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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 28: Summer Comic Market (4)
Comic Market runs over three days.
But it’s not like the same booth is selling goods all three days—instead, each day features different genres and the booths rotate accordingly.
For example, Day 1 focuses on female-oriented works, Day 2 on male-oriented works, and Day 3 on various genres like games and fan books.
The circle I asked for consignment sales, [Field Scroll], mainly deals with games, so they were assigned to Day 3.
“I really wanted to go if I could.”
I wanted to see for myself how well my work was selling, but the lines to get into NatsuComi are brutal, so that was probably impossible.
Suddenly, I remembered waiting under the blazing sun while sucking on salt candy.
Back then, a college friend next to me said, “Hey, don’t salt candies kinda feel like solidified sweat?”—a horrible but oddly relatable line that gave me a lifelong trauma about salt candy.
Anyway, sure, if I tried hard enough I could get in, but it wouldn’t be as easy as before.
“Huh? You ‘can’ get in.”
Matsuda—or rather, Lord Matsuda—shattered my hopeless thoughts with a calm face and said—
“Editors can get a free pass as insiders. I have the authority to bring one companion with me. Want to come along?”
“…! Matsuda-san! Are you a god?!”
So I, blessed by the god of all things Matsuda, washed away my foolish soul and was able to attend NatsuComi!
＊ ＊ ＊
The Comic Market venue was huge.
Each booth had its own space, divided broadly into East Hall, West Hall, and the Cosplay Area.
The booth [Field Scroll], where Jung Junhyuk was headed, was in the East Hall—the farthest from the entrance they had just come through.
“Jung, sorry, but since I used my editor’s authority to get you in, you can’t just have fun all day today.”
Matsuda stepped into Comic Market strictly as part of his work.
Sometimes, comic editors attend Comic Market for business reasons—scouting new talent, market research, and some unofficial industry gossip.
Matsuda’s voice carried a seriousness that felt more intense than usual.
But Junhyuk couldn’t help but doubt his solemn tone.
“That massive camera you’re lugging around, plus that bag and shopping bags—all market research too, right?”
Dressed comfortably with a huge camera hanging around his neck and sunglasses on, Matsuda looked more like just another otaku enjoying Comic Market than an editor on a mission.
Still, Matsuda answered confidently, as if he had nothing to hide.
“Of course. It’s all for market research.”
“Then should we skip the cosplay area?”
Suddenly, the air froze.
Inside the sunglasses Matsuda slightly lifted, Junhyuk saw his eyes—and instinctively took a step back, his mouth trembling to form words.
“We- well, we ‘have’ to check out the cosplay area, right...? To know which works are popular enough to inspire cosplay, yeah?”
“Haha! Maybe? I want to breeze through quickly for work, but if you say so, Jung, I can’t argue.”
Only then did Matsuda put his sunglasses back down.
Junhyuk, feeling his life was momentarily threatened, let out a sigh of relief at the sight.
“Well, since the passage from West Hall to East Hall is so crowded, we won’t be rushing anyway.”
The passage was clogged with people, so rushing was impossible.
Besides, they’d have to pass through the cosplay area anyway, so no big deal.
“I guess I’ll just watch Matsuda take pictures.”
Junhyuk, who wasn’t really interested in cosplay, quietly followed behind Matsuda.
“Hey, hey! What’s going on?! Damn it! Tousaka! Look over here too!”
“Jung! You recognized me after all…!”
Matsuda clicked away on his camera, his eyes shining with delight as he looked at Junhyuk.
Junhyuk, meanwhile, waved around a cheering baton he’d pulled out from somewhere in a frenzy.
“Whoa?! It’s Shaver!”
“Where, where?”
“Where? Shaveeerrr!”
No one knew the secret that among this chaotic crowd, there were two people—Junhyuk, there to see his own work, and Matsuda, there on business.
＊ ＊ ＊
Sanae, the leader of [Field Scroll], and Manato, the deputy leader, were going through the busiest period of their lives.
“Thank you all for coming this far!”
The much-anticipated new release from [Field Scroll], which had been met with worry and concern, was sailing smoothly right from the start of Comic Market.
At this pace, selling out completely wouldn’t be hard.
Not only the game itself but also the large-scale projects like the illustration book, the setting guide, and the original manga were selling well, creating a whirlwind of positive chaos.
“Hi, I’ll take this, this one, and oh, the illustration book too.”
“Thank you very much!”
Comic Market wasn’t just about browsing; most people came ready to buy.
With wallets open and ready, a little appeal often turned into immediate purchases.
You might call it reckless spending, but it’s hard to say that outright—because the items sold at Comic Market might never hit the wider market again, often gaining premium value and reselling at even higher prices.
Of course, not everyone was cruising like this.
