Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 154 Mio, what are you doing with that knife? (6000 words)
Ken Sakamoto wasn't so hungry that he wanted to eat at the company, which is why he asked Mio Natsume to take a nap with him.

After all, Ai Hoshino and I had already exhausted ourselves yesterday.

The main purpose was to verify whether all three of them could enter that dream world.

Ken Sakamoto did draw all morning, and then had a meeting, so he's really a bit sleepy now.

Moreover, he was very calm and fell asleep on the sofa not long after lying down.

This time, his consciousness drifted in that pitch-black void for a long time, in a state where he was asleep but his consciousness was clear, yet he had not yet entered a lucid dream.

When I tested this with Ai Hoshino before, this state only lasted for a very short time.

Perhaps they're waiting to connect online?
Kenjiro Sakamoto wasn't sure if he could succeed by noon today, but he had to give it a try.

In the darkness of consciousness, Ken Sakamoto didn't wait long. He felt the intense sun shining on his body. In reality, the weather in Tokyo was still a bit cool, but in this dream, Tokyo was extremely hot.

Upon closer inspection, the scene before me was a rooftop.

Rooftop?

Ken Sakamoto felt that he was leaning against the railing of the rooftop. The railing was quite high, about shoulder height, making it difficult to climb over in one go.

But what caught his attention even more was the girl in front of him.

Natsume Mio held a palm-sized knife in her hand, looking down with a puzzled expression.

Then he looked up at Ken Sakamoto, then down at the knife in his hand, and let out a soft "Eh."

Kenichi Sakamoto immediately understood that this was the scene from last week's playthrough where they cornered him on the rooftop.

Originally, all three girls should have been standing in front of him, but because of the online connection, only Natsume Mio was there.

She should be holding a knife, because the next second that knife will be stuck in his body.

However, Natsume Mio did not do that.

After all, this is just a recreation of the scene at that time, and Natsume Mio is actually the current Natsume Mio.

Although that's what Ken Sakamoto thought, he still moved slightly to the side to avoid her outstretched attack range.

"Mio, what are you doing with that knife?" Ken Sakamoto asked, staring intently at the weapon in her hand.

"Huh?" Natsume Mio gripped the hilt of the knife, weighed it in her hand, and said uncertainly, "They should... they should... be here to kill Ken?"

"What a strange dream, but that's what I was thinking at the time, that they were here to kill Ken." Natsume Mio muttered to herself.

She examined the knife in her hand closely; the blade was pointing at Ken Sakamoto, but she had a smile on her face.

"No, no, Ken, don't be afraid, I didn't really mean to kill you," Natsume Mio explained, raising the knife in her hand.

"Put the knife down first..." Ken Sakamoto said.

Even though it was a dream, Ken Sakamoto didn't want to be stabbed.

Natsume Mio didn't say much, and simply threw the knife on the ground.

"Alright, alright, Ah Jian, don't worry."

Ken Sakamoto immediately picked it up and threw it downstairs.

Now I can rest easy...

Without a weapon, Sakamoto Ken wasn't afraid of Natsume Mio. Even though she had practiced kendo, the difference in physical strength between men and women was undeniable, and her skills were of little use when she was unarmed.

At this moment, Ken Sakamoto realized that Mio Natsume was not actually paying attention to his presence at all.

So you just treat him as some kind of background character, or... an NPC in the game?

Mio Natsume looked around the rooftop, lost in thought.

'It's that dream again, but it's different from before. Why can I move around so freely?'

'And Ah Jian being there too, that was just something I imagined, wasn't it?'

'He was clearly afraid I'd stab him in the back; he seemed really nervous.'

'Will he react if I talk to him?'

Natsume Mio returned to Sakamoto Ken and waved to him: "Ken?"

Ken Sakamoto looked at the girl in front of him, didn't reply, and directly reached out to touch her head.

Natsume Mio stared wide-eyed at Sakamoto Ken without flinching. Sakamoto Ken gently stroked the top of her head and then pinched the braid draped over her shoulder.

In this dream world, the participants are dressed exactly the same as they are in real life. So, Natsume Mio also has machimaru-red braids, paired with a white dress and pure white mid-calf socks.

In Natsume Mio's view, she is currently having a lucid dream about Ken.

Since it's a dream, it doesn't matter how much you do as you please.

As for the rooftop and the knife, it doesn't matter; it's just a scene I imagined.

Besides, she didn't actually stab Ah Jian in the back.

Natsume Mio noticed that Sakamoto Ken was staring at her intently, so she leaned closer and said with a smile, "Hey, Ken~ Do I look good?"

Ken Sakamoto nodded matter-of-factly and said, "Of course."

