Chapter 106: Planting The Seeds For Material
Mikazuki Haruna wanted to step back further, but there was a wall behind her, with no way to retreat.
Sakamoto Ken saw this guy’s reaction and knew his words had achieved the expected effect.
What he was considering wasn’t something as simple as advancing favorability progress like in a romance game, but planting a seed in her heart.
Sakamoto Ken paced in the extremely quiet room; he quite enjoyed this atmosphere in the room, so quiet that no extraneous sounds could be heard.
He continued, “Actually, that setting where we coincidentally ran into each other was something I originally planned to draw and publish.”
“Then why didn’t you draw it?” Mikazuki Haruna asked immediately.
Sakamoto Ken countered, “You’ve read《Chainsaw Man》, right.”
“O… Of course, I’ve read it…” Mikazuki Haruna replied.
“In《Chainsaw Man》, there’s fundamentally no such thing as stockings at all, and legs rarely even appear.” Sakamoto Ken said.
“Because it’s a hot-blooded battle manga, right?” Mikazuki Haruna said.
Sakamoto Ken nodded and said, “That’s one reason, but I actually wanted to draw Makima wearing black stockings and such.”
“Then why didn’t you draw it?” Mikazuki Haruna asked in doubt.
“Couldn’t draw it well.” Sakamoto Ken said, “After all, I’ve never worn stockings myself, and my understanding of them is only at the theoretical level. Without personally experiencing it, it’s hard to capture the texture of silk fabric in the illustration.”
He shrugged and said in a helpless tone, “Rather than ending up with something half-baked, better not to draw it at all.”
“Is that why you gave up on that setting?” Mikazuki Haruna asked.
“Mm-hmm.” Sakamoto Ken nodded and said, “Not really a pity, since I saw you drew it, and under your brush, the texture of the stockings is drawn very well.”
“Th… Thank you…” Mikazuki Haruna couldn’t think of how to respond and could only say thanks.
Sakamoto Ken said with considerable emotion, “I want to draw stockings in the future too…”
“Then just draw them…” Mikazuki Haruna casually responded.
Sakamoto Ken shook his head and said, “I’ll do it when I have a deeper understanding of stockings. Without enough reference material, I’d rather not draw for now.”
“You can get reference material…”
“I can’t exactly wear them myself for reference, can I?”
Sakamoto Ken timely shifted his gaze downward.
“Eh?” Mikazuki Haruna’s legs twitched accordingly, “Hah, you, you… what are you looking at me for?”
Haruna’s voice carried a slight tremor, her cheeks already hot and flushed.
Those memory fragments from the dream surged into her mind.
He had done the same back then, using the excuse of researching drawing to turn her over and over for “reference material.”
In the end, the reference material areas far exceeded the initial scope of just wanting to draw legs well…
Sakamoto Ken let out a light sigh and said, “It’s fine, it’s fine. After all, you wouldn’t possibly provide reference material for me; that would be too rude.”
“If it’s for drawing…” When Mikazuki Haruna said this herself, she felt a bit uncertain about it. Her mind hadn’t figured it out yet, but her mouth opened on its own, even messing up the word order: “I… it’s not impossible… reference material, stockings for you or whatever…”
“Really?” Sakamoto Ken raised an eyebrow.
“Eh, wait, but《Chainsaw Man》doesn’t need to draw these at all, right? If you suddenly start drawing the female lead’s legs, wouldn’t it seem really weird?” Mikazuki Haruna said.
“I’m not going to draw Chainsaw Man for the rest of my life.” Sakamoto Ken said.
“Oh, oh… for future works.”
“Yeah, so no rush.”
“Phew…” Mikazuki Haruna breathed a sigh of relief.
She had thought this guy was going to grab her feet for reference material right now.
Sakamoto Ken checked the time and said, “It’s getting late; I still need to go to Shueisha.”
“What are you going back for?” Mikazuki Haruna asked in doubt.
“Back?” Sakamoto Ken raised an eyebrow, staring at this guy, and said, “How do you know I came from Shueisha?”
“Hah… well, where else could it be? You must have gone to the editorial department first when you came here, then on your way home, you stopped by to check out the house.” Mikazuki Haruna replied at machine-gun speed.
