Can I draw Eromanga forever?

Volume 92: Chapter "Hero Complex"

sand--

rustle--

The Aston Martin Vantage was completely silent, with only the soft rustle of pages turning.

After opening the volume of "Kasugano Yuu's Short Story Comics Collection", Shizuka Hiratsuka felt as if she was immersed in the stories on each page.

Hard to extricate myself.

"Looking Back, Goodbye Eri, The Sin of Octopus, The Boy Who Wants to Kiss..."

"Gentle, delicate, realistic, yet with a touch of fantasy, curious, cruel, youthful, and very healing..."

Time passes quietly.

Shizuka Hiratsuka was so engrossed in watching that even the female teacher in charge didn't notice the passage of time. The students of Class J, Grade 1, had been waiting for her in the Chinese class for half an hour.

Inside the Aston Martin Vantage, the intermittent rustling of pages and the woman's sometimes rapid, sometimes slow breathing echoed one after another, creating a subtle and quiet atmosphere...

I do not know how long it has been.

Shizuka Hiratsuka's expression had already changed. She took only two and a half puffs of her cigarette and threw it into the ashtray she was carrying. She was concentrating on...

Sometimes she would frown and think about something, and at the same time she would shake the bangs that fell on her forehead because she lowered her head. Occasionally, her slender fingers would move, as if they were holding a cigarette that did not exist in the air.

Along with her long and varied breathing, she would occasionally open her lips, purse her moist lips, and utter subtle interjections such as "ha...ah" from time to time.

"What's this……"

"Isn't that awesome?"

"You little brat, I thought I had overestimated you enough, but you still gave me such a great surprise... No, should I say scare you, right?"

Shizuka Hiratsuka shook her head and laughed, then began talking to herself.

She maintained the same sitting posture for a long time, and the pure white silk shirt was partially pressed down by her arms, making the clothes look tighter. The wrinkles of the fabric made the curves of her body appear graceful and firm.

I don't know when or why the sweat started to flow down my snow-white and slender neck and into the collar.

She wiped the sweat off her face, her complexion was a faint pink, and her skin was as crystal clear as a girl's.

Furthermore, Shizuka Hiratsuka was sitting in the driver's seat of a sports car, which has a low seat and is not comfortable at all. Her sitting posture inevitably distorted her already wide hips and an alarming waist-to-hip ratio, which made her suit trousers look rounder and fuller.

It creates a slimming effect.

In fact, with her naturally pear-shaped figure and wide hips, she looks completely different from a girl just by wearing a pair of well-cut women's suit trousers. Her allure is actually no less than that of a pencil skirt.

--but.

Shizuka Hiratsuka didn't notice for the time being that although she was Lin You's teacher, she secretly showed admiration and even fan-like attitude towards her student.

She still feels emotional:

"You, are you the reincarnation of the God of Manga? ... No, Osamu Tezuka wasn't just a brilliant artist or a master storyboarder. He was the one who propelled the entire Japanese manga and animation industry forward. His work even influenced many great cartoonists of later generations. His influence, contribution, and status in the Japanese manga world are unshakable..."

"But."

“What if there was a collection of short comics now?”

"With just one person, you've created so many unique and innovative works... Mr. Kasugano Yuu..."

Shizuka Hiratsuka is just a simple manga fan. She loves to read hot-blooded shonen manga. She will secretly memorize the lines of the manga and even find opportunities to say them...

I am not a professional, but at least I can understand such obvious things. Hiratsuka Shizuka thought to herself——

This is a masterpiece.

"And this last one—'The Race of the Wind'. No, that's a work within a work. It should actually be called... 'Heroic Complex'?"

"The most ordinary story, the most ordinary characters, the most trivial story...how could it be..."

"Tsk, why are you so passionate?"

"The Race of the Wind"... no, "Hero Complex", tells an ordinary yet somewhat special story.

In childhood, there was a genius older brother and an ordinary younger brother.

The protagonist of the story is Katakura Kei, a cheerful and confident young man with exceptional athletic talent. As a teenager, Kei consistently triumphed in competitions, earning him a spot at a prestigious university thanks to his achievements in track and field competitions.

