Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 160 A Pure Money Relationship (6400 words)
"Ding-dong-"

The studio doorbell rang.

Ken Sakamoto arrived at the door, and a familiar figure appeared on the screen of the smart lock.

It's Natsume Mio.

She was clearly dressed up carefully today.

She was wearing a pure white dress with a ruffled neckline, and beneath the hem, her calves, encased in white mid-calf stockings, were shapely and straight, paired with round-toed flat shoes.

Machima's red braids have grown a bit longer now, hanging smoothly down her sides. Presumably because the new hair growing on the top of her head hasn't been dyed yet, she's wearing a small round hat.

Ken Sakamoto opened the door.

"Good morning, Jian!"

When Natsume Mio saw him, she immediately flashed a bright smile and bowed slightly to him with great energy.

She peeked into the room and saw that only Ken Sakamoto was there, which made her smile even wider.

It's Sunday today, and neither my assistant nor editor is here.

"Good morning, come in." Ken Sakamoto took a step back and said.

"Excuse me~"

She walked briskly into the entryway, took off her shoes, and her feet, wrapped in white silk, stepped onto the cool wooden floor.

"Is Jian the only one in the studio today?" she wanted to confirm again.

"Yes, the assistants are off for the weekend." Ken Sakamoto closed the door and walked into the house.

"Ken," Natsume Mio said to Sakamoto Ken, "I've been preparing for the anime voice acting lately, and I even asked Kaji-san for some advice."

Ken Sakamoto sat down in his chair and said, "I heard from Kaji that you worked very hard, copying down every single line and practicing it repeatedly."

“Yes!” Natsume Mio nodded vigorously and said, “I’ve thought through every single line of Miss Machima’s lines countless times!”

"As for the voice acting, I think you definitely have no problem." Ken Sakamoto affirmed first, "Even those veteran voice actors, in terms of understanding of the character Makima, are definitely not as deep as you."

"Hehe~" Natsume Mio was a little embarrassed by the praise, and her cheeks turned even redder.

However, Ken Sakamoto's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured over him.

"However, just being able to do voice acting isn't enough."

"Huh?" Natsume Mio's smile froze.

Ken Sakamoto placed his fingers on the table and continued his analysis: "Mio, you are competing for the lead role in an S-class anime. For roles of this caliber, the agency and investors consider much more than just whether the voice fits. Although I am the original author, I cannot directly designate you as the voice actress."

"Then... is there anything else needed?"

“Individual works and a fan base,” Ken Sakamoto pointed out the key point. “Have you ever watched music videos on YouTube?”

“Of course, I watch it all the time.” Natsume Mio thought for a moment and immediately understood what Sakamoto Ken meant. “Eh? Ken wants me to release my singing works on YouTube, right?”

“This is the fastest way,” Ken Sakamoto nodded and said. “Three months is definitely not enough time to release a music album through traditional channels, but if we rely on video platforms, we can release it as soon as it’s recorded.”

“But…” Natsume Mio frowned slightly and said, “I do have some cover recordings, which I’ve actually released before, but they haven’t received any response at all.”

What she said is true. There are countless people who cover popular songs, and it's difficult to stand out without top-notch singing skills or an extremely unique style.

“This isn’t a cover song.” Ken Sakamoto shook his head and said, “If it’s just a cover song, it will always just be comparing yourself to someone else’s shadow.”

He picked up the printed lyrics sheet from the workbench and handed it to Natsume Mio.

"I wrote a song, but right now I only have the lyrics. Take a look."

"A song written by Ken?!" Natsume Mio exclaimed in surprise as she took the paper.

Her gaze fell on the top of the page.

"Lemon".

She read the title aloud softly, then her gaze slowly moved down, reading the lyrics word by word.

"If only all this were a dream..."

"I can still meet you in my dreams..."

When she read these two sentences, Natsume Mio's fingers trembled violently, and her breath caught in her throat for half a second.

Dream...

