The white light completely blinded Arthur's vision and made him close his eyes. It was akin to the light of the sun projecting its rays on him. It was as pure as it was blinding.
A few seconds passed before the light finally started receding and vanishing until Arthur was finally able to open his eyes again.
"What… was that?" Looking around him in confusion, nothing about the white scenery changed after this blinding light. Arthur assumed that he was going to get transported away to someplace. But, he most certainly didn't experience anything of that sort.
[My apologies. I had to summon 'The Pen' so that we could start.]
"The Pen? What's that?" Arthur asked Kofia with a confused look. However, Kofia didn't respond and instead, an object suddenly appeared in front of Arthur, floating quietly in the air.
The object was a beautiful golden ink pen. Arthur was completely captivated by how beautiful the pen was. It had a shiny golden barrel that had intricate engravings on it that looked like some kind of ancient incomprehensible language. The nib was a homogenous mix of shiny silver and golden hue that gave it an almost ethereal feeling.
This pen was the most beautiful pen Arthur had ever seen by far. As a Mangaka, Arthur had researched Ink Pens to find the best ones to use. Aesthetically alone, Arthur would've easily bought this thing if he had seen it before.
[Please stand up and approach the pen.] Kofia said.
At first, Arthur was hesitant as he found this object to be far from normal. It was floating in the air for god's sake!
But, a few seconds later, he stood up and walked towards it till he was a few inches away from it. Being that up close, he could see the jaw-dropping details on the pen.
"So beautiful…" Arthur murmured. The shiny golden hue made Arthur gulp audibly.
[Please grab it.]
"I can?"
[Of course.]
"I-I see…" Nodding his head, Arthur extended his arm carefully and grabbed the pen ever-so-gently by the barrel.
Immediately, as if it sensed Arthur's touch, the golden aura around the pen intensified to a shocking degree. In an instant, it completely engulfed Arthur's hand. The latter was about to instinctively pull his hands away but the Divine Editor stopped him.
[Please don't pull your hand. It's doing its job now.]
"Ok, ok, I won't…" Realizing that it wasn't harmful, Arthur simply watched silently as the pen seemingly connected with his hand. As if the pen was trying to create some kind of contract with him.
He could barely feel the sensation but it was certainly there which surprised Arthur even more and made him even more curious about this amazing pen.
A few seconds passed before something finally happened.
[Ding!]
[Host has been identified.]
[The Pen is initiating connection…]
[Ding!]
[Connection finished successfully.]
[Welcome, MangaVerser Arthur.]
[Please open the menu for more information.]
"Woah! This looks cool!" Arthur exclaimed with a delighted surprise as he read the series of notifications that appeared in front of him.
[The Pen is your sole link to the MangaVerse. It has now made an eternal connection with you. Consider it a part of your body now like your internal organs.]
"Well, that sounds gory." Arthur scratched his chin while inspecting the pen. "What happens if I lose it?"
[You can summon it back with a thought if it isn't in your hands. However, if someone breaks the pen, you will die. Although you won't have to worry about that for a long while.]
"D-Damn, so I need to keep it in a safe place, got it!"
[Good choice. Aside from being your connection to the MangaVerse. The Pen is also your weapon and your sole method to gain strength as you move from one world to another. It's also your only way into a Manga World and it's your only way out. Basically, The Pen is everything to you as long as you're not in your world.]
"I understand what you're saying. I will definitely keep it in a safe place."
'Hell, I will treat it better than I would treat myself.' He gulped before he gently tightened his grip around his Pen.
[Now, please open the menu.]
"How do I do that?"
[It's simple. Just think of the word 'Menu' and it will open automatically.]
Arthur nodded his head before he did what Kofia instructed him to. Almost instantly, a long holographic list appeared in front of his eyes.
[Personal Information.]
[Creation.]
[???]
"Interesting…" Arthur read the list carefully and he must admit that it looked somehow different from the normal status menus he had seen in stories before.
Aside from 'Personal Information', he didn't understand what the other two were.
[Before you start asking questions, please open 'Personal Information'.]
Arthur didn't know why Kofia wanted him to do that first before he could ask questions but he still complied.
[Name: Arthur Colbert.]
[Age: 17.]
[Mangaka Rank: Unranked (0/1).]
[MangaVerses Created: 0]
[MangaVerses Finished: 0]
[Ink Points: 0]
[Stats: Strength: 2/ Agility: 2/ Stamina: 3/ Dexterity: 7.]
[Skills: Ink Absorber.]
[Objectives: None.]
"Holy shit, there is too much to take in." Arthur was overwhelmed by the explosion of information in front of him. So many things were compacted into a single notification, each one more complicated than the other.
[Don't rush. Each thing shall be explained to you if you focus on it.]
"Ok, ok…" Taking a deep breath, Arthur read the content of the notification again carefully.
First of all, he ignored his name and age as they were simply obvious. Instead, he focused on the third option… 'The Mangaka Ranking.'
Instantly, that option was highlighted as an explanation of its functionality appeared in Arthur's retina.
[Mangaka Ranking is the ranking associated with the host. It increases as the host finishes stories. The more worlds the host conquers and the more stories the host creates, the higher the ranking will go and that will unlock more features, skills, and more options for the host to expand and make use of.]
'Oh, so this is basically akin to leveling up?' He thought to himself.
Leveling up in Mangas he read would actually unlock such features so it was safe to assume that was the case. However, it still bothered Arthur that he was completely unranked which meant that MangaVerse doesn't consider any of the tens of One-Shots he wrote to be a full story.
"Can I assume that the MangaVerse would only consider a story completed until it is serialized?"
[Yes, that's indeed the case. In fact, as you continue along the path as a MangaVerser, you will find that sales, popularity, and other criteria related to the stories you create will also be taken into consideration by MangaVerse.]
"Sigh, thought so. Well, I at least have a fresh start." Rubbing the back of his head, Arthur focused on the next options in the menu which were 'ManagVerses Created' and 'MangaVerses Finished' as they seemed to link to each other.
[MangaVerses Created is the number of worlds the host created in total.]
[MangaVerses Finished is the number of worlds the host finished in total.]
"Wait, so I can start multiple stories at the same time and hop between them?" Arthur asked while blinking surprisedly.
[It's certainly possible. But, as most Mangakas don't start multiple stories at the same time as it could turn out to be confusing and exhausting, the same applies here. It's not recommended as it will put a toll on your mental strength and could lead to health repercussions.]
"Is that so? Well, that sounds very authentic, doesn't it?" Arthur was rather impressed by the deep details.
It seemed MangaVerse took into consideration the downsides of being a Mangaka and how brutal it could be. Exhaustion, overwork, and even health conditions are very common in this field of work. In fact, many lost their lives because of this particular downside.
Many of Arthur's favorite Mangakas either quit, fell sick, or even died because they were too overworked which saddened him greatly. However, when he found himself at the heart of this work, he realized that drawing Manga wasn't simply an art… It was first and foremost a business.
And businesses aren't merciful.