Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 41 Ah Jian Likes Me

Natsume Mio kept watching, while Sakamoto Ken moved very quickly, and it seemed that only one magazine was left to be tied up.

I talked to the store manager for so long in the afternoon, and the store manager even went out to create an opportunity for the two of them to be alone.

But she hasn't taken the initiative yet; it seems like she's been led around by Ah Jian the whole time...

Natsume Mio quickly said, "Wait! Ken, let me do this one!"

As she spoke, she reached out to take the last magazine.

Before Sakamoto Kenji could remove his hand from the magazine, she pressed it down on it.

My palm pressed against the back of Sakamoto Ken's hand, and I felt the warmth of his touch.

In just a second, Natsume Mio's palms were damp with a light sheen of sweat from nervousness.

A dream is still a dream; no matter how realistic it may seem, it is still fake.

In reality, Ah Jian's hands, while not exactly rough, are completely different from a woman's skin; they have a more resilient feel.

Ken Sakamoto did not move.

He kept his hand on the magazine cover, silently watching the girl in front of him.

Actually, Mio is more like Pava, with that slightly reckless attitude.

Or rather, you can see a little bit of the shadow.

Ken Sakamoto found himself thinking in that direction as well. How could it be that he was copying Fujimoto-sensei's future works, and using them as templates?

Perhaps this is what makes a successful character design—there are always similarities.

Natsume Mio watched Sakamoto Ken's expression. This time, she had taken the initiative and should have been in control, but Sakamoto Ken remained calm, as if nothing had happened.

Do you... hate me?
Or perhaps they simply didn't care.

Natsume Mio's hand stopped on the back of Sakamoto Ken's hand, and just then, the hand that was pressed down on her suddenly flipped over.

Ken Sakamoto slammed Natsume Mio's hand onto the table. Since they were sitting facing each other, Ken Sakamoto moved his wrist back slightly and used the base of his palm to press down on her four fingers (excluding her thumb), keeping her hand in an open, upturned position, unable to move.

This feeling... is like being pinned down by him, with his limbs held down...

"Huh?!" Natsume Mio was slightly startled and froze.

At this moment, their palms were facing each other, and she felt as if an electric current was constantly drilling into her palms and sweeping through her whole body.

In particular, if Ken Sakamoto's hand moves even slightly, it feels tingly and itchy in his palm.

She's extremely ticklish; not to mention the armpits and soles of her feet, even her arms are incredibly sensitive.

As a result, my palms sweated even more, becoming damp.

Sakamoto Ken stared into the girl's eyes. Although his face showed no obvious expression, to be honest, his heart was stirred to some extent.

He doesn't deny that in his previous life, because he was reborn in Tokyo for the first time, he was a bit too unrestrained and treated reality like a dating game, which made him seem a little bit of a jerk.

But he's just a jerk at best, not a bad guy.

He must genuinely like every girl he's spent so much time with.

Otherwise, I could just move to a new place this time and hide away to draw comics, never leaving the house. That would definitely be 100% safe.

But in that case, even though I had already completed the game last week, I only made a slight mistake in the final step, which led to the hatchet ending.

Given the experience from last week's playthrough, is it possible that I'll be attacked with a machete again this time?

That's impossible, okay?

Sakamoto Ken squeezed Mio's hand; it still had that familiar feel to it. Her skin was exceptionally delicate, and the bones beneath that tender skin were also very fine, soft and supple.

I recall the times we strolled together, hands clasped, in the cold winter wind, as I pulled her hand into my pocket, or in intimate moments, I held her hands from behind…

Ken Sakamoto maintained a calm, three-quarter smile and said in a remarkably calm tone, "Mio, I know what you're thinking."

Upon hearing Sakamoto Ken's words, Natsume Mio's eyes widened immediately, and she stared intently at him.

What she heard next made her feel like the breath in her chest had been released.

“But I don’t have the energy to think about romance right now.” Sakamoto Ken loosened his grip and pushed the magazine, which wasn’t yet tied up, in front of Natsume Mio.

Natsume Mio instinctively picked up the sleek white men's magazine and asked, "Is it still about the manga?"

