Chapter 148: Want To Draw Cute Girls
On the surface, Sakamoto Ken was extremely calm.
But in reality, he had very little confidence.
Although there was no need to worry too much about Ai, at most just worry about her health and eat more supplements.
Meanwhile, Mio and Haruna probably saw each other as rivals to eliminate, but there was some kind of… cooperation relationship between them?
Sakamoto Ken had never experienced such a situation in his previous life; after they got to know each other, they quickly came to him with knives…
In short, I’m not strong enough yet.
Sakamoto Ken first bought a treadmill online; the exercise plan could no longer be put on hold.
Then, he picked up the paintbrush and drew the storyboard draft page by page.
Manga was the core build; as long as the popularity was high enough, the royalty fees would be plentiful, and when facing them, he would be a bestselling writer.
Dating you is giving you an opportunity, not me pursuing you.
Speaking of which, this mindset does have a bit of a scumbag element, but I’ve also tried not playing it this way, and wasn’t I knifed by you all?
The current manga update progress was chapter 12, the manuscript was completed up to chapter 23, and his storyboard draft was prepared up to chapter 33, soon finishing the content for the fourth volume.
Meanwhile, 《Chainsaw Man》’s first part Public Safety Arc was only 97 chapters in total, and the storyboard had advanced to one-third.
In chapter 33, Makima met the Yamaguchi-gumi boss and threatened him with his entire family’s eyeballs, obtaining the name of the Yamaguchi-gumi member who had contact with the Gun Demon.
The next chapter was the end of volume 4, with everyone gathering for the true B-movie style climactic plot.
Combat! Blood! Heads! Slash slash slash, kill kill kill!
Next came the arc with the hottest response in the previous life, volumes 5 and 6.
It could also be called: the Reze Arc.
Sakamoto Ken wisely chose not to respond to Mio and Haruna, hunching over the desk and drawing rapidly, quickly producing page after page of storyboard.
He didn’t even notice when the two of them left; it was only around six in the evening that Kaji Keiko came over to call him.
“Sakamoto Sensei, you’ve been drawing all afternoon; how about taking a rest? Ryuu-san and the others are also about to head back,” Kaji Keiko said.
Sakamoto Ken put down the paintbrush and suddenly realized that a thick stack of storyboard drafts had piled up beside the desk.
He glanced at the time; it was well past the assistants’ quitting time, but they were all sitting in their chairs without leaving.
They probably saw him still drawing nonstop and didn’t dare disturb him, so they had no choice but to keep working overtime…
Sakamoto Ken said, “I got too absorbed in drawing earlier and forgot the time.”
“Sakamoto Sensei, this is all what you drew in one afternoon…” Kaji Keiko picked up the stack of storyboard drafts, weighed it in her hands, and said.
Sakamoto Ken hadn’t even counted earlier; he only knew he had drawn from chapter 33 all the way to Power dealing with a large number of zombies, then the katana appearing, and the decisive battle starting with Denji.
A total of 80 pages of manuscript; now it was truly a hefty stack.
Ryū Kōshin and the other two were packing their backpacks to head home; they also walked over to take a look.
Ryū Kōshin’s gaze fell on that thick stack of storyboard drafts, his eyes widening.
“Sakamoto Sensei…” There was even a tremble in his voice, “This couldn’t all be what you drew in one afternoon, right?”
Sakamoto Ken nodded with a smile; Kaji Keiko had already walked over and picked up the stack of manuscript paper, flipping through it quickly.
“Chapter 33… 34… 35… 36…” She counted as she flipped, her expression shifting from surprise to shock.
She looked at Sakamoto Ken in disbelief: “Sakamoto Sensei, this is a full four chapters’ worth! You completed it in one afternoon?”
Sakamoto Ken corrected, “To be precise, it’s three and a half chapters; I had already finished the first half of chapter 33 beforehand.”
