Chapter 31: My Whole Body Went Numb

「Kaji Keiko has invited you to join the group chat “JUMP Author Exchange Group”.」

Sakamoto Ken saw the group chat invitation sent by Editor Kaji. His fingertip paused slightly above the screen for two seconds before he tapped on it.

Then, Kaji Keiko sent another message.

Kaji Keiko: 「Sakamoto-sensei, I’ve invited you to our JUMP author exchange group. The group is full of author-senseis and colleagues from the editorial department who are serialized in JUMP-affiliated magazines. You can communicate with everyone.」

Sakamoto Ken simply replied: 「Okay, thank you, Editor-san.」

Then he switched to the group chat interface.

The member list showed 175 people.

Sakamoto Ken swiped up and roughly scanned the member list.

All the editors from the editorial department were in it, and the rest were authors.

At a glance, he scanned several familiar names.

But more were some pen names he had no impression of, probably authors from web, monthly, or special issues.

Those famous authors, especially the older ones, would not join such a large group. They were too busy rushing manuscripts and attending various events.

Even if they were in the group, they probably wouldn’t speak much. They probably had their own small circles of famous authors.

At this moment, a name made Sakamoto Ken’s finger stop.

Takahashi Kazuki.

Seeing this name, Sakamoto Ken couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

In his previous life, the father of Yu-Gi-Oh!, had unfortunately died in 2022 while surfing at the seaside, trying to save a diver who was caught in a strong current.

When this news came out at that time, duelists all over the world sighed for it.

But at this point in time, Takahashi-sensei was still fine, probably on vacation in some scenic spot…

Creating a work like this, one could completely lie down and eat for a lifetime. Even for the later manga and anime, he was only credited by name, while it was actually several authors like Mihoshi Naoto who did the drawing.

Rebirth was like a moth flapping its wings… and it had to be a giant moth of the Divine-Beast of Obelisk level. The various effects it brought would change countless things, and it would definitely be enough to prevent that tragedy from happening again.

Didn’t expect that, did you, Takahashi-sensei? I played Time Reverser.

Just as Sakamoto Ken was feeling emotional, a few new messages popped up in the group.

Hamada Tsubakiya: 「Oh? A new person has joined the group. Welcome, welcome!」

Several other authors whom Sakamoto Ken had no impression of also sent welcome emojis.

Sakamoto Ken didn’t want to be too cold, so he casually typed a line in the input box.

Sakamoto Ken: 「Hello everyone, I’m the newcomer Sakamoto Ken. Please take care of me.」

The message was sent.

Two seconds after his message appeared, the same line of text was repeated verbatim.

Sangatsu Haru: 「Hello everyone, I’m the newcomer Sakamoto Ken. Please take care of me.」

「Sangatsu Haru has retracted a message」

Sangatsu Haru: 「Hello everyone, I’m the newcomer Sangatsu Haru. Please take care of me.」

Sakamoto Ken: “…”

You, are you too lazy to even type?

However, Sangatsu Haru…

Sakamoto Ken stared at this name for several seconds. He didn’t expect to meet her online so soon.

When he joined the group just now, Sakamoto Ken had actually anticipated this, but he still didn’t refuse Editor Kaji’s invitation.

He was thinking that since he had to face it sooner or later, it was better to start with a high-security online contact.

You can’t come and stab me through the Wi-Fi, can you?

Next, Sakamoto Ken chose to remain silent in the group, but he kept an eye on the messages.

This one will definitely not be able to hold back before I do.

Sure enough, five minutes later, a notification popped up at the top of the screen.

It was a friend request.

…

Shoto, Shibuya Ward.

Mikazuki Haruna sat upright, her whole body a little stiff.

She held her phone tightly in both hands, her heart pounding wildly.

A few minutes ago, Ono Tomohiro had pulled her into that author exchange group.

Of course, she joined the group immediately. Just as she was about to scroll through the member list, she saw Sakamoto Ken’s group entry notification.

Seeing someone in the group sending a welcome message to the new member, Mikazuki Haruna was thinking about how to say hello when she saw Sakamoto Ken send a message first.

So she copied it without thinking. She was still moving the cursor to change the name inside, but her hand trembled due to nervousness and she directly tapped the send button…

It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s not a big problem.

Haruna no longer paid attention to the content of the group chat. She clicked on Sakamoto Ken’s profile picture and looked at his personal information page.

After struggling for a while, she finally pressed the “Add Friend” button.

Sangatsu Haru: 「Hello, I’m the author of Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose!, serialized in the same period as you. I’d like to communicate with you.」

After sending the request, Haruna placed her phone on the table, feeling as if all her strength had been drained.

Her gaze fell on the sketchbook by her hand. The book was open, and on it was a sketch she had just completed… a scene she remembered deeply.

In the drawing was a naked Sakamoto Ken, but unlike the previous scenes where he was alone, there was another person in this drawing.

A similarly naked girl was hugging him tightly from behind, her cheek pressed against his back.

The girl’s cheek was behind the boy, so it wasn’t drawn, only showing a side profile curve, but Haruna knew that it was herself.

Scenes from the dream uncontrollably surged in her mind.

She remembered how she had locked him in a hotel room under the pretext of rushing his manuscript…

She remembered the touch of the boy’s warm palm stroking her skin…

The girl’s cheeks were tinged with a faint blush, and her breathing became rapid.

The friend request had been sent, but it hadn’t been accepted yet.

In the attached message of the friend request, Haruna had said that she was the author of Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose!, but in that memory, this manga was drawn by Sakamoto Ken. She had plagiarized it.

She thought, what if Sakamoto Ken, at this point in time, was already creating the manga Miss, for example, he already had the concept or character designs, and they were consistent with the content she had published…

Then, he would definitely show confusion, or even doubt, right?

This made her feel a little uneasy, so she couldn’t help but shake her leg slightly.

Haruna’s body leaned forward slightly, her arms supported on the table, her waist unconsciously swaying gently, slowly grinding on the soft mesh of the chair.

“Huu…”

She exhaled a hot breath from her lips, her eyes staring at the phone screen without blinking.

Time passed minute by minute…

Finally!

A notification popped up, showing that the other party had accepted her friend request.

At the same time, a message was also sent.

Sakamoto Ken: 「Hello /handshake」

Oh, so cold…

But this also made Haruna let out a long sigh of relief.

A tone like this meant that he didn’t remember anything about the manga Miss.

At this moment, Mikazuki Haruna felt a tense string in her body suddenly snap and release.

An indescribable electric current rose from her tailbone and instantly spread throughout her limbs, making her whole body go numb. Her arms went limp, and she almost fell onto the table.

She panted heavily. The cursor was flashing in the input bar, but her fingers were frozen above the screen. Her mind was a blank, and she had no idea what to say.

This stalemate lasted for a full half a minute.

Haruna chose to long-press to copy, then paste.

Sangatsu Haru: 「Hello /handshake」

(End of Chapter)