Living in the bubble economy of Tokyo, I became a literary giant through lotteries.

Then, he froze on the spot.

The scene inside was not the sunny, lush creative haven he had imagined.

Cartoonists exchanged storyboards by the sunlit window, sparks of creativity flying amidst laughter and chatter.

Instead, there were mountains of original artwork, overflowing instant coffee cans in the trash cans, and pencil ash and eraser shavings scattered all over the floor.

A mixture of various indescribable, murky odors fermented in the poorly circulated air, rushing straight into the nasal cavity.

A pale white lamp hung above each workbench, and dozens of artists sat amidst the mess, heads bowed, faces pale, dark circles under their eyes so deep they looked like charcoal drawings, like zombies.

This is hell.

Just as Guan Gufeng was on the verge of a complete mental breakdown, Miyazaki Hayao's leisurely voice came from behind him.

The tone was very familiar; he used the same tone every time he tried to trick Xiaohua into doing a backflip.

"Mr. Guan Gu, would you be interested in working for me?"

Guan Gufeng's spine stiffened abruptly, and he shivered.

Miyazaki continued speaking to himself, using a headhunter-like tone.

"To be honest, your drawing skills in the Sword Art Online color pages and the Twelve Kingdoms illustrations are not much worse than those of the best young people under my command."

His eyes gleamed behind his glasses, setting off Guan Gufeng's alarm bells.

"How about it? Want to come and experience what it's like to be a real feature-length animation created from scratch? It's an invaluable life experience for any creator."

Guan Gufeng's lips twitched. Looking at the smile on Miyazaki Hayao's face, he couldn't help but feel that he was trying to trick a high-quality laborer into doing his work.

"Thank you for your kindness, Professor Miyazaki. I appreciate it very much." He quickly declined.

Just kidding, he finally escaped the torment of binge-reading novels and hasn't even had a few days of enjoyment yet.

He can clearly distinguish between challenging himself and making things difficult for himself.

"Alright, then I won't force you." Miyazaki Hayao sighed and waved his hand. "Go ahead and wander around."

"Watch whatever you want, just don't disturb their work. I'm going to do my own thing now. Just close the door when you leave."

"it is good."

He wandered around and observed how professional comic studios produce comics.

I used to think that animation production was simply arranging the original drawings in order and making them move.

Seeing it with my own eyes now, I realize just how massive an industrial system is behind this.

On each worktable, there is a densely marked schedule, specifying the time allocation for each frame.

The animator sits next to the key animator, responsible for filling in the transition frames between the key drawings.

Further on were the Shisho Group members, who were using special paint to color the back of celluloid sheets while lying on the lightbox.

The background team was repeatedly revising the color draft of a huge city scene.

This is too much! Guan Gufeng looked at this scene and his lips twitched. He quietly counted the heads and made a decision in his mind.

He tiptoed out of the studio and pulled a thick, brick-like mobile phone from his bag.

Kitamura helped him get this mobile phone a few days ago, saying it would make it easier to contact him anytime.

He called Kitamura and said a few words.

Forty minutes later, at 11:30.

Several delivery motorcycles were parked in front of the studio, and the riders took out exquisite food boxes from insulated boxes and lined them up on the long table in the rest area.

Shinozaki's premium eel rice, made with freshly caught domestic eel every morning, Sushi Katsu's top-grade sushi and sashimi, and a variety of chilled drinks are all laid out on a long table in the rest area near the entrance.

"Everyone!" Guan Gu Feng clapped his hands. "Thank you for your hard work! I'm Guan Gu Feng. I might be bothering Miyazaki-sensei and everyone here for a while."

"This is just a small token of my appreciation, a simple meal I'd like to treat everyone to in advance. It's nothing special."

As soon as the words were spoken, hands emerged from each workstation like zombies breaking through the ground, followed by heads, their eyes gleaming green as they peered over the mountains of original artwork.

In this extremely stressful environment, being able to enjoy hot eel rice and sashimi, along with a variety of chilled drinks, is truly a wonderful thing.

