I'll kill you after I finish this game!

The pure girl is innocent, but she is neither stupid nor dull; it's just her personality.

The girl's keen senses and vision allowed her to see a different 'color' on Razer than on the people coming and going, which piqued her curiosity.

"Riddler, get out of here! Don't talk to me in a language I don't understand. Xiao Zhe, do you have a crush on my Zhen Bai?"

Watching the two converse at a frequency that ordinary people could not comprehend, Ayano Iida, who was a little temperamental, added salt to the sweets on the table, took a big bite, and made a sound.

He even reached out and hugged Mashiro, pressing his face against Raize's as he teased her.

Despite Ayano Iida's suave banter, Raiji took a bite of the dessert the waiter offered and then ignored her teasing, taking a large bundle of drawings from his handbag and placing it on the table.

"I'm very busy. It seems you have another purpose in coming here to submit this manuscript, Ayano."

With one hand propped on the table and his chin resting on it, his azure eyes, as blue as the sky, stared directly at Ayano Iida, causing the latter to break out in a cold sweat.

Since his debut, Lei Zhe has never been late with his artwork. When the deadline arrives, he always hands over all his artwork to the comic editor at once. After he gained popularity and fame, he would even hand over the completed artwork to the editor.

Now he has taken all the complete artwork for JOJO Part 5 and handed it over to the other party to work on.

Wanting to distract herself, Ayano Iida quickly picked up the sketches on the table and started looking at them after letting go of the adorable Mashiro.

Shiina Mashiro, standing to the side, stared intently at the exquisite artwork in front of Iida Ayano. Although the art style seemed peculiar to Shiina Mashiro, after a short while of careful observation, she was drawn to Raiji's immersive style.

"May I take a look at it?"

Shiina Mashiro was drawn to Rai Zhe's artwork and looked at him, speaking up.

The girl knew it was impolite to casually look at other people's unsubmitted artwork, so she politely asked Lei Zhe for his opinion.

"Can"

Reiji smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. He had a rather favorable impression of Shiina Mashiro, and he did not refuse the pure and ethereal girl's request.

He was just a facilitator for the game, nothing compared to Shiina Mashiro, a girl with extremely high attainments in painting. It was an honor for him to be seen by a world-class painter.

After obtaining Lei Zhe's permission, Shiina Mashiro carefully took the sketches that Iida Ayano had left out and began to look at them intently with her beautiful phoenix eyes.

Ayano Iida, standing to the side, naturally wouldn't mind Mashiro's actions, since the artist had already agreed.

Rai Zhe ate his dessert idly, while Ayano Iida quickly and carefully reviewed the artwork.

The quality of the artwork was still impeccable. After quickly reviewing the draft, I carefully placed it on the table and put it away under the reluctant gaze of Shiina Mashiro on the other side.

Razer's art style is as exquisite as hers, and it has a magical power to draw people into the story. When you flip through it, it's as if you've truly entered the interesting story and are immersed in it.

This is the characteristic that Shiina Mashiro has always wanted to pursue, and Ayano has also mentioned the shortcomings of her manga.

"Teacher Dugu, will you sign the contract the same way as before?"

After finishing reading it, Ayano Iida became serious and started calling Raiji "Teacher".

In response to Ayano Iida's question, Raiji calmly replied, "Do I need to repeat myself a few more times, Ayano?"

"As expected, it still doesn't work..."

Ayano Iida could only manage a wry smile at Raiji's answer; she knew it wouldn't work.

After the comic became popular, Lei Zhe kept all the related rights in his own hands, because if he wanted to make games, he naturally couldn't give up these rights.

Animation is possible, but Reiji will first assess the other party. He has a "better to have nothing than something bad" attitude. If you just want to use my comic to gain popularity without putting in the effort to produce a high-quality production, Reiji will never hand it over to you.

For example, after JOJO became popular, many companies wanted to adapt it into an anime. Reiji carefully selected and interfered with the process, rejecting many companies. In the end, he only selected one company whose quality met his requirements.

Voice actors, animation quality, and everything else are indispensable. Under his obsession, the JOJO trilogy anime came into this world, and the fourth part is already in production. The quality of the anime is no less than what I remember from my previous life.

If the animation studio that produced the original work still meets Raiji's standards, what's wrong with handing over the rights to adapt JOJO into an anime to them?

