Tokyo Soft Rice King.

Those individual pixels linger on the blurred boundaries, evoking endless imagination... For example, white radishes, peaches, all round objects. When you see these things, the brain of an experienced driver is already rendering the image at high speed.

After replicating the talent of "Drawing B", Akira Kuroba was able to imagine all the beautiful parts of a beautiful girl without relying on association!

Even so, this talent was not enough for Kuroba Akira to quickly learn the basics and develop proficiency in his left hand.

At most, it just means that I went from only being able to draw the same kind of stick figure to being able to draw the stick figures I want.

Thanks to this, Kuroba Akira is now able to draw rough sketches of the storyboards he wants to help Aizono Moe get the visuals he imagines.

However, Akira Kuroba already fully understands what makes Aizen Moe stand out from other artists.

Her imagination is beyond that of ordinary people!

From this perspective, Level B talent has already reached its peak in terms of 'specialization,' but its scope of application is not as broad.

As for Rank A, its versatility will be expanded, and it can cover anything that is even slightly related to talent.

This is why the class monitor's talents are so wide-ranging, simply because her talents are of the noble A, not B.

If it's a B-E level of academic ability, it would probably only be effective for 'exam-oriented education', and wouldn't be so overpowered.

Take Shiori Shirai's "Memory B" as an example. She can memorize an article after reading it twice, but she is not very good at memorizing other things because she has not deliberately memorized them.

If it were a Grade A memory, it would probably be able to remember everything.

And what about the S-class?

Will it become something you can't forget even if you want to?

That kind of talent is practically a curse, isn't it?

After gaining a clear understanding of the differences between talent levels, Akira Kuroba discovered another problem.

That is, although Zizhigong has three S-rank talents, judging from her current performance, she can actually do things that B-rank and A-rank talents can do.

For example, her newly acquired proficiency is all due to the versatility expansion of A-level, and the rate of increase in proficiency is about the same as that of B-level.

However, S-rank talent should be more than that.

So, has Murasaki no Miyako really not yet fully realized the value of her S-rank talent?

In what ways is the S-class superior to the A-class?

It seems I'll have to find a way to continue 'developing' the Purple Palace when I get back.

Those are three S-rank talents.

Akira Kuroba believes that if he can bring out the true potential of the S-class talents, perhaps Murasaki no Miyako's career can reach a height that surpasses that of everyone before him...

"Um, Kuroba-kun... I guess my coloring... isn't very good..."

"what……"

Hearing Aizono Moe's voice, Kuroba Akira also came back to his senses.

He was looking at the color illustrations that Aiyuan Menghui was trying out to color, and before he knew it, his thoughts had wandered far away.

In fact, after trying to get her to color the character designs, Kuroba Akira found that her coloring ability was indeed somewhat unsatisfactory.

Incidentally, "差强人意" does not mean "unsatisfactory," but rather "generally satisfactory."

In other words, it's acceptable.

Although this is already pretty good, I still hope it can be even better.

Most importantly, after understanding the differences in talent levels, Kuroba Akira still had some questions.

Aiyuan Moe's coloring was noticeably worse than the other parts, but given her personality, it's unlikely she was lazy and hadn't practiced coloring...

Her imagination had already completed the composition in her mind, so why was there still a deviation in the coloring?

So, it's not a matter of talent...?

Rather, is there something wrong with her eyes?

Chapter 159 First, I need to get past my best friend.

The reason why Akira Kuroba thought that Aizono Moe's eyes might be the problem was that this coloring was not so much 'poor coloring level' as 'some wrong colors'.

Especially the lighter-colored parts, there's always a feeling of 'Did they use the wrong paint?'

Although Akira Kuroba is not a professional illustrator, he has seen too many anime illustrations in his previous life, which has given him an intuitive sense of judgment.

However, Akira Kuroba did not directly point out this shortcoming to Moe Aizono, but instead spoke to her in a gentler and more tactful tone.

"Actually, it's not bad, but how should I put it, it just looks a bit out of place overall..."

Then he helped Aiyuan Moe find a way to fill in the gaps.

"However, it's also possible that my appreciation level is not good enough, so I'll take another look. Moe, you can rest for a while and have some tea or something."

"Ah... um..."

Aiyuan Moe slightly opened her lips, as if she was about to utter some important words, but then closed them tightly again in an instant.

Her lips were pressed together, and her eyes revealed a complex light, with hesitation and entanglement, as if the waves in her heart were surging, wanting to break through that silent defense.

However, she ultimately couldn't say anything; she simply lowered her head deeply, locking her heart away in the silent seashell.

During these few days of collaboration, Aizen Moe has clearly realized that although Kuroba Akira cannot draw, he has a very strong appreciation ability.