Her mind was instantly flooded with those complex yet incredibly real memories of the "future".

Those moments I experienced with Ah Jian...

She continued looking behind her and read aloud softly:
"...like retrieving something forgotten, gently brushing away the dust that covers memories..."

"...The sorrow and pain of that day, along with you who loved all of it, have transformed into the bitter lemon scent deeply imprinted in my heart..."

"...Even today, you are still my light..."

Natsume Mio's eyes had already become moist without her realizing it.

She gripped the paper tightly, folding the edges of it.

This song...

It was clearly written for her!

No, it was written for the two of them!

"There is also happiness in this world that cannot be regained, and dark pasts that have never been mentioned to others..."

These two sentences clearly refer to the time when we all stabbed him in the back, right?
Natsume Mio felt as if her heart was being tightly gripped by a large hand, and an indescribable mix of sorrow and emotion welled up inside her.

She looked up at Ken Sakamoto with teary eyes, her voice trembling slightly: "Ken...this song...this song..."

Seeing her deeply moved expression, Sakamoto Ken nodded to himself.

Excellent, the effect is outstanding.

He simply said calmly, "The lyrics are there, but the melody is the soul."

He opened an audio file on his computer.

“I also have some ideas about the rhythm and melody of this song, but I have never formally studied music, so I can only sing it a cappella based on my feelings. You can listen to it.”

Ken Sakamoto's a cappella singing came from the loudspeaker.

Mio Natsume immediately gathered her thoughts, closed her eyes, and listened intently.

Although Ken Sakamoto's singing skills are only passable at karaoke level, they are enough for Mio Natsume to understand the melody.

After finishing her a cappella performance, Natsume Mio slowly opened her eyes. Looking at the lyrics in her hand, she tentatively began to sing softly.

"Dream ならば, どれほど, よかったでしょう..."

Just from the first sentence, Ken Sakamoto felt goosebumps all over his body.

This is the taste!

The female version of "Lemon" perfectly recreates that penetrating and infectious power in Natsume Mio's voice.

Mio Natsume's voice is very clear, and her emotions are very genuine. Although she only sang a cappella, she expressed the complex emotions in the song, which were filled with bitterness and hope, to the fullest extent.

After she finished singing, she was still somewhat immersed in the song, with tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

“Ken…” she looked at Ken Sakamoto and whispered, “This song… is really amazing.”

"You've studied music, could you perhaps improve the melody of this song?" Ken Sakamoto asked.

“Yes!” Natsume Mio nodded emphatically. “I can use music production software! Although I’m not very proficient yet, I know all the functions… I can write out the main melody and chords in the software first, and then gradually enrich the arrangement.”

“Then this job is yours,” Kenjiro Sakamoto said.

“Okay!” Natsume Mio was now very interested. She asked again, “Ken, how should we release this song in the end? Should we just release it on our YouTube channel?”

“You’ll create a new account, which will be used exclusively for publishing your work,” Ken Sakamoto said.

“But…” Natsume Mio hesitated again, “This is a song you wrote, Ken… I’m just singing it, why don’t you create the account?”

Ken Sakamoto understood her concerns. He smiled and said, "In that case... how about we cooperate?"

"Huh? How do we cooperate?"

“I’ll be in charge of writing the songs, and you’ll be in charge of arranging and singing,” Ken Sakamoto said. “Then we’ll sign a formal contract, and all the profits generated thereafter will be split according to the terms of the contract.”

“Sure!” Natsume Mio agreed without hesitation. “I don’t care about the profits, you can give them all to Ken!”

Ken Sakamoto shook his head. He opened his browser and quickly searched for industry-standard revenue-sharing models among songwriters, composers, and singers.

JASRAC (Japan Music Copyright Association) regulations are very complex, involving copyright, related rights, publishing rights, sound recording rights, and so on.

However, they now produce and release independently, without needing to go through record companies and JASRAC, which greatly simplifies the process.

The copyright of a musical work belongs to the creator, namely the lyricist and composer.

