Chapter 99: Ryū Kōshin
Sakamoto Ken’s gaze swept over this narrow apartment room.
The house’s age was several times greater than his, the facilities were all outdated, and there were even some indelible mold spots in the corners.
Later, relying on royalty fees from serialized manga, he moved to a slightly better 1LDK apartment near Kanzaki Art Academy.
That apartment wasn’t large in area either, but at least it had an independent bathroom.
His residences were limited to just these two places.
But theirs were far more numerous.
He had visited Mio’s house several times; it was a typical small family detached house. Later, she rented a small single room near the school, and that place became one of his frequent haunts.
Hoshihara Ai’s tower apartment was in Bunkyo Ward, with a very open view. He remembered several times when they intertwined together in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, with their backs to the Tokyo nightscape.
As for Mikazuki Haruna…
The top-floor apartment in Chiyoda Ward had a bathtub large enough for two people to fight in comfortably.
The standalone villa in Shibuya Ward, Shoto, the house on the Shonan coast in Kanagawa, the vacation home in Shizuoka where pulling back the curtain revealed Mount Fuji, the log cabin by the flower fields in Hokkaido, the traditional courtyard residence in Kyoto…
He visited each place a different number of times, but they were all places where they had combat.
Now that Sakamoto Ken had been reborn for over a month, he had spent most of his time holed up in this old apartment, buried in creation.
Sakamoto Ken looked at his seven-figure balance.
Although it was still far from Haruna’s level where pocket money alone could accumulate tens of millions, it was at least enough to rent a house.
As the manga got on track, he also needed a more professional workbench.
Moreover, Sakamoto Ken felt he couldn’t handle all the drawing work alone forever.
Even with future memories in his mind, human energy was limited.
Painting at such high intensity every day, as he was now, could indeed meet the demands of two updates a week, but in the long run, his body would definitely suffer.
If considering setting up a studio and recruiting assistants, then renting a detached house would be the best choice.
The first floor as the studio, and upstairs as the living area, without interfering with each other.
As for the house’s location…
One was Shueisha in Chiyoda Ward, and the other was Kanzaki Art Academy, where he was about to enroll, near Nippori Station.
The new home would ideally be located between these two spots, with convenient transportation and not too long a commute.
As for whether to continue attending school.
He was now a formally debuted manga artist, and the momentum was strong.
From a purely utilitarian perspective, he could completely abandon his studies and focus on drawing manga at home.
In his previous life, although he had attended university, he was busy with part-time jobs early on, and later busy dealing with those three women.
He hadn’t really experienced university life.
Not to mention…
Haruna and Mio were both at that school.
One of the roots of the previous life’s ending was the hostile relationship that formed between them.
That enmity escalated into anger in their mutual reckonings, infinitely amplifying their emotions, ultimately leading to a yandere trope ending.
What if he could make them friends to begin with?
Wouldn’t that achieve a buy-one-get-one-free effect? Many conflicts could be resolved.
So, he still had to go to university.
Worst case, he could enroll first, and if the manga side got too busy, he could apply for a leave of absence or just skip classes—failing at worst.
The rental location Sakamoto Ken had preliminarily decided on was in Taito Ward near Akihabara, convenient for living and transportation, and he could stroll around Akihabara when free.
Of course, not to maid cafes, just to bookstores to buy manga.
He picked up his mobile phone and sent a LINE message to Kaji Keiko.
Since he was heading toward Akihabara, he could bring the newly completed manuscripts from the past few days and learn about the recent progress of the serialization and volumes in person.
After a quick tidy-up, Sakamoto Ken put the manuscripts for Chainsaw Man episode 19 and episode 20 into a file bag, slung on his bag, and headed out.
Reaching the main road, he hailed a taxi directly—reimbursable anyway.
Soon, the Shueisha Building came into view.
After getting out of the car, Sakamoto Ken quickly entered the first floor lobby and headed straight to the front desk with familiarity.
“Hello, I’m looking for Editor Kaji in the Editorial Department…”
Before he could finish, the young female staff at the front desk looked up, saw his face, seemed startled, and her body jerked back.
She was holding her mobile phone, seemingly looking at something, and the sudden movement nearly made it slip from her hand.
The female staff hurriedly placed her mobile phone screen-down on the desk, a flash of panic and embarrassment crossing her face, quickly replaced by a trained professional smile.
“Are… are you Sakamoto Sensei?” the female staff said.
Sakamoto Ken nodded, looking at her with some doubt, and said, “Yes, I’m going to the Editorial Department.”
