However, in the following weeks, the inspiration was fleeting and never reappeared.
If the image was not still in his hand, Takumi would undoubtedly think he was daydreaming. He worried about how to regain that illusion, and he didn't even continue drawing manga.
He decided to send the first chapter first. Two days before the high school entrance exam, Takumi found information about manga submissions in a bookstore, and two companies caught his attention.
One was Tatsuryū Publishing, a comprehensive publishing house. This company mainly publishes literary works and novels. Its manga industry is also a giant, practically monopolizing all renowned mangaka. The second was Hinotori Publishing, specializing in manga publication. This company is not as large or has as much market as Tatsuryū, but it pays the highest royalties to novice mangaka.
Takumi sent the original manuscript to Hinotori Publishing. He thought that Tatsuryū Publishing, which monopolized excellent novelistic resources, would not look down on it, and royalties were also crucial.
Hinotori Publishing's editorial department is located in Osaka, Japan's second-largest city. There is still time before the manga submission deadline and the publication of the results. Takumi focused on the high school entrance exam in Saitama Prefecture.
The exam lasted three days. Takumi was in his element thanks to his photographic memory. He believed he could get the maximum score in most subjects, but he didn't want to overdo it. He deliberately left mistakes in each exam, and none got the maximum score.
Japanese was scheduled for the last day, and it was Japan's most important subject.
Takumi calculated the scores from previous exams. He felt they were still too high. He could lower them a bit, as long as he could get into most high schools.
However, something unexpected happened. Shortly after the exam bell rang, a flash of inspiration struck him again.
At that moment, Takumi was writing his own name. He just felt his vision blur, and the context of the entire exam became clear like a slow-motion projection.
He even had a plan to solve the problem. Takumi was very excited in that state. He couldn't help but start writing quickly.
"Shua shua shua!". The rapid sound of writing attracted the attention of a supervisor behind him. He frowned and stepped forward to check. That look almost took his breath away.
Takumi's hands moved across the paper like a harvester. He barely needed to think, and all the blank spaces were quickly filled with words. The supervisor was a Japanese teacher. He felt that Takumi's answer was unexpectedly precise, so precise that he felt he was cheating.
He silently pulled out an electronic device to scan it, but there was no response,
so it wasn't cheating. 'Wasn't he cheating?'
The supervisor was stunned. When he looked again, he discovered that Takumi had turned the paper over, and the speed of his hands did not stop.
'What kind of monster is this?' —He was stunned.
Then, when Takumi awoke from his "burst of inspiration," the pen drew the last dot of the composition.
The two remaining supervisors surrounded him at some point. They looked down at the exam with blank stares.
"Ten... ten minutes!"
A teacher looked at the wall clock, adjusted his glasses, and stammered, "Are you finished?"
A miracle! The three supervisors had never seen a student finish the exam so quickly, and there was no trace of cheating, as if he had memorized the answers a long time ago.
Takumi calmly nodded: "Well, I'll turn in the exam."
He stood up and gathered his materials. The other students in the exam room looked at him in astonishment.
Silence. It wasn't until Takumi left the classroom that a supervisor remembered the most important question. He rushed out and shouted, "Hey, wait, it's not time to turn in the exam yet!"
But Takumi didn't look back. The high school entrance exam in this world would not give zero points for submitting the exam early. The total score for Saitama Prefecture was 750 points. Takumi estimated that he should have over 650 points, which was enough.
A few days after the high school entrance exam,
on June 18th, in the Hinotori Building, Osaka.
The editorial team of Weekly Shōnen and Kurosawa, the newly appointed editor-in-chief, sadly analyzed the report. The magazine's sales had dropped. Weekly Shōnen is their most popular magazine, but sales are still well below those of Tatsuryū Publishing.
"Did I make a mistake in strategic positioning?"
Kurosawa had thought countless times in recent years, but he immediately shook his head and denied it: "No, it's definitely right to follow the original path!"
Hinotori Publishing focuses its strategy on original manga, while Tatsuryū Publishing leans more towards novels. Hinotori Publishing's funds and scale cannot compare with Tatsuryū Publishing's, so Kurosawa believes that originality is their only way out.
However, why has the company's performance been so sluggish for so many years?
"Mangaka, there are still talented mangaka missing."
Kurosawa couldn't help but sigh. The short time since the rise of manga has led to a disparity in the quality of mangaka. This problem can only be solved with time.
However, he felt reluctant. The development of the manga industry changes every day. Now there are many young people working hard in this regard. It can be predicted that original manga will become commonplace in five or six years. And he cannot serve as editor-in-chief for a long time without getting results. The result of his hard work is to build a bridge for future generations.
'Why can't a manga genius emerge sooner?'
As if he had heard Kurosawa's voice, an editor suddenly shouted, stood up, and scattered the manuscripts from the cardboard box next to him on the floor.
"Haha, Sun-san, have you seen cockroaches again?"
The entire editorial department burst into laughter. All the editors knew that this young editor named Sun-san was timid like a woman and couldn't help but shout when he saw mice and rats.
"No, no, I cleaned the room!" Sun-san blushed and excitedly held up the manuscript: "Look, I found a genius!"
"Genius?"
"Isn't that what a newcomer writes? How can a newcomer be a genius?"
The other editors didn't believe him, and the editor-in-chief, Kurosawa, didn't either, but he still said, "Show it to me."
Hinotori Publishing makes great efforts to train new artists, but the current situation is that hundreds of people are recommended every month, and only a few manage to capture the editor's attention. In the long run, even the editor-in-chief, Kurosawa, lost all hope.
He took the manuscript that Sun-san handed him and frowned when he saw it. The title
"Detective Conan"
almost made him throw it away. Popular boys' manga now focus on fighting, and the detective theme is very restricted.
However, he frowned and continued reading. At first glance, the plot development exceeded imagination. The manga begins with Japan's number one young detective howling, and the protagonist's process of solving the case is quite neat and orderly, and in the end, it also leads to a surprisingly dark plot!
The content of an episode, a short episode, attracted Kurosawa. The original author's understanding of reader psychology can be considered the pinnacle, and his drawing skills are superb. It would be impossible to train him without more than ten years of practice.
The most shocking thing was the last image, which was simply amazing! Kurosawa believed it would not be out of place to exhibit it in the gallery, but it was just an ordinary manga manuscript!
Kurosawa was stunned. After a while, he stood up and leaned on the table with both hands: "Great!"
He trembled. 'It seemed that the dream he had harbored for a long time had found an opportunity to come true.' This excited Kurosawa and he couldn't help it: "Buy it and buy its rights!"
If other companies got such an excellent manga, Kurosawa would regret it for the rest of his life!
"Sun-san!" He looked up and scolded the subordinate in front of him: "Why are you still standing there? Give me the author's number!"