For Rezhe, comics were merely a necessary means to pave the way for the game; he didn't care much about the profits. Anyone who tried to stop or sabotage his efforts to pave the way was not to be tolerated by him.

Ayano Iida herself was well aware of Raiji's obsession with this matter. It would be impossible to take away those peripheral copyrights from him without solid strength, and Raiji would not trust the manga publisher in this regard.

"Xiao Zhe, it's not that I'm unwilling to give up, it's just that my superiors are unwilling to give up. Those guys have always wanted to tie you to their war machine." Ayano Iida's face showed some helplessness. In the end, she was just someone else's employee. Xiao Zhe was her friend's son, so naturally she wouldn't harm him.

As Lei Zhe's value gradually increased, some people naturally wanted to win him over.

He usually makes his choices after careful consideration when it comes to winning people over, but he will never budge on things that involve his fundamental interests.

Ayano Iida took out a contract from her handbag and handed it to Reiji: "Here, it's the contract you requested. I originally prepared two copies, but I think they were unnecessary."

Lei Zhe silently took the contract, carefully examined it, and after confirming that there were no problems, he signed it directly.

"By the way, Ayano, I won't be drawing JOJO Part 6 for now. I'll give you a new manga in a while."

"Huh!? JoJo is so popular and has such a bright future, why not continue drawing it?"

Ayano Iida was quite happy to receive the signed contract from Raiji. Unlike most authors who would skip work, this oddball had never taken a day off. Every time he submitted a manuscript, he would either give her several issues to work on or finish the book.

However, I don't quite understand Raiji's behavior when he says that he won't be drawing any more JOJO stories for the time being. After all, JOJO is the story that made Raiji famous, and it's currently very popular. If he continued, the future would definitely be bright.

Although Lei Zhe had previously released a Dragon Ball manga during a JOJO hiatus when he was updating JOJO, and although the quality was very good, it didn't generate as much buzz as the current JOJO manga. She thought it was just that the other party was taking a break to find inspiration.

The first part of Dragon Ball generated the second most buzz after JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but when Raiji released the Dragon Ball Z series, this manga was far more popular than JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

That was the most popular phenomenon-level manga in Reiji's previous life. Although JOJO is good, it can't compare to Dragon Ball at all.

Of course, Reiji didn't tell Ayano Iida everything, nor was there any need to; he only spoke with facts.

"Don't worry, didn't I tell you? I have a new manga for you, and its quality will definitely not be inferior to JOJO."

"Oh well."

Seeing Lei Zhe's firm and confident demeanor, Ayano Iida swallowed back what she wanted to say. He was a capable person and wouldn't do anything he wasn't sure of.

After finishing discussing work matters, Ayano Iida brought up a request. She immediately took out some more drawings from her handbag and handed them to Raiji.

P.S.: I went out to do some chores for my family today and got back quite late.

Chapter 44 Natsukawa Masashi: An interesting secret discovery~

"Xiao Zhe, my friend Mashiro also wants to become a manga artist..."

Ayano Iida pulled the adorable Mashiro Shiina beside her and pleaded with Raiji, while Mashiro watched as Raiji picked up his sketch, her phoenix eyes filled with childlike anticipation.

While listening to Ayano Iida's words, Reiji picked up the sketches in front of him, quickly flipped through them, and put them down expressionlessly after a few minutes.

He was well aware of Shiina Mashiro's problem, but Reiji was too busy to have the time, as his schedule was almost always full.

He really didn't have time to teach Shiina Mashiro, and he didn't think he was qualified to teach her either. He was just a porter who brought out the manga to pave the way for the game.

Lei Zhe, who is very self-aware, never considered himself a comic book master.

"Alright, Ayano, I think I know what you want to ask of me, but I'm not some romance manga artist, so..."

Amidst the somewhat silent gaze of Shiina Mashiro, Rai Zhe put down the sketch in his hand, offering no comment but simply expressing his polite refusal.

Hearing that Raiji wanted to politely decline, Ayano Iida said excitedly, "Raiji, your mother was a once-popular romance manga artist. As her son, you must know something about it from a young age, right?"

Speaking of Raiji's deceased mother, she was indeed, as Ayano Iida said, a once popular romance manga artist.

Although Lei Zhe had seen many of his mother's drawings in his memory, he only had a superficial understanding of them and was not an expert. He had no confidence or spare time to help Shiina Mashiro with such a half-baked skill.

