My girlfriend is Saiki Kusunoki

Basically, the average volume of a minor pillar is around 800,000 volumes.

And anything over a million is considered a pillar of the industry.

Currently, among the authors in JUMP with over a million views, besides Naoto, only Niizuma has almost reached that mark, just a little short of a million.

Naoto, on the other hand, is now racing straight towards the goal of 1.5 million.

It's absolutely outrageous that a newcomer could achieve such success.

However, Naoto didn't feel proud at all when he learned that he might reach 1.5 million, because he knew that he was still far behind the real big shots.

To put it simply, works with an average of over one million copies sold are considered nationally renowned, reaching the two-million-copy mark. Phenomena like "The King's Avatar" and "Gintama" are examples of works with an average of two million copies sold.

Above that are the true ceiling-level existences: the three major manga series, Dragon Ball, and other works. These giants have transcended the three realms and are simply incomparable.

Let alone comparing with these big shots, even those with total sales exceeding 100 million, Zhi Ren, even as a top-tier individual, can't compare. To surpass 1.5 million for the first time is already considered a god among gods.

It can only be said that Naoto still has a long way to go if he wants to reach the true pinnacle.

However, reaching 1.5 million is still something to be happy about.

When Naoto heard the news, he also laughed.

It's not just Vampire Clan; the sales of *Cooking Master Boy* have also reached one million copies, and that number is still slowly increasing. Naoto is no longer a newcomer among many authors.

As Naoto's sales took off, everyone in the editorial department who was associated with him was extremely happy.

After all, the saying goes, "When one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven." People like these who are related to Naoto can basically be included in historical records along with this comic.

Everyone was all smiles at being associated with such a work. All their hard work and overtime for the vampire clan had finally paid off.

However, Naoto had another thing to do at this time.

After the release of the final volume, Naoto didn't forget that his new work should follow soon.

While the vampire story is visually appealing, Naoto himself knows that he was too weak in creating it and didn't fully utilize its strengths.

Whether in terms of plot, animation, or building a reputation, it has suffered a lot.

The next comic will be the one where I should really put my effort into it.

The Nebula Award-winning work, a true masterpiece, is finally going to be serialized in my own hands.

We'll have to wait and see what happens next week in JUMP.

"Let's see what kind of storm Parasyte can stir up this time."

Chapter 96: Parasyte Begins Serialization

Another week has passed, and many people's holidays have begun to end.

The lives of corporate slaves have begun again.

Meanwhile, students who were still on spring break took their newly received New Year's money and headed into bookstores to buy a new issue of JUMP.

However, when many people got their hands on the latest issue of JUMP, they were surprised to find that a new manga had appeared in this serialization, and the author was none other than ONE, whom everyone was familiar with.

In fact, everyone already knew that Naoto had a new work.

After all, news about this matter had already started circulating last fall.

Everyone has been keeping us in suspense about this for months.

Even after the vampire series ended, people were still discussing online when Naoto would release a new manga.

Considering Naoto's current age and status, most people believe that he will be released in about a month or two. To put it more dramatically, it's not impossible for Naoto to rest for a year and wait until he graduates from high school.

Most people would be grateful to see Naoto's new manga this year.

But who would have thought that Naoto would start a new manga series right after the conclusion of Vampire Clan?

"It's started serialization again, Naoto-nii. Are you really not giving me even the slightest chance?"

Inside the highest art studio, the two looked helplessly at the comics in their hands, feeling a pang of melancholy.

Originally, everyone was thinking that after Naoto's manga ended, they could try to get it to the top of the charts.

Previously, everyone had been suppressed too much by the Naoto vampires. Although no one said it, they all knew in their hearts that with Naoto above them, no matter how hard they tried, they could not defeat Naoto.

Even on the weekly rankings, everyone knows who's number one without even looking at them.

People would be surprised if a straight person were to fall out one day.

In fact, even Niizuma, who has always regarded Naoto as her biggest rival, does not actually believe that she is currently capable of defeating Naoto and his vampire, even though she has not shown it much.

After much hardship, everyone finally survived the old emperor's death and began planning to divide the world among themselves.

Then you tell them that the old emperor actually has a hidden crown prince. What do you do now? You can only keep a low profile, right?

To be honest, everyone is actually quite happy to see Naoto continue the series.

After all, a year later, without Naoto JUMP, it always feels like something is missing.

As for this manga, which Naoto has been building up to since last year, keeping everyone in suspense, everyone is very curious.

What kind of work could make Naoto spend so much time creating it?

However, when many readers opened Parasyte, they found that they seemed to have underestimated this manga.

In a previous interview, Naoto had already revealed what the enemy in the manga looked like.

Those bizarre, terrifying, and twisted monsters are still fresh in everyone's memory.

Despite the fear, everyone is more interested in what kind of experience Naoto will give them.

Compared to the righteous path of the Chinese, there are many strange aspects to the vampire clan.

