Tokyo Soft Rice King.

After all, the essence of these lowly women is their despicable act of sneaking away.

The struggle never ended; it simply shifted from open competition to covert infighting.

Chapter 428 Surpassing the Master is the Slave's Rise

A week has passed in the blink of an eye.

In mid-January, Akira Kuroba finally completed the storyboard for the five chapters to be presented at the serialization meeting. This speed was actually relatively slow, because truly talented manga artists only need an hour to draw a storyboard for one chapter, provided that the story has already been designed.

Kuroba Akira didn't really need to think about the story, since Shiori had already finished creating the entire story. All he needed to do was convert the text into a storyboard script and then use his clumsy drawing skills to create an abstract storyboard that cute people could understand.

For a complete novice like me who started drawing halfway through and has virtually no drawing skills, being able to complete storyboards for five episodes a week is already quite good.

If the serialization meeting goes smoothly and the weekly serialization begins, Akira Kuroba will need to finalize the storyboard within two days, and then the remaining five days will be reserved for Moe to draw.

Weekly serialization is a really tough job. Even though Moe has a B-level drawing talent, Kuroba Akira doesn't know if Moe can handle the workload of weekly serialization.

After all, anyone who has read Bakuman, a manga about manga artists, knows that balancing studies and drawing manga is extremely difficult, and the protagonist was even hospitalized due to overwork.

For cartoonists, during the busiest times when they are rushing to meet deadlines, it is common to sleep only four hours a day, or even to stay up all night for two or three consecutive days.

Of course, besides creating storyboards, Meng Hui also had to review the project list that Hong Xiang had given him one by one in the evenings after returning home, and help Zi Yin choose the most suitable role... After all, it would be a waste of talent and a great talent to have a genius like Zi Yin play a minor role or even a supporting role.

Finally, today, Kuroba Akira decided on the three new projects for Shion, all of which are voice acting for anime. Although he received audition invitations for TV dramas and even movies, Kuroba Akira found the stories boring after reading them and felt that acting in such dramas would be beneath him, so he ruled them out.

There's no rush to start an acting career. I'll wait for a good script first. If there isn't a good script, it's better not to act at all. That's how a genius can be so willful.

Ideally, Shiori would write a bestselling novel, adapt it into a movie or TV series, and then have Shion star in it, thus achieving a harem-like cycle.

Similarly, the path to becoming a singer is the same. Makoto has now joined Shiki Productions and started creating original songs. It's not too late to write lyrics after producing a catchy melody, and then have Shion sing it.

A hit song that can climb to the top of the charts has a wider reach than a hundred catchy pop songs.

Before that, let Ziyin sing the songs that will be made in the future to continue to improve her singing skills.

It has to be said that Ziyin's talent is truly extraordinary; she's like a multi-connecting pipe, linking everyone's career paths together.

Lian Hongxiang and Zhencheng are also active as Ziyin's manager, makeup artist, stylist, and fashion stylist.

3S-level talent and top-notch looks truly come into play at this point, not only paving the way for his own career but also benefiting a group of people around him.

This feeling made Kuroba Ming feel incredibly good. It was not only like playing a simulation management game, but also like secretly manipulating the entertainment industry... So the bad man who practiced unspoken rules was actually me?

Thinking about these things, Kuroba Akira picked up all the scattered papers around him and stacked them up to a height of one meter.

These aren't all discarded drafts; there are also classic storyboards that Kuroba Akira tried hard to recall, which she immediately drew as soon as she remembered them. Although they are abstract doodles, Moe, who has a good grasp of design, should be able to understand them, and these can serve as her reference.

As for the completed storyboards, they are not currently in Kuroba Akira's hands. Each episode is handed over to Moe immediately after a basically acceptable storyboard is drawn.

Kuroba Akira originally wanted to say that she could change the storyboard as she pleased, or even change it all, since only the artist has the right to decide on the storyboard. However, after Moe looked at it, she said that there was nothing that needed to be changed. She couldn't create a better storyboard than this yet, so she had to take it back and watch it repeatedly to learn from it.

That's why Akira Kuroba wanted to draw as many of the excellent, refreshing, and stunning storyboards he had seen as possible for her to see.

When he finished packing, Kuroba Akira glanced at the time; it was almost time to meet up.

Yesterday, the class monitor called Kuroba Akira and said that she had arranged all the details of the Hatsushin Club's training camp trip. She then invited everyone to meet at Kuroba Akira's house today, which is Kuroo's shrine, where she would inform them of the trip's destination and specific itinerary.

By the way, the shrine's owner, Kuroo, hasn't returned for several days since he stormed off in a huff that day. I wonder where he's gone to freeload off someone.

And my younger sister hasn't come even once during this time. According to Mirai, she seems to have completely immersed herself in the ocean of stories and has become a literary girl like Shiori, with a book always in her hand.

