I am a Type-Moon comic artist!

"Hey! Supreme—I just asked, and this hotel has a huge hot spring bath!"

"Hot springs?" Makoto tilted his head. "Don't you have them in your own room?"

"That's different! The atmosphere is different! How about we go check it out?"

"Hmm...sounds good, alright." Masato sighed, then smiled and said, "Then, let's go."

......

"Someone's here?" Upon hearing the voice, Fukuda Shinta looked over and was somewhat surprised to see two obviously young people enter.

"Hey... seriously? Are you related to someone? Or... are you comic artists from JUMC?"

“No…not yet…” Makoto looked at the silver-haired youth soaking in the hot spring with some doubt and said, “We can only confirm that it will be serialized in NEXT, no…it has just been serialized in NEXT.”

“Isn’t that already pretty good?” Fukuda Shinta said with a smile. “Being able to get here proves that, doesn’t it?”

"What do you mean by that?" Takagi Akito asked, puzzled. "Do you know that much about this?"

“Of course, didn’t you do any research before coming?” Fukuda Shinta took his hands out of the water and said, “It’s not that just because you’re serializing in NEXT you’re qualified to come. At other times, it’s fine as long as you have money, but during this period, we don’t receive manga artists, editors and related personnel from JUMC. And it’s not that just because you’re actually serializing in JUMC you can come.”

"Those who can come are just real manga artists and highly anticipated newcomers... In other words, your editors have high hopes for you, I guess you could say that," Fukuda Shinta said with a smile. "By the way, I don't think I've introduced myself yet. My name is Fukuda Shinta, and what's yours?"

"Yes, I am Takagi Akito."

"I am the epitome of sincerity..."

"Um...by the way," Fukuda Shinta asked, watching the two enter the hot spring, "how old are you both?"

"Fourteen...no, fifteen, right..."

"Wow, amazing! A fifteen-year-old prodigy, a high school student?"

"I'm still in junior high now, but it'll be over soon."

"You guys are really impressive..." Shinta Fukuda chuckled. "They should be formidable opponents. By the way, I've also confirmed my serialization will be in NEXT this time... though my ranking is still uncertain. If I'm lucky, I'll probably be second or third... First place will probably go to that Eiji Niizuma..."

"Eiji Niizuma?" Akito Takagi exclaimed quickly, "He's here too?"

"What? You didn't know? You should have seen it at dinner tonight."

"No... well, we just arrived and missed dinner."

“Ah, really…” Fukuda Shinta nodded: “Ah, he’s here. That guy should still be drawing right now… He lives in room 603, next to mine. If you’re interested, you can go check him out… Although he probably has the music turned up really loud so you won’t hear him. It’s easier to ask the editor for a room key before you go.”

"603..." Makoto Moritaka and Akito Takagi exchanged a glance, seeing the surprise in each other's eyes: "That's not the room we saw when we came in... the room that made the loud noise..."

"Huh? What, you guys ran into them..."

"Yes, our rooms are 604 and 605, which are right next to each other!"

"Haha, that's quite a coincidence... no, maybe that was the plan from the beginning..." Fukuda Shinta stood up and said, "My room is 602, and it's not far away... Anyway, I'm going out now. I'm feeling a little dizzy from soaking in the water. I heard there's a nice izakaya nearby. Do you guys want to go?"

"Never mind, we're still minors."

"Never mind then, I'll go first." Fukuda Shinta said, walking out, leaving only the two of them in the vast hot spring...

"Seriously...it's so empty..." Makoto Moritaka said, looking around. "Is nobody here besides us?"

"We must have arrived too late...we've been so busy." Takagi Akito said, leaning against the hot spring pool. "It's really nice...we should have come earlier. It would have been nice to draw here later, wouldn't it..."

"Yeah...and it seems we missed dinner too," Makoto muttered to himself. "Genos."

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"The hottest newcomer this year is Genos, and his manga One-Punch Man... To be honest, it's a really interesting manga."

"Ah...that's right, just like that protagonist, who used his powerful strength to send the enemy flying with a single punch." Masashi Moritaka struck a punching pose, then slowly pulled back, saying, "The story is great, and the visuals are great too...I wish I could meet him and ask him if he has any tips or references. Maybe my drawing skills would improve too."

"Then let's go ask them—!" Takagi Akito suddenly stood up, splashing water everywhere.

"Huh? Who are you asking?"

“Go ask Fukuda!” Takagi Akito said with a smile. “Even though he said he was going to an izakaya, he’ll definitely need to go back to his room to change his clothes.”

"Not necessarily, maybe they brought the clothes over from the beginning."

"Let's go ask him first. He seems to have arrived quite early. If that Genos guy is here too, he might know where it is! After all, he's such a popular and outstanding manga artist, isn't he?"

"Ah...yes, we can soak in the hot springs anytime. We can stay here for seven days, and as long as we get the official serialization done, we can come back whenever we want..." Makoto Moritaka said, standing up. "Okay, let's go then, Akito!"

"Ah, go ask them—the best way!"

The two of them hurried back as they spoke...

Chapter 1144 Explanation

"Huh? What?"

Just as Fukuda Shinta had changed his clothes and was about to leave, he looked at the two people in front of him and said, "That Genos guy you're talking about... I'd really like to meet him, but actually he didn't come."

"They didn't come?"

“Ah, I asked the editor before.” Fukuda Shinta nodded. “He probably won’t come. No… that’s not accurate. He hasn’t even been to the editorial office, and I haven’t seen his editors discuss this guy named ‘Genos.’ Although he’s a newcomer, the only people who really know him are probably the editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief…”

"I see... So... perhaps it's a comic published under a new pen name by an already famous comic artist?"

