At the studio.
Zhang Ye did not look tired at all after taking a two-hour nap at home. Instead, he seemed very fresh and even arrived at work humming a little ditty.
"Director Zhang."
"Morning."
Good morning."
"Director Zhang, you're here?"
Everyone greeted him with a smile.
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Is everyone busy? Did you manage to link up with your contacts?"
Ha Qiqi said, "We're doing that right now. Thanks to Little Sun's relative who settled down in Japan, a lot of matters became much easier and convenient to deal with."
Little Sun scratched his head in embarrassment. "It's what I should do."
Zhang Ye patted him on the shoulder. "Well done, Little Sun. When the time comes, we might have to ask your relative to help represent us regarding some things. After all, everyone, including the media, knows the identities of our studio's staff. If any of us were to reveal ourselves, we would get exposed. And besides, no one else here understands Japanese other than me."
Little Sun immediately said, "That won't be a problem."
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Alright then, I'll be troubling you."
Little Sun quickly said, "Director Zhang, you're welcome. Oh right, your drawing studio has been set up."
Little Wang shouted from upstairs, "Director Zhang, everything has been prepared. You can start drawing anytime you wish."
Zhang Ye said, "Start drawing what? I've finished drawing two chapters already."
Little Wang nearly tumbled downstairs!
Everyone was dumbfounded!
"Ah?"
"What?"
"Finished drawing?"
"Two chapters?"
"What the heck!"
"Do you have to be this quick!"
"When it comes to work productivity, I really freaking have to give it to you!"
This difference between people was too great!
Thinking about the other celebrities and their studios, they were all working in the same industry and would often interact with one another. In their private conversations, they discovered that everyone was always complaining about things like how this celebrity had quit on some project, that celebrity not wanting to take on certain work, some new song getting delayed by a month, or how there was conflict in a drama crew that made the celebrities refuse to rejoin the filming. A lot of people who worked at a studio would often have to painstakingly coax their celebrities on such matters!
But at their studio?
It was completely not the case!
In fact, it was the exact opposite!
Before the subordinates were even prepared or warmed up yet, they discovered that Director Zhang had already completed it!
What kind of an experience was this?
It was an unimaginable situation that no one would understand unless they had worked at Zhang Ye's Studio before!
Ha Qiqi smiled wryly. "You're too fast!"
Zhang Zuo said happily, "Director Zhang has always been impatient like that."
Zhang Ye laughed and said, "Of course. Come, come, I've already emailed the final copy to everyone. Everyone, have a look at it and give me your opinion!"
Instantly, everyone surrounded a computer to read it.
"Ah!"
"It really is a comic!"
"Looks like it's really what it is!"
"Wow, it's in Japanese!"
"Director Zhang really knows Japanese!"
Everyone was exclaiming in amazement.
Zhang Ye smiled as he saw everyone's reaction. He was feeling really satisfied with this.
A few minutes later, everyone was done reading it.
Zhang Ye said happily, "So how is it? What do you guys think?"
Ha Qiqi said, "About that…"
Zhang Zuo also balked and did not dare speak.
Zhang Ye smacked his lips and said, "Don't worry, be brave and speak up. Tell me what you think."
Ha Qiqi was the first to speak. "So then, I'm not very into comics and have not read that many of them before. But at first glance, it does feel a little offbeat. Pirates? Is that suitable as subject matter? Isn't that basically about robbing? If we're to gain popularity in Japan, surely we should be a little more mainstream, right? But I don't think I've ever heard of such alternative comics in the Japanese comic industry. Maybe you should—well, isn't this a little too niche?"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Any other opinions?"
Little Wang coughed. "About this character's design, why does he look a little—"
Zhang Ye asked, "A little what?"
Little Wang said, "A little ugly."
Little Zhou wiped away his sweat. "It's indeed a little unacceptable. This character's design is too simple."
Little Sun looked at Director Zhang's expression before saying, "I've read a lot of comics. The characteristics and spirit of a character are reflected in their eyes. B-But for this character that you drew, why are his eyes only represented by dots? I-Isn't this as good as having no eyes? Will that work?"
The background.
The character design.
The plot.
Everyone started complaining about it.
"Director Zhang, surely this won't work, right?"
"Why don't we change it to something else?"
After Zhang Ye heard them out, he smiled and said, "Listening to your opinions, I'm rather relieved. Alright then, we'll go ahead with this. I'll draw a few more chapters over the next few days and send them over to Japan!"
Everyone was speechless.
They could not understand what Zhang Ye was talking about.
Only he knew what was going on.
Why was he relieved?
Because in his previous world, that was also the assessment from everyone when One Piece first debuted!
Weird!
Ugly!
Strange character designs!
Good! Both of the worlds seem to have the same aesthetic appreciation of comics!
Then all is well!
One Piece is definitely going to be popular!
Everyone was cautiously trying to persuade Zhang Ye, but they gave up after realizing there was no effect on him.
Ha Qiqi asked, "Then what pen name are you going to use?"
Zhang Ye was taken aback. "Oh yes, what name should I use?"
Zhang Ye definitely could not use his own name, nor a name that was similar to any Chinese names. He couldn't let anyone guess his identity, so he had to think of a name that was obviously Japanese in order to blend in.
What should he call himself?
The first name that floated up in his mind belonged to a famous Japanese person, so he immediately blurted out, "I shall call myself Sora."
Sora?
What kind of a name was that?
The studio staff did not understand.
Ha Qiqi said, "Alright, then let's just call you—Sora?"
As they were speaking.
Ring, ring, ring. A phone call came in.
Zhang Ye answered it. It turned out that it was a call from someone at the Asian Charity Association.
It was a Chinese person named Qu Huahua, and she was one of their managers.
"Teacher Zhang."
"Hey, Sister Qu, hello."
"We'll be holding a charity event in Japan next week, so we would like to invite you to join us. Do you have time to attend?"
"In Japan?"
"That's correct."
"What kind of an event is it?"
"It's the Asian Public Service Announcements Award Ceremony."
"I'm included?"
"Absolutely."
"Didn't they restrict me from entering the country?"
"It's for our charity's award ceremony. They wouldn't dare stop you!"
"Got it! Alright then, I'll go."
"OK, then can you please send me a photo of your passport? I'll help you make the arrangements."
"Sure, thanks!"
After hanging up, Zhang Ye went to inform Ha Qiqi and the others about it.
Ha Qiqi immediately made a note of it. "OK, I'll follow up on it."
Little Wang blinked and said, "Are you really going to Japan?"
Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Why not? We intended to take the fight to them this time anyway, so we have to get a feel of the mood over there and check out the situation."
He had just returned from Korea?
And now he was headed to Japan?
Everyone was trembling a little with fear!
Director Zhang had always managed to get into conflicts with other people without having to step out of his house, to say nothing of if he did go out, and even more so if he did go abroad. When had he not caused earth-shattering chaos before? As a result, all of them shivered when they heard that Zhang Ye was heading abroad again!