Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Eri Aragaki seemed somewhat dazed when she saw Akane Natsume, especially when Akane's scarf was blown up by the wind, revealing her smiling face underneath...

She felt... a sense of déjà vu.

No! What is she thinking?!

She and Natsume Akane know each other, so why would she seem to have met her before?

She quickly suppressed that strange feeling.

"Yes, we just came back from Erina's school to take care of the college entrance exams."

Then she patted the steering wheel and said with a smile, "Axi, are you going home? Do you want to get in the car and I'll give you a ride?"

Natsume Akane glanced at the car; there were still seats in the back. She nodded, "Great! It's tiring to carry all that stuff I bought."

She put the convenience store bag in the back seat, opened the car door, and got into the passenger seat.

Erina leaned over from the back row to greet her, and the two chatted for a bit about their day at school.

……

In the days that followed, life returned to normal.

However, it is somewhat special.

After all, Erina had to prepare for Waseda University's entrance exams and interviews, so she spent most of her time studying. Her desk was piled high with reference books and past exam questions, and she studied late into the night every day.

Eri Aragaki was much quieter. When Erina was studying, she would turn off the TV and keep the studio door closed to avoid making any noise.

He also took on more housework, such as laundry, cooking, and cleaning, so that Erina could concentrate on preparing for her exams.

Erina's help with the manga manuscripts was no longer needed; Eri Aragaki took over the part of coloring and adding screen tones that Erina had previously been in charge of.

Fortunately, Ayane Takeda and Akane Natsume came to help.

In short, everyone shared Erina's work, with the three of them each responsible for a section around the workbench, which didn't delay the weekly serialization progress.

Sometimes when we paint until late at night, everyone helps with the cooking, and it's not a problem for people to stay overnight; we've gotten used to it.

Chapter 99 Ayane's Dream (Daily Life)

December arrived as scheduled.

Life seemed to remain largely unchanged, and Erina was still actively preparing for her exams.

The dates for the on-campus written test and interview have been set for December 16th and 17th.

After submitting her manuscript for this week, Eri Aragaki continued to work on proofreading, cover design, and afterword for the second volume of Attack on Titan.

And... another written interview as a warm-up for the single volume. Masaya Sakurai just sent me the interview form the day before yesterday, asking me to fill it out and return it in the next couple of days.

However, this written interview is a little different.

Unlike the first time when she asked and answered her own questions, which was asked by the editorial department and answered by Eri Aragaki, the questions were all very conventional, such as what the inspiration for her creation was, who her favorite character was, and what her hobbies were.

This time, it wasn't the usual format of the editorial department asking questions and Eri Aragaki answering; instead, it became a reader Q&A session.

That is, selecting questions from readers' letters to answer.

Shueisha placed a preview in the previous issue of the magazine, inviting readers to write their questions on postcards and send them to the editorial department. They then selected representative questions and gave them to Eri Aragaki to answer.

In this case, the main issue naturally becomes the plot and setting of Attack on Titan.

However, since Eri Aragaki's status as a bishoujo manga artist was exposed as part of marketing and promotion, many readers are curious about her personal privacy, such as why she chose to draw manga, and why she chose to draw shonen manga instead of shoujo manga.

Eri Aragaki simply replied that it's just a personal preference; she prefers the companionship and bonds in shonen manga, and there's nothing more to say about that.

Because she genuinely enjoys reading shonen manga, and her soul in her previous life was that of a boy.

But suddenly...

"Ding Dong"

Doorbell rang.

Eri Aragaki put down her pen, got up from the sofa, and went to open the door.

Standing at the door was... Takeda Ayane. She was wearing a light blue down jacket, with a scarf wrapped tightly around her, revealing only half of her face. Her nose was a little red from the cold December wind.

She said with some surprise, "Ayane, what brings you here today? Don't you need to work at the convenience store at this time?"

The moment the door opened, Ayane Takeda threw herself into her arms, clinging to her like a cat.

However, she was all smiles at first, but upon hearing this, she shook her head helplessly and lifted her face off Eri Aragaki's shoulder. "Senpai, didn't I already tell you that I resigned from the store manager's job a long time ago!"

Eri Aragaki wasn't surprised by Ayane Takeda's sudden act of throwing herself into her arms, as she was already used to it.

As his relationship with Ayane Takeda and Akane Natsume grew closer, the boundaries between them became increasingly blurred.

For example, Natsume Akane likes to take advantage of Aragaki Eri, and Aragaki Eri will fight back. The two often end up bickering on the sofa.

Ayane Takeda loves to snuggle into Eri Aragaki's arms, and this isn't the first time.

Because of the height difference, Ayane Takeda is almost a head shorter than Eri Aragaki, and the whole thing looks quite natural hanging on her.

Eri Aragaki gradually got used to everything about being a girl, including physiological differences, how girls interact, differences in clothing, and so on.

When she first transmigrated, she had to mentally prepare herself for a long time just to take a bath, but now she no longer feels that awkwardness.

Aside from her hobbies, she has always remained true to her current gender.

She has gradually gotten used to the changes in other aspects, and she no longer feels strange or uncomfortable at the drop of a hat.

