiji's manga, "CROW."
This Crow and Ashirogi Muto's manga was another extreme.
Unbridled imagination, a classic shonen development style, and a skilled yet unique art style.
It's hard to imagine that this is the manga of a fifteen-year-old boy; this manuscript alone was second only to Naoto's Bloodline.
Niizuma Eiji truly had talent.
If it weren't for Naoto, this manga alone could truly dominate all other works currently, except for Bloodline.
Whether it's Ashirogi Muto paving the way with an unconventional style, or ONE-sensei who is like a god, or the genius Niizuma Eiji, the struggle between these four will definitely be extremely exciting.
The next issue of the Weekly Magazine will probably be very interesting.
And at this moment, outside the Chief Editor's office, Niizuma's Editor Hattori Kumanosuke, Mr. Kuniharu, and Ashirogi Muto's Editor Hattori Akira, were all waiting outside the door for news from the Chief Editor.
The three exchanged glances, filled with a strong sense of vigilance.
Regarding this serialization, everyone wasn't too concerned, after all, when this manga was released, Naoto had already stated that he didn't want to serialize it in the Weekly Magazine, so the two serialization slots would definitely go to Niizuma and Saiko.
But why were the three still hostile towards each other? The fundamental reason was that special privilege.
For these three editors, they naturally knew that even if they got that special privilege, it was something that was neither essential nor useless.
However, obtaining that special privilege also meant becoming the number one on JUMP's new pillar. It also meant an achievement above the others, cementing them for a moment to be greater.
This kind of thing is not as simple as it sounds.
Becoming number one is an honor; even if your manga loses popularity in the future, it will allow you to continue serialization, even if it's in a lower-tier publication, but that's still impressive enough.
Moreover, for the editors, having such talented mangaka under them meant they would surely become high-ranking leaders in the future.
While being wary of each other, the three were also busy sending messages to their respective mangaka, informing them of the other's work information.
The four naturally knew their own authors inside out. Aside from Mr. Kuniharu's work, the other two works had been personally reviewed and thoroughly scrutinized by the two editors before being submitted, so they had great confidence in the works.
However, while they had confidence, the three also knew very well that the other few were also very talented.
Especially after reading Naoto's Cooking Master Boy, Hattori, editor of Ashirogi Muto, was a bit nervous.
(ONE-sensei's work is so amazing, it's very likely to get first place this time.)
(Must quickly remind Saiko and Akito to be careful of ONE-sensei!)
And soon, Ashirogi Muto and Niizuma both received messages from their editors.
When they saw that Naoto actually planned to draw a cooking manga, the three of them were a bit confused.
"Naoto-nii is going to draw a cooking manga? Really? Why?"
"Maybe Naoto-nii wants to challenge himself, but the leap to cooking manga is too big."
"You never know, but Editor Hattori said this manga is very powerful, it might even be stronger than Bloodline."
"Then we can't lose either! This time, no matter what, we have to defeat Naoto-nii, and that weird guy too!"
"Oh!"
Saiko and Akito, upon receiving the news, were filled with both worry and excitement.
However, compared to these two, Niizuma was purely excited.
"Cooking manga?! And not even a combat-focused manga like Toriko! As expected of ONE-sensei! This is so exciting! Leaving his comfort zone and constantly forging his own path in manga, he truly is my rival!"
Niizuma Eiji repeatedly looked at the message on his phone, rolling back and forth on the tatami mat.
"I can't take it, I really want to see it! ONE-sensei's cooking manga! I want to see it right now!!!!"
At this moment, Niizuma Eiji was already eager to read the manga drawn by Naoto.
And so, amidst the anticipation of several people, JUMP's release day arrived.