At 5:50 PM, a black Audi headed towards Kyoto Book City.
"Hiroshi, what do you think of my outfit?" Mach asked, pulling at his shirt collar and sniffing the perfume: "Won't it offend that lady?"
"No, the suit fits well and the perfume isn't strong." The assistant smiled slightly: "Mach-sensei is in good spirits tonight, and he'll surely be able to win her over easily."
"Of course!" Mach asked, carefully putting on his sunglasses and hat, opening the car door, and getting out.
"I'm going to pick her up, wait here for her,"
he ordered, and then walked towards Kyoto Book City. Sales outside the city had not yet finished, and the crowd was dense.
"It seems that today's sales are no less than yesterday's," Mach proudly thought. As soon as yesterday's sales figures were released, media outlets nationwide called him for interviews, and Tatsuryū Publishing was also very satisfied and decided to allow him to hold a book signing soon.
He is also the company's most popular idol mangaka!
Mach felt comfortable and walked towards the store without hesitation.
"Give me a copy of The Detective Sherlock."
He looked at the young woman; she had brought her daughter to buy books.
She must be his fan, Mach thought. Many of his fans got married; 'time is terrible.' Perhaps he should also get married. That Miyuki, the bookseller, is so beautiful, although a little poor, but barely worthy of him...
Mach's heart was burning, and he quickened his pace to enter.
"Madam, don't buy The Detective Sherlock; Detective Conan is better!"
But at that moment, a voice that angered Mach sounded.
'Who is this guy? How dare he stop customers from buying his manga?' Mach stopped and turned around. It was a man with a briefcase, kind-looking, obviously an office worker.
"Detective Conan is a children's manga; how can it be worth buying like The Detective Sherlock?"
Mach couldn't help but speak, with a sarcastic tone.
The office worker looked at him, not angry, and... He smiled: "You don't know, sir. I originally planned to buy The Detective Sherlock, but after comparing the two manga, I still think Detective Conan is more worthwhile."
He pointed to the dense crowd to one side.
"Look, everyone is buying Detective Conan. I heard it's going to sell out soon."
Mach looked over. Indeed, there were more people there, and they were queuing. He felt uncomfortable.
"Detective Conan? Oh, I know... it's the one with the prettiest poster!" The young woman suddenly realized, shook her head, and smiled: "Forget it, I flipped through Sherlock. Mach-sensei's drawings are great. They don't have the heavy and dark feeling of the original." My daughter likes it too."
Mach was happy again.
He is a person who knows what is good. The Detective Sherlock is a masterpiece. The only problem is that there is a large generational gap with young people. Mach has put a lot of effort into his painting. He has painted the characters and scenes with great beauty, and the deficiencies have been compensated for.
Fans of the Sherlock novel buy manga, and young people who don't know it are also attracted by the images. 'What manga can surpass it?'
Mach looked at the office workers with a certain disdain. 'There are always short-sighted readers incapable of appreciating good works. It's too degrading to be picky with these people. Besides, today is the release day of Detective Conan, so it's normal for there to be more people...'
Yesterday, more people bought The Detective Sherlock. With a sales volume of 70,000 copies in Osaka, Mach has been invincible for a long time!
He walked complacently and asked a bookseller: "Hello, is Miyuki here?"
"Miyuki..." The bookseller looked at Mach in surprise: "She's already left work. What do you want to talk to her about?"
Mach, stunned, quickly took out his mobile phone. He was afraid of being overheard, so he sent a message.
"Miyuki, why did you leave work early?"
"Something happened at home."
A few seconds later, Miyuki replied.
It turned out there was an accident, and Mach closed his phone. He had to continue tomorrow. 'Anyway, women are brainless creatures who can only throw themselves at me.'
'Who says he's talented, rich, and handsome!' Mach lifted his chin and triumphantly returned to the Audi.
This scene was seen by someone not far away, who laughed.
"Haha, Kenji, Kenji, look at that guy walking like a rooster!"
He patted his companion who was reading a manga and laughed: "Does that back look like Mach-sensei's?"
Takeda frowned slightly. He was reading the exciting part and looked up impatiently.
"Sun-san, don't make a fuss!"
Suddenly, stunned, he looked at Mach, and then suddenly jumped: "Sun-san, that's not just a resemblance, that's Mach-sensei!"
Takeda had worked with Mach for a long time, so he naturally recognized his back.
"Ah, is that the real person?"
Next to Takeda, the editor of Weekly Shōnen, Sun-san, was stunned, his face full of disbelief: "Does Mach really look like that? The Detective Sherlock's drawings are so ingenious, the style is magnificent, and it suits young people's taste; I thought his temperament would be exceptional."
"That smug look doesn't seem like someone who wants to defeat Mirai-sensei..."
Sun-san felt a little disillusioned.
"What are you talking about, Sun-san? You've been an editor for a while, could you be more precise?" Takeda looked at Sun-san angrily, with a certain imposition: "Defeat Mirai-sensei? Who saw that he could defeat Mirai-sensei?"
He didn't deny that Mach's The Detective Sherlock was really good, and that his youthful painting style would have been extremely popular in the past. However, times are different now. At the same time, Detective Conan, a detective manga full of a youthful and passionate atmosphere, is also on sale.
The same youth, the ending is obvious. After the myth of The Detective Sherlock faded, if the two books were placed on a similar shelf, readers would only choose the younger one, not a halfway one.
"Mom, this bookmark is beautiful."
The young woman passed by Takeda with her daughter. She looked at the maple leaf-shaped bookmark in the girl's hand and suddenly felt a wave of warmth.
The original manga had finally gotten a novel adaptation!
In the weekly's youth section, Kurosawa crossed his fingers under his nose to hide the color of his face, and in front of him, Alice, sitting upright, was a little stiff.
"Ding-a-ling-ling..."
The landline phone rang.
"You answer it."
Kurosawa's voice trembled slightly.
"Yes." Alice took a deep breath, reached out to pick up the receiver, and said nervously, "Hello...".
"Congratulations!"
Before Alice could ask, a shout of excitement came from the receiver, and Kurosawa heard it.
"The latest sales statistics show that Detective Conan sales in Osaka have surpassed 70,000 copies!"
"A miracle, no, it's a miracle! Alice, tell Editor-in-chief Kurosawa that even though the departments are different, he has to invite everyone to eat!"