Master of the Machete Style Manga

Chapter 99 Ryūyuki Nobu (5th update, please subscribe!)
Ken Sakamoto's gaze swept over the cramped apartment room.

The house was several times older than him, the facilities were very old, and there were even some mold spots in the corners that he couldn't get rid of.

Later, with the money from his serialized manga, he moved to a slightly better 1LDK apartment near Kanzaki Art Academy.

Although the apartment wasn't very big, at least it had a private bathroom.

His residence was limited to these two places.

But theirs are much more numerous.

He had visited Mio's house a few times; it was a typical small family home. Later, she rented a small single room near the school, and that place became one of his regular haunts.

Ai Hoshihara's tower apartment is in Bunkyo Ward, with a wide view. I remember several times they were in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, their backs to the Tokyo night view intertwined.

As for Mikazuki Haruna...

The penthouse apartment in Chiyoda Ward has a bathtub so big that two people could easily fight inside it.

A detached villa in Matsutocho, Shibuya Ward; a house on the Shonan coast of Kanagawa; a vacation home in Shizuoka where you can see Mount Fuji just by opening the curtains; a wooden house next to a flower field in Hokkaido; a traditional garden house in Kyoto…

They visited each place a different number of times, but all of them were places where they had fought.

It's been over a month since Ken Sakamoto was reborn, and he spends most of his time holed up in this old apartment, engrossed in his creative work.

Ken Sakamoto glanced at his seven-digit balance.

Although it's far from the level of Haruna, who saves tens of millions of yen in pocket money, it's at least enough to rent a house.

As his comics work gets on track, he also needs a more professional workbench.

Furthermore, Ken Sakamoto felt that he couldn't possibly handle all the drawing work by himself forever.

Even if one has memories of the future, one's energy is limited.

Drawing at a high intensity every day like this can indeed satisfy the requirement of updating twice a week, but in the long run, my body will definitely not be able to take it.

If you are considering setting up a studio and recruiting assistants, then renting a detached house is the best option.

The first floor serves as a studio, while the upstairs is a living area, ensuring that the two areas do not interfere with each other.

As for the location of the house...

One is Shueisha, located in Chiyoda Ward, and the other is Kanzaki Art Academy, which he will be attending, near Nippori Station.

Ideally, the new home should be located between these two locations, with convenient transportation and a short commute.

As for whether or not to continue attending school.

He is now a professionally debuted comic artist, and his career is booming.

From a purely utilitarian perspective, he could have easily given up his studies and focused on drawing comics at home.

Last week, although he went to university, he was busy with part-time jobs in the early stages and busy dealing with the three of them in the later stages.

He didn't really experience much of university life.

not to mention……

Haruna and Mio are both at that school.

One of the reasons for the ending of last week's episode was the antagonistic relationship that developed between them.

That hostility escalated into anger as they reconciled their accounts, amplifying their emotions to the point of ultimately leading to their deaths with a woodcutter's knife.

What if we could make them friends from the start?

So, wouldn't that achieve a buy-one-get-one-free effect? ​​Many conflicts could then be resolved.

Therefore, you still have to go to university.

At worst, I can just enroll first. If I get too busy with the comics, I can apply for a leave of absence, or even skip classes altogether. At worst, I'll just fail a course.

Ken Sakamoto initially decided on a rental location in Taito Ward, near Akihabara. It would be convenient for living and transportation, and he could also visit Akihabara whenever he wanted.

Of course, I wasn't going to a maid cafe; I was just going to a bookstore to buy comics.

He picked up his phone and sent a LINE message to Keiko Kaji.

Since we're going to Akihabara, we can bring the newly completed manuscripts from the past few days along and check on the progress of the serialization and collected volumes in person.

After quickly tidying up, Ken Sakamoto put the manuscripts of chapters 19 and 20 of "Chainsaw Man" into a file bag, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed out.

Once he reached the main road, he simply hailed a taxi, figuring he could get reimbursed for the expenses anyway.

Before long, the Shueisha building came into view.

After getting out of the car, Ken Sakamoto quickly walked into the lobby on the first floor and went to the front desk with ease.

"Hello, I'm looking for Jia Zhi from the editorial department..."

Before he could finish speaking, the young female employee at the front desk looked up, saw his face, and seemed startled, shrinking back abruptly.

She was holding her phone, seemingly looking at something, when the sudden movement nearly caused the phone to slip from her hand. The female employee quickly placed the phone screen-down on the table, a fleeting look of panic and embarrassment crossing her face, but it was quickly replaced by a well-trained, professional smile.

"Is...is this Sakamoto-sensei?" the female employee asked.

Ken Sakamoto nodded, looking at her with some confusion, and said, "Yes, I'm going to the editorial department."

