Nora Scott had never met with an editor in person before, but whenever she contacted them under her comic artist identity, Zero, they always treated her exceptionally well... Receiving such treatment, though, was truly a first.
In a way, she indeed "gained some insight" from this experience.
"She’s the editor for Isabella Hart and UU. She’s only been in the industry for three or four years. I heard that when she had the popular comic artist Isabella under her wing, she got a bit carried away."
"Tsk," Laura Collins shook her head, "Well, her new comic artist, UU, has a series called the ’First Ruins’ that’s exploded online. It’s well-received by peers and media alike, being touted as the next ’Zero.’ She’s probably even more carried away now."
Nora squinted her eyes and asked with interest, "The next Zero?"
"You haven’t seen her ’First Ruins,’ have you? A few days ago, she just updated the second Chapter. The content’s even more explosive, with a brand new worldview and an innovative developmental style that’s taken the comic fans online by storm. Although her drawing skills are lacking, the narrative and creativity do have Zero’s flair."
Laura described slowly, "Right now, ’First Ruins’ is steadily sitting at number one on the new comics chart on the platform, with metrics three to four times beyond the second place. Because of her work, CC Comics has gained a lot of new readers. Her Weibo hashtag trended for a whole day, and her followers surged from just below a hundred thousand to over a million."
Listening to Laura’s recap of the statistical figures, Nora didn’t feel much.
Every time she updated, it caused some fluctuations, so she didn’t have a concrete grasp of the numbers.
However, she had been busy with making drones all week and hadn’t paid attention to comics, nor had she seen ’First Ruins.’
Seeing Laura’s assessment, Nora nodded, "I’ll check it out when I get back."
Nora paused for a moment, then asked, "Who’s in second place on the new releases chart?"
She remembered that Laura’s new work also launched on CC Comics last week, and from what Nora had seen, it should be doing decently well.
"That’s right, I’m the one in second place with data three to four times lower."
Laura admitted frankly, speaking candidly and openly.
Solid results, solid data, everything is spoken for by the quality of the work, nothing else needs to be said.
Nora burst out laughing silently.
"UU’s not bad, pretty low-key and humble, doesn’t have as many issues as Isabella and Molly do." Resting her elbow on Nora’s shoulder, Laura patted her hands, "I just heard she was going to play some game. Let me take you around, see if we can run into her."
Nora had no objections and followed behind Laura, strolling leisurely out of the rest area with her.
If the lounge area was already bustling with activity, then the actual comic convention site was a spectacular crowd scene.
The activity area was packed with people, the gaming area had long queues, the merchandise area was overcrowded, and the signing area...
The comic artists and authors hadn’t even shown up yet, and long lines had already formed, with all the book fans eagerly holding their books, waiting in anticipation.
Nora estimated that the longest line was probably for Isabella Hart’s readers, indirectly proving the popularity of Isabella’s works.
Laura waved her hand in front of Nora and then pointed in a direction.
Nora lifted her eyes to look.
In her view were a group of flamboyantly dressed, yet very familiar-looking cosplayers, each portraying characters from her own works—an estimated thirty or forty people. They were currently acting like long-lost relatives, busy acknowledging one another, with more and more people gathering around them.
"That’s the influence of Zero, amazing, right? Meeting offline fits that quote perfectly: ’As long as you’re a fan of Zero, we’re family.’" Laura said with a smile, with a hint of pride curling at the corners of her lips.
This was Nora’s first time at a comic convention, and her first time seeing such a scene.
It felt pretty fascinating.
Bumping her shoulder, Laura encouraged, "Wanna hop over from White’s side?"
Nora refused decisively, without even needing to think.
Laura was somewhat regretful but not surprised.
She had never heard Nora praise Zero, but every mention of White brought some acknowledgment from Nora, and she could talk endlessly about White’s works.
As the two were leisurely wandering around, they suddenly heard someone calling out, with a soft and gentle voice.
Laura’s pen name was Florence Locke.
Nora paused for two seconds, only then realizing that someone was calling Laura. Following the direction of the voice along with Laura, they found that the person calling them had already reached them.
Her gaze lingered on the person, and Nora paused slightly, with lips gently curving into a faint, playful smile.
Still dressed adorably, wearing a pink top paired with a black skirt, fresh and cute, even her makeup was on the adorable side. Among such a large crowd, she was still a standout sight that drew many passersby to turn their heads and look.