Chapter 43
Chapter 43
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Volume 9 - Avatar Battlefield (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"This is where the trouble starts."
This section was the scene where Albedo awakens, receiving new power from the God of Fire.
It was a scene that could be handled adequately with a straightforward approach, but perhaps because he'd poured so much effort into the previous battle sequences, it just didn't feel right.
He really wanted to make the power-up unmistakably clear, but having squeezed every tool to its limits up until now made it incredibly hard to convey that level of intensity.
'I'll take this for granted later on, but for its debut, I want to hit them with maximum overwhelming impact.'
He wanted to deliver such a visceral impression that it would momentarily erase the painstakingly built sense of ruin he'd nurtured so far, leaving readers blankly staring at Albedo's awakening.
But no matter how he thought about it, monochrome just couldn't capture the atmosphere he was aiming for.
Working this part in color would probably nail the vibe...
'I could sink the time into it and make it happen, but the real issue is that publishing would be a nightmare.'
Producing a book in color?
The production costs would skyrocket, slashing the audience who could actually afford it.
Sure, it would sell like hotcakes and rake in cash, but it wouldn't be easy for everyone who'd been following his work to pony up for the next volume.
And creating both a black-and-white version and a colored one was out of the question—that would basically mean drawing two entirely different comics.
Because the black-and-white version demanded pure monochrome tones, he'd have to add shading patterns from scratch, redrawing a full twelve pages.
There was no tech here that could automatically convert tones to patterns.
For the first time in ages, he genuinely missed computers.
"Let's at least float the idea."
He'd finished the sketches, but once he dove deeper into the actual work, revisions would feel like a waste.
Of course, even if it was already drawn, he'd probably scrap it all if color printing were feasible.
This project was hitting him with an intense urge to go full color.
At the start of sketching, he'd naively thought he could just amp up the intensity a bit.
Humans always got greedy once faced with the reality.
No matter how he looked at it, this lacked punch, and without punch, it undermined the story's plausibility.
The 'Corrosion' that had plagued everyone so far was a force powerful enough—imperfect as it might be—to resolve the current crisis entirely.
He couldn't half-ass its depiction.
Of course, mastering that in monochrome was his job.
But for someone like him, who came from an era of digital color comics rather than the old masters of black-and-white manga, it still felt out of reach.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Oh, it's been a while."
"Hello."
"No way, is this for a new release?"
"Yeah, I've brought the artwork for reservations. I think we're ready to start pre-orders... but my master has this kinda tricky request."
"Reservations for the next installment after Avatar Zeal?"
"Exactly. She was wondering if we could print just the final part of the book in color."
"What!?"
It was the kind of bombshell that warranted shock.
Even the color used for covers alone accounted for a third of a standard book's production costs—insanely expensive.
Most of that was paper costs, but with double-sided printing and minimizing size, you could squeeze out about four pages for that price.
Even compressing the finale as much as possible, it would still take around twelve pages—simple math put it at double the current book's price.
"Yeah, pretty much what you're thinking. Costs would more than double. Of course, twelve pages is a small fraction of the total..."
And there was another issue: the paper quality differed from the rest of the book, making the back section feel totally off.
The color stock used for covers or promo cards was super thick and glossy, so the difference screamed out.
What he wanted was for readers to reach those pages without even realizing they were in color.
Using that paper would make it glaringly obvious, ruining the book's cohesion—not to mention making it look weird overall.
"Don't you have any other paper options?"
"We do, but print quality drops a ton. With your master's oil-painting style, it'd look pretty off."
It was an outdated technique they'd ditched for poor quality, worse even than standard monochrome.
He'd tested samples, and the colors came out weird, details smeared.
"Not great, right?"
"Definitely not, but what's the unit cost on this?"
"About half of regular color."
Even then, costs would rise by at least 1.5 times.
But there was a workaround for that, making it viable.
It only worked in exactly this scenario, though.
"If my master forgoes all profits, could we squeak by at the usual price?"
"Huh!? Profits?"
"Proportionally, it seems doable."
"If we absorb a little on our end, yeah, we could make it work..."
"Then I'll show this to my master. I think this matches what she's after."
The moment he saw it, he'd brainstormed uses, thanks to the paper's texture.
Being cheaper, it closely mimicked the high-grade stock in color, feel, and thickness—hard to tell apart unless scrutinized.
'Print quality's low, but price and texture are perfect.'
From experience, tweaking fine details and coloring could mitigate quality issues.
Elevate it just enough that it didn't clash noticeably with the monochrome.
He wasn't chasing cover-level perfection.
"Actually, no. Could you test-print a few more pieces? Using some of my master's works would be ideal."
"Sure, that should be fine."
One big problem with this low quality was poor color fidelity, straying far from originals.
So he'd compare original and sample, then deliberately adjust the source colors for the desired output.
Some colors were impossible, sure, but avoiding them wouldn't feel awkward.
Next, smeared details—he'd add intentional softening elsewhere for consistency.
A concept where the style itself felt crushed under raw power would blend it seamlessly.
These were deviations from his norm, demanding tons of practice and trial-and-error.
'It's a rough road ahead, but holding back on what I envision would suck even more.'
He wasn't short on cash or time, right?
People here treated his comics as art; half-assing it would be a betrayal.
After several test drawings, convinced it was feasible, he committed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Going straight to color from page one would feel jarring and break immersion—instant bad effect."
So the first page stayed black-and-white.
Not pure monochrome, though—fading to grayscale, subtle enough to miss unless staring hard.
Then, flipping to the next page without noticing...
A world devoid of color begins birthing hues, bit by bit.
Not slamming into full color pages, but gradually, panel by panel, as if the power Albedo just received banishes the surrounding darkness.
The world brightens, reclaiming color in sync with the artwork's rhythm.
"Hah, yes. It's a killer, but this is the vibe."
He rented the inn long-term, working there and rushing straight to test prints.
Colors and smearing needed testing to judge, leading to frequent scraps and redos.
But the rush from nailing the exact look kept him grinding through the endless-seeming toil.
"Fuck, having to redo everything from scratch every time is brutal..."
Lately, focusing on comics meant prepping copies for high-difficulty work—fail, revert, repeat.
Color didn't allow that, ballooning workload to hellish levels.
And truthfully, even without that, coloring with current tools was a nightmare; he sorely missed digital days.
But no computer was dropping from the sky, so grit his teeth and push.
At least this bone-grinding effort guaranteed results.
Way better than nothing at all.
"Want to take a look?"
"Who knows how many revisions this is. Master says she's sorry."
"Nah, this is my job."
He slowly flipped through the color-printed pages, confirming the exact feel he'd chased, and let out a relieved sigh.
This maxed out what this print quality could deliver.
Nodding approval, he suggested combining with the standard volume for a final mockup.
Just seamlessly blend that section without seams, and Avatar Battlefield was done.