My girlfriend is Saiki Kusunoki

"Merry, what happened? Have we had guests?"

Just as Naoto had sat down and was about to look at the menu, a young man dressed as a chef walked out of the kitchen.

Judging from his appearance, he's not much older than Naoto.

"Boss, we have a customer, and he's from our hometown!"

"Oh? That's great, sir. All the dishes in our restaurant are traditional Chinese cuisine, including Sichuan, Shandong, and Cantonese dishes. Whatever you'd like to eat, we can make it."

"Wow, boss, you're amazing! You know so many dishes."

Naoto was quite surprised after hearing what the young store manager said.

These dishes, especially Cantonese and Shandong cuisine, are anything but simple.

The owner is so young, yet he's able to master three different cuisines and run a Chinese restaurant in a place like Japan. He must be very confident in his abilities.

"In that case, let's have some shredded pork with garlic sauce, and braised pork with vegetable and tofu soup. For vegetarian dishes, I'll have some hot and sour shredded potatoes."

"So, should I have scallions or wood ear mushrooms for shredded pork with garlic sauce?"

"It's wood ear fungus, I guess."

"Okay, then which style of braised pork do you want?"

"Mao's braised pork, a little sweeter."

"Do you want your shredded potatoes with hot and sour sauce crispy or soft?"

"The crispier the better."

After asking Naoto about his order, the owner went back to the kitchen.

Seeing the owner's confident demeanor, Naoto couldn't help but feel excited about the dishes to come.

While the food was being served, Naoto couldn't help but take a look around the restaurant.

Judging from the decor, it seems that the restaurant was renovated not long ago, which is probably why it is so deserted.

It's no easy task for a new store to gain a foothold in Tokyo.

Especially considering that the boss is a young man, it seems even more difficult.

"Sir, your dish is ready."

Soon, in less than twenty minutes, all the dishes that Naoto had ordered were served.

Steaming hot white rice paired with colorful, fragrant, and delicious dishes—it takes only a short while for a straight person's mouth to water.

At this moment, Naoto couldn't wait to pick up a piece of braised pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat and put it directly into his mouth.

The slightly sweet sauce paired with the rich, fatty flavor makes it irresistible for Naoto to put a big mouthful of rice directly into his mouth.

The crisp wood ear mushrooms paired with the sweet and sour shredded pork with garlic sauce are sure to whet the appetite of anyone.

Every dish here perfectly suits Naoto's taste. In fact, the flavors are among the best of all the Chinese food Naoto has ever eaten in his past life.

Few chefs can cook these dishes to this level.

After finishing all the food, Naoto was still somewhat unsatisfied.

Being able to eat such authentic Chinese food in Japan is like a dream come true.

After Naoto left the shop, he didn't even leave the tea that had been served.

"Hiccup, Zhuyuelou, I've found a nice shop. Let's bring Nanzi here for a meal in a few days."

Naoto hummed a song and slowly walked back.

Little did he know, his connection with this restaurant went far beyond that.

Chapter 19: The Vampire Clan - Episode 2 Update

A few days later, it was time for another JUMP serialization.

Among them, the one who has attracted the most attention is Akito and Moritaka, who use the pen name Ashirogi Muneha.

Their last work was full of confidence, and they thought they would get a chance to be serialized.

Unfortunately, their opponent turned out to be Naoto's "The Bloodline".

The result was, without a doubt, a merciless crushing defeat.

The only person who could win the JUMP New Release Award is Naoto, no matter how you look at it.

Although they lost and didn't get the chance to be serialized, neither of them was upset.

After all, Naoto's artwork was truly top-notch; compared to his work, theirs looked like children's scribbles. After seeing it for the first time, the two felt that their chances of getting a serialization were extremely slim.

However, these two, who are practically invincible, naturally wouldn't give up so easily. They published another short story, and it's believed that this time, they will definitely get the chance to be serialized.

However, while publishing it, they were also eager to see how well the second chapter of Bloodline performed.

After all, many comics are good when they are short stories, but their performance plummets after they start serialization.

But clearly, they were overthinking it.

This time, Naoto went all out to get his manga to the top of the popularity charts.

Furthermore, with the upgrade in drawing skills, this comic is several times better than the last one.