“Okay, okay!” The female staff quickly pulled out the registration form. “Please sign here.”
Sakamoto Ken took the pen and signed his name on the registration form.
During his signing, he could feel the gaze from beside him fixed on him, feeling a bit strange… nervous?
Are you my fan?
But Sakamoto Ken didn’t pay it much mind.
Perhaps his manga had gained too much popularity recently, earning him some fame within the company.
Putting down the pen, Sakamoto Ken politely nodded to her and turned toward the internal passage leading to the Editorial Department.
Leaving the female staff standing there, watching his back until he disappeared around the corner, then she breathed a sigh of relief.
She fumbled for her mobile phone, quickly opened an avatar, and sent a message: 「Sakamoto Ken Sensei is at the company again.」
Miyuki Haru: 「Forgot to tell you, no need to report Sakamoto Ken Sensei’s movements at the company anymore. This is the last time, but the remuneration is still yours.」
「Miyuki Haru transferred you a LINE Pay balance of 100,000 yen.」
……
Sakamoto Ken went upstairs to the Editorial Department, which was even messier than his room.
Kaji Keiko had spotted Sakamoto Ken from afar, but she was on the desk phone and just waved at him from a distance.
Sakamoto Ken came to her workstation.
“Okay, okay, leaving the printing to you. Send the specific initial print run via email before the end of the workday.”
Kaji Keiko exchanged a few business words with the other party and hung up.
“Phew… Sakamoto Sensei, sorry I couldn’t come out to meet you.” Kaji Keiko pointed at the phone and said, “That was from the printing factory. We’ve confirmed the cover, layout, and proofs; just one step left.”
“The production meeting?” Sakamoto Ken asked.
“Exactly. I’ll meet with those folks from the Sales Department before the end of the day to confirm the initial print run,” Kaji Keiko said.
Sakamoto Ken placed the brought manuscripts on the desk and said, “Have to trouble Editor.”
Kaji Keiko patted her chest and guaranteed, “I’ll definitely negotiate for over 50,000 copies, aiming for 60,000.”
“Will they agree?” Sakamoto Ken said.
“Heh… I’ll first propose 80,000—no, 100,000, to give them room to haggle.” Kaji Keiko moved the mouse, and the computer screen lit up.
The screen displayed a PPT, a detailed introduction to Chainsaw Man.
Kaji Keiko said, “Whether it’s the content, popularity, or Sakamoto Sensei’s creation speed, there’s no reason for the initial print run to be below 50,000. Even if the president comes, I’ll stand firm.”
Kaji Keiko placed her hands on her hips, took a deep breath, and calmed her emotions.
She said, “Sakamoto Sensei, have you decided on the house you’re looking for? I can help reference options for setting up the studio.”
Sakamoto Ken said, “Actually, I have considered setting up a studio.”
“For a studio… Sakamoto Sensei, do you plan to keep drawing alone? How about considering recruiting assistants? It would save a lot of energy, allowing you to focus on story and storyboard.” Kaji Keiko said, “With your current royalty fees, you can easily cover an assistant’s salary.”
Sakamoto Ken pondered for a moment and said, “I’ll set up the studio first, then think about assistants. After all, the key is the person; they need to meet my requirements.”
“True, true.” Kaji Keiko nodded.
As they were talking, Sakamoto Ken suddenly heard a stern voice from another editor nearby.
“Ryuu-san, to put it bluntly, the manga you serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Magazine was canceled after just a few months—it’s frankly a garbage work. This is JUMP; it has to meet JUMP standards.”
“With your current skill, even if you draw out this jumbled ghost story, it’ll still get canceled. Using supernatural against supernatural, high-speed granny or whatever—have you thought about how the plot develops afterward?”
“As for that other romance manga, it’s even worse garbage. Let’s just say, this manga could at most be published in an unread supplement; it’s pointless.”
“I suggest you marinate a bit more, conceive the story and characters properly before starting, and if you’re in financial trouble, I see you have decent drawing fundamentals—try being an assistant to hone your skills.”
Sakamoto Ken looked over there.
The young man being scolded by the editor was hanging his head, looking dejected.
He looked over out of curiosity mainly because he heard the editor mention high-speed granny and supernatural…
So familiar—that’s Bold Party, isn’t it?
If this author’s surname is Ryuu, then isn’t it…
In the previous life world line, Tatsuki Fujimoto’s main assistant on Chainsaw Man, who later created Bold Party—Ryū Kōshin!
