Chapter 2

**The Story that Couldn't Stop** (始 (はじ) まってしまった物 (もの) 語 (がたり) , *Hajimatte Shimatta Monogatari*?) is the second chapter of the Time Paradox Ghostwriter manga series.

## Short Summary

Teppei Sasaki discovers that the future copy of WSJ he received was not a hallucination and realizes that he has plagiarized a work from a future author. Feeling ashamed, he tries to cut the wires on his microwave to stop receiving anymore WSJ issues from the future, but before he can do so he receives a call from his new editor.

Saying he can always stop his microwave after he returns, Teppei leaves for the meeting where his editor is left aghast at his claims that he no longer wishes to write *White Knight* and pressures him to continue writing and Teppei caves. As he leaves the building, Teppei encounters a teenage girl who introduces herself as Itsuki Aino. Teppei recognizes her and is left mortified.

## Long Summary

Upon returning to his apartment, Teppei is shocked at the sight of his microwave continuing to generate Weekly Shonen Jump issues and realizes his earlier situation was not a dream. He retrieves the version of *White Knight* branded with his own name from his bag and is showered in guilt over the fact he plagiarized someone from the future. Although he tries to convince himself that what he did wouldn’t hurt anyone, Teppei immediately reverts back to regret.

His thoughts are suddenly interrupted by the microwave sounding, notifying him of the completion of another future magazine. After remembering that the microwave was a time machine, Teppei realizes he had possibly created a paradox which would prevent the original version from being published and therefore changing the future. He quickly pulls out the finished issue and browses it, finding *White Knight* still being published by Itsuki Aino. Confused, Teppei considers the possibility of divergent timelines where a parallel world was created right after the microwave turned into a time machine and the magazines were entering from the separate timeline.

The idea continues to confuse him and he thinks about his mother, Kikuse, and Okano complimenting his "original" work. Teppei rejects the idea of taking *White Knight* for his own and moves to cut the microwave cord to effectively render his "point of no return" and end the miracle.

Suddenly, a phone call surprises him right before he severs the cord. Muneoka, Teppei’s new editor, checks in with him and enthusiastically questions him about his progress with storyboards. Teppei nervously responds that he hadn’t gotten very far with them, which Muneoka tells him is alright and reminds him of their meeting they scheduled for later that day. Realizing he had forgotten about the meeting, Teppei hangs up and internally struggles to find an excuse for discontinuing *White Knight*. He gets ready to leave and glances at the microwave, telling himself that he’ll end the machine as soon as he returns.

At his meeting, Muneoka congrats Teppei on the success of his one-shot as Teppei anxiously listens. Muneoka tries to get some information about Teppei’s storyboard progress, but he tells him that he hadn’t planned for *White Knight* to be more than just a short story and requests for them to restart with a new idea. Hearing this, Muneoka immediately tries to change Teppei’s mind and begs him to reconsider, especially with how good *White Knight* was. He tries to counter by retorting he didn’t have the motivation to advance the story, but Muneoka continues on to highly praise the work and characters, bringing out a pile of fan mail. Teppei reads through a letter and realizes the happiness and emotion *White Knight* was bringing to people.

Muneoka once again requests Teppei continue the story and exclaims the decision was ultimately up to him; however, he and everyone else will be waiting their entire lives for it to come. Moved by the words of his editors and fans, Teppei pushes aside his internal turmoil and goes back to his apartment to finish reading the future issues, finally resolving to continue drawing the manga.

After completing the storyboards for his first three chapters, Teppei shows them to Muneoka, who falls out of his chair in joy after reading them. Teppei manages to convince himself that it was his duty to show the world the wonder of *White Knight* after robbing it from the future, even if it meant he would have to shoulder immense guilt. The storyboards easily pass through the selection process and become approved for serialization. As he exits the building after the meeting, Teppei thinks about the identity of the genius Itsuki Aino and the possibility of them creating a work even better than *White Knight*. Suddenly, a young girl addresses him and asks if he was the mangaka known as "Teppei Sasaki." He nervously confirms her statement, prompting her to introduce herself as Itsuki Aino. Dumbfounded, Teppei instantly begins sweating and uttering gibberish.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Teppei Sasaki
* Teppei's mother
* Kikuse
* Okano
* Muneoka
* Itsuki Aino

## Events

* After realizing his time machine microwave was real, Teppei considers the possibility of a paradox and parallel worlds.
* Editor Muneoka meets with Teppei.
* Teppei decides to keep plagiarizing *White Knight* from future Weekly Shonen Jump issues and considers it his obligation to show the world the story.
* Teppei's version of *White Knight* is approved for serialization.
* Itsuki meets Teppei.