There is nothing wrong with the training method of the Justice Messenger

"Anyway, Eriri! Listen up!" Amaki looked at Sawamura angrily, pointed at him like a certain Ace Attorney, and asserted, "Sexy illustrations and hardcore content are in conflict. When reading a touching and fascinating plot, a sudden illustration of a revealing female body will only make people angry, okay? If you don't understand this, how can you be an illustrator for Muzi-sensei? You don't understand what we otakus are looking for in Muzi-sensei's books!"

Sawamura sneered, "Tomoya, you are a pathetic guy who is mentally a virgin and even resists the R18 version of the character you like. You are unwilling to do the [appropriate imagination] based on normal physiological needs. You are not worthy of representing the thoughts of the majority of otakus."

"You are not worthy of representing the majority of otakus, okay?"

"In a sense, these two people are disgusting." Wu Geng listened to the childhood sweethearts exposing each other. She, who always prided herself on being outspoken and not afraid of dirty jokes, was horrified by the terrible values ​​​​revealed in what these two people talked about. She couldn't help but look at Kato. She really didn't want this pure child to be polluted. Fortunately, Kato seemed to be still thinking about Li Nian. He was obviously absent-minded and didn't say a word.

"Then I know more than you! Who do you think is the famous artist in the industry? You don't think you understand the tastes of contemporary readers better than a successful commercial artist like me?"

"Of course I understand! Even the well-known Kashiwagi Eri has received many criticisms that your drawings are too large and lack soul, right? You can ignore those voices, but you must never ignore the love that the otakus have for the characters and the idea that they should not be defiled reflected in those voices! I am an ordinary otaku who represents the "majority"!"

"Soul and the like are all overly ambiguous ideas! As long as you have strong enough skills and deep enough intentions, you can draw a painting that is loved by people! Composition is the accumulation of elements, there is no painting that cannot be made from the production line!"

Seeing that the two were about to start a confrontational ideological battle as usual, Kasumigaoka stepped out helplessly and reminded them: "In order to cater to contemporary readers, illustrations must have commercial elements such as color and cuteness, but they cannot be separated from the work itself. The style should be unified, and the illustrations should be compatible with the work. Li Nian obviously has his own ideas about this. Anyway, the original author's ideas should be given priority."

Aki and Sawamura still had some respect for Kasumigaoka. After being beaten 80 times with the stick each, they snorted coldly and took a step back.

An Yi: "Okay... I also want Mr. Muzi's work to sell well. Illustrations are an important factor affecting the sales of novels. They must be eye-catching."

Sawamura: "...I can barely admit that this guy's book is of the unconventional type. Compared to ordinary books that mainly show the sexiness and cuteness of female characters, and the content itself is useless, this guy's work is still excellent in content. It is amazing that it can show the excellent qualities of each character and the story itself. It is not possible to just draw a few beautiful girls with watery eyes in short skirts and stockings to deal with it. What I mean by saying this is to remind this guy, as the original author, to spend some time and cooperate with my work! Instruct me clearly what character I should draw in what scene, what state, in order to show what picture, what elements should be included, and what kind of feeling it should give people in general. Tell me clearly! The client who doesn't care, doesn't understand, and gives a lot of instructions, says this and that based on his feelings, which is actually interfering with my work is the most unforgivable!"

"Well, I understand what you mean." Li Nian understood what Sawamura said from the beginning. Of course, he didn't intend to just ignore it. Rather, he already had many ideas of his own. At this moment, he just looked at the illustrator who said those heartfelt words with a sympathetic look: "It seems that you have suffered a lot from this kind of torture from the client?"

"Hmph, I'm glad you know that... Don't become that kind of person, or I will..." Sawamura felt that ordinary threats would not be very meaningful to this guy who is an exorcist, so he changed his words temporarily: "I will let Gogen-san bite you!"

"...I finally know what you think of me, the stinky blonde with twin ponytails over there." Gogen looked over coldly.

