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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 22: Prolific Work
“Ahem… looks like I really jumped to conclusions here…”
Clearing up Matsuda’s misunderstanding and sending Kanna on her way didn’t take too long.
But maybe Junhyuk hadn’t cleared things up enough, because a hint of doubt still lingered in Matsuda’s expression.
“You’re really… saying nothing happened?”
“I told you, nothing happened.”
Even so, Matsuda didn’t fully drop the suspicious glare.
“Well then! Boys and girls shouldn’t be acting so carelessly! ‘Boys and girls over seven shouldn’t sit together’—you know that! There’s no need to rush into romance—you’ve got your whole adult life ahead of you!”
As Junhyuk’s guardian—and as one of the few real adults in his life—Matsuda believed it was his duty to guide the boy onto the straight and narrow.
It had nothing to do with the fact that he himself hadn’t seen a girlfriend in years. Definitely not.
“So, what’s the real reason you came crashing through the rain and used your emergency key?”
“Well, I was a little worried since I couldn’t reach you all of a sudden, but that’s not the only reason.”
And with that, Matsuda began explaining how he ended up here in the first place.
＊ ＊ ＊
It began as another chaotic morning in the editorial department.
“Ugh... I need a good manga... something truly entertaining...”
“This one? Trash. Burn it! Burn it all!”
“Oh, gods of manga! Accept these manuscripts as offerings and grant us a masterpiece—a bestseller!”
Some were spitting out their coffee, others moved like zombies, and a few were performing mock rituals to summon inspiration, all while rummaging through the archives for manga manuscripts.
Then, suddenly—
“Emergency!”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Holy...?”
A fellow editor burst through the archive room doors, announcing a crisis.
“Two of our authors have collapsed and been hospitalized!”
“We're screwed...”
That single statement was powerful enough to snap everyone back to their senses.
Authors experiencing health issues? In the world of weekly publications, where producing over 19 pages a week is the norm, it's not uncommon.
Minor health declines are expected; it's a miracle if they don't develop serious conditions from the mental strain.
But hospitalization? And two authors at once?
This was a major problem.
“Oh no... What should we do? Their new series just started four weeks ago...”
“Do we have any other series ready to fill in?”
“There are some, but launching them abruptly might not be ideal timing-wise...”
The magazine's page count is fixed. If one series is pulled, another must replace it to maintain balance.
“Both Ishida-sensei's and Takada-sensei's works are mainstream fantasy, which we've been promoting heavily. Any replacements should be in a similar genre...”
To cater to a broad readership, the magazine maintains a balance of genres—romantic comedies, sports, etc. If a slot opens up, it needs to be filled with a similar genre to keep that balance.
“My last submission was a romance.”
“Mine was sports-themed.”
Ishida-sensei's recently approved ‘Gold Crown’ and Takada-sensei's ‘Abyss’ are both mainstream fantasy. No editors are currently pushing for new series in that already saturated genre.
As a result, they lack immediate replacements in the mainstream fantasy category.
“Hmm...”
The editor-in-chief sighed, stroking his chin.
In the grueling world of weekly serialization, authors collapsing isn't unprecedented. Therefore, contingency plans are in place.
The most common approach is to fill the vacant slots with short stories while awaiting the authors' return. This is the standard protocol.
“Takada-sensei might return soon, but Ishida-sensei requires surgery. It's minor, but he'll need at least two months of complete rest.”
“Considering recovery and readjustment, we're looking at three months.”
The deputy editor's report prompted the editor-in-chief to pinch the bridge of his nose.
In this case, a short-term serialization—a side story or a promising one-shot—might be the best solution. If it receives positive feedback, it could transition into a regular series.
While this isn't a bad strategy, it carries significant risks for both the editorial team and the author.
Ishida-sensei's work, though new, is by an experienced author with an existing fanbase, leading to high expectations. Introducing a newcomer in this context is challenging.
Moreover, hastily selecting a replacement could disrupt the magazine's genre balance, potentially alienating readers. If the new work underperforms, the editorial team will face criticism.
Especially when an unprepared author is rushed into serialization, the outcomes are rarely favorable.
“Is there an author who's somewhat prepared, relatively new, but whose skills we can vouch for?”
Sawada murmured with a sigh.
Upon hearing this, the editor-in-chief suddenly recalled a certain middle school author.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Ah, so that’s why the baton was passed to me?”
“That’s right. Fullmetal Alchemist already has a solid pile of storyboards ready.”
Actually, it wasn’t just a pile—Junhyuk had roughly secured the entire story all the way to the ending. But he chose not to mention that part.
“Of course, since it’s already a weekly series, I’m not expecting you to push yourself too hard. The editor-in-chief asked me to check your opinion first.”
