How to raise a random guy's wife

This is one way to break the cycle of internal conflict: the help of peers.

Use external encouragement and support to replace internal self-struggle.

Sagara Mayu felt a sense of responsibility; now was the time for her to help her juniors overcome their difficulties as a senior.

If I help Bo Island get out to sea, she'll probably agree to let me bury her, right?

Sagara Mayu is very easy to talk to.

You can bury it twice, that's fine too.

Even if you don't have it yourself, it's good to experience what others have.

moremoreneed

“I understand.” Mayu Sagara made up her mind. “My current work has come to a smooth end. Although it may not be effective, as a fellow illustrator, I should be able to offer some help.”

"Really?" Hashima asked hesitantly, noticing that Mayu Sagara's gaze had seemed a little frightening just now. "Thank you, Mayu."

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Mayu Sagara waved her hand. "Let me see what you've written."

"Ok!"

Suppressing her hesitation, she decided that it would be impolite to hesitate when others were offering help.

After handing over the completed proposal to Mayu Sagara, Izumi Hashima waited anxiously for a harsh critique similar to that of Utaha Kasumigaoka.

It was very helpful... but it was also quite discouraging.

It's like leg day; you know it's important, but the pain is real.

"Isn't this amazing?" Mayu Sagara exclaimed after reading it. "If I had your kind of... ability, what would I have to worry about?"

"Eh?"

"A handsome exorcist, the truth revealed layer by layer, a painful past and a tragic monster—all these elements, combined with this unique art style, create an almost eerie and powerful charm." Mayu Sagara pointed to one of the original artworks. "Especially this smile with only a mouth; those masks are both the monster's power and its constraint. The exorcist destroys the monster's power and also breaks its shackles..."

Chapter 612 Save Me

"The yokai lost its power but regained its freedom. But having worn the mask for so long, when it was finally removed, it had forgotten its true appearance. The yokai had neither power nor shackles, and had even lost itself," Mayu Sagara lamented. "In the end, all that remained was a smile on its lips. Was this smile a final act of perseverance, or a final surrender? Was it finding its last remaining self, or losing its last self? It could be viewed from any angle. And from any angle, one could feel a faint melancholy and a lingering sadness. This emotion seemed somewhat thin beneath the vibrant colors, yet even such vibrant colors could not erase the slightest trace of this thin emotion's presence..."

Bo Island was stunned when she heard this about going out to sea. "Is it really that good?"

"It's absolutely wonderful!" Although there was an element of deliberate praise in it, Mayu Sagara genuinely felt that the story was quite good. "The intense colors and the subtle emotions complement each other perfectly; this combination is simply amazing... No, it's precisely because of the intense colors that the sorrowful and heavy emotions seem somewhat thin. If you only look at the story, it's a rather tragic unfolding, but against the backdrop of the intense colors, it doesn't feel so awkward."

Bo Island was somewhat apprehensive as he set sail, "Is...is that so?"

“If you break it down, if there are only intense colors, it has an element of showing off skills, giving people the feeling that colors are for the sake of colors, and it looks dazzling.” If it were before, Mayu Sagara would not have been able to give such a professional evaluation, but after Megumi Kobayashi’s guidance, Mayu Sagara began to pay attention to the plot and gradually developed this appreciation ability. “If there is only tragedy, and the painting style is ordinary, it becomes an ordinary tragedy.”

"Is that right?"

“If you’re telling an ordinary story, this style of Ukiyo-e would seem a bit flamboyant and chaotic. But you’re talking about the inner soul, so vibrant colors are just right—because the human heart is indeed so chaotic.” Mayu Sagara explained earnestly, “Using stories to narrate the chaos of the human heart would greatly affect the overall rhythm. Using vibrant colors to express it is just right.”

"So that's what I was thinking..." Bo Island felt a sense of sudden enlightenment as he went out to sea.

Even if Sagara Mayu hadn't said anything, she wouldn't have noticed.

"The harmony between the story and the art style is incredibly rare; it's simply a genius idea!" Mayu Sagara hadn't done much of this kind of psychological guidance before, but based on her experience with Kanon Shibuya, she knew that praise was always a good thing for someone like Kazumi Hashima, who lacked confidence. "So what are you still worried about? Just keep going like this..."

“Um…” Bodao Chuhai sighed, “This is the first story. I planned to write three more, but I can’t seem to get them going.”

"Hmm?" Mayu Sagara had a bad feeling.

“I want to keep this style, but it just doesn’t feel right.” Poshima Izumi’s expression was almost distressed. “I didn’t understand before, but now that you’ve said it, I realize how good the first story was, and that I can no longer write such a good story.”

Sagara Mayu: "..."

Praise can actually be a mistake!

“Actually…” Mayu Sagara flipped through the proposal, “this story isn’t as good as I made it out to be… no, I mean… um… how should I put it…”

Help me! Help me!

Mayu Sagara realized that she might have said something wrong.

Ah... I shouldn't have been so stubborn.

But she's so big, we can't just ignore her.

Sagara Mayu sighed inwardly, racking her brains for a solution.

If it were Kasumigaoka Utaha, she should be able to give some good advice... But with Hashima Izumi under so much pressure right now, and Kasumigaoka Utaha not wanting to be involved in content creation for the time being, it's not really appropriate for Hashima Izumi to go find Kasumigaoka Utaha.