"Oh, it's the same to you. What do you want to say, you little black cat who likes to bite? Do you want me to touch you?" Sawamura looked over with a smile, obviously remembering all the overt and covert sarcasm from Gogen and was making ironic remarks here.

"Being bitten by Wu Geng? That's really scary, huh..." Li Nian couldn't help laughing out loud.

"I'm really going to bite you." Wu Geng smiled at Li Nian, showing off his white teeth: "Where do you think I should bite you?"

Knowing that Wu Geng was the kind of person who would really bite if he said he would, Li Nian still took the initiative and admitted his cowardice: "No, no, no, I'm scared."

The main thing I was afraid of was that my skin was too hard and would break the little girl's teeth.

"Ahem, we've strayed off topic again." Li Nian got back to business. "Regarding the requirements for illustrations, I personally have my own ideas. To be more specific, I hope that the illustrations can attract people's attention and help boost sales."

"Well, I really want to thank this client for his superficial idea that is equivalent to saying nothing. It seems that you are the most disgusting client. I decided to draw a few beauties posing for you and put them in the book. "

"Don't worry. On the contrary, I think that these days, excellent illustrations that can attract people's attention are not just about a beautiful girl with big eyes and short skirt and stockings bending over and posing to make male readers fall in love. My book is a war chronicle, and the main content of the story is not about being intimate with girls. It is not suitable for that style. I think for this kind of book, a good illustration should be able to reflect the content of the story itself, and should be combined with the scene to give people a grand and handsome feeling, reflecting a unique worldview."

"Wow... that sounds like a lot of work. Not only do I have to draw the characters? I also have to study the scene? I have to work hard on the composition?"

“Yes, the presence of characters should be combined with the scene itself to become a narrative of the content, making the painting a story as well.”

“……” Sawamura looked thoughtful.

If An Yi said such things, she would only think it was funny, but when it was the opinion of Li Nian, whom she [reluctantly] admitted was an excellent author, she was willing to think more about it. Li Nian's statement was still vague, but it did reflect his serious requirements for illustrators as the original author.

Li Nian continued, "You illustrators seem to be quite arrogant these days. There are beautiful pictures of beauties everywhere on the Internet, but it's hard to find a good person in the picture that can make people remember it deeply and engrave it in their hearts. How does the saying go, beautiful appearances are all the same, but interesting souls are rare... I think a good novel illustration can make people think, let people read the story and the text, have an imagination, and then just when they turn the next page, a picture that confirms all kinds of information appears at the back, strengthening their impression in a straightforward form and engraving the picture in their hearts. Of course, I hope that you, Sawamura, can do this when you draw for my book."

"…So you agree with An Yi's idea? You think paintings with soul are better? Then I really don't think you should look for a commercial painter like me who is good at calculations."

"I agree with both of your ideas. I think that both the commercial elements and the soul's core can be present. If they are present, it will be an excellent painting. Specifically, when people see a painting, they feel that the characters in the painting are vivid and lifelike, with distinct characteristics, showing a beautiful, handsome or sexy appearance, which makes people remember it at first glance. At the same time, the overall impression of the whole painting makes people feel that the whole composition formed by the characters and the scene has a deep meaning."

"Good fellow, you suddenly become a troublesome party A with huge demands. Do you know how much more trouble your words will cause me?"

"Of course, I know that all this will turn into a greater workload for you as an illustrator, but this is my ideal request - I know that the price proposed by the library will not be that high, and it would be excessive to ask for more than that, so I will say it in advance. I am willing to prepare corresponding personal compensation for your extra work, Sawamura-san. As you can see, I am not short of money. I am willing to strive for excellence and pay more money in exchange for more exquisite illustrations. You can quote the price that you think is appropriate, Sawamura-san."

"…Is this in accordance with the rules, Kasumigaoka-senpai?" Amaki asked doubtfully.

