Cartoonists and their assistants

"There are two of us, so we need to consider both of us..."

Eriri pondered, connecting the information in her mind, and finally her eyes lit up.

"How about we name it 'Zeyue Future'?"

The first two characters are taken from one of the two people's names. 'Future' means to have a beautiful expectation for the future, and it also means precious and pure, like beeswax.

She hoped that a bright future awaited the two of them.

The girl's little thoughts are right here.

"That's good, listen to me again."

Kanzuki Machi nodded in agreement, and then said.

"Yuriko under the Moon".

He spoke each word carefully.

Compared to the more simple and unpretentious naming of a young girl, this name immediately exudes beauty and also reflects the relationship between the two.

'Moonlit scene' corresponds to 'Moon-viewing', and 'Yuriko' corresponds to 'Lily,' which is Eriri's name.

It also corresponds to an image: a beautiful lily blooming under the bright moonlight.

"Sounds good!"

Eriri couldn't help but say.

In addition, she seemed to have also sensed a subtle, almost imperceptible meaning.

Using Zhenzhi's surname and her given name under this pen name, isn't that equivalent to taking her husband's surname...?

Thinking of this, the girl's fair face immediately turned red and hot.

Mizuki Machi scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.

The name is nice, but it's just a name. Are you blushing over a teapot?

"Let's use the one from Zhenzhi... it feels a little more suitable."

Seeing his expression, Eriri immediately realized that she might have misunderstood and quickly continued the conversation.

"Then it's decided! Our pen names from now on will be..."

"Yuriko under the Moon".

The two said in unison.

......

After deciding on their pen names, the two temporarily separated during their lunch breaks.

Because Eriri is going to be busy again.

As the "face" of the exhibition, the quality of the illustrations on the opening page must be higher than that of the illustrations in normal circumstances.

Therefore, she plans to spend this week polishing it properly.

As for the studio, she naturally entrusted it to her mother.

As the mistress of the Sawamura family, Sayuri Sawamura was much more capable than she was in front of Machi Mizuki. She quickly surveyed the area around Detective Hill and chose the most suitable spot.

"Boom boom boom..."

Eriri had just finished drawing the cover illustration and was stretching when a knock came at the door.

"I'm coming in, Eriri."

Sayuri Sawamura entered the room, a keychain hanging from her finger, attracting the girl's attention.

"Gasang, this is it!"

"I've already found a spot. Here's the key. Tomorrow's Sunday, you and Xiaozhenzhi go take a look. If it's not suitable, we'll find another one..."

"Thank you, Gasan."

Eriri was overjoyed and took the key.

"Oh dear, I never imagined I'd one day be sending my daughter to live with someone else..."

Just then, Sayuri Sawamura sighed.

"No, no, that's not it! This is our studio!"

"There's not much difference."

"You're so annoying! Get out of here, I don't want to deal with you!"

"Look at you, in such a hurry! I haven't even given you the address yet..."

23 campaign

Beside the river, a modern European-style villa stands.

"Is this our studio?"

Looking at the two-story building in front of him, Mizuki Machi fell silent.

Sure enough, being a poor man, he lacked some substance.

I never expected that a mere 'studio' could be so luxurious.

"Is true knowledge unsatisfactory?"

Eriri, on the contrary, showed an expression of incomprehension.

"It's not that I'm dissatisfied... By the way, how much is the rent here per month?"

"I don't know, but according to Gasang, this place has been vacant for a long time, and the price is quite cheap."

Mizuki Machi didn't press the matter further, because he felt that the so-called 'cheap' was enough to make him gasp.

"Don't worry, Gasang will cover the cost!"

Eriri seemed to sense his concerns and offered a reminder.

"Ahem, once I get my royalties, I'll cover my share..."

Mizuki Machi coughed twice, feigning seriousness.

"Whatever makes you happy, let's go inside."

The girl ignored his affectation, took out her keys, and opened the villa's door.

Upon entering, one can see that the interior decoration is equally exquisite, and it would not be an exaggeration for the wealthy to live there for an extended period of time. However, they use it as a 'studio,' which is undoubtedly a form of luxury.

The two walked around and were very satisfied with the environment, nodding to stay there.