She's gotten used to enjoying things like being pulled into a girl's arms, and it doesn't seem strange to her anymore.

"Oh, is that so..."

Eri Aragaki was slightly taken aback. "I was wondering why you suddenly came here. I thought you had a shift today."

Ayane Takeda left Eri Aragaki's embrace, took off her down jacket and hung it on the coat rack in the entryway, and also took off her scarf, folded it, and placed it on the shoe cabinet.

Then she changed into slippers and went into the living room. Erina went to school. Yes, even though she had secured a spot in the entrance exam through recommendation, Erina still had to go to school.

This is the rule in Japanese high schools. Even after completing the process of enrolling in Waseda University, students still have to finish their final semester of senior year before the semester ends. Insufficient attendance will affect graduation.

"Is there anything I can help you with, senior?"

After Ayane Takeda came in, she asked directly, as she had already habitually headed towards the studio.

"Not at the moment, I'm just filling out some reader Q&A questions."

Eri Aragaki returned to the sofa, picked up her pen again, and pointed to the interview form spread out on the coffee table. "We'll draw the storyboards for this week later, and then we'll start working again tomorrow. You can just play around here for a bit."

"Ah, okay then, senior, I'll play the game console for a bit."

Ayane Takeda casually turned on Eri Aragaki's game console.

She skillfully took the PS3 controller from under the TV cabinet, pressed the power button, and the familiar boot screen appeared on the TV screen.

Since Eri Aragaki bought the game console, Ayane Takeda has surprisingly become the second most frequent user of these game consoles.

Eri Aragaki used to think that only she would touch game consoles, but she never expected that Ayane Takeda's eyes would light up when she saw the PS3 controller the first time she came.

Yes, even Eri Aragaki didn't expect that Ayane Takeda was actually a girl with severe internet addiction.

However, to be frank, Eri Aragaki's gaming skills are quite average.

To put it simply, he's bad at the game but has a huge addiction.

When playing fighting games, I just randomly press buttons; when playing shooting games, I can never aim at anyone; and when playing action games, I always fall to my death in the same spot.

"Let's play..."

Eri Aragaki was quite casual, and then lowered her head to continue filling out the written interview.

After finally finishing filling it out, she looked up and saw that Ayane Takeda was still typing.

I was playing the classic game Metal Gear Solid, the one on PS3, which had top-notch graphics for its time.

But her performance was absolutely terrible. Snake was spotted by enemies on the screen time and time again, the alarm kept going off, her health bar was almost empty, and she was still spinning around in circles, not knowing where to run.

When the words "GAME OVER" finally appeared on the screen, Ayane Takeda couldn't help but cover her face, rest the controller on her knees, and lean back into the sofa cushions.

Eri Aragaki couldn't bear to watch either, and slapped her hand on her forehead. She could still see the death scene flashing on the TV screen.

"Senior, this level is really difficult."

Ayane Takeda couldn't help but blush, peeking at Eri Aragaki through her fingers, her voice growing softer and softer.

"Is this...difficult?"

Even Eri Aragaki is questioning her existence; Metal Gear shouldn't be too difficult, right?

She had played the game several times in her previous life, and she could walk the infiltration route of this level with her eyes closed. There were only a few patterns in the enemy's patrols, and she just needed to find the right moment to walk past the wall.

Ayane Takeda chose the normal difficulty, which already provides a wide field of vision for the enemies. If she had switched to the hard mode, Ayane probably wouldn't have lasted more than ten minutes.

If this is considered difficult... then when Soulslike games like Dark Souls and Sekiro come out, Ayane Takeda will probably be even less able to play. She'll probably be stuck on the first elite enemy for half a month...

"It's tough! Okay, I'm not very good at games."

Ayane Takeda pouted, picked up the game controller that had slipped onto the sofa, and placed it on the coffee table. "You're really good at games, senpai. You can also draw manga, and you're tall and beautiful..."

As she spoke, her gaze toward Eri Aragaki grew increasingly starry, her undisguised admiration overflowing from her eyes, oblivious to any hint of shyness.

Eri Aragaki's mood grew increasingly cheerful as she listened to the compliments. Who wouldn't be happy to be praised to their face, especially by Ayane Takeda, who seemed genuinely sincere?

However, she also felt a little helpless. She placed the completed interview form on the coffee table and held it down with the remote control, then turned to look at Ayane Takeda. "Ayane, why do you like games... But you do have a good temper..."

"Because it was my dad who taught me."

Ayane Takeda said earnestly, placing her hands on her knees, her posture changing from slouching on the sofa to sitting upright, "I've loved games since I was very young, but when I was little, nobody wanted to play with me... Everyone thought I wasn't good-looking..."

My dad also took me to play video games. He bought an old game console from a secondhand store, and we would play together on weekends. That's why I really like video games, even though I'm not very good at them.

She then said very seriously, "Actually, I've always had a dream, which is to make a game myself, a game that I like, even if not many people like it."

I chose computer science because of this, not because I wanted to work for a big company as a programmer.

Eri Aragaki paused for a moment, then put down her pen and let it roll halfway across the coffee table.

Looking at Ayane Takeda's serious expression, she initially found it absurd... Was Ayane Takeda disliked for not being pretty when she was a child?