The bulk of the profits go to the producers and songwriters. Arrangers are usually paid as a one-time fee. As for the singers, unless they are also songwriters or producers, they receive very little royalties.

"As for the benefits..." Sakamoto Ken didn't look at it much further and said directly, "It's a 50/50 split."

"Huh?" Natsume Mio paused slightly and said, "No, no! Ken, you wrote the song, I just sang it. I heard my teacher talk about the relevant proportions, I'll take... um... 5% is fine!"

Ken Sakamoto shook his head and said, "It's a 20/80 split, you take 20%, after all, I don't have the complete composition."

"Mmm!" Natsume Mio nodded emphatically and said, "Thank you, Ken! This song might actually become a hit. I heard that YouTube ad revenue is quite high. If it gets 100,000 views..."

"Is your goal that low?" Ken Sakamoto chuckled and said.

“One hundred thousand views can generate two or three hundred dollars in revenue, and it’s in US dollars,” Natsume Mio said.

Ken Sakamoto shook his head slightly and said, "How about we set our goal lower and reach five million views first?"

"Five million...ten thousand?"

Ignoring her surprise, Ken Sakamoto searched for relevant contract templates online, made minor modifications, and printed them out.

Since this is a legitimate collaboration, let's sign a formal contract.

He had transferred money to Mio when she brought him lunch before, and now they were taking this purely financial relationship a step further.

For a music video, the song is the most important part.

But since it's a video website, there still needs to be a visual element.

Ken Sakamoto doesn't plan to make a live-action music video. He believes that if it's not made well, it will be awkward and leave a bad impression.

But if you want to make a good music video, you need to invest a lot of money.

Therefore, Ken Sakamoto plans to use hand-drawn illustrations to match each line of lyrics with corresponding images, highlighting both the lyrics and the sound.

Because the entire video was a simplified version, he only set his target at five million views initially, considering that "Lemon" eventually garnered a billion views.

Mio Natsume put on her headphones, turned on the audio, and listened repeatedly to Ken Sakamoto's a cappella singing while quickly scribbling on the lyric sheet with a pen. Ken Sakamoto leaned over to look and found that it was full of bean sprout-shaped musical symbols that he couldn't understand.

The girl was completely immersed in Ken Sakamoto's voice. She listened with her eyes closed, tapping her fingers lightly on the table to the rhythm, and humming along softly.

"Hmm...hmm...the melody is very clear, and the chord progressions are also..."

She hummed the tune, her shoulders swaying gently involuntarily. Soon, the lyrics of the entire song were covered with all sorts of markings.

“Ken!” Natsume Mio took off her headphones, turned around and looked at him, saying, “The melody and lyrics of this song are amazing! If we don’t use real instruments for accompaniment, we can actually use music production software to create a simulated demo audio first.”

"Music production software?" Ken Sakamoto asked. "I don't have it on my computer."

"It's okay, let's download it now!" Natsume Mio seemed very enthusiastic. "Ken, can I borrow your computer for a bit? I remember several DAW software programs have trial versions, like Cubase and stuff..."

Ken Sakamoto searched for Cubase, which Mio Natsume had mentioned, found the official website, and glanced at the prices.

The professional version costs tens of thousands of yen, but the educational version is much cheaper.

"This one will do." Since there was a student verification available, Ken Sakamoto directly selected the education version and made the purchase.

Since there are still many songs to be produced in the future, I might as well just buy a copy.

"Huh? Ken, you bought it directly, it's still a bit expensive... I should be able to borrow the college's computers after school starts, they have them there," Natsume Mio said.

Ken Sakamoto said, "You can install it on your own computer later, so you won't always have to borrow the school's computer."

He stood up and offered his chair to Natsume Mio.

"Okay, thank you Ken~" Natsume Mio nodded obediently and sat down in Sakamoto Ken's seat.

While the software was downloading and installing, Natsume Mio took the opportunity to listen carefully to Sakamoto Ken's a cappella melody again, and conceived the framework for the arrangement in her mind.