“Ah, that’s possible.” Fukuda Shinta nodded. “But it’s hard to say for sure… Besides, changing to a new pen name wouldn’t do him any good, would it? I don’t understand… Anyway, I’ll go out now. Here’s my phone number. Call me if you need anything.”

Fukuda Shinta smiled, pushed the two aside, and walked over.

"But... speaking of this art style..." Makoto Moritaka muttered to himself, "Could it be like this..."

"What's wrong? Do you have any clue?" Takagi Akito asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Hmm... I don't know if it's a newcomer, but if it's a veteran manga artist, I do think of a possibility... Kurokawa-sensei."

"Huh? Really?"

“Yes…” Makoto nodded and said, “Didn’t you feel it? This One-Punch Man has a better art style and visuals than Kurokawa-sensei’s previous works, but… in reality, it’s a bit worse than the seventh remake of the first part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure that came out a few days ago.”

You mean to say...

"Yes, maybe... Kurokawa-sensei's drawing skills have become stronger and better... and One-Punch Man was drawn during this process. After all... every time his drawing skills improve, he resets the current 'JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'."

"You're kidding me... How can you improve that kind of drawing skill?"

"Hmm... but it's definitely an improvement." Makoto Moritaka nodded. "Because I also draw comics, I know very well... especially this time. If the previous improvements could be described as minor, then this improvement can be described as quite significant... to the point that even a layman could easily see it!"

No, I didn't see it.

"..."

"Well, anyway, it's just a guess of mine... But even if it's Kurokawa-sensei, why would he change his pen name..."

"Could it be... a problem with the quantity?"

"quantity?"

"Ah, think about it. If the current One-Punch Man also used the pen name 'Kurokawa Kazuya,' wouldn't he be serializing three parts at the same time in JUMC? The current JUMC is only serializing twenty-seven parts at the same time."

"I don't think so..." Makoto Shinichi thought for a moment: "Back when JUMC was only serializing 21 manga at the same time, Kurokawa-sensei was already serializing three. Not to mention now that there are six more... Judging from the speed he showed on TV... no, he's improved even more now, he might be able to finish the manuscripts for three works in a single day!"

"Actually, it could do that speed too, just like the one shown on TV..."

"That's why I don't understand... Well, of course, this is just a guess. Maybe he's one of Kurokawa-sensei's disciples... That's right!" Makoto's eyes suddenly lit up: "Maybe he really is a disciple!"

"What is the basis for this?"

"Think about it, the manga artist of One-Punch Man uses the pen name 'Genos,' right? He's Saitama's disciple. In other words, is he trying to use this pen name to express that 'the distance between himself and Kurokawa-sensei is like the distance between Genos and Saitama'?"

"Oh, this idea is pretty good! It seems like that's exactly what I'm looking for!"

"Isn't that right? As expected, Kurokawa-sensei is amazing... Even such a talented newcomer can't compare!"

“…” Yu Iwamoto, who had just returned from the izakaya, heard Akito Takagi and Makoto Moritaka excitedly discussing in the hallway and said, “Um, it’s better to talk about these things in your own room. Don’t make a scene in the hallway.”

"Yes—! I understand!" Seeing Iwamoto Yu, the two of them shuddered and quickly ran to the room with the highest sincerity.

Iwamoto Yu's lips twitched slightly. He touched his forehead and muttered to himself, "Really... I overthink things. I just didn't know what to name Kurokawa-sensei's new pen name... so I just randomly picked one... um..."

Iwamoto Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the room with the highest sincerity, and said, "Perhaps... that would be a good idea..."

If they promote themselves using the name of "Kurokawa-sensei's disciple" and treat their speculations as "reality"...

It might generate a lot of buzz...

"Anyway, I'll call and ask Kurokawa-sensei for his opinion later."

Do it when you think of it.

After returning to his room, he immediately called Ryougi Kazumi about the matter.

......

"Ok?"

Ryougi and Miyako, who were taking a walk, paused for a moment and looked at Ryougi Shiki beside them, saying, "There's a phone call, let me see... Oh... it's from the editor."

"You don't need to ask me about this, do you?"

"Haha, I'll take it then." Ryougi Kazumi smiled and answered the phone.

"Hello, this is Iwamoto Yu. Are you Mr. Kurokawa?"

"Ah, is there something you need?" Ryougi Kazumi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes, I heard an explanation about Kurokawa-sensei's 'One-Punch Man' today, and I found it very interesting. We can publish it as 'fact,' right?" Iwamoto Yu quickly said. "He said the newcomer 'Genos' is Kurokawa-sensei's disciple, and using 'Genos' as a pen name is actually to express that 'he's' distance from 'Kurokawa-sensei' is like the gap between 'Genos' and 'Saitama'... What do you think?"

"Isn't that a bit too much... and the distance between oneself and oneself..." Ryougi Kazumi sighed slightly as she spoke, "Never mind... you can decide for yourself. If you think it's okay, then do it. I don't care... By the way, you said you heard it from someone else, who is this 'someone else'?"

Chapter 1145 Next Time

"This one, oh, she's a new duo of manga artists who recently appeared at JUMC, her name is Ashirogi Mutoha..."

As Yu Iwamoto spoke, he picked up some documents from the side: "Their new manga is called 'This World Relies on Money and Wisdom,' which is probably their third work to be published by JUMC... We plan to try serializing it in JUMCNEXT at the beginning of this year."

"I'm just asking for your name..."

"Haha, sorry, sorry, I accidentally said too much."