Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

"is it?"

Eri Aragaki thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's probably because the storyboard is finished. Also... the bonus should arrive soon. Even though taxes will be deducted, there's still 1.6 million yen left!"

Chapter Twenty-Four: Natsume Akane

Upon hearing this, Ayane Takeda asked curiously, "Senpai, aren't you too tired from drawing storyboards and working at the convenience store lately?"

"It's alright... Actually, I've had a lot more free time lately."

Eri Aragaki thought for a moment and said, "Besides, the convenience store manager is still looking for someone, so I should be able to help out for a while longer."

The main reason is that she's cheating. Even without super creation, the creator profession already has three skills: artistic creation, overclocking bursts, and learning ability.

Learning ability only relatively enhances Eri Aragaki's ability and efficiency in mastering artistic creation.

Artistic creation is more useful, as it can transform what one has seen and heard in a past life into a stable source of inspiration, although it may not be as flash of inspiration as a masterpiece.

The overclocking burst allows her creative ability and drawing speed to be boosted to another level when she is working, so her drawing speed is even faster than that of the average cartoonist.

Even after you've finished using it, you'll still fall into a state of sagehood, completely unwilling to move or do anything else.

Therefore, she didn't spend too much time drawing the drafts, especially since she was a copyist, and most of the plot and storyboarding methods came from those masterpieces that had already been market-tested in her previous life.

Compared to Eri Aragaki's recent life of working three jobs a day while also drawing illustrations for the Tezuka Award for "Attack on Titan," her recent life seems incredibly easy.

However, Ayane Takeda was unaware of this.

She simply remarked with emotion, "You're such a kind person."

Eri Aragaki scratched her head and said, "He's not exactly a good or bad person. The manager is usually very nice to me."

In her view, this is the most basic moral concept of being a human being. Not everyone has this, but at least most people do.

The two chatted as they worked.

Ayane Takeda talked about her school, saying that she did well on her midterm exam for programming class.

Eri Aragaki praised her a few times.

In short, it was just casual chatting about everyday things, and it felt like we were just making small talk.

But that's life when you're a migrant worker.

Compared to the tedious work, people would rather chat for a while to dispel the boredom.

"Senior, how's your move going?"

Ayane Takeda then asked, "Did you go see that apartment the manager mentioned last time?"

Eri Aragaki immediately replied, "Not yet, I plan to contact the landlord this afternoon."

Ayane Takeda said, "I hope you can find a satisfactory place to rent, senpai."

Eri Aragaki said, "Thank you..."

Just then, the convenience store's automatic door opened.

A girl walked in.

Eri Aragaki subconsciously said "Welcome," then looked up at the girl.

She suddenly felt that the girl was very familiar.

She had long black hair, wore a white shirt with a dark blue long skirt, and had very delicate features.

She was the girl she bumped into when she went to apply for a leave of absence from school.

Eri Aragaki was slightly taken aback.

The girl was clearly taken aback when she saw Eri Aragaki.

She stood at the door, holding a small purse in her hand, her eyes fixed on Eri Aragaki.

Then she smiled, walked to the cashier, and said, "Hello."

Eri Aragaki said awkwardly, "Hello, what a coincidence, last time... are you alright?"

She remembered the last time she bumped into someone at school, knocking them to the ground and causing their belongings to fall everywhere.

I actually apologized back then, but I never expected to see you again...

Isn't Tokyo supposed to be huge? And Tokyo Metropolitan University is located in Hachioji City, which isn't very close to Nerima Ward.

The girl quickly replied, "It's okay, it's okay, I was fine last time."

Seeing that the two seemed to know each other, Ayane Takeda immediately asked, "Senpai, who is this...?"

The girl spoke first, smiling as she said, "My name is Natsume Akane, and I am currently studying at Tokyo Metropolitan University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Japanese Literature."

She paused, looked at Eri Aragaki, and said, "This classmate and I are both students at the Metropolitan University. We met once before at the school."

Out of politeness, Eri Aragaki quickly said, "Hello, my name is Eri Aragaki, and I'm from the Faculty of Business Administration."

"I see……"

Ayane Takeda suddenly realized who she was and said, "I am Ayane Takeda from Tokyo University of Mechanical Engineering. Nice to meet you."

"I recently moved to this area, so I'll probably be coming here to buy things quite often from now on."

Natsume Akane smiled and said, "Please take care of me in the future."

Eri Aragaki found it a bit strange.

But she couldn't quite put her finger on what was strange about it.

Eri Aragaki replied, "Nice to meet you."

Then they helped Natsume Akane count the goods, collect the money, and settle the bill.

Natsume Akane bought several bottles of drinks, a few rice balls, and a sandwich.

After paying the bill, Natsume Akane took the change and put the items into the bag.

She said politely, "Thank you, I'll be going now."

Eri Aragaki, just like an NPC, said, "Take care, and welcome back next time."

Natsume Akane walked out of the convenience store carrying the bag.

The automatic door closed behind her.

As Eri Aragaki watched her retreating figure, she felt something was off.

But she didn't think much of it and continued with her work.

After leaving the convenience store, Natsume Akane stopped at the street corner.

She glanced back at the convenience store, a slight smile playing on her lips.

She chuckled softly and said, "I've finally found you."

Then she turned around, picked up the bag, and continued walking.

……

After finishing her work in the morning, it was time for Eri Aragaki to change shifts at noon.

Ayane Takeda had other things to do in the afternoon, so she left first.

Eri Aragaki changed out of her work clothes and put on her own.

She walked to the staff break room behind the convenience store, sat down, and drank a glass of water.

Then she took out the landlord's name that the store manager had given her yesterday from her backpack.

Eri Aragaki took out her phone and dialed the number on the business card.

The phone rang a few times before being answered.

A middle-aged man's voice came from the other end of the phone, "Hello."

Eri Aragaki said, "Hello, are you Mr. Nobushige Kawakami?"

"Yes, it's me. May I ask who you are...?"

Kawakita asked in confusion on the other end of the phone.

It's clear that he's a person of good character.

Of course, this is only on the surface. We can only know the truth by getting to know each other better and spending more time together.

“My name is Eri Aragaki. I recently heard from Mr. Tanaka that you are interested in renting out an apartment…”

Eri Aragaki quickly said, "Do you have a moment? I'd like to take a look at the apartment, and if that's alright, we can talk about the rent."

"Oh, I see! You're the girl Tanaka-san was talking about!"

Kawakita seemed to remember something and said, "It's just a pity, because I'm not in Japan right now, but in Shanghai, the capital of the Republic, discussing business with my partners..."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Ayano Kawakami

"Are you currently in Shanghai, the capital of the Republic?"

This was something Eri Aragaki hadn't expected, and she said curiously.

Hearing the name of the Republic again... well, I do miss it, but only for a while.

She doesn't have the ability to directly settle in the Republic right now, but she believes that it is something she will definitely be able to do and will do in the future.

After all, Japan is doing well now, but in twenty years... Japan might not be doing so well.

Soaring prices, rice shortages, and oil shortages are not really problems for the truly wealthy.

But the key point is... Japan is very likely to face nuclear annihilation.

In addition, influenced by Eri Aragaki's previous incarnation, she naturally wanted to go back to being an alarm clock person.