Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist.

"???"

Eri Aragaki was stunned for a moment, mainly because... how did she get an extra ordinary skill point?

According to the mechanism of this panel, is it not only when you level up, that is, when you increase your age by one year, that you can get a normal skill point, or according to the career mechanism, you can only get a normal skill point by completing a work?

wrong……

Suddenly, Eri Aragaki realized something: this work didn't mention anything about... any limitations.

There are no restrictions on genre or length; as long as you complete a work, you'll receive a skill point. So, does that mean...?

So, that short story about Attack on Titan, which was only submitted to the Tezuka Prize and was more like a prequel, is just considered as such?

This was something Eri Aragaki hadn't expected.

Furthermore, let's think outside the box and consider scenarios without limiting the subject matter, length, or even just comics.

Could she gain more skill points by drawing more short stories, or even creating a standalone painting or writing some modern poems?

That's great!

Although it's just ordinary skill points, which can only be used to upgrade her ordinary skills, once those ordinary skills are maxed out... Eri Aragaki doesn't even dare to imagine how powerful she is.

In addition to her professional skills, she also possesses innate racial abilities such as freeing her hands, walking upright, tool making, language communication, and boxing. With a little upgrade, she will eventually become a well-rounded, all-around warrior.

Not only is he talented, but he's also incredibly strong!

How about... you consider drawing a few short comics and give it a try?

Eri Aragaki began to ponder, but now...

She looked at the regular skill points and wondered if she should allocate some points to Dark Blue first.

……

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye. The hot summer has quietly left, and the dry and cool early autumn is gradually arriving.

The ginkgo trees on the street are starting to change color, the vending machines on the roadside have added hot drinks as an option, and convenience stores are starting to display autumn-limited flavored snacks.

However, Masaya Sakurai's previously smooth-sailing life was suddenly thrown into turmoil.

He had just finished his work for the day, organizing the final drafts of several serialized works to be sent to the printing department this week. He returned to his seat, picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and then his phone received a new message.

He picked it up and saw that the chat history in front of it was his message urging him to finish his manuscript today.

[Sakurai Masaya: Riko-sensei, have you finished the manuscript for Attack on Titan this week?]

This is a reasonable way for him to urge me to submit my manuscript. Although there are still two days until the deadline, he is already reminding me to submit my manuscript in advance.

He used to think that Eri Aragaki was the type who didn't need to be urged, but ever since the sixth episode almost missed its deadline, he developed the habit of sending messages in advance to confirm the progress.

However, Eri Aragaki has been putting his mind at ease lately. Apart from that one time when she was unwell, she always submits her manuscripts on time.

Moreover, the quality of the manuscripts was impeccable. Every time he received a manuscript and flipped through it, it was of a standard that could be sent directly to printing.

He had been worried that Eri Aragaki might sometimes be unable to handle her deadlines alone or with only non-professional friends to help her due to health reasons.

The pressure of weekly serialization is no joke. Many new comic artists are full of confidence when they start serializing, but after drawing a dozen or so chapters, their bodies can't take it anymore, and they either have to stop publishing or the quality of their serialization drops precipitously.

In particular, Attack on Titan is currently thriving, with its popularity steadily rising and its readership expanding. Eri Aragaki is a newcomer, so it would be best if the series didn't go on hiatus but instead maintained a weekly serialization schedule.

That's why he suggested earlier that Eri Aragaki hire some professional assistants to help her, so that when she's not feeling well, she can just draw simple storyboards and important parts, while the assistants can handle the rest and complete the work smoothly.

But Eri Aragaki refused, and he was a little worried about it...

But then... Eri Aragaki continued to submit her manuscripts on time, and the quality of her manuscripts kept getting better and better.

Masaya Sakurai is more satisfied with each draft he receives than the last. The storyboards become more and more mature, the lines become more and more concise, and the characters' expressions and movements become more and more vivid.

This put Sakurai Miyabi at ease.

He snapped out of his thoughts and saw the reply that Eri Aragaki had just sent.

[Eri Aragaki: Mr. Sakurai, I've finished the manuscript for chapter 14 of Attack on Titan this week. I'll send it over tomorrow.]

Masaya Sakurai was extremely satisfied.

Just as he was about to reply to the message and say yes...

"Ring ring—ring ring—"

The landline next to him rang.

He put down his phone and casually reached out to answer the call.

"Hello, this is Sakurai."

A young man's voice came from the other end of the phone.

After listening for a few moments, Sakurai Masaya frowned. "Kaga-sensei is in the hospital. How is he?"

"She suddenly collapsed in her room... Her condition is very bad... She's been taken to the emergency room of a nearby hospital..."

A broken voice came from the other end, "But he was a little more awake just now..."

"Then could you please leave the hospital address...?"

Masaya Sakurai held the receiver, and with his other hand, he found a pen on the table and wrote a few lines on a sticky note.

