The air in the living room seemed to still as Sa Honami stared blankly at Pigu, whose face was covered with a mask.
The strong masculine scent emanating from Pigu's face was deeply etched into Sa Honami's brain.
Sa Honami didn't understand, but she was greatly shocked. She didn't even dare to breathe deeply.
"How is it, Miss Saho To? Did you get it on camera? If you didn't, we can always do it again."
Ito's words brought Sa Honami back to her senses.
"I... I got it."
"Phew... That's good. It seems Miss Saho To has a great talent for photography. How about switching careers to be a photographer?"
"Eh... Me?" Sa Honami swallowed, regaining her composure. "No, I still want to draw manga."
"What a pity."
As Ito spoke, he picked up the tissues and wet wipes nearby to wipe off the sticky lubricant. Taking advantage of the brief sage time, he quickly put on his pants; any slower and he definitely wouldn't have been able to.
"Is that all?" Seeing Ito put on his pants, Sa Honami let out a long breath. The research methods among doujinshi artists... are too perverted!
"Ah, almost. Just a little bit left... The 'mask' on Miss Pigu's face isn't even enough."
Ito reached out and spread the sticky substance on Pigu's face evenly. From her delicate willow-like eyebrows to her small, exquisite nose, Ito mischievously spread it evenly for Pigu, then piled the excess onto Pigu's tightly closed eyes.
Hehehe... By the time Pigu wakes up, the mask will probably be dry.
After putting his finger into Pigu's mouth and having her lick off the residue on his finger, Ito went to the restroom to wash his hands clean.
Upon returning to the living room, Sa Honami quickly handed her phone to Ito. Ito took a look; the video was over an hour long, but with some editing, about ten minutes should be enough.
Completely relieved, Sa Honami glanced at the disheveled Pigu and couldn't help but ask, "Is this how you doujinshi artists gather material?"
Today, Sa Honami's horizons were truly broadened.
"Hmm... I don't know about others, but the few doujinshi artists I've encountered are indeed like this," Ito said with a chuckle after a pause.
"Pigu... you also know that Pigu is very afraid of men, treating all males as male protagonists in doujinshi who might attack her at any time. She can't possibly have a boyfriend or anything like that. For a doujinshi artist, not having sexual experience is her biggest disadvantage."
"Tsk tsk tsk... It's different for general manga. Only virgins who haven't experienced true love can draw the most perfect and sweet love they imagine. It's a pity Pigu prefers to draw doujinshi."
Sa Honami's mouth twitched... It seemed to make sense!
"Yesterday, the editor asked me to be her assistant. Perhaps she trusts me more because I didn't attack her even though she was in a vacuum for an entire day, which is why she asked me to gather material for her. Speaking of which... what kind of manga artist do you want to become, Miss Saho To?"
"Uh... I want to become a manga artist who doesn't trouble the editor."
Except for some popular weekly manga that have fixed assistants, most manga artists only hire assistants when they're used to slacking off and can't meet deadlines.
In the year since she became an assistant, Sa Honami couldn't remember how many manga artists she had seen being urged by editors for updates. Therefore, Sa Honami was determined to become a manga artist who didn't delay drafts and didn't trouble the editor.
"However... I've been submitting for a year straight, but..." Sa Honami shook her head with a bitter, helpless expression. "I don't know how much longer I can keep going."
"If you don't mind, can I take a look?"
"Eh... Yes, okay."
Sa Honami took out her phone, opened her manga, and handed it to Ito. In his previous life, although Ito wasn't famous, he was a qualified manga artist who could support himself with his manga. After only a few pages, Ito roughly understood the crux of the problem.
"The drawing skill is fine, no major issues, but the plot is a bit bland."
"The plot is because I haven't drawn to the exciting parts yet. I've written a plot outline..."
Sa Honami's words were interrupted by Ito before she could finish.
"The exciting parts later in the plot are useless. Readers won't see them. You must grab the reader's attention in the first few chapters of the first episode," Ito said with a serious expression. "An eye-catching art style, a plot gimmick, and dynamic paneling—you need at least one of these three to make people want to keep reading."
"Unless you're an established author, no publishing house will give you so much space to gradually get into the plot. This isn't a creative problem; it's a realistic problem. Unless you're not doing it for money or profit, drawing it yourself and then publishing it on social media to slowly build popularity."
