Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 162: What Are You Still Hesitating About?

"So what you're saying is...?"

After hearing Rumi out, Tang Yao more or less pieced the whole thing together.

Yeah, this was a bit tricky.

Although mangaka at the top of the pyramid usually have a lot of autonomy when it comes to licensing and managing their own works—after all, they’re the golden geese of the publishing houses, and no one wants to offend them unless absolutely necessary—things were different in this case. Her mother wasn’t just the editor, she was also part of the higher-ups at the publishing house.

That changed the equation.

Besides, Rumi didn’t seem like the particularly assertive type.

In that case, the halo of a top mangaka naturally got canceled out by the presence of a "Mom" halo. And if the mom was also the pushy one in the situation? That just made things even more complicated.

Plus, Rumi’s works had already been licensed out.

No need to ask—those deals definitely came with exclusivity clauses.

We're talking mobile games here. If one IP gets licensed out to several games at once, what’s that if not making a joke out of it?

So the moment Tang Yao heard what Rumi said, she realized the collab was probably dead in the water.

Technically speaking… it didn’t have to be Rumi. But her reputation was massive, and her works were excellent. She really was the best fit.

That’s why Tang Yao went out of her way to ask Rumi for her opinion.

Just to see if there was any chance left.

After thinking it over, Rumi replied, "Actually, I’m really interested. I feel like a crossover between my characters and FGO would be really fun... Oh right, quick question: if we do collab, and I write the story, would I have to tailor it around the game dev team? Or do I write my version, and they work the game around that?"

"Hmm?"

Tang Yao found the question a bit odd and sensed some underlying meaning. She responded, "I don’t know how other companies do it, but at ours, the story always comes first. It’s a core principle for us. Since we're making a 2D game, narrative and characters are the main draw. If the writers have to accommodate the game devs, it ends up compromising everything. The dialogue gets cut because it's too long, new mechanics get scrapped because they’re hard to implement, and the final product ends up… weird. If the game was mechanics-driven, it might still work, but for narrative-focused games like ours, that would totally ruin the fun and appeal."

Tang Yao still remembered.

In her past life, FGO started off with the dev team in charge. Every bit of story had to adapt to the game mechanics, to the point where even line lengths had specific restrictions.

Later on, probably because TYPE-MOON couldn’t stand it anymore—and also because the mobile game was making serious money—the writing team finally gained more say.

Only then did the plot in the later chapters start getting really good.

Tang Yao had known that from the start, so she made sure her game development followed one rule: never sacrifice the story for the sake of the game.

Plus, she wasn’t just a scriptwriter—she was also the boss of Avalon. So her voice carried serious weight.

That’s why the development model had always been story-first.

Of course—

That only applied to FGO, since it was a 2D game.

For other games, that approach wouldn’t fly. Take the new Dou Pai game, for example—it was completely different.

Some games really weren’t about story at all but were gameplay-centered.

Think Zelda, Mario—those types. But if you assume the story is just slapped on, you’re an idiot.

They build the gameplay first, then wrap a story around it—but that doesn’t mean they don’t care.

In fact—

Their scriptwriters are carefully selected, and even the simplest storyline goes through meticulous polishing.

Even a linear plot can hit you with a "Whoa, that was awesome!" moment—like that scene in Super Mario Odyssey where you get to control Bowser.

"As I thought..."

Rumi nodded, clearly unsurprised.

She’d played FGO before, so she knew Tang Yao wasn’t just making stuff up.

A lot of the lines in the game were actually kind of long and wordy.

But they were kept anyway.

And it was exactly those dense lines that helped the characters stick in people’s hearts.

Thinking of that—

Rumi sighed. "Now I want to work with you guys even more… Honestly, I tried asking the companies that licensed my work if I could oversee the storyline. Some straight up said no, some asked if I could help cut down the story, and some wanted me to tailor new stories to fit their game mechanics. They really act like just having my IP and the new trend of 2D mobile games is enough to guarantee success."

"They never consider that the readers who would check out the game because of my manga have already read the manga. It’s not like FGO, where you’ve got a popular manga and a direct sequel baked into the game… and the game’s story actually builds on the same world."

