Chapter 3: Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, And Pantyhose
Chiyoda Ward, Akihabara Appliance Street.
Natsume Mio was shopping with her best friend, but she didn’t buy anything and seemed a bit absent-minded.
On the day the exam ended, she wanted to confess to Sakamoto Ken.
But A Jian seemed to be avoiding her and immediately ran off.
Later, when she sent him messages, he didn’t reply.
He didn’t even open them; they were still in “unread” status even now.
Because she kept thinking about this, she suffered from insomnia every night, with a certain figure lingering in her mind…
On the day of the exam, after finishing the paper, she fell asleep in the exam room and had a dream.
Recently, almost every night, that same dream replayed in her mind.
Although only a few minutes passed in reality, it felt like a lifetime in the dream.
In the dream, after the exam, she confessed to Sakamoto Ken, and they naturally got together.
Throughout the holiday, they visited all the fun places in Tokyo.
On a rainy night, after watching a movie, neither had an umbrella, so he pulled her into a love hotel.
Then, she gave herself to him.
After the first time, it was like unlocking some kind of seal.
From then on, their dates always included a segment in an hourly room.
But she was from an ordinary family, and playing like this every day was too expensive.
So she started rushing between various recording studios, doing voice acting for minor roles in animations and games.
At this time, A Jian’s manga was successfully published. According to A Jian, his royalty fees were quite substantial, so their financial situation improved a lot.
They could even afford rooms in high-end themed hotels, and he would buy her various role-playing costume sets.
She remembered very clearly the book title she saw in the dream.
《Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, and Pantyhose!》.
A Jian occasionally had to attend reader gatherings or publishing house events; anyway, he was quite busy.
Until one day, A Jian messaged her saying he was going to a reader gathering, but she discovered that A Jian was actually sitting in a small bar with another woman, acting intimately…
The subsequent stalking shocked her even more.
Because besides her, A Jian was frequently involved with another woman.
Including her, A Jian was dating three people at the same time!
The later developments became outrageous; she actually teamed up with the other two women to corner A Jian on the rooftop.
Three stabs and six holes, watching him lie in a pool of blood, his body gradually cooling…
Throughout the entire dream, she could only see A Jian’s face clearly; the other two women’s faces were like mosaics, blurry.
Natsume Mio felt that the latter half of the dream must be her wild imagination.
Her inner thoughts were too dark, actually suspecting A Jian like that.
She specifically searched for 《Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, and Pantyhose!》.
It was clearly drawn by a female writer and had nothing to do with A Jian.
Her mobile browser still had that webpage saved; it was a news post from a publishing house:
【JUMP New Work Info: Genius Beautiful Girl Writer@Miyuki Haru@’s Strongest Debut Work《Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, and Pantyhose!》Published to Acclaim on “Shonen JUMP+” on February 14th!】
This time, after loading the page, there was more content than a few days ago:
【Exclusive Interview Preview: New Writer@Miyuki Haru@Debut Work Release Commemoration Interview Live Broadcast, First Public Reveal of《Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, and Pantyhose!》’s Creation Story from 0 to 1, Please Follow YouTube Channel@JUMP CHANNEL!】
Natsume Mio didn’t read much manga and usually didn’t follow works in this area, so she didn’t know who this Miyuki Haru was.
She generally preferred watching animations.
After all, she applied to the Vocal Music Department, and her future goal was to become a voice actor; watching animations helped her learn seniors’ techniques.
Probably because she had casually seen the publishing house’s promotion in daily life, her subconscious recreated it in the dream.
But today was Valentine’s Day…
If things developed as in the dream, A Jian should be waiting for her downstairs at her place, then go on a date together…
Natsume Mio felt very uneasy inside.
I’m too bad.
Actually imagining A Jian as such a scumbag…
Natsume Mio felt extremely guilty.
She knew Sakamoto Ken’s family situation; while working part-time and studying so excellently, he even managed creation—it was too hard.
If only I had money, I could directly sponsor him…
Sponsor…?
This keyword popped into her mind, and Natsume Mio thought of one of the women from the dream.
Although she couldn’t see the face clearly, she saw that this woman drove a red Porsche when going to see A Jian.
Ha, what am I thinking.
In reality, there wouldn’t be a rich young lady keeping A Jian.
But once this thought arose, Natsume Mio increasingly felt that the dream might be some kind of omen.
So far, Sakamoto Ken hadn’t told her where he lived, but she remembered the address from the dream.
A Jian lived in a very rundown apartment, and she had even lived with him there for a while.
Adachi Ward, Hanabata 4-chome.
Should I go take a look?
Natsume Mio immediately stopped and told her companion she had urgent business and had to go back.
……
In the Adachi Ward apartment.
Sakamoto Ken received a reply from the Shonen JUMP+ editorial department.
It said the manuscript had passed the editor’s initial review, but the editor hoped to discuss the subsequent plot in person, and it attached a schedule for booking a meeting time.
In this schedule, there was an available slot that afternoon, so Sakamoto Ken immediately clicked to book it.
He hoped serialization would start as soon as possible, so he could earn royalty fees sooner.
Recently, Sakamoto Ken had been pushing the manga’s progress with full effort every day.
After formal serialization begins, writers generally hire a few assistants for time-consuming tasks like inking and backgrounds; otherwise, it’s hard to meet the weekly update requirements.
But Sakamoto Ken currently had no assistants and handled all processes himself.
Fortunately, Tatsuki Fujimoto Sensei’s works weren’t known for detailed illustrations, but for visual impact, storyboard design, and quirky, somewhat mad characters and plot.
So, drawing over 12 hours a day, Chainsaw Man was already up to chapter 4, and all 7 chapters of the first volume could be completed within this month.
At this speed, even after formal serialization launches, he wouldn’t need to hire assistants.
Remembering his creation in the previous life, he was lazy every day; if not for a certain fan leader urging him with a whip, he might have given up long ago.
After all, she gave him way too much…
In the previous life, that manga《Young Lady, Sniper Rifle, and Pantyhose!》had mediocre sales; later he claimed in promotions that his royalties were substantial, but actually it was individual “tips” from a certain girl…
It was more accurately described as keeping fees.
While packing the manuscript, Sakamoto Ken suddenly received a LINE message.
The sender was Natsume Mio, wanting to ask him out shopping.
Since he didn’t actually open the message, he could only see a preview in the popup.
This was one of his small habits.
Without opening the message, it wouldn’t change to “read” status.
In the late previous life, while juggling all three of them, if a message became read, he had to reply immediately, so Sakamoto Ken told them his phone was usually on silent and he rarely checked messages.
Just pretend not to see it; at least leave it unread for half a day before replying, so he seemed less attentive.
He knew exactly why Natsume Mio was asking him out.
Wasn’t it just coveting my male charms?
In the previous life, she was the hardest to satisfy.
Heh, this time, anything besides making money could wait.
Sakamoto Ken took the manuscript, changed shoes, went out, and headed downstairs.
