Starting as a Manga Editor-Chapter 64: So Confused!

Su Deqiang felt like he’d just been f***ed by a dog...
Seriously, it’s like whatever you fear the most always comes true—every time he checked social media, it was like getting struck by lightning on a clear day.
The fact that Wenxin Online Reading’s official social media account deleted that pinned post—he actually knew exactly what that meant.
It meant Fate/Zero... might be dead!
But like—
Who the hl does something like this!?
He was a fan of The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword! Finally got a break from work, happily ran off to buy the latest issue, and almost came away traumatized from the brain-dead plot twist.
He’d been ranting online non-stop about it, and then—bam—Wenxin Press announced a new Manga Award.
Like they were crapping on the readers' heads while riding them.
Although... to be fair, the entries for the Manga Award were actually kind of fun to read. And The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword’s next chapter had a promised rewrite from Ou Congquan, so he forgave them.
But then this!?
What the fk!?
The promised serialization is gone???
Wenxin Press! I have an 8 a.m. class!!!**
Su Deqiang was truly pissed. He immediately opened Wenxin Online Reading’s official account again and started showing off his elite-level flaming skills.
But the more he cursed, the angrier he got.
Like seriously—
What the hl is going on with this company!?
Ou Congquan was one thing... Sure, you could say he’s successful enough to get away with having “episodes,” but that kind of amazing work! It wasn’t even finished, and they already showcased it in the Manga Award? And now they delete the post that hinted at serialization? What gives!?
He just didn’t get it.
Su Deqiang was completely baffled.
“Am I just overthinking it?”
He reopened the Wenxin Online Reading site... Now the site seemed to have settled into a proper system—not like before, where it dumped all the early releases straight onto the homepage like a vending machine. Now things were properly categorized, and there were a lot more other entries too.
Though to help returning readers, they still kept the Early Release page.
Su Deqiang clicked into it and glanced around. Just like before, there were still two works specially categorized.
“Tang Yao...”
He stared at the editor's name listed under that category, looking thoughtful.
Because of Shang Tao’s earlier shady behavior, he hadn’t really paid attention to the name. Just assumed she was a scapegoat they pushed out.
But now... the work by that “third-rate artist” under Tang Yao’s supervision was way too good. It couldn’t just be that she was taking the fall—she had real skill! So maybe The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword really would change next issue!
More importantly... if this editor was in charge of the third-rate artist, didn’t that mean she’d know insider info?
And going by the name, she was probably a girl? So she might have a social media account?
Su Deqiang was dying to see more of Fate/Zero, heart itching like a cat scratching at it. After a moment’s thought, he decided to take a shot in the dark and searched “Tang Yao” on social media—along with the keyword Wenxin Press.
And sure enough...
“No way... it actually popped up...”
He stared at the profile, which had “Editor” in its bio, and instantly clicked in.
But sadly, there was no Fate/Zero content. The most recent post was from two months ago—and it was just a retweet.
“You—”
He looked at that two-month-old post and actually laughed in disbelief. He was about to go off with some choice words when—
He noticed.
The posts were being deleted.
He blinked, refreshed the page on instinct—and saw that all relevant posts had vanished.
At the same time, the account’s username changed... to Third-Rate Artist.
“?????”
Su Deqiang was dumbfounded. Still trying to process it.
And then—a new post dropped.
Title: “Fate/Zero Chapter 2”
The nine-grid image below was all vertical-format comic panels. There was even a downloadable file attached at the end.
“What the...?”
He refreshed again just to be sure. Yep, he had definitely been on the editor’s account earlier. So how the heck did it suddenly become Third-Rate Artist’s account?
And wait a minute... Fate/Zero Chapter 2!?
At that moment...
Su Deqiang felt like he’d stumbled across something huge...
But more importantly—Fate/Zero Chapter 2!?
He got so hyped, grabbed his mouse, and opened up the comic grid to take a look.
Yup. It was a manga. And yup—it was Fate/Zero.
...The story picked up right from where it left off at the end of the Manga Award release.
Same art style!
It was seriously the continuation!!!
Su Deqiang got even more hyped. Screw everything else—he had to read this now!
And this Chapter 2... did not disappoint!
If Chapter 1 was all about setting the stage and dropping an insanely cool premise, then Chapter 2 built on that foundation—moving the plot forward, turning that intriguing concept into an actual compelling storyline.
More information about the Heroic Spirits slowly trickled in. Each one matched to a different class, and each class had different stats and wildly different personalities.
Like that red-haired brute who appeared at the start of this chapter—his class was Rider. And his true identity?
Alexander the Great! Iskandar, King of Conquerors!
For anyone with even a passing knowledge of history, that instantly made things 10x cooler.