"Even if you ask me, Amai, I have never heard of this practice, because I didn't have this idea when communicating with the artist of "Love Metronome". The painting she drew is very beautiful, and I accepted it, that's all." Kasumigaoka showed a confused expression.

"...It's against the rules." Sawamura frowned and said, "I am cooperating with you through the library editing. As a well-known painter, I set the price, and Ms. Machida accepted it. If the contract is established, I will naturally do my best to complete it. Don't underestimate me. Even if I don't accept extra compensation, I will complete my work well, provided that..."

"The premise is that my request is not too excessive, but what I just asked for is a bit excessive, right? Then, I have to pay more!" Li Nian said with a smile: "That's why I said it's a private matter, a little thing that only you and I know about. It's easy to fool the library. You see, I was shocked by the illustrations and was deeply moved. I wanted to spontaneously give you a red envelope, some cigarettes and alcohol...ah, some perfume, cosmetics and other small things. This is also a very common thing, isn't it?"

"...This person is thinking about bribery, right? It's not just known to God and the earth, but we all heard it." An Yi was dumbfounded.

Sawamura was amused and said to Amaki, "See, Tomoya, learn from this. This is the right attitude to have when asking someone to do something for you. If you want to ask someone to do something for you, you should prepare the reward first. It sounds like they are very sincere."

"I learned a lot, but I just couldn't learn how to be a rich person, because I am really poor."

Li Nian asked, "So seeing my sincerity, what do you mean, Sawamura-san?"

"You are very sincere! But I refuse!"

"I guess so. Let me ask you the reason."

"My offer is probably a bit higher than you imagined. I was prepared to put in my best effort for the reward. Your request is within the scope of what I can do. I am confident that I can occasionally draw the kind of pictures you mentioned. If I draw them, it will be considered that I have accepted the reward and done what I should do. I don't need more." Sawamura said calmly: "But that is a rare opportunity and can only be drawn when you are in an extremely good state - just like you authors occasionally have a burst of inspiration and suddenly write an excellent article paragraph. Even I can only draw this kind of thing when I am in a good state occasionally. I can't guarantee that every illustration will reach this level. Moreover, you are a long-term project, and I am your long-term commissioned artist. It is impossible for me to cooperate in the future to make every illustration reach this level."

"Don't worry, this is just my ideal requirement. I just need Sawamura to cooperate with my instructions and strive for perfection in drawing illustrations. If you can do your best, it doesn't matter if you can't do it."

"…It sounds really irritating, like you don't believe in my ability."

"How dare I? It's just that the creators here all know that status can't be forced."

"Even so, your request is a bit harsh! The general illustration work only requires me to focus on the characters, focus on the female characters, show their beauty, cuteness or handsomeness, it's a character painting! The scenes and so on are all matched, and asking for such ethereal things as meaning and soul is too much to ask. If you want to present everything you said in one painting, any more is a real workload!"

"Of course, you are not asked to draw all scenes in a grand manner. Most of the time, you are only required to focus on expressing the characters themselves in the illustrations. However, I hope that you can meet my requirements for the key scenes. Accordingly, Li Nian gestured to Sawamura who wanted to say something to listen to him first. "I am confident that I can provide some help in addition to the prepared compensation. You can try first. If it doesn't work, tell me and I will give up the idea."

Chapter 332: See what I see, think what I think

"Help? What help?" Sawamura cast a suspicious look: "Besides the small amount of money, what kind of help can you give me? I really don't know."

"To be specific, the help I can provide should be in composition. I can give you specific instructions. Didn't you say that you need the more detailed information the better? I dare say that my imagination of the scene is much deeper than that of the average author. For these scenes, I have a detailed composition in my mind, and I have the ability to share it with you. I will let you know clearly what I need you to draw." Li Nian explained.

