[Shocking! A Genius Manga Artist Makes His Debut at Just Sixteen!]
Jinguu Akira sat before his computer, a freshly printed issue of Weekly Shounen JUMP in hand—one that wouldn't even officially release until tomorrow.
On the cover was a boy grinning cheerfully, a kunai clenched between his teeth: Uzumaki Naruto. Just below, the bold headline read:
"NARUTO – Series Begins!"
With the author's name clearly printed underneath: Jinguu Akira.
He flipped open the first page—Naruto was front and center. As the debut chapter of a new series, it had been granted the coveted lead spot. Unlike the other three new series launching this week, Naruto had clearly received a disproportionate share of promotional resources.
"Of course they're gonna use me to stir things up," Akira murmured with a slight curve of his lips.
The word promotion might sound cynical—but for Akira, it was excellent news. It was a win-win for both him and Shueisha. He had no reason to complain.
As a serialized author, he was entitled to receive the next week's magazine issue a day early. But this wasn't just any issue—this was his first serialization. For him, this copy of Weekly Shounen JUMP was a true collector's item.
Turning to Twitter and Facebook, Akira quickly registered new accounts under his real name. In parentheses next to it, he added: (神主)—Kamishu, or "God Lord," a subtle pun on his own name that also gave off an air of mystique.
When it came time to upload a profile picture, he hesitated for a moment—then decided against using a real photo of himself. Instead, he drew an illustration of Uzumaki Naruto on the spot, scanned it into his computer, and uploaded that as his avatar. After all, his early followers would undoubtedly be Naruto fans. Using the series' protagonist made perfect sense. Later, once he had more works under his belt, he could change it as he pleased.
He followed a few random influencers on Twitter just to make the account look active and not like a throwaway bot. Compared to Facebook, he preferred Twitter—it reminded him of China's Weibo.
Once done, he navigated to his own personal site: NICONICO.
Thanks to a few intense days of self-study in web design and programming, the page now looked far more polished than before. Still, when compared to professional websites, it was admittedly a bit... crude.
Opening the fiction section, he found his two serialized novels listed—two works with completely different styles, so different in fact that no one would guess they were written by the same person:
Kara no Kyōkai (The Boundary of Emptiness)
and
Koizora (Sky of Love)
First, he opened Kara no Kyōkai. To his surprise, there was a comment below.
[1st Comment]:
"A strange and fascinating novel. At first, I couldn't quite understand it. The story is excellent, no doubt, but it feels... abstract. Like it's operating on a different wavelength. But then I read—"
(To be continued...)