[Field Scroll] owed much of their smooth sailing to the fandom they’d built over time and the brand power maintained by consistently positive online reputation.
Naturally.
“Two copies of these manga, please!”
“Me too!”
“I want one copy of each manga here as well!”
Unexpected—or maybe not entirely unexpected—but thanks largely to the consignment sales items that were far more successful than anticipated.
[Art Sword Online], [Dora Tora]
Works by the mysterious author Enju, whose face no one had ever seen, were having a much bigger impact than expected.
Enju was not a known figure in the doujin community.
Still, there were a few reasons why these works drew such a crowd.
First was the product reveal on [Field Scroll]’s promotional page.
[Field Scroll! We’ll be open on Day 3 of Summer Comiket, East Hall 8! Please look forward to it!]
(Photo of Field Scroll game)
(Photo of illustration book, setting guide)
(Photos of various merchandise)
(Photo of manga books)
(Detailed shots from the game, illustrations, setting book excerpts)
(Detailed cuts from the manga)
—The original manga handled by Enju for [Field Scroll] is also on sale! The quality is simply breathtaking—highly recommended!
As detailed manga cuts were released online, the work became a light topic of hype, praised for its insane art skills.
But that hype was still pretty mild.
The real game changer happened at the Comiket venue itself.
“Hey, what’s that? Where’d you get it?”
Because Comiket draws massive crowds, buying anything usually means waiting in line.
In the not-so-distant future, people would wait scrolling on smartphones, but at this time—before smartphones were widespread—the most common thing to do while queuing was flipping through goods or manga bought at Comiket.
Many who arrived early at [Field Scroll]’s booth ended up buying Enju’s books displayed right next to it.
What those people were reading while waiting were the titles ‘Art Sword Online’ and ‘Dora Tora.’
Since there were many readers, it’s natural to ask why these two titles gained such momentum.
The answer: their eye-catching, standout art quality.
“Wow, the art is really good! Isn’t [Field Scroll] the place that sells games?”
“Excuse me… which booth did you buy that manga from?”
“Don’t carry around such a cool-looking manga, I might want to snatch it.”
Even a quick glance at the bold art drew people’s curiosity, and as a result—
“One copy of the manga, please!”
“Me too!”
“Here! The game, the illustration book, and the manga, please!”
Enju’s manga quickly spread by word of mouth and sold like wildfire.
“Haha… I knew it would sell well, but this much…”
The truth was, there had been a major mistake during the ordering process for ‘Dora Tora’ and ‘Art Sword Online.’
“Ah! I submitted the order form wrong! I was supposed to order 500 copies each of Enju’s manga, a total of 1000 copies, but I ended up printing 1000 copies each…”
“Ah… 1000 copies.”
Enju said not to worry about the cost, promising to cover it, but mentally, it wasn’t an easy situation.
It wasn’t just the money—it felt worse to have double the stock and risk leftovers, compared to a clean sellout of 500 copies.
But then.
“Wow, sold out…!”
Defying everyone’s expectations, Enju’s ‘Art Sword Online’ and ‘Dora Tora’ each sold all 1000 copies—2000 copies in total.
At Comiket, selling 500 copies is already considered a huge success for a rising artist.
Established creators with a solid fanbase typically sell around 1000 to 1500 copies.
So hitting 1000 each, totaling 2000, is a record usually only seen from major circles.
“The game, illustration book, setting guide, even the merch—all completely sold out…”
“At one point the crowd died down, but then customers looking for the manga came by and everything sold out in no time.”
The circle members who helped with sales wiped their sweat and encouraged each other in a warm, upbeat atmosphere.
‘Is this the blessing of Enju…?’
Thanks to the order mistake, the snowball kept rolling.
Sanae praised herself for the ordering error.
“All right! Everyone worked hard today! Let’s quickly clean up and then hit the after-party! I’m buying yakiniku tonight!”
[TL/N: It’s basically Japanese-style grilled meat, kind of like a Korean BBQ but with its own vibe.]
Just as they were about to close up the booth, a boy approached hesitantly.
“Um, excuse me… do you still have any manga for sale?”
“Ah, sorry. Everything just sold out.”
“Huh…?”
The boy was Jung Junhyuk—pen name Wakayama Jun, also known as Enju.
“So… you mean I can’t even buy my own manga?”
“Yes.”
He couldn’t even get his hands on the book he made.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Haaahh…”
Near the Comiket venue, inside a cafe, Jung Junhyuk let out a big sigh. Matsuda tilted his head, watching him.
“Missing out on the manga you wanted that bad?”
“It’s all because of you, Matsuda… If we’d just passed through the cosplay area instead of stopping, I wouldn’t have been late…”
Matsuda fiddled with his camera for a moment, then handed it over to Jung Junhyuk.
