novelraw Chapter 187: What's Going On?
Chapter 187: What's Going On?
After reading last week's update and considering her daughter's advice, Guan Fang had already realized deep down that she was just being stubborn...
Even if this week's Chainsaw Man plot really went downhill, its discussion volume wouldn't necessarily decrease.
After all, the manga's popularity had already taken off.
If the plot had collapsed before the new year, it would have been understandable, but now, the discussion would still surpass The Long Night that had already concluded.
If they missed this opportunity,
the promotional campaign for the crossover event would likely have to wait until next month.
Next month, forget about Avalon's reaction,
she herself would earn less.
She understood all these points perfectly well.
But... she just couldn't accept it. She didn't know where this unwillingness came from - perhaps it was hearing her daughter say that the so-called "third-rate artist" was also a girl, perhaps it was her own competitive nature, perhaps it was because Startrace Publishing was also launching an online reading platform, and she didn't want ANF's manga section to rise on the back of Chainsaw Man.
In short,
she just couldn't accept it.
After all,
was that third-rate artist really... that talented?
With Fate/Zero creating the cash cow that was FGO,
and now Chainsaw Man seemingly able to gather massive popularity and elevate ANF's entire manga section?
And she's reportedly very young - how could this be possible?
Her daughter should have been the most outstanding female manga artist!
Was her work really that good?
Could this unconventional storyline really avoid mistakes?
She refused to believe it.
With these thoughts in mind,
Guan Fang opened Chapter 27 of Chainsaw Man.
And then,
she witnessed Makima displaying near-divine punitive abilities and overwhelming presence in this chapter.
Immediately upon resurrection,
Makima had two demon hunters prepare thirty death row inmates, found the highest altitude shrine, made the prisoners kneel on the ground, and blindfolded them.
Meanwhile, the assassins achieved complete victory and began loading Denji's bisected upper body onto a vehicle.
But as they did this, one assassin started sweating profusely, saying he felt strange.
Then, before his companions could react, in the next instant, he was flattened by an invisible force, directly turning into... a pool of blood.
Without any warning,
he became a pool of blood.
The assassins who had just been cutting down everything in their path visibly panicked, not understanding what was happening.
The scene shifted back to the shrine.
Makima performed some hand gestures, squatting down calmly and peacefully instructing the blindfolded death row inmate to say a name.
Then, as if exercising some divine authority, with her interlaced hands moving,
another assassin twisted like a pretzel before exploding into a pool of blood!
All while Makima remained expressionless as always.
And then,
it continued.
One blindfolded death row inmate after another collapsed, one assassin after another exploded into blood.
The highly impactful imagery filled the screen.
Makima's character underwent a complete reversal within this single chapter.
Until the very end,
Makima behaved as if she had done something utterly insignificant.
"......"
Guan Fang was stunned, only clicking to the next chapter after a long pause.
Next chapter.
Kobeni made her appearance.
This timid and cowardly girl from the previous arc shone brilliantly in this chapter due to her companion's death.
The dramatic tension... was truly unmatched.
The stark contrast left even Guan Fang feeling dizzy.
Finally,
she finished reading this chapter too.
The plot hadn't collapsed.
Not only hadn't it collapsed, one could even say... it became more brilliant.
Guan Fang knew perfectly well - if even she felt this way, regular readers must be even more impressed.
This was evident from the comment section's activity.
Before clicking in,
Guan Fang had specifically checked the comment count, and now within less than half an hour, it had increased by three thousand...
Three thousand.
Clearly,
these three thousand comments were all generated by the latest two chapters.
One could easily imagine readers' current excitement.
"......"
Guan Fang watched the still-increasing comment count and fell completely silent.
After a long while,
she finally exhaled deeply and opened the "third-rate artist's" profile page.
Tang Yao's avatar was casually drawn - a dog.
Guan Fang stared blankly at "Third-rate Teacher's" avatar.
She was genuinely baffled! Where did this female manga artist come from!!
Her daughter's talent was undeniable - a woman dominating the male-oriented manga field! So why did this person seem even better than her daughter!
How did she come up with such stories!
Coincidence?
It must be coincidence!
Thinking resentfully, she subconsciously clicked on the "works" section.
And then,
she froze slightly.
"...The Long Goodbye?"
Guan Fang stared at the new work in the third-rate artist's portfolio, momentarily stunned before exclaiming incredulously: "New release? Updating a long series while also having time for another work? Is she insane!?"
She was genuinely shocked and instinctively clicked in.
It was a short story,
so there weren't many pages - only about 30.
Seeing this, Guan Fang automatically started reading...
The protagonist was a girl named Riko...
Having lost her mother young, Riko was raised single-handedly by her father, making her greatest fear her father's death.
