I am the Entertainment Tycoon Chapter 996: The Weight of the Backpack

Fuji Jump Co. HQ, Elffire City.

10:50 AM, Saturday, May 29th.

Minamoto Ichino parked his electric bike by the curb, his heart thumping violently against his ribs. As he unbuckled his helmet, his eyes remained glued to the building looming in front of him.

He still couldn’t entirely process the reality of the situation. He was about to walk through those doors for an official meeting with a publishing house—all for the chance of them purchasing his manuscript and offering him a serialization contract.

It felt like a whirlwind. Everything had started just five days ago on Monday night, when his grandfather’s fierce scolding reignited his dying ambition. After discovering Fuji Jump’s recruitment drive, Minamoto had dedicated all of Wednesday to meticulously reviewing his pages and compiling his first ten Chapters into a polished manuscript. That same night, he took a deep breath and hit send on an email to the publisher’s digital submission portal.

He had braced himself for a grueling wait, assuming it would take weeks to hear back, if at all. Yet, by Thursday afternoon, his phone rang. An editorial representative from Fuji Jump was on the line, scheduling an in-person meeting for Saturday at eleven o’clock.

The caller hadn’t revealed too many specifics, but the core message was crystal clear: they loved his work, and they wanted to sign him.

Minamoto had been utterly ecstatic. He was in the middle of a delivery shift when the call came through, forcing him to immediately zip through traffic to drop off a customer’s package. The physical rush of the job had actually helped ground his racing thoughts. Initially, his instinct was to call his grandparents and celebrate the monumental news. But as he navigated the streets of Elffire City, he decided to wait. He refused to give them false hope; he wanted to present them with a signed, legally binding contract.

Because of that secret, his grandparents had no idea that he was currently standing outside the most critical meeting of his life.

Taking a deep, stabilizing breath, Minamoto adjusted his clothes and walked toward the entrance. This was the moment that could turn his entire world around.

Minamoto had dressed in the most formal clothing he owned: a basic, long-sleeved white linen shirt paired with clean jeans. Gripped tightly in his hands was a worn backpack containing every single scrap of story, concept art, character designs, and additional story notes he had ever created for his universe.

The Fuji Jump headquarters wasn’t a cold, corporate skyscraper. Instead, it was a charming three-story red brick building that possessed an organic, creative warmth—looking exactly like a place meant to house passionate writers and mangakas. Inside, the decoration was entirely immersive, with every wall, display case, and corner dedicated to celebrating manga panels and light novel illustrations.

Minamoto adjusted the collar of his linen shirt, took one final deep breath, and pushed through the heavy glass doors into the lobby. The vibrant wall murals of booming manga properties, in his vision, made his simple attire and sneakers feel entirely out of place. But he was just too nervous; no manga publishing company cared about the attire of their mangakas, as they knew that these people could be weird and eccentric sometimes.

Approaching the reception desk, he cleared his throat, his voice wavering slightly. "Hello. I’m here for an eleven o’clock meeting. My name is Minamoto Ichino."

The receptionist offered a professional smile, her fingers tapping rapidly on her keyboard. "Ah, yes, Mr. Minamoto. Chief Editor Toyama is expecting you." She gestured toward the stairs and elevator bank. "Please take the elevator or the stairs to the second floor. A staff member will guide you to Meeting Room B."

"T-thank you!" Minamoto stuttered as he nodded politely.

He immediately hurried over, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his chest. When the elevator doors chimed open on the second floor, a young assistant was already waiting. With a brief bow, she led him down a carpeted hallway lined with colorful framed manga covers, finally opening a door marked with a frosted-glass ’B’.

"Please make yourself comfortable. They will be with you shortly," she said before gently closing the door behind him.

The room was spacious and meticulously clean, featuring a long, polished conference table surrounded by leather chairs. No one else was in the room yet.

