Honkai Impact 3rd: Join Anti-Entropy at the start and dominate the entertainment industry.

Moreover, these character illustrations look pretty good. Although they are all sketches without color, at least each character has their own unique appearance.

This artist is incredibly talented to have created so many original characters.

Moreover, the art style looks good; it's clear that this person has excellent sketching skills.

As she moved the mouse, something even more surprising happened to Prometheus: she actually saw a complete manuscript of more than ten pages!

It's not a rough sketch, but a fully drawn artwork!

"This new artist is got something," Prometheus muttered to herself. She wasn't looking at the comic; instead, she opened the outline.

The most important thing about comics is the plot. While the art style is important for a comic to be good, the plot is the most crucial element.

For example, some comics have great art style, are very attractive, and have beautiful character illustrations, but the plot is a pile of crap, and sometimes they even deliberately disgust the reader.

This kind of work definitely cannot be shown, no matter how skilled the artist is!

Although World Serpent's comic book division is terrible, Prometheus still can't accept such garbage.

The outline Bai Qianqu sent wasn't long either; it only contained the content of the first few chapters, totaling just over a thousand words.

Prometheus finished reading it quickly, and she was still a little dazed afterward.

It's not because of the plot, but because of the subject matter of the comic.

She never expected that this would be a racing-themed comic!

Mistelin had somehow appeared behind Prometheus. She had also finished reading the outline of the comic and was now looking on with surprise.

"A racing-themed comic? Such an obscure genre?!"

Prometheus couldn't help but retort, "Weren't you sleeping?"

Mistelin said matter-of-factly, "You're awake. Never mind me, who sent this comic?"

"Zhiyin is that new cartoonist from last time."

"Oh, that person? He actually posted some work! I thought he had already run away."

Prometheus ignored her and reopened the first chapter of the comic, while Mistelin remained silent and stood behind him. The two of them read it attentively together.

To make it easier for readers to understand, Bai Qianqu thoughtfully added a line of small print after the comic's title on the very first page.

Initial D

—Also known as "The First Letter D".

Upon seeing this title, Prometheus and Mistelne were still completely baffled.

"The first letter 'D'? Could this title be related to some English word?"

Mistelin shrugged, indicating that she didn't understand either: "It seems that this author has quite a lot of ideas. This name alone will probably keep readers pondering for a while."

Prometheus rolled his eyes: "What's the point of making readers ponder the name? If they're not interested, they'll just glance at it and scroll past. This kind of nonsensical title is the biggest flaw. The artist's skills seem pretty good, how could they make such a basic mistake?"

"Who knows? It starts with the letter D and is related to racing. I really can't think of any connection. It seems I can only look for it in the comic book content."

Although the two complained about the title for a while, they still chose to continue reading. After all, someone who dares to draw comics on niche themes is either a master or a complete novice.

The big shots have the ability, so they are not afraid; the newbies are fearless, so they are not afraid either.

Whether this voice belongs to a veteran or a novice, Prometheus will wait and see.

The first chapter of the manga begins on Mount Akina. On a mountain road at night, a car is speeding along, occasionally drifting quickly through curves, which looks very cool.

Upon seeing this, Prometheus's eyes lit up!

The comic's panel layout is very clean and concise, with minimal dialogue. It opens with a few simple drifting scenes, vividly showcasing the driver's superb driving skills to the reader.

This also piques the reader's curiosity: Who is this driver? Why is he speeding on a mountain road at night? What role does this driver play in the story?

Without lingering for long, the scene in the comic shifts to daytime at school, where two boys are discussing racing in the hallway. One of the boys, who is a bit chubby, becomes interested in a FR racing car called the 86 and says he wants to buy it, but he doesn't have enough money. He wants the other boy to chip in with him to buy one, but the other boy ruthlessly refuses.

At this point, a line of small print appears in the blank space next to the comic:

(FR: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive.)

Upon seeing this line of small print, Prometheus smiled knowingly.

Many people have dreamed of racing, driving a car and pulling off a long drift that dazzles everyone – it's incredibly cool.

Prometheus once tried to imitate drifting on a bicycle, though he almost broke his leg in the process.

Mistelin guessed, "The tall boy is named Fujiwara Takumi, and the chubby boy is named Takeuchi Itsuki. The protagonist should be between the two of them. I think this Fujiwara Takumi should be the protagonist, but looking at his silly appearance, he seems to know nothing about racing. Is it another story where the protagonist starts as a novice and slowly levels up by defeating monsters? If so, I will be disappointed."

There are just too many monster-slaying and leveling-up comics on the market; Mistelin is sick of them.

She was really looking forward to seeing a rare, niche racing-themed comic.

Prometheus was speechless, but he did frown.

Indeed, the market is currently suffering from severe homogenization of plots, with many novels having very similar storylines, leading to reader fatigue.

However, this was just the beginning and didn't prove anything, so the two patiently continued watching.

In the comic, two boys are chatting casually when a girl walks over and strikes up a conversation with them.

"Are you doing part-time work, Takumi?"

After the three chatted for a while, the girl named Mogi Natsuki was extremely shocked to learn that she could only earn six thousand yuan a month from her part-time job, and seemed to think it was too little.

Mistelin was stunned when she saw this.

"How much? Six thousand?! And that's for part-time?! I only make four thousand a month full-time!!!"

Chapter 208 Who is the fastest on Mount Akina?

