As soon as the New Year holiday ended, Ren threw himself back into work with renewed energy, first checking the progress of his comics.
"Cooking Master Boy" was nearing its conclusion. The climactic battle between Shaoan and Cooking Master Boy was intense and fast-paced.
In this stage, Cooking Master Boy's soaked soybeans were sabotaged by Xiang En, turning them into something like stinky, sticky natto.
While readers felt that Xiang En's tactics were despicable and that Cooking Master Boy was in a tough spot, Cooking Master Boy surprised everyone by thanking Xiang En, claiming he had turned misfortune into a blessing.
When the judging time came, Cooking Master Boy presented tofu made from those soybeans.
Initially, everyone thought it was just ordinary tofu.
But they soon discovered it was Cooking Master Boy's meticulously designed black-and-white Mapo Tofu, the "Great Magic Panda Tofu."
In his previous life, among the fan creations of "Food Wars!", dishes like fried rice and this type of tofu were the most frequently featured.
Next, Shaoan presented his masterpiece—Tofu Trio.
The trio meant that from the ingredients to the presentation, everything was made of tofu. If his opponent had been an ordinary person, Shaoan would have undoubtedly won. But was Cooking Master Boy ordinary?
He was the protagonist, and a highly talented one at that, with luck on his side.
Shaoan's supposedly original dish had actually been created by Master Abé seven years earlier. Shaoan had traveled across China, even joining the Dark Cooking Society, only to end up recreating Master Abé's dish.
How could Shaoan accept this? How could he believe it?
In despair, Shaoan attempted to blow up the Loulin ship, intending to perish with everyone.
Just as everyone was in a state of panic, Captain Cha Yi from the Ship Alliance arrived to rescue them.
It was only through Cooking Master Boy's explanation that Shaoan realized his grave mistake.
"Here! This is your mother's secret recipe book! I hope you still remember me, your senior, Shaoan! Goodbye!"
Moved by Liu Maoxing's words, Shaoan finally shed tears of regret. He handed over the second part of Master Abé's manuscript to Liu Maoxing and perished in the explosion.
Many readers felt sad about Shaoan's death.
"Damn, I used to hate this guy, but now I think he's not that bad."
"Not that bad? He blamed his master for his burned eyes! How is that 'not bad'?"
"Well, at least he repented in the end."
"The real villains are the Dark Cooking Society."
"True, the Porter, as the creator of the Dark Cooking Society, is the worst."
"What do you mean? Just because he created the Dark Cooking Society in the comic, he's the worst?"
"Don't you know? There are many accounts online recreating dishes from Cooking Master Boy, and they all taste terrible. So people say the Porter is the founder of the Dark Cooking Society."
"Exactly! I tried making the Jumping Turtle Soup from Cooking Master Boy, and it turned out awful. It made me nauseous."
Ren's cooking skills were highly questioned online, with some even calling him a culinary scourge.
Besides "Cooking Master Boy," other works were also progressing.
For example, the introduction of Lan Yun, the Ice Sword Master, had many male readers declaring her their wife, attracting new fans who were drawn by her image.
It was like in "Youth Song," where people saw the character Yue Ji in short videos and then watched the series, calling her their wife.
But how long these marriages lasted varied. Fans often switched their affections to new characters.
Soon, readers were outraged.
That pig-like Zhu Wujie dared to propose to Lan Yun?
And to save Hong Feihong, who hadn't recovered from his poison, Lan Yun decided to marry Zhu Wujie to get the antidote.
How dare such an ugly man have designs on everyone's wife?
"My wife did this to save me. It's a good thing I wasn't awake, or I would have killed Zhu Wujie with a Fire Dance Whirlwind."
"Hey, upstairs, Lan Yun is my wife. You're more like Zhu Wujie."
"Your wives are awesome.jpg"
"Are you guys dreaming? Someone wake these people up with a splash of cold water."
As for "Bleach"?
This weekly comic hadn't reached its peak yet, ranking in the middle to slightly above average among Ren's works.
Honestly, if not for Ren winning the Golden Mouse Award, he doubted "Bleach" would have achieved such high rankings.
In addition, Ren's Pokémon game was in full development, and "Pokémon Killer" was receiving continuous updates.
As a card game, Ren didn't release all the Pokémon at once. He started with a portion from the first series and planned to gradually add more.
Besides games, there was the filming of "Ultraman Tiga." Due to a previous accident, the filming had fallen behind schedule.
As the scriptwriter, Ren frequently visited the set.
This was one of his favorite works, and he didn't want it to be poorly made.
Time flew by, and it was soon March.
New works were refreshed by the system.
This time, there were no unknown comics. All three were familiar to Ren.
The first was "Fullmetal Alchemist," a highly acclaimed work in his previous life.
Set in an alternate world, it incorporated real-world knowledge like alchemy and chemistry.
Combining transmutation circles with alchemy was innovative, and the manga received high praise both domestically and internationally in his previous life.
The principle of "Equivalent Exchange" represented the fundamental law of alchemy in the manga.
Most importantly, the manga deeply explored themes of life, nature, human desires, greed, weakness, cunning, stubbornness, and hesitation, without any flamboyance, leaving readers with a profound experience.
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