Chapter 436: Autograph Session Record

Chapter 436: Signing Record

When the signing began, over two thousand people were queuing at the entrance; nearly an hour into the event, at least five thousand were lined up outside.

Already over eight hundred had received signatures, five hundred had entered the venue, and another five thousand remained in line.

These numbers alone were enough to be staggering!

What did five thousand people mean? It could already fill a medium-sized concert!

By ten o'clock, Meng Fan had signed for nearly two thousand people, five hundred had entered, and outside, at least five thousand were still queuing.

With these figures, the comic signing record had already been shattered; if another two thousand were added, it would match the scale of a ten-thousand-person concert!

Because the number of people queuing outside simply wouldn't decrease, the venue management made another decision: they directed all those waiting to enter through another door and sit in the audience stands to wait. As a result, before long, the Nippon Budokan was nearly half full. Though the scene still fell short of an Olympic stadium, the enthusiasm was no less intense.

The media caught wind and moved swiftly. Media from Japan and China had already sent teams to film and interview—interviewing fans—and later, foreign media also arrived in significant numbers. Major international media groups mostly dispatched teams, while smaller ones sent a photographer and a reporter, or at the very least, a journalist using their own phone or compact recording device.

Of course, the fastest and widest dissemination came from the fans' "self-media." Both on Chinese and Japanese networks, topics related to Meng Fan's comic signing event trended.

Additionally, riding the tailwind of the Olympics, regardless of how many actually attended Meng Fan's signing, the whole world came to know of it, becoming front-page news in at least thirty countries.

As a result, in Kyoto and across Japan, a frenzy to purchase the "Shan Hai Qi Ren" tankōbon swept through.

The first print run of "Shan Hai Qi Ren" Volume 1 was 200,000 copies. Aside from 10,000 copies shipped to the Nippon Budokan, the remaining 190,000 were distributed to physical and online channels nationwide. By just after ten in the morning, many physical stores were already reporting low stock, especially comic shops and bookstores in Kyoto.

As for the Nippon Budokan, as early as nine o'clock, they had begun transferring inventory from other locations. This was mainly because many fans, even when limited to signing one book per person, had purchased more than one copy, including some Chinese fans who had already bought the Chinese-language edition.

Meanwhile, Kodansha had also issued a reprint—last night, sensing the situation was "off," Kodansha immediately reprinted 100,000 copies. Now, a second reprint was underway, mobilizing multiple printing plants for rush production. By five in the afternoon, the 400,000th copy could be shipped nationwide.

In the blink of an eye, the signing at the Nippon Budokan had been underway for nearly four hours. Meng Fan had signed for over 3,500 people, and by this time, the Budokan's occupancy rate had reached 60%. That meant, even after signing for so many, the queue had actually grown larger than before, exceeding 6,000 people!

Add to that the 500 people who had left their seats to queue, and somehow, the total reached ten thousand!

A ten-thousand-person signing event?

That was truly terrifying!

Where did all these people come from?

Apart from tourists from various countries attending the Olympic events, and excluding the Chinese who had come out of curiosity, the majority were Japanese fans.

Countless had come after seeing timely reports. They knew that Meng Fan's signing was fast and that they could queue inside the Nippon Budokan—a sacred venue for many Japanese. Although this signing required a small admission fee in addition to purchasing books (as most signings do), the price was lower than the usual entry fee. With affordable tickets and the chance to see Meng Fan, many decided to come.

A large portion of these people had already bought the tankōbon at other bookstores. Upon hearing that as long as they were willing to wait, they would definitely get a turn, they rushed over immediately.

"Have you eaten? What do you want to eat?"

Wu Tong and the others had watched the signing for a while, then gone out for a meal, returning around 1 p.m. Seeing Meng Fan still signing, she asked, preparing to fetch some food for him.

"Anything is fine."

Meng Fan continued signing and drawing, smiling as he replied to Wu Tong. That smile was even more radiant than the already beautiful smile he had maintained, making the nearby fans' eyes sparkle.

They had thought his earlier smile was the most beautiful in the world, but they never expected that Meng Fan's smile for Wu Tong was the most stunning of all.

Meng Fan had energy gels to restore his stamina, but of course, if he could eat, he would have a little. He didn't feel the need to chase some external reputation of "signing continuously without even a moment for a meal." Besides, he really did have the time.

Wu Tong soon brought plenty of rice balls and other snacks. Not only did Meng Fan get some, but the staff nearby also received theirs, though many had already eaten.

Meng Fan opened his mouth, reached out, and popped a rice ball in. In no time, he had devoured over twenty rice balls, leaving the nearby fans utterly stunned.

This appetite—only in manga could such a thing exist!

Gulp!

Just as Meng Fan was eating with relish, a few stomach growls came from the queue waiting for signatures. Meng Fan paused, the people around him paused, and then everyone burst into laughter.

"Then I'll try to speed up a bit."

Meng Fan paused the signing with one hand, grabbed the venue's internal microphone, and announced over the PA system: "If you're hungry, feel free to go grab something to eat. I'll have the staff give you a number, and when you're done, you can rejoin the queue in your original order. Ah~ The thing is, there are so many of you, even if I treated each of you to a rice ball—I could afford it—there's no way to find that many rice balls around here."

Everyone laughed heartily, and of course, no contrarian jumped out to claim they knew a shop that could provide that many rice balls.

By a little after six in the evening, the number of people in the venue finally began to show signs of decreasing. Before that, Meng Fan had been signing continuously, and the queue kept growing, at one point reaching 70% occupancy of the Nippon Budokan. Considering that Meng Fan's signing speed was nearly a thousand people per hour, the phrase "one increases while the other decreases" took on a completely different meaning here.

"There are still four thousand people in line. Should we stop accepting new queuers?"

A staff member approached, once again reporting the latest statistics to Meng Fan. Even though Meng Fan had previously said there was no need to limit the queue, they still asked again. It was indeed because Meng Fan had been signing for quite a while, and the number of signatures was enormous—they were worried he might be too tired.

Meng Fan looked up, glanced around, and asked another question. Learning that the number of new arrivals was already decreasing, he nodded. He had no issue with stamina, but he wasn't about to burn himself out over something like this. Besides, he hadn't deliberately aimed to break any records—though he had already shattered many.

Once the announcement to stop accepting new queuers was made, no one objected. There were still over four thousand people inside, and signing for all of them would take until at least ten at night—honestly, it was getting a bit late.

After cutting off the queue, the Nippon Budokan quickly released a final statistic: the total number of people who entered the venue today was 14,233. This number also broke the Budokan's record for ticket sales since its opening.

The Budokan's total seating capacity is 11,000. Even if a concert sold out completely, it would only be 11,000 people. Adding extra seats couldn't push it past 13,000. Meng Fan's signing, however, was like a "moving feast."

Additionally, around eight o'clock, the Kodansha staff selling books at the venue tallied the number of tankōbon sold during the signing: 56,886 copies!

This was despite the fact that many fans who came later had already purchased the tankōbon at other locations. Otherwise, the number would have been even higher—many fans bought more than one copy.

Of course, those 56,886 copies were the result of Kodansha transferring inventory from outside three times. Otherwise, they would have sold out long ago.

The signing point at the Nippon Budokan had priority for inventory transfers, but comic shops and bookstores across Japan did not have such priority. By six in the evening, many had already sold out, only replenished after the reprints arrived post-six.

At 10:30 p.m., Meng Fan signed and drew for the last fan. Turning around, he saw that at least two thousand people remained in the venue, all having received their signatures but not leaving, waiting for a final group photo with Meng Fan.

(This chapter ends.)