Drawing Manga in a Romance Fantasy – Chapter 130

The people of this world were still unfamiliar with magazines.

They could intuitively sense the advantage of seeing various works in one volume, but then questions arose about what happens to the work once it’s completed.

A new work was emerging that would perfectly clarify that.

“I thought the completion of ‘White Whale’ meant the work would be reduced to five pieces, but it turns out it’s serialized in a new format.”

As always, on the publication day of Manapia, groups of people gathered around those who had bought the magazines first, all reading together.

And the first thing they opened was none other than <White Whale>.

Because the boy’s maritime adventure to find his father finally reached the long-awaited conclusion, people were looking for the section that contained <White Whale> to read first.

“Hey! Look at that, only the first page of <White Whale> is in color!”

To celebrate the completion, the magazine, originally entirely in black and white, had a special color page, making it stand out immediately.

“I want to cut this out and keep it.”

“True, the black and white was cool, but with the blue sea and the white whale added in color, it looks impressive.”

“Oh! There’s something at the back of the magazine!”

While people were admiring the first color page and contemplating whether they should risk damaging the magazine to cut it out, someone shouted as they found the very last page.

“A special illustration!!!”

“The colored section has been enlarged and included as an entire postcard!”

“Damn it!!! Yuren Merchant Association! Can you really just give this away for free?!”

As people began to cheer upon seeing the special illustration added in postcard format, it seemed as if Yuren’s staff had accurately predicted the excitement those color pages would generate.

Naturally, the staff could only smile broadly at the sight.

‘Even with a sneaky price increase on the magazine, we still got a good deal from just one illustration.’

In fact, now that the magazine’s popularity was on its way up, Yuren Merchant Association quietly raised the price by about ten percent.

Before any complaints could arise, it seemed their tactic of diverting attention to the color pages and special illustration had worked splendidly, leaving the staff feeling somewhat proud.

If they had failed to redirect the attention, they would have been the ones faced with complaints on site.

“By the way, is this the new work from Rupert titled ‘Card of the King’?”

“Come on, let’s flip through it quickly!”

“I wonder what kind of comic it is…”

In truth, predictions about Rupert’s new work were impossible.

Even with fairy tale books for girls, he abruptly switched to tragic stories or adventurous tales.

From the adventure story <Iron-Blooded Alchemist> to the desperate action comic <Van Helsing>.

It was nearly impossible to guess the genre.

However, since the new work <Card of the King> had the word “card” in the title, one could only guess it would relate to cards in some way.

“From now on, let’s start the duel!”

Surely, the expression of Yuki, who had been a simple country boy just this morning, had turned incredibly sharp.

“Hahaha! Are you still whining about wanting your cards back?”

But Kaito paid no heed to Yuki’s transformation.

“Look! This White-Eyed Azure Dragon is now mine!”

Kaito, having secretly stolen the White-Eyed Azure Dragon card that Yuki received from his grandfather, was showing it off right in front of Yuki.

The legendary card, said to be one of only four in existence, the White-Eyed Azure Dragon.

“Kaito, do you really think you can control the card?”

“Of course! Cards are meant to be controlled! Didn’t you know that?”

Now, Kaito wasn’t afraid of dueling.

It was worthless for a loser like Yuki to have a rare card like the White-Eyed Azure Dragon.

Only he thought he could control it.

“Then let me show you the true form of a duelist!”

With Yuki’s shout, the duel began.

“Card game?”

“It’s called a duel, not just a game.”

“Oh, but check out those cards. They’re completely different from the usual ones.”

In this world, there were cards similar to Earth’s playing cards.

And based on those cards, games like poker existed, so card games weren’t entirely unfamiliar.

However, the new card game called “duel” presented in <Card of the King> was something the people of this world had never seen before.

“Cards modeled after the ancient empire’s sealed monsters, huh?”

“Not just monsters! There are also magic and trap cards!”

“More importantly, that White-Eyed Azure Dragon card looks really impressive even as an illustration.”

Rupert knew better than anyone that to help people easily accept this new type of card game, the setup had to be simple, and it needed to unfold well in comic form.

Thus, he cut away all the extraneous details and focused the early plot solely on the card game.

This approach worked like a charm, allowing first-time readers to easily grasp the world of <Card of the King>.

People were already showing considerable interest in the card game, or duel, that appeared in <Card of the King>.

They were quickly engrossed in the card game within <Card of the King>.

Two months later.

