Parallel World Light Novelist

Chapter 278: Chapter 277: October and the Grand Announcement

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By the time October rolled around, the editorial department at Prime Manga was already buzzing with the news that Haruto and Shizuru were deep into the development of their next project.

While drawing the actual first Chapter of a manga is a marathon, not a sprint, especially for a high-profile launch like this, the gears of the industry were turning at full speed.

Following the standard procedure for a creator of Haruto’s caliber, the debut of Hunter x Hunter would feature a sprawling, all-color opening Chapter. This was a labor-intensive process that required precision. Between the final touches on the manuscript and the massive pre-launch marketing campaign, the official serialization wasn’t slated to begin until late October.

However, before the first drop of ink could hit the page, Haruto and Shizuru had to coordinate their movements with the higher-ups at Prime Manga. The magazine was currently pouring an unprecedented amount of resources into promoting the final Chapter of Initial D. The timing of the new series announcement was critical; they needed to bridge the gap between the end of an era and the start of a new legend without losing a single reader.

In late September, the editorial board held a strategy meeting with the duo. Even if the full content of Hunter x Hunter wasn’t ready, they needed a hook, a promotional poster that would set the internet on fire.

Haruto was more than happy to oblige.

For the past few days, his villa had been converted into a secondary editorial office, with a small team of editors and staff members camped out in his living room to assist with his demands.

”So, is this finally it? Is it finished?”

After forty-eight hours of nearly non-stop work and a diet consisting primarily of convenience store coffee and energy drinks, the promotional poster was complete. Both Haruto and Shizuru were sporting noticeable dark circles under their eyes, but their spirits were high. They stood alongside the Prime Manga staff, looking at the vibrant, finished product with a sense of triumph.

Drawing a single illustration usually wouldn’t take this much time for artists of their skill level, but a promotional poster for a brand-new series required more than just art.

They had to finalize the character designs for over a dozen key players before a single line of the poster could be drawn. It was a grueling process of conceptualization and refinement.

Shizuru, despite her fatigue, had proven once again why she was considered a prodigy. While she wasn’t the original creator of the designs, she had managed to take Haruto’s descriptions and translate them into a visual style that was both fresh and evocative. Haruto had described the ”vibe” of the work, a high-stakes battle manga that felt distinct from anything currently on the market.

”I’m going for a shonen aesthetic,” Haruto had explained during their brainstorming sessions. ”But I want it to feel deceptive.”

”The protagonist, Gon, is only twelve years old. The art needs to reflect that youthfulness and innocence, especially in the early Chapters. We can’t use the hard-edged style from Initial D. It wouldn’t fit the soul of this story.”

The transition in Shizuru’s art style was nothing short of miraculous. On the poster before them, nearly twenty characters were rendered with stunning clarity.

The core quartet was front and center: the innocent yet determined Gon, the mischievous and cool Killua, the elegant and vengeful Kurapika, and the boisterous but well-meaning Leorio.

Behind them, Haruto had insisted on including characters that wouldn’t appear for a long time. The ”God of Newbies” Tonpa was visible in the background.

But there were others, the enigmatic and deadly Hisoka, the cold leader of the Phantom Troupe, Chrollo Lucilfer, the legendary Chairman Netero, and even hints of the Chimera Ant King, Meruem, and Komugi from the much later arcs. Shizuru had managed to weave them all into a cohesive, aesthetically pleasing composition.

”Hey, Haruto,” Shizuru said, leaning back and rubbing her sore neck while the editors fussed over the poster. ”Does this series really have this many characters right at the start?”

She had spent the last week designing these people in a vacuum. She knew their names and their ”vibes,” but she had no idea when or where they would actually show up in the story.

”Of course not,” Haruto said with a smirk. ”If we want to see every character on this poster in the actual manga, the readers are going to have to wait until we’re well past Chapter two hundred.”

The editors and staff members from Prime Manga froze, their ears perking up as they overheard the conversation.

”Chapter two hundred?” Shizuru whispered, her eyes widening. ”You’ve already planned that far ahead?”

In the manga industry, planning that far into the future was almost unheard of.

Even the top-tier artists usually adjusted their plots and character designs based on market feedback as they went along. To have a roadmap that extended years into the future was a level of confidence, or madness, that most couldn’t comprehend.

”It’s fine,” Haruto laughed. ”I didn’t originally plan to reveal these designs so early. But since the magazine wants a ’Grand Poster,’ I figured I’d give the fans a little bit of a reward, a collection of ’Easter eggs’ to speculate on. It’ll keep them busy for years.”

He could already imagine the fan forums.

People would spend hours dissecting every pixel of this poster, trying to guess who the masked characters were or what the relationship was between the boy in the suit and the man with the long hair. It was part of the fun of being a creator.

