Chapter 8: Nothing To Fear
Sakamoto Ken considered what to buy after receiving the royalty fees.
First is the computer, an essential piece of equipment in modern society.
Although he chose hand-drawn, he still needed to prepare a drawing tablet and stylus pen.
Then better manuscript paper, paintbrushes, toner sheets, and other drawing consumables. After all, it would be professional creation from now on, and professional tools were very important.
It would be best to buy a scanner too, otherwise he’d have to take the manuscript paper to the convenience store to scan every time.
Hmm… He also wanted to change places to live.
Although he had lived here for a few years and was used to it, the environment was still a bit poor.
Sakamoto Ken could tolerate not having a private bathroom, but what annoyed him was the sounds of lovemaking that randomly started from one or even several directions after nightfall, rising and falling one after another, which seriously affected his creation.
This would cost quite a bit of money…
Submitting one chapter per week, about 25 pages, the royalty fees stipulated in the contract were 300,000 yen before tax.
However, the first chapter had a full 50 pages, so he could get 600,000 yen in remuneration.
Calculating it, the total royalty fees for the first month could reach 1.5 million yen.
For other authors, this actually wasn’t much.
After all, general weekly serialization works required two to three assistants, and the remuneration paid to the assistants each month exceeded 700,000 yen.
If it was a work that sold on drawing, the expenses in this area were even greater.
The situation with digital creation was better. Like his manga from the previous life, it was done through online remote cooperation with two assistants.
Otherwise, he’d also need to provide them with a full set of work equipment and consumables. If the commute was too far, he’d have to pay transportation fees, and even rent a bigger house.
More importantly, no one could guarantee that the manga could keep serializing forever.
If it got canceled, there would be a period of zero income gap, and at that time, he’d only be able to consume his deposits.
So, if a manga artist couldn’t sell volumes and only relied on serialization royalty fees, they were essentially an office worker with above-average remuneration, super high work intensity, and no security.
Although Sakamoto Ken was doing it all by himself and all the royalty fees went straight to him, he also wanted to earn more.
On the other hand, he hoped to release his work faster and thus sell volumes sooner.
Thinking of the live broadcast he had just watched, Haruna announced she would update two chapters per week, and he could actually do that too. If he worked overtime, he could even complete three chapters.
Since Haruna could do it, that meant the editorial department could be flexible.
So, Sakamoto Ken sent an email to his editor Kaji Keiko, saying he wanted to update two chapters per week, just like that author named Miyuki Haru.
It was already after work hours at this time, and he originally thought the editor would reply tomorrow, but just five minutes later, Sakamoto Ken received the editor’s email.
Kaji Keiko: Sakamoto Sensei, I just heard about Miyuki Haru Sensei’s request to serialize two chapters per week. Are you sure you want to do it like her? The deadline pressure will be intense.
Sakamoto Ken: Don’t worry, Editor, I have no problem.
Kaji Keiko: Alright then, I’ll bring it up for you tomorrow. Sakamoto Sensei, you can try it for a few weeks first. If it’s really not workable, we can switch back to weekly updates. After all, quality is most important.
Kaji Keiko: Check if the first four chapters need any adjustments. If they’re finalized, send me the final version files. I need to arrange the serialization scheduling for you.
Sakamoto Ken: Thanks for the trouble, Editor! Sending you the electronic version right away!
Sakamoto Ken: By the way, I also want to know about that new writer, Miyuki Haru. Do you know her situation? A pure newbie actually gets the treatment of a live broadcast for her new work release.
Kaji Keiko: I don’t know either. Everyone in the group is very curious. She’s not under our editorial department at all. Probably only the chief editor knows.
Could it be that the chief editor particularly favors her work?
That shouldn’t be. He knew very well what level the manga under his pen was.
Even if the popularity in the previous life was insufficient due to the magazine being too niche, the drawing, plot, and such hard strengths weren’t actually that great.
With this, the chief editor appreciates it?
She even said it was confirmed for publication in the main JUMP magazine, which wasn’t ordinary newbie treatment.
Recalling the experiences at that time, there was no related memory.
Although Mikazuki Haruna was also in the art department at Kanzaki Art Academy, one year ahead of him, and her ideal was to become a manga artist.
But because her family was too rich, she drew manga just for fun, purely as a hobby. In the previous life, she never formally published any work and just kept urging him to update.
Doing it over again, all sorts of things had changed.
This was probably the butterfly effect. A butterfly flapping its wings could cause a storm, so his own rebirth would definitely cause even greater changes.
The current focus was still the manga draft. Sakamoto Ken put pen to paper for the final draft. It was like doing a test with the answers; there was nothing that needed revision.
So he directly sent the electronic drafts of the first four completed chapters to the editor’s email.
Next, he just had to wait for the royalty fees to arrive.
Shueisha’s royalty fee payment day was the 25th of each month, and it would be postponed if it fell on a rest day.
It was mid-February now, so the manuscript submitted this month wouldn’t get royalty fees until March 25.
Before the royalty fees arrived, he still had to work part-time at the convenience store, at least enough to pay next month’s rent.
……
Mikazuki Haruna hummed a light tune, her shiny black small leather shoes tapping “clack clack” on the floor.
She walked out of Shueisha’s main entrance, with the JUMP chief editor escorting her all the way, seeing her off as she got into the Lexus LM that came to pick her up, even slightly bowing toward the car until it drove away.
Sitting into the car, Mikazuki Haruna immediately kicked off the leather shoes on her feet, letting her warm and stuffy feet relax a bit, then placing them in front of the air conditioner vent to blow, so comfortable that even her toes involuntarily stretched out.
Lying on the comfortable seat, she picked up a tablet, opened the electronic version of the manga draft, and flipped through it page by page.
She didn’t know how many times she’d looked at it already, and every time she felt particularly satisfied.
Then she switched to the JUMP+ homepage.
Although she had the executive director who also served as chief editor and the chief editor providing support, the JUMP main magazine was a physical magazine. The whole process of layout, printing, logistics, and sales was very complex, so it still had to wait for scheduling.
The main magazine’s ongoing serializations were mostly by famous writers. Even the chief editor couldn’t easily make them give up publication space for her.
Moreover, when the chief editor talked to her, he left some leeway, saying that if there were no particularly outstanding new works recently, she would definitely be published in the JUMP main magazine.
Meaning that if some work suddenly exploded in popularity this month by chance, she might have to yield and continue waiting for scheduling.
Of course, Haruna didn’t particularly care about these things. Royalty fees and such didn’t matter; she just wanted the readers to see her work as soon as possible.
So, what could be published immediately now was the online platform like JUMP+.
In the 「serialization list」 page, there were 12 works scheduled for tomorrow’s update, including her《Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, and Pantyhose!》, which would be released on time at midnight for the first chapter.
The JUMP+ platform had only been online for a year, and she had already browsed all the ongoing serializations. There were no particularly strong works.
Refreshing the page again, Haruna found an extra title in the list.
It currently had no content and was also scheduled for midnight tomorrow.
“Chainsaw Man?”
Haruna softly read out the katakana name, reacting for a few seconds before realizing the corresponding English word was Chainsaw Man.
She could read katakana, but what kind of name was Chainsaw Man?
Was it a manga imitating Western superheroes?
Superman, Hulk, Ant-Man, and such were all over the place.
Nothing to fear.