"You are the only one who has drawn a detailed composition..." Sawamura didn't care about it. He just thought it was nonsense that Li Nian was talking about. He sneered: "I admit that you, Mr. Muzi, write good novels, but don't think that you can comment on painting casually. The composition you imagined is just the whim of an amateur. If you want to use this half-baked and immature composition to force me to restrain me, I'm sorry to say that you are a disgusting client."

"Of course I don't have the skills to draw, and I don't intend to restrict your drawings. I will only provide a reference. Since you said that you hope I can tell the painter the specific requirements as the original author, it just so happens that I have been thinking about this recently. I was thinking about how to help the painter understand my intentions directly, so that they don't need to go to the trouble of looking up information or imagining out of thin air. I have come to a conclusion and found the most convenient way - to let you directly [see my imagination]."

"You said you saw..." Sawamura looked at Li Nian and suddenly came to his senses: "You mean, you have that kind of, uh, magic?"

Sawamura understood things quickly. He had already thought of Li Nian's identity as an exorcist and roughly understood what Li Nian was saying.

"That's right. Whether it's magic or a technique, I have the ability to make the things I imagine come true in reality."

The method that Li Nian and Sawamura talked about to help her with painting is also what he has been thinking about recently on how to help senior Kamiigusa Kazuhito make animations. Now it just so happens that he is talking about illustrations with Sawamura, and he thinks that this method can be copied and used - it was originally intended to give the painter a more intuitive imagination. Kamiigusa's animation is about fighting scenes, and Li Nian can give her a dynamic battle scene that actually happens. What Sawamura wants is a painting, a shot, so the construction of the corresponding "illusion" will only be simpler.

"Wow!" Sawamura's eyes sparkled with curiosity: "The magic of the exorcist, it seems to be very interesting?"

Not to mention Sawamura, everyone else present looked at Li Nian curiously. Everyone was very concerned about the methods of that mysterious group. What's more, everyone here was a young person who had watched many "fantasy battle works". What they thought of at this moment were the words they had seen in novels or the amazing "special effects scenes" in animations and special effects movies.

Kasumigaoka and Go were the ones who had seen Li Nian actually fight. Sawamura, Amaki and Kato had also seen Li Nian casually summon a lively little fire dragon to play with in the club room, and thus believed in Li Nian's identity as an exorcist.

And now this guy said that he could use magic to create all kinds of scenes, which naturally aroused everyone's curiosity. Even Kato looked over silently, temporarily stopping thinking about the possibility that Li Nian had turned into a corpse with "the voice and appearance still there", and quietly watched what fun things this guy was planning to do.

Wu Geng couldn't wait to urge him: "Who would understand if you just talk? Anyway, why don't you show it first?"

Sawamura nodded, inexplicably excited: "Yes, yes, show me the effect first, the most exaggerated one! Let me see how far this exorcist can go!"

They just wanted to see Li Nian's magic.

Upon hearing this, Li Nian nodded and snapped his fingers immediately.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes went dark, and they clearly felt that their consciousness seemed to be connected with something. Then, after a feeling of dizziness, they came to their senses and found that they had "appeared" in a dilapidated ruin.

This was a city that had been baptized by war. They saw ruins, smelled the bloody wind and smoke, and even felt the pain of the dust swept by the strong wind on their faces.

These real feelings could not make anyone feel anything for the moment - because their attention was already attracted by the man standing proudly among the ruins.

He stood there, dressed in black, his back straight as a javelin, holding a pitch-black spear with an object that looked like a human figure pointed at him, standing among the scattered pieces of flesh and blood.

As if he felt being watched, the man turned around, revealing a cold, blood-stained face that gave him an indifferent look from a long distance.

When their eyes met, the children all trembled with fear, as if this terrifying man was really aware of their existence. The next moment, they saw the man smile and say something.

Then, some kind of terrible hostility locked onto them. A sense of crisis swept through their bodies. The man suddenly swung his gun and threw away the corpse. The next moment, the man appeared in front of them, and the tip of the gun was in front of them like lightning.

"Snapped."