“I’m fine with it.”
Junhyuk said so casually that Matsuda, who was nervous, completely deflated.
“Thanks, you saved me.”
Matsuda said, opening his briefcase.
“Doing two series in one week is a heavy burden, so about the artwork—”
“No, I can handle both the artwork and storyboarding for both series.”
“Huh? But starting next week—”
“Wait a minute.”
Junhyuk cut him off, suddenly fiddling with his work computer, then printed out dozens of pages.
“Uh… what’s this?”
“Manuscripts. Fullmetal Alchemist manuscripts.”
“Huh?”
“I mean the actual manuscripts—enough for chapters one through three. We had a meeting about this before, remember?”
Matsuda’s brain short-circuited.
Junhyuk and Matsuda’s storyboard meetings usually ended quickly.
That was mainly because Junhyuk was so good at preparing storyboards that there was almost nothing to fix, but also because their flow was so smooth it felt like they’d been working together forever.
Anyway, since those meetings always wrapped up fast, they had already held a storyboard meeting for Fullmetal Alchemist, which was planned to serialize later.
But Matsuda thought it would take at least a year for those storyboards to be turned into full manuscripts.
“What is this?”
“Matsuda, are you really tired? These are Fullmetal Alchemist manuscripts.”
“No, but why are they here?”
“You and I already had that meeting, remember?”
“Yeah, but why are the manuscripts done if we only had a storyboard meeting?”
Junhyuk sighed and explained.
“I drew these in the leftover time after finishing D Note’s deadline.”
“......”
Still, Matsuda’s mind was flooded with question marks.
What is this nonsense? Junhyuk’s doing a weekly series all alone, so where does he find extra time?
And even if he somehow had free time, why would he spend it drawing more manuscripts?
If Matsuda had seen Junhyuk’s computer files, he’d probably faint in shock.
Because what Junhyuk drew in his ‘free time’ wasn’t just storyboards and manuscripts for Fullmetal Alchemist.
“I tweaked it a bit more, but if there’s anything you want changed, just tell me. Since I work digitally, I can fix it fast.”
“Uh, okay… wait a second…”
Matsuda, feeling like his soul had left his body, mechanically flipped through the manuscripts laid out on the desk.
“......”
Junhyuk was crazy fast and skilled at drawing.
It was the same with ‘D Note’—the storyboards looked so clean that they could be used as final drafts.
But these manuscripts… were something else.
Unlike D Note’s realistic style, here Junhyuk used a classic shōnen manga style, emphasizing darkness perfectly to suit the dark fantasy genre.
His use of lighting was striking—you could feel the hero lighting a beacon of hope in a desperate, tough journey.
Matsuda gulped hard without even realizing it.
This might be…
A different kind of crisis coming to the editorial department.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Editor-in-chief, I’m back.”
As soon as Matsuda returned from Jung Junhyuk’s studio to the editorial department, he headed straight to the editor-in-chief.
“Good work. What did Junhyuk say?”
“Oh, he said he’d do it gladly.”
“That’s a relief.”
The editor-in-chief sighed with relief upon hearing Matsuda’s answer.
“Did you have any artist in mind to take charge of the artwork?”
“Well, actually, editor-in-chief, about that—”
‘What’s this?’
The editor-in-chief took the envelope Matsuda handed over.
“Jun—I mean, artist Junhyuk gave us the manuscripts for Fullmetal Alchemist, chapters 1 through 3.”
The editor-in-chief dropped the envelope in shock.
＊ ＊ ＊
[‘D Note’ Creator’s New Work Released!]
I was disappointed because the manga I was enjoying went on hiatus, but maybe this is even better?
ㄴThe length… What's going on? Why are two chapters already uploaded?
ㄴThat’s because Weekly Jump suddenly has two open slots to fill.
ㄴBut how did the artist who’s already serializing ‘D Note’ manage to produce two whole chapters?
ㄴApparently, they were drawn during the ‘spare time.’
ㄴLOL, masterpiece on top of masterpiece, even in leftover hours.
[A Different Shock from ‘D Note’: Review of ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’]
[The fresh theme of alchemy—Darker than ‘D Note’]
[‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ Chapters 1-2 Plot Summary]
The community was ablaze.
[Weekly Shōnen Jump’s new comet: ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’. The artist? None other than Wakayama Jun of ‘D Note’.]
[An emergency publication turned special by the work ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’]
[A new breeze in manga? Wakayama Jun bringing the dark fantasy wave]
Even the news picked up the buzz.
And so—
“Hmmn…”
While Jung Junhyuk enjoyed his vacation and slept in late, the world outside had gotten wildly noisy.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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