Chapter 89: Confession Lines
Sakamoto Ken finished drawing another page and set the manuscript paper aside.
He spread out a new sheet of manuscript paper, but instead of continuing to draw, he looked at the sky outside the window, some thoughts surfacing in his mind.
He chose to draw《Chainsaw Man》, and the initial consideration was actually very pragmatic; at the time, he was solely focused on quickly earning royalty fees.
First, the first part of the《Chainsaw Man》 original work was extremely successful, one of the rare best-selling works in recent years that achieved hot sales without animation support.
He remembered that on the eve of the animation airing, the official announcement revealed《Chainsaw Man》’s sales volume, which had already exceeded 17 million copies at the time.
Another work from recent years at a similar level was《Attack on Titan》, which sold 20 million copies before its animation adaptation, but it began serialization in 2009, when the publishing industry was in a much better state than now…
Works like《Demon Slayer》 only had a few million in sales before animation, and《Jujutsu Kaisen》 was under 10 million.
The current era is no longer one of prosperity in the publishing industry; animation adaptation is an important means for works to expand their audience.
Sakamoto Ken didn’t know what royalty rate Tatsuki Fujimoto got, but under normal circumstances, ordinary authors get 8% to 10%, and since Tatsuki Fujimoto had already gained fame from《Fire Punch》 at the time, he might have gotten 12%.
But even calculating at an 8% royalty rate.
484 yen per volume × 17 million copies × 8%, that’s income exceeding 600 million.
This level of income already reaches the highest tax bracket; without considering tax avoidance, just from volume sales, he’d probably take home over 300 million…
Second, the focus of this manga isn’t intricate drawing.
With memory as reference, even working solo, he could draw very quickly.
Additionally, Denji’s character design resonated with him for some reasons, like owing a huge debt…
After meeting Haruna and Mio at home today, recalling his experiences from the previous life, he felt he shared even more similarities with Denji…
He had wonderful memories and real emotions with each heroine, but later they all wanted to kill him and actually swung knives at him.
Of course, Sakamoto Ken was much stronger than Denji in certain aspects.
Denji’s entire first part spanned 11 volumes, 97 chapters, and a serialization period of over 2 years; he even swam with Reze and bathed with Power, but in the end, he still didn’t score…
In the previous life, the first to confirm a relationship with Sakamoto Ken was Natsume Mio, and it lasted quite a long time.
Later with Mikazuki Haruna, it started from an online reader group, then they met offline; speaking of which, it was pretty much sleeping with a fan…
Well, actually, reversing those two words fits better.
He originally just thought her huge tip could directly solve his financial problems, but he didn’t expect to completely fall for her himself.
Then with Hoshihara Ai afterward, it was purely due to an accident.
He originally planned to wake up a woman passed out drunk on the roadside; after waking her, he figured he’d do some extra good and take her home, otherwise lying outside all night in winter would probably freeze her to death.
That day, she actually just kissed him hard; Sakamoto Ken didn’t pay much attention at first, but unexpectedly, not long after, she appeared before him again one day.
Sakamoto Ken didn’t even know how she found him; Hoshihara Ai questioned him about why he took her first kiss…
To be fair, you forced it on me.
But this time she wasn’t drinking and was sober, so the two talked a lot.
After one time, then two, then three like this, they ended up together…
Speaking from the heart, in the previous life, he did have some scumbag tendencies.
He hid it from each of them separately for too long, so when it was finally exposed, the emotional turmoil was extremely intense.
But couldn’t anyone understand Sakamoto Ken?
This was rebirth in Tokyo; if he didn’t treat this life like a Galgame, was he supposed to be a corporate slave in Tokyo?
Then sit on a bench at the back door of a supermarket smoking while waiting to encounter another corporate slave?
Or get drunk and wander the streets hoping to pick up a runaway JK?
This time, Sakamoto Ken initially decided to turn over a new leaf and focus solely on drawing manga to earn money.
But now knowing they all have memories of him, he couldn’t treat them as passersby and had no choice but to continue strategizing for the second round.
Sakamoto Ken felt he truly had turned over a new leaf.
Now still thinking of strategizing the love triangle wasn’t because he was scum; on the contrary, it showed he was sentimental.
……
“A Jian, I know this is a bit selfish, disturbing you while you’re focused on creation, but if I don’t say these words, I’ll regret it for life.”
“When you took me to see the apartment you live in, I knew you were telling me you don’t have the conditions right now, but I’ve never cared about those…”
“Money or debt, I don’t care!”
“What I see is A Jian desperately drawing alone for his ideal.”
“A Jian, you drawing a protagonist like Denji is actually a self-portrait, right? Because you also want a warm embrace.”
“I can give that to you! I can hug you, however you want, as long as you want!”
“I’m working hard to become a voice actor because I want to stand with you, not just take care of you in life, but also help you in your career; I want to be the voice of the heroine from your pen…”
“A Jian, I like you!”
“Please… please go out with me!”
“Phew…”
Natsume Mio looked at the confession lines written on her mobile phone, read them once, pondered carefully, and felt they still needed some changes.
Regarding the part about Denji, although she only mentioned Denji wanting a warm embrace, in reality, that guy Denji wasn’t picky at all.
As long as he could grope bouncing chests, anyone’s would do…
Plus, A Jian said Denji liked three girls, so doesn’t that mean opening a harem?
By bringing up Denji here to compare with A Jian, wouldn’t it seem like agreeing to him opening a harem?
Anyway, delete the part about Denji…
That dream had already omened what would happen if A Jian wanted to open a harem: in the end, they’d corner him on the rooftop, three knives and six holes.
Although Natsume Mio felt she definitely wouldn’t swing a knife at A Jian, that part was just fabricated in the dream.
But what about the other two bad women?
Although their faces weren’t clear in that dream, she could actually confirm the identity of one of them now.
Mikazuki Haruna.
This woman with the red Porsche, she’s here now too… she’s currently approaching A Jian with ill intentions.
Can’t let her succeed!
According to the “perfect life” theory her mom told her before: meet a bunch of friends in elementary school, first love in junior high, first experience in high school, find a lifelong partner in university.
In elementary school, Natsume Mio had lots of good friends; she perfectly achieved the first stage.
As for a life partner… she’s actually already completed that ahead of schedule, right!
She hasn’t even started university yet, but she already knows what her life partner is like.
Only the middle school stage…
Combining junior high and high school, although she’s graduated middle school now, university hasn’t started, so she doesn’t count as a student yet.
So, to achieve “perfect life,” there are two weeks left.
Is this time enough to win A Jian?
It should be enough, right!