"Jian, when you sing a cappella, what instrument are you thinking about to accompany you?" she asked, turning her chair around and looking up.

“Hmm…” Ken Sakamoto thought for a moment, “It’s probably… a piano? And some strings? It feels rather lyrical.”

“Just what I guessed!” Natsume Mio said. “Then I’ll start by laying down the main melody chords with the piano, and then add some string sections and simple drum rhythms.”

The software installation was completed quickly.

Mio Natsume skillfully opened the software, created a new project, and imported Ken Sakamoto's a cappella audio as a reference track.

Her expression immediately became focused, her fingers dancing across the keyboard and mouse, inputting notes one by one onto the software's track.

First, she used the piano sound source, and based on Ken Sakamoto's melody, she quickly laid out the main melody line of the song, and then added chord progressions.

Next, the string section was brought up, and a melodious string background was added to the chorus, making the emotions seem to build up layer by layer.

Finally, Mio Natsume added a simple drum track to enhance the song's rhythm.

On the other side, Kenjiro Sakamoto sat down at another drawing table and spread out his manuscript paper.

He was going to draw the hand-drawn illustrations needed for the "Lemon" music video.

The project was almost finished. Natsume Mio let out a soft breath and listened to the piece she had just created again.

Although she was wearing headphones and facing the screen, her peripheral vision kept drifting to the figure next to her who was drawing intently.

Ah Jian looks so good when he's drawing...

She thought to herself silently.

Ah Jian was in charge of drawing and songwriting, and I was in charge of composing and singing...

It's a match made in heaven!

A sweet smile appeared on the girl's lips.

She remembered Sakamoto Ken's goal of "five million views".

I thought it was a fantasy just now, but now...

Natsume Mio looked at the lyrics in her hand and listened to the melody in her headphones.

This song... is truly different.

It has a power that strikes right at the heart.

Perhaps 100,000 views is a gross underestimation... 500,000? A million?

If I can really reach one million views, would I be considered somewhat famous?
When the time comes, I'll be more confident when I go for the voice actor audition for Chainsaw Man!
Ah Jian must be thinking the same way. Ah Jian is so kind...

Mio Natsume finally put down the mouse and let out a long sigh of relief.

She took off her headphones and said to Ken Sakamoto, "Ken! The demo is finished, come and listen to it!"

Kenya Sakamoto had just finished outlining the last illustration; after all, they were just simple line drawings, so he drew them very quickly.

He put down his pen and walked over.

Ken Sakamoto put on his headphones, and Mio Natsume pressed play.

A melodious yet slightly melancholic piano prelude begins.

Ken Sakamoto's eyes widened slightly.

Although it only uses the most basic piano, strings and drums, the overall atmosphere of the song is very close to the song "Lemon" in his memory.

"How was it? How was it?" Natsume Mio looked at him expectantly.

“Fantastic,” Sakamoto Ken said. “Mio, you are truly talented.”

"Hehe~" The girl smiled shyly.

At that moment, Natsume Mio's gaze fell on the table where Sakamoto Ken had just been drawing.

"Jian, what were you drawing just now?"

"Illustrations for 'Lemon'." Ken Sakamoto picked up the stack of drawings.

Mio Natsume took the sketches and began to look through them page by page.

Each illustration corresponds to the mood or sentiment of a line from a song lyric.

There are scenes of someone turning on the light in a dimly lit room, two people leaning on each other under an umbrella in the rain, and finally, a figure turning back in the light.

Mio Natsume was somewhat lost in thought as she watched.

She matched the artwork with the lyrics and then played the melody back in her mind.

“Ah Jian…” She looked up, her eyes sparkling, “The music paired with these images… I feel… I feel the emotions in this song are even stronger.”

“Yes,” Ken Sakamoto said. “That’s exactly what I wanted: to convey the most sincere emotions with the simplest visuals.”

