Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

Chapter 111 Year-End Party [Part 2] (Daily Life)

But just then, Eri Aragaki came to her senses and discovered the key point.

She shifted her gaze from Masaya Sakurai's face, scanned the waiting crowd in the hall, and then turned to ask, "By the way, if the venue is on the second floor, what are we all waiting for? Can't we just go up?"

She had originally thought the year-end party venue was on a very high floor and that she would need to take the elevator up in batches.

However, if you're on the second floor, it only takes about ten seconds to walk up the stairs, so you probably don't need to wait for the elevator.

She felt something was off as she watched the cartoonists and editors standing quietly in the hall.

"There was a minor incident; the hotel is probably conducting some kind of investigation."

But then a voice suddenly came from the side, saying with a hint of apology, "Everyone will be able to go up soon, please wait a moment, teacher."

Masaya Sakurai, Eri Aragaki, and the others turned to look.

The person speaking was wearing a dark blue casual knit sweater over a light gray shirt, and appeared to be around forty or fifty years old.

Eri Aragaki didn't recognize the person, but he looked familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.

"Editor-in-Chief Ibaraki, you've arrived too!"

Masaya Sakurai quickly called out, "Oh, right, Riko-sensei, this is Masahiko Ibaraki, the editor-in-chief of our Weekly Shonen Jump."

"Pear Teacher, it's nice to meet you again. Please take care of me."

Ibaraki Masahiko smiled and nodded, then said to Aragaki Eri, "The last time we met was at the 73rd Tei-sho Awards, but we didn't have a formal meeting then. I apologize for that."

He recognized Eri Aragaki; after all, she was no longer the rookie manga artist who won the Tei-ga Award.

Attack on Titan is a popular manga that entered the top ten even before it was adapted into an anime or even before the release of its collected volumes. As its author, Eri Aragaki has a very promising future.

As the editor-in-chief of Weekly Shonen Jump, Masahiko Ibaraki naturally had to start remembering Eri Aragaki's name and appearance, and even befriend her.

Moreover, Eri Aragaki is truly beautiful. Among a group of unremarkable JUMP-affiliated core manga artists, it would be difficult for Masahiko Ibaraki not to recognize her.

"Editor-in-Chief Ibaraki, please take good care of me."

Although Eri Aragaki doesn't particularly like excessive formalities, she couldn't possibly be rude to someone who was being so polite.

She gave a slight bow, a social smile on her face.

Then she became curious about what it meant by "some minor accidents".

Ibaraki Masahiko just said the hotel is conducting a search. What are they searching for? Could someone have sneaked in?

So she asked, "What exactly happened? Will today's event be canceled?"

"It's just that some tabloid reporters don't follow the rules."

Masahiko Ibaraki sighed, "As you know, many teachers don't want to appear on camera or feel the need to, so we have to respect their wishes."

Eri Aragaki finally understood; so that's why.

She understood. After all, many manga artists do not like to appear on screen, just like Akira Amano mentioned earlier.

After "Katekyo Hitman Reborn!" became a huge hit, Akira Amano didn't release a single photo of himself, simply because he didn't want to appear on camera.

There's also Oda, who doesn't want to appear on camera because of his family. Many manga artists are very low-key, and their daily lives don't need to be focused on by the camera.

Shueisha also highly respects the ideas of these popular manga artists and helps them protect their privacy and safety.

Of course, this applies to popular manga artists. For ordinary manga artists like Eri Aragaki before, if Shueisha feels the need for them to appear on screen for promotional purposes, they will definitely want them to appear more often to generate publicity and boost the promotional buzz.

In particular, Eri Aragaki is a beautiful girl who deserves to be promoted as a beautiful girl manga artist.

However, if she were to suddenly change her mind and declare that she was unwilling to appear on camera, Shueisha would choose to respect her wishes, as the success of Attack on Titan has already given her that right to speak.

The strong are always respected; that's pretty much the idea.

After all, Eri Aragaki may not need to appear on camera to promote the manga at this point. Even if Attack on Titan becomes a huge hit in the future and is adapted into an anime, she can ask to wear a wig like Oda when attending events.

"Pear teacher, please wait a moment."

Ibaraki Masahiko spoke patiently, then glanced around the hall and saw several other manga artists who had just arrived. "I'm going to meet with the other manga artists."

