Tokyo 1970: I'll draw Doraemon?

The Japanese market today is not the terrifying market it will be when Weekly Shonen Jump's circulation surpasses 600 million copies in the future.

A single volume selling over a million copies is practically impossible.

This also shows how terrifying Naruto is.

Only the most comprehensive collection of future action manga, incorporating many of the tropes and settings of its predecessors, has broadened the horizons of today's readers and thus achieved this success.

Seeing the blank stares of the crowd, Fushimi smiled slightly.

"Wouldn't it be enough if the competition decreased?"

……

In 1973, there were a total of 41 Japanese shonen manga, including weekly and monthly magazines, of all sizes and types, according to Fushimikawa's count.

This is still a legitimate comic magazine; there are countless non-legitimate and even smaller ones, too many to count.

But there must be at least 200 books.

These are all competitors of Shonen Future and Naruto, and now, thanks to the market and environment, they are thriving and have no shortage of readers.

However, if any fluctuation occurs, the vast majority of these magazines will cease production and go bankrupt.

At that time, a huge market will be created for prepared publishers.

That is, Future Society.

With all the advantages of timing, location, and people, Fushimi Kawaki is poised to achieve a million-dollar fortune!

That's what he thought.

However, Takei Toshiki rolled his eyes, not believing that things would go as smoothly as Fushimikawa had said.

They discussed marketing, and how the promotion of Naruto Volume 01 would add more fuel to the fire.

They didn't leave the private room until the party was almost over, where they drank and laughed with their employees.

……

At 11 p.m., in order to catch the last bus, the Future Society employees, having exhausted themselves, hurriedly left.

Takei Toshiki flagged down a taxi and waved to Fushimi River.

"I'll give you a ride home."

As Fushimi was about to go over, Fujiwara Maki grabbed his sleeve.

She lowered her head and said softly, "Come home with me in a bit, I've been under a lot of pressure lately."

Fushimikawa understood and said to Takei Toshiki, "I have things to do here, you can go ahead."

With a knowing look on his face, Takei Toshiki nodded: "I apologize for disturbing you."

He looked at the taxi driver and shouted, "Let's get going, don't disturb that young couple."

The driver smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm a man who can navigate the thirteenth ring road of highway speed."

"what?"

Amidst Toshiki Takei's screams, the taxi driver vanished in a flash.

……

When he got home, Takei Toshiki looked very unwell. After a quick wash, he went to bed.

My nightmares at night are always about that speeding taxi.

So when he woke up at 10 o'clock, he was still not fully awake.

I subconsciously turned on the TV, and it happened to be a news program.

Takei Toshiki prepared to gradually wake himself up as the announcer spoke.

"OPEC Arab member countries announced: a 5% reduction in oil production, to be continued month by month; and an oil embargo against the United States, the Netherlands, and other countries that provide aid to Israel."

Listening to the news, Takei Toshiki was stunned. He wondered if he was still asleep, having heard such earth-shattering news.

Chapter 141 The Oil Crisis: Fushimi River's Premonition

"What? What do you mean?"

Looking at the television, Takei Toshiki's pupils trembled violently. He quickly got up and went to the television, making sure he didn't miss any detail.

"In protest against the military support given to Israel by the United States, the Netherlands, and other countries, Arab oil-producing countries have taken a series of measures through OPEC and the Organization of the Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries..."

Through the host's trembling voice, he gained a fairly good understanding of this news that would shake the world.

In short, Middle Eastern oil-producing countries are raising prices and reducing oil production, using oil as a weapon to attack Western countries and force them to change their Middle East policies that support Israel.

"Although the primary targets are the United States and the Netherlands, oil production cuts will undoubtedly have the greatest impact on oil-poor countries like Japan..."

Toshiki Takei muttered to himself, "How could things have suddenly gotten to this point..."

Through the news, he learned that the Middle East was currently experiencing the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, and the oil embargo was a countermeasure to the United States' support for Israel.

In another part of the Earth, blood and fire are intertwined, and it would not be surprising if anything were weaponized.