The very first cover was refreshing.

Liloai, her face smeared with blood, looked somewhat astonished, as if she were completely unaware of the situation before her.

The second episode picks up right where the last one left off, but unlike the previous family-friendly episode, this one expands on more complex themes.

In the previous episode, Yoru was forced to sign a contract with the vampire Liloai in order to save his sister, who had become a ghost.

However, when his life is threatened, Ye Ren is still very afraid of Liloai. He always treats Liloai with indifference, which is completely different from most male protagonists who are unable to move when they see a beautiful woman.

In his attempt to get rid of Liloie, he inadvertently met Gray, a local bully, and heard a strange school legend from him, which contained a story about Liloie.

For various reasons, the two went to the legendary spot on campus at night, only to find a burly man dressed in similar clothes to Liloie waiting there.

And from the other party's words, the biggest mystery of the story was revealed—Liloie's father, the last remaining elder of the vampire clan.

Liloai came out to find her father.

In the end, in order to defeat this cross-dressing pervert, Ye Ren and Liloai let Liloai absorb the rest of his blood, and Liloai became friends with the school bully, Gray.

The story is still quite cheerful, but amidst the joy, there's a hint of something unnatural.

Like the calm before the storm, this made everyone look forward to what would happen next.

Ye Ren has already had most of his blood absorbed. So, if there's a next time, will Ye Ren die?

After reading the manga, Moritaka and Akito exchanged a glance.

The two were genuinely horrified by the progress Naoto Manga had made.

Not only in terms of drawing skills, but also in the development of the plot, it seems to be more mature than before.

Their first impression of Naoto's strength was that it seemed endless.

It doesn't feel like we're from the same dimension.

Online, the discussions were even more lively.

As mentioned before, after winning the Ichiban Prize in the National High School Art Contest, many people learned that Naoto was not only outstanding in the field of oil painting, but also quite accomplished in manga.

Many high school students who idolize Naoto, as well as those who don't know much about manga but simply want to learn about Naoto, are immediately amazed by Naoto's artwork after buying JUMP.

This drawing technique is almost like animation.

Even though the figures in the painting are not moving, you can somehow imagine their every move.

After watching it, these people said that it would be a waste for Naoto to have such drawing skills if he didn't go into oil painting and sketching!

So people started asking online for Naoto to quickly return to traditional artwork and stop messing around in comics.

But this made the comic book readers unhappy.

Okay, right? We've finally found another comic artist who can become a pillar of our society, and you guys actually want to veer towards traditional paintings? They won't allow it.

So, the two groups started arguing online.

Of course, Naoto knew nothing at this time, since he hadn't even opened a social media account yet. Lately, he had been either drawing or drawing, and hadn't had any time to communicate at all.

Even if he knew, he probably wouldn't care, since he had already set his life goals long ago.

Becoming a great artist is another matter.

However, at this time, it was Naoto, as well as Moritaka and Akito who were reading the vampire manga.

Little did they know that at this moment, a monster in the world of comics was about to awaken.

In a rural area, a fifteen-year-old boy walked into a bookstore looking listless and picked up a JUMP magazine from the shelf.

After paying, he returned home listlessly and started looking through his comics.

But when he saw the first page of the comic, he was immediately captivated by everything in front of him.

His previously listless eyes now seemed to be radiating a golden light.

"What an interesting manga! Such an unexpected turn of events! ONE-sensei, you're truly amazing!"

The boy named Eiji Niizuma was extremely excited after reading Naoto's manga, and then he felt countless inspirations flash through his mind.

Feeling inspired by his own creative work, Eiji Niizuma picked up his paintbrush and began to draw and paint on the paper.

Before long, he had drawn a picture of the vampire heroine, Liloai.

"As expected, it still doesn't work. ONE-sensei's drawing skills are truly amazing. How did they even create such drawings?"

The fifteen-year-old boy stared intently at the painting in his hand, lost in thought.

Now, no one could have imagined what kind of waves this seemingly crazy boy would stir up in the comic book world in the future.

Chapter Twenty: My Girlfriend is More Than Just Cute

The Strain has topped the popularity charts.

Although it may seem unbelievable to others, it is indeed true.