"Ah! It's no use, I have absolutely no inspiration, I can't draw a single thing."
Eriri frantically scratched her head, turning her beautiful blonde hair into a messy bird's nest. She tossed her stylus onto the desk, the rolling sound seeming to mock her complete lack of progress on her doujinshi.
The walls were densely plastered with countless sticky notes, all ideas and reference materials Eriri had collected for her new doujinshi. However, no matter how many she pasted up, they couldn't bring her that flash of brilliance.
Eriri was unwilling to adopt a half-hearted attitude and churn out a doujinshi plagued by severe homogeneity. Yet, she had to admit that doujinshi genres had already been played out in every conceivable way; trying to come up with a completely new genre on her own was simply wishful thinking.
If she couldn't break through with the genre, she would have to start with her art skills. Eriri decided to draw a few erotic illustrations to warm up. After all, she hadn't drawn any doujinshi for half the summer vacation, and there were even people on social media asking under her last status update if she had been hauled off to the police station.
The artist isn't dead; the artist was just taken away in the middle of gathering reference material.
A joke about doujin artists flashed through Eriri's mind, soothing her anxious mood considerably. Her fair fingertips gripped the stylus, dancing nimbly as she sketched a rough draft of a female knight in tattered clothes wearing a stubborn expression.
Feeling on a roll, Eriri drew another sketch of a female mage and posted it to Kashiwagi Eri's social media account with the caption: "Practice lewd sketches."
Before long, a uniform response appeared in the comments section: "Holy crap, the artist I stan has come back to life!"
Having declared her resurrection, Eriri closed the webpage. Believing her current state was good enough to start drawing the doujinshi, she picked up her drawing tablet with high spirits.
Ten minutes, half an hour, an hour passed. Eriri stared at the blank screen, the highlights fading from her pupils. She still hadn't made a shred of progress. Even though her mind was full of ideas, she just couldn't translate them into actual images. It was just like a novelist hitting writer's block—a mind full of smutty things, but unable to squeeze out a single fart when it came time to actually type.
Should I go ask Jhin for some advice?
The stylus kept tapping lightly on the tablet. Eriri bit her lip, her eyebrows scrunching into a knot.
Jhin knows my identity as a doujin artist, and he's a fellow otaku. It shouldn't be a big deal to just ask him for a simple opinion. Plus, he's a guy, so his suggestions might have more reference value.
Yeah, that's it. There's nothing to worry about. Besides, I have my anti-wolf taser, so there's absolutely no need to fear.
After agonizing over it for ages, Eriri finally decided to seek Jhin's advice. Discussing this kind of thing wasn't appropriate in the living room or Jhin's room, so she had to choose her own room. Eriri spent some time tearing down the sticky notes with explicit content from the walls, organizing them into a drawer, and then switched from her green jersey look to her twin-tail school uniform appearance.
Even though their relationship was pretty good, Eriri didn't intend to meet Jhin in her sloppy jersey. Before being a doujin artist, she was also a maiden, and she cared about her image in front of others just the same.
Having made full preparations, Eriri finally sent a message to Jhin.
Eriri: "Jhin, do you have time right now?"
Jhin: "Yeah, I just saw you posted an update on your social account. The drawing is great. Is it an illustration for a novel?"
Eriri: "Thanks for the compliment, but that's just a practice sketch, not an illustration. More importantly, can you come to my room? I have something I want your advice on."
Jhin: "Sure, I'm on my way."
Walking into Eriri's room, Jhin twitched his nose and sniffed. The smell of instant noodles, often found in Sakaki Yumiko's room, wafted toward him. In Eriri's eyes, this action was undeniably the behavior of a pervert, so she immediately whipped out her anti-wolf taser.
"Wh-why are you sniffing the air the moment you enter a girl's room?"
"Eriri, don't get excited. I just smelled instant noodles, I wasn't sniffing your room's scent."
Eriri looked at him skeptically. "Why didn't I smell it?"
"You've been in the room too long, so naturally you can't detect the smell. If you don't believe me, step out with me for ten seconds, then come back in and try."
Eriri did as he said. Stepping back into the room, she too smelled the faint scent of instant noodles. Only then did she awkwardly put away the taser, apologizing with a blushing face. "Sorry, that was rude of me."
"It's fine. It's not a bad thing for girls to be vigilant, as long as you don't start 'boxing'."
Jhin waved his hand, telling her not to mind it.
"'Boxing'? What's that?"
"Mn... Anyway, it's not good behavior. Let's talk business. What kind of advice did you want?"
Eriri fidgeted for a long while before squeezing out a barely audible sentence: "Regarding... drawing..."
Jhin understood instantly.
So it's about the doujinshi.
To be honest, discussing doujinshi with a girl was a first for Jhin as well, but he was a 'veteran driver' after all; at the very least, he wouldn't be so nervous that he couldn't speak.
"Are you planning to release a work in your usual style this time too?"
Jhin's phrasing here was very skillful.
What does Eriri do? She's a doujin artist.
What genre are her doujinshis? The humiliation type.
If they were chatting as netizens, these things could naturally be said bluntly without restraint, but talking face-to-face with a girl, one obviously couldn't be so direct.
The phrase "usual style" indicated that he understood Eriri's meaning while politely beating around the bush to ask for her thoughts, sparing the thin-skinned Eriri from embarrassment.
If this were a game, just that sentence from Jhin would have caused a "Favorability +1" icon to pop up over Eriri's head.
Eriri inwardly praised Jhin's considerate behavior while replying out loud:
"Mn, but I haven't had any good inspiration lately, so I wanted to ask you for some suggestions."
"Then can I make a small request?"
"If it's within my capabilities, OK." Asking for help required giving something in return, so Eriri agreed readily.
"Then can you give me an autographed copy of your next work?"
"No problem, that's no big deal."
Jhin was about to be moved to tears by his own dedicated work attitude.
Boss, I've secured the signed doujinshi you wanted. Remember to bless me with good loot for the next mission reward.
The two sat down at the small tea table. Jhin took a sip of the drink Eriri had prepared, and after carefully choosing his words in his mind, he asked her:
"Eriri, have you considered incorporating some other elements into the genre?"
"I've tried," Eriri tapped the table with a frown. "I've designed all sorts of heroines, but the results aren't very ideal."
"No, no, no, I don't mean adding more girls, but adding some plot."
"Oh? Elaborate!"
____
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