Prometheus also fell silent for a moment.

She's a minister, so her salary is naturally higher, which is five thousand a month.

She coughed for a while and then comforted him, "The story of this manga is set in Inazuma, where prices are high, so six thousand a month is normal."

“Misteline suddenly seemed to remember something, “This manga is based on Inatsuma, could it be that the voice is Inatsuma?”

"That's not important. What's important is that this comic book is very niche, and the plot may be rather old-fashioned, so it won't become popular."

The two continued reading.

In the manga, Takumi Fujiwara was surprised that Natsuki took the initiative to talk to him, after all, he had beaten up Natsuki's boyfriend at the time more than a year ago, so Natsuki had ignored him for a long time.

As for the reasons, Takumi Fujiwara didn't seem willing to elaborate.

The scene shifts to after school, where Takumi and Itsuki are walking together. At this point, Itsuki is very determined to buy a car and even encourages Takumi to take out a loan with him to buy one.

Takumi, of course, resolutely refused.

"No way! Don't you have a car? Just borrow it!"

"My dad's car is terrible. It's an automatic and it runs on diesel! It's practically unusable as a car!"

Takumi disagreed: "Anything with four wheels that can move is a car."

Asuka was very dissatisfied with Takumi's words. He said that only cars that could speed freely on mountain roads were interesting, and that driving should be about conquering the curves of the downhill road directly. That was what he called driving passion and romance.

Takumi said that this kind of thing is annoying, and what he dislikes most is driving down mountain roads.

Takumi's words puzzled Asuka, since the two of them had only gotten their driver's licenses last month, and Takumi was still a complete novice driver in Asuka's eyes.

The two then went to the gas station where they worked part-time and discussed the fastest racer on Mount Akina with their colleagues. One of them, named Iketani, boasted that their team was the fastest on Mount Akina.

The shop manager, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, said that everyone else was trash. He knew the fastest person on Mount Akina, who was the owner of a tofu shop.

Of course, no one believed this, thinking the store manager was just bragging.

"The fastest car to race on Mount Akina?"

Prometheus and Mistelline immediately recalled the scene of the car chase at the beginning. The car was going quite fast downhill, and the author wouldn't have included such a shot for no reason.

Could the one at the beginning be the legendary fastest mountain in Akina?

With their questions in mind, the two continued reading, and the time in the comic also turned to night.

Takumi went to Mount Akina with Itsuki and the others, while the gas station manager made a mysterious phone call. The person who answered the phone was the owner of a tofu shop, and the two were obviously old acquaintances.

Meanwhile, on Mount Akina, several uninvited guests suddenly appeared. They said they were there to challenge the fastest driver on Mount Akina, or in short, to cause trouble.

Naturally, everyone was unhappy about this, and they quickly arranged a time for the match.

With that, the first episode has come to an end. Prometheus and Mistelin exchange a glance, seemingly still wanting more.

The author leaves several questions unanswered in the short opening.

Who is the fastest on Mount Akina? How will the challenge from the visiting racing team end? Who is the mysterious tofu shop owner? Can the protagonist actually drive?

With these questions in mind, Prometheus and Mistelne were itching to see what would happen next.

Prometheus pondered for a moment and said, "This artist is quite something. The first chapter alone seems to introduce a lot of professional knowledge about racing. Could this person named Zhiyin be a racing enthusiast? Otherwise, how could he be so familiar with racing?"

Mistelin nodded and said, "Yes, it seems that this Voice is going to take the hardcore comic route. But if that's the case, won't it be a bit unfriendly to readers who don't know anything about professional racing? After all, the audience for hardcore comics is generally quite small."

"Although readers may not understand it on the first read, fortunately, the comic also includes special explanatory text, just like popular science. Even readers who know nothing about racing will not be affected in their reading. The biggest drawback of hardcore comics is that they can easily become boring, but so far, this Initial D doesn't seem to have this problem."

"It's too early to discuss this now, after all, it's only the first chapter." Prometheus wasn't too worried. "Anyway, how bad can it get? Our department is about to be laid off, so let's try anything. Besides, the beginning of this comic is alright, and the artist's skills are quite good."

Prometheus quickly sent a message to the voice.

[Number 17: Hello, your comic has been approved. When do you plan to start serialization?]

Upon seeing the message from the other party, Bai Qianqu nodded slightly; everything was as she had anticipated.

As for the timing of the comic series, it's not possible right now. He needs to rent an art studio and find a comic assistant first.

One person simply cannot handle it.

[Zhiyin: Okay, thank you. I plan to draw more comics. When is the latest you need to start serialization on your end?]

Prometheus was not surprised by Zhiyin's decision. New comics need a period of preparation, after all, drawing comics takes time.

[Number 17: We happen to have a comic book project that was abandoned, and we only have enough drafts left for about two months. You'll need to start serialization in two months at the latest. Our comic section updates monthly, so you'll need to send us at least one new chapter's worth of artwork each month. Is that alright?]

[Zhiyin: No problem, I will send the new artwork over in two months.]

[Number 17: Okay, I'll contact you again later.]

After communicating with Prometheus, Bai Qianqu began preparing for the art studio. It was better to do this sooner rather than later, as it would be troublesome to rush to finish the paintings if it dragged on for too long.

His thinking was simple: it was just an art studio, so he could just rent a storefront or a small room; he wouldn't need to hire too many assistants anyway.