Sakamoto Ken shrugged, finding her stubborn attitude quite cute.
This guy was stubborn only with her mouth; everywhere else was soft and tender.
Of course, her mouth was soft and tender too; this stubbornness wasn’t physical stubbornness, and Sakamoto Ken could vouch for that.
Sakamoto Ken walked to the doorway and pushed open the room door.
Instantly, outside sounds flooded in, making it feel like the room they had just been in was an otherworld isolated from the world, and only now had they returned to reality.
As Sakamoto Ken went downstairs, he said, “I’ve rented the house, but haven’t bought furniture, appliances, and such yet. I want the editor to help procure them. I heard the company has partnered suppliers for office supplies and drawing supplies that are high quality and cheap.”
“Eh? The editor has to do this too?” Mikazuki Haruna said in surprise.
Sakamoto Ken said, “The editor has experience preparing studios, and editors are responsible for any matters related to the writer and creation.”
Mikazuki Haruna thought for a moment and said, “But I feel like any matter is related to creation?”
Sakamoto Ken nodded and said, “Yeah, so theoretically, any matter can be handled with the editor’s help.”
Mikazuki Haruna almost blurted out “Reference material too?”, but luckily she bit her tongue this time, or it would always feel weird…
It would seem like she was egging him on to do strange things to the editor…
“Oh, oh, then let the editor help. Eh, can she help pay for it?” Mikazuki Haruna asked.
“There seems to be serialization preparation funds, for buying equipment and such.”
“Never heard of it. Are there these benefits?”
“But only for weekly magazine serialization. My first month is still on JUMP+, so I can only get this money next month.”
“Mm-hmm, our JUMP benefits are really good… Are you short on money?”
“Definitely short. Renting a house immediately cost 1 million.”
“If you need it, I can…” Mikazuki Haruna almost blurted out that she could transfer him some money.
Her mind was still thinking about that impulsive “I like you” she said, and the reference material stuff, while her mouth was in a state of subconscious response.
“The car is here.” Sakamoto Ken interrupted Mikazuki Haruna and headed straight to the taxi parked by the roadside.
“Are you going back to the company?” Sakamoto Ken asked, standing by the car door and looking back.
“I’ll go straight home… Eh, no.” Mikazuki Haruna suddenly came to her senses, remembering her car was still in the parking lot next to Shueisha.
“I need to go there too!” Mikazuki Haruna hurried forward and got directly into the car.
Sakamoto Ken knew this guy must have driven here, then ran into him at the Shueisha doorway and switched straight to stalking mode, leaving her car in the parking lot unattended.
Probably because the driver was up front, the usually talkative Haruna didn’t speak the whole way, just silently looking out the window, occasionally turning her head to glance at Sakamoto Ken.
Sakamoto Ken was reviewing the rent contract, then opened the calculator app on his mobile phone to calculate some numbers.
He was estimating the monthly expenditures ahead, house-related costs.
Once the studio starts running, there will be an estimated four people including him.
Various equipment, air conditioner—the electricity bill won’t be low, probably exceeding the third tier of the stepped electricity rate, so plan for a budget of around 20,000; in summer with cooling, it might exceed 30,000.
Internet, water, gas, neighborhood association fees, garbage disposal, especially drawing consumables… these will add up to over 50,000.
So, each month besides the 330,000 rent, there will be another 40-50,000 in house-related expenses.
Also considering paying assistants’ salaries at market rates, daily wage 15,000, plus transportation and meal allowances, 20 days a month, three assistants would be over a million in expenses.
This doesn’t even include the one-time equipment purchase investment…
Mikazuki Haruna saw the calculator interface on Sakamoto Ken’s mobile phone, numbers being entered one by one, then calculating the result. He was muttering softly under his breath, and after finishing, he leaned back in the seat and let out a long breath.
She knew Sakamoto Ken was definitely thinking about financial matters and really wanted to ask caringly, but it always felt like it would make him think she wanted to keep him or something…
Although, she did have that idea.
Clearly, in that memory, she had in fact kept him.
Occasionally transferring him some money would yield a really attentive boyfriend, full of emotional value.
But why was this guy now acting all oblivious to romance and unwilling to live off a partner?
Hey, isn’t living off a partner delicious?
She could even provide reference material!
