I am a Type-Moon comic artist!

Once the Stone Mask is worn, the malice of humanity will increase.

What would happen to a saint? Whether they could withstand this malice is unknown, but for an ordinary person, the malice would likely exceed 90%.

This is why, in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, some people don't even recognize their closest relatives after wearing the Stone Mask.

However—for the most wicked, such an impact may be minimal.

Because...his evil value was originally 99! The epitome of this kind of person... is DIO!

He was the one with an evil value of 99. Wearing the Stone Mask only increased his evil value from 99 to 100! Apart from extinguishing the last bit of humanity, it had almost no effect on him.

This is why DIO is so different from other vampires. You could say he's perfectly suited to the Stone Mask.

As for the reason for such side effects, Kurokawa Kazuya thought it was quite simple: the Stone Mask was not originally made for humans, but by Kars, a Pillar Man, to make himself the Ultimate Life Form.

This ability is far too powerful for humans.

That's why these side effects occurred!

However... he had also sensed before that the ripples could alleviate such malice. As long as a certain level of ripples was maintained in his brain at that time, he would not be disturbed by the malice. This operation was very easy to fail.

Because the natural enemies of vampires transformed from stone masks are sunlight and ripples.

One careless move and you could burn your brain; you have to find the right balance.

Fortunately, Kurokawa Kazuya is the kind of person who can try endlessly; if he fails, he can try again, and that's fine.

If we keep going like this, we'll eventually succeed!

"Let's try it again tonight. The editor... seems to be coming soon, right?"

Kurokawa Kazuya sat up; the ripples within his body were already relieving the pain in his brain, and he recovered quickly.

......

"Phew... As expected, it always feels exhausting." Iwamoto Yu sighed slightly as he sat on the train heading to the vicinity of Kurokawa Kazuya's house.

He arrived in Morioh yesterday.

However, it was already quite late, so he found a hotel to stay in. Otherwise, it would take several hours to get to Tokyo... If he rushed over that day, it would probably be dark before he even finished reading his new manga, and then he wouldn't be able to offer any advice...

Well, hopefully this time it's not some weird comic.

The last one...

Although he's very popular, the response has been very negative... I'll take this opportunity to talk to him about it.

"We've finally arrived—"

Looking at the familiar house before him, Iwamoto Yu breathed a sigh of relief and began his steps toward the Kurokawa residence.

——ToBeContinued

Chapter Forty-Five: The New Manuscript

"Ding-dong-"

Iwamoto Yu rang the doorbell and checked the time...

Well, at this time, the elementary school students should all be at school. I didn't arrive very early. At this time, Kurokawa and Mi should be at home.

"..."

Yu Iwamoto slowly turned around, looking at the empty street. For some reason, he felt something was wrong; the atmosphere around here... seemed a bit heavy.

click -

The door was opened a crack, and Kurokawa Kazuya's face appeared: "Mr. Iwamoto... come in and we'll talk."

"Huh? Yes... I understand..." Iwamoto Yu nodded, though he didn't know why he felt something was off today.

After letting Iwamoto Yu in, Kurokawa Kazuya immediately closed the door.

"Um... what happened?" Iwamoto Yu asked Kurokawa Kazuya, somewhat puzzled.

"No, it's nothing, just some annoying guys around. Let's not talk about that. You came here to see the manuscript for the new comic, right?"

"Yes, that's right, you've finished another new comic book?"

"Yes, let's go, let's talk in the studio."

ゴゴゴゴゴゴ

Not far away—

A person was watching the situation from a nearby house using binoculars.

She was a girl who looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old, with long black hair, shapely legs, and a barely visible chest that outlined a beautiful curve.

The woman's name is "Shouji Amei"!

At this moment, they are keeping a close eye on Kurokawa Kazuya's house, watching his every move!

"A cartoonist...a cartoonist...If I could become a cartoonist, would he truly see me and put me in his heart?"

Shoji Amei——

She is eighteen years old this year. She is a student at the Faculty of Economics at Sendai University in Japan. Some time ago, for reasons she herself couldn't understand, she became infatuated with the man next door—Kurokawa Kazuya.

