"Have Weekly Shōnen sales once again been a huge success, and are they going to print 10,000 more copies?"
"This is the fifth week of printing!"
Takeshi is the editor-in-chief of manga for Japan's largest news website. That workday, he frowned and looked at the information in his hand.
Hinotori Publishing hasn't made big changes lately, but Weekly Shōnen sales have increased for five consecutive weeks. He can't ignore this news. He had heard that an original detective manga launched by Weekly Shōnen had received good reviews, but Takeshi didn't pay attention to it at the time.
The author of that manga was a newcomer, and Takeshi thought it was just a passing fad, but now it seems he was wrong.
"Does anyone remember the name of the detective manga launched by Weekly Shōnen?"
Takeshi looked up and asked the editors who were writing.
"Detective Conan!"
All the editors looked up and answered almost in unison.
Takeshi was stunned: "Everyone knows it?"
"Of course I know it, this original manga is very popular lately."
"My girlfriend and I love reading it, but Weekly Shōnen is hard to buy. Every time it's published, it sells out by morning."
It's that popular! Takeshi was shocked. The information in his hand indicated that Hinotori Publishing had been reprinting. If it still sold out early in the morning, then the charm of this original manga was unimaginable.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Takeshi was a little displeased. He had put aside such good news for several weeks.
"Editor-in-chief, didn't you say that news about original manga has no value?"
The other editors looked innocent. This editor-in-chief has always disdained original manga and didn't take it seriously when someone suggested it.
Takeshi's aged face flushed, and he slammed the table angrily: "This doesn't count! There was no such original and amazing manga before! Well, stop talking nonsense, hurry up and write for me. Everyone submit a press release about Detective Conan before noon today. The content must be appealing. I want to select one to publish!"
"Oh, everyone!"
"Editor-in-chief, no..."
"If you don't write it, your salary will be deducted. If you're selected, you'll receive 60 yen!"
Takeshi snorted coldly, and no one protested immediately. A news salary plus 60 yen is quite attractive.
Ren is a company executive. That night, he drove back home.
"Tiantian, Dad's home!" He took off his coat, pulled a thick magazine from his bag, and shouted, "Dad bought you Weekly Shōnen magazine! You can see who the criminal is in this issue!"
He smiled, as if he had seen his daughter run out of the room.
Ren used to be too busy to communicate with his daughter, but the situation had changed a lot in recent weeks.
His daughter likes manga, so his wife recommended Detective Conan. This manga is light and interesting. Although it is a detective manga, it has no bloody scenes. Ren and his daughter love it. He discusses the plot with his daughter every week, and their relationship has become closer.
However, today was strange. His daughter didn't come out.
"What's wrong with Tiantian?"
Ren asked his wife, who was cooking.
"She's playing on the computer in the study. You can go see her." His wife smiled.
Ren picked up Weekly Shōnen and entered the study. As soon as he opened the door, he saw his adorable little daughter wearing headphones, yelling at the computer: "Bad guys, bad guys, you're all bad guys!"
He was nervous. 'Could someone be bullying his daughter?'
Ren rushed to his daughter, picked her up, and took off her headphones. Suddenly, a loud argument broke out.
"Did you hear that? They're making the children angry!"
"They're unreasonable. Facts are facts. How can the author of Detective Conan be the same person?"
"Who's unreasonable? They're just jealous of Mirai-sensei's talent!"
"Hey, don't drag all the boys into this. I still believe in the author."
The voices of the group were noisy and chaotic. Ren quickly pressed the mute button.
He took off his daughter's headphones: "What happened?"
"Dad!" The girl pouted and said indignantly: "They said Mirai-sensei is a liar and that Detective Conan is a manga drawn by three people!"
Ren almost burst out laughing. 'His family had different tastes for Detective Conan. He and his wife liked both the male and female protagonists, but his little daughter was obsessed with the author like a crazy fangirl:' "Tiantian, why do they say there are three authors?"
The girl raised her eyebrows and pointed at the computer: "Look."
Ren looked at the computer. In addition to a YY voice chat, a website was also open on the screen. It was Japan News Network, and a red headline was particularly eye-catching.
"The Savior of Original Manga or a Hypocritical Scam?"
Ren opened the news and looked at it curiously.
"A young man who has never won an award or published a short manga strip, but who suddenly appeared, launched a new series and created a sales miracle for five consecutive weeks. Do you believe it?"
"The social content shown in this manga is very rich, even the most experienced academics find it hard to find loopholes...".
"After expert review, the author of the child image in the first episode must be a traditional Japanese painter...".
"Is there anyone in the Japanese Detective Association who knows how to draw manga? As far as I know, no such person exists...".
"Finally, I believe that the author of Detective Conan should be three people. This manga is, in fact, a big scam carefully prepared by Hinotori Publishing...".
This article seems rigorous, but it is actually full of malicious speculation. The editor deliberately misleads readers, writes his speculations very logically, and reaches an easy-to-believe conclusion: the author of Detective Conan is three people: a Japanese painter, a professional mangaka, and a detective novel writer.
Ren shook his head. He didn't believe Hinotori Publishing would do something like that.
But he was also surprised that the news had 10,000 responses and was forwarded more than 500 times; 'it's simply unimaginable. Does that mean this news is good? The content of other news is not bad at all, so why does it have so many responses?'
To explore the reason, we can only think about the manga itself.
Detective Conan is very popular, more popular than imagined. This manga has gained an enormous number of readers in just a few weeks. Only then can news like this cause a stir.
Ren seemed to smell the breath of a storm. 'This news was like a manual. When the media noticed its astonishing number of responses, more news appeared like mushrooms after rain, and then the young author...'
"Become famous overnight and known worldwide!"
Ren sighed. 'As the saying goes, one should become famous as soon as possible. Becoming famous at a young age is enviable!'