Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Ayano Kawa waved and turned to leave.

As Eri Aragaki watched her retreating figure, she thought to herself, "This girl is a really nice person."

Then she turned around and walked towards the station.

As she walked, she thought to herself, "The move is finally settled."

The new apartment has three bedrooms, one living room, a studio, a bathtub, and a separate kitchen.

It's close to Erina's school and not far from Shueisha.

The rent is so reasonable.

After moving there, she will have her own studio.

Erina will have her own room by then, and their lives will only get better and better.

Once Attack on Titan becomes a hit, with the release of collected volumes, anime adaptations, and the IP becoming a massive success, countless sums of money will be flowing into her coffers.

The more she thought about it, the happier she became, and her steps became lighter.

……

Meanwhile, good news also followed.

That's the convenience store; the store manager has already found a new employee.

While convenience store jobs aren't exactly in high demand, hiring isn't too difficult.

After all, there are quite a few college students who need part-time jobs, people who haven't found a formal job and need temporary work, and otaku who just want to coast through life.

"Please give me more advice."

The newcomer, a boy who looked a little older than Eri Aragaki, wearing black-rimmed glasses, said, "My name is Hideki Miyazaki."

While still unloading goods, Eri Aragaki put the items in the store, and upon hearing the name, she asked curiously, "What's your relationship with Hidetaka Miyazaki?"

"Hidetaka Miyazaki? I don't know him."

Hideki Miyazaki immediately shook his head and said, "What's wrong... is there a problem?"

"nothing."

Eri Aragaki waved her hand and said, "Hello, my name is Eri Aragaki... but you probably won't see me again after today."

She was thinking to herself that Miyazaki Hidetaka wasn't that famous back in 2007. He had only made one or two games, and it would be at least four or five years before he became the infamous Dark Souls series.

"Huh? Why?"

Miyazaki Hideki seemed somewhat regretful as he spoke.

He thought he could get along well with such a beautiful girl for a while, or even develop something more.

But I didn't expect this beautiful girl to say that.

"Ahem, yes, you've worked hard these past few days, Eri."

The store manager then stepped forward, took out an envelope, and said, "This is your salary for this month. Thank you."

Eri Aragaki took the envelope and checked the contents; the store manager had even given her a little extra, since she had left before finishing her month-long job.

She knew very well that this was the store manager's good intention, so she bowed slightly and said, "I also want to thank the store manager for taking care of me during this time."

"Senior, are you leaving?"

At that moment, Ayane Takeda, having just finished stocking the shelves, came over and asked with some reluctance.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

Eri Aragaki said with a grin, "I'm still in Tokyo. I'll come back to see you guys when I have time. We can also hang out whenever we have free time."

Her life will become increasingly easier and more carefree from now on, since she won't need to work several part-time jobs anymore.

As long as her career as a cartoonist continues to flourish, she will soon be able to pay off her debts and achieve financial freedom.

Moreover, the work of a cartoonist is generally not very strenuous, and given that she is a senior artist, it's unlikely that she would be busy drawing every day.

This way, she would have plenty of time to hang out with Ayane Takeda.

"All right……"

But Ayane Takeda still felt a little empty, and said.

Although Eri Aragaki felt somewhat reluctant and helpless, ... what followed was her real battle and the road to the future, and she couldn't give up.

……

June 20th arrived as scheduled.

Natsume Akane woke up as usual that day, and for her, it seemed no different from any other day.

Today, all she has to do is go to Tokyo Metropolitan University for her class as usual, then go to the convenience store at noon pretending to buy a bento box, and she can strike up a conversation with Eri Aragaki again.

During this time, she and Eri Aragaki gradually went from being strangers to becoming familiar with each other.

Despite this, Eri Aragaki still didn't recognize her.

That makes sense, though. She was so fat and had such a low profile in middle school. Even though she lost weight in high school, she still looked completely different from her current pure and pretty self. How could Aragaki-san possibly recognize her?

But this is for the best...

It's good that they can get to know each other again this way.

As soon as Natsume Akane finally finished that boring class, she immediately took the train back to Nerima Ward.

She walked into the convenience store. The staff on duty at noon today should be Eri Aragaki and that girl named Ayane Takeda.

However, at this moment...

"welcome!"

The voice was familiar yet half unfamiliar.

Natsume Akane's gentle smile froze instantly, as did the words "Aragaki-san" that were on the tip of her tongue...

She paused slightly when she saw Ayane Takeda standing in front of the counter and... a man she had never seen before.

“Natsume-san…”

As usual, Ayane Takeda smiled and spoke as soon as she saw Akane Natsume.

"Ayane...why are you the only one here today?"

Natsume Akane's face stiffened. She pretended not to care and walked towards the bento area, but asked, "Where's Aragaki-san?"

"Senior... you've already resigned."

Ayane Takeda immediately said, "Starting today, I'll be working shifts with this new colleague."

"I see..."

Natsume Akane appeared outwardly expressionless, but in reality...

She turned her back and bit her lip.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Taking Over

But on the other side of the same time.

Eri Aragaki, who had already moved to a new apartment, was quite helpless at the moment.

"Erina..."

She said to Erina Aragaki, who was doing her makeup, "Anyway... I'll be wearing a wig to receive the award at the ceremony, so no one will be able to see my face. I don't need to be all dolled up."

"No, even if it's with a hood."

Erina Aragaki widened her eyes and said, "Kana-san, you're meeting with editors, chief editors, and big manga artists, how can you not wear makeup?"

She had made up her mind that she had to make sure her sister looked beautiful at this important ceremony in her life.

After all, this is the Tezuka Award ceremony, and in the past, famous manga artists such as Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda would be present.

This is a long-standing tradition of the Tezuka Award, where senior popular manga artists present awards to promising new manga artists who may be rising stars in the future. Isn't this a beautiful expectation and a handover ceremony?

Eri Aragaki had no choice but to let Erina Aragaki finish applying the rest of her makeup.

After her makeup was done, Erina Aragaki nodded with great satisfaction and said, "You're really so beautiful, Natsumi!"

Eri Aragaki's appearance was also reflected in the mirror opposite.

She was already naturally beautiful, but now she's even more stunning, the kind of person who would stand out on the Tokyo Girls runway.

Given Eri Aragaki's height of 1.72 meters, her extremely small face and proportions, Erina Aragaki feels that her older sister could easily become a star.

Eri Aragaki's clothes are just too casual.

She originally suggested that Eri Aragaki buy a lace bodycon dress or a skirt, along with a pair of high heels.

She would absolutely dazzle everyone on the spot.

However, Eri Aragaki refused.

It was definitely the original spirit at work; she declined, saying that she had never worn high heels or skirts before and that it was inconvenient.

But since it was an awards ceremony after all, she went to a certain store to find a rather fashionable outfit that was even ahead of its time for the current era, so as to be more formal.

A pair of high-waisted wide-leg jeans, plus a plain white T-shirt and a black knitted cardigan.

She seems rather neutral, but unfortunately, Eri Aragaki is a numerical monster.

This outfit, which is quite ordinary and costs no more than 10,000 yen, was made to look like it cost a million yen by Eri Aragaki.

So Erina Aragaki was very satisfied.

"It's so beautiful, Nai-san..."

She praised him again before saying, "Nai-san, alright, go ahead, I wish you success."

Eri Aragaki sighed, but still said, "Thank you, Erina. I'm off now."

After that, she took the tram to Shueisha.