When she came to her senses, she initially didn't understand her own feelings at the time, but gradually, she did. And she became even more morbid than before. Whenever she had time, she would use binoculars to stare at the room so close at hand...

After investigating his preferences, they finally set their sights on comics.

"A comic book...go do some research on it—"

Yes, although Gaia and Alaya have temporarily stopped, and although the previous hints have been dispelled, the experiences remain. While most people have moved on, a small minority—

Still trapped inside.

......

"Wait a moment for the original manuscript, I'll go get it for you right away. Would you like anything to drink?"

"No, no need, just let me see the original manuscript." Iwamoto Yu said with some anticipation. Although Kurokawa Kazuya's previous manga was strange, he found it very interesting.

What will the new comics be like now?

"This is it." Kurokawa Kazuya, having retrieved the original manuscript, waved his hand, shooing away the cat, Hana, who was playing with Iwamoto Yu, and then placed the sealed manuscript in front of him.

"Oh, a brand new manuscript that no one has ever seen before..." Iwamoto Yu said with some emotion. This was one of the reasons why he chose to become an editor.

Upon opening the file, the first thing you see are several color images.

"Oh, you even prepared colored illustrations?" Iwamoto Yu said with some surprise.

At the very top is a blonde girl in knight's armor, leaning on a golden longsword, exuding a striking and heroic aura. The art style is completely different from previous comics, even from the style of comics of this era.

In an instant, he was utterly amazed.

This was the first time he had ever seen this type of character, and the first time he had ever seen this type of image.

"Kurokawa-sensei's art style is really versatile."

Those who don't know might think it was ghostwritten or drawn by different people, but that's not the case. He personally witnessed Kurokawa Kazuya drawing manga, so it's certain that he drew it!

If the characters in the JOJO manga embody the characteristics of this era, then Battle Royale feels like a series of black and white photographs with accompanying text, and now—this artwork gives him a fantastical feeling.

A beauty that seems to belong to a different era.

After a moment of reflection, I forced myself to look away from the drawing in front of me and turned to the next page.

The next image shows a golden man, clad in golden armor, with golden hair, golden earrings, and red pupils, resembling a snake.

It gives off a sinister feeling.

Even though there wasn't a single word on it, he could clearly tell that this must be someone in a high position.

If one image was a coincidence, then the two images together now... Iwamoto Yu couldn't help but exclaim, "Kurokawa-sensei has created a new way of drawing manga... As expected of Kurokawa-sensei."

People of this era will have different feelings when they look at these drawings—

Those who are used to seeing the previous sketches will react differently to these. Some will think, "Wow, that's amazing!" while others will think, "It's unconventional and ugly!"

Yu Iwamoto is clearly the kind of person who feels "very impressive".

Because of... preconceived notions.

Having experienced what happened before, he had the idea that "Kurokawa Kazuya is amazing" and "Kurokawa Kazuya is a genius".

In that case...

It's estimated that even if Kurokawa Kazuya casually scribbled a few lines on a page, he would probably think about whether there was any special meaning behind it, and try to think of everything in a positive direction.

Such thoughts have taken hold of his mind. It's not that as an editor, he lacks the ability to judge the quality of a work or its style.

As a veteran editor, he certainly has that quality.

If he had gotten this drawing from someone else, he might have even thought, "This is too bizarre; such a work could never be liked..."

But—what's being presented now is a person, Kurokawa Kazuya, who once shattered his common sense.

So he would think, "Wow, that's amazing. As expected of Kurokawa-sensei, he has completely created a new genre."

Such insights.

Then, if he continues to watch with this mindset, he will only get deeper and deeper into it...

So—he turned to the third page.

Chapter 46: The Situation of the Previous Comic

He was a green-clad man, with a gun in each of his hands.

It still doesn't have the style of this era, which looks quite strange.

The fourth page features a large, red-clad man.

Red hair, red hair, and a red cape; his muscular physique gives him a more contemporary feel compared to the others.

Then, on the fifth page, there is a man with huge eyeballs sticking out; he can only be described as bizarre.