Chapter 122 On-site autograph signing!
Early morning on Saturday, Sunday.
"Why is the delivery so late today? It's the first time I've seen comics delivered later than newspapers." A middle-aged owner of a comic book store said to the delivery driver of Qunying Club.
The bookstores directly under the jurisdiction of Qunyingsha are assets owned by the consortium headquarters. They are mainly distributed in first-tier cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, with a total of nearly a thousand stores.
This is still the scale after physical books have shrunk in recent years. At its peak in 1999, the total number of directly-controlled bookstores reached more than 2,000.
"The delivery to me will be late today." The delivery driver took out the signature form and gave it to the bookstore owner.
The boss stretched out his hand to take the order. Before he could read it, he suddenly laughed strangely: "Hey, according to the release plan today, there should be a three-volume single volume of "One Punch Man", right?"
"Yes, but..." The driver paused for a moment.
"What you want to say next is..." The bookstore owner chuckled: "I don't know what went wrong. The single volume that was supposed to be delivered in the early morning has not been delivered yet. It has to wait for the replacement delivery in the afternoon, right? ?”
"...Huh?" The driver was stunned for a moment.
The bookstore owner raised his eyebrows, and his words were even weirder: "What you want to say next is, how do you know, right?"
"Huh???" The driver was completely confused.
"The third page of the "Daily News" newspaper has sent out a special edition. Let's see how much fun you have!" The bookstore owner snorted and then looked at the delivery note.
Sure enough, the "One Punch Man" project above said that it would be delayed.
The driver was originally in a hurry to deliver the goods, but he couldn't resist his curiosity and took a look at the newspaper on the best-selling shelf.
"In order to suppress new comic writers, the headquarters of Qunyingsha actually did this kind of thing", subtitle: Female cartoonists shed tears after reading it, while male cartoonists were silent after reading it.
After a few glances, the driver understood. It told the story of Hayato Hyakki, the head of the group's main publication department. In order to punish the new manga writer who had disgraced him in the web department, he arranged for Takeda Takeda to play against him. After the failure, they secretly manipulated the distribution channel of the single volume of "One Punch Man" and deliberately delayed the release time, so that the new comic could not appear on the best-selling shelves in time.
"So there is such a shady story?!" the driver exclaimed.
The shop owner also echoed: "These guys have been as dark as night for a long time!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, this is so interesting." The driver ignored this kind of business, checked the time, and quickly continued the delivery.
However, at every store he passed by while driving, regardless of whether the store owner knew it or not, he would always tell people: "Hey, the new comic book "One Punch Man" will be delivered late today. Why? You don't know Why? Hum, look at the third page of the "Daily News"..."
This happened to more than one driver, many places and even many bookstores received such reminder calls.
Some readers even called a bookstore in Shinjuku in the middle of the night: "Moxi Moshi, is this bookstore right? Is the delivery of "One Punch Man" that was supposed to go on sale today delayed? Ah! Sure enough, it's so disgusting. ! How do I know? The online forum has exploded!"
Many inquiring calls came to bookstores, often from long-time book friends.
"Is the delivery really late?"
"The headquarters of Qunying Society is really up to something!"
"Damn it! I didn't expect Hyakki Hayato to be so black-hearted!"
“It’s so difficult for new cartoonists!”
Many comic fans and even non-comic fans have expressed such emotions.
However, although there are many people in Japan's nightlife, there are not many people who would ask about such things in the middle of the night.
Therefore, it still takes time for this melon-level shady news to ferment.
Tuesday, ten o'clock in the morning.
In front of the largest bookstore under Qunying Society, a tent has already been set up in a small square for on-site book signing activities.
Saburo Mikami and Assistant Okita had already driven three people from Oda Shingo Studio to the event site.
On Saturday mornings like this, there were not many people in front of the bookstore except for men and women on dates, which was just the right time to prepare. There are two parts of the stand-alone promotion stand at the scene.
On the left is "Sword of the Goddess" and on the right is "One Punch Man".
The poster of Sword of the Goddess shows the male protagonist in a blood-soaked stance with a sword ready for the final fight.
One Punch Man consists of the protagonist Saitama, the supporting character Genos, and the female characters Fubuki and Tatsumaki.
"Wow! Although the place is not big, it feels so good!" Todo Xiangcheng was in a very good mood.
Oda Shingo looked at the autograph booth on the left.
There is this time's enemy - the well-known hot new manga artist Kosuke Watsuki.
Kosuke Watsuki arrived early and was already seated. Two comic fans were chatting with him next to him.
"Mr. Kazuki Kosuke? Hello." Oda Shingo put on his work badge and met Kazuki Kosuke for the first time.
He is a young man who is several years older than himself. He is slightly fatter and slightly slovenly. He looks very much like the standard appearance of a cartoonist.
However, when he looked at Oda Shingo who had crossed the work barrier, there was disdain behind his lenses, and his tone of voice when he opened his mouth was full of indifference: "Oh, Oda Shingo?"
Seeing his attitude, Oda Shingo didn't respond well and sat directly at his autograph booth.
"Hello, Minister Mikami." Kosuke Watsuki quickly noticed Saburo Mikami and took the initiative to shake hands with him.
Minister Hyakki is not present, so he naturally respects the senior leaders of the group.
Saburo Mikami nodded slightly and sat down at the work bench in the corner without answering any questions.
Oda Shingo turned around and nodded to him again. Being able to appear here is already a huge support for myself.
Event staff began unpacking some comic books.
"Fortunately, "One Punch Man" was delivered here first, otherwise it would have been too late." A staff member didn't know the inside story and muttered happily.
"Stop talking." An older staff member poked him.
But Oda Shingo just smiled and didn't make any reaction. He just silently opened part of the book's plastic cover so that when he needed to sign, he could write it on the title page.
Namikaze Yukaku and Todo Kojo, according to Oda Shingo's request, chose the most tacky clothes to appear. But he was not sitting next to Oda Shingo, but at the work bench in the back corner.
Toudo Xiangcheng whispered: "Humph, he knows that we are beautiful, but he is afraid that the cherry blossoms on Mount Fuji will be too beautiful."
What she said was a local saying in Tokyo.
In the eyes of Tokyoites, although Mount Fuji is beautiful, there are no cherry blossoms on the mountain, only around the foot of the mountain. It is said that it means that Mount Fuji is too beautiful and the mountain can no longer accommodate more beautiful scenery.
"Oda-kun's side seems a bit deserted." Namikaze Yukaku kept his eyes locked on Oda Shingo.
Todo Xiangcheng said heartlessly: "This is just the beginning, it's just a coincidence, a coincidence."
However, the situation of more left and less right is very obvious.
Comic fans often come over and go straight to the "Sword of the Goddess" on the left, and then have a few words with Kosuke Watsuki, and some girls even take the initiative to ask for a photo.
On Oda Shingo's side, there was only one middle-aged man who was a manga fan, and he just said, "I've seen your web version" and left.
Of course, the event hasn’t officially started yet—one o’clock in the afternoon as officially advertised.
But this is not a good sign...
(End of chapter)