The fingers snapped again, and the scene disappeared completely, and everyone "returned" to the club room of Sobu High School.

They were still sitting in the warm and quiet room, which was a space that was kept clean and comfortable by An Yi as usual, giving people a sense of security. Outside the window was the setting sun casting on the city, with tranquility in the peace.

No one spoke for a moment, immersed in the indistinguishable boundary between the two landscapes, feeling lost.

But Li Nian, the instigator, was of course very sober and asked maliciously, "How is it? Is it scary?"

Sawamura was the first to react, shouting, "Is it scary? What is that? The ruins of a city after the war?! It looks like human bodies cut into pieces?! A man holding a gun and giving off a villain vibe?! He... killed someone?! And that last, scariest one, what's with the reaction of 'I see you and I'm here to kill you'?! I really thought I was going to be stabbed by the gun!"

"It's a show effect, a show effect, it's just an illusion, don't take it seriously." Li Nian smiled and pressed it with her hand, signaling the little sister to calm down as well.

"What the hell! How can it be real?!" Sawamura was panicking and kept asking, "What is that? What on earth is it?"

Not only Sawamura, everyone felt that the scene seemed to be happening in reality. They could even clearly see the cracks on the rubble in the ruins of the city, smell the smoke and stench in the air, hear the wind whistling in their ears, and feel the pain of sand scraping against their skin - especially the man standing in this scenery. That man's existence was more dazzling and real than anything else.

It was like they had just appeared somewhere that actually existed and met someone that actually existed.

That was no longer a scene that could be explained by special effects or fantasy. All the information they heard, saw, and felt was filled with a heavy sense of reality, constituting a real scene. This could no longer be explained by "hallucination" or "special effects". At this moment, everyone had the same doubts as Sawamura and wanted to ask the same questions as Li Nian.

Li Nian still answered with a smile.

"An illusion, a magic, fake, I made it."

"...You can create such a realistic...illusion?" When Li Nian said this, Sawamura felt that he might have overthought. Indeed, they were still in the club room of Sobu High School. Compared with actually moving to a certain place and meeting a certain person, the explanation of illusion was more convincing. Obviously, it was the words of Li Nian, the initiator, who was very convincing, but they still felt something was strange: "But this, is too real?"

"That's because I have great skills and the special effects are good enough. Besides, I have mosaiced the corpse for you, and the parts that are not suitable for children are well covered. Did you not notice it?"

After listening to what Li Nian said, everyone thought about it carefully and realized that everything was indeed very real. In that [illusion], their vision became inexplicably clear and abnormal. They could see the rubble clearly from a distance of several hundred meters. They could also see the man's face, clothes, even the wrinkles in his clothes and the beard on his face. Only the pieces of flesh scattered aside, which were obviously parts of the human body, gave people a very vague impression.

Otherwise, if they were shown a real human body cross-section with blood, flesh and organs splattered everywhere, they would probably feel nauseous and be scared to the point of being unable to sleep. Obviously, Li Nian took the "audience's perception" into consideration and blurred the image to keep the scale within a range that can be watched by people under the age of 18.

"It seems to be the case..." Sawamura accepted some of it half-believingly, and hesitated: "But this illusion is so real. Although I think it is possible for you to use this kind of... magic, I didn't expect it to be so real... Are all exorcists like you who can create such a scene with a snap of your fingers?"

"...Should?" Li Nian thought for a moment and said, "The method is not difficult. It's just sharing the five senses, letting you see what I see...uh, see what I think."

Wu Geng listened carefully and asked suspiciously, "...Did you just let it slip that you saw what you saw?"

"You heard wrong."

“…Haha.” Wu Geng sneered and didn’t ask any more questions. He knew in his heart that this was probably the case.

No one here is really stupid. They all more or less understand that the scene they just saw is not just a false illusion created by Li Nian.

Well, in fact, Li Nian did show them the scenery that he had seen before.

