"Just as I suspected, it is a parallel counterpart of Dragon Raja."
Inside his workspace, Aoyama set the magazine down, scratching his head with a faint smile.
Evaluating the series, aside from swapping the title to The Divine Race, adjusting several character names, and reselling certain variables, the core script was identical.
It carried the same recipe and familiar flavour.
However, differing fully from the manhua adaptations he'd skimmed in his previous life, this version featured highly polished aesthetics, leaning closer to modern Japanese composition.
Most critical, the pacing mirrored the original novel accurately,running slow and deliberate without compressing the dialogue.
This triggered a genuine spark of reading interest inside Aoyama.
He sincerely hoped this counterpart, even rendered inside a comic medium, managed to secure a satisfying conclusion.
Right on cue with his internal contemplation...
I couldn't wait for you to come clear the cupboards~
The ringtone detonated into life.
Over the course of the last two months, Aoyama had successfully compiled the sheet music scoring.
The animation score team had hired a popular ACG vocalist to lay down the tracks, and Aoyama had immediately set the resulting file as his default ringtone.
He pulled up the receiver and keyed into the audio file, offering a polite, "Moshi-moshi~"
"Aoyama-sensei, reading the itinerary check here," Ayumi's voice spoke smoothly.
"You remember the American WB Pictures delegation interested in Edgerunners? They touched down today."
"They are scheduled to visit headquarters tomorrow at noon. Do you have time to join us negotiating terms?"
Aoyama took a check. His current workload was sitting in an extremely safe zone.
He'd already drafted panel number 58 for Fire Punch.
He predicted wrapping up the entire manuscript before the Edgerunners anime launched for broadcast.
Once finished, he intended to offer the complete volume as a gift to the readers who sustained his momentum.
"Sounds good. I'll make the trip down," Aoyama answered with moderate enthusiasm.
After all, Edgerunners hadn't possessed a cinematic movie adaptation in his previous life timeline, making him relatively indifferent toward the prospect.
---
The following noon.
Aoyama finished his meal, loaded Pochita into a transport cage, and caught a ride arriving at the Manga World tower plaza.
Metropolis's winter climate was dropping, though fortunately, heavy blizzards and freezing air hadn't hit the coastlines yet.
Aoyama wore a heavy knit sweater layered beneath a long, warm overcoat.
Lest Pochita caught a cold, he'd fit the dog with a tailored coat and four tiny walking booties before departing.
Under Ayumi's navigation, Aoyama stepped through the security gates, entering the main Manga World corridor.
To his mild surprise, Editor-in-Chief Hiroshi Oumi arrived at reception personally to meet him!
"Aoyama-sensei!"
Hiroshi Oumi offered a highly enthusiastic greeting, extending his hand.
"Editor Oumi, good to see you again," Aoyama replied with matching politeness.
"Haha, please take a seat, Sensei. WB is scheduled to arrive in a few minutes."
Hiroshi Oumi sat down opposite him, adjusting his posture.
"However, before we begin the formal meeting, I wanted to inquire about your personal intentions."
This cinematic licensing deal was a priority for Manga World's upper tier.
Successfully sealing the contract would significantly amplify the publisher's international branding and marketing.
Because of the high stakes, even the Editor-in-Chief was deployed to supervise the negotiations personally.
"Intentions?" Aoyama shook his head easily. "I don't hold any rigid demands..."
In his past timeline, Edgerunners supported an anime and a native game, which was why he'd prioritized those variables.
For live-action cinema or television adaptations... he didn't care either way.
But if selling the rights translated into a healthy credit payout bumping his balance, he wouldn't raise a protest.
'Who hates having extra cash inside their accounts?'
Claiming to be completely indifferent toward increasing wealth was lying or achieving sainthood.
Aoyama considered his values relatively standard; making money inside proper ethics was nothing to be embarrassed about.
"To lay the truth out, Sensei... if we do sell the licensing rights, it is optimal to sell into a film house capable of delivering a masterpiece that is both critically rated and financially successful."
Hiroshi Oumi explained the corporate logic.
"A hit cinematic version of Edgerunners will loop feedback directly back into your original printed work. That feeds back into sales multipliers almost exceeding the licensing fees themselves."
Aoyama had been paying passive attention, but that sentence triggered a spark of thought.
That was right.
Cinema, holding status as humanity's "Seventh Art form," possessed a deeply seated influence in modern internet systems.
Its reach stood unparalleled.
In some ways, cinema even surpassed animation or written publications in mass adoption.
Comics and anime still carried residual filters regarding age brackets and demographics; books were easily restricted by language barriers and reading dedication.
Cinema didn't hold those bottlenecks. Its consumption is massive.
If Edgerunners hit peak numbers in theaters, it would drive millions of fresh eyeballs directly back to his original work.
Much like how the Jurassic Park cinema hit drove viewers back to the written source materials in past eras.
Simultaneously, Aoyama's System override strictly required inflating his overall popularity rating!
The rating on his Edgerunners had reached the million-multiplier already. To achieve subsequent hundreds of millions benchmarks in the future...
He required triggering external multipliers to scale up his operations.
And cinema was the textbook solution.
Aoyama's eyes locked into deep, contemplative thought.
Hiroshi Oumi noticed the shift and offered a satisfied smile. His explanation had successfully reached the author's logic.
Right on schedule...
"Editor Oumi, Aoyama-sensei, the WB Pictures crew is arriving downstairs," a staff member announced, stepping into the room.
"Excellent. Let's head down and welcome our guests," Hiroshi Oumi smiled, looking to Aoyama.
"Alright." Aoyama nodded in agreement.
Following Hiroshi Oumi out of the room, they watched a group of foreigners walking through the corridor toward them.
"Oh, my friend, welcome to Manga World!"
Hiroshi Oumi spoke first, stepping forward into a warm hug with the leading white-haired executive.
Having studied abroad in his younger years, Hiroshi Oumi spoke fluid English and was highly adapted to accommodating foreign greetings.
"This is our Editor-in-Chief, Hiroshi Oumi," the guide introduced. "And this is the WB Pictures executive head,Miles Halling."
"Oh, Editor Oumi! I am highly grateful for your warm hospitality," Miles replied, returning the hug with an easy smile.
After clearing the hug, Hiroshi Oumi turned direct attention to Aoyama with a beaming smile.
"Let me introduce the creator of Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners,Aoyama-sensei."
Miles and his team locked their gaze onto Aoyama, their expressions freezing for a fraction into pure curiosity.
The calculation was simple: Aoyama looked impossibly young.
Asian facial structures often leaned youthful to Westerners; Aoyama's appearance suggested he'd recently entered a college dorm.
But professional adaptation quickly overrode any initial surprise.
"Incredible. I am a highly dedicated reader of Edgerunners, and the author's name is extremely familiar inside our boardrooms," Miles offered with a polite smile.
"By the way, Aoyama-sensei... before we start going over the file structure, I want to introduce a good friend of yours on our end..."
Miles stepped slightly to the side, opening access to the person standing just behind him.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]