As a child, she would cry endlessly after dreaming of her father's death, but her father would always joke that he was Superman and wouldn't die.
Yet despite this, the shadow of her father's mortality always lingered in Riko's heart.
As she grew older, Riko reached marriageable age and wed her husband.
Their marriage was against his family's wishes, so after moving in, Riko always felt like an outsider - her in-laws were normally cheerful people but always cold toward her.
Their attitude was distinctly odd.
Only her husband's younger sister liked her.
One day while wandering the mansion, Riko suddenly saw a white figure.
Puzzled, she called out.
The white, translucent figure slowly turned around.
Riko saw a face like wrinkled leather... it was actually a ghost!
"A horror story? The cliché of stumbling into a haunted family? So predictable... I knew it was coincidence..."
At this point, Guan Fang's expression turned slightly disdainful, but she kept reading out of stubbornness.
Because of the ghost,
Riko screamed and fell, landing near her great-grandparents' room. She wanted to tell them about the ghost, but upon closer inspection realized the elderly couple weren't solid either - their faces were somewhat transparent, though less obviously than the ghost.
Riko was terrified again.
That night, she immediately told her husband.
Faced with his wife's questions, the husband explained their family situation - these ghost-like figures were... afterimages of deceased family members.
Afterimages were manifestations summoned by their family's longing. While physically nonexistent, they could be touched and could speak, though limited by their knowledge.
Yet they continued summoning them to gradually heal the wounds of loss.
However, afterimages would disappear over time - specifically after... twenty years.
Soon,
Riko witnessed her husband's family summon an afterimage during a funeral, seeing her own aged father.
Terrified of her father's death, Riko begged her husband to create an afterimage of her father when he passed.
But her husband hesitated, explaining that creating afterimages required the entire family's effort - he couldn't do it alone.
That night, he still relayed Riko's request to his family.
But they refused, saying summoning Riko's father was meaningless.
Heartbroken, Riko hid crying until her sister-in-law comforted her.
But then Riko discovered... her sister-in-law was also an afterimage.
Her husband confessed his sister had actually died from illness ten years prior.
"......"
Instead of the expected horror, Guan Fang found herself silent before this storyline.
...Longing?
She continued reading.
In the story,
eight years passed since Riko's marriage. Despite her efforts to please her in-laws, they remained indifferent.
Then came the ultimate betrayal - her husband was cheating on her.
That night, Riko confronted him.
Her husband calmly admitted he would marry his coworker but wouldn't divorce Riko.
Hearing this absurdity, Riko naturally protested.
Finally losing patience, her husband slapped her and revealed a cruel truth:
...She was already dead!
Riko had actually died in a car accident the day before their engagement... Heartbroken, her husband had begged his father to create an afterimage of Riko but was refused. Determined, he pleaded with every family member until they reluctantly cooperated to create Riko's afterimage.
Then he married and lived with Riko's afterimage until now.
Riko's memorial tablet stood in her family's cemetery.
"......"
Guan Fang's mouth fell open slightly as everything suddenly made sense.
Why her in-laws were always cold, why her husband cheated.
Because Riko was just... an afterimage.
After ten years, her husband had moved on.
Ready for new love.
The pain had gradually healed.
This family no longer needed her.
Riko was stunned.
After accepting reality, she prepared to leave quietly.
Before going, she bid farewell to her sister-in-law, who by now had become extremely faint - she would likely disappear soon.
After saying goodbye, Riko began her journey home. With ten years left before her own disappearance, who would depart first - her father or herself?
Riko believed it would be her.
So she chose to return home to accompany her father.
Arriving home,
her elderly father was moving things outside when he froze upon seeing his daughter appear suddenly.
Riko smiled brightly: "Dad, I'm home."
"…………"
Guan Fang stared at this scene, at the smiling protagonist saying "I'm home," and froze.
Then... tears began falling uncontrollably.
She didn't know why, but that final scene broke her.
Death, memory, family bonds, and facing loss...
Tears streamed down her face.
Guan Fang sniffled, trying to hold back, but the final "I'm home" and Riko's smiling face made her remember her own struggles after divorce, the man she once loved deeply, her childhood self, her still-living father back then...
Just then,
"Mom! Have you seen this week's Chainsaw Man yet?"
Rumi burst in complaining: "About the crossover event..."
But halfway through,
she saw her mother silently crying.
She froze.
"......"
Embarrassed to be seen, Guan Fang turned away.
Rumi quickly understood and hugged her mother: "What's wrong? What happened?"
Guan Fang didn't speak, but feeling her daughter's warmth, she finally broke down sobbing.
"…………"
Rumi looked between her usually strong-willed, now-crying mother and the manga on screen, completely baffled.
What in the world... was going on?