Chapter 32: The Perfect Manga Assistant

Mikazuki Haruna put her phone aside and let out a long sigh.

The experiences she had dreamed of were too bizarre. She had never met him in reality, yet in her dreams, they became the most intimate lovers. The experience was so real that even after waking up, she couldn’t stop thinking about him…

And she hadn’t even had her first experience in reality.

There was definitely something wrong here.

She decided to just add Sakamoto Ken as a friend for now. Before she figured out the situation, it was better to keep her distance and observe more.

Now, there were more important things to do.

Haruna refocused her attention on the computer screen in front of her.

To win against Chainsaw Man, her current artwork was not enough.

She didn’t need to think too much about the plot and storyboarding. She felt that Miss was already very well done.

What she could do now was to raise the level of her artwork to the extreme.

On the screen was an email. In the attachment were the resumes and portfolios of several manga assistants that Editor-in-Chief Ono Tomohiro had helped her screen according to her requirements.

She wanted to hire four assistants, one of whom would be the assistant team leader.

This was the Editor-in-Chief’s suggestion. An assistant team needed a leader to lead them. Otherwise, if the author had to worry about arranging who drew which part, it would be too much effort.

These candidates were all female and were all good at drawing beautiful girl characters.

Haruna opened them one by one and looked through them carefully.

Some had a style that leaned towards traditional shojo manga, while others were closer to a moe style. Although the level was not bad, she always felt…

Something was missing.

Until she opened the attachment of the candidate named “40hara”.

The portfolio in the attachment instantly caught her eye.

It was a series of colored illustrations.

The first one was a short-haired girl in a classic black and white maid outfit, looking down at the camera, elegantly lifting her skirt with both hands, revealing the pure white triangle inside.

Haruna looked at it carefully for a moment and continued to scroll down.

The second one, a ponytail JK, in the action of turning her head, her skirt gathered at her waist, that touch of pink combined with the deformation of the curve, even the wrinkles were drawn clearly.

The third one, a blonde nun, wearing a nun’s long robe, gently lifting a foot wearing white silk fabric, the hem of her skirt also lifted up.

The fourth one, an OL big sister wearing round-framed glasses, kneeling on the floor with both knees, lifting her hip-hugging skirt, and turning her head to look at the camera.

The common point of each painting was that the beautiful girls in the paintings all showed a look of disgust, as if they were looking at some small fry.

But putting aside this peculiar XP, this artist named “40hara” was simply too skilled!

The handling of light and shadow, the structure of the human body, and the wrinkles of the clothing were all perfect.

She had also practiced drawing these parts. Even if she drew while looking in a mirror, she couldn’t achieve such fine detail.

Because the distortion and wrinkles of the fabric formed by the movement and bending of the limbs were particularly difficult to grasp.

Mikazuki Haruna immediately searched for 40hara’s name in her browser and quickly found her Pixiv homepage.

Since 2009, she had been uploading her works on this platform.

Her early works were still slightly immature, but as time went by, her art style evolved at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Later, she seemed to have focused all her energy on the theme of “beautiful girls,” and her skills became more and more proficient.

However, the illustrations she had just seen in the email were not published on her Pixiv homepage. It seemed they were her latest works that had not yet been made public.

“It’s her!”

Haruna immediately made a decision in her heart.

This 40hara’s art style was a perfect match for the effect she wanted to achieve.

After all, the selling point of the manga Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose! was written in the title: pantyhose!

From the four illustrations just now, one could already fully see 40hara’s mastery of pantyhose.

But she still had a small doubt in her heart.

Mikazuki Haruna sent a message to the Editor-in-Chief.

Sangatsu Haru: 「Sorry to bother you, Editor-in-Chief. I’ve already looked at the assistant resumes you sent me. I’d like to ask, this assistant named 40hara… is she really a girl?」

As soon as the message was sent, Ono Tomohiro’s reply came.

Ono Tomohiro: 「I’ve met her. She’s a girl about the same age as you, and her drawing skills are very impressive.」

Sangatsu Haru: 「That’s good. It’s not very convenient to have a male assistant come to my house.」

Ono Tomohiro: 「Don’t worry. She draws very well, right? Both the texture of the clothing and the expressiveness of the human body are quite excellent. Actually, an editor has talked to her about debuting as a manga artist, but unfortunately, her storytelling is a bit lacking. When you said you were looking for an assistant who is good at drawing beautiful girls, she was the first one I thought of.」

Seeing that even the Editor-in-Chief praised her so highly, Haruna no longer hesitated.