It is everything he experiences from that person's perspective when he is "reading" someone's state of mind.

Nothing is more convincing than what actually happened. The reason why everyone feels that it is so real is because it is a real thing happening in a certain world, and it is everything that someone sees, hears, and feels.

What Sawamura and the others just saw was the last encounter with their enemy in their career, the scene before the battle began.

What is fake cannot be real, and what is real cannot be fake. Real experiences are the most touching, and true feelings are the most moving. Li Nian deeply agrees with this truth.

He indeed did not have the ability to fabricate a "real scene". If he wanted people to see every blade of grass, every brick and tile clearly, and also smell the odor and feel the wind and sand, he had to create all the effects bit by bit. That was a huge workload, and Li Nian was too lazy to do such a troublesome thing. He thought that since it was so troublesome to construct an illusion from scratch, it would be much easier to let people see what he saw and "let them see everything that really happened."

Anyway, those scenes were what he wanted to express. He thought about them after seeing them, and when he wrote, he wanted to restore these "things he had seen with his own eyes" and share the touch.

The excellence of light novels lies in their ability to give people intuitive imagination through illustrations. Li Nian wants to make good use of this and feels that he should let Sawamura see what he really wants to express when he is conceiving the plot, so that the entire process of "imagination to text to illustrations" can be as undistorted as possible.

Similarly, Li Nian also has the ability to modify that "scene".

The scene I just showed you all, in principle, used the shared five senses - so in the end, it was just showing them what Li Nian remembered and thought about in his mind. Adjusting that "imagination" was a very simple thing for Li Nian.

After all, "adjusting mental images" is a basic ability that Li Nian has practiced for a long time, and he can do it as easily as eating and drinking.

All Dharma images are formed based on the mind. The mind method comes first and then the skills. If you can't adjust the mind, you can't manipulate the flow of spiritual energy to form a fixed structure, and you can't even use the technique. Any excellent wizard can do the basic skill of "adjusting the imagined picture". Mosaicing the corpses in the [Illusion] in this way to protect the eyes of minors is only one aspect of its application. Li Nian can also do more subtle and complex things.

Even if I really imagine it from scratch, I can do it——

"So, can the kind of composition I just showed you help with your illustration?"

Sawamura came back to his senses and looked at Li Nian as if he were some strange creature.

"In short, you can make a real scene for me to draw, right?"

She was really frightened by Li Nian's method. She had only seen a tiny part of the ability of Li Nian, the exorcist, and even used a respectful title for him.

"If you have any other requirements, I can adjust the scene."

"…You can produce whatever background, character, costume, action, and lighting effects I want with the highest precision possible?"

"…It would be best if I had seen all the elements in real life. If I had seen them in real life, I could reproduce them with the accuracy of a single hair and compose any composition."

Wu Geng sneered and whispered, "Well, so the illusion just now that seemed real was just your imagination. You have never seen the real thing. It is fake and does not exist. Keep making it up. I am listening. I will see when you can no longer make it up."

Li Nian pretended not to hear her whispered complaints.

Sawamura murmured, "There are limitations... but this is still amazing... If I could draw while looking at this kind of scene..."

"Is it useful? You haven't answered my question yet, Sawamura."

"It's useful, so useful." Sawamura nodded vigorously like a chicken pecking at rice, thinking about how he should use Li Nian's ability. His mind suddenly became open and he was so excited: "I don't even need to look up information to think about the composition and details. I can just sketch the actual picture and it's done. I can draw a painting with both artistic conception and beauty?! Is there such a good thing for painters? Li Nian, you have to cooperate with me, you must cooperate with me! No, not just this time, you have to do me this kind of favor in the future! I'll give you money! And you need the real thing, right? It doesn't matter! I have black and white stockings, blue and white panties, shrine maiden uniforms, sailor uniforms, maid uniforms, and sexy lingerie at home! Take them and study how to make me a peerless beauty wearing these things and posing in various poses!"