He has a really good eye and a rich imagination. He always comes up with brilliant suggestions for improvement, and they are also easy to understand.

Each time Aiyuan Moe finished revising according to his instructions, she could hardly believe that this was an illustration she could draw at her level. It felt like she had been guided by a master and her drawing skills had suddenly been raised several levels.

So even if Aizono Moe is completely oblivious to subtle cues, she knows that Kuroba Akira's words are just polite gestures to save face.

There's no way he wouldn't see the problem... He must have already discovered it!

At this moment, Aizono Moe felt as if her entire being was exposed to Kuroba Akira, and that he had seen through her greatest weakness.

Is this what Shiori felt before?

Ugh... I'm so nervous, so ashamed, so embarrassed... I feel like I'm going to faint...

Meanwhile, Akira Kuroba was carefully considering his words, since Moe Aizono's personality was completely opposite to Shiori Shirai's.

Shiori Shirai has an excessively strong sense of pride, and you have to use the right words to break her down, while Moe Aizono has an excessively low self-esteem, so telling the truth might very well make her give up.

After much thought, Kuroba Akira decided to have her draw another illustration to see exactly where the problem lay.

"Meng Hui, could you please color another illustration? I'd like to compare the results."

"Ah... okay, okay! I'll start coloring the next illustration now!"

Aiyuan Moe straightened her back like a new recruit, and then immediately began to concentrate on coloring the second illustration.

The result was that the coloring was even worse this time, with many basic mistakes.

Kuroba Akira scratched his head. Although there might have been some tension involved, it also showed that Aizono Moe's perception of color was indeed flawed.

Meanwhile, Aizono Moe, who had finished coloring and was sitting up straight, waiting for Kuroba Akira's evaluation, felt dizzy and so nervous that she was about to throw up.

It's a mess...it's a complete mess!

Kuroba-kun will be very disappointed, and then he won't let me be in charge of illustrations anymore... That's it, everything's ruined!

It was precisely because Kuroba Akira had placed high hopes on her that she faltered at such a crucial step as coloring, which caused her to feel unprecedented pressure.

In the past, Aiyuan Moe had never been expected of anything, so she never felt any pressure. She thought that drawing was a relaxing and enjoyable thing. But now she felt that drawing was not only about happiness.

She frowned deeply, her cheek muscles tense, her legs tucked together as if they were about to spill out...

Suddenly, she stood up!

Moe Aizono could no longer wait quietly, so she got up and poured a full cup of tea for Akira Kuroba.

"Um, Kuroba-kun, thank you for your hard work. Please have some tea first..."

"Oh... thank you."

Previously, the class monitor would pour tea for him, so Aizono Moe's sudden act of doing it for him was a bit unexpected and strange.

Is this an attempt to please myself? A desire to avoid being too hard on myself?

So does that mean we need to lower the standards...?

It's okay as it is now, but it's still a real shame...

Surely there's some room for improvement? Does she really lack confidence in her coloring skills?

Or should we discuss it with editor Keima Mori and ask him to find other illustrators to handle the coloring...? But that would hurt Aizen Moe's pride, and the money would be taken by other illustrators.

If possible, Akira Kuroba still hoped that Moe Aizono could receive the full payment, so that the plan to recruit her as an exclusive illustrator could proceed more smoothly.

As Kuroba Akira sipped his tea, various thoughts drifted through his mind as he weighed the pros and cons.

As soon as he put down his teacup, Aizono Moe immediately got up and refilled it for him.

Kuroba Akira looked up at Aizono Moe with a puzzled expression, and then saw the pleading meaning in her eyes.

Is he begging himself to be more careful with his words?

No... there seems to be a faint, almost imperceptible longing.

It's as if to say, "You keep drinking, I'll keep pouring..."

Why offer tea as if you're offering it a drink?

In any case, she's definitely not like those hostesses who think they can get something for nothing by getting customers drunk.

After all, drinking too much tea won't make you drunk, it'll just make you want to go to the toilet... Oh?

Kuroba Akira suddenly understood what Aizono Moe was trying to convey. She was probably asking him to "go out for a talk," using the excuse of going to the restroom to meet him outside.

It's supposed to be a private meeting.

Since she wanted to create an environment where the two of them could be alone, she must want to tell herself something important, something that the other two couldn't hear. It might be related to the reason for the color difference.

So Kuroba Akira drank the tea in one gulp, and then poured a full cup of tea for Aizono Moe as he spoke.

"Meng Hui, you should drink too."

Kuroba Akira was indicating that he had received the 'code'.

"Okay, okay!"

Aizono Moe breathed a sigh of relief and revealed a pure smile, because her best efforts in hinting had been understood and responded to by Kuroba Akira!