The hospital's name, and a few other keywords.

"I understand... I'll be right there."

He immediately sensed something was wrong.

The main reason is that... he just happened to be in charge of the short story serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump on the 45th of this month.

This actually involves a system within Shueisha, which insiders call the "one post, two responsibilities" system.

In practice, editors are responsible for the weekly serialization work of one to three regular comic artists, as well as managing the magazine's short story serialization section and discovering new comic artists.

The former is basically a fixed job, while the latter is similar to a job rotation system, where editors in the editorial department take turns to be in charge of the short article section of each issue and to discover potential new talents.

Apart from the editors who work with top-rated manga like Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece, everyone else has a role and needs to take turns being in charge of the short manga section.

Weekly Shonen Jump also publishes short manga, which are generally divided into two types.

One type is the short or short-term serialized comics that promote games and toys, as mentioned earlier. These are commercial collaborations and are not included in the popularity survey.

The second approach is to give promising new comic artists a chance to try their hand at something, allowing them to appear in magazines before their official serialization to gauge reader feedback.

If the response is good, there is a possibility that it will get the opportunity to be officially serialized.

Masaya Sakurai was in charge of writing the short story for the 45th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump this month.

He had already made an agreement with a new manga artist he was in charge of. The new artist, named Kaga, had good drawing skills, and although his stories weren't amazing, they were still acceptable and enough to fill the short story section of this issue.

The new cartoonist had talked to him and showed him the storyboards. After reviewing them, he felt there were no problems and asked the artist to submit them to him as soon as possible before the deadline this week.

However, he has now received news that the cartoonist teacher has been hospitalized.

This surprised him somewhat, but since it was bad news that he was going to the hospital, there was nothing he could say.

No one can control their health, especially in the comic book industry where the pressure is high, work and rest are irregular, and accidents are common.

He also inquired about the hospital's location; it was a general hospital not too far from Shueisha, about a 20-minute tram ride away.

He noted down the address and ward number, and then prepared to go to the hospital to visit and check on the other person.

Let's also check if Mr. Kaga has finished his manuscript.

If it's already finished, that would be best, but since he's in the hospital and can't bring it over, he can just go and pick it up himself.

If he has only drawn part of it, perhaps another assistant can help him finish it, or he can find a colleague in the editorial department who can draw to help him finish it temporarily.

If all else fails and there's no time to spare, then the only option is to be honest with the editor-in-chief and leave this issue of the short story series blank for a period of time.

However, such gaps are a troublesome issue in magazine operations. The layout is already set up, and the articles have all been published. Temporarily removing a short article means that other content needs to be used to fill the gap, and the editorial department will have to work overtime tonight.

Masaya Sakurai sighed, folded the sticky note, and put it in his pocket.

Just as he was packing his things to leave, he suddenly remembered something.

He took out his phone, opened his chat with Eri Aragaki, and typed a reply—

[Sakurai Masaya: Thank you for your hard work, teacher. Well then, I'm going out for a bit, and it seems like I'll stop by your house on my way. So there's no need for you to deliver the artwork in person. I'll just drop by and pick it up later.]

This way, he could go to Eri Aragaki's house before going to the hospital to collect the manuscript of Attack on Titan, saving Eri Aragaki from having to make a trip tomorrow.

Moreover, he hadn't really thought about whether the hospital was on his way or not; he just figured that since he was going out anyway, it would be easier to pick up the manuscript while he was at it.

Eri Aragaki replied very quickly.

[Eri Aragaki: Okay, thank you for your help, Mr. Sakurai.]

Masaya Sakurai put his phone in his pocket and stood up.

He walked over to Lin Shiping's workstation next to him, where Lin Shiping was looking at the layout preview of this issue of the series on his computer.

"Shihei, I need to go out for a bit. I'm going to the hospital to visit Professor Kaga, and I'll pick up Professor Riko's manuscript on the way."

He said it directly.

Lin Shiping looked up. "Mr. Kaga? You're the newcomer who's going to be featured in this issue's short story section. What's up?"

"He's been admitted to the hospital; I'm going to check on him."

Masaya Sakurai was also very troubled, saying, "If the manuscript isn't finished, there might be problems with this issue's short story section."

Lin Shiping's expression also became more serious. "Then you should go quickly. I'll call you if something comes up in the editorial department."

"OK."

Masaya Sakurai nodded, picked up his coat and briefcase hanging on the back of the chair, and strode toward the elevator.

As he walked, he mentally planned his route: first, to collect the manuscript from Eri Aragaki's house, and then to visit Kaga at the hospital.

Both locations are within tram access, so I should be able to get back to the editorial office before the end of the workday.

When the elevator doors opened, he pressed the button for the first floor, leaned against the elevator wall, and glanced again at the note with the hospital address written on it in his pocket.