I just want to quietly draw manga Chapter 352(2in1)

[Note: I wanted to release 3 chapters, but I ran out of time.]

Haruki called Haruka. “Hey, I’m ready to do the signing event, but we have to do it quick.”

Haruka said, “Why? We have to do promotion to get maximum engagement.”

Haruki replied, “Fullmetal’s fourth episode airs soon, and when anime-only fans learn this, they create the same storm as the manga fans. I can’t do the signing event after that if I want to live unscathed.”

Haruka paused for a second, probably realizing he wasn’t joking. “I’ll talk to the editor-in-chief.”

Haruki added, “This is also in your benefit. If more people come, you guys will have to handle the fans, and accidents may happen.”

Haruka said again, “I’ll tell the editor-in-chief.”

Haruki hung up and let his phone drop to the table. For a moment, he stared at the blank wall.

“Why does the whole world work against me? Why do I constantly have to hide from my own fans? I just want to write and tell a good story,” he muttered.

Just then his assistants arrived right on time. The sound of the door sliding open broke his thoughts.

Seeing them, Haruki brightened a little.

“Hey guys, do you want to attend the signing event?”

Kenta put his bag down. “Our first signing event. We’d get to meet the fans,” he said, almost too excited.

Noya didn’t even sit yet. “Don’t be fooled by that invitation. What is the signing event about?”

Haruki answered, “It’s for Fullmetal. Since we’re nearing the end, we have to do at least one signing event. And what are you two talking about? Trap? There is no trap. You guys helped me more than just assistants. You even drew whole chapters yourselves based on the outline. At least I can give you some credit.”

Noya stared at him. Haruki’s face was too sincere, that was the first red flag.

Noya almost said yes. Many people already knew him as Muzishiro’s assistant, so meeting fans wouldn’t be impossible. But the more he thought about it, the more he remembered what these fans were like.

“You… almost got me,” Noya said, pointing at Haruki. “I figured out why you invited us. It’s a death sentence.”

Kenta turned sharply. “What do you mean death sentence?”

Noya said, “Fullmetal anime has started airing.”

Kenta froze. His smile slowly faded. Then he turned to Haruki with a betrayed expression.

“You… Haruki, forget it. I can’t blame you, trying to bring more shields. But you brought this on yourself. Enjoy.”

They walked past him and sat at their desks, started drawing the new Fullmetal chapter without saying another word.

Haruki stared at them. “At least pretend to show sympathy,” he said quietly.

They ignored him.

By afternoon, Haruki’s phone rang.

“Hello?”

Haruka said, “Haruki, I talked with the editor-in-chief. She agreed to your request, but we still need as much time as we can get, so we’ll hold the event the day before episode four.”

Haruki said, “Hey, what about including another mangaka? They can get exposure too.” He also thought, And also share the pressure of the fans.

Haruka replied, “We can’t. You don’t do signing events often, and this will be quite a big one. We need to maintain control, and your fanbase has grown a lot. There’s no other option.”

Haruki sighed. “Okay. But speed it up quick so they can’t ask too many questions.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Haruka said, and hung up.

Haruki put down the phone. He could feel eyes on him. Sure enough, Kenta, Noya, and Hayato were all watching, then quietly went back to drawing with smug expressions.

Haruki muttered, “Is there no way to minimize this?” as he kept thinking.

He picked up the phone again. “Hey, Kotone, are you free?”

Kotone said, “I’m drawing. What happened? Why do you sound so urgent?”

“I need your help,” Haruki said.

“Come to my house,” Kotone replied.

“Okay, I’ll come right away.”

Half an hour later.

At Kotone’s house.

Kotone opened the door. “What happened?” She led him inside.

“Well…” Haruki explained everything. While he talked, Kotone brought him a glass of water.

“If you need money to invest in Code Geass, I can help,” Kotone said.

Haruki shook his head. “No, I still need to do the signing event. Even if you gave me money, I have to get this over with.”

Kotone raised an eyebrow. “So you aren’t suggesting I come with you to the signing event?”

Haruki looked at her directly, saying nothing, but his eyes said everything.

Kotone leaned back. “Forget it. I read the manga. I will not be your shield,” she said, shaking her head.

Haruki saw the pleading wasn’t working. “Kotone, you’ll also need to do a signing event. And when Clanned ends, you’ll face fans alone. So I propose a treaty. You be my shield, and I’ll be your shield.”

“I don’t think I need a shield. I will be throwing you under the fans one hundred percent when I do my signing event,” Kotone said.

“Can’t you do this for me?” Haruki asked.