"Even if you say that, I'm just not good at it. I'm not even in the same league as this Shiina Mashiro. Romance manga and all that, is it really okay for me, a high school student who's never been in a relationship, to help her?"

"this......"

Upon hearing this, Ayano Iida's expression turned somewhat disappointed.

While the art style and quality of Shiina Mashiro's manga are impeccable, the most important story is as boring as a diary entry, and can be said to be not interesting at all.

Raiji, who is quite skilled at creating interesting stories, can make up for Shiina Mashiro's shortcomings. Ayano Iida just wanted to ask Raiji to help Shiina Mashiro.

However, she seemed to have forgotten that Raiji and Mashiro drew in completely different categories: one was a romance anime for girls, and the other was a battle anime.

Although there are romance elements in Hot Zone comics, their theme is definitely not romance.

You're asking a high school student who specializes in drawing action-packed manga and has never even been in a relationship to instruct others on how to draw romance manga? What were you thinking?

Lei Zhe suddenly turned to look at Shiina Mashiro, who was blinking her phoenix eyes and looking at him with some disappointment. He looked at the girl seriously and said, "Shiina, I'll call you that for now. I have a general understanding of your situation. How many classic romance stories have you read?"

“Ayano showed me a little bit…” A trace of recollection flashed in the girl’s calm eyes as she answered Rai Zhe’s question truthfully.

"Don't you have any deep feelings about it?"

"I...don't understand the kind of feelings Ayano is talking about, but it feels strange after watching it."

I understand. It seems that Mashiro doesn't quite understand that kind of emotion, nor is she very good at making up stories. Since she doesn't understand it, she naturally can't draw it.

This girl was simply drawing a single, beautiful scene. Expressing a certain emotion or meaning through her drawing was not difficult for this lovely girl, but to express an entire story through her drawing was truly a challenge for her.

This can be seen as God opening a window to art for Mashiro, while the other windows remain closed. (Kasuga Hijiri: Is it my fault?)

Under Mashiro's adorable gaze, Raiji took out paper and pen from his handbag, placed them on the table, and began to draw at a pace that was still acceptable to humans.

As Ayano Iida's expression gradually turned to surprise and Mashiro Shiina's expression became increasingly vivid, two anime-style images of Mashiro were depicted by Raize.

Both Shiro are dressed in beautiful evening gowns, with snowballs piled on their heads and shoulders, and are drawn by Reiji from a low angle.

The image on the left, Mashiro, is exactly the same as his expression in real life—a blank and unreadable expression.

The two-dimensional portrait of Mashiro on the right was what shocked Ayano and Shiina Mashiro the most.

The real Shiro in the picture is full of vivid emotions, like a lost or abandoned pet seeing its owner again. Its face has a forced and heartbroken joyful smile, which makes people feel sorry for it.

Especially his eyes, which seemed to have been touched by Lei Zhe's brushstrokes, were filled with such rich emotions that they seemed to come alive.

One version depicts Shiina Mashiro as a figure in a painting, devoid of emotion and ethereal in her demeanor; the other version portrays her as a real person standing before you, more relatable and heartbreakingly real.

In contrast, Mashiro, whose eyes held complex and rich emotional fluctuations, seemed to have truly come to life.

"W-W-This is Mashiro!?"

Ayano Iida stared excitedly at the painting on the table, depicting the beautiful Mashiro with a forced smile. The heartbreaking atmosphere of the painting was truly heartbreaking, making one want to hug her and cherish her.

To this day, Ayano has never seen Mashiro's face show such emotional fluctuations. Mashiro's eyes in the painting really seem to come alive.

"Amazing..."

The girl's words were filled with intense emotional fluctuations. The manga that Shiina Mashiro draws now can't be like this. The characters she draws all have the same indifferent emotions as her, and the stories are just as bland.

Her eyes were fixed on the two-dimensional image of herself in the painting; that kind of portrait that could express emotions was exactly what she wanted.

She can create a world-class masterpiece in her oil paintings, but she can't perfectly showcase her talent in comics, let alone a more vivid version of herself as presented on Razer's paper.

Mashiro fantasizes that if she could draw a vivid version of herself similar to the one on Razer's paper, she could then really shine in the world of comics.

Thinking this, Mashiro immediately took out paper and pen from the handbag Ayano had brought and began to draw.