Chapter 29: Risk Prevention Awareness

In the JUMP editorial department, due to the large number of manga books and hand-drawn manuscripts piled up, the air was filled with a special aroma mixed with paper and ink.

The moment Mikazuki Haruna saw that side profile, she didn’t react. It was only after a few seconds that she realized that face was particularly familiar!

The person from my dream?!

This thought flashed through her mind like lightning. She immediately stopped and turned around.

Almost instinctively, she started walking, chasing after that figure.

However, just a few seconds of delay, and she only saw a back quickly disappear around the corner at the end of the corridor.

Mikazuki Haruna stopped, her eyes searching around, but she could no longer see that person.

“Sangatsu Haru-sensei?” Ono Tomohiro’s voice came from behind, waking her from her daze.

Haruna came back to her senses and said, “I thought I saw an acquaintance just now.”

“An acquaintance?”

Haruna, thinking she had lost her composure a bit just now, quickly explained, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I probably just saw wrong…”

Ono Tomohiro didn’t think much of it and made a “please” gesture with a smile.

“You can walk around the company’s public areas, but let’s discuss business first. Let’s go in and talk.”

“Okay.”

Mikazuki Haruna nodded and followed behind.

…

Inside the meeting room.

Originally, Haruna had no intention of mentioning it, but seeing Ono Tomohiro take out the original manuscript of Miss, she couldn’t help but say, “Editor-in-Chief, I just saw a female editor. She was with an author. That author is…”

“Yes, it’s a coincidence you ran into him,” Ono Tomohiro said. “He is the author of Chainsaw Man, serialized on JUMP+ in the same period as you.”

“So it’s him, the one with 6,700 votes…”

It was just a fleeting glimpse, a momentary eye contact, but the image she saw in that instant was exactly the same as the one in her memory.

Plus, the Editor-in-Chief said he was Sakamoto Ken, the author of Chainsaw Man…

It can’t be that the name is a coincidence, the appearance is a coincidence, and even drawing manga is a coincidence, right?

“Do you know each other?” Ono Tomohiro asked casually.

“No, no…” Mikazuki Haruna waved her hand and said, “It’s the first time we’ve met. Um… I just think his work is pretty good.”

“Actually, you two can get to know each other and communicate more. I can help you get his contact information from his editor,” Ono Tomohiro said.

“Eh… this…” Mikazuki Haruna hesitated for two seconds and said, “Okay, I’ll have to trouble Ono-san then.”

“Then let’s get down to business, Sangatsu Haru-sensei. I’ll be blunt.”

Ono Tomohiro said, “Your Miss is undoubtedly a very excellent new work. The story is interesting, the art style is exquisite, and the commercial potential is huge. All of us in the editorial department agree on this point.”

His tone changed.

“But… as you’ve seen, your competitor is Chainsaw Man, which is currently ranked first in the reader polls.”

“Although it’s within my authority to force you through the review and give you this serialization opportunity, but…”

“Our reader survey results are announced every issue.” He deliberately paused his tone before continuing, “This way, it’s very likely to cause a considerable backlash among the readers, which is very unfavorable for the initial reputation of your work.”

“Of course, the final decision is in your hands.”

Mikazuki HarChapter 29: Risk Prevention Awareness

Here in the JUMP editorial department, due to the large accumulation of manga books and hand-drawn manuscripts, the air was filled with a special aroma mixed with paper and ink.

The moment Mikazuki Haruna saw that side profile, she didn’t react. It was only after a few seconds that she realized that face was particularly familiar!

The person from my dream?!

This thought flashed through her mind like lightning. She immediately stopped in her tracks and turned around.

AlmostChapter 29: Risk Prevention Awareness

In the JUMP editorial department, due to the large accumulation of manga books and hand-drawn manuscripts, the air was filled with the special scent of paper mixed with ink.

Mikazuki Haruna didn’t react immediately when she saw that profile. It took a few seconds for her to realize that the face was extremely familiar!
Is it the person from my dream?!

This thought flashed through her mind like lightning, and she immediately stopped and turned around.

Almost instinctively, she started walking, chasing after that figure.

However, after only a few seconds of delay, she only saw a back quickly disappearing around the corner at the very end of the corridor.

Mikazuki Haruna stopped, her gaze searching around, but she could no longer see that figure.

“Sangatsu Haru-sensei?” Ono Tomohiro’s voice came from behind her, waking her from her daze.

Haruna came back to her senses and said, “I thought I saw an acquaintance just now.”

“Acquaintance?”

Haruna, realizing she had been a bit flustered, quickly explained, “It’s nothing, nothing. I might have just seen wrong…”

Ono Tomohiro didn’t think much of it and smiled, gesturing forward.

“You can look around the public areas of the company, but let’s discuss business first. We’ll talk inside.”

“Okay.”

Mikazuki Haruna nodded and followed behind.

…

In the meeting room.

Haruna hadn’t intended to bring it up, but seeing Ono Tomohiro take out the manuscript for Miss, she couldn’t help but say, “Editor-in-Chief, just now I saw a female editor, and she was with an author. That author was…”

“Hmm, it’s quite a coincidence that you ran into him,” Ono Tomohiro said. “He’s the author of Chainsaw Man, serialized concurrently with you on JUMP+.”