”But what if Hunter x Hunter flops?” Shizuru asked. She had known Haruto for nearly three years and knew he wasn’t someone who let ego cloud his judgment, so she felt comfortable being blunt. ”What if the popularity is low or the fans hate the shift in genre? If it gets cancelled in six months, isn’t all this planning a waste of time?”

She cited the example of a famous mangaka whose previous series had sold eleven million copies per volume. His follow-up work was cancelled after just fifty-one Chapters, only eleven months of serialization. The manga graveyard was filled with the bodies of ”sure-fire hits” that failed to find an audience.

”That won’t happen,” Haruto said simply.

”How can you be so sure?”

”Because this is Hunter x Hunter. And because I am not that guy,” Haruto replied after a moment of thought.

Shizuru paused, looking at him. She saw no arrogance in his eyes, only a calm, terrifying certainty.

”So... you have high expectations for this one?”

”Higher than anything I’ve done before.”

”How high exactly?” she pressed.

”Let’s just say... high enough that even I’m a little excited to see how the world reacts.”

Shizuru wanted to argue, but she held her tongue.

The Prime Manga staff carefully packed up the poster and the character sheets, their faces a mixture of exhaustion and awe. They had heard Haruto’s claims of exceeding Initial D’s success, and they were already mentally drafting the reports to their superiors.

While Haruto had been helping Shizuru with the manga storyboards and character designs for early-game NPCs like Aunt Mito, he had also been managing the other half of his empire: Haru-Yuki Animation. His studio now boasted a staff of over two hundred people. While one team was dedicated to Finding Paradise film, Haruto had funneled the rest of his resources into his next TV project: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

It was an ambitious undertaking. Unlike the relatively grounded world of Edgerunners, Code Geass was a show that demanded spectacle. It featured massive mechanical battles in the sky, intricate tactical maneuvers, and high-drama scenes that would test the skills of even his most veteran animators.

”If we’re going to do this, we’re doing it right,” Haruto had told his production heads. ”No cutting corners on the budget. If we can’t make the Knightmare Frames look incredible, we shouldn’t be making the show at all.”

Because of the complexity of the production, a January premiere was out of the question. Haruto officially slated the broadcast for April of the following year. With the schedule set, he spent the first half of October in a whirlwind of meetings. He was negotiating with television networks, merchandise manufacturers, and international distributors.

Haru-Yuki Animation might still be considered a mid-sized studio in terms of head-count, but its reputation was that of a giant-killer. Whether domestically or internationally, the terms being offered to Haruto were now on par with the ”Big Three” studios.

In fact, several top-tier TV networks had sent representatives to his office the moment they heard he had a new project in development.

The financial success of Madoka Magica was legendary; it had single-handedly propelled its broadcaster to the top of the yearly rankings. It was the only anime to break the 6% rating barrier that year. Then came Edgerunners, which had achieved a similar feat this year.

Even without a single finished frame of animation to show, networks were offering tens of millions of yen just for the ”Haruto” brand. Two years ago, Haruto had to pay out of his own pocket to secure a late-night slot for Madoka. Now, the power dynamic had completely inverted.

While these secret negotiations were happening behind closed doors, the millions of fans were still caught in the Edgerunners mourning period.

In early October, the first-week sales figures for the second Blu-ray volume of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners were released.

The total? 370,000 copies.

It was another absurd, record-shattering number. Everyone in the industry knew that the most iconic episodes, the heart-wrenching finale, would be included in the third volume.

Typically, fans might skip the ”filler” volumes and only buy the highlights, but Edgerunners was selling consistently across the board. The industry was beginning to wonder: Could Haruto actually beat the ”one million per volume” average set by Madoka Magica? Was he about to break his own ”unbreakable” record?

Amidst the chaos of the Blu-ray sales, Prime Manga finally dropped the bomb they had been sitting on. Normally, the release of the final Chapter of a hit series like Initial D would be a bittersweet moment of closure. It marked the end of a year-long journey for Takumi and his AE86. Usually, fans would have to wait years for a mangaka of Haruto’s status to start something new. But the notice on the Prime Manga website was different.

”The final page of the Initial D conclusion will feature the official announcement and promotional poster for Haruto’s next masterpiece!”

The manga community was stunned. There was a brief silence, followed by an absolute explosion of joy and speculation.

”Wait, he’s not taking a break?”

”A new series immediately after the finale? Is he even human?”

”What could it be? Is it another racing manga?”

The fans who had been dreading the ”Empty Nest Syndrome” of Initial D’s ending were suddenly invigorated. They had three weeks to prepare themselves for the end of one legend and the birth of another. Haruto, meanwhile, was already looking past the announcement. He was looking at the storyboards for Chapter three of Hunter x Hunter.