Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

It's a brand new week.

Ueno Taku spent another ordinary weekend before going to school.

He spent most of the weekend at home, rereading the JUMP magazine he bought last week, and he could practically recite the pages about Attack on Titan.

The arrival of winter wasn't anything special for him; it doesn't snow much in Kagawa Prefecture, and the temperature is a bit warmer than in Tokyo.

But the cold wind still stung my face when I rode my bike in the morning.

That's how it is for ordinary people; they don't think that winter is anything special, like something out of an anime like Winter Sonata.

In those stories, transfer students would appear every winter, or there would be some fateful encounters on snowy days.

But in reality, winter means not being able to get out of bed in the morning, feeling stuffy in the classroom with the heating on, and it's already completely dark by the time club training ends.

Occasionally, a girl would hand a scarf to the soccer team's star striker by the field. Ueno Taku saw this but didn't feel envious; he just thought the scarf's color scheme was quite nice.

Even clubs, although clubs still need to train in winter, since the summer national tournaments that sports clubs in sports anime value highly have already ended.

Their school's soccer team was eliminated in the second round of the summer tournament. Ueno Taku, as an ordinary member, didn't even get a seat on the bench. He was on the sidelines wearing his team uniform, helping to hand out water and towels, watching the starters get dominated by the opposing team for the entire game.

But the winter convention in January next year is also very important, perhaps not much less so than the summer convention.

After all, there are only two national competitions for high school clubs in Japan: the summer tournament and the winter tournament, and at most one or two other national cup competitions.

After participating in club activities, Ueno Taku went to the clubroom to change back into his school uniform, stuffing his mud-splattered uniform into his sports bag.

Several key players from the soccer team were still practicing free kicks on the field, while the others gradually headed towards the school gate.

He and several classmates rode their bicycles home, their wheels rolling over the gravel road in front of the school gate before turning onto the shopping street.

A few classmates were chatting in front about whether they should go to the arcade together this weekend, while Ueno Taku in the back was responding half-heartedly, thinking to himself that Attack on Titan should be releasing a new game this week.

On my way home, I stopped at a convenience store and bought this week's issue of Weekly Shonen Jump.

"You're here again~"

The old man at the bookstore greeted him when he saw him come in, still wearing his reading glasses that had slipped down to the tip of his nose.

When Ueno Taku walked to the magazine shelf and reached for the top JUMP magazine...

Then he discovered that the cover of this week's magazine featured... Attack on Titan.

Eren stands in the center of the cover, wearing the Survey Corps uniform, his right fist pressed against his left chest, striking the iconic pose of offering his heart.

This is quite rare, since the cover is usually reserved for the magazine's mainstays, meaning it's typically the most popular or second most popular magazine to grace the cover.

Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo Kurosaki take turns being the host, and it's always big news when someone else takes the stage.

Then there are various special cases, such as when a new manga is serialized for the first time, it will be given the same treatment as a new series and featured on the cover. The last time Attack on Titan was featured on the cover was when the first chapter started serialization.

Another example is special collaborations, which are promotions for various types of content such as animation, movies, and games. Similar to a "GG" situation, commercial partners pay money to buy advertising space.

This week, Attack on Titan made the cover, and even occupied the center position on the cover.

Ellen, as the main character, is in the center of the cover, striking the standard pose of offering her heart, her eyes fixed straight ahead.

Other popular characters, such as Luffy and Ichigo Kurosaki, have been relegated to the sidelines this week.

He glanced at it and saw large print that read "First Volume of Manga Pre-sale" and "Super Rookie Manga Artist 'No Pears' Real Person Revealed!"

So that's why... the collected volume is about to be released.

"How much?"

Ueno Taku suddenly realized what was going on, then took a magazine and other things and headed to the cashier.

He had been looking forward to it for a long time. Originally, news of a single volume should have come around the ninth or tenth chapter of the manga.

As a result, Attack on Titan has only been published as a single volume now, even though the manga has already reached chapter 20.

He paid for the magazine, tucked it under his arm, and rode his bike home.

