Tokyo Soft Rice King.

"Acting like a girl in love is so unlike me... Stay calm, stay calm!"

Tsukimi Ran patted her cheeks to cheer herself up before walking into the house.

Turn right, the second room... this should be Kuroba Akira's room, right?

Come to think of it, this is actually my first time entering a boy's room... So! Don't let your heart race! There's no need to be nervous here!

Frustrated by her body's automatic reactions, Tsukimi Ryoui decided to go all in and simply open the door to her room.

"Black Feather..."

Before she could even utter a sound, or say "I'm here," Kuroba Akira rushed over, shoved a stack of manga manuscripts into her hands, and said...

"Oh! Yiyi, you've come at the right time! We're in the final sprint! Could you help me fill in the marked areas with black? Don't worry if you go over the lines, we can just fill in the white to correct it!"

"Huh?"

Suddenly assigned the job of a comic book assistant, Tsukimi Riyan was a little at a loss. She remembered that the last time she drew was when she was in kindergarten.

Fortunately, it wasn't a job that required any special skills; all you had to do was be careful. Seeing that it wasn't the right time to talk, Tsukimi Ran sat down at the rectangular table and began to apply the black paint while observing her surroundings.

Right in front of me was Aiyuan Moe, engrossed in her work, her brush flying across the paper. She seemed completely unaware that someone had entered the room; her concentration was truly terrifying…

And with her hair so messy, she probably hasn't washed it for days; the edges are even curled inwards.

When I first met her, she was a shy and cute girl with a soft and gentle aura, but now Aizen Moe feels as sharp and unstoppable as the G-pen in her hand.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he had thick dark circles, indicating severe sleep deprivation. The tips of his fingers were stained black with ink.

The table was piled high with empty energy drink bottles, and next to her were a pillow and a thin blanket. She must have taken a nap on the spot to recover her energy after drawing so much.

Seeing Aizono Moe's disheveled appearance, Tsukimi Rii felt a surge of respect instead of disgust.

This is what a true professional cartoonist is like.

Akira Kuroba is telling the truth. They don't draw comics as a hobby; they truly dedicate themselves to it as a lifelong career.

Moreover, looking at this dynamic original comic, one can feel the overflowing passion... far purer than one's own.

The tension before entering the room vanished at this moment. Tsukimi Ryou was a model actress who was very good at 'getting into character', and her concentration was not to be underestimated. She quickly got into character and began to black out everything.

Three hours passed in silence. Before she knew it, Tsukimi Ryou had finished blacking out all the original manuscripts, without going over the border in any of the squares. It was a perfect job.

"Kuroba-kun, I've finished here. Please check it."

"Wow! That's fast! Your speed is just as good as a professional assistant's!"

"Even a professional assistant wouldn't just apply black paint."

After quickly reviewing the completed draft, Kuroba Akira said.

"Yes! No problem! Fast and good! In short, you've been a great help! This way, we'll definitely make it!"

What did I happen to be in? The serialization meeting I mentioned before?

Just then, the weak Mengmeng spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Kuroba-kun... the line art for chapter eight is finished..."

"Oh! Well done! It's only 3 p.m., and the deadline was midnight tonight. This is a perfect achievement! I'll call Editor-in-Chief Sasaki right now!"

Then, Kuroba Akira, filled with excitement, immediately made a phone call.

The call was answered quickly, and after a few pleasantries, we got straight to the point.

"Yes, we've already finished the first six chapters, and the color pages for the new serialization are also complete. The current stock of storyboards goes up to chapter twelve, and the line art has progressed to chapter eight... The progress is far beyond your expectations? Haha, that's to be expected. This also proves that we can balance our studies and the weekly serialization, right?"

The person opposite must be an editor from the editorial department. Is she working so hard on the manuscript because of the serialization meeting we mentioned before?

"That's right, it was just Mengmeng and me. Only a small part of the blackening was done with the help of a temporary assistant. The assistant was very diligent, which is why we were able to finish so much earlier than planned."

When Tsukimi heard Kuroba Akira mention her again, she felt a little embarrassed. It was really just a trivial favor. If Kuroba Akira had done it himself, it would have only taken a few hours longer, and he could definitely have finished it today.

"Okay, then we'll have to trouble you to find a new assistant. Everyone in our club is very busy and can't work part-time as an assistant right now."

Indeed, I didn't see anyone else. I had heard that it was a group of people from their club drawing comics together, but it seems that everyone had their own things to do and couldn't come to help as comic assistants.

"Okay, okay, I'll visit the editorial department with the original manuscript later, together with Mengmeng."

After finishing the call, Kuroba Akira and the other person gave each other a thumbs up.

"OK! It passed smoothly!"

"call……"

Upon hearing this, Meng Hui put down her paintbrush and slumped down like a deflated balloon, feeling as if she was about to faint.

Then she noticed that there were other people in the room, forced a smile, put her hands together and apologized.

"Ah... Tsukimi-san, you're here... Sorry, I didn't even notice..."

"It's okay. This just proves that you're completely immersed in your work, Aiyuan. You should rest now. I think you're almost at your limit."

"Hmm, it's time to get a good night's sleep..."

Kuroba Akira came over and helped Mengmeng up, saying to her.

"Go to my bedroom and get a good night's sleep."

"Um, Kuroba-kun, I did it, so the reward you mentioned before..."

"Don't worry, once you recover, I'll tell you about the reward, and there might even be an extra bonus for extending your stay!"

