Crab Editorial Department.
"Didn't you hear me? The doujinshi you drew is terrible! Just because a man and a woman are together doesn't make it a doujinshi, you underestimate doujinshi too much! Hmph... I can tell from your doujinshi that you're a virgin. Go get a girlfriend first before drawing doujinshi!"
So... so scary!
Sato-senpai is so scary!!!!
At the Crab Editorial Department, Orie shivered at her workstation.
Beneath her shoulder-length flaxen hair were sharp, capable emerald eyes, and on her small earlobes hung cream-colored hollow circular earrings.
A pair of ample breasts, slightly smaller than Orie's, pushed up the wide-collared inner shirt, and a black jacket half-concealed the collarbone exposed from the neckline.
A pair of form-fitting long pants outlined the curves of her buttocks and her long legs.
The person standing before Orie was Sato Misa, the editor known as the 'Demon Editor' at Crab Editorial Department.
As a new editor, Orie was learning from Sato Misa how to become a qualified editor. While Sato Misa was a demon to manga artists who delayed their submissions, she occasionally showed a gentle expression towards her juniors.
After hanging up the phone, Misa glanced at Orie. "You need to make manga artists fear you, make them not dare to cross the deadline you set and submit their drafts obediently. Only then can you become a qualified editor."
"Yes... I... I understand, Sato-senpai!" Orie straightened her back and replied.
Sato Misa looked at Orie's cautious demeanor, feeling a bit helpless.
"When is Ito coming?"
Orie glanced at the time. "Ito-sensei just told me he's already left. If there's no traffic, he should be arriving soon."
Misa nodded and continued to make calls to urge for submissions.
Not long after, Ito's figure skillfully entered the editorial department and came to Orie and Sato's workstations.
"The only thing you need to care about is the submission deadline..."
Ito stood by, smiling, listening to Misa urging for submissions for a while. Before Orie joined Crab Editorial Department, the editor responsible for Ito was Sato Misa.
However, Ito had never experienced the side of Misa that other manga artists called 'demonic,' because due to his need for money, Ito submitted his drafts exceptionally early, never delaying, and sometimes even urged the editorial department to arrange the layout faster.
After Orie joined, Misa gave Ito as a 'newcomer's gift package' to Orie.
Ito waited until Misa hung up the phone before speaking.
"Miss Misa, is there anything you need my help with?"
Misa raised her eyes and looked at Ito with an indifferent gaze. It wasn't because she disliked Ito; it was simply her consistently cold personality.
"Orie told me that you have a friend who wants to print a small batch of books and you want me to introduce you to a printing factory, right?"
Misa crossed her legs and clasped her hands in front of her. There was no beating around the bush; Misa always maintained a business-like attitude.
"Mm."
"It's no problem to introduce you. If you and your friend cooperate with the editorial department as a group instead of as individuals, the editorial department can even let you print at the editorial department's price."
"A group, huh... No problem."
The so-called 'group' referred to informal groups. It was fine for two or three people, and even one person could form a group.
There was no need to go through any procedures; just come up with a name. Originally, the manga Ito serialized in the magazine only had a prefix added to his pen name.
If it was under a group name, Mashiro and Sagiri wouldn't have to put their names on it; they could just use the group's name.
Sagiri was fine, but Mashiro was using her real name online. It was okay for her to use her real name for normal manga, but for adult books, using her real name was somewhat inappropriate.
Moreover, Ito wouldn't need to contact the printing factory; he could just give the original manuscript to the editorial department, and they could print it along with the magazines.
By piggybacking on the editorial department's magazine volume, the printing cost could be significantly reduced, and even out of respect for the editorial department, the printing factory might even print at cost price.
Misa had considered everything for Ito, but Ito didn't think he had that much influence.
Misa had also mentioned before that she needed Ito's help with something.
"Do you know that bitch Ji Pigu?"
"Ji Pigu...? Is it the one with the pen name 'Shameless Ji Pigu'?" Ito thought for a moment, recalling seeing that pen name in the Pleasure Heaven magazine.
"Yes, that's her. Today is her deadline, but her assistants are all busy... You go help her out."
"Assistant? What kind? Drawing backgrounds or just inking and coloring?"
Manga artist assistants typically handle non-creative tasks like inking, drawing backgrounds, filling in blacks, and whites. Some manga artists hand over these tedious and time-consuming tasks to assistants after completing the original manuscript.
For example, an author who has never been to a girl's room needs to draw a scene of a girl's room. To make it realistic, they have to research various materials and search for images, which reduces creative time. So, many people hand these tasks over to assistants, such as converting photos into hand-drawn images and then adding background characters.
Background artists are usually experienced assistants with excellent drawing skills or unknown manga artists who take on such jobs for a living. Simple tasks like inking and filling in blacks can be done by anyone.
As for Ito... Ito couldn't afford assistants before, so he did all the miscellaneous work himself.
Assistant? What's an assistant? Can it be eaten?
"I don't know, go there and see. If you have time, give her some guidance."
"Guidance? She's also a serialized manga artist, she probably doesn't need my guidance, right? Maybe if I guide her badly, she'll dislike me."
"Her deadline is 12 AM tonight." Misa waved her hand. "Just go first. I'll send you her address later."
"Alright..."
Ito didn't say much. It was just being an assistant for a day.
Compared to the troublesome task of negotiating prices with a printing factory, being an assistant for a day was clearly much more worthwhile.
Leaving the editorial department, Ito followed the location Misa sent him to an apartment building. After confirming the address, Ito took the elevator to the 10th floor.
"Room 1004 on the 10th floor... Found it."
After exiting the elevator, he followed the room numbers to room 1004 and rang the doorbell.
Then, hurried footsteps came from inside the door. As the door opened, the voice of the room's occupant reached Ito's ears.
"How late are you!? If you were any later, maybe..."
As the door swung open, a busty girl wearing glasses and casual shorts and a short-sleeved top flashed before Ito's eyes. Upon seeing Ito outside the door, she froze for less than 0.1 seconds before slamming the door shut with a bang.
...?
What the hell?