His hand moved down, trying to touch Natsume Mio's face.

But Natsume Mio dodged it.

"Sigh, but in the end, this is just Ken that I imagined in my dream, not the real Ken..." Natsume Mio muttered to herself.

She looked Sakamoto Ken up and down and said, "Ken, you look at me like that, you wouldn't be thinking something, would you?"

Sakamoto Ken was surprised that she would bring it up in his dream. Actually, he hadn't thought about it, but since she brought it up...

Ken Sakamoto reached out to grab Mio Natsume's hand.

But as soon as their fingertips touched, Natsume Mio dodged away again.

“Damn it,” Natsume Mio said. “You’re just a figment of my imagination, not the real Ken. I’m not going to do those things with you.”

When Sakamoto Ken heard Natsume Mio say this, he was genuinely taken aback, and it took him a moment to understand her thought process.

Mio felt that "he" was not the real Sakamoto Ken, but rather a shadow she had imagined, an NPC in her dream.

So, I'm fine with talking, but I don't want to do anything intimate.

Ken Sakamoto himself had never thought of it from this perspective.

According to Ai Hoshihara's detailed description, in the dream without online interaction, she was a passive participant.

It's like a complete recap of what happened last week. Everything can only unfold according to what happened at that time, and cannot be changed according to one's own preferences.

Moreover, apart from herself and Ken Sakamoto, everyone else was a blur, so she only knew there were two other people, but didn't know what they looked like.

Ai Hoshino told him that if she could change what happened in that dream, she wouldn't stab him in the back.

"What are you talking about? I really am." Sakamoto Ken took a step closer to Natsume Mio.

Natsume Mio followed suit, taking a step back and staring wide-eyed at Sakamoto Ken: "Eh... Ken, you, you... you want to do this to me..."

She even crossed her arms over her chest, adopting a defensive posture.

Seeing her reaction, Ken Sakamoto smiled and said, "Since I am the Ken you imagined, then my persona is the same as you imagined. What kind of image did you imagine me to be?"

Seeing that Sakamoto Ken didn't approach any further, Natsume Mio breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Looking at the figure in front of her that looked exactly like Ah Jian, she actually had a vague feeling that the person in front of her was Ah Jian himself. They looked the same, had the same voice, and gave her the same feeling.

But she was also well aware that she was now lying in the writers' lounge at Shueisha, sleeping with Ken.

Therefore, no matter how similar it is, it is just a shadow imagined in one's own mind.

In reality, especially at night, when she feels her room is empty and she feels lonely, she will think of Ah Jian to reward herself.

But that's different; that's her own business, and what she's thinking about is the real Ah Jian in reality.

There was no mention of doing something intimate with an imagined shadow from the "future" in a dream world where she could act on her own, just like reality; such a thing would make her feel uneasy.

However, there's nothing wrong with just talking to each other.

Thinking about the question Sakamoto Ken asked her, Natsume Mio said, "Ken... is a pervert who likes big breasts, stockings, beautiful legs and feet."

"?"

Sakamoto Ken's lips twitched slightly as he said, "Is that how you see me?"

"Am I right?"

"Why do you say that?"

“I could tell,” Natsume Mio said.

Ken Sakamoto smiled slightly and shook his head, saying, "Actually, I'm not that fixated on breast size."

This girl definitely added the word "big breasts" as her own personal touch.

Ken Sakamoto doesn't have particularly high standards when it comes to breasts. From small-breasted Haruna to medium-breasted Ai, and even the very large-breasted Mio, he doesn't see any difference in size and is quite tolerant.

In fact, there is only one core element, which is beautiful girls.

Whether it's foot fetish or leg fetish, it's all fake; what they really are is a fetish for pretty girls.

"What?!" Hearing Sakamoto Ken say that, Natsume Mio glared at him and said irritably, "And you're a total scumbag!"

"Why do you say that?" Ken Sakamoto asked.

Natsume Mio gave a light snort and said, "Do you know why I was carrying a knife just now?"

"why?"

"Because I originally came here to kill you."

"Why aren't you doing anything?"

Natsume Mio raised her chin and said, "I'll spare your life for now." She pointed to the ground and said, "This is where you'll die later, and it won't just be me. You scumbag Ken, the three girls you hooked up with will kill you here together."

Because it was a dream, Natsume Mio spoke of these things without any attempt to hide anything.

In her view, this was a kind of emotional release.

After all, it's impossible to discuss such issues with Ken Sakamoto in real life, but if you have a lucid dream and dream about Ken, it's fine to discuss it with him.

Anyway, no matter what you say, Ah Jian in real life will never know.