"Editor-in-Chief Ibaraki, please make yourself at home."

Eri Aragaki didn't have any objections; in fact, she felt a lot of pressure if Masahiko Ibaraki stayed there all the time.

After all, she wasn't familiar with Ibaraki Masahiko before she came here.

However, since Ibaraki Masahiko was the editor-in-chief, his rank was undeniable, and she couldn't ignore him. She had to maintain just the right amount of politeness and focus.

She was actually relieved that the editor-in-chief had left.

"OK."

Ibaraki Masahiko nodded slightly, turned around and walked to the other end of the hall to greet the various manga artists and editors of other magazines published by Shueisha.

He moved through the crowd naturally, shaking hands with this person and patting that person on the shoulder, displaying the demeanor of a seasoned veteran who had been in the publishing industry for decades.

"Pear-sensei, why don't you go and talk to some other manga artists first?"

At this moment, Masaya Sakurai stepped forward and stood next to Eri Aragaki, speaking in a low voice.

It seems that people think Eri Aragaki is the kind of person who has social anxiety but still wants to socialize.

He then immediately offered, "If the teacher finds it difficult to make the first contact, I can introduce you to someone."

"No."

Eri Aragaki directly refused, waving her hand at Masaya Sakurai, "I'll go up and get to know the teacher I like later myself."

To be honest, she's not really a socially anxious person; she just doesn't want to be on camera.

However, she certainly possesses normal interpersonal skills; she wouldn't be unable to even greet someone and introduce herself.

She just doesn't feel comfortable with interpersonal relationships. The kind of thing where she has to get to know people who are clearly not on the same wavelength as her makes her feel very troubled.

She felt that engaging in social interactions for the sake of socializing, exchanging a few words about the weather and the progress of a serialization, and forcing conversations about topics that others were interested in was very exhausting.

But if someone is clearly on the same wavelength as her, she'll be happy to take the initiative to get to know them.

In summary, it is backward compatible, but generally it is not necessary.

This is different from social anxiety, which is not upward or downward compatible; it can only socialize within its own comfort zone, and it is selective.

"All right."

Masaya Sakurai then gave up, realizing that Eri Aragaki was genuinely not in a hurry and wasn't just being polite.

Just then, it seemed that Ibaraki Masahiko had heard some news.

He was talking quietly with a hotel staff member who was holding a walkie-talkie. The staff member nodded, and after listening, Ibaraki Masahiko's expression changed slightly. Then, looking shocked, he went up to the second floor.

After waiting for another two or three minutes, the people in the hall continued to chat in small groups, and no one showed any impatience.

Finally, someone who seemed to be a person in charge of Shueisha came down, stood at the top of the stairs, bowed slightly to the people in the hall, and said, "Dear teachers and colleagues, the matter has been resolved, you can go up now."

The second-floor meeting room is now open. Please proceed accordingly.

During this time, Eri Aragaki chatted with Erina, Akane Natsume, and the others.

Masaya Sakurai greeted his wife and daughter, as well as some manga artists and colleagues he knew. His daughter, Chinatsu Sakurai, held her mother's hand and followed behind her father, bowing respectfully each time a manga artist was introduced.

During this time, Lin Shiping also brought his girlfriend over to say hello. Lin Shiping's girlfriend was a short-haired, round-faced girl wearing a red down jacket, and she seemed as easy to talk to as he was.

"Let's go up."

When Masaya Sakurai saw the person in charge come down, he immediately turned around and said to Eri Aragaki.

Then everyone present went up to the second-floor meeting room in an orderly manner.

The staircase was wide and covered with a dark gray carpet.

The crowd moved up in twos and threes, without pushing or scrambling. Occasionally, you could hear people behind you talking about what the prizes would be this year.

The venue was indeed decorated in a way that resembled a company annual meeting.

The second floor is a large open banquet hall with more than a dozen round tables, each covered with a white tablecloth, decorated with flowers and tableware, and each seat has a gift and a name on it.

The gift was a small blue box tied with a silver ribbon, placed on the right-hand side of each table.

In front of the table was a large stage with a sign that read "Year-End Party" in big letters. Sound and lighting equipment were placed on both sides of the stage.

At the very back was a large amount of food, with various dishes laid out.

However, it is clearly dominated by Japanese and French cuisine, as well as fried foods, and alcoholic beverages such as champagne, sake, and beer.

