Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 93 Want to see you

In the evening, Ai Hoshihara returned to her apartment.

Next comes the weekend, finally some free time.

He threw his clothes on the sofa, took a shower, and came to the study, still steaming from the water.

The French windows in the study were drawn with sheer curtains, but the afterglow of the setting sun still shone into the room, illuminating her entire body and giving it a honey-like hue. In addition, her skin was moist and glowing from just having taken a bath.

Even with such a figure, no one can appreciate it.

Ai Hoshino turned on her computer and accessed the judges' backend for the call for submissions.

With the deadline for submissions to the Future Film Star competition fast approaching, she still needs to spend some time fulfilling her duties since she has agreed to serve as a judge.

Click to sort by popularity.

After the page was refreshed, a familiar name appeared in view.

"Looking Back Suddenly"

Author: Ken Sakamoto

That’s the name!

He announced during the live stream that he would participate in the call for submissions, and after waiting for so many days, we finally saw it.

Without the slightest hesitation, Ai Hoshino tapped her finger and immediately entered the work's details page.

Before starting to read, Ai Hoshihara glanced at the rating section.

The ratings show a clear polarization trend, with a large number of high scores, but also some as low as 1 point.

She casually clicked on a 1-star negative review:
"I was surfing the internet, and then this author stabbed me in the back /smile"

Ai Hoshino closed the comment without any expression.

She was not affected by this emotional evaluation. She knew very well that such comments were actually more valuable than a perfect score, indicating that the work's emotions had truly been conveyed to the reader.

Ai Hoshihara shifted her gaze to the judges' area.

Five judges have already given their scores.

Four scores of 9 and one score of 8.

This score is very high for a newcomer's short story. Among the top-ranked works, the average score given by the judges is only around 7 points.

As expected of the author who created "Chainsaw Man," this makes Ai Hoshihara even more eager to read the book.

Next, open the comic.

At first, she was still relaxed in her chair, but as she read through the pages, she unconsciously sat up straight.

She saw the protagonist, Fujino, practicing day and night in his room for the sake of the manga, and that atmosphere...

Ai Hoshino suddenly recalled her student days.

Similarly, spending time alone in a room, devouring theoretical books that far exceeded the school curriculum, and doing calculations on manuscript paper, often unknowingly staying up from night until dawn.

Although she doesn't know how to paint, she deeply empathizes with the feeling of dedicating oneself to the extreme for the sake of love.

Then the plot unfolds to Kyomoto's death, and at the end, Fujino returns to Kyomoto's room and reunites with him in a flashback, seemingly about to change the ending.

But in the end, the scene of "looking back suddenly" appeared, only to find clothes signed by Fujino hanging on the door, and Kyomoto's return was ultimately just a fantasy.

Fujino could only face reality, hunching over his desk and continuing to draw.

Ai Hoshino watched the final scene for a long time, then leaned back in her chair and let out a long sigh.

I never expected you to create something like this...

In that memory of the "future," she had absolutely no interest in the comics he drew that were all about pantyhose and suggestive of sex.

I only watched some of his works because they were his.

This time, his serialized novel, "Chainsaw Man," made her want to continue reading, but it wasn't a subject she particularly liked.

When it came to "Looking Back Suddenly," it completely touched her heart.

Ai Hoshino turned the page and read the whole manga again, when suddenly she felt a sour feeling deep in her nose.

She blinked hard, tears welling in her eyes. Hoshino Ai entered the judging interface and, without hesitation, typed 10 in the score column.

After staring at the comment box for a while, Ai Hoshihara began typing:
"The author demonstrates a strong control over the narrative pace and portrays the characters' psychological states very realistically. Through seemingly mundane daily events, the author builds a powerful emotional tension for what follows."

In particular, the montage at the end breaks the boundaries of time, space, life and death in the imagination, but ultimately pulls the narrative back to the cruel reality.

This approach exponentially enhances the emotional impact of the work.

If I had to describe him in just two words, I would say: genius.

After submitting her review, Ai Hoshihara got up, walked to the liquor cabinet in the living room, and poured herself a glass of whiskey on the rocks.

She held her wine glass, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the completely darkened sky and the city lights that had already illuminated the night view.

Ai Hoshino was reflecting on the underlying logic of the story she had just heard.

I have a strong feeling that this is very similar to my own memories of the future.

Fujino is me, or rather... us.

Kyomoto, that's him... the Sakamoto Ken who we killed in the "future".

The fantasy about the IF route in the comics is a new world line where the characters are reborn.

Finally, Kyomoto's four-panel comic, which seems to have traveled across time, contains fragments of information about the "future."

However, he probably didn't design it that way intentionally; it's more likely due to subconscious influence.

But this only confirms my suspicions...

As expected of Ken Sakamoto.

You are a kind of anchor point, or rather, you are the medium for transmitting information between the future and the present.

There's a reason why I, in the "future," will fall in love with you.

Ai Hoshino took a sip of whiskey and exhaled through the glass.

"The most important thing right now is that I want to see you."

……

Ken Sakamoto browses the call for submissions page on his mobile phone.

He read several negative reviews but remained unmoved.

It's good that you cried; it means the knife was in place.

Short-form realistic comics are fundamentally different from long-form shonen manga.

The former requires this kind of strong emotional impact, while the latter leans towards being passionate, exciting, and exhilarating.

Ken Sakamoto is currently logged into a regular reader account. He immediately gave himself a perfect score of 10 and wrote a simple comment:

"A masterpiece, no explanation needed!"

After posting his comment, he casually opened the work's page and read through it again from beginning to end.

Even though he had meticulously copied it himself, knowing every single panel inside and out, he was still moved when he saw Fujino and Kyomoto's story again.

"Fujimoto Itsuki-sensei is truly a genius..."

"Speaking of which, if I copied all of Fujimoto-sensei's long stories, would you be able to focus on drawing short stories?"

"Who knows, maybe one day a flash of inspiration will strike, and I'll actually create a short story that's a world-class masterpiece?"

"Ahem, isn't that too mean? We can't just keep blaming Fujimoto Itsuki-sensei all the time, can we?"

Ken Sakamoto exited the reading page and casually refreshed the webpage before closing the window.

When the page refreshed, he noticed that there was a new record in the judges' scoring area, and it was a perfect score of 10.

Click on this rating to see the details:
[Rating: 10 points]

[Judge: Ai Hoshihara]

(End of this chapter)