That’s why Lin You specially wrote two names, and the subtitle is called... Race of the Wind?

Hiratsuka Shizuka thought.

Her eyes fell on a page of storyboards.

That is... perhaps it can be called a family portrait.

At the family dinner table, Jing is the center of his parents' attention and the pride of the family. In Jing's mind, he's destined to be a hero, destined to compete on the world stage, while his introverted and shy younger brother, Ming, is unlikely to achieve greatness. Even in this storyboard, Ming's expression is obscured by a speech bubble.

——Hiratsuka Shizuka didn’t notice this keenly for the time being.

She was simply attracted by Lin You's painting skills and immersed in the story told through storyboards.

The streamlined lines, with their minimalist, sophisticated yet subtle quality, exude a forbidden fragrance like a cold lily, brimming with charm. Clearly depicting everyday life, yet seemingly narrating a love story?

Lin You's storyboards have a very cinematic feel, imbued with a realistic yet romantic beauty, as if the story is being told through the lens of a Shunji Iwai film...

This style made her feel gentle, and she couldn't help but reveal a slight smile of interest at the corner of her lips.

But soon, she couldn't laugh anymore.

"Can I use my brother as a model for a manga?"

His younger brother Ming asked nervously and excitedly. The protagonist of the comic he designed was named: Jing of the Wind. "Jing" and "Jing" have the same pronunciation. The setting of being as swift as the wind and cutting off setbacks is obviously also derived from his elder brother Jing's talent in track and field.

My younger brother stammered as he expressed his creative ideas, still as clumsy as before.

When his elder brother Jing saw this scene, he remembered something: his younger brother’s future dream was to become a cartoonist.

Although the arrogant Jing felt that his brother's dream was unlikely to come true, he did not express these thoughts. Instead, he encouraged his brother as the eldest brother.

"Then from now on, I'll be an Olympic athlete, and Ming will be a manga artist!"

The scene was too young at that time.

He had no idea that many years later, he would be wearing a suit and carrying his work badge, standing on the side of the road, numbly squeezing towards the subway station, regretting the words he said when he was young and frivolous.

I should have rejected him at that time!

If I had told him not to use me as material, if I had snapped his pen...

He looked up and sighed - on the large advertisement in front of the subway station, there was a promotional picture of the animated version of Ming's manga "Ship Tomorrow".

However, the office worker who is alone and melancholy about his livelihood in the promotional picture is the prototype of the protagonist Jing in the story, who is as swift as the wind and constantly overcomes setbacks.

Black and white lines depict delicate color changes.

Jing returned to his hometown in a daze, and happened to meet his younger brother whom he had not seen for many years.

He hadn't completely moved out of his hometown yet, having only rented a small one-bedroom apartment. But his younger brother, a successful cartoonist, was certainly different.

"Ah, big brother, long time no see... The last time I saw you was during the Chinese New Year."

"What the hell do you mean, kid!? What do you mean by 'Wind Race'? Are you mocking me for giving up track and field? Do you think you can play me off just because you're doing better than me? Show me some respect! You think I'm skinny, don't you? That crappy comic of yours is going to be ruined sooner or later! Do you believe I'll break your fingers right now!?"

The scene suddenly changed, and the tension of lines and colors burst out. Jing, furious, grabbed his brother Ming's collar fiercely, his face ferocious and furious.

however.

This was just Jing's inner resentment. As the eldest brother, he would not treat his younger brother like that. Thousands of emotions finally turned into one sentence:

"Yeah, long time no see..."

The story has an extremely realistic feel and is too heavy.

As the story deepened, Shizuka Hiratsuka held her breath. Suppressing her inexplicable emotions, she turned to the next page and saw: Jing avoided the conversation with Ming, his mind preoccupied with his brother's comics. He thought about it during the day, at night, on the subway, even at work...

The gazes of his colleagues became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"'Shippuden'?", "Isn't that a manga drawn by Jing's brother!?", "I've read that manga, it's amazing!", "Can you get me an autograph, Jing?", "Katakura is amazing, to have such a famous brother..."