"Thank you, Guan Gu-san!"

"Eel! Sushi! Sashimi! And even ice-cold beer! Waaaaah~"

No one said anything more and they all rushed over to eat.

Watching this group of young people, about his own age, wolfing down their food, Guan Gufeng stood aside, filled with emotion.

Hearing the commotion outside, Hayao Miyazaki pushed open the door and came out. Looking at the employees outside, who were eating with their mouths full of oil and looking completely defeated, he slapped his forehead.

It's impossible to guard against!

"Well, it was my oversight. This kid has shaken my morale." He shook his head and smiled bitterly, his gaze falling on Guan Gufeng, who was handing oolong tea to a young painter not far away.

His men have been working non-stop for a month.

That's just how he is. Once he starts creating, he doesn't care about anything else, and naturally he forgets that his subordinates are also made of flesh and blood.

Well, this is a good opportunity for them to relax.

He walked over to Guan Gufeng, crossed his arms, and spoke with a mix of genuine and feigned complaints.

"You little brat, you've done all the good work, and I've become the villain who oppresses the employees."

Guan Gu Feng was handing an ice-cold beer to the timid female artist who came to thank him when he heard the voice beside him and turned around.

"Look at them," Miyazaki gestured towards the group of employees eating heartily, "Now look what's happened. Who knows how many days it will take to readjust to their previous work routine."

Guan Gufeng followed his gaze and saw a young illustrator stuffing sushi into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel's, and a genuine smile on his face.

"Sometimes, taking a break can make you more efficient when you come back to work," Guan Gufeng said softly.

Hayao Miyazaki snorted but didn't reply.

Just then, a young artist who was closest to them put down his chopsticks, covered his stomach which was full of food, and let out a happy burp.

He looked up and his gaze fell on the young man who had handed him the drink. The more he looked, the more familiar he seemed.

Even though Hayao Miyazaki was beside me, I still mustered up my courage and stepped forward, speaking cautiously.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Guan Gu Shenqi?"

Guan Gu Feng glanced at Miyazaki Hayao beside him, and seeing that the other only raised an eyebrow without any special expression, he nodded.

"Yes, it's me."

The young painter's face instantly lit up with an almost reverent radiance.

"It's really true! You are the amazing teacher Guan Gu himself!"

The gasps of surprise made the surrounding artists all look up.

The people who were just focused on battling with the eel rice have now had their sense of fullness and drowsiness replaced by something more exciting.

"What?! Teacher Guan Gu? Really?!"

"Did you hear that? Teacher Guan said he'll be bothering us for a while!"

Several quick-moving individuals had already put down their chopsticks, turned around, and rushed back to their respective worktables. When they ran back, they were carrying copies of "Sword Art Online" and "The Twelve Kingdoms" with different covers.

They formed a circle, surrounding Guan Gufeng in the middle.

"Mr. Guan Gu! I've always been a fan of yours! I went to three bookstores to finally snag the special edition color pages of your first volume. Could you please sign them for me?"

"Mr. Guan Gu! What kind of pen did you use to reproduce the hatching technique in those illustrations? We've been trying to replicate it for a long time but haven't been able to. Could you tell us about it?"

"And another thing! Mr. Sekiya, will you be publishing manga in the future? I still have the GG color pages from Weekly Shonen Jump. Could you show us a few tricks here?"

Guan Gufeng looked at the group of people who had been half-dead just moments before but were now surrounding him, and he couldn't help but feel a little amused and exasperated.

He glanced subconsciously in Miyazaki's direction, his eyes saying, "This wasn't intentional."

Miyazaki looked at him expressionlessly, his eyes conveying two words: Serves him right.

He strolled slowly to the long table, picked up a plate of eel rice and a sashimi platter, turned around, and walked towards the door.

As he passed by Guan Gufeng, he threw out a sentence.

"You caused this mess, so you have to clean it up yourself. I'm going back to rest for half a day anyway. The studio is in your hands now, just don't tear it down."