"There's no way my reader base alone could carry a whole game… and they’re super picky, too. If you change too much, they’ll complain. If you don’t change anything, they’ll also complain."

"As for new players?"

"If you mess with the story, the manga fans you attract will just tell new players to go read the manga. And if you don’t change the story? That’ll happen even faster."

"So at this point, I don’t even want to get involved. As long as they pay the licensing fee, fine..."

It was pretty obvious—

She wasn’t too happy about it.

She was a fan of FGO herself, of course she hoped that a game adaptation of her manga would actually be good.

But being a creator often meant you had to swallow your frustrations. Even if something bugged you, you couldn’t always speak up.

She was used to it. In most multimedia projects, the original author gets treated like dead weight.

The whole licensing and supervision process was a mess.

Tang Yao, on the other hand, understood what those game companies were thinking. They were just trying to cash in while the 2D mobile game trend was still hot.

Push the game out fast, ride the manga’s popularity, and make a quick buck.

As for story and characters? Sure, they knew they were important… but until they hit a wall and take a huge loss, they’ll keep gambling. Plus, under OKR pressure, who has time to polish a game slowly?

By the time it's done, the hype is gone.

Most of the people snapping up rights and rushing out games were just looking for shortcuts.

The ones who really believed in the potential of 2D mobile games? They were already hiring top-tier writers and artists, carefully crafting the story and characters, building something original from the ground up.

"Miss Rumi, since you’re already leaning this way—"

At that moment—

Li Xue looked at Rumi and said abruptly, "Why not try convincing the higher-ups? Sure, you sold the rights to your series, but exclusivity agreements probably don’t cover collabs with existing games, right?"

"Uh..."

Rumi’s eyes lit up at that, but she still hesitated.

Wouldn’t that be kind of sneaky?

If the release window was too close, what would the companies who’d bought her IP even do…? She seriously doubted they could make anything better than FGO.

Even if it was just a regular collab card pool.

What if the others went all-out promoting it as "Officially Authorized by Miss Rumi!"—only to get crushed by FGO in the end?

That’d be super awkward.

But honestly—

She was really, really interested...

"I’ll ask."

Rumi hesitated for quite a while but finally picked up her phone.

Li Xue didn’t say anything more.

But once Rumi had her phone in hand—

She got a little anxious, remembering how rigid her editor—no, her mom—was. She thought about how hard she’d trashed Fate/Zero back in the day.

It didn’t seem very likely.

She had made such bold declarations back then.

And for the sake of saving face—

She’d probably say no, right?

So annoying...

But even as she thought that, Rumi still made the call.

They’d already built up the atmosphere this far—it’d be weird not to follow through.

The phone rang twice before it picked up.

A slightly stiff voice came from the other end: "Hello? I was just about to call you. Why aren’t you at the studio? Where’s the next chapter?"

"I went out to meet some friends. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Rumi answered and started trying to figure out the right words.

But just as she started organizing her thoughts—

Her mom went full machine-gun mode: "Friends?! You’ve got that much free time? Stop hanging out with those useless friends! Use that time to build up a chapter buffer! You need to—"

"Stop."

Rumi cut her off, annoyed. Her mom’s voice was getting too loud, and she was worried Tang Yao and Li Xue might hear, so she quickly said, "I’m meeting with people from the FGO dev team!"

On the other end—

There was a sudden pause.

Rumi continued, "They’re asking if Into the Night could do a collab card pool with their game. Can you consider—"

Before she could finish—

Her mom cut in urgently: "...FGO?! Collab card pool?! The one that offers profit-sharing to collab IPs?"

Rumi glanced at Tang Yao across from her. "Yeah..."

"Then what the h*ll are you hesitating for?! Say yes! Say yes right now! I’ll come over and handle the details myself!"

This time—

Her voice was loud enough that Tang Yao and Li Xue heard it too.

"......"

The air suddenly felt a bit tense.

Li Xue and Tang Yao exchanged looks.

That... didn’t sound like hesitation at all?

Rumi looked a little embarrassed.

Seriously.

Why’d she have to yell like that?

Didn’t she feel even a little awkward? After dragging Fate/Zero through the mud back then, now she’s acting like she wants to teleport here herself...