Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

……

After walking for about fifteen minutes, Eri Aragaki arrived at her rented apartment.

She tiptoed up the stairs, took out her keys, and opened the door.

The rental apartment is very small; you can see almost the entire space as soon as you open the door.

The room, less than 10 square meters, contained a large bed, a small wardrobe, a dining table in the middle, and a television in another corner, leaving little open space.

On the bed that occupied the largest view in the corner of the rented room, Erina, the younger sister, was obviously already asleep.

This bed is shared by Eri Aragaki and Erina, after all... they are sisters.

At first, Eri Aragaki was a little resistant, thinking that she might as well just sleep on the floor.

Anyway, the Japanese also have the custom of sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor.

It was Erina Aragaki who persisted, and after spending time together, Eri Aragaki had no choice but to give in and accept it.

At this moment, Erina Aragaki was lying on her side, with one hand under her cheek.

Erina had long, jet-black hair that spread out on the pillow, making her face appear even whiter.

Her eyelashes were long, hanging quietly, trembling slightly with her breath.

Her lips were slightly pursed, and her face still had a bit of baby fat, making her look like a delicate porcelain doll.

She looked so peaceful while sleeping that it was hard to bear waking her.

Since moving here, Erina has taken on most of the housework.

Eri Aragaki certainly does housework, but since she has to work part-time, Erina feels sorry for her older sister and quits her junior high school club.

So she finished class very early.

After class, Erina would come back to cook, and while Aragaki Eri was at her part-time job, she would take over the rest of the housework, such as collecting laundry, washing clothes, and tidying up.

It's perfectly normal to be tired right now and fall asleep immediately.

Eri Aragaki also really likes this younger sister because of this.

Eri Aragaki smiled, but instead of going to bed, she went to the even smaller bathroom to take a shower.

After taking a shower, she came out in her pajamas. Once her hair was almost dry, she yawned, tidied herself up, and prepared to go to bed.

She climbed into bed, looked at her younger sister who was still fast asleep, and after getting into the covers, she covered Erina with the blankets before drifting off to sleep herself.

Chapter Seven: 20 years old, not yet a female college student

"Ta-da~ Ta-da~"

Sony Ericsson's classic "Connecting" played in the cluttered room, and a clean, white hand suddenly emerged from under the covers and took the flip phone that was constantly ringing.

Eri Aragaki weakly got out of bed, her hair disheveled and hanging over her shoulders, her eyes not yet fully open.

She yawned and turned off the alarm clock.

Although she slept for almost nine hours, it still wasn't enough for someone like her who loves to sleep.

But she had to get up, because she was going to the Metropolitan University to submit her leave of absence application today.

She had already prepared her leave of absence application; all that was left was to submit it and go through the process.

Eri Aragaki rubbed her eyes and looked at the spot next to her.

Erina was no longer in bed; the blankets were neatly folded.

She glanced at the clock on the wall; it was almost nine o'clock.

Erina should have been in school long ago.

Eri Aragaki got out of bed and walked to the dining table.

On the table was a plate with a thick omelet and a piece of fried toast.

Breakfast was very simple, even rudimentary.

However, Eri Aragaki thought it was a pretty good breakfast.

She couldn't accept what Japanese people considered a proper breakfast, like eating rice first thing in the morning; the thought of it made her stomach uncomfortable.

She sat down and finished her breakfast. The omelet was still a little warm, and the toast was a bit burnt, but it tasted delicious.

After finishing her meal, she went to the washroom to wash her face, changed her clothes, took the documents for her leave of absence application, and went out.

……

When I arrived at the station, there happened to be a tram about to depart.

Eri Aragaki walked quickly into the station, swiped her monthly pass, and boarded the train.

The tram wasn't crowded, so she found a window seat and sat down.

After the tram started moving, the scenery outside the window slowly receded into the distance.

She stared blankly out the window, her mind preoccupied with the Tezuka Award.

She was quite confident in herself... and in the abridged version of Attack on Titan.

Anyway, after finishing the first draft, she read it through and believed that it was no worse than the original manga. If she were to be a little more confident, she even felt that she was a little better than Hajime Isayama.