"There are people who succeed that way, but... are you confident that the later content will definitely succeed? Can you avoid going off track without reader or editor feedback? Or, when you only have a few readers at the beginning, can you avoid being swayed by their voices? Every chapter of manga consumes a lot of your energy, and once it fails, the sunk cost is enormous."
"I..."
Sa Honami hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back. She also knew that what Ito was saying was a very realistic problem.
Every year, passionate young men and women embark on the path of manga, but only one in a hundred manage to make it through. It's not uncommon to spend a lot of energy only to end up with nothing.
However, young men and women with passion and dreams will never be in short supply! Even if it's difficult, there will always be people who commit to it.
How could Sa Honami not know this? Submitting and being rejected, then submitting and being rejected again—Sa Honami had experienced this countless times over the past year. Even so, she had always worked hard.
"What... what should I do?"
"Read more, learn more, think more... How long has it been since you seriously read a manga?"
"!!!!!"
Sa Honami was stunned.
That's right... How long had it been since she seriously read a manga she liked?
Coloring and drawing backgrounds for manga artists during work, and creating her own manga during breaks... Sa Honami couldn't remember the last time she seriously read a manga.
"I understand! Thank you, Ito-sensei!!!" Sa Honami excitedly gripped Ito's hand. After a while, she noticed and, blushing, somewhat awkwardly let go.
"Don't thank me, these are very basic things. How should I put it? Correct platitudes?" Ito had a gentle smile on his face. "Newcomers to the industry pay attention, but many forget after a while. I'm just reminding you."
"No, this is very useful to me."
"Oh, and one more thing." Ito paused and mumbled for a while before speaking. "Although your drawing skills are good, your aesthetic sense... can only be said to not quite align with most people. Perhaps you could develop in the direction of comedy manga?"
How to describe the specific situation... it's probably to the extent that she would find the mascot of the Osaka Expo cute.
"Ahaha..." Sa Honami gave an awkward laugh, and Ito took the opportunity to change the subject.
"Speaking of which, I just formed a manga club yesterday. Currently, including me, there are two manga artists and one illustrator in the club. Miss Saho To, would you like to join?"
"A club?"
Sa Honami was first surprised, then she quickly realized a problem... What right did she have?
His manga had a higher reader rating than Pigu's, and she was just a small assistant... Could it be that he was lusting after her body!?
But...
Sa Honami's gaze fell on Pigu, whose face was covered. Pigu's figure was so good; if he were truly just lusting after a body, he could have taken advantage of Pigu when she was drunk yesterday, but he didn't.
Her own figure... even two of her combined wouldn't be as big as Pigu's alone... Men are all big-breasted aliens; it's impossible for them to only be attracted to her.
Today, it was only for the purpose of gathering material that Pigu's large breasts were made into cup-like shapes with double-ended clamps and smeared all over her face; there was no intention of actually going all the way.
"That's right, a manga club called 'Baumkuchen' was just established yesterday. Besides me, there's a girl in the club who used to paint oil paintings and, like you, is currently working hard on her first manga, which is a general-audience shojo manga, not a doujinshi."
Ito smiled. "The other one is an illustrator. She's drawing her first doujinshi and planning to sell it at Comiket."
Hearing Ito's words, Sa Honami nodded thoughtfully.
At first, she thought Pigu was also in the club. It seemed he invited her because she, like the others in the club, was learning to draw manga.
"Are both of them girls?" Sa Honami asked tentatively. It wasn't that Sa Honami, like Pigu, thought Ito would assault her; she was just curious.
"Yes, both are very cute girls."
This made Sa Honami even more relieved.
There are indeed some harem manga with such themes, for example, only one boy in a school club, or a male transfer student in an all-girls school.
But manga is manga, and reality is reality.
How could one possibly create a harem club in reality!?
"This club was built for them. They don't want to sign their practice works, so they plan to publish them under the club's name. How about it? Want to join? This is just a hobby-oriented club, and you can leave whenever you want."
"No problem!"
Sa Honami readily agreed... Although the doujinshi artist's research methods were a bit perverted, having companions in the club with the same goal of manga, everyone exchanging ideas, was much better than working alone behind closed doors. And... there was also guidance from a senior manga artist!
However...
"Oh, right... Ito-sensei, joining the club is one thing... I won't participate in doujinshi research!"
Sa Honami glanced at Pigu. The stuff on Pigu's face seemed to be a bit dry already, and she didn't want to be smeared like Pigu!
"That's fine, it's all up to you."
"Okay, then... please take care of me, Ito-sensei!"
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