“Of course,” Ken Sakamoto said matter-of-factly. “Don’t stop me from drawing manga and making money. My contract with the shop manager only lasts until the end of this month. Starting next month, I will be focusing on creating manga.”

"Ken isn't coming to work at the shop anymore?!" Ken Sakamoto sighed dramatically, saying, "Working part-time will distract me. I'll have even more drawings to do next month, and the fees for those drawings will be more than what I earn working part-time at the shop."

"Today is February 28th, which means..."

“That’s right, tomorrow is my last day working at the store,” Sakamoto Ken nodded and said.

“But I…” Natsume Mio bit her lip lightly, lowered her head slightly, and felt a little wronged.

The only reason she came all this way is because Ah Jian is here.

Because she confirmed that what she saw in her dream was real, she decided to work at the store and wait for Ah Jian to come.

As far as I can remember, they worked together for a long time. She even moved in with Ah Jian...

The reason she told the store manager that her shift would be scheduled for the weekend was because she was thinking about the start of the new school term, since she would only be able to work part-time on weekends after school started.

Why is it different from the one in my dream!

She had already imagined a whole host of possible scenarios, and even had a small umbrella in her backpack, so she wouldn't refuse him whatever he wanted...

But Ken Sakamoto's answer prevented her from going any further.

Considering his family's financial situation, perhaps I really was too willful.

Although her family wasn't particularly wealthy, they had absolutely no worries about making ends meet, and then she imposed her own ideas on Ah Jian...

Natsume Mio remained silent for a while before saying, "Ken, um, if it's about drawing manga, I can actually help, right?"

“Creative work can only be done by oneself,” Ken Sakamoto replied.

"But don't you need to gather material?" Natsume Mio said. "For example, inspiration for manga or characters can't just appear out of thin air, can they?"

If it's from last week's playthrough, then it's definitely time to gather material.

But now... I can just draw it based on what I remember.

We already did the research last week.

Ken Sakamoto shook his head and said, "Not all authors need to find material to draw manga. When you pick up a pen, the image should automatically appear in your mind."

Ken Sakamoto glanced at the clock in the store and said to Mio Natsume, "It's 8 o'clock, you should go home now, there's no overtime pay."

"It's okay..." Natsume Mio pouted, struggling with the gentleman's magazine in her hand with a plastic rope, carefully tying the four corners of the magazine together.

She placed the magazines on top of the pile next to Ken Sakamoto and continued, "Now that I'm off work, I'm just a regular customer in the store, and Ken can't kick me out."

“It will take you a long time to get home from here. By the time you get to your place, it will be completely dark. If you delay any longer, it’s not safe for you to walk alone at night.” Ken Sakamoto picked up the magazine and put it on the shelf.

At that moment, a customer entered the store, and Ken Sakamoto took the opportunity to walk behind the cashier.

Natsume Mio stood there silently watching him for a while before biting her lip, lowering her head, and silently entering the dressing room behind.

The girl frowned, her mind racing as she replayed the conversation between the two of them.

Although Ah Jian spoke casually, he clearly looked very troubled.

But his difficulty was definitely not because of me, but because of comics, manuscripts, making money and such.

I had heard before that he had family debts; in that dream, I remember the figure was over 20 million.

He later told me that the comic suddenly earned a good amount of copyright fees, which allowed him to pay off the entire debt.

So right now, he must be struggling to breathe under the weight of his more than 20 million yuan in debt.

Actually, Ah Jian likes me, but he feels he's not in a good position to be in a relationship.

Given Ah Jian's personality, he would probably prefer a girl who can help him in his career, right?

How can I help him with comics?
Drawing is definitely out of the question, as for finding inspiration... Ah Jian just said he doesn't need to guess...

All I know is vocal music and voice acting.

Oh? Right, the voice acting.

Natsume Mio recalled what she had overheard at Ken's door at noon that day: Ken and his editor were talking about manga.

It seems that Ah Jian's comic is going to be released as some kind of animated comic, and the production company needs voice actors.

If I get selected, and Ah Jian's comics are adapted into anime in the future, will I be able to continue being a voice actor for Ah Jian's works?

(End of this chapter)