“I believe in the strength of my comrades!”

Yuki, looking at his friends cheering him on, pulled one card from his deck.

“Hahaha, whatever card you draw, you’ll die, Yuki! Now that the seal is unleashed, I will finish you with three White-Eyed Azure Dragons!”

Yuki was being pushed back by Kaito’s White-Eyed Azure Dragon card since the duel began, but skillfully using magic cards and trap cards, he was barely preventing defeat.

However, Yuki still had a trump card up his sleeve.

“Finally, it’s gathered. Kaito, do you know anything about this card?”

In a life-or-death situation, Yuki confirmed the last card he had drawn with a sly smile and asked Kaito.

“Th-that’s!”

Kaito’s expression began to warp in disbelief upon seeing the card Yuki had drawn last.

“Guardian of the ancient empire and the fantasy demon that destroys all, descend here!”

Finally, Yuki’s fantasy demon revealed itself on the duel table.

Chained at the arms and legs, the sight was nonetheless overwhelming.

And as it destroyed Kaito’s ultimate White-Eyed Azure Dragon with a single punch, readers were left in awe.

If one were to cite the biggest difference between other comic authors and Rupert, it would be this expressive ability and depiction skills.

Even ordinary scenes seemed masterfully portrayed; when they met the highlights of the work, just reading it made one’s palms sweat.

Although he already had outstanding drawing skills, Rupert was now unleashing detailed expressions he had been unable to attempt before due to physical limitations, and people were madly enveloped by his art.

“This is it!!!”

“I was so nervous wondering how he would win, but to summon the fantasy demon!”

“Absolutely refreshing! Seeing that despicable Kaito’s expression twist in agony!”

As <Card of the King>, which was gradually gaining popularity since its serialization, finally reached the part where the protagonist Yuki faced off against his first major opponent Kaito.

Readers had long been immersed in the card realm.

Even as the protagonist Yuki was cornered into a near defeat, the scenes of cleverly using not just strong cards but various cards to counter Kaito gave readers a cathartic feeling.

Moreover, for readers who were curious about how one could defeat Kaito’s strongest card, the ultimate White-Eyed Azure Dragon, Yuki’s new card, the fantasy demon’s appearance perfectly fulfilled that expectation.

“The card’s design was cool, but its summoned form is truly a sight to behold!”

“Kaito’s ultimate White-Eyed Azure Dragon at the end was cool too.”

“But it can’t compare to the fantasy demon Yuki summoned!”

The scene of the illustrated card being placed on the table, revealing itself, was perfectly expressed through Rupert’s exceptional drawing skills.

Because of this, readers felt as if they were actually holding the cards and dueling, allowing them to immerse themselves even deeper into the work.

“I really want to have those cards from this comic…”

After reading about the intense duel between the protagonist and Kaito, people naturally began to desire to play that card game themselves.

Just like how more people started dabbling in alchemy after reading <Iron-Blooded Alchemist>.

And like how children enrolling in swordsmanship dojos peaked after reading <Van Helsing>.

The comic possessed desires that stimulated people, and now everyone kept thinking about wanting to play the card game depicted within it.

“Think they’ll release this as goods too?”

“Definitely! Or the protagonist’s puzzle necklace could come out.”

“Both will probably be released! I must buy the White-Eyed Azure Dragon, no matter the price!”

People had now become accustomed to the marketing of comic goods.

Readers who had previously thought about wanting something while reading a book often found that the item promptly got released at the Somerset Goods Store.

So they could predict that cards and other distinct items from <Card of the King> would be coming out soon.

“Ah… but it can’t be helped that I want it now.”

“Should I try drawing it myself?”

However, it was sure to take some time, so ideas of creating cards themselves to quench the surfacing desire to duel were even being discussed.

“Here it comes!!!”

Someone’s shout echoed through the streets.

“What do you mean, ‘here it comes’?”

“The new goods from Somerset Goods Store—’Card of the King’ cards are available!!!”

“What?! Already!!!!”

With the news that <Card of the King> goods had started selling at the Somerset Goods Store, people’s attention was drawn.

“What are you doing? We should head over now!”

“Wait! White-Eyed Azure Dragon, you’re mine!!!”

“I must duel right after buying the cards!”

Excited crowds rushed to the Somerset Goods Store, eager to buy the cards.

But,

“By the way, they said the cards will be random…”

Everyone realized upon hearing the last words of the person announcing the sale that this month’s budget would be completely drained.