Needless to say, Attack on Titan, setting aside the plot's sluggish development in the later stages and its subtle "anti-defeat" distorted values, is indeed the best shonen manga in the last 10 years, purely from a manga perspective.

She was more confident in the giant than in her amazing drawing skills after she gained superpowers.

A work of this caliber should have no problem getting selected for the Tezuka Award.

But Eri Aragaki was still worried about what might happen, and during this time she had started to imagine various scenarios in her mind.

Something like a judge who couldn't stand seeing new talent emerge was jealous of her.

Or perhaps she's at odds with another manga artist because that artist was a judge who highly regarded her work, and the other artist went against her, causing her submissions to be highly controversial and resulting in a major internal dispute at Shueisha.

During this time, she has thought of all sorts of plots, which is probably her biggest flaw—she tends to overthink.

Then, because she thinks too much on weekdays, she has very little energy, so she thinks that's why she loves to sleep in.

Just as Eri Aragaki was lost in thought...

"Ding"

The train arrived at the station, and Eri Aragaki immediately stood up and got off.

She walked out of the station and headed towards Tokyo Metropolitan University.

The school is not far from the station, about a ten-minute walk.

She walked through the campus, where avenues lined with cherry blossom trees lined both sides. Unfortunately, the cherry blossoms had already faded, leaving only lush green leaves.

Eri Aragaki walked along this road until she reached the office building of the Student Affairs Department.

She pushed open the glass door and went inside. The air conditioning was on, making it much cooler.

There are three windows in the student affairs office, and there was no one queuing in front of the middle window.

Eri Aragaki walked over and said to the clerk at the window, "Hello, I would like to apply for a leave of absence from school."

The clerk was a woman in her thirties, wearing glasses and with her hair tied in a ponytail.

She glanced at Eri Aragaki and asked, "Have you prepared all the materials for taking a leave of absence?"

Eri Aragaki took a brown paper envelope out of her backpack and said, "Everything is ready."

The clerk took the envelope and looked at the documents one by one.

"The leave of absence application form is filled out correctly, but it still needs the signature of the supervising teacher."

She looked at it for about two minutes, then looked up and asked, "Did you go see your advisor?"

Eri Aragaki said, "Not yet, I don't know which office my advisor is in."

The clerk said, "The Business Administration Department's guidance office is on the third floor of Building 2. Go find Professor Lin; he's the advisor for second-year students. After he signs it, you can take the materials back."

Eri Aragaki nodded and said, "Okay, thank you."

She turned and walked out of the student affairs office, heading towards Building No. 2.

Building No. 2 is an old building, and some of the exterior tiles have fallen off.

Eri Aragaki climbed to the third floor. At the end of the corridor was a door with a sign that read "Business Administration Department Guidance Office".

She knocked on the door, and a man's voice came from inside, "Come in."

Eri Aragaki pushed open the door and walked in. Inside was a small office with two desks.

Behind the desk by the window sat a man in his fifties, wearing glasses and with a receding hairline.

The man looked at Eri Aragaki and asked, "Which class are you in?"

This is quite normal. Just like Eri Aragaki's college counselor in her previous life, unless you are a student leader or someone with excellent grades who has won scholarships for two consecutive years, who would recognize you as a counselor?

"Hello, Ms. Kobayashi. I am Eri Aragaki, a second-year student in the Faculty of Business Administration."

Eri Aragaki didn't seem to care at all and said, "I want to apply for a leave of absence from school, which requires your signature."

Ms. Kobayashi pointed to the chair in front of her desk and said, "Sit down and let's talk."

Eri Aragaki sat down and handed the leave of absence application form to Ms. Kobayashi.

Ms. Lin took the application form and read through its contents.

He frowned slightly as he looked at her, then looked up at Eri Aragaki and asked, "Are you experiencing financial difficulties? Could you elaborate?"

Eri Aragaki said, "My parents died in a car accident and left behind some debts. I need to take a break from school to work and earn money to pay off the debts."

"I see, that must be very difficult..."

Ms. Kobayashi's expression turned serious as she said, "Don't you have any other family members?"

"I also want a younger sister..."

Eri Aragaki said, "But my younger sister is still in high school, so I will take care of her as well."