Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 19: Destined to be hacked to pieces?

"Mio, are you going to get a part-time job?"

"Yes, the afternoon shift at FamilyMart won't be very late. Just like yesterday, I'll be off work at eight o'clock."

"It's nothing, it's nothing. Mom just wanted to give you a small gift."

Chiho Natsume walked up to Mio Natsume with a small box in her hand, unzipped her backpack, and stuffed it inside.

"Huh?" Natsume Mio paused slightly, then asked, "Mom, what's this?"

"Something to protect myself." Natsume Chiho smiled slightly and waved to Natsume Mio. "Come back soon."

"Oh oh..."

As Natsume Mio left the house, she reached into her backpack and took out the things her mother had just put in.

She glanced at it and quickly stuffed it into the bottom of her backpack.

It's a box of Origins... How could it be something like this?!

Looking back at her front door, Natsume Mio thought to herself, "It must be because of what I said to my mother this morning that she thinks this way..."

What just happened was exactly like when she had her first period in junior high school, and her mother said the same thing.

"Mio, here's a little gift for you~"

Then he slipped a pack of sanitary napkins into her hand.

When she first saw the bloodstains on the sheets, she was so ashamed that she wanted to secretly wash the sheets herself.

Now, another six or seven years have passed, and although it's still a small gift, the contents of the little box have changed...

My backpack feels heavier now...

However, Mom doesn't need to worry about this at all; I'm not that little girl anymore.

Clearly... I was already prepared...

Mio touched the small pocket on the side of her handbag.

Actually, she put one in there when she went to work at the convenience store yesterday.

Of course, it wasn't used.

I don’t know if we’ll ever need it, but it’s always good to be prepared, just in case Ah Jian doesn’t buy it.
If I had to stop at that point and go to the convenience store, I would lose all interest.

First, I took a tram, then a bus, and finally arrived at a familiar residential alley.

With a little time before work, she leisurely strolled to the front of Kenjiro Sakamoto's apartment and leaned against the wall to take a look.

My gaze swept across the windows and settled on the middle apartment on the second floor, which was Ah Jian's room.

But you can't see much. It's broad daylight, and it's darker inside than outside, so when you look into the house from the street outside, you can only see the sky reflected on the glass.

Although it was a run-down apartment building and there wasn't much to see, Natsume Mio still stood there for almost five minutes.

It wasn't until her phone alarm rang, reminding her that she only had five minutes left before work, that she turned around and hurried toward the convenience store.

……

In the room.

Ken Sakamoto slept from six in the morning until noon, and only woke up a short while ago.

He had just heated up the bento he brought back last night in the microwave and was sitting by the window looking at the manuscript in his hand.

The light is good here during the day, so you don't need to turn on the lights if you just draw the curtains.

He noticed Natsume Mio the moment she appeared downstairs and watched her silently, trying to see what she was going to do.

Ken Sakamoto was certain that Mio Natsume couldn't see him inside the room, after all, he had verified the reflection of the glass himself.

One day in broad daylight, a loud noise came from next door, and upon closer inspection, it seemed to be three different women.

So, with the intention of gathering information, he went downstairs and tried to look through the window.

However, during the day, due to the difference in light between indoors and outdoors, all you can see is a boring reflection of the sky.

I tidied up the paper, picked up my pen, but suddenly lost the will to continue drawing.

I picked up my phone and browsed through a few of my favorite comic apps.

A few days ago, Kadokawa Shoten updated the manga version of "Steins;Gate: Pandora's Eternal Return," a very famous series. Actually, he had read it last week; this can be considered a connecting chapter between the main story and the sequel, 0.

In the past, he wouldn't have felt anything special upon seeing the title "Steins;Gate".

But now...

"Everything is a choice made by Steins;Gate."

Ken Sakamoto silently recited the line.

The world is not a single timeline, but is composed of countless parallel realities, each of which represents a possibility.

If you try to change a tiny event in the "past," the entire timeline will shift as a result, somewhat like the "butterfly effect."

But in Steins;Gate, the key is that many world lines converge, and within the same converging world line, no matter how things change, they will ultimately lead to a predetermined ending.

So, if I were reborn ten years ago and made changes in the "present" worldline, would that be equivalent to changing the "past" from the perspective of the previous timeline?
Wouldn't that mean I'd end up getting hacked to death?

Once bitten by a snake, twice shy.

Ken Sakamoto rubbed his temples. He thought he had become mentally desensitized, but subconsciously he still hadn't escaped that psychological shadow.

I must be overthinking it...

The prerequisite for Chai Dao is that he meets all three of them again and develops intimate relationships with them simultaneously.

Most importantly, after developing an intimate relationship, they still find out about it.

Ken Sakamoto reviewed the events and realized that if he had been just a little more cautious last time, he wouldn't have ended up like that.

Now, if we start over, the same storyline will never unfold.

At least, I only know Natsume Mio offline right now.

Even though he has established some kind of connection with Mikazuki Haruna, he is at most just a rival in the manga serialization whom he has never met.

According to the timeline of last week's playthrough, it will be almost half a year before he meets Haruna for the first time.

By then, he had already moved out of that dilapidated apartment and was living closer to the school.

……

Haruna Mikazuki contacted the editor-in-chief directly on LINE.

Although it was the weekend, the editor-in-chief replied to the message immediately.

Tomohiro Ohno: "Mr. Haru Mitsuki, the editor-in-chief said that if there are no particularly strong competitors in the near future, he would arrange for your work to be serialized in the main publication. It is still uncertain."

March Spring: "Editor-in-Chief, do you think my chances are high?"

Tomohiro Ohno: "This week's reader survey results are in, and your ranking is okay, but there's another work that's performing exceptionally well."

March Spring: "Which one?!"

Tomohiro Ohno: "Chainsaw Man is currently ranked number one among new releases, and you are number two."

March Spring: "...I've read this book, so how far off am I?"

Tomohiro Ohno: "Chainsaw Man" has 6719 recommendations. Mr. Haru Mitsuki, your work has... 2811 votes.

March Spring: "Such a big difference?!"

Tomohiro Ohno: "Matsuki Haru-sensei, don't be discouraged. We're counting the votes for the entire month. If your subsequent content gains popularity, it's still possible to surpass them."

Haruna Mikazuki leaned back in her chair, looking dejected. The computer screen in front of her displayed the serialization page of "Chainsaw Man".

The second episode of "Chainsaw Man" already has over 300 comments, while her second episode only has a little over 100, many of which were posted by her herself.

Haruna never expected that Chainsaw Man could actually update twice a week.

She was able to draw so quickly because she had a complete picture in her mind when she was drawing "The Young Lady".

Is this Ken Sakamoto really a genius?
Recalling her dream, she remembered that Sakamoto Ken lived in an apartment near Kanzaki Art Academy, and she had visited it several times.

In other words, if the dream is real, then I should be able to find him.

With that thought in mind, Haruna picked up the car keys on the table, got up and went downstairs.

She strode to the garage in the yard and started her Porsche.

(End of this chapter)