She crossed her arms and continued, "At first I didn't know who they were, but when I saw that car I knew. Haruna was one of them."

"You bastard, you'll end up falling for her for money and becoming her gigolo. You're really pathetic."

Ken Sakamoto was not surprised by this, as he could see some clues from the relationship between Mio Natsume and Haruna Mikazuki.

Ken Sakamoto said, "My manga is very popular, and the collected volumes will definitely be bestsellers in the future. Why would I become a gigolo for money?"

Mio Natsume pouted and said, "I don't think so. Even if Ken's comics sell very well, he's still not as rich as her."

Ken Sakamoto shook his head slightly, but did not reply to that sentence.

But what she said is definitely not going to happen. He doesn't have that strong a desire for money. A few hundred million in royalties is enough for him to live comfortably. He doesn't necessarily need a mansion or yacht.

With the upcoming release of the collected volume, a prize for submissions, and a confirmed anime adaptation project, the royalties and the monthly consulting fees paid by NESX are all quite substantial.

He will no longer submit to some young lady's skirt; the initiative must naturally be in his own hands.

But Sakamoto Ken went along with her, saying, "What if I still end up with them?"

"Eh?" Natsume Mio was slightly taken aback. Looking at Sakamoto Ken in front of her, she was not angry, but fell into deep thought.

In her view, this was a question she herself had asked herself.

Yeah, what if A-Jian is still hooking up with them... especially that Haruna guy?
Natsume Mio looked around and said very seriously, "You absolutely cannot repeat the same mistake, or we'll corner you on the rooftop and kill you here."

"I'm sure I won't repeat the same mistake if I do it again," Ken Sakamoto said with certainty.

Mio Natsume nodded and said, "I also think Ken won't repeat the same mistake, I hope so..."

Ken Sakamoto listened to her muttering.

The "recurrence of mistakes" she's thinking about is probably not the same thing he's thinking about...

A gentle breeze.

The wind on the rooftop blew against his body as Sakamoto Ken felt the exceptionally realistic dreamlike environment and gazed at the beautiful girl before him.

In fact, he could easily pull her over and hold her tightly in his arms, doing whatever he wanted.

But Ken Sakamoto was a gentleman.

Since Natsume Mio had no such thoughts at all, and Sakamoto Ken was actually quite surprised and even a little touched by her attitude towards "him" in the dream.

She only loves the real him in reality. Even if they meet in a dream, she won't do anything particularly intimate if she can control it herself. After all, unlike Ai Hoshihara, she doesn't clearly understand the principle behind the dream.

As for Mikazuki Haruna, she probably never even thought about that kind of issue.

Moreover, it was Sakamoto Ken who took the initiative and pinned her down without saying a word. His actions were somewhat emotional, as if he was getting revenge on her for urging him to update last week.

Natsume Mio walked to the edge of the rooftop, looking at the city buildings outside the railing, and muttered to herself, "I wonder how long I've slept, whether the alarm clock went off or not. I was sleeping so soundly I probably didn't hear it..."

She turned to look at Ken Sakamoto, still speaking to herself, "Ken has a meeting later. I wonder if he's awake yet. If he wakes up first and sees me still asleep, will he wake me up?"

"what?"

Suddenly, a thought popped into her head, and she imagined some scenes.

"He wouldn't do anything bad to me while I'm asleep, would he?"

Sakamoto Ken listened to her muttering the whole time, thinking, "What do you think I am? What could I possibly do to you while you're asleep?"
Unlike love, where she won't wake up no matter what you do to her if she doesn't want to, very few people have this talent for controlling sleep.

Around that time, an alarm clock suddenly rang in the sky, startling not only Sakamoto Ken but also Natsume Mio.

When Ken Sakamoto looked at the spot where Mio Natsume was standing again, she simply vanished.

I've seen Ai Hoshino suddenly disappear in a dream before, and this is the second time. It's obvious that this is a sign that she's woken up.

Ken Sakamoto ignored the ringing. Standing on the familiar rooftop, he was filled with mixed emotions.

This is the place where he died...

The ringing stopped quickly. Sakamoto Ken remembered that the phone alarm should have rung for longer, and the only reason was that Natsume Mio had turned it off.

Immediately afterwards, Ken Sakamoto felt the world shake, everything in front of him suddenly shrank, and his vision returned to darkness.

Soon, regaining consciousness, Ken Sakamoto opened his eyes.

As soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the girl's large face.

Natsume Mio stared at him with wide eyes, her breath brushing against his face. The two were very close.

Ken Sakamoto stared into Mio Natsume's pupils, and could see his own face reflected in her eyes.

"Ah Jian, you're awake."