"Hehe...looks like I can have a good dream..."

At this moment, Mengmeng felt that all her efforts were worthwhile, and she smiled happily, closing her eyes and letting Hei Yuming carry her to the bedroom.

After a while, Kuroba Akira returned to the workshop, and Tsukimi Riai asked him with a strange expression.

"The reward you're talking about isn't yourself, is it?"

Kuroba Akira said with a 'you know a lot' look on his face.

"You guessed right, it's me. To be precise, it's a full-body slippery bath and massage service, like a bubble bath, with licking and real sex. The duration is until the bath water gets cold, and if you want to extend the time, let me think, I'll add another half bath of hot water until it gets cold again."

Are you an employee of some kind of brothel?

Moreover, because Kuroba Akira described it in such detail, Tsukimi Rii couldn't help but imagine the scene in her mind, of course, the one being served was herself.

It does seem like it would be really comfortable, I'm tempted to try it... Wait! Don't let this guy's vulgar reward influence you!

“When Mengmeng switches to work mode, she is not affected by distractions, but if there is a reward, she will be more motivated. She is very simple-minded.”

"You actually used yourself to seduce Aison-san? No wonder she's working so hard; it turns out it's not for the serialization, but for Shiro's reward!"

My illusions were shattered instantly. No, I never had any strange fantasies in the first place; it should be said that I came to a new understanding of reality.

Although I already knew that this man's private life was very messy, I still felt complicated when I heard it on the spot.

This kind of man is actually my future husband... Oh well, I should just get used to it. If I keep getting upset about things like this, I'll become depressed in no time.

"Hard work deserves to be rewarded, especially since it was a great experience for me. Mengmeng and I had a lot of fun and were able to finish our manuscripts at the same time. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"

"Alright, alright, do whatever you want, it's none of my business anyway."

Tsukimi Ryou completely gave up, and she was actually somewhat persuaded by Kuroba Akira's twisted logic.

After all, she had seen all of Aiyuan Moe's efforts and felt that she deserved this reward.

Because they must have been together every day during this period, but judging from the traces at the scene, they probably didn't have any intimate contact. They were able to endure it all for the sake of getting better results.

Tsukimi Ran-i quickly composed herself and asked in return.

"Has Aiyuan been sleeping here all this time instead of going home? I remember Qingxia said that you can't let people stay here, right?"

"That was to prevent people from staying overnight with the intention of sleeping with me, but Mengmeng hardly gets any sleep herself, let alone sleeping with me."

"That's true... but I think Ai-en is about to faint, but you seem to be in good spirits?"

"Well, Mengmeng has been sleeping less than four hours a day lately, and apart from eating and going to the bathroom, she spends all her time drawing. Of course, she looks very tired. But I only need to draw storyboards and do some light work like coloring and adding halftone dots, so I don't expend much energy."

In fact, Akira Kuroba's sleep time is not very long, only about six hours. Besides drawing manga, he also has to discuss the plot of light novels with Shiori, who occasionally comes over, write game design proposals, and help with live broadcast program planning for Mirai, so he lives a very busy life.

Squad Leader Fei Lian and Zi Yin only come over occasionally to offer their condolences. When others see the two of them working themselves to the bone, they don't bother them much.

Simply put, Akira Kuroba has no time to spend with women.

So after this, besides rewarding Mengmeng, he should also respond to everyone's date invitations to clear up their pent-up resentment and lust.

It is foreseeable that this will be a huge expenditure of energy. Even if it is not multiple people doing it repeatedly, multiple times a day for each person will cause Kuroba Akira to lose several pounds.

However, Kuro-Tail hasn't returned yet, not even a single message... Kuro-Tail, please come back soon! We need mana replenishment!

Without Black Tail's help, this harem will continue to operate at a loss for Xiaoming, and it will collapse sooner or later!

"I see. So, did the serialization meeting go smoothly?"

"The serialization meeting was approved at the beginning of the month; this is just a stress test for the weekly serialization."

"A stress test from a weekly serial?"

"Yes, the editorial department is mainly worried about whether we, who are still high school students, can adapt to weekly serialization while attending school. It would be bad if it damaged our health."

"Isn't this almost broken already?"

"That's because the intensity these days is actually equivalent to updating two chapters a week. Also, since Mengmeng's level of drawing with a graphics tablet hasn't reached the level of hand-drawing yet, the initial drawing process for Jingcao still requires hand-drawing, which takes more time and effort. But once she's fully adapted to digital drawing, her drawing efficiency will double, and it won't be as hard as it is now."

"It can be even faster...?"

Looking at the stack of original manuscripts, Tsukimi Ryoui, as an outsider, felt it was incredible. Were all manga artists monsters?

"In short, it seems that Mengmeng can fully adapt to the intensity of weekly serialization. If she can complete two chapters a week during the winter break, she can still complete one chapter a week after school starts, even if she has to attend classes for half the time. Plus, she has weekends off, so it should be more than enough."

"But that would mean Ai-en wouldn't have any other entertainment or social activities, and would have to keep drawing all year round without a break, right? That's too hard..."

"This is what a cartoonist is like. I mentioned it to Mengmeng before she went to the editorial department. It was her own choice because drawing comics is her dream. Although it's hard work, she enjoys it."

"..."

Do you find joy in striving for your dreams?

Lan Yi suddenly felt a little envious.

Especially for a fake like her with impure motives, the dreamer is far too dazzling.

Can I become like her?

"So all I could offer her was emotional and physical comfort."