A dozen or so chefs stood behind the dining table, waiting to cut meat and pour drinks for the guests.

It's very high-end, with plenty of steak, foie gras, and salmon. Whole pieces of salmon sashimi are placed on crushed ice, with handmade sushi and soy sauce dishes next to them.

However, there are also fried chicken, fried pork cutlets, and sushi. It's not the kind of high-end option that makes people hesitant to buy it; it still offers some snacks that you can easily grab and eat.

Then she glanced around and noticed that quite a few people were already familiarly taking food.

Those who arrived first were already walking around the buffet area with their plates. Some were putting fried chicken on their plates while chatting with the people next to them, while others were standing in a corner holding champagne glasses and talking quietly to their colleagues.

Then----

Eri Aragaki looked towards the table and suddenly realized that her name was separated from Erina's and the others'.

Erina, Ayane Takeda, and Akane Natsume's names appeared on one of the tables in the row by the window. Judging from the names of the other people on the table, they were probably the so-called assistants and family members.

Eri Aragaki's own name was on the large round table in the very center of the venue.

She glanced at the names behind the table and paused for a moment.

Her pen name, "I Don't Eat Pears," was actually at the same table as Oda, Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Akira Amano, and Kenjiro Koyama.

Other people at this table include Keisuke Itagaki, author of "Baki"; Norihiro Yagi, author of "Claymore"; and Nobuhiro Watsuki, author of "Rurouni Kenshin".

"Why???"

Eri Aragaki was initially shocked, but quickly realized that it was probably distinguished according to a certain pattern.

It wasn't arranged randomly; a long-established publishing house like Shueisha wouldn't hold an annual meeting without seating arrangements.

However, it is obviously not based on the magazine in which it was published, because Keisuke Itagaki and Norihiro Yagi's manga are no longer serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump.

Both *Baki* and *Claymore* were briefly moved to *Weekly Shonen Jump* this year for various reasons. Currently, the third part of *Baki*, *Baki-do*, has returned to *Weekly Shonen Champion*. *Claymore*...

Last month, it was moved to Jump Square to continue its serialization.

So they shouldn't be on the main table of the JUMP series, but their nameplates are still here.

So they are ranked according to their influence.

Because the comic book artists sitting at the same table as her were all big shots.

Oda is currently the top-selling manga artist among active manga artists. Kishimoto and Kubo are the three giants of Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece, on par with Oda. Akira Amano's Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is currently very popular, and Takeshi Obata is widely recognized as having the highest level of drawing skills in the industry.

It was quite obvious when Eri Aragaki looked at the other tables.

Those who reported themselves as assistants, such as Erina, Ayane Takeda, and Akane Natsume, were assigned to the table where the assistants were seated. The other assistants at the table with them all looked to be young people.

The editors were at another table, which was full of editors from Shueisha, including Masaya Sakurai and Shihei Hayashi.

Authors of shoujo manga such as "Ribon" and "Bessatsu Margaret" were also assigned to the same table.

There was another table not far from where Eri Aragaki and the others were.

The names listed above include Masahiko Ibaraki, the editor-in-chief of Weekly Shonen Jump whom I had just met, as well as Tsukasa Hojo, Tetsuo Hara, Hirohiko Araki, and Akira Toriyama.

This table is clearly reserved for veteran editors-in-chief.

Eri Aragaki also saw Akira Toriyama's name at this moment, but she wasn't surprised.

Although Akira Toriyama's name is mentioned, according to Masaya Sakurai, Toriyama may not actually come.

He didn't come the previous two years, and although his name is on the table this year, it's still uncertain whether he will actually show up.

Eri Aragaki understands now; it's probably categorized by influence and publication type.

Popular shonen manga artists sat at one table, popular seinen manga artists sat at another table, veteran artists sat at a third table, and those with average popularity sat at a fourth table.

The tables were divided into smaller groups, but each table still had at least a dozen people, and every table was packed full.

If we didn't divide it like this, there would probably be a dozen or twenty people at a table, and we wouldn't even be able to fit all the plates.

"Teacher, find your seats according to your names, and then go get your food. You can also take the gifts on top after you leave."

Masaya Sakurai then said directly, "There will be a lottery later, and everyone will have one chance to spin the wheel."

Eri Aragaki nodded immediately and said, "Okay, I understand."

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