Ken Sakamoto was very satisfied with Mio Natsume's work efficiency. He checked the time and said, "Now that we have the demo and illustrations, let's record the audio for this version first and hear how it goes."

"Ken, when are we going to record?" Natsume Mio asked.

"Do you know of any places where you can book a recording studio?" Ken Sakamoto asked.

“Yes, yes, I know!” Natsume Mio nodded repeatedly. “There are several music rehearsal rooms in Akihabara, and they also have recording equipment. You can book them anytime.”

Ken Sakamoto considered the date. Today was Sunday, and there was no one else in the studio, making it his most free day.

The assistants will be coming tomorrow, Editor Kaji might come too, and Haruna might even come over to freeload...

Ken Sakamoto said, "Now that everything is ready, let's record the first version of the demo this afternoon."

“Okay!” Natsume Mio readily agreed and immediately took out her phone.

She swiped through the screen, and since she had no experience being a scumbag, she didn't subconsciously avoid Sakamoto Ken's gaze.

When the phone was first unlocked, the first screen was LINE. Sakamoto Ken glanced at it casually and naturally saw a familiar profile picture and nickname at the top of the LINE message list.

"Mikazuki Haruna".

Furthermore, there is a number "3" at the end, indicating that she sent 3 new messages, which Natsume Mio has not yet read.

Ken Sakamoto subtly shifted his gaze, pretending he hadn't seen anything.

So those two really have been keeping in touch privately.

He wondered to himself what Mio and Haruna would talk about.
What's the current state of their relationship...?

"Ken!" Natsume Mio's voice interrupted his thoughts, "A small rehearsal room will become available starting at 2 PM. Should we book it immediately?"

"Let's make an appointment now, we'll go this afternoon," Ken Sakamoto nodded.

"Okay!" Natsume Mio's finger flew across the confirmation button.

“How much is it? I’ll pay.” Sakamoto Ken said.

Natsume Mio glanced at the reservation details page and said, "Hmm... a room with professional recording equipment costs 2000 yen per hour. Let's book two hours first, that'll be 4000 yen."

She looked up and winked at Ken Sakamoto: "Of course Ken pays! Ken's the producer~"

Natsume Mio checked the time; it was almost midnight.

"Jian, it's almost lunchtime," she said, rubbing her stomach. "I came here very early today and didn't make a lunchbox."

“Since we’re going to the rehearsal room this afternoon, let’s head out now,” Sakamoto Ken said. “Let’s find a well-reviewed restaurant nearby; it’s on me.”

“Okay! Let’s go then!” Natsume Mio smiled happily. “Since we’re going to sing this afternoon, let’s have something light for lunch.”

She browsed through restaurant review apps on her phone and quickly found a highly-rated sushi restaurant.

"Let's go to this one! It's not far, we'll walk there."

Ken Sakamoto didn't need to prepare anything. He organized his completed illustrations, scanned them into digital format, and printed out a copy.

He handed the printed copy to Natsume Mio: "Take this. You can look at the screen to get a feel for it when you're recording."

Mio Natsume took the drawing and carefully put it into her small handbag.

Kenjiro Sakamoto simply took his phone and wallet, and the two walked out of the studio together.

As soon as they stepped out of the entrance hall, Natsume Mio naturally reached out and hooked her arm around Sakamoto Ken's, holding him tightly.

Sakamoto Ken felt his arm immediately sink into a warm, soft place.

The girl's body pressed tightly against him, and through the thin fabric, he could feel the heat emanating from her body and her exaggerated curves, while a faint fragrance lingered in his nostrils.

Kenichi Sakamoto let her hold his arm the whole way.

His left hand was in his pocket, holding his phone, which had just vibrated several times.

Ken Sakamoto didn't even need to look to know that it was most likely Ai Hoshihara.

It's almost noon again, and I guess he's gotten a little carried away and is itching to play online with me.

Ken Sakamoto glanced at the girl beside him, who was clinging to his arm and looking excited, and sighed softly in his heart.

It's really not easy for me...

(End of this chapter)