In these few pages of storyboards, the lines of the picture gradually became blurred, indicating that Jing's heart was also blurred -

No, no, it shouldn't be like this.

Since childhood, Jingcai was the one who should attract everyone's attention, how come it was the other way around?

There must be something wrong...

On Jing's way home, the weather was predictable and it started to rain heavily. The TV said there was a typhoon approaching, so he squeezed onto the subway back to his hometown—another family dinner.

As before.

It's just that the focus is different.

On the second page of the comic, Jing is the center of the family. In this panel, Ming becomes the center of the family, with Jing's face turned to the side, this time his expression obscured by a dialog box.

The reversal of the two brothers' family status and Jing's inner disappointment are all vividly portrayed on the paper.

Shizuka Hiratsuka pursed her lips and frowned slightly.

She reacted immediately.

Lin You's delicate storyboarding techniques and color contrast bring unique effects, producing a chemical reaction that has an indescribable attraction and peculiar charm.

It was clearly just a short comic, and a realistic comic at that, but it seemed to contain some kind of magical power that kept her reading.

Just by relying on the images and the change of black and white tones, it can bring Hiratsuka Shizuka, a reader who only reads hot-blooded comics, an immersive and real experience, bringing her into the emotional changes of sadness and joy of Jing...

The colors of the picture became increasingly unreal and ethereal. Jing couldn't stand the atmosphere at home, so he used the excuse of smoking to run to the car he bought with a loan.

The sky was gloomy and the rain was heavy, as if the whole world was raining.

Jing sighed to himself.

Ming, however, braved the rain and chased out, sitting in the passenger seat beside his brother. The simple-minded younger brother probably didn't think too much about it, just sharing his surprise at being animated with his brother.

"Tomorrow, it'll only take a moment. Can you please come over, brother?"

"The studio is planning to watch the first episode of the anime together this morning, and then have a celebration party... I'm not trying to drag Big Brother into watching the anime, I just want to introduce Big Brother to everyone and tell everyone that he's the prototype of Jing. Without Big Brother, there would be no 'Halt and Rise of the Wind'. I want to take this opportunity to thank Big Brother—"

Jing, who wanted to refuse at first, finally couldn't help but speak:

"——Are you serious about what you said, kid!?"

"Eh?"

"You're going to introduce me, a worthless office worker? You're going to tell them, 'This is the Great Hero Competition'? Don't you think that's hilarious? You're mocking me, aren't you? I was too complacent before, and you were getting irritated by me, so now you want to give me a good laugh, right?"

“Onii-sama… Oni-sama, what are you talking about? I didn’t mean that at all—”

"Ming, tell me, how much is your current annual salary?"

"..."

"Aren't comic book royalties a huge sum of money?"

"I'm not very clear about money..."

"Ten million? Twenty million? Oh, there must be tens of millions, right?"

Jing's emotions finally began to explode, and this gentle brother finally said something blunt.

"Me!"

"My annual income is only 270 million!"

"A 27-year-old office worker with a barely average salary! Working day and night, either PowerPoint presentations or working on spreadsheets. After get off work, I sleep in a cramped one-bedroom apartment. Even this minicar was bought with a loan! No one knows my name. I'm nothing. I'm like this..."

"How on earth do you look like a hero?"

Jing erupted, or perhaps it was just a sigh. The manga was silent, but Hiratsuka Shizuka saw the entire scene, a single close-up of Jing, sitting somewhat hunched in the driver's seat. From Ming's perspective, the rain was falling harder and harder outside the car window behind her brother.

The sky was dark, and the dim light behind him depicted the frustrated outline of a scarred office worker.

Doesn't look like a hero at all?

Lin You put a lot of thought into this, and while keeping the overall storyboard style unchanged, he focused on depicting the full-body description of this scene.

Hunched back, wry smile, hands tucked together between knees.

The facial contours are a little rough and the hair is blurred, as if it has not been taken care of for a long time.

"Hero Complex"... Shizuka Hiratsuka recalled the real title of the manga.