"Okay, okay!" The female employee quickly took out a registration form. "You can just sign your name here."

Ken Sakamoto picked up a pen and signed his name on the registration form.

While he was signing autographs, he could feel the gaze on him from the side, and he felt a little strange... nervous?
Are you my fan?

However, Ken Sakamoto didn't seem to care too much.

Perhaps it's because my comics have been so popular lately, and I've gained some fame within the company.

Sakamoto Ken put down his pen, nodded politely to her, and then turned and walked towards the internal passage leading to the editorial department.

The female employee was left standing there, watching his back until he disappeared around the corner before she breathed a sigh of relief.

She hurriedly picked up her phone, quickly tapped on a profile picture, and sent a message: "Sakamoto Ken-sensei is at the club again."

March Spring: "I forgot to tell you, you don't need to report to me about Ken Sakamoto's visit to the company anymore. This is the last time, and you can still keep your payment."

"March Spring is transferring 100000 yen worth of LINE Pay balance to you."

……

Kenichi Sakamoto went upstairs and arrived at the editorial department, which was even more chaotic than his own room.

Keiko Kaji had already spotted Ken Sakamoto from afar, but she was on the landline on the table and was only waving at him from a distance.

Ken Sakamoto came to her workstation.

"Okay, okay, I'll leave the printing to you. I'll send you the specific first print run figures via email before the end of this afternoon."

Kaji Keiko exchanged a few brief business words with the other party before hanging up the phone.

“Phew… Sakamoto-sensei, I’m sorry I couldn’t come out to pick you up.” Kaji Keiko pointed to the phone and said, “That was a call from the printing plant. We’ve confirmed the cover, layout, and prototype. Now we just need to finish one more step.”

"Is this a production meeting?" Ken Sakamoto asked.

“That’s right. I’ll meet with the sales team before I leave work to confirm the initial print run,” Keiko Kaji said.

Ken Sakamoto placed the manuscript he had brought on the table and said, "I'll have to trouble the editor-san."

Kaji Keiko patted her chest and assured her, "I will definitely negotiate a price of over 50,000 copies for you, and try my best to get it to 60,000."

"Will they agree?" Kenjiro Sakamoto asked.

"Heh... I'll quote 80,000 first, no, I'll quote 100,000 first, to leave them some room to bargain." Kaji Keiko moved the mouse, and the computer screen lit up.

The screen displays a PowerPoint presentation that provides a detailed introduction to "Chainsaw Man".

Keiko Kaji said, "Whether it's the content, the popularity, or Sakamoto-sensei's creative speed, there's no reason why the first print run should be less than 50,000. Even if the president came, I would still insist."

Kaji Keiko put her hands on her hips, took a deep breath, and calmed herself down.

She said, "Sakamoto-sensei, have you decided on the house you're looking for? I can help you with some suggestions on setting up a studio."

Ken Sakamoto said, "Actually, I have been considering setting up a studio."

"As for the studio... Sakamoto-sensei, are you still planning to draw by yourself in the future? Have you considered hiring assistants? That way you can save a lot of energy and focus on the story and storyboards," Kaji Keiko said. "With Sakamoto-sensei's current royalties, you can definitely afford to pay your assistants' salaries."

Ken Sakamoto pondered for a moment and said, "Let's set up the studio first. I'll think about the assistant later. After all, the most important thing is the people. We need an assistant who meets my requirements."

“That’s true, that’s true,” Keiko Kaji nodded.

While they were still talking, Ken Sakamoto suddenly heard a somewhat stern voice from another editor not far away.

“Ryu-san, let me put it bluntly. Your manga, which was serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Magazine, was canceled after only a few months. It was a piece of garbage. We’re in JUMP here, so we have to meet JUMP’s requirements.”

"With your current abilities, even if you were to draw this haphazardly cobbled-together ghost story, it would still be cut short. Using the supernatural to fight the supernatural, with things like the High-Speed ​​Granny, have you even thought about how the plot would develop?"

"As for the other romance-themed comic, it's even worse. Let's just say it's only good enough to be published in a supplement that nobody reads. It's pointless."

"I suggest you take your time to think things through, and develop your story and characters before you start drawing. If you have financial difficulties, I think you have a pretty good foundation in drawing, so you could try working as an assistant to practice your skills."

Ken Sakamoto looked in that direction.

The young man being scolded by the editor had his head down, looking dejected.

His curiosity stemmed from hearing the editor mention the "Highway Granny" and the supernatural...

That sounds so familiar, isn't that "The Bold Party"?

If this author's surname is Long, wouldn't that be...?

In the previous timeline, Tatsuyuki Tatsuyuki was the main assistant to Fujimoto Tatsuki in "Chainsaw Man" and later created "Daredevil Party"!
(End of this chapter)