What left Takei Toshiki completely bewildered was that, prior to today, through Japanese news media, he had no idea that the Fourth Middle East War had already begun 10 days earlier.

It should be noted that he had specifically studied the situation in the Middle East because of Oikawa's strategy for storing supplies.

What exactly is the problem here?

"Oikawa...wait!"

Takei Toshiki realized what was happening, the air pressing down on his vocal cords, and he groaned, "He figured it all out..."

"Everything that is happening now is proceeding according to his plan."

"We can't keep doing nothing!"

He was supposed to have a day off today, but he couldn't miss the opportunity given this situation.

He quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face before heading out to the Future Society.

"Honey, why are you going out?"

In the entryway, he bumped into his wife, who was humming a song and carrying a bag of fine dishes such as Wagyu beef and crab.

She seemed to be preparing to enjoy a good vacation by herself. With an apologetic tone, Toshiki Takei said, "I'm sorry, I suddenly have work to do."

There was no time for conversation. He bent his foot back, hurriedly put on his shoes, then tied his tie, ignoring the wrinkles in his clothes, and was about to push open the door and leave.

“Wait,” he suddenly stopped and warned his wife, “When you go to the supermarket later, remember to buy a dozen or so bags of toilet paper, and also your and our daughter’s… sanitary products, enough for at least six months… no! A year!”

Mrs. Takei was astonished: "The end of the world?"

"More or less," Toshiki Takei said earnestly, "Don't forget."

"……Um."

……

Right now, in a small publishing house in Tokyo.

Editor Horii sipped his coffee and looked at Weekly Youth Future, feeling depressed.

"That guy Liang, I taught him how to draw comics. In the end, he dumped me and went to serialize in a top magazine on his own. Honestly, he has no conscience at all."

Over the past two years, things have been moving in a positive direction.

He, however, remained stagnant, working as a lowly editor for a small, unpromising magazine.

But it's alright, his salary is decent enough that he can make a good living in Tokyo.

"squeak!"

The rusty hinges of the door made a screeching sound. Horii looked up and saw that it was the company president.

"Good morning, President Kato!"

He waved to greet him.

However, today, President Kato, who is usually very good-tempered, ignored him and staggered into the editor-in-chief's office with a pale face and a dazed expression.

"Huh?" Liang was completely baffled. "What's going on?"

……

The world order is always changing suddenly.

The peaceful daily life that people had taken for granted seemed to have become a miracle, something they could never have again.

Everywhere, there was a sense of unease and discussion.

Countries like Japan, which are prone to disasters, are most sensitive to the arrival of calamities.

Rising oil prices and monthly production cuts have the greatest impact on oil-poor, heavy industrial countries like Japan.

The Japanese were already panicking even before the direct attacks from Middle Eastern countries arrived.

Shueisha, Shogakukan, Kodansha, and other publishing houses of all sizes in Japan held an emergency meeting, prioritizing the procurement of resources while the situation was still relatively calm.

But by the time they took action, it was too late; the price of paper on the market had already increased many times over.

Large publishers with strong resilience are doing alright, but smaller publishers are starting to consider borrowing from banks to weather the storm.

In this predicament, employee benefits become a problem.

Those carefree days are gone forever.

Only the employees of Mirai-sha don't need to worry about this.

Because under the wise leadership of their president, their company had already stockpiled far more resources than top publishing houses, enough for them to squander for six months.

Now all you need to do is sit calmly by the river and wait for your competitors' corpses to flow downstream into the abyss.

……

When Takei Toshiki arrived at Mirai-sha, several employees who were working overtime that day greeted him.

"What a coincidence, besides you, President Fujiwara and the others have also arrived, as has Professor Oikawa."

Takei Toshiki was taken aback. He opened the conference room and found that all the senior executives were having an excited discussion.

"As expected of Oikawa-sensei, you are truly a prophet. You predicted the change in the situation once again." Utsunomiya, who was usually calm, had a fanatical expression on his face at this moment, and his usually flat mouth was now turned up in a forced smile.