After leaving the Kendo Club and parting ways with Utaha, Yusei thought for a moment and decided to check out the manga competition first.
He planned to go to the archery competition with Kaguya, as Kaguya had joined the Kyudo Club and was also its ace.
Although Kendo was her main focus, Kaguya's archery skills were by no means weak. On the contrary, she was quite strong, at least dominating within the university's Kyudo Club.
The manga competition and registration were both held in the Arts Department. Manga was actually a subject offered at the university. It was worth mentioning that Eriri was actually in the Anime and Manga Club.
After all, she had long experience as a doujinshi artist, so she found this major easier and more interesting.
Yusei went to the Arts Department alone. Because the school had set up guide signs everywhere during this period, he easily found the information verification office.
The manga contest was specifically for authors who had already submitted and published manga. It required not only interesting artistic skills but also rich experience to fuel one's creations.
This alone weeded out a large number of young manga artists. Very few successful industry artists were in their early twenties.
Therefore, Yusei's unique existence, entering this contest, was like releasing a shark into a school of fish.
Even those famous, established Sensei couldn't claim their works were necessarily more popular or best-selling than Attack on Titan. How could there possibly be a second person like that at this university?
When he arrived at the Arts Department, the situation was similar to the Kendo Club.
Being a specialized skill, it was likely the various competitions would be digested internally within their own department.
Eriri was not the president of the Anime Club or Manga Club. She had only signed up for the illustration contest. Manga creation and anime design were still a bit beyond her reach, and she had the self-awareness not to aim for those.
When Eriri saw Yusei, her face showed astonishment. She had just received his call saying he was coming but hadn't quite believed it. She never expected he'd actually show up.
"Are you here for the illustration contest too? I thought you'd be putting your time into the game. You're the boss, after all," Eriri said as soon as she saw him.
"The boss needs credits too," Yusei replied with a laugh, "While I don't mind skipping them, it's also something fun to do. As for game production, that's what the employees are for, right? The boss just needs to oversee the big picture."
"Suit yourself then. Come on, I'll take you to register. The person handling registration happens to be a friend of mine," Eriri said, preparing to lead Yusei to sign up for the illustration contest.
Seeing this, Yusei quickly waved his hand, "I'm not planning to enter the illustration contest. I want the manga creation category."
"Manga creation?" Eriri stopped walking and looked at him in surprise, her expression turning strange, "The manga creation category isn't about creating something on the spot. It requires proof of previously published manga and its performance. Do you have that?"
Eriri thought Yusei didn't know the rules, so she explained. In her view, it was simply impossible for him to succeed, as no one in their Arts Department had really made it big with manga yet.
Either their submissions sank without a trace, or they were just mediocre.
Compared to those hot, best-selling manga, or ones even getting anime adaptations, they were all small fry.
"This is it. Remember when I asked you about manga before? Actually, I'm a Manga Artist too."
"Eh? Did you submit to Kodansha?" Eriri asked curiously.
She certainly remembered Yusei asking her where would be good to submit an Adventure Shonen Manga. Considering he was a newcomer, she had recommended Kodansha. She never thought he'd actually achieved some results.
"Have you seen Attack on Titan? It's a bit gory and grotesque, but judging by the fans' reactions, it should be considered successful, right?"
"Attack on Titan?! That's your work?!" Eriri's eyes widened instantly, staring at Yusei in disbelief.
"Correct," Yusei nodded.
Eriri looked at Yusei with shining eyes, as if she had discovered some rare treasure. It was a look Yusei had never seen from her before.
Even when she found out Yusei was the owner of a game development company, she hadn't looked at him like this.
Yusei felt a bit unnerved by her stare and took a slight step back.
"Are you... okay?" He asked tentatively.
Eriri quickly nodded, "I'm perfectly fine! I can't believe you drew that Manga! Aside from the update speed, everything else about it is top-tier, absolutely premium!"
"..." Yusei really wanted to retort about the update speed, but thinking about it, it was true. So he said nothing and changed the subject, "With Attack on Titan, it should be enough for me to get first place in this manga creation category, right?"
"Of course! None of the other small fry can compare to AoT. I haven't even heard of half the other Manga entered," Eriri said, waving a hand dismissively.
"Come on, let's go register and report it. Oh, you have your contract with Kodansha, right? Not the full details, just something proving you're the author of AoT."
"Of course I do."
"Then it's settled. I'd really love to see their expressions when they find out the author of Attack on Titan is someone from our school. They'd probably camp outside your door every day trying to recruit you into the club," Eriri said.
Listening to her, Yusei felt somewhat speechless, 'Wouldn't that make them practically bandits? Camping outside my door every day sounds way too exaggerated.'
As they walked, with Eriri trying to pry for spoilers and Yusei skillfully deflecting, the two arrived in front of an office building.
The building looked oddly shaped, not a standard rectangular block, clearly bearing the mark of artistic design.
Entering the building, there weren't many people coming and going. This was the Fine Arts Club. The students who joined here were all those with professional art-related knowledge.
While they accepted members from other departments, joining required passing an entrance exam with very high standards, so high that many students from the Arts Department itself hadn't managed to join.
This was also the registration office for matters related to fine arts competitions.
Since most students had already signed up initially, the building, full of artistic flair, was now relatively quiet and spacious.