Chapter 109: Heart-shaped Omelet Rice
Sakamoto Ken thought for a moment and simply replied: 「I’ve moved.」
The message was sent out, and this time, the other side was silent for a full half minute before sending a new message, also a voice message.
“Eh?! Moved? So sudden! When did this happen?” Natsume Mio’s tone was very surprised.
Sakamoto Ken: 「Just moved yesterday to set up the studio. From now on, I’ll need to recruit assistants. The previous house was too small.」
“I see… That makes sense. A Jian has been drawing all by himself, which is too tiring. With assistants helping, it’ll definitely be much easier! By the way, where’s the new studio?”
For something that couldn’t be hidden at all, Sakamoto Ken had no intention of concealing it.
He directly selected the location of the new house on the map and shared the coordinates.
Sakamoto Ken: 「Taito Ward 2-chome. Already living at the studio side today.」
Soon, Natsume Mio’s voice message came: “Eh?! A Jian, you’ve already moved in?! So fast!”
Before Sakamoto Ken could reply, the next voice message came: “Ah… Then, the bento I prepared for you today…”
Sakamoto Ken: 「No need today. There are lots of restaurants around here.」
Natsume Mio: “Eh? I just checked the navigation. A Jian, your current place is even closer to my house!”
Natsume Mio: “Plus, I’ve already bought the ingredients and started preparing them. My parents are away from home for the next couple of days. If I don’t make it, the ingredients will go to waste!”
Sakamoto Ken knew Natsume Mio very well. In a situation like this, even if he said no, she would probably make the bento and bring it over anyway.
Letting her visit the studio wasn’t a big deal; it was bound to happen sooner or later.
Sincerity is the greatest weapon.
In the previous life, Sakamoto Ken felt that one of the cores of getting the bad end was concealment.
He hid various things from them out of fear of being exposed, resulting in more and more things being hidden. One lie required another to cover it, eventually reaching a point where it was hard to clean up.
Sakamoto Ken typed back: 「Then come to my new studio. The paths here are complicated. Specifically at 2-chome 29, the newest detached house. There’s a red vending machine next to it. If you can’t find it, call me.」
“Yay!”
“Planning to make heart-shaped omelet rice today. I just learned it recently. Wait till noon for A Jian to try it~”
Sakamoto Ken: 「Thanks, looking forward to it especially.」
……
Sakamoto Ken went downstairs and stood in the first-floor lobby.
The first floor as the studio had the drawing table, chair, and such already set up.
Sakamoto Ken sat in the ergonomic chair, adjusted the height, leaned over the drawing table to draw. It felt much better than hunching over while sitting cross-legged in the old apartment before.
In the morning, Sakamoto Ken first finished the manuscript for chapter 22. Then, unlike usual where he completed the finished manuscript directly on manuscript paper in one go,
he switched to a stack of storyboard paper and started drawing the storyboard draft.
Starting next week, Ryū Kōshin, Kaku Yuji, and Endo Tatsuya, these three assistants, would officially come to the studio.
Sakamoto Ken was very confident in their abilities.
Sakamoto Ken knew very well that in terms of pure drawing skill, especially in detailing and background depiction, he might not match them.
After all, during university in the previous life, he hadn’t put much energy into practicing basic drawing skills.
But in the manga industry, strong drawing ability doesn’t equal successful debut.
Manga ultimately relies on characters and story to attract readers.
There are too many illustrators with exquisite drawing skills who, because they’re not good at plot, can only remain assistants forever.
Even if they earn quite high salaries, they’re still just assistants.
Sakamoto Ken’s current thinking was very clear. He wanted to delegate all the most time-consuming physical labor: inking, applying toner sheets, drawing backgrounds, etc.
On one hand, he could draw everything from start to finish himself, but it consumed huge amounts of physical energy and stamina. Drawing like this for months would probably lead to cervical spondylosis.
On the other hand, he felt that relying on just one manga made money too slowly.
Drawing only storyboard drafts, he could create two, even more works simultaneously.
After all, storyboard draft lines are simple, just to express shots and motion. With memories from the previous life, one chapter per hour easily.
This speed wasn’t actually fast; many manga artists could do pure originals at this pace when their ideas were clear.
Sakamoto Ken felt his core advantage was those hit stories from the future in his mind, proven by the market.
It was now 2015. Works published starting in 2015 or 2016 might already have prototypes, even be in discussions with editors.
But manga published after 2017 could be replicated with more confidence. Few people have very clear work ideas so far in advance; at most, they’re at the idea stage.
Amidst his wandering thoughts, the pen in his hand never stopped.
Sakamoto Ken’s storyboard drafts were much more detailed than those of ordinary writers.
He drew out character motions, key expression points, shot transitions, and wrote dialogue next to them, marking places needing special fonts. He just omitted detailed drawing, leaving that for the assistants later.
Soon, approaching noon at twelve, after finishing this chapter’s storyboard draft, Sakamoto Ken put down his pen.
In just one morning, he had drawn all the storyboard drafts for 《Chainsaw Man》 chapters 23, 24, and 25. A thick stack of storyboard drafts piled on the table.
At that moment, the doorbell rang at the doorway.
“Ding dong—”
Mio is here?
Sakamoto Ken thought to himself. He had arranged it with her in the morning, and it seemed she came a bit early.
After all, she still had to go to the convenience store where she worked part-time later.
Now that Sakamoto Ken had moved here, Natsume Mio definitely wouldn’t continue going to work either.
Today should be her last day there, to say goodbye to Store Manager Grandma.
Sakamoto Ken stood up, walked toward the entrance, and said, “Coming, coming.”
He arrived at the doorway, still wondering what outfit Mio would have today.
While thinking, he turned the door handle and opened the room door.
“Mio, you’re here so early.”
However, the moment the room door fully opened, Sakamoto Ken was completely stunned.
The girl standing at the doorway also widened her eyes, staring at him in utter shock.
She wore a refined dress paired with black pantyhose. Her soft long hair had a white hairband, and her face was full of doubt.
This was nowhere near Natsume Mio.
This was clearly Mikazuki Haruna!
Wait, why did you come over without saying a word?!
The muscles at the corner of Sakamoto Ken’s eye twitched slightly. He barely maintained a calm facade on the surface and asked, “It’s you… Why are you here?”
Mikazuki Haruna’s surprise lasted only a few short seconds, then she pouted and unhappily crossed her arms.
She stared straight at Sakamoto Ken and said, “Hey, what did you just call me?”