This time, Naoto has transformed the enemy into a twisted monster, which has further fueled everyone's anticipation.

But soon everyone discovered that the real horror in Parasyte was not the twisted monsters, but your friends and family who, without you even realizing it, had become monsters themselves.

In the comic, an unknown entity falls from the sky and begins to parasitize human bodies. After merging with a human, it devours the human's brain.

From a human to a monster, the key is that because it retains human memories, you can't even tell that the person has been replaced.

The thought that someone you know well might have turned into a monster at some point is terrifying and almost chilling.

As for the male protagonist, Shinichi Izumi, he was parasitized by the parasite from the very beginning.

But miraculously, the parasite did not devour Shinichi Izumi's brain; instead, it merged with his right hand.

She also helped Shinichi Izumi start a battle against his own kind.

If you only look at the beginning, the setting of Parasyte isn't particularly outstanding.

The protagonist is a timid and hesitant alien who never dares to fight the enemy. He is a strange and somewhat bewildered alien life form.

This kind of combination is not uncommon in the comic book world.

However, the terror emanating from the parasites is so irresistible that it's hard to resist.

Especially when the parasites appear and begin to devour humans, coupled with Naoto's amazing drawing skills, it takes the already terrifying level to a whole new level.

"It feels like a campus story?"

After watching the first episode, Moritaka and Akito remained silent for a moment before speaking.

Judging from the story's development alone, the protagonist, who is somewhat cowardly and dares not resist the school bullies, is paired with super-strong partners. The fact that they are not human makes me feel a bit déjà vu.

Based on their understanding of Naoto, the male protagonist's initial cowardice will definitely change later.

Just like Nightblade at the beginning, who could only be described as useless at first, he later became a decisive, courageous, and resourceful male protagonist. The price he paid was his own sister.

And who paid the price for Shinichi Izumi, who suffered the same fate?

No one knows for sure, but one thing is certain: this time, there will definitely be no shortage of knives.

It is precisely because everyone knows that Naoto would never be so narrow-minded that they are eagerly anticipating how things will develop.

Faced with monsters that can devour humans at will, how will the protagonist confront them? Will they always stand on the side of humanity? Or will they join the parasites to fight against humanity together?

Thinking about this, everyone couldn't help but wonder how things would develop from here.

Amidst the anticipation of many readers, the results for the first chapter of Parasyte have finally been released.

"This is too strong! It's actually reached second place on the popularity chart?"

When the editors saw that Naoto had risen to second place on the popularity chart by a mere thirty votes behind Eiji Shinzuma, they were all astonished.

This is only the first episode, and it's already ranked second on the popularity chart, even competing with someone like Shinzawa.

Is this ONE's appeal? It's incredible! Keep in mind that Eiji Niizuma exerted tremendous effort this time, and only managed to surpass ONE's stats by thirty. Looks like another manga that will crush its competitors is about to be released?

Chapter 97: The Busy Yet Confused Highest Level

As time went by, the spring break came to an end before we knew it.

After spring break, it meant that Moritaka and Akito had finished their middle school years and were beginning their high school life.

For the two of them after spring break, so much had happened during that break.

After advancing to higher education, Moritaka, Akito, and Akito's girlfriend, Miyoshi Kaya, all enrolled in PK Academy, the same school Naoto attended.

Let me first introduce Miyoshi Kaori. She's a close friend of Azuki Miho, the girl Takagi likes. She excels in sports, even winning second place in the national karate tournament (beating Takagi up is commonplace for her). She likes Akito and started dating him before graduating middle school, dreaming of becoming a mobile phone novelist. However, she later gave up that dream to help Akito achieve his, eventually becoming his wife.

Although her name wasn't included in Ashirogi Muto's group, she might actually be the female protagonist of the entire manga.

However, Miho Azuki, the true female lead, chose to become a voice actress, which meant she couldn't separate from Mitsuoka, and she made that strange promise.

And so, of the four of them, only three became high school students, and the current top student has to eat dog food every day, which is really something.

However, these things are all minor matters. For the innocent young man, Gao Zhi didn't care at all how painful the flag between him and his beloved was.

What Gao is more concerned about now is their new comic.

Their previously serialized comic, "Angel Days," was canceled due to poor performance.

Being canceled is naturally a severe blow to a cartoonist.

Fortunately, thanks to the encouragement of his goddess, he rallied and submitted his manuscript to the Golden Future Award, where it was a great success.

Ashirogi Muto's submission to the 6th Golden Future Cup, "Detective TRAP," and Fukuda Shinta's "KIYOSHI Knight" became the first-ever joint winners of the grand prize. After passing a test at the subsequent serialization meeting, they were able to begin serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump. This achievement can be considered Ashirogi Muto's best result to date.

It's worth noting that Shinta Fukuda is poised to become a leading figure in JUMP sports manga. He even won the Tezuka Award, just like Niizuma, demonstrating his incredibly formidable talent.