Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

However, when the editors were sorting through the reader questionnaires from six weeks ago this week, they made an unexpected discovery...

It seems that many readers voted for "Wu Song" in this issue.

When Lin Shiping categorized the postcards by their works, a large stack of postcards with the title "Wu Song" was piled up on the table, a stark contrast to the few or even none of the other short stories.

Furthermore, there are numerous comments for "Wu Song" and its author, with readers even writing specific remarks next to the rating section.

"Is there any sequel to 'Wu Song'? What will happen to Ying'er? This little girl is so pitiful. Teacher Bu Chi Li Zi, can you give her a happy ending?"

"I really like Teacher Bu Chi Li Zi's painting of Wu Song. The painting skills are really amazing. I hope to see more works in this style from Teacher Bu Chi Li Zi in the future."

"I really like 'Wu Song,' especially the art style and the story. I also really like the story of Lin Chong. Do you have any plans to draw a 'Lin Chong' series, Mr. Bu Chi Li Zi? The snowy mountain temple scene would be perfect for you to draw!"

"Teacher Bu Chi Lizi's drawing of Wu Song is amazing! Could you draw a story about Lu Zhishen later? I'd love to see him uproot the willow tree!"

"I'm personally very curious about what happens next in 'Wu Song,' but I don't really enjoy reading classical novels. So I hope that 'Don't Eat Pears' will continue to draw short stories about 'Wu Song,' or even release a sequel!"

……

The editors collect these letters and messages, and occasionally they are selected for publication in the magazine's reader letters section.

Lin Shiping sorted through the comments as he read them, finding them increasingly interesting, and shook his head with a smile.

"Hey, hey, hey, isn't 'Wu Song' a short manga that was drawn by that shoujo manga artist you were in charge of before, and it was just a temporary replacement?"

Lin Shiping said with some disbelief, "It seems to be quite popular, and the readers are very enthusiastic. Look at these comments, they're all asking for a sequel."

Then he added, "But then again, that 'Wu Song' painting was really well done."

As a Japanese citizen from Taiwan, he was naturally more familiar with the story of "Water Margin" and could better appreciate the charm of this Chinese culture.

He had seen these scenes in the novels at home since he was a child: Wu Song fighting the tiger, drunkenly beating Jiang Menshen, and bloodshed at the Mandarin Duck Tower.

He also saw "Wu Song" and thought it was very well drawn.

Eri Aragaki brought the character of Wu Song to life by combining traditional Chinese ink painting techniques with Japanese paneling. She preserved the essence of Chinese culture while reinterpreting it using the grammar of manga.

Masaya Sakurai nodded and replied with a smile, "I thought it was drawn very well at the time, so I thought it would be better to have Riko-sensei's manga instead, and I was right."

He also felt a sense of satisfaction, as if he had made the right bet.

After all, he hadn't expected that a short story that was temporarily used as a substitute would receive so many letters from readers.

"The painting of Wu Song is really well done. When I saw it, I felt very excited. The image of him cutting down Wu Song is still in my mind."

Honda Yuuki also peeked over from the side and glanced at the stack of postcards on Lin Shiping's table. He picked one up and flipped through it. "Readers have discerning eyes. They won't write so many comments on a short story for no reason."

As a relatively young editor, he felt the same way most deeply.

They continued chatting and working, sorting the postcards, counting the votes, and organizing the messages into a separate folder, which they planned to hand over to Masahiko Ibaraki for review during the afternoon meeting.

But they completely underestimated the popularity of "Wu Song".

……

It was afternoon.

In the conference room, Masahiko Ibaraki stood in front of the whiteboard, holding this week's statistics sheet, and began to announce the week's rankings.

"Number one: One Piece"

"Second place..."

……

The first six people were the same as in previous meetings. The editors in the meeting room were taking notes in their notebooks, and the atmosphere was no different from every previous meeting.

"Seventh place..."

However, when announcing the seventh place, Ibaraki Masahiko's gaze lingered on the statistics table for a moment, then he looked up, his tone carrying a hint of surprise that everyone could hear.

"...Wu Song"

The meeting room was silent for about two seconds.

Then everyone looked at Masaya Sakurai in surprise, and several editors sitting in the back row even peeked out.

Because a short comic not only made it into the top ten, but also reached the seventh position.

This is extremely rare in the history of Weekly Shonen Jump's popularity rankings, especially since this is not a side story of a popular long-running series, but an original short manga.

Although the story of "Wu Song" comes from the novel "Water Margin", it is undoubtedly an original short manga by Eri Aragaki.

Everyone was somewhat surprised, even Masaya Sakurai hadn't expected it...

"Wu Song" actually made it into the top ten, and even ranked seventh!

Then Ibaraki Masahiko announced that the subsequent rankings were somewhat different from the previous ones, but also basically the same.

The discrepancy is because "Wu Song" ranked seventh in popularity this time, so all works that were originally ranked seventh have naturally been moved down one place.

The Prince of Tennis went from seventh to eighth, and To Love-Ru went from eighth to ninth.

Even Attack on Titan dropped to tenth place, but luckily, it was right at the end of the top ten.

After all, the treatment of the top ten most popular people is different from that of the bottom ten. Not only is the income different, but the placement and treatment in magazines are also very different.

For example... the top ten most popular comics can be published at the front of the magazine, and given priority on black and white pages.

Comics ranked outside the top ten in popularity face the risk of being squeezed out of the page or having their pages merged with other comics.

Even Ibaraki Masahiko was somewhat surprised that "Wu Song" made it into the top ten this issue. He put the statistics sheet on the podium and asked curiously, "Who was in charge of this issue's short comics?"

Masaya Sakurai sat up straight. "It's my responsibility."

"It seems to be getting a good response. I've also read a lot of reader comments, and it seems that many people want a sequel or a similar short comic."

Ibaraki Masahiko picked up the neatly organized folder of reader comments on the podium and flipped through it. "Who is this manga artist? If they are a newcomer who doesn't yet have a regular serialization, we can consider discussing the possibility of expanding this short story into a long series."

Masaya Sakurai immediately understood what he meant.

For popular short manga like this, where readers are willing to read sequels, Shueisha is basically willing to let the original author expand the plot and setting to turn it into a new long-running series in order to make money.