Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 39 Looking Back Suddenly
Kaji Keiko returned to the company and parked the company car in the parking lot.

She carried the original manuscript upstairs and used the company's special scanner to scan it into a high-definition digital version.

Then, an extra copy of the original was printed out.

After all, repeatedly flipping through the paper will damage it, and the original hand-drawn manuscript paper is a one-of-a-kind item.

After organizing the original manuscript and leaving it at the company, Kajiko took the printed copy and left the company, taking a taxi home.

Coming to the company on weekends is considered overtime, and the taxi fare home from the company can be reimbursed.

Kaji Keiko lives in an ordinary apartment building, but the apartment number is rather unlucky: 404.

Upon entering the house, the room is a 1LDK layout, which is a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, the most common type of studio apartment room.

There was a bookshelf on one wall inside the room, which was filled with all kinds of comic books.

Kaji Keiko sat down at her desk and carefully read through the printed comic book pages, holding a red pen in her hand and making marks on it from time to time.

Previously, when she communicated with Mr. Sakamoto, Kaji Keiko only admired his creative speed and talent, but now, she is moved by him as a person.

Since middle school, Sakamoto-sensei has had to rely on herself to live in the expensive city of Tokyo.

She thought of herself.

I came to Tokyo from a small town in northern Yamagata Prefecture. My family runs a ramen shop in Tsuruoka City. There are almost no tourists in the city, so we can only do business with our neighbors. The profit is very low, just enough to make ends meet.

Therefore, her family couldn't provide her with much financial support.

Most people have heard of Yamagata Prefecture, since the animated film "Only Yesterday" by Studio Ghibli is set there.

However, the film also reinforced people's stereotypes of Yamagata Prefecture as a rural area.

After all, the protagonist of the story is an office worker who took ten days off to experience rural life in Yamagata Prefecture.

As for the name Tsuruoka City...

If you ask 100 people on the street, probably the only one who will say "Oh, I know" will be a Chinese tourist, who will then say that houses there are very cheap...

She supported herself until graduation by working part-time and applying for scholarships while in college.

By the way, she hasn't finished paying off her scholarship yet.

After all, most university scholarships in Japan are loan-type scholarships, which must be repaid after graduation, and sometimes with interest.

Overall, though, she's still much better than Sakamoto-sensei.

At least my family helped me with my tuition and living expenses for the first semester.

After her previous project was abruptly canceled, and after several months, she finally found a hidden gem of an author, and Keiko Kaji is now full of energy.

We must make Sakamoto-sensei's works bestsellers!

……

Ken Sakamoto held a pencil in his hand, twirling it casually.

My mind drifted back to the various works I had watched last week.

He has read a lot of comics, novels, and animated films and television series.

But in my memory, most of the short stories are 18+.

He didn't look at these works to comfort himself; it was purely because these works were particularly outstanding in their depiction of the human body, and he could learn some painting techniques from them.

After all, the three girls around him had already exhausted his kidneys, so he didn't have any left to waste.

Besides these works, there are also comics adapted from novels, such as Penguin Highway, but the original novel was published before 2015 and it already exists.

There are also profound works like "The Earth - On the Movement of the Earth -", but they are far longer than 300 pages.

Think about it.

Although it feels a bit unfair to always target one person for personal gain.

but……

Sorry, Fujimoto Itsuki-sensei.

I believe you can create even more amazing works.

Ken Sakamoto wrote a book title on a piece of paper.

Looking back suddenly.

This work is the first short manga in history to win first place in "This Manga is Amazing!". I remember that this manga was first released on the JUMP+ platform in 2021, and it topped the trending searches on various platforms within a day.

Unlike works like "Fire Fist" and "Chainsaw Man," which are physically intense, action-packed, and full of passion, "Looking Back" is a purely realistic comic.

Two girls who love to draw meet, separate, and then... are separated forever.

In just over a hundred pages, it depicts a life spanning ten years.

One reason was that Fujimoto Tatsuki already had a high level of popularity at the time with "Fire Fist" and "Chainsaw Man," but more importantly, his works were moving enough.

Ken Sakamoto wrote the theme of his manga on a piece of paper:

"A story of youth and growth etched into each other's lives."

Without pausing, Ken Sakamoto spread out the manuscript paper, the scene from his memory appeared before his eyes, and he picked up his pen to draw on the paper.

As darkness fell, my phone alarm went off.

It's 6:30, half an hour before my evening job.

Ken Sakamoto put down his pen and organized the manuscript he had finished that afternoon.

In nearly four hours, he completed the first nine pages, including all the steps such as outlining and background work, to the point where the manuscript was ready to be submitted.

At this rate of efficiency, the entire piece can be completed within two weeks.

Ken Sakamoto put down his pen, went to the shared restroom to wash the ink off his hands, casually tidied his hair, and then went downstairs to the convenience store where he worked.

As expected, I saw Natsume Mio standing inside the convenience store through the glass door.

……

Starting at 6 p.m., Natsume Mio kept an eye on the street outside the store.

Finally, I saw the figure I had been waiting for.

When there were no customers in the afternoon, she chatted a lot with the shop manager, Grandma. The shop manager was a very charming beauty back then, and according to her, she had even landed a male modeling job in a magazine.

Natsume Mio now feels like her mind is full of dating skills, and she's incredibly good at it.

The store door opened automatically. After entering the store, Ken Sakamoto first greeted the store manager, and then his gaze fell on Mio Natsume, who had a strange smile on her face.

The shop manager chuckled and said, "Jian, if you haven't had dinner yet, why don't you pick out a bento box for yourself?"

"Yes, thank you, Manager."

As usual, Ken Sakamoto went to the refrigerated display case where bento boxes were kept and chose a minced meat bento box that was priced lower.

"Ah Jian, give it to me, I'll heat it up for you~" Natsume Mio stood behind the counter, her voice trembling at the end.

She took Sakamoto Ken's bento box, turned around and put it in the microwave. As the microwave whirred, their eyes met.

However, it didn't last long. A customer came to pay the bill, and Sakamoto Ken stepped aside to give him his seat.

The microwave beeped, indicating the bento was ready. He took it from Natsume Mio and sat down in a corner of the dining area.

Around 7 p.m., Ken Sakamoto went to the changing room to change into his convenience store uniform.

As soon as he came out of the changing room, the store manager waved to him.

"Jian, come here. It's Sunday today, and a lot of magazines will be released tomorrow. The bookshelves and the pile of books that were taken down are all messy right now. Why don't you and Meixu tidy them up together?" the shop manager said.

Mio Natsume immediately replied, "Okay, we'll clean it up right away!"

Ken Sakamoto nodded without saying much. He stood in front of the magazine shelf and looked around. The books were indeed a bit messy today. Some magazines were placed on top of others, and some were upside down or not neatly arranged.

With books displayed like this, customers can't even see where the books they want to buy are at a glance.

"Ah Jian, you know the store well, why don't you teach us how to arrange the magazines in the Mio section?" the store manager said as he walked over.

"That's easy, just remember a few sequences."

Just as Kenjiro Sakamoto was about to continue speaking, the store manager, with his hands behind his back, walked to the entrance of the convenience store.

The glass door opened automatically, and she said to the two of them, "I'll leave the shop to you. Mio, if you don't know anything, just ask Ken. He knows it very well. I have some things to take care of at home, so I'll head back first."

"Alright, don't worry, store manager, we'll take good care of the store~" Natsume Mio waved to the store manager with a smile.

Natsume Mio turned her body to the side and suddenly looked back, her ponytail swaying in the breeze.

The girl maintained her smile, her gaze fixed intently on Sakamoto Ken's face.

(End of this chapter)