During this period, whenever Kuroba Akira slept, his sister would always pull him into her dreams, but they would just chat and relax together (not H-scenes). They didn't relive their past experiences, mainly because Kuroba Akira was busy drawing storyboards and didn't want to be distracted by other things.

Because if the memories were very sad, it would affect his emotions, so Akira Kuroba decided to wait until he had more time to experience them slowly.

Anyway, the past is the past, and the present is what matters most.

Just then, Makoto's lively and cheerful voice came from outside the door.

"Hello everyone~ How have you been lately? It's been half a month since we last saw each other since the end of the year... Waaah! Mengmeng, what happened to you! Such dark circles under your eyes!"

"Huh? Is it...is it that obvious? If I had known it would be like this, I should have put on makeup even if I wasn't used to it. Waaah...with those panda eyes, Kuroba-kun is definitely going to laugh at me..."

Then came Menghui's surprised reply. It seemed that these two were the first to arrive and started chatting when they met at the door.

"Uh, I heard that you've been coming here to draw manuscripts almost every day lately, right? Ming must have found out by now."

That's right, I did notice it a long time ago. It was because I saw the dark circles under Mengmeng's eyes that showed she was working hard that I thought I should lend a hand. So I tried my best to draw all the storyboards I could remember with my mediocre drawing skills, just to give Mengmeng some reference.

"Huh?! You... you noticed it a long time ago? Waaah..."

"Uh, don't look so down. Ming won't care about such a small thing. His tolerance for women is so high that if I sat on his face, he would stick out his tongue."

Tsk, you lewd witch, what kind of dirty jokes are you making about an innocent comic artist? Shut up!

"Um, I'm not feeling down, I'm feeling touched... Kuroba-kun didn't mind that I'm so clumsy, and he even let me take the precious storyboard back for reference..."

Moe's words made Kuroba Akira feel embarrassed. Shouldn't he complain that he was too strict and have to continue learning how to draw storyboards when he got back?

But the reason why Kuroba Akira gave the storyboard to Momo was simply so that if Momo came up with a better storyboard and wanted to make changes, she could change it immediately.

However, she misunderstood it as meaning "take it back and study my storyboard," and she probably took the "suggestion" as an "order," which is why she pushed herself too hard.

Mengmeng, you're so kind... Oh, is this also a manifestation of DoM?

While Kuroba Akira was thinking about these things, Makoto and Moe's conversation continued outside.

"You seem to be working even harder than when you were drawing short comics, but girls should still take care of their bodies, okay?"

"Um, I didn't just stay up all night because of deadlines. Besides studying Kuroba-kun's storyboards, I've mainly been practicing digital drawing, which I'm not yet proficient in... and the more I practice, the more I realize how many shortcomings I have..."

"I think you've drawn very well, Mengmeng, haven't you? Ming also appreciates your drawings, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked you to be the illustrator for his light novels."

"Hmm... It's an honor that Kuroba-kun likes my drawing, but I feel it's not enough... Because Kuroba-kun is working very hard on his storyboards, I also want to draw something worthy of his storyboards... Using a digital drawing tool... And although I'm better at drawing characters, I'm not so good at drawing scenes and effects..."

"Oh, about those things, just let me and Xiaotong help you, right? We were your assistants before, weren't we?"

"That won't do!"

Mengmeng's voice suddenly became several times louder, almost like she was shouting.

"The reason my short comic won awards and even got a serialization opportunity is all thanks to everyone's help... Although I am very grateful to everyone, I will not be able to continue to improve if I keep relying on everyone...!"

"Wow, that's so exciting~ No wonder you're a manga artist who's going to have a shonen manga serialized in Shonen Boom, it seems you really love shonen manga, Mengmeng."

"No, don't tease me, Makoto... Well, it's not that I don't need everyone anymore, it's just that I need to be able to draw the scenes I imagine, so that the composition can be more impactful... Only then will I have a chance to catch up with Kuroba-kun..."

"Although I also think Ming's storyboards have a lot of tension, are they really that good?"

"Really! It's really, really, really good! Kuroba-kun is incredibly talented! I've been looking at Kuroba-kun's storyboards every day for the past few days, and I've gradually discovered that in Kuroba-kun's storyboards, the characters only have descriptions of their features, expressions, and actions. Then, because there are scenes and effects that complement the characters, they can create the visual tension that Makoto mentioned!"

"How come you could even tell what the background he drew is? If there hadn't been any text labels, I wouldn't have known what he was drawing at all. It's so badly drawn."

I'm really sorry the drawing is bad. After all, I come from a copywriting background and have no drawing skills whatsoever. My high school art classes were all taken over by my math teacher.

“Makoto, look, this frame, with and without the acceleration line, feels completely different, doesn’t it?”

"Wow, really! Just by adding the speed line, it feels like a baseball is about to hit my face!"

"Not only that, even the position and size of the dialogue boxes have their own significance, as does the size of the grid... It can be said that every stroke in this storyboard is meaningful, containing the message that Kuroba-kun wants to convey... This is truly remarkable! I was moved by it!"

