Parallel world Manga Artist-Chapter 218: Recovery

By the end of July, the popularity of Arcane had been almost completely overshadowed by Hunter × Hunter, largely because Arcane had already concluded.

Anime and manga works were often like this.

Only while a story was actively updating could it sustain large-scale discussion. Once the plot was fully laid out, even for the greatest works, public attention inevitably declined. This was precisely why so many creators chose to prolong their stories rather than bring them to a clean conclusion.

As Hunter × Hunter continued its serialization, discussion on forums shifted almost entirely toward the Ant Arc.

"The portrayal of the Ant King is surprisingly fascinating."

"He feels… almost human."

"If you think about it carefully, the Ant King treats humans the same way humans treat pigs, cattle, sheep, or dogs. To him, they're just livestock. There's no malice, just competition for dominance in the food chain."

"Based on the manga's depiction, the Chimera Ant race completely surpasses humans in every aspect! They mature within days of birth, grow explosively with enough food, and even learn the skills of other species. Look at the Ant King, he learned the rules of chess and defeated the human world champion in ten games within just a few hours. That's insane!"

"Those chess players were killed and eaten on the spot if they lost. Under that kind of pressure, there's no way they could perform normally."

"Actually, I think it's the opposite. Knowing you'll die if you lose might be the only way to push someone into their absolute peak state."

"But isn't there something strange about that girl, Komugi, who appeared at the end of this chapter? Shirogane drew her far too beautifully. Even though she's blind and clumsy, you can tell from the art style alone that she's definitely not a throwaway character."

"There are only six days left before the Ant King's selection ceremony in the story. How many chapters will Shirogane need to serialize just to cover those six days?"

"Maybe the arc will end by the end of the year? After all, Teacher Shirogane is currently producing over forty pages a week. His output is terrifying."

"Unlikely. The setup alone has already taken more than twenty chapters. There's no way it ends that fast. It would already be impressive if they just finish dealing with the Royal Guards by year's end."

"You've all been hyping the Ant King for ages, but he hasn't fought a true top-tier Hunter yet. What if he can't even beat Chairman Netero?"

"Why are you all obsessed with power scaling? Shouldn't we be more worried about whether the Ant King will kill that girl Komugi if he defeats her?"

"How am I supposed to care about that? I've never even heard of this game, Gungi, before. At least I can vaguely understand Go, and several Go masters have already lost to him."

"Teacher Shirogane really applies everything he learns. I never thought I'd see a board-game match plotline in Hunter × Hunter."

Japanese manga readers were highly sensitive to narrative signals.

More and more people began paying close attention to Komugi, the blind Gungi champion, quietly speculating about Shirogane's intention in introducing her right before the Ant King's large-scale slaughter and evolutionary ceremony.

At this stage, however, most Hunter × Hunter fans still viewed the Ant Arc as a fairly traditional progression: Combat, Power growth, Monster slaying.

They had no idea what role this seemingly insignificant blind girl would ultimately play, or how deeply she would shake the very foundation of the Ant King's existence. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

July passed quietly.

The calendar turned to August.

With summer vacation underway, Rei suddenly found himself with far more free time.

Serializing Hunter × Hunter no longer placed any real pressure on him.

The plot was already complete in his mind. Complex elements like action choreography and panel composition could be directly refined from the original structure. On top of that, he now had multiple assistants working in shifts around the clock.

Their ability to handle backgrounds and secondary pages was no worse than his own.

Although many manga fans across Japan were astonished by Rei's weekly output, and worried about his physical health, Rei himself was actually quite relaxed during summer vacation, even after finishing his scheduled work.

Unable to sit still, he spent nearly all his time at Illumination Production Company, personally supervising and reviewing the production of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime as well as its two theatrical animated films.

At the same time, Rei was also preparing to officially begin drawing the Demon Slayer manga.

To be honest, the quality of the original Demon Slayer manga in his previous life had been rather rough.

The panel composition was weak, the fight choreography lacked impact, and character expressions were stiff.

The early plot was also extremely traditional, swordsmen slaying monsters, so its low popularity in the beginning was understandable. It was only later, after the art quality improved and the anime adaptation achieved extraordinary production values, that the work exploded into a globally dominant IP.

After several years honing his craft in Japan, Rei's drawing skills had already reached the very top tier of the Japanese manga industry. If he were to draw Demon Slayer himself, there was no chance he would reproduce the crude quality of the original version.

While the character designs would still respect the source material, the overall art quality, expressions, details, composition, and action flow, would naturally align with the standards of the One-Punch Man remake.

During this same summer break, Rei also continued to promote derivative IP development for his previous two animation works, Arcane and One-Punch Man. He attended several game launches, finalized a new contract with Hoshimori Group, and successfully passed the review for the Demon Slayer theatrical films.

Thanks to the proven success of his earlier adapted movies, Five Centimeters per Second and Tonight, Rei was at no disadvantage when negotiating with film distributors and cinema chains regarding screening schedules or promotional budget ratios.

Given Rei's current standing in Japan's animation industry, it was effectively impossible for capital investors to exploit him on projects involving simultaneous TV anime and theatrical film development.

If one party refused to cooperate, countless others were more than willing to step in.

After all, Rei's works had a 100% profitability record. Since his debut, not a single partner had ever suffered a loss from collaborating with him, an achievement of immense value in the capital market.

Early August. Friday.

With Hunter × Hunter firmly established as the No. 1 serialized manga in Japan in both average volume sales and reputation, every new issue of Dream Comic became an event in itself.

ACG stores across the country preemptively plastered up Hunter × Hunter posters whenever a new issue released.

Whether it was tankōbon volumes or the magazine itself, Hunter publications were always placed front and center in bookstore manga sections. Merchandise featuring characters like Gon, Hisoka, Kurapika, and Killua consistently occupied the largest shelf space, and recorded the highest sales.

Even early in the morning, in bustling commercial districts, fans lined up in long queues to buy the latest issue as soon as stores opened.

On the cover of that day's issue, an eye-catching headline stood out:

Announcement: Shirogane Signing Event for Hunter × Hunter Tankōbon Volume 17, August 17, Tokyo

Yui's spirits immediately lifted.

After half a year, Shirogane was finally holding a signing event again.

Previously, with Arcane in production, academic pressure, and the intense pace of manga serialization, Rei simply hadn't had the time to cooperate with Hoshimori Group on such activities.

Now, summer vacation had begun. Arcane had concluded.

A new contract with Hoshimori Group was signed. And the serialization plan for Demon Slayer had been fully finalized.

Everything was finally moving forward.

Yui wasn't the only one excited.

The entire group of Hunter × Hunter fans lining up at eight in the morning began to stir, whispers spreading through the queue as the news sank in.