And as luck would have it—Su Deqiang did know history... He could even tell that Rider’s chariot being tied to Zeus made total sense. Legend says Iskandar was Zeus’s son, and the oxen pulling the chariot? That connected to some tale about King Solomon.
Then came more new Heroic Spirits. One was a literal serial killer—summoned as Bluebeard, a classic fairy tale villain and all-around creep. Just... perfectly cast.
And Assassin?
An actual legend: The Old Man of the Mountain.
This was straight-up genius!
And not only that—while the plot progressed, the manga dropped even more cool mechanics:
Commands Seals that let the Master force the Heroic Spirit to act up to three times.
Noble Phantasms—iconic legendary weapons or abilities made real based on famous stories about the Heroic Spirit...
“...Wait, King Arthur’s a girl!?”
But what shocked Su Deqiang the most was the woman in a battle skirt from the last chapter.
The mythical ruler of ancient Britain, the great King Arthur—turns out she’s a girl!
And this manga—it wasn’t just all cool ideas. The plot was tightly written too. Centered on the Holy Grail War, it picked up on the clues laid out in Chapter 1, and the Masters and Servants started clashing both mentally and physically.
Su Deqiang read on, completely engrossed—forgetting time, forgetting all his stress. At that moment, the only thing in his world was the manga.
He read slowly, soaking it all in.
But no matter how good it was, he eventually hit the end.
Very soon...
Fate/Zero Chapter 2 came to a close.
The lancer-class Servant—Lancer—challenged Saber, the female King Arthur.
The final panel showed them facing off: Lancer’s long spear raised, Saber’s invisible sword shrouded in the Wind King’s Barrier.
[Challenger! Lancer! Who is this mysterious warrior? What’s that sword hidden in the wind!?]
[Next time! The Blade of the Magic Spear! Stay tuned!]
“That’s it?”
Su Deqiang was still hungry for more, practically yelling: “At least give us a bit more! It was just getting to the good part!”
He seriously wanted more!
Because it was just so. f*ing. good!**
But that was it! No matter how many times he refreshed... it was over.
His heart started itching all over again... He really wanted to know what happened next!
But hey—he’d followed enough manga to know the deal. As a veteran reader, he understood how grueling manga production was.
There was no way someone could draw it all at once.
And honestly, just having a follow-up chapter was already amazing. If there’d been nothing, that would’ve been a disaster! Plus, he saw at the end of the manga—they’d even listed the update schedule... next week!
Weekly updates?! That’s a total bonus!
“But... why post it on social media?”
After calming down a bit, Su Deqiang reread the last panel’s update date. He was thrilled at first, but then started feeling confused: “And just now, wasn’t this account the editor’s? What happened? Isn’t this kind of a loss?”
He didn’t know much about the manga industry, but even he knew that magazine serialization had massive advantages.
And this manga was so amazing—but not being serialized in a magazine?
Totally free for readers to see? That’s a massive loss!
Even he, as a reader, felt like it was a loss! He’d happily pay to support a series this good!
“No! I gotta spread the word!”
He didn’t know what had happened.
But the more Su Deqiang thought about it, the more he felt like this manga was being done dirty.
He was seriously worried this “third-rate artist” would lose motivation from having no popularity or income and just quit halfway through.
And he needed more.
So he immediately opened his old fan group chat, wanting to share the news with fellow fans.
But as soon as he opened it—the group had already exploded.
“Lancer! Spearman class? After Rider and Saber, who’s this one!?”
“I’m more curious about that golden-armored Heroic Spirit. Feels like someone super famous!”
“King Arthur’s a girl! LOL! That’s wild—but I love it!”
“This is so good! Seriously good! But reading it on social media’s a pain! Why isn’t it in a magazine!? It’s too good!”
“Wahoo! Looks like we’ve got a great manga to follow for the next year!”
“This is amazing!”
“…”
Su Deqiang didn’t even need to share.
Everyone was already talking about it.
He scrolled through the messages, dumbfounded, then finally pieced together what had happened.
Turns out—while he was reading the chapter, a bunch of well-known manga artists had posted about it. They didn’t name names, but all hinted that a manga called Fate/Zero had started serializing online.
Even several shoujo artists had mentioned it—saying how fun and intriguing it was.
Then the news started spreading.
And since Fate/Zero had already been super popular at the Manga Award, once people heard there was a second chapter posted on someone’s account, tons of readers went to check it out. And once they did... bam. It was real.
And now, here they were.
Once he figured it all out, Su Deqiang went back to the now-renamed “Third-Rate Artist” account and refreshed the page.
In under an hour...
The account’s followers had exploded—from barely a dozen to over fifty thousand.
“...Did someone pull strings? Use their connections? The editor, maybe?”
Staring at the skyrocketing follower count, Su Deqiang had a sudden realization and slapped his leg in frustration:
“But why go through all this!? Just serialize it in a magazine! You fools!!!”