Kuroba Akira was a little embarrassed by the praise, but he still opened the door, scratched his cheek, and joined in the conversation between the two.

"Well, since my drawing skills are really bad, I simply won't draw anything extra that would increase the barrier to understanding for you. So I only kept the minimum amount of information. But adding rich details is still thanks to you, Mengmeng. I'm at most the skeleton... no, I should be the DNA in the bone marrow."

"Ah! Kuroba-kun! Did you...did you hear that?"

"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. It's just that the walls of the houses in the shrine are very thin. If you speak a little louder, I can hear you from inside the house."

Moe instantly transformed into a mimosa, delicate and alluring. However, after digging out her distracting thoughts in the bathroom and spending the last few days together, she was now able to muster the courage to express her own thoughts in front of Kuroba Akira.

"Um, what I meant was that's why Editor-in-Chief Sasaki said that Kuroba-kun's storyboards don't need editor approval, as long as the quality is maintained, they're 'finished products' that can be used directly... I, I also want to become as skilled as Kuroba-kun!"

The main motivation for Moe's hard work is to want to discuss things with Akira Kuroba, instead of lacking the courage to even offer her opinions.

Makoto, upon hearing this, was concerned about something else and reacted with considerable shock.

"Huh?! The editor-in-chief himself came to discuss the serialization with you guys?! That's incredibly amazing! I remember there were several deputy editors-in-chief at Shonen Boom, but only one editor-in-chief! Isn't that a super big shot?"

Indeed, upon closer reflection, for a new comic artist, being personally received by the editor-in-chief on their first visit to the editorial department is already an exceptional honor.

Generally speaking, if a cartoonist who volunteers themselves receives a business card from an editor, they are considered to have passed the test.

But how should I put it? Firstly, it's probably because it doesn't feel real. Secondly, although Akira Kuroba likes reading manga, he has never admired manga artists or thought about becoming one, so he doesn't have any idol-like feelings.

Furthermore, Akira Kuroba actually knew the reason why Editor-in-Chief Sasaki treated him and Moe so well.

"Because we are very young, and it's easy for a high school student to become a comic artist and generate a lot of buzz."

"Yeah, it feels like becoming a professional Go player while still a student. You skip the learning stage and jump straight to the professional stage. For example, it's like a hero who just left the beginner village and went straight to the Demon King. But being young alone isn't enough for the editor-in-chief to personally step in, is it?"

“Makoto, you’re right. So there are other reasons. First of all, the original doujinshi we sold at CM happened to be seen by the editors in the editorial department. They discovered that the two comics were by the same author and were completely different genres. And comic artists who can handle different genres are extremely rare.”

Even the most popular comic artists may not be able to break through genre boundaries, but this duo of new comic artists actually did it.

"Secondly, the quality of the work exceeded expectations. As Mengmeng just mentioned, everyone deserves credit."

Kuroba Akira continued, raising his third finger.

"Last and most importantly... promoting us is entirely beneficial to the editorial department. The only potential problem was whether students could balance their studies and comics, but that's not a problem for us either."

Why does he trust you so much?

"This is not trust, but rather the considerations of adults."

"The adults' considerations?"

"That's right. Adults are very realistic creatures. The reason they're willing to give us a surprise prize and give us the green light to continue the serialization is because the original author... 'Shiroko' is already a very popular light novel author. In other words, with light novels as a safety net, it doesn't matter if we have to take a break from school or even drop out. We won't have any financial worries. That's why the editor-in-chief is so generous. Otherwise, the pressure on high school students to serialize in weekly magazines would be quite great."

"Ha! What a realistic reason. You can only draw comics with peace of mind because you won't starve?"

"After all, very few people can make a living by drawing comics."

This is the reality for art students, and it applies not only to comics but also to serious painting.

"Besides, they gave us the qualification for serialization. We just got a fast track and the opportunity to participate in the serialization meeting earlier than other newcomers. For the editor-in-chief, submitting our story to Shonen Boom is like winning the lottery. And because of Shiori's story, it should only be that the storyboard is sent back for redrawing at most..."

In fact, besides that, there was another reason that Kuroba Akira didn't say: what really moved Editor-in-Chief Sasaki was his insight into the coming information explosion era.

An ordinary editor would probably not be able to immediately accept such a speculative idea, but someone who has reached the position of editor-in-chief has a broader perspective. He can realize that comic magazines must also reform and adapt to the times in advance.

"Anyway, I value this original comic very much, and I want it to continue no matter how many times it is rejected."

It's not a work of plagiarism, but rather a result of the exceptionally excellent story created by Shiori Shirai and the drawing skills honed through her tireless practice of drawing every single day.

"It won't be sent back, I... I guarantee it with my life!"

Moe patted the big thunder on her chest to cheer Kuroba Akira up, and then the next second, she slumped her shoulders and deflated.