By the time Yusei woke up, Kanako had already come to call the siblings for dinner.
Shiro had slipped away at some point and was lying nearby playing on her phone. His manga manuscript was neatly arranged on the table.
Rubbing his still somewhat groggy head, he told Kanako they'd be out shortly, then took out his phone.
He had fallen asleep so suddenly earlier and hadn't gotten to his proper tasks yet.
With the manuscript ready, he actually planned to find a publisher. He hadn't decided on one yet, so he wanted to check online for information.
Recently, he had joined an [Illustrator Group]. He knew that most mangaka start out as illustrators.
So, Yusei felt the experience of the people in this group was quite valuable.
Typing a message, Yusei opened the group chat and hit send.
[May I ask the Senpais, if I want to submit a manga primarily focused on action, mystery, adventure, and fantasy, which publishing house would be better?]
This group chat was usually pretty quiet. Most illustrators didn't talk much, only occasionally sharing some good works for everyone to see.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Professional illustrators are actually very busy, and they have endless illustrations to draw, or else they'd go hungry.
Amateur illustrators, on the other hand, were often too intimidated to speak up because the group was full of experts.
But Yusei was quite lucky. Just after he sent the message, someone with the username [Kashiwagi Eri] replied...
…
In the villa district, inside a Western-style villa, in a warmly decorated room, a petite figure sat curled up on a chair, playing on her phone.
This petite figure had long, flowing golden hair, wore a white T-shirt and ordinary hot pants… a casual, at-home outfit.
She had clear blue eyes, porcelain-like skin, delicate features, and a pair of black-framed glasses on her nose bridge, which didn't make her look dull but instead made her appear even cuter.
This was none other than one of the two school belles of Toyogasaki Academy, Eriri Spencer.
Since returning home from school in the afternoon, she had been sitting at her desk, drawing the doujinshi she planned to release at the summer Comiket.
But even while working, one needs breaks. Playing on her phone and lurking in group chats during breaks was her way of relaxing.
Suddenly, she saw a message pop up in one of the many groups she had joined.
[May I ask the Senpais, if I want to submit a manga primarily focused on action, mystery, adventure, and fantasy, which publishing house would be better?]
"Senpai? That term is quite pleasing to hear."
Eriri muttered to herself, her fingers typing rapidly as she replied: [Personally, I'd recommend submitting to Shueisha or Kodansha. Both are quite good at promoting this genre.]
[What about more specifically? Any recommendations?]
'More specifically?'
Eriri thought for a moment and replied: [Kodansha. Shueisha is, after all, an older, established company with many top mangaka. While they have more resources, it's too hard for newcomers to stand out. Kodansha also has good resources and plenty of experts, but comparing the two, it's easier to get noticed and receive resource allocation at Kodansha.]
[Ah, I see. Thank you, Senpai!]
[You're welcome.]
Eriri smiled proudly, 'So I could still be a guide for these newbies entering the industry. Who knew I could be someone else's senpai?'
After thinking for a moment, Eriri figured since she had nothing else to do right now, she might as well see it through. As a Senpai, she felt it was necessary to give some guidance to her Kouhai.
Being rather oblivious, she didn't overthink it and directly @'ed the other person.
[Mind showing me your submission? I can give you some suggestions from a reader's perspective.]
She said this quite humbly, but she clearly didn't realize how impolite it was to ask another author for an unpublished, unsubmitted manuscript.
Because it could involve plagiarism...
…
Yusei looked at the reply and frowned, 'What was this about? Didn't this Senpai know about the unspoken rules?'
'Don't casually ask colleagues for unpublished manuscripts.'
Yusei opened the personal information of the user named [Kashiwagi Eri].
'It's a girl? Well, that's fine then...'
Even though there was no photo, Yusei chose to believe... well, of course that wasn't the reason, and he was just joking.
Yusei privately messaged her and sent over the first three pages of his manuscript.
They didn't reveal anything substantial. The only thing apparent was his exquisite drawing skills, so he wasn't worried about so-called plagiarism.