The video playing on the camera showed Jung Junhyuk waving a cheering lightstick enthusiastically, shouting encouragement.
- Tralala~ Tralala! Miku-chan! Look this wayyyyy!
“......”
“Well, that’s what you get.”
“Yeah, fair enough. But it was fun, wasn’t it? Come on, have a drink.”
Jung Junhyuk really wanted a beer but ended up gulping down fresh orange juice instead.
“If it’s really bothering you, I can try to find it for you. It might take some time, though.”
“The pen name’s Enju. Not a well-known author, so it’ll probably be hard to track down.”
“Hm? If it’s Enju, then…”
Matsuda rummaged through a large shopping bag and pulled out two books.
“This the one?”
“Huh?”
To Jung Junhyuk’s surprise, Matsuda held up 'Art Sword Online' and 'Dora Tora'.
“I got into the venue earlier than you did, so I took a walk around and bought everything that looked good.”
“The packaging’s torn. Have you already read these?”
“Yeah. Usually, you check promising works quickly and get the creator’s contact info on the spot.”
Jung Junhyuk swallowed hard and glanced up at Matsuda.
“So… how were they? Were the stories good?”
“Hmm…”
Matsuda stroked his chin, thinking, then spoke slowly.
“'Dora Tora' felt like a classic romantic comedy. The relationship between the heroine and the protagonist—who formed a love alliance—is well drawn, especially the heroine’s tsundere charm.”
“The supporting characters’ appeal is condensed well, too. The plot’s predictable, but the foreshadowing about the heroine and protagonist’s unique situation is sprinkled throughout, and the timing of the first volume’s ending is spot on. Anyone who reads volume one will definitely buy volume two.”
“Oh, okay…”
Jung Junhyuk stammered, overwhelmed by Matsuda’s rapid-fire review.
“And 'Art Sword Online'? Personally, I think the author really put a lot of thought into it.”
“The flashy action scenes and the accurate details about the death game set a dark tone. At first glance, it looks like dark fantasy, but that’s obviously intentional. Dark fantasy became familiar thanks to titles like 'D Note' and 'Fullmetal Alchemist'. Nothing grabs attention like something both familiar and intense.”
“But it’s not just dark all the way through, which is good. The heroine’s introduction lightens the mood, and they strategically added service shots to emphasize the visuals. Seems like it’s aimed right at Comiket visitors.”
“And the smartest move—”
Matsuda said, holding the 'Art Sword Online' book open to the last page.
“—was the ‘volume two preview’ showing the current heroine still appearing. Plus, the back has heavily detailed illustrations of characters set to appear later. Of course, that guarantees people will buy volume two.”
“Heh, haha…”
“I’m guessing the emphasis on the dark tone in volume one was to keep the story from getting too cluttered. As it moves forward, the heavy atmosphere eases, and the preview plus upcoming heroine art raise anticipation. Whether those characters actually show up in volume two, who knows.”
Jung Junhyuk twitched nervously and asked cautiously.
“Won’t they appear? They put the art at the end, right?”
“But it’s just illustrations on the preview page. There’s no direct hint they’ll actually be in volume two.”
“......”
Right on point.
The limited space in volume one, the bait and fake illustrations teasing volume two—all deliberate.
Of course, they planned to introduce all those heroines eventually, but squeezing them all into volume two wasn’t realistic.
Junhyuk had cut back on the romance scenes in volume one to keep readers immersed, but he didn’t plan to keep that up in the following story.
One big reason 'Art Sword Online' was so popular was the genre’s harem element.
Realizing Matsuda had totally read his intentions, Junhyuk nervously fiddled with the rubber band wrapped around the book to hide his anxiety.
“This Enju person who drew this is definitely a sneaky one. Judging by their personality, they’re probably a weirdo who enjoys egging friends on to gacha fails just to get a thrill.”
Matsuda cut in sharply.
“Judging by the skill, they might actually be a pro working somewhere. Enju, Jun, June... wait, Junhyuk, is that you? Please don’t tell me you just made your pen name from a lame anagram like that.”
Snap—
Junhyuk flicked the rubber band and hit Matsuda.
“Whoa! What was that for?”
“One more shot…”
Feeling personally attacked for his ‘clever’ pen name, Junhyuk quietly pulled back the rubber band again, aiming at Matsuda.
＊ ＊ ＊
Two days after Comiket.
[Who is this Enju? Are there any other works by Enju besides the two sold at the Field Scroll booth?]
[I want to see volume 2 of Art Sword Online...]
[I’m buying volume 2 of Dora Tora~! Even if it’s not for sale, I just want to know where to get it.]
Communities and Twitter started buzzing with excitement.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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