Sangatsu Haru: 「Then I’ll hire her as my assistant team leader!」

Ono Tomohiro: 「You have to contact her as soon as possible. I heard that 40hara-san is currently preparing a personal doujinshi and plans to release it in the summer. But I think that as long as the terms you offer are generous enough, she will definitely agree.」

Sangatsu Haru: 「Okay! I’ll email her right now!」

After finishing the conversation with the Editor-in-Chief, Mikazuki Haruna immediately began to write an email.

She was sure that this 40hara could raise the artwork of Miss by several levels.

Maybe it will become popular.

For the assistant team leader, I must show the utmost sincerity!

In the salary column, Haruna thought for a moment and raised the daily salary of 30,000 yen, which was already above the market price, by another 10,000.

…

In an ordinary apartment on the other side of Tokyo.

A girl with shoulder-length short hair was tidying up stacks of drawings in her room.

Her pen name was “40hara”.

On the bottom edge of her computer screen was a yellow sticky note with a line written on it in marker:

「Comic Market 88!」

She was preparing for her first doujinshi.

She had already thought of a name for the doujinshi, which was—

I Want You To Show Me Your Panties With a Disgusted Face.

She planned to release this art book at C88, which would be held in August this year.

C88, full name Comic Market 88, was the world’s largest doujinshi convention, where countless creators realized their dreams.

40hara also hoped to earn enough funds through this convention to support her continued creation, so as to get rid of her dependence on her family.

Although her family’s financial situation was not bad, she didn’t want to keep asking her parents for money.

Previously, she had considered submitting her work and debuting as a manga artist.

But after the editors read her manuscripts, their opinions were almost unanimous: excellent artwork, but the plot was too bland. Full marks as an illustrator, but failing as a manga artist.

Then she considered becoming a manga artist’s assistant, but after looking at the recruitment information, the general daily salary of just over 10,000 yen didn’t interest her much. If it was for money, she might as well do a part-time job near her home.

Until today, the JUMP Editor-in-Chief she had contacted a long time ago sent her an email, saying that there was an assistant job opportunity with a daily salary of 30,000 yen.

Thirty thousand!

A daily salary of 10,000 didn’t interest her, but 30,000 was a must-have!

Only then did she send her latest few works with the attitude of giving it a try.

“Ding-dong.”

A new email notification popped up in the lower right corner of her computer.

40hara casually clicked on it. The sender was “Sangatsu Haru”.

She quickly browsed the content of the email. When her eyes fell on the salary column, her pupils suddenly shrank.

「Daily salary: 40,000 yen」.

A daily salary of forty thousand?!

And full reimbursement for transportation expenses, with a dedicated nanny responsible for three meals and afternoon tea.

The workplace was in Shoto, Shibuya Ward, which was a famous top-tier wealthy area in Tokyo.

40hara didn’t hesitate at all. She quickly replied to the email, crisply agreeing to a face-to-face meeting with the manga artist named Sangatsu Haru.

---

Author’s Note:

I strongly recommend 40hara-sensei’s I Want You To Show Me Your Panties With a Disgusted Face.

Also, the plot in the book basically conforms to the real timeline. In 2015, 40hara-sensei was indeed preparing for the release of her doujinshi. After its release, it became a huge hit, and an anime was even produced later. Many people should have seen the picture of the maid lifting her skirt~ And 40hara-sensei is indeed a female artist. (But the specific plot is fictional)

Alright, after recommending 40hara who draws panties, I’ll also recommend Yomu who draws stockings. His representative work is Miru Tights.

I originally wanted to bring Yomu-sensei in as an assistant, but then I would have to add a gender-swap setting for Yomu-sensei, which is not very good, not very good… Or maybe when Sakamoto Ken needs an assistant who draws stockings, emmm… Chainsaw Man doesn’t need one, but I can consider other plots. I really like Yomu-sensei’s stockings.

This book, Lemon, plans to incorporate various real-life elements, and basically conform to the timeline, but because of Sakamoto-sensei’s rebirth, various changes have occurred~

(End of Chapter)