"Did you draw this?" a man with a heavy beard asked, his curious gaze settling on Stephen.
Stephen glanced up, meeting his uncle's eyes. "Yeah," he nodded, a small smile forming as he guessed what was going through the man's mind.
"Stephen, I didn't know you had this kind of talent," his uncle said, flipping through the pages. "Hmm," he muttered, pausing to admire the artwork.
"It's manga. You read it from the back," Stephen clarified, pointing at the pages.
"Right, manga, Japanese," man replied with a chuckle. "Reading backwards is weird, but it's not bad." His chuckle faded as his eyes stopped on a particular page. His expression turned serious. "Stephen... Max's death wasn't anyone's fault. You can't let it keep eating at you like this," he said softly, his tone steady and concerned. His gaze lingered on the haunting image of a man being devoured by another a figure that might have been human, if not for the unnerving eyes scattered across its skin.
Stephen straightened, his smile fading into something calm and composed. "Don't worry, Uncle George. This has nothing to do with Dad's death. I actually started working on this way before he passed," he explained. Then, with a flicker of pride, he added, "I've already finished the next volume."
Stephen could tell what his uncle was thinking, but he couldn't bring himself to explain the truth. The reason he didn't draw something lighter wasn't his choice. The system had chosen this world for him, leaving him no room to decide otherwise.
Since the announcement of the trip to Oscorp, he had been working tirelessly to finish what he planned to sell. Time was against him, and he knew he had to wrap everything up before the chaos began.
"Why didn't you go to a publishing company? It would've been easier than handling everything yourself," George asked, his eyes still scanning the pages, clearly becoming more immersed in the story.
"I don't want anyone editing my work," Stephen replied firmly.
George nodded, understanding. Makes sense. Youngsters have their pride.
"Have you thought about how you're going to sell it?" George asked after a moment.
Stephen shook his head. "Not yet."
"I know a few sellers you could meet," George offered. "Your work is different from the usual stuff, but it might be worth the risk for those shops that are barely hanging on. It's not like no one's tried something different before, though only a handful managed to succeed."
Stephen nodded. He knew George was right. The influence of Captain America and other superheroes was deeply ingrained in both kids and adults. The market had been saturated with superhero stories for decades, making it nearly impossible for any other genre to break through. Still, it wasn't entirely hopeless.
"Thanks, Uncle George," Stephen said, his tone more appreciative now.
He had already inspected his old printing machine, only to find it in need of major repairs. Fixing it would take time he couldn't spare, leaving him no choice but to explore other options.
George wasn't just an uncle in name he had been a close friend of Stephen's father and worked in the same profession. Their shared history made George someone Stephen could rely on in times like these.
"Any news about Jack?" George asked, breaking Stephen's train of thought and reminding him of the one other relative he had left in this world.
Stephen shook his head. "No updates," he said, his voice distant as his mind drifted to his uncle. He remembered Jack his father's younger brother.
Jack had served in the military and recently earned some promotion that shifted him into a training role.
Jack had only shown up once since Max's passing at the funeral. After that, he had taken on the role of Stephen's legal guardian but remained distant, his duties keeping him occupied.
After some conversation, Stephen left George's company and headed home.
The next two days were a blur of activity for him. Meetings with potential sellers took up most of his time, and the process was more exhausting than he anticipated. By the end of it, only three sellers agreed to take the risk on his work. The rest dismissed it, citing concerns that the story was too dark to appeal to readers.
George had already distributed some copies of his manga to the sellers, allowing them to test the waters with potential readers.
Now, all that was left was to see if the readers would actually purchase it.