"Zhenzhi, how should we set up the studio?"

Eriri couldn't make up her own mind, so she decided to ask him first.

What do you imagine a cartoonist's studio to be like?

Mizuki Machi retorted with a question.

"That, countless collectibles, reference comic books, magazines, novels, documents, piles of discarded manuscripts, collected fan letters..."

"There are also special tools for drawing, such as desks."

His words brought the girl back to reality from her reverie.

"Of course I know that, no need to explain!"

"Let's arrange it like this. We'll use the two rooms on the second floor. As for the first floor, we can leave it like this. We can put some paintings on the walls and prepare some game consoles or something."

Considering that he would need to eat here when he was rushing to finish his work, he did not plan to alter the living room.

"You're planning to play games here?"

Eriri pouted.

"Can't I come here to relax?"

Mizuki Machi said matter-of-factly.

The two have different workloads, so he naturally has a lot more free time than Eriri, and naturally he wants to find ways to have fun, and games are the best choice to kill time.

"Whatever, hmph."

Eriri felt a pang of sadness at the thought of her future, when she would be writing furiously in her room while her childhood friend spent his days leisurely downstairs.

After making the plan, the two met with the editor again on Sunday to change their pen names and also sent over the cover page.

What upset Eriri was that the editor only glanced at it once or twice, silently accepted it, and didn't offer any further comment.

Obviously, it's because there's nothing surprising about it.

There's nothing that can be done about it; painting requires accumulation, and she can't have an epiphany like her childhood sweetheart.

"Keep drawing!"

"One day, I will surprise all those who underestimate me!"

At her desk, Eriri gripped her G-pen and began working on the second chapter, her eyes burning with ambition.

It was also at this time.

Online, the news of their debut has been promoted and hyped up extensively.

In modern society, using hype to boost traffic is an unavoidable part of the process, especially for print media, which is gradually losing its influence.

As a second-tier comic magazine, Monthly Shonen Gangan rarely encounters such an opportunity, so it naturally wants to make the most of it.

One morning, someone discovered that the official Twitter account of Monthly Shonen Gangan had posted the following message.

Title:

Shocking! The most talented cartoonist in history has emerged!

This title is obviously clickbait, but it's certainly eye-catching and makes you want to read the content carefully.

"As we all know, becoming a comic artist is incredibly difficult. It's said that only 0.001% can make a living from it for life, and most of them only reach that level after the age of twenty. Only a select few geniuses can enter this field in their teens. But the comic artist duo we're introducing today are only twelve-year-old junior high school students, enough to break historical records. We can be certain they will be rising stars in the comic book world..."

The rest of the content was just a bunch of boasting, making them sound like they were on cloud nine.

The comments below were quite different, with most people expressing doubt and only a small number expressing anticipation.

"12 years old? Becoming a cartoonist? You must be dreaming!"

"Could this be a fabricated publicity stunt?"

"It's also possible that they gave the middle school students an easy pass just for the sake of traffic and the reputation."

"I remember there were 15-year-old cartoonists before, right? But it turned out they were just all talk and then they left the industry."

"Interesting. I'd like to see what kind of artwork a junior high school student can produce."

This situation is entirely beneficial to the magazine. Even if the newcomer ends up like Zhong Yong who failed miserably, it has nothing to do with the magazine. As long as the traffic is secured, it's all worthwhile.

For the two people who were thrust into the spotlight, it was a mixed bag.

If the quality of a work is poor, it will naturally be despised by everyone.

But as long as you can dispel the readers' doubts, you will naturally gain this wave of traffic, shine in the name of 'genius', rise rapidly, and soar to new heights.

From now on, this will be our secret base!

"Wow, it's getting this popular?"

As an avid reader and bookstore heiress, Chie Takasago often surfs the internet to see if there are any promising manga or novels.

As a result, she had just logged onto Twitter today when she came across a major news article published by Monthly Shonen Gangan, which quickly garnered over 50,000 views.

This is a very rare occurrence for a second-tier comic magazine.

She glanced at the contents and quickly understood what was going on.

"They really know how to put people on a hot seat... Can Mizuki and the others withstand this kind of pressure?"

The day for school has arrived.

Takasago Chie then inquired about the matter with concern.