Kotone sighed. “Don’t stress yourself. Things won’t be that bad. Fans will be reasonable. But who knows, after everything you’ve done to them.”

Haruki groaned. “You aren’t helping me. I came here to ask for your help.”

Kotone said, “If it’s any consolation, your fanbase is big. Many people will turn up, so you’ll have limited time with each fan. But that also means people will ask question. So no matter how short the interaction is, that question will come.”

Haruki muttered, “But I already gave them the answer. Why should they ask the same question? Should I play a display of my interview so they don’t ask that question?” He thought maybe that could work.

Kotone said, “People don’t ask because they don’t know the answer. They ask because they were invested in the story and the moment.”

Haruki slumped on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

“There’s no option,” he said.

Kotone left him there and went back to her desk to keep drawing.

After some time, Haruki stood up. “I’m going, Kotone.”

Kotone said without turning, “Don’t stress yourself too much. And in the future, try to write stories with fewer scenes like this. I know you. You don’t show it, but you enjoy seeing fans riled up with these types of scenes. You enjoy it, right?”

Haruki looked back, and then, without answering, he left. I will have to clear my name. I need to find work that clears my name.

After returning from Kotone’s place, he entered his house. As he sat down, Noya was already walking toward him, looking way too smug with his phone in hand. Seeing that, Haruki thought, Please don’t be true, what I’m thinking.

Noya said, “Haruki, good news, they’ve posted your signing event date. They haven’t released other information, just the date. They don’t want to waste a single day of promotion to gather as many fans as possible.”

He showed him the post.

“Muzishrio will be doing a signing event on 23rd of October. Please come to show your support to the mangaka.”

Under the post, it had only been half an hour, but the comments had already gone over nine thousand. Seeing that, Haruki opened the anticipated comments section.

“Muzishrio will be doing the signing event? I didn’t think I would be able to attend this in my lifetime!”

“Why only one location, Muzishrio? I can’t attend if it’s only in Tokyo.”

“Is Muzishrio doing a signing event because he needs money? Is it that he spent all of it on Code Geass? 😂”

“I finally have time to sign my Rurouni Kenshin volume.”

Oh… there are no angry fans. As he scrolled down, he caught one message:

“I pray for times like this. This time he will not live unscathed.”

And under that comment:

“Idiot, are you a new fan? Did you not read the fandom rules? We will not spook Muzishrio. He rarely comes out. What if he gets scared and won’t come?”

“Delete the comment fast! What if Muzishrio is reading the messages?”

There were multiple messages under his, and after a few seconds, the message was deleted.

Haruki thought, So they’re faking. I was happy for a second.

Noya was watching his expression.

“Haruki, do you want to see your fandom, the part they’ve hidden from everyone? I have a way to see what they’re planning to ask you.”

Haruki said, “No, I don’t want to see it.” He paused, then muttered, “But… wait. It might actually help. I can prepare answers for their questions.” He looked up. “Where is it?”

Noya opened the search: muzishriolovely fans.

The top comment was:

“The time has come. Muzishrio, you will feel as we felt reading your story.”

“Hey, this time he’s also trying to leave unscathed. Did you see the date of the signing event and Fullmetal? It’s just one day before this.”

“I know, I’m really torn between telling the anime-only watchers so it’ll be more painful for Muzishrio. On the other end, I also want to see my friend’s face seeing it for the first time. Such good things happening to us, the cliffhanger fans. I still can’t believe this. Are we sure it will happen? He will not back away?”

“Don’t worry. He will not back away. He spent so much money on Code Geass and there was no one sponsoring or giving money, so he doesn’t have money right now. That’s why he’s doing it.”

“Hey, don’t tell anime-only watchers. We’ll have a bigger fanbase even in manga, so we don’t need them. We’ll enjoy both shows.”

“Finally it’s paid off being a Muzishrio fan. So much entertainment will happen back to back. Just imagining it, I can’t wait for the days.”

“I know, right? I just can’t stop smiling. I have to keep it under control, otherwise if my friend gets suspicious, I will not have the experience I was waiting for the whole year since they announced they would adapt Fullmetal into anime.”

“Hey guys, this is all fun and games, but don’t try to overdo it. He is our golden goose of story in this oversaturated industry. We don’t want to kill him.”

“Yes, don’t overdo it. And also don’t try to be labeled as a toxic community, which I don’t think we are. But try to keep it under control. If you see something like this in the signing line, try to control it.”

Haruki kept reading these comments for an hour as new ones kept appearing. After reading everything, he finally had some calm in his mind.

My fans were just trying to get back at me. They aren’t trying to kill me. I can handle that.