Left completely alone with his thoughts, the silence felt deafening. Minamoto cautiously pulled out a chair and sat down at the side of the table, carefully resting his heavy backpack against the leg of his chair. He couldn’t keep his hands still; he kept rubbing his palms against his jeans, trying to wipe away the cold sweat. Every tiny sound—the hum of the air conditioning, the distant murmur of the office outside—made him flinch. He glanced nervously at his watch, counting down the single-digit minutes until eleven o’clock, praying his nerves wouldn’t betray him the moment the editors walked through the door.

Right as the digital clock on the wall shifted to 11:00 AM, the handle turned, and the door to Meeting Room B swung open.

Toyama Kazu walked in first, holding a thick folder in her arms. She was followed by a young assistant and three other senior editors from the department. The sheer presence of five professional industry veterans entering the room all at once caused Minamoto’s heart to spike into overdrive.

Reflexively, he scrambled to his feet, kicking the chair legs back slightly against the carpet. He bowed deeply, his hands pressed tightly against the seams of his jeans. "Good morning! I am Minamoto Ichino! Thank you very much for having me today!" he proclaimed, his voice a bit louder than intended due to his sheer nerves, though he tried his absolute best to be polite.

Seeing his rigid, hyper-formal stance, Kazu let out a soft, melodious chuckle that instantly cut through the tension in the room. Her warm, expressive face crinkled with a genuine smile.

"Good morning, Minamoto-kun," Kazu said, her tone brimming with welcoming energy. "Please, there’s no need to be so stiff. We don’t bite here at Fuji Jump. Take a deep breath."

She walked over to the head of the mahogany table, gesturing toward the staff members behind her. "Let me introduce everyone before we get down to business. I am Toyama Kazu, the Chief Editor who reviewed your submission. This is my direct assistant Joan, and..." She introduced the other three senior editors by name.

The other editors offered polite nods and warm, encouraging smiles, immediately making Minamoto feel less like an intruder and more like a guest.

"Alright everyone, let’s take our seats," Kazu announced cheerfully, pulling out her chair. "We have a very exciting manuscript to discuss today."

Minamoto nodded gratefully, carefully sliding back into his seat while keeping his backpack tucked securely near his feet. He took a slow, stabilizing breath, feeling the crushing weight of his anxiety finally beginning to ease under Kazu’s hospitable reception.

Kazu rested her hands flat on the thick folder in front of her, her expression transitioning from playful to professionally serious, though her eyes remained incredibly warm.

"Minamoto-kun, let’s be entirely honest with you," Kazu began, looking directly into his eyes. "We found your story very good, and our team firmly believes it has great potential. That is why our primary intention today is to sign you to a contract for our upcoming magazine."

Minamoto’s breath hitched in his throat, a sudden wave of validation washing over him.

"But," Kazu continued, tapping the folder gently, "these ten Chapters you submitted form the initial setup. Before we finalize anything, we need to know what happens next. Although the first 10 Chapters can be placed in a few magazine editions, if your goal is to have your own manga serialized, we need to ensure you have a vision that can sustain a series. Do you have a concrete plan for the following plots of the manga?"

Hearing her concern, Minamoto calmed down a little. Having his manga on the magazine was just the first step; what he wanted was to have his own manga serialized so his grandpa could read!

He bent down and lifted his heavy backpack onto the mahogany table. At that moment, his backpack seemed to be weighting tons of kg as it held all of his hopes and dreams.

Unzipping it, his voice was shy but filled with a quiet hope as he revealed the contents.

"Actually, yes," Minamoto murmured, sliding a massive, neatly organized stack of thick notebooks, character reference sheets, and world-building timelines in front of them. "I have been writing and drawing this story for years before bed. I already have detailed outlines, script drafts, and finalized story and panels for at least eighty Chapters."

Everyone in the room was taken completely by surprise. The editors leaned forward instinctively, their eyes widening at the sheer volume of prepared material. A rookie possessing that level of disciplined preparation was virtually unheard of. A wave of collective curiosity washed over the room as the editors suddenly became incredibly eager to see if the story he had created continued to be just as good as the first ten Chapters.