Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 95: The Manga Ends

Su Deqiang stared blankly at the website on his screen.

The site had completely changed… If before it had just been a platform for serialized manga, then now—it basically had nothing to do with manga at all.

Even the site’s name had changed… The logo was no longer Fate/Zero, but had been replaced with Fate/Grand Order.

The navigation menu had also expanded beyond just "Characters," "World," "Setting," and "Manga."Now it also included "Personal Center," "News"… and a Game Download section.

This was now a full-fledged commercial website.

And just beneath the navigation bar was the most iconic key visual of Fate/Grand Order:A deep blue sky, a black hole-like circular vortex at the center, swirling clouds and radiant light emanating from within...It looked as if another world was connected beyond the heavens.

Several Heroic Spirits seemed to be emerging from that world, appearing in the center of the visual.Of course, taking center stage was Artoria, with the other Heroic Spirits surrounding her.

Jeanne, Scathach, Attila, Mash, Mephistopheles, Henry, Darius III…

In the bottom right corner was something like an introductory tagline:

Fate/Grand Order – Observer of the Timeless Temple.Lead countless Heroic Spirits to reclaim humanity’s future!An unprecedented, epic battle story begins!The greatest Holy Grail War in history—begins now!“…So it really was all a buildup for the game? Fate/Grand Order? The greatest Holy Grail War in history?”

Su Deqiang stared at the visual and finally snapped out of it, shaking his head slightly.

He’d definitely heard all the noise during the game’s testing phase.

But unfortunately… he didn’t like playing games.He used to chat a bit with players early on, but as Fate/Zero’s plot went full-throttle into madness, he’d stopped paying attention altogether.

...There was another test later, right?The lucky ones who got into it seemed really excited?

He couldn’t remember.

His main focus had always been the manga.When he went to the forums, it was mostly to discuss the story.

Actually, most readers were like that.Eventually, fans realized that the third-rate artist had licensed the IP for the game and there was no reversing that.But since the manga’s quality didn’t suffer—in fact, it only got better in the later arcs—

And since the artist clearly had no intention of dragging things out just to accommodate the game, with fan-favorite characters dying off left and right…Readers who loved the manga gradually shifted all their attention to this death-sprint of a story.

As for the game?Most didn’t pay it much mind. They just knew it existed.

Su Deqiang was a prime example.

“Looks kind of cool, and the character art’s really nice… But too bad I don’t play games. Right now my head’s still full of Fate/Zero... I’ll just wish them luck.”

He gave it a quick once-over.Seeing Saber on the key visual tugged at his heartstrings a bit…

But he really didn’t play games.And he knew very well: promo art is one thing, in-game visuals are another… No matter how beautiful the artwork, it doesn’t mean the actual game will look the same.

Besides, what, was the gameplay just collecting these Heroic Spirits or something?

So he quickly looked away and clicked the "Manga" tab in the navigation bar.

The manga section hadn’t changed much.

And the final chapter of Fate/Zero was now up.

Su Deqiang immediately forgot all about the game and eagerly clicked on the last chapter.He leaned forward slightly, eyes glued to the screen.

…In Tang Yao’s previous life, Fate/Zero was the prequel to Fate/stay night, and its ending was already predetermined.For Type-Moon fans and players of the main series, it held almost no surprises.

But for readers in this world, that wasn’t the case.

The ending of this story was completely unknown to them.

And Fate/Zero’s ending… was a tragedy through and through.Virtually every compelling character ended in failure...

After Saber was forced by Command Seals to destroy the Holy Grail, the overflowing black mud rained down from the sky.Fuyuki City was consumed in a sea of flames.

Confronted with this hell on earth, Kiritsugu Emiya broke down completely.In despair, he searched for survivors—anyone, even just one person—hoping to alleviate the crushing guilt in his heart…

Meanwhile, the morally bankrupt Kotomine Kirei survived—But he’d completely transformed into a twisted sociopath.At Tokiomi’s funeral, he even gifted the murder weapon to Tokiomi’s daughter, Rin Tohsaka... and became her guardian.

The only one who arguably got a “good” ending was Waver.

As for the Heroic Spirits—

Gilgamesh, who had annoyed readers for most of the story, managed to acquire a physical body and stayed in the world. While Saber, devastated, returned to the battlefield of the Hill of Swords, sobbing uncontrollably as she denied her worth as a king.

This was... really not a happy ending.

Su Deqiang felt a bit gutted, so he read slowly.But no matter how slow you go, the end still comes.

Soon, he finished reading.

In the final moments, the manga did offer a glimmer of hope.

The child Kiritsugu had saved vowed to carry on his ideals…To become a Hero of Justice.With his ideals passed on, Kiritsugu slowly closed his eyes.

And on the desolate, grim battlefield of the Hill of Swords, beneath dark clouds and barren skies—A shaft of sunlight suddenly broke through…Shining on Saber’s dazed face.

“……”

Su Deqiang looked at that double-page spread—Saber lifting her head, light piercing through the clouds—And slowly let go of the mouse.He was still a little down... but couldn’t help but sigh with admiration.

It was brilliant.Absolutely brilliant.This story was incredible.

But...

Su Deqiang stared at the screen and smacked his lips.He felt a lingering sense of... incompleteness.

That ending... kind of felt like the story wasn’t actually over!?

Gilgamesh was still alive!So was that delightful little freak, Kotomine Kirei!And how could they let that sweet little girl, Rin Tohsaka, be raised by a psycho like that!?

No, wait a second.This is really the end?

The more he thought about it, the more something felt off.

He scrolled down to the comments section and saw that many readers shared the same thoughts. [Wait, that’s it? Are they gonna do a second part? This feels like there’s still more story to tell!][Exactly! They could keep going! What about the Fifth Holy Grail War?][What about Rin, Shirou Emiya, Illya, and Sakura Matou? Their stories haven’t even started yet… Sequel maybe?][…]

Su Deqiang looked at the comments and gave a knowing smile.Then he closed the page and was about to check the forums to see what others were saying.

But just before he left, he suddenly remembered the key visual he saw earlier.He paused.

He didn’t really like playing games… but still, maybe he should take a look…

With that thought—Driven by this lingering curiosity—Su Deqiang hesitated, then navigated back to the homepage, preparing to click into this Fate/Grand Order thing.

But as soon as he got back to the homepage, out of habit, he scrolled down with his mouse wheel.

And as he did—

The page auto-scrolled... revealing a second key visual.

“……”

There’s more?

Su Deqiang was stunned.He really hadn’t noticed this before… huh?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he looked at the second game key visual on the site—And saw several familiar faces.

This time, it wasn’t from the game’s main storyline.It was from the game’s Observer Route…

A brown-haired boy, a twin-tailed girl, a purple-haired girl, and—Saber…

Wait a minute…

Su Deqiang immediately looked at the bottom right corner of the visual.

There, just like before, was a set of taglines—

Fate/Grand Order – The Fifth Holy Grail War.A battle where seven mages summon Heroic Spirits to fight for the Holy Grail.The last one standing wins the Grail—this is the Holy Grail War of Fuyuki City!Kiritsugu Emiya’s adopted son, Shirou Emiya, accidentally forms a contract with a Servant and is forced into the Holy Grail War…The Fifth Holy Grail War—officially begins!

“?????”

Su Deqiang shot up from his chair like a spring.

Huh!?