After arriving home, I parked the car downstairs, strode up the stairs, called out "I'm home," and went into my room.

Then he bought the magazine and went home. He went to his room and started reading this issue.

Since it's Monday, he usually reads a few of his favorite serials first before looking at others.

However, because the Attack on Titan was featured first and there was a cover promotion, he didn't follow his usual routine and instead flipped directly to the Attack on Titan page.

This is because this week is the pre-release period for the Attack on Titan manga, and the manga has consistently ranked high in the top ten.

The editorial department clearly allocated all resources to Attack on Titan this week, giving it the highest level of treatment.

Not only is the cover the main focus, but it also gets the treatment of a color page at the beginning of the article.

When Ueno Taku turned to the pages about Attack on Titan, the first double-page color illustration showed the entire Survey Corps riding horses across the wilderness outside the walls, their green cloaks billowing in the wind, their wings of freedom forming a continuous expanse.

And occupying the first position at the beginning of the magazine is an implicit convention in JUMP's section arrangement; the serialization at the very beginning of this issue is often the main feature of that issue.

These are the treatment that a top ten most popular comics should receive when it gets a standalone volume.

Ueno Taku turned to the main text of this chapter, and the main story began.

This installment of the Attack on Titan series focuses on the operation to capture the Female Titan.

The Female Titan directly caused the deaths of a large number of Survey Corps soldiers. Those soldiers were completely powerless against the Female Titan and were mercilessly slaughtered.

Even the elite members of the Survey Corps are like this.

However, Erwin, as the leader, remained unmoved.

This caused Alan, who witnessed the deaths of his companions, great distress.

He desperately hoped that Levi would order him to transform into a Titan to stop the Female Titan and prevent the Survey Corps soldiers from sacrificing themselves in vain.

Allen's expression is distorted in several frames, and the anxiety of having power but being unable to do anything is depicted very realistically.

His hands gripping the reins trembled, his teeth clenched tightly. Ueno Taku tried to empathize with the feeling of watching his teammates die one by one while he was ordered to stay put. He felt that he was probably even more unable to bear it than Allen.

However, Levi simply let him choose for himself.

Levi, mounted on his horse, had the same calm expression as Erwin, but there was something different in his eyes when he looked at Eren.

He let Eren choose for himself: whether to transform into a Titan and fight, or to continue to trust his comrades and Erwin's judgment.

However, Allen misunderstood.

He thought Levi was telling him to trust his Survey Corps comrades and Commander Erwin's judgment. He thought Levi saying "choose for yourself" was actually a euphemism for telling him not to transform.

Therefore, he did not choose to transform into a giant to fight.

Even readers like Taku Ueno were misled here.

He turned to the page where Eren chose to trust his comrades. The entire page was composed in a gentle color scheme, with the other members of Levi's squad surrounding Eren.

They felt that Levi's words were meant to tell Eren to trust his comrades and the Survey Corps, since this is a classic trope in shonen manga—trusting your comrades is always the right thing to do.

Ueno Takumi had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

He continued scrolling down, but there was no time to think further.

Later, as the Survey Corps guided the Female Titan into the depths of the forest, the trunks of those giant trees were so thick that they could completely block the Titan's view.

Commander Erwin finally began to give orders, and with ingenious design and planning, the Female Titan was successfully captured.

When Ueno Taku saw this, he thought the chapter was about to end and the Survey Corps had won a step.

But at that moment she suddenly let out a long howl, a cry completely different from before, neither angry nor in pain, but more like a purposeful signal.

This attracted a large number of giants, and the sounds of giants moving could be heard in the surrounding forest. The ground shook, and they surrounded her.

Then the giants bent down and devoured her completely.

Ueno Taku stared at that page, which was filled with images of the Female Titan's body being torn apart by a group of ordinary Titans, with blood and flesh flying everywhere, but her expression still showed no fear, only a calmness after the mission was completed.

That concludes this episode.

The last page shows Erwin on horseback, standing in a clearing deep in the forest, looking in the direction of the female giant's remains in the distance.