Chapter 20: The World in Your Head vs. the Real World |
"Why do you look so terrible? You go tomb raiding or something?"
Tang Yao lowered her head again, casually tossing out the question.
On the other side, Kang Ming—looking absolutely awful—didn’t answer right away. He first pulled out his chair and sat down. Then, with a serious face, he said,
"Editor Tang… I’ve been betrayed."
“Eh?”
Tang Yao blinked in surprise, slowly turned her head, and widened her pretty eyes to look at him.
"My condolences… also, if possible, please elaborate!"
She was very interested!
"No, no."
Kang Ming saw Tang Yao’s eyes light up and realized she’d misunderstood. He quickly shook his head and raised the latest issue of big comic with a grave expression.
"Three years ago, right after I graduated, I picked up the first volume of The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword. From that moment, I fell in love with the manga. The reason I applied to be a manga editor when I was at rock bottom… was because of this series.
I really, really love this manga."
"…Got it."
Tang Yao’s eyes dimmed immediately, visibly disappointed—like someone bringing over a bowl of cat food, excited to dig in, only to find it wasn’t the flavor they liked.
Still, she figured out why Kang Ming looked like that.
"I really love this manga. But do you know what they did in the latest chapter?!"
Kang Ming’s emotions suddenly flared.
"Full Effort-sensei—no, that bstard—no, that f***ing idiot actually—"
"You’re loud."
Tang Yao cut him off while adjusting the font for Human Head Balloon.
"I know what you’re upset about. I’m the editor for that manga. I saw the chapter before you did."
Kang Ming froze, staring blankly at the girl bent over her desk like he’d just heard it for the first time.
Then, his emotions surged again, and he practically shouted,
"Then—"
"I said keep it down."
Tang Yao noticed the other editors turning to look at them and had to lift her head.
"I tried. You should know why. Remember that argument I had with the editor-in-chief on your first day? I brought up issues with Mr. Ou, and he told me to drop it."
"…Mr. Ou?"
"Ah, right, forgot you just got here. ‘Full Effort’ is a pen name. His real name is Ou Congquan… yep, that Mr. Ou I mentioned."
"…"
Kang Ming’s face froze again. Then memories of his first day at the office came flooding back.
“There’s something wrong with Mr. Ou’s work? Like you know better than him!? Do you know which series sells the most in big comic? Do you know what would happen if The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword went on hiatus!?”
Editor-in-Chief Ding’s voice rang in Kang Ming’s ears.
"He's a f**ing idiot too, isn’t he!?"
In that instant, Kang Ming pieced it all together.
He shot up from his chair and shouted:
"This would’ve been better off on hiatus! That chapter was complete dogsht! And they think it’s fine?!"
Because of that sudden shout—
The entire editorial office fell silent.
Everyone turned to look at him.
But Kang Ming didn’t care at all.
He looked at Tang Yao and waved his arms angrily.
"You warned them! Why the hell did they ignore it?! Why force-feed the readers this crap?!"
"Calm down first."
Tang Yao lifted her hands off the keyboard and gave him a helpless look.
"Yelling doesn’t fix anything. Won’t change what’s happened either."
"But! This is insane! You gave them a heads-up, and both the author and the editor-in-chief just ignored it? How does that make sense?!"
"…"
Seeing that Kang Ming still wasn’t calming down, and sensing this might spiral out of control, Tang Yao took a deep breath, slid her chair to face him, and slowly dropped her expression.
Then she pointed at the ground with one pale finger and said coldly:
"Sit. Down."
"…"
The sight of the usually sweet and lively girl suddenly looking cold and serious was such a drastic shift that Kang Ming flinched.
And in a heartbeat, he calmed down.
Obediently sat down.
"I get how you feel."
Seeing him sit, Tang Yao relaxed back into her normal self and turned her chair back around.
"I used to be a reader too. I know exactly what you’re feeling—the disappointment, the anger. Curse him all you want, but keep it down in here. Don’t forget, you just started, and you’re really loud."
Kang Ming gave a bitter smile.
After glancing around the room and pulling his gaze back, he more or less understood what Tang Yao meant.
But…
"I really can’t let it go… honestly, it’s like my whole dream of this job just shattered. What the hll was that Full Effort bstard even thinking!?"
This time, he kept his voice low, but his grip on the newest big comic tightened. His tone was full of confusion and frustration.
"Everyone hits that moment when their fantasy breaks down. Better to get used to it early.
Once your hobby becomes your job, everything gets messy.
Same with that gaming industry you were aiming for. Bet you didn’t know—most online game developers don’t even play the games they’re making."
"Eh?"
"You really didn’t know, huh?"
Tang Yao didn’t stop working on the font edits while replying flatly.
"That’s just how work is. Boring as hell.
As for Full Effort—Mr. Ou’s mindset isn’t that unusual, really. He just lost the leash and got drunk on his own world, thinking he’s doing great.
In a way, authors are free. They can draw whatever they want—as long as they don’t care about commercial success.
But if the work is commercial?
Then the market will teach them the meaning of reality. And consequences.
When game devs don’t play their own games, they don’t understand what players want.
Maybe they can coast for a while, but in the end, it comes back to bite them.
And in manga? The payback is faster.
Mr. Ou’s story is nowhere near finished.
So next issue’s reader survey, the popularity scores, the complaints—they’ll all bounce right back to him.
Soon enough, he’ll learn that the world in his head and the real one are not the same."
As she spoke,
Tang Yao couldn’t help but think of an anime from her previous life called The Irregular at Magic High School—
A show that perfectly illustrated the gap between an author’s fantasy world and actual reality.
The part that drove her the most nuts?
In the first season finale, the protagonist gave a passionate speech about not polluting coastal waters and waited for a warship to sail away before taking action.
Then years later, when the news about dumping nuclear wastewater came out,
Every time Tang Yao remembered that scene, she just felt dumbfounded—
Like she wanted to shove a mic in the original author’s face and ask him to perform that speech again.
"…Still, no matter how strong your urge to express yourself is, this isn’t the way.
Didn’t he ever stop to think about the readers?"
After listening to Tang Yao, Kang Ming took a double hit of disappointment and disillusionment.
His face was pale, like he’d just been totally screwed over. He muttered,
"Honestly, I still can’t accept it. Miss Tang, don’t you think—"
"I went to him four times and couldn’t change Mr. Ou’s mind."
Tang Yao’s hands paused for a moment before she continued.
"Editors are supposed to be the bridge between the readers and the mangaka. It’s our job to stop artists from spiraling into self-indulgent fantasy.
But clearly, neither Mr. Ou nor Editor-in-Chief Ding sees it that way."
"…"
Kang Ming had nothing left to say.
The star artist insisted on doing whatever he wanted, and the boss—Editor-in-Chief—was someone he’d already heard for himself.
Under those conditions, and she still went four times?
That wasn’t just dedication.
That was Full Effort-level commitment.
But the result never changed.
Right then,
All of Kang Ming’s illusions came crashing down.
He even felt like quitting on the spot.
"But judging from your reaction, I’d say the other readers out there probably aren’t taking it well either.
So now, let Mr. Ou and our beloved editor-in-chief taste the consequences."
Tang Yao hit the final keystroke and lifted her hands from the keyboard. She turned back to him.
"From here on out, it’s all on the author.
If he drew this kind of plot and can’t explain it later, can’t pull the story back together properly,
Then that series is done for too.
Let’s just see what he does next—what choice he makes."
Kang Ming blinked.
"Choice… there’s even a choice left?"
"Turn to the last page."
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