“Is that him, the one with 6700 votes…”

It was just a fleeting glimpse, a momentary eye contact, but the image she saw in that instant was exactly the same as in her memory.

Coupled with the Editor-in-Chief saying he was Sakamoto Ken, the author of Chainsaw Man…

It can’t be that the name is a coincidence, the appearance is a coincidence, and even drawing manga is a coincidence, right?

“Do you know each other?” Ono Tomohiro asked casually.

“No, no…” Mikazuki Haruna waved her hand and said, “It’s my first time seeing him. Hmm… I just think his work is pretty good.”

“Actually, you two could get to know each other and communicate more. I can help you get his editor’s contact information,” Ono Tomohiro said.

“Eh… this…” Mikazuki Haruna hesitated for two seconds and said, “Okay, please, Ono-san.”

“Then let’s get down to business, Sangatsu Haru-sensei. I’ll be frank.”

Ono Tomohiro said, “Your Miss is undoubtedly an excellent new work. The story is interesting, the art style is exquisite, and it has huge commercial potential. Everyone in the editorial department agrees on this point.”

He changed his tone.

“But… as you can see, your competitor is Chainsaw Man, which is currently ranked first in reader polls.”

“Although within my authority, I can force you through the review and give you this serialization opportunity, however…”

“Our reader survey results are published every issue.” He deliberately paused before continuing, “This way, it’s very likely to cause a considerable backlash among readers, which would be very detrimental to the initial reputation of your work.”

“Of course, ultimately, the choice is yours.”

Mikazuki Haruna fell silent.

She thought of that figure just now.

That face was exactly the same as the man she was very intimate with in her dream!

After all, they were in a relationship where they shared a bed. She used various ways to urge him to update his work, and occasionally he would turn the tables on her, launching an unbearable fierce attack…
Besides when he was rushing his manuscript, she was almost always clinging to him, wanting to do all sorts of things with him…

Many of the plot inspirations for the middle and later parts of the manga Miss came from their real-life experiences.

Speaking of which, this manga was actually completed together by us, right?

“Editor-in-Chief, I actually decided at home.” A few seconds later, Haruna looked up and said to Ono Tomohiro, “I want to comprehensively optimize the artwork of Miss. The current quality is not enough to compete with him… with Chainsaw Man.”

“Oh?” Ono Tomohiro didn’t expect Mikazuki Haruna to voluntarily withdraw from the competition for JUMP serialization. The expression on his face relaxed a lot. “Tell me, how do you plan to optimize it?”

“The details of the artwork, the character movements, and so on, I feel that drawing it all by myself is too much work,” Mikazuki Haruna said. “Last night, I already posted a recruitment advertisement for assistants online. I wonder if the Editor-in-Chief has any suitable candidates to recommend.”

The corner of Ono Tomohiro’s mouth subtly curved into a small smile. He immediately agreed, “Of course, no problem! Helping to find assistants is within the scope of our editorial duties.”

This nepo baby would definitely take a lot of time to optimize the artwork. At that time, as the editor directly in charge, he could be stricter, find more flaws in the artwork, and make her rework it…

In this way, the vacant spot in JUMP magazine would definitely belong to Chainsaw Man.

As a manga editor, Ono Tomohiro simply didn’t want to be responsible for someone like Sangatsu Haru.

Although her drawing skills were excellent, having connections to the group’s high-level executives still brought immense invisible pressure. He always felt like he might lose his job if he wasn’t careful…

He was the Editor-in-Chief and was responsible for the performance of the entire editorial department, not just a managing editor whose job was done if the work he was directly responsible for became popular.

After discussing with Mikazuki Haruna, Ono Tomohiro immediately informed Kaji Keiko of the result that Miss was not intentionally competing for a JUMP spot.

Kaji Keiko was a little surprised, but more than that, she was delighted.

She immediately sent an email to Sakamoto Ken.

Kaji Keiko: 「Sakamoto-sensei, good news from the Editor-in-Chief! The author of Miss wants to revise her work before serialization! It will probably take a lot of time, so this serialization spot, your Chainsaw Man should be a sure thing!」

…

The train rattled and swayed.

Sakamoto Ken looked at the text on his phone screen, but there was no joy of victory in his heart.

He simply replied with an “Understood.”

Then he locked his phone and looked out at the rapidly receding streetscape outside the window.

He had met her again…

And it was much earlier than in his previous life’s timeline.

Just now, he hadn’t greeted Haruna. He had just glanced at her and then quickly slipped away.

The existence of the manga Miss already indicated that she possessed memories from his previous life.

Until he figured out whether her emotions were stable, basic risk prevention was necessary.

Maintaining a certain distance and prolonging the explosive emotions would make it easier to handle.

What reassured him a little was that at least they hadn’t met and recognized each other yet. He could still deal with them one by one.

The root cause of the tragic ending in his previous life was not being discovered dating them simultaneously.

The crucial point was that they had formed some kind of alliance, and their emotions were amplified by comparing notes with each other, and then…

A bloody lesson indeed…

(End of Chapter)