In crossover anime, who isn't a childhood friend?

If the company needs the art department's help with other work, that's fine; so many people can be put to good use.

However, most of the time there isn't much work in the implementation stage, so if the only task is to assist Eriri with her manga, then most of the time, many people are actually in a free period.

On the afternoon of February 15th, a Toyota Crown Vellfire was parked in front of Zongwu High School.

Yuan Qianye and his group got into the car and, as usual, drove directly to the company.

Toka went to the new store in Kyoto recently, so Rikka can be freed up today and no longer be held captive and suppressed by her older sister. She can go with her.

"Chiya, I want to tell you something..." On the way, Eriri brought up what she had observed recently, her tone somewhat worried.

Yukino, who had been helping with manga-related matters and had some understanding of the department's operations, nodded in agreement, confirming that this was indeed the case.

It wasn't that they thought there was anything wrong with making everyone's work easier, but from a more rational perspective, the current situation resulted in a serious underutilization of human resources.

Even if Yuan Qianye is very good at making money, he shouldn't allocate resources in such an inefficient way for a long time; it's too wasteful.

Upon hearing this, Miyoko, who was organizing documents nearby, smiled slightly and explained, "It's alright, the boss knows everything, and he has actually arranged everything."

Yukino and Eriri both looked at Minamoto Chiya with some surprise.

He calmly took out a brand new comic book proposal from his bag.

He certainly didn't have the time to devote most of his energy to manga drawing like Eriri, but taking the time to draw dozens of pages of storyboard drafts and annotating the main plot developments, character settings, and world background in detail was more than enough for him and not too difficult.

"Eriri, you should be used to the serialization process of manga by now, right? How about it, are you confident enough to start serializing another one at the same time?"

Eriri took it in a daze. Inside the transparent plastic bag, the title "ONE PUNCH MAN" was prominently displayed in large font on the first page.

She realized what was happening and hurriedly flipped through the book to check, but Yukino frowned slightly at Chiya beside her: "Starting two serials at the same time? You're going to make Eriri very tired."

"I'm fine, Yukino!" Eriri's gaze swept quickly over the storyboard drafts and setting outlines provided by Chiya Minamoto.

This brand-new comic book concept, themed around "superpowers" and "heroes," instantly ignited the creative fire within her, filling her with immense excitement.

"I have a whole team supporting me now. If we go all out, we can complete the original draft of a chapter in less than three days. The remaining work, such as outlining, coloring, backgrounds, and effects, can be handled by other members of the team! As for time, I have no problem at all!"

She has been fond of manga with classic themes like magical girls and heroes since she was a child!

This brand-new manga project is exactly what she wanted, even more to her liking than the currently serialized Death Note, which focuses on intellectual battles and the questioning of humanity!

The protagonist is a hero who saves humanity from evil... It sounds incredibly cool!

"Don't get too excited, Eriri." Although it was her own idea, Chiyo Minamoto still gave a more prudent and moderate suggestion: "In short, you can try drawing the beginning first. Don't rush to publish it immediately. If you feel that you can stick to it and control the pace well, it's not too late to officially decide on serialization later."

Hearing him say that, Yukino stopped insisting on her objection and only reminded Eriri to pay attention to balancing work and rest.

With that matter temporarily settled, Miyoko flipped through her notebook and continued with the next task: "Boss, the planners and programmers we recruited according to your requirements a while ago have all passed the interviews and will be officially starting work tomorrow."

“Very good.” Yuan Qianye nodded and clearly instructed, “Have them start immediately tomorrow, and try to make a demo according to the game proposal I gave you before.”

"Miyako, please keep a close eye on this project lately. Whatever their needs, coordinate with other departments to prioritize them. I need to see initial results as soon as possible."

"Okay, boss." Miyoko marked this task with an asterisk in her notebook, indicating that it was the boss's current top priority.

Yukino looked at her childhood friend in surprise again: "You... are you going to start making games again?"

"Well, let's start by trying some smaller single-player games to test the waters and gain experience. If the market response is good after they're released, we can gradually increase investment and try more complex projects."

His company is now able to independently provide high-quality art and music resources, and it has no shortage of talent in storytelling.

The only gap in the gaming industry is programmers and experienced game developers, and these types of talent are not particularly difficult to recruit in the market.

Now that the basic conditions are met, there's no reason for Yuan Qianye not to try this field with huge potential.

To reiterate, with his multiple income streams including royalties, commercial endorsements, music copyrights, and restaurant brands, he is now rolling in money and has plenty of funds.

Considering the company's long-term healthy development, he cannot place all his hopes on himself.

Diversification and expansion into new business growth areas is a more prudent and wise choice.

"..." Yukino stared at Minamoto Chiyo for a long time, her eyes filled with complex emotions, having lost count of how many times she had felt this way.

The vision and pace of her childhood sweetheart, whom she had grown up with since she was little, had now completely exceeded her imagination.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Yuan Qianye asked with a smile.

"...It's nothing." Yukino looked away and turned to look at the street scene rushing past the car window. Her profile was somewhat blurred in the light and shadow, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

Shortly afterward, the vehicle entered the underground parking lot of the company building, and everyone got out of the car one by one.