She tried to get up, but Ken Sakamoto grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down onto his body.

Natsume Mio offered a token resistance for a second before adjusting her position.

And so, their lips touched, and the warm sensation was transmitted to each other.

Sakamoto Ken shifted his body, opened his mouth, and tried to devour the girl in one bite, but in the instant he turned his head, his gaze fell upon another woman standing next to him.

Sakamoto Ken jolted and took a step back, then quickly sat up.

"No, Kaji-san, what are you doing here?!" Sakamoto Ken wiped his lips with the back of his hand and said.

Kaji Keiko stood there, stunned. She smiled awkwardly, pointed to the door, and said, "Mio opened the door for me just now..."

Ken Sakamoto looked at Mio Natsume, whose eyes darted around before she turned her head away to look at the wall.

"I woke you up, how could you... ambush me..." Natsume Mio smacked her lips, her tongue quickly licking her lips.

Sakamoto Ken's mind raced for a moment before he said, "So you're awake. I thought I was dreaming. Hmm... I had a strange dream just now..."

"Did Sakamoto-sensei dream about kissing?" Keiko Kaji said with a smile.

“Hmm… I dreamt about Mio,” Sakamoto Ken said.

"Huh?" Natsume Mio was slightly taken aback and said with some surprise, "Ken dreamed about me too?"

"Also?" Keiko Kaji asked in confusion.

Natsume Mio chuckled and didn't say much. She waved her hand and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Did Ken dream that he was kissing me? And when he woke up, he thought he was still dreaming?"

"I can't say," Kenjiro Sakamoto replied cryptically.

"Alright, you two..." Keiko Kaji shook her head and said, "Anyway, the afternoon meeting is about to start. Sakamoto-sensei, you... wipe your lipstick off and come to the meeting room. I'll head over now..."

Keiko Kaji turned and left, leaving the room back to Ken Sakamoto and Mio Natsume.

Natsume Mio had just been trying to maintain a calm demeanor in front of Editor Kaji, but now that it was just her and Sakamoto Ken in the room, her face instantly turned completely red.

She said in a very soft voice, "Jian, um... just now, you were the one who took the initiative."

Ken Sakamoto neither denied it nor answered the question.

He took a tissue from the tissue box on the coffee table, wiped the lipstick stain from the corner of his mouth, and then stood up.

“I have to go to the meeting room… Thanks for the lunchbox,” Ken Sakamoto said.

"Okay, Ken, you go ahead~" Natsume Mio said with a smile.

Ken Sakamoto strode out of the lounge and headed toward the meeting room where the meeting had just taken place.

As for Natsume Mio, she sat on the sofa in a daze for a while, various images floating in her mind, and then she couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle, even laughing out loud.

She took deep breaths to calm herself down, which helped her regain some composure.

I picked up the bag containing the travel case, walked quickly away, took the elevator directly to the first floor, and headed towards the entrance of Shueisha.

She had just arrived in the lobby of Shueisha when her gaze immediately fell on a girl standing by the wall making a phone call.

The other person also sensed her gaze, immediately hung up the phone with Hanabe Kyoko, and quickly walked towards her.

Natsume Mio had been savoring the kiss that Sakamoto Ken had given her the whole way, but when she suddenly saw Mikazuki Haruna, her good mood was abruptly interrupted.

The two were less than two meters apart, face to face, when Mikazuki Haruna spoke first: "Why have you been inside for so long?"

"Do you know how long I've been here?" Natsume Mio asked, puzzled.

Haruna Mikazuki said directly, "I saw you come in, and then you went upstairs. You came to see Ken, right?"

Natsume Mio gave a light hum and held up the lunch bag in her hand: "Of course, I brought a lunch for Ken."

Mikazuki Haruna's gaze was fixed on Natsume Mio's lips, then she looked at her still slightly flushed face, her brows furrowing even more.

"How did your lipstick get on your face?" Mikazuki Haruna sensed something was wrong.

Natsume Mio touched her cheek and indeed felt the sticky texture of lipstick.

She exclaimed, "Oh dear!" and said, "Ah Jian put it up there, and I forgot to wipe it off!"

As she spoke, she took out a tissue and wiped her cheeks and mouth.

Actually, she had completely forgotten; her mind was so preoccupied that she hadn't even thought to wipe her mouth.

"You were...taken...up there by Ken?" Mikazuki Haruna repeated the sentence, emphasizing each word, and pointed at her, saying, "Did you forcibly kiss Ken?"

"Slightly, slightly, slightly~"

Natsume Mio stuck her tongue out at Mikazuki Haruna, then continued walking towards the door, leaving behind the words, "Guess what?"

(End of this chapter)