“Three and a half chapters…” Kaji Keiko was at a loss for how to evaluate Sakamoto Ken’s drawing speed.
Nearby, Kaku Yuji and Endo Tatsuya also craned their necks to look at the storyboard drafts.
“Sakamoto Sensei is on a monster level…” Endo Tatsuya said; he had been in the industry for over ten years, assisting many writers, and had never seen such terrifying efficiency.
Kaji Keiko held the stack of manuscript paper and said, “No, I have to read it all right now!”
She glanced at the three assistants: “You three should head home first.”
“No no no!” Ryū Kōshin waved his hands hurriedly, “We’re not in a rush! We want to read it too!”
“Right! Please let us read it too!” Kaku Yuji said excitedly.
Sakamoto Ken said, “No problem, I’ll pay the overtime fees as usual; reading the storyboard draft is also part of working here.”
The three bowed deeply: “Thank you, Sakamoto Sensei!”
Kaji Keiko sat back in her chair and began flipping through chapter 33.
The three assistants immediately crowded around, standing behind her and stretching their necks.
Kaji Keiko read quickly; after finishing the last page of chapter 33, she handed that chapter’s content to the three behind her.
Endo Tatsuya received it like a treasure; Kaku Yuji and Ryū Kōshin immediately huddled over, the three squeezing together to read.
Kaji Keiko finished chapter 34 and passed it back; finished chapter 35 and passed it back again…
When all the storyboard drafts were read, Kaji Keiko let out a long breath, leaned back in her chair, feeling like she had just watched a movie.
On the other side, the three assistants had also finished reading everything.
“God… it’s simply godlike…”
Ryū Kōshin murmured to himself; the way he looked at Sakamoto Ken had shifted from previous admiration to near-fanatical worship.
“I’ve been grinding for months and haven’t even polished a complete first chapter storyboard draft…” Ryū Kōshin said with a wry smile, “Sakamoto Sensei did four chapters in one afternoon… and…”
He held up the storyboard draft in his hand: “And the completion level is too high! Sakamoto Sensei, you don’t need to revise these at all?”
Only after Ryū Kōshin said this did Kaji Keiko carefully flip through it again: “It’s true… Every page is clean and decisive, with almost no eraser marks… Sakamoto Sensei did it all in one go?”
Sakamoto Ken shrugged and said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Kaji, did you forget? I used to not even need storyboard drafts; I drew straight to manuscript.”
“That’s right…” Kaji Keiko shook her head with a wry smile, “Sorry, I keep unconsciously judging Sakamoto Sensei by normal standards… Sakamoto Sensei is the exception.”
Ryū Kōshin carefully placed the storyboard draft back on the desk, took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.
“Um… Sakamoto Sensei, Kaji,” he scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, and said, “Recently while inking 《Chainsaw Man》, I’ve had some new inspiration.”
“Oh?” Kaji Keiko immediately perked up, “Is it about that supernatural story of yours from before?”
“Yeah!” Ryū Kōshin nodded vigorously, “I feel my ideas are much clearer than before; I’ll start drawing the storyboard when I get home today. Kaji, can you take a look at my manuscript then?”
“Of course, no problem!” Kaji Keiko agreed without hesitation, “I’m really looking forward to your manuscript.”
Nearby, Endo Tatsuya spoke up quietly: “Actually, I’ve recently had some ideas too…”
“Oh? Endou-san has a new work in mind too?” Kaji Keiko looked at him encouragingly.
Endo Tatsuya’s expression was a bit shy: “Yeah, I want to draw cute little girls…”
“Romance manga?” Kaku Yuji asked curiously from the side.
“No… not that…” Endo Tatsuya waved his hands and said, “I mean little girls, elementary school students.”
As soon as he said it, Kaku Yuji and Ryū Kōshin immediately stared at him with eyes like they were looking at a pervert.
“Endou bro, our JUMP is a serious magazine…” Ryū Kōshin said.
