You may not believe this when I say it.
Upon seeing Tribe’s grand promotion, the first thought that flashed through Lin Yuan’s mind was:
Since when did I agree to producing a basketball sports animation?
The reason behind his confusion was simple: Lin Yuan has always considered himself to be the number one creator in the sports competition genre of manga.
Why, you ask?
Because of "King of the Net"!
This was Lin Yuan’s debut under the pen name Shadow, gaining him fame instantly!
So who’s this "number one sports manga artist" being promoted by Tribe?
"It’s He Dajun!"
Jin Mu, who was browsing next to him, clicked on the promotional headline, and after making a reflective remark, provided an answer to Lin Yuan’s confusion—
Despite Lin Yuan still didn’t know who He Dajun was. Discover exclusive tales on freewebnovel
"He Dajun is the author of ’Basketball Fire’, a work you must have heard about. It was even imported into Qin Continent, so many of us Qin people have seen it. It might not have been Blue Star’s first sports competition genre manga, but it was definitely the most popular one in the history of Blue Star. Therefore, He Dajun earned the title of the pinnacle of sports competition genre manga.
And when he created this work, he was only twenty!"
Jin Mu painstakingly explained, then abruptly shifted the topic:
"Untill the release of ’King of the Net’!"
The two mangas belonged to different eras. Details about ’Basketball Fire’ have to be traced back to many years ago. He Dajun is forty five now.
Before Shadow made his debut, ’Basketball Fire’ was the hottest sports manga.
After Shadow’s debut, ’King of the Net’ broke He Dajun’s records with its superior performance.
Let me clarify something here.
Although sports competition is a completely unpopular theme in the novel genre, in the manga industry, sports competition theme does have a decent market, probably due to the fact that manga can visually depict scenes without the need for imagination.
Overall, it is still an unpopular genre, but not as much as in novels.
Especially after ’King of the Net’ took off, sports competition genre manga became more lively. There were even signs of sports competition genre works entering the top ten in popularity on Tribe Comics.
The major contributor to this phenomenon was Shadow rather than He Dajun.
Ironically, the one who made the contribution, Shadow, had already parted ways with Tribe.
After Jin Mu explained, Lin Yuan finally understood.
Can He Dajun’s success be equated to the classic sports mangas from the early days in the island country?
The same classic, but also surpassed by later, more popular sports competition manga. After all, there have been two generations of manga artists who are indeed extraordinary in the island country.
"They’re really going all out."
Continuing to read the promotional news, Jin Mu said:
"He Dajun’s new work is called ’Basketball Heart’. It is a sister act to his previous work. However, he has polished this work for many years, and Tribe is taking it seriously. They’ve decided to release the animation and manga at the same time. They have released some content of the manga first, probably to seize the traffic advantage for Tribe Comics.
The collaborating company is indeed top-notch, and the planned voice actors seem to be from the top-tier ones too. But calling him the number one sports manga artist has stirred up a lot of controversy. Look at the comment section..."
Peering into it, Lin Yuan saw:
"As for the number one sports manga artist, are you sure it’s not Shadow God?"
"After Shadow God’s contract with Tribe Comics ended, Tribe Comics gave the title of the number one sports manga artist to He Dajun. Is this their way of saving face?"
"Shadow God: ???"
"I suggest you read ’King of the Net’ again and tell me out loud - who is the real number one sports manga artist?"
"Could you be more precise in your language? I admit that He Dajun is the number one basketball manga artist, but when it comes to the number one sports manga artist, that title belongs to our Shadow God!"
"Or you could say, He Dajun was the number one sports manga artist in the early days, after all, the later Shadow God has already surpassed him."
"..."
Lin Yuan laughed hysterically.
Although these readers are on Tribe, they are all good comrades and are eventually bound to switch over to the Alliance!
Of course.
There were also some comments in support of He Dajun.
"First of all, I want to scream out loud: My youth is back! He Dajun’s ’Basketball Fire’ is a memory of a generation. It’s understandable that the youngsters who haven’t seen it don’t understand!"
"He Dajun pioneered the category of sports competition. Shadow stands on the shoulders of his predecessors to create, what’s there to brag about?"
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"You all admit that He Dajun is the number one basketball manga artist, then I also admit that Shadow’s ’Dead Sea of Fire’ is currently unrivaled, but don’t forget that his ’King of the Net’ is the only work not created by him. Back then, he was solely the artist, while the storyline was provided by old rascal Chu Kuang."
"The ’King of the Net’ by Shadow is considered a collaboration with Chu Kuang. Comparing two against one, and still accusing Tribe of shamelessness?"
"Comparing a work from twenty years ago with one from twenty years later is ridiculous on its own, moreover, what’s the relation between tennis and basketball? Uncle Dajun is about basketball, not a niche sport like tennis!"
"..."
Lin Yuan shook his head.
While these are die-hard fans, there seems to be a chance of winning them over, and looking at the proportion, there seem to be more people in this group.
"That’s the power of nostalgia."
Seeing Lin Yuan shake his head, Jin Mu smiled and said: "With the filter of nostalgia, everything looks good."
He knows it like the back of his hand.
The fans of He Dajun definitely can’t imagine that ’King of the Net’, supposedly jointly created by Shadow and Chu Kuang, is actually entirely the work of Lin Yuan. Thus, Shadow certainly deserves the title of the number one sports competition genre manga artist.
Lin Yuan didn’t say a word.
Jin Mu thought Lin Yuan was angry:
"I think there’s no need to argue with them about the title of the number one sports competition manga artist. No matter how impressive this manga is, it can’t compete with ’Dead Sea of Fire’. Coincidentally, I’m planning to have ’Dead Sea of Fire’ animated as well. We might even broadcast them together to show off our dominance."
Still, Lin Yuan remained silent.
Jin Mu’s eyes widened: "You can’t be thinking that Tribe’s promotion is too shameless, so you are planning to create another tennis manga to prove once again who’s really the number one sports competition genre manga artist, are you?"
Lin Yuan was still quiet.
But Jin Mu felt he had guessed it right, and he couldn’t help but laugh: "I think it’s feasible. Tribe Comics probably wants to capitalize on the popularity of the Bluelympics to release a sports competition genre manga to attract traffic. They’re even going to such lengths to create the animation prematurely. We can simply nip their plan in the bud. I’m confident in your ability.
If anything, create another tennis manga..."
"What did you say, Uncle Jin?"
Lin Yuan suddenly sounded a bit lost.
Jin Mu stared, stunned, so you mean I’ve been talking for half a day and you didn’t hear a word?
"Sorry."
Scratching his head, Lin Yuan tried to play innocent.
He shouldn’t have been communicating with the system in his mind while talking to Jin Mu. He probably looked a lot like Sun Wukong being possessed.
Yes.
Just now Lin Yuan was calling the system, so he didn’t catch what Jin Mu was saying.
When talking to the system though, Lin Yuan’s expression was far from innocent. The face changing with his thoughts was filled with murderous intent, accompanied by a threatening statement:
"Come out, ’Slam Dunk’!"