novelraw Chapter 179: Holding It In
Chapter 179: Holding It In
The reason Tang Yao held back from pushing Chainsaw Man's plot to a satisfying climax right before the New Year—giving readers a binge-worthy arc to enjoy over the holidays—Was twofold.
On one hand, the story was just hitting its stride.There wasn’t really a “clean” place to pause without breaking the flow.
On the other hand, Chainsaw Man carried the added responsibility of driving attention to the ANF manga section.
The pre-holiday timing just wasn’t ideal for a big marketing push.Everyone was caught up in the New Year buzz, and that kind of heavy promo would’ve been a burden—for both the readers and the staff.
But now that the holidays were over,Things were different.Chainsaw Man could move forward freely.And all the planned events set up months ago… could finally start rolling out.
Among them was the FGO crossover campaign.
And right now—Su Deqiang was staring blankly at the ANF homepage banner…
Ever since ANF's redesign, they’d added a large banner right at the top of the page. Most of the time, it wasn’t even an ad. During the New Year, for instance, it showed the ANF mascot girl raising a toast to celebrate.
No doubt about it—the banner was eye-catching.It was the first thing every user saw when they landed on the site.
Now, if it was the usual seasonal art or a festive New Year’s illustration that everyone had seen a dozen times, most users would just glance at it and move on. But that also meant—If it suddenly changed, then every single ANF user would be drawn to it.
Like Su Deqiang.
He was drawn in.
“A mysterious presence descends from beyond dimensions? Unveil the Holy Grail mystery hidden in the dark?”
Reading the banner text, Su Deqiang was immediately intrigued.He even forgot his Chainsaw Man emotional rollercoaster and clicked without hesitation.
Seeing the words crossover event, he instantly thought: FGO.And he liked FGO.
So yeah, he had to click.
Sure enough—
It was an FGO collab. But it didn’t say what series the crossover was with… only a single silhouette was shown.
Below were the following lines:
[Special FGO Crossover Event! A mysterious Servant from a certain manga is about to descend!][The crossover series is coming soon to the manga section!][…]
“…So which series is it then?”
Su Deqiang was a bit lost.Avalon sometimes used mystery to build hype, sure. But usually, there was at least a clear hint—like that video of Tohsaka Rin for a previous crossover.
But this?This was like saying nothing at all. It was rare for them to be this vague.
The only actual clues were that one shadowy figure and the announcement that FGO was crossing over with a manga.
Actually, Tang Yao didn’t want it to be like this either.
But it was the request of the partner—Rumi’s mother, to be exact.
Probably because the recent Chainsaw Man arc had generated so much buzz,She insisted that when the crossover was officially announced, “Into the Night” must not be seen as riding Chainsaw Man’s popularity wave.
In short:They had to stagger the climax of Chainsaw Man and the promotional period for the Into the Night collab, so user attention wouldn’t get split.
Tang Yao had already asked Li Xue to relay that the Chainsaw Man storyline was just entering a long, high-intensity stretch—so it’d be hard to avoid overlap with the climax.But Rumi’s mother remained firm.
As Li Xue put it:
“Total demon of a client!”
And to add to that, even Rumi herself followed Chainsaw Man.She’d chatted with Tang Yao a bunch about the plot developments recently.
Rumi even tried to smooth things over a bit.
So Tang Yao didn’t argue anymore.
She figured—once Rumi’s mom saw what was coming in the manga, she’d understand.
That said, they still had to do promo.So they ended up with this mysterious, vague teaser page.
And yes, some ANF users were curious about what manga FGO was crossing over with.
But for Su Deqiang, although he was curious, that wasn’t his top priority.
He had just finished reading Chainsaw Man!And this teaser? It said everything and nothing!
So right now, he was more interested in following up on the plot.
He quickly closed the page and headed to the ANF Community section.
As expected—Tons of people had just finished reading Chainsaw Man, and discussion threads were popping off.
A lot of readers who had been emotionally shaken by Makima’s death before the New Year had cooled off during the holiday lull.
But after the break—Just one chapter. One.And it had pulled everyone back in.
That’s the power of a great story.
【So it really was related to the Gun Devil… I knew that sudden hit on Makima wasn’t random. Turns out they were targeting all devil hunters.】
【Say what you want about the Third-Rate Old Hack, but the panel work is insane. It’s a manga, but it feels like a movie—I was so hyped!】
【"Hyped"… You mean the assassination scene?】
【Did Little Red get assassinated too?】
【What I wanna know is, how the hell is this gonna resolve? The art’s amazing, sure, but Makima’s dead, the devil hunters all got ambushed, Denji got shot, Aki’s wounded…】
【Crisis really is the best way to boost anticipation. I just wanted to peek at how they’d explain Makima’s death… and now I’m fully hooked again. I NEED the next chapter…】
【Same. Just thought I’d skim a bit for closure—f**k me, I should’ve stayed away.】
【…】
Su Deqiang scrolled through the comments and realized—Most people felt the same way he did.
That made him feel a whole lot better.
Everyone’s suffering together?Perfect.
Soon, he was deep in discussion, exchanging theories and impressions with fellow readers to ease the agony of the weekly wait.
He spent two full hours in the ANF community, scrolling until his eyes were sore.
Finally, he closed the page and let out a long breath.But the scenes from the latest Chainsaw Man chapters still lingered in his mind.
“Nope. Gotta find something to distract myself,” he muttered, reopening the ANF homepage.
The banner was still there—same mysterious silhouette, same vague FGO promo line.
He hesitated for a moment, then clicked again.He had to.If he didn’t distract himself, it’d be the same situation as before the New Year. And he’d already been through that pain.
“So seriously… which manga are they crossing over with?”
But the moment the page loaded—
Su Deqiang frowned.“…This mysterious tease again?”
Elsewhere.
Avalon HQ.
Li Xue let go of her mouse and turned to Tang Yao, exhaling a breath.
“The feedback’s been great.”
“You mean the manga? Or the crossover campaign?”Tang Yao was working on her tablet, pressure pen in hand. She asked without looking up.
“The manga,” Li Xue replied with a helpless sigh. “As for the crossover… this promo page says everything and nothing. Some users are even calling us out for being deliberately vague.”
“That’s fine. That Rumi’s mother still hasn’t budged, has she?”
Tang Yao’s hand paused for a second, then she chuckled.“If she wants us to avoid overlapping Chainsaw Man's peak arc with Into the Night’s promo period, to keep user attention from being split—Then fine. Let’s give her what she wants. Let’s see if she can really hold out.”
Li Xue raised a brow, curious.“…You think she can?”
“…”
Tang Yao leaned back in her chair, eyes still on the manga screen.
“Mhm. I’m pretty confident in what’s coming next.If she’s waiting for a ‘quiet period’ in Chainsaw Man… she’s gonna be waiting a long time.”