Rikka, who had been silent the whole time, came a few steps behind Eriri and tugged at her sleeve. She leaned close to her and whispered, "Um... Eriri, you haven't been to my house in a long time. My sister isn't home tonight. Why don't you come stay at my house for the night?"

…………

P.S.: I have to go out tomorrow, so I'll be taking a day off. Updates will resume the day after tomorrow.

260: The younger sister seeks advice from her sister-in-law!

"...Get some rest early tonight and don't disturb Yukino. After all, you're staying at someone else's house. As a reward, you'll be in charge of breakfast tomorrow morning. Mom taught you how to make simple porridge and fry eggs, right? Oh, and after you use the bathroom, please remember to clean the bathtub and drain."

"Okay, okay, I know! Mom, you're so nagging!"

night.

Yukino's apartment.

Eriri is having a video call with her mother, telling her that she will be staying at Yukino's place tonight and won't be going home.

Mrs. Sawamura knew that her daughter and Yukino had been as close as siblings since childhood, so she did not object. However, as a mother, she would naturally give a few more words of advice.

Eriri quickly hung up the phone, breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned to Yukino, who was quietly drinking tea, and gave her an apologetic look: "Sorry, my mom is just like that, she keeps nagging, and she gets more and more like that as she gets older."

Yukino smiled and shook her head, indicating that she didn't care.

Eriri immediately stood up and began pacing back and forth in Yukino's apartment, praising things like "It's so spacious" and "The layout is so tasteful."

Yukino simply smiled and observed Eriri silently.

It wasn't until she noticed Eriri's slight discomfort that she couldn't help but smile: "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. You've already thought about it, haven't you?"

Eriri, her thoughts exposed, fell into an awkward silence, while secretly observing Yukino's expression.

Yukino continued gently, "I think we've already resolved all of this between us, haven't we? Or am I the only one who thinks this way?"

"Sorry, well... I'll just go straight there then." Eriri said hesitantly.

"Okay, get some rest early tonight, don't stay up too late."

Yukino's words were just a subconscious expression of concern, stemming from mutual care between friends.

But Eriri, who was eagerly anticipating being held in Chiya's arms soon, interpreted it in a different way.

"Ugh—! Hmm..."

She gave a vague reply, then waved goodbye to Yukino and left.

Heading towards Chiyo's house, just around the corner, she patted her face hard before knocking on the door.

No, no, we've been dating for so long, why are you so excited every time I visit?

It's not that being in the honeymoon phase all the time is bad, but it's too obvious and embarrassing if it's always like this. Just keep it to yourself...

Eriri composed herself and knocked on the door.

Rikka quickly came to open the door. Looking at Eriri standing at the door, she asked curiously, "Don't you already know the password to our front door? Why did you knock on the door?"

“They told me before that it was just in case, so of course you have to knock on the door if you’re home.”

"What does it matter? You're my older brother's girlfriend now, so you're practically my sister-in-law."

"—!"

Rikka's words caused Eriri's emotions, which she had just managed to calm down, to surge again.

The title of "girlfriend" is fine, but the title of "sister-in-law" is quite unexpected. I rarely hear Rikka say it like that, so it was a bit of a shock.

"Alright, stop standing there, come in."

"Hmm...okay..."

"Yukino didn't come with us." Rikka looked behind her.

Eriri took off her shoes: "She said it was too late and she wouldn't come along to bother us."

"What are you disturbing? We live so close by, and it's not that late, it's only a little past nine."

“Yukino’s daily routine has always been very regular, she’s always been like this since she was a child, you know that.”

"That's true..."

As Eriri entered the living room, she was immediately drawn to the figure by the balcony.

Yuan Qianye was wearing headphones and sweating profusely while riding an exercise bike.

He was wearing a vest and shorts, so the muscles in his thighs, shoulders and arms were clearly visible, and his skin was covered with a layer of oily sheen due to sweat.

At first glance, it is the purest and most pleasing physical beauty.

Eriri stopped in her tracks, completely mesmerized.

Eriri was startled awake when she heard Rikka's amused "Hey~" in her ear. Her face flushed red, and she hurriedly lowered her head and ran towards Rikka's room with small, quick steps.

Rikka looked at her adoptive brother's focused training posture on the balcony, and her eyes shone with a longing that was so similar to Eriri's.

At the same time, she was also very envious of Eriri, who had finally gotten together with Chiya and could look at him however she wanted. The key was that she could not be restricted to that at night... Unlike her, she didn't know if Chiya himself had become more cautious lately, or if her sister had given him too many warnings in private.

Now, she can't even get close enough to do the intimate interactions she used to have...

Rikka sighed sadly and returned to her room.

She opened her wardrobe and turned to the side so that Eriri could choose her own pajamas for the night.

The two women were about the same height, with Rikka being slightly plumper. The main difference was in the area below the neck and above the stomach, but this small difference didn't matter much, and they could easily share loose pajamas without any problem.

"You told Auntie everything, right?"

"I told you, but said you stayed overnight at Yukino's house. Don't let it slip if she asks later."

"Why? You could just say you're coming to my place, it's not a problem. You didn't come here often before."

"That was then... but it's a little inconvenient now."

"what happened?"

"What else could it be... Of course it's because of Chiya. I feel like my mom has sensed something."

"Huh? Your relationship has been discovered?"