Chapter 104: A Jian, A Jian
Sakamoto Ken, Haruna, and the real estate agent named Tanaka Hikaru arrived together in front of a detached house located in the second block of Taito Ward.
The straight-line distance from here to Akihabara Station is no more than seven hundred meters, reachable on foot.
And to go to Shueisha, it only takes a ten-minute drive; the location is perfect.
The entire three-story small building underwent a complete renovation last year, with the exterior wall paint and doors and windows looking as good as new.
Right next to the house is a slightly outdated four-story apartment building.
Tanaka Hikaru took out the key and opened the room door.
“Please come in, you two.”
He led the two from the entrance inside, carefully looking over everything from start to finish.
Except for that specially modified room on the third floor, the internal layout of the entire house is no different from a standard detached house.
Simple style of decoration, with all furniture already removed.
Sakamoto Ken stood in the spacious lobby on the first floor, stretching out his arm and gesturing in the air.
“One here, one here… um, and my workbench by the window; the space should be sufficient.”
While gesturing, he estimated the placement positions for each drawing table, soon forming a rough layout in his mind.
He was very satisfied with the entire house and immediately confirmed with Tanaka.
The subsequent process was not complicated: signing the lease contract and paying one month deposit, one month rent, plus a key money payment.
The so-called “key money” was originally intended to thank the landlord for being willing to rent the house to you.
In the old days, having a place to stay while traveling far away was indeed rare, but in modern society, this outdated practice from the old era is still used by most landlords.
After all, it is also an extra income equivalent to one month’s rent.
Sakamoto Ken directly paid 990,000 yen for the initial fees, and after handing over the keys, the usage rights of this detached house officially belonged to him.
Of the over three million in royalty fees, nearly a third was gone in an instant.
Sakamoto Ken couldn’t help but sigh that original manuscript fees could only cover basic living and creation expenses; to truly achieve financial freedom, he would still need volumes to sell big.
Bringing the rent a house contract, they returned to the house side; this time, only Sakamoto Ken and Mikazuki Haruna were there.
After Mikazuki Haruna entered the house, she wandered back and forth in the living room, her feet wrapped in black stockings pantyhose stepping on the smooth wooden floor, making a “tap tap tap” sound.
She paced using the length of her footsteps to estimate the room’s length, finally standing in the center of the room and said, “Putting six desks in the living room is no problem.”
As she spoke, she quickly walked to the dining kitchen area connected to the living room.
The kitchen counter is set along the wall, with a large open area in front.
“When the sliding door in front is opened, this area connects with the living room, A Jian… you can put a larger desk here, along with the scanner, printer, and such…”
Sakamoto Ken watched her like that, as if it were her rented house.
Sakamoto Ken didn’t interrupt her imagining and turned to go up the stairs.
“Eh? Wait!”
Seeing this, Mikazuki Haruna hurriedly trotted after him.
The second floor has three independent rooms.
Sakamoto Ken pushed open all three doors one by one.
The rooms on the left and right are standard six-mat size, while the one in the middle is smaller, only four and a half mats.
Mikazuki Haruna walked into the small room in the middle, looking around left and right, and couldn’t help saying, “This room is so small.”
“Have you seen the Four and a Half Mat Mythology System《?” Sakamoto Ken leaned against the doorframe and casually asked.
“Of course I’ve seen it!” Mikazuki Haruna immediately replied. “Shimo-Oka Yūsuizō! I first went to Kyoto specifically for a pilgrimage to the sacred sites of that work!”
“Four and a half mats is actually not small,” Sakamoto Ken said. “It’s enough to fit bedding, a desk, and a bookshelf. Many famous writers came out of small rooms like this.”
Hearing Sakamoto Ken say this, Mikazuki Haruna carefully looked over the room again.
On the floor, four tatami mats are neatly joined in a spiral pattern, with the gap in the center just right for half a tatami mat.
This matches exactly what she saw in the animation, even the window’s position on the side closer to the wall.
Mikazuki Haruna’s thoughts began to drift outward, imagining the sensation of living here: “Yeah, a smaller space feels pretty secure.”
She thought that living here would definitely feel different from her current room.
Meanwhile, Sakamoto Ken had already turned and gone up the stairs to the third floor.
“Eh? Slow down!”
Mikazuki Haruna came back to her senses and once again stepped after him.
For the room on the third floor, Sakamoto Ken just glanced inside and came out; there was nothing special, just an empty rectangular room.
The real highlight was the modified room next to it.
Sakamoto Ken pushed open this door that looked much thicker than a normal room door.
The light in the room was very dim, mainly because the window was small and hung with heavy soundproof curtains, while the walls and floor were dark sound-absorbing material.
Sakamoto Ken turned to look at Mikazuki Haruna who had followed up and said, “Tanaka-san said this room has great sound insulation; help me test it.”
Mikazuki Haruna walked into the room and curiously asked, “How to test?”
“I’ll close the door now; you talk from inside, using increasingly louder voices until I hear you, then I’ll open it,” Sakamoto Ken explained.
Mikazuki Haruna thought about it and had no objection, so she nodded in agreement.
Sakamoto Ken unhesitatingly slammed the door shut.
A “bang” sound.
Darkness instantly enveloped Mikazuki Haruna completely.
She hurriedly took out her mobile phone, using the faint light from the screen to fumble and find the switch on the wall.
The light came on, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Standing in the center of the room, she indeed felt everything around her quiet down, so quiet that she could only hear her own breathing.
She cleared her throat and said in a normal volume, “Hello! Hello! Sakamoto Ken Sensei, can you hear me? Open the door if you can.”
Outside the door, there was no movement.
She raised her volume a bit: “Sakamoto Ken Sensei! Can you hear me!”
After trying several times, her voice was close to shouting, but there was still no movement outside the door.
Mikazuki Haruna reached out and touched the uneven soundproof panels on the wall, secretly amazed in her heart; this setup really has such good sound insulation.
She shouted a few more times.
“Sakamoto Ken Sensei! Sakamoto Ken Sensei!”
“Sakamoto Ken!”
“A Jian~ A Jian~”
In the end, she directly shouted Sakamoto Ken’s name.
There was still no response from outside the door.
“A Jian~ Can you hear me? A… Eh?!”
Before she finished speaking, she saw the doorknob in front of her suddenly turn.
Mikazuki Haruna was startled and quickly shut her mouth, swallowing the rest of her words, nearly choking on her own saliva.
The door was pushed open from outside.
Mikazuki Haruna widened her eyes, and the two locked eyes just like that.
The corner of her mouth twitched slightly; she guiltily stepped back, cautiously opening her mouth, her voice carrying a faint tremble.
“Um… did… did you hear that?!”
