Starting as a Manga Editor-Chapter 65: What a Waste

Turns out,
Su Deqiang wasn’t wrong to call Tang Yao confused… even if Miss Li had pulled some serious strings, even if Fate/Zero had been super popular during the Manga Award showcase.
Without a platform like a magazine behind it, the release of Chapter 2 just didn’t make the same explosive impact as its debut during the award event.
Even though… it was still pretty insane.
In less than half a day,
The “Third-Rate Artist” account had already passed 100,000 followers, and the comment section was overflowing with discussion—readers by the thousands were talking about each Heroic Spirit’s Noble Phantasm, the new characters, plot speculation, predictions about who would win…
Clearly, after Fate/Zero Chapter 2 kicked off the story with quality and momentum, the signs of it blowing up were starting to show.
But sadly, they were just signs.
Because social media… simply wasn’t the same kind of platform as manga magazines.
The reasoning was simple. Take a basic example: buyers of manga magazines don’t usually subscribe to follow just one manga. Buying a whole magazine for one series? That’s not worth it.
Most readers have their favorite titles, sure, but that doesn’t mean they won’t check out the other series in the same issue.
Which means… good manga will naturally snowball as the magazine runs longer—attracting more and more readers with each new issue.
Like Big Comic, which Tang Yao had worked on before. Maybe 20% of readers bought the magazine mainly for Ou Congquan’s The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword, but that didn’t mean they ignored the rest. A new artist whose work got published in the magazine would instantly get exposure to that 20%—some of whom could become loyal readers!
And even if only 10% of that 20% stuck around—
That would be huge.
Because that 10% would bring real popularity and profits.
That’s the power of the platform.
But social media? It’s just not the same… It’s not even built for manga serialization. As things stand, most of the readers are hardcore fans—average readers don’t even know Fate/Zero was released for free.
The only reason it managed to reach that many people was thanks to the buzz from the Manga Award. If it had relied purely on word of mouth… yeah, good luck with that.
But on the flip side, if it could get that popular under these conditions—
Just imagine what would happen if it ran in a proper magazine. The results would be beyond imagination.
And that’s exactly why Su Deqiang was shouting “Confused!”
He genuinely loved this series and wanted more people to know about it.
And he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
Before long… even bigger names started to step in.
A user named “Rumi @ Into the Night currently serializing” reposted the comic update from “Third-Rate Artist” and commented:
“This is really well done. Interested in publishing in Young Comic?”
The moment that post went up—
Boom.
“Third-Rate Artist’s” follower count shot past 200,000!
No surprise there.
Rumi… was the most famous manga artist in this parallel world—bar none.
And Young Comic, the magazine she mentioned, was the highest-selling manga publication in the world. Based on Tang Yao’s understanding, it was basically this world’s version of Shonen Jump.
Her repost gave Fate/Zero a second wave of explosive popularity!
Tang Yao saw the post too. Grateful, she replied to the legendary manga artist:
“Thank you… I don’t have any plans to serialize in a magazine for now.”
That was also the first time she’d spoken up while using her “Third-Rate Artist” alias.
And the moment that comment dropped—
Countless people… let out a collective sigh of regret.
“…She didn’t agree.”
Inside a spacious—no, luxurious—studio.
A curvy, mature woman in comfy pajamas, wearing round glasses, tossed her phone aside and shrugged at the editor nearby.
“Give it up. That comic was already featured in Wenxin Press’s manga award, and still didn’t end up serialized. It’s obvious the author’s already decided—they’re not going to magazines.”
“Wenxin Press is Wenxin Press. We’re us. They’re not even qualified to carry our shoes.”
On the other side, a stern-looking woman in her forties with neatly cropped hair frowned slightly and replied:
“Still… that Third-Rate Artist really doesn’t know what’s good for them. Passing up an opportunity like this? What a waste. I had high hopes for that work.”
“I actually think it might be a good thing.”
The curvy woman pushed her glasses up and responded:
“At least they won’t have to dance in chains.”
Her fox-like eyes still glimmered with flirtation, even behind her glasses.
Even just gazing forward, she radiated a sultry charm.
Add that to her stunning looks and curvy figure… she was undeniably seductive.
But clearly, her foxy looks had no effect on the stern editor.
That woman shot back with a cold tone:
“A good thing? You only say that because you’re full and warm. This manga—if I had the chance to promote it—might not hit ten million in sales, but five million would be a sure bet… What a waste of such a gem… You’ll see. That person will regret it.”
“…Tch.”
The mature woman curled her lips:
*“Regret, my ss. Self-righteous nonsense.”
“I’ll just say it! That Third-Rate Artist is definitely going to regret this! When they realize they’ve spent half a year drawing with no income and that their so-called ideals are completely meaningless—
They’ll come crawling to us, begging for serialization!”
“Yeah yeah yeah, whatever you say. I’m not arguing. Anyway, about my series—I want to do a yuri chapter next issue…”
“Denied!”
“Just a little hint!”
“Still no! You’re our star mangaka—you can’t take risks!”
“…Tch.”
The mature woman glared at her editor, but the stern woman didn’t budge. After a brief standoff, the former gave in, looked away, and muttered:
“Fine…”
Then she turned to the sketch pages on the desk, her expression showing a trace of exhaustion…
To be honest, if she had a choice, she would’ve liked to switch places with that Third-Rate Artist. Can’t finish the story when she wants to, can’t draw what she wants to…
What’s the point of it all?
Wenxin Press.
Zhao Fangsheng furrowed his brows, staring at the free release of Fate/Zero on his phone. He shook his head.
“What a shame… wouldn’t listen to reason.”
“Yeah.”
Shang Tao wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a sigh of relief.
That was close.
Good thing they’d released Fate/Zero Chapter 2 for free—otherwise, after he deleted that pinned post… he would’ve been flamed into orbit.
“Forget it. If they insist on going their own way, leave it be. Still a shame though… such a waste of a great work.”
Zhao Fangsheng put down his phone and rubbed his temples.
Right now, what bothered him more was choosing a new Editor-in-Chief for the men’s editorial department—he really didn’t have the bandwidth for manga at the moment.
Now that Tang Yao had turned down Young Comic...
A lot of people were disappointed.
Some readers were bummed.
Industry insiders were even more upset.
Even people who weren’t directly involved felt it was a waste.
“Sigh…”
Mingyu Tech.
Si Jinliang let out a long sigh.
Tang Yao put the contract away and gave him a curious look:
“Regret parting with your company?”
“Not really. I was gonna sell it anyway. Better that it’s you—it won’t need to be dismantled.”
Si Jinliang flipped his phone and looked at the pretty girl in front of him:
“Just hope you won’t regret it in the future… like that manga artist. So talented, but so naive. Declining Rumi’s invitation, declining Young Comic—that was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Such a waste. Eh…”
“…”
Tang Yao glanced at his phone—and when she saw that familiar account name, she fell silent.