Furthermore, if Sagara Mayu took the initiative to talk to Hashima about going out to sea, and then doesn't offer any help but just pushes her to someone else, wouldn't that be too irresponsible?

That's what I said, but I really have no opinion.

Despite being both illustrators, Izumi Hashima and Mayu Sagara are completely different types of artists.

Although Izumi Hashima spent a considerable amount of time trying to catch up with Eriri, her development path was different from Eriri's.

She possesses a screenwriting ability that Eriri lacks. Even though her drawing skills are inferior to Eriri's and her screenwriting ability is inferior to Kasumigaoka Utaha's, in terms of the fit between the visuals and the story, Izumi Hashima's works far surpass the results of Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri's collaboration.

After all, it was done by one person.

For a considerable period of time, Mayu Sagara only appreciated the characters and didn't watch the plot.

With Kobayashi Megumi's reminder, she began to appreciate the plot and fell in love with the depth of the characters, no longer just looking at the surface.

However, when it comes to creative work, she still prefers characters to plot.

It's not that she dislikes creating storylines or lacks screenwriting skills, but rather that she feels it's difficult to immerse herself in the story and simply enjoy it once she starts creating one.

When you start creating your own story, and then see other people's stories, you naturally start thinking about the techniques used, rather than enjoying the story itself.

In order to better enjoy the story, Mayu Sagara voluntarily gave up creating the plot.

In RER, different types of artists also have different types of roles.

For example, Eriri has collaborated with Kasumigaoka Utaha, and although Hashima Izumi has not yet made her debut, Kobayashi Megumi intentionally arranges for her to be exposed to stories with different styles of plots to help her accumulate screenwriting experience.

Mayu Sagara doesn't like creating storylines, so she takes charge of creating virtual idol characters and lets the idols act out the stories themselves.

Everyone has a bright future.

Everything was fine until...

Why should I pretend to be strong? Xiang Le truly suffers from inner bitterness.

She had never created a story before, and didn't even have any experience to refer to. How could she give advice on going to sea for Po Island?

experience!

Sagara Mayu's eyes lit up. "You said you couldn't create such a good story anymore, so how did you come up with this story?"

Mayu Sagara has no experience in creating art, so she can't give Hashima advice on going out to sea.

Having experience with creative projects on boat trips to Kobo Island, you can give yourself some advice!

"This..." Hashima Izumi hesitated for a moment, but finally confessed his jealousy of Eriri and the process of creating the story based on her.

"To be able to say it so naturally," Mayu Sagara remarked, "it seems you've truly let go."

Bo Island nodded as he left the sea, saying, "That's why I can no longer write similar stories."

Chapter 613 Talking About Troubles

Bo Island was heading out to sea with her head down, looking like she was about to cry.

Sagara Mayu was somewhat troubled. If Hashima went out to sea and cried, her psychological counseling would be a complete failure, and there would be no reason to bury her.

But if you actually cry while sailing out to Bo Island, the tears will fall on... it feels kind of nice.

Sagara Mayu was somewhat conflicted.

Both sides are great, life is really full of troubles—hmm?

“You were able to write such a good story because you had such a profound problem. The reason you can’t write a new story now is because you only have this one profound problem.” As Samurai’s thoughts gradually became clearer, she finally came up with a good suggestion: “In that case, why not ask other people about their long-standing problems?”

No one is troubled forever, but there will always be people who are troubled.

"Huh?" Poshima looked up from the sea, making a questioning sound, then lowered his head again, lost in thought. "It seems... it really can?"

“Whether it really works or not,” Mayu Sagara suggested, “why don’t we just give it a try?”

For people who frequently experience internal conflict, taking action is the best solution.

"But who should I look for? My brother?" Izumi Hashima's brother's face flashed through his mind. "He doesn't seem like he has any worries."

Even if he has worries, I feel that his worries would greatly raise the age limit for the animation.

It's better not to ask him.

Sagara Mayu pictured Sagara Fumio's face in her mind, "My brother was pretty much the same."

Hashima Izumi and Sagara Mayu exchanged a glance and sighed in unison, "Sigh..."

“I’ve given up hope for his romantic life,” said Bo Dao. Before he went to sea, he had hoped that his brother would settle down. But after all these years, that hope has turned into something else. “Now I just hope he doesn’t cause any trouble.”

“I have no expectations for his romantic life anymore,” Mayu Sagara said, expressing similar sentiments about her brother. “I can only wish him peace and safety.”

The two looked at each other and remained silent for a while.

"Ugh......"

Just as things were starting to look up, the two of them fell into a somewhat depressed mood.

Mayu Sagara shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the unpleasant thoughts. "If I don't ask them—colleagues?"

The person going out to sea near Po Island felt a little embarrassed, thinking, "Being suddenly asked such a question must be quite troubling..."

“Indeed.” Mayu Sagara thought for a moment, “No, there are two people who won’t be troubled.”

"what?"

-

"So," Kobayashi Sora handed them coffee, "you came to find us?"

"Delicious~" Mayumi Sagara took a sip. "It definitely tastes better with sugar and milk."

Holding a coffee cup as she sailed out to sea from Po Island, the warmth of the cup calmed her down considerably. "I felt that finding a school like Shiyu right now wouldn't be suitable, so I came here."

“That’s true,” Kobayashi Megumi smiled. “Shiyu has been busy learning various things lately, and she needs some rest emotionally.”