Chapter 20: How Could I Be So Awful?

Kanzaki Academy of Art.

It was currently spring break, so there weren’t many people around the campus.

Mikazuki Haruna turned her car into a small side road. This Panamera was a bit inconvenient even for turning in the narrow alley. In the end, she parked the car in the apartment’s parking lot.

Since she wasn’t a registered resident, she had to pay for temporary parking.

300 yen for 30 minutes, with a daily cap of 1,500 yen on weekdays. Today was Sunday, so the cap was raised to 2,000 yen.

Mikazuki Haruna herself wasn’t sure if it was because she was familiar with the streets here or because of the memories from her dream.

After turning the street corner, without taking a single wrong turn, she arrived at the base of the apartment building.

It was an unremarkable, five-story apartment building with an open lot serving as a parking area.

In that dream about the future, she was his fan, particularly obsessed with this manga. After meeting him offline and learning of his meager manuscript fees, she had directly given him a large “donation.”

The guy in her memory had even told her that it was thanks to the extra donation she gave him that he could afford to live in a place like this.

Otherwise, with the failure to publish the tankōbon of Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose!, relying solely on the serialization manuscript fees, he would have been on the verge of moving back to the dilapidated apartment he used to live in.

Haruna had never asked how dilapidated his old place was, only that the monthly rent was less than 30,000 yen.

A place in Tokyo with a monthly rent of less than 30,000 yen? What would that even be like?

She hadn’t pressed further at the time, just told him not to worry about money. If the manuscript fees weren’t enough, she would be there for him; he just needed to focus on drawing.

Although it sounded strange, in that dream, she had indeed become the patron of this man named Sakamoto Ken…

Standing in front of the apartment’s main entrance, Haruna looked at the smart lock on the security door.

This lock could be opened in several ways.

Card, key, and password.

She, of course, had neither of the first two, but the password…

Mikazuki Haruna very skillfully entered six digits: 403403.

It didn’t really have any special meaning. It was just the default password the apartment manager gave to each resident—the room number repeated twice. When he lived here, he had never changed the default password.

When she pressed the confirm button, the lock actually made a “beep” sound and opened.

If before she had only thought she had a complete manga in her memory, which could be explained away as a special dream…

But now… a password she knew from a dream actually worked in reality!

As the goddess in charge of literary talent, Lady Benzaiten wouldn’t also send me an apartment password in a dream, would she?

Wait, that’s also a possibility!

It must be that Lady Benzaiten wants me to meet Sakamoto Ken directly and talk about manga creation face-to-face.

Mikazuki Haruna strode directly into the apartment building and went to room 403.

First, she pressed her ear against the door to listen. There was the sound of keyboard typing inside, which meant someone was home.

The room door could only be opened with a key, not a password lock. Otherwise, Haruna felt she could definitely open it too.

Standing at the door, Haruna took a deep breath and gently patted her chest.

She could feel her heart accelerating.

Those memories in her mind felt as if they had really happened.

She had supported him, initially just for the sake of the work. As his loyal reader, she urged him for updates and discussed the manga’s content.

Then, gradually… she fell for him.

And it had to be said, that guy was exactly her type, especially his good stamina and endurance, like an ox that could plow a field without ever getting tired.

The only problem was that she later discovered he was dating two other women behind her back…

Never mind all that, let’s just meet him first!

Mikazuki Haruna directly rang the doorbell.

Soon, a voice came from inside the room: “Who is it?”

Huh?

Haruna’s brow furrowed slightly, and she took a step back.

The voice she heard was a woman’s.

Then, the doorknob turned, and the door was opened from the inside.

Standing before her was a woman who looked to be in her twenties, not the Sakamoto Ken she had expected.

The woman looked at Mikazuki Haruna with confusion and said, “Who are you looking for?”

Mikazuki Haruna blinked, tilted her body, and peered into the room.

That’s right, the layout of this apartment room is exactly the same as in my memory.

It was a typical 1LDK layout. After entering the door, there was a small step-up area connected to a small kitchen that could only use an induction cooktop. The bathroom was on the side, and further in was a bedroom of less than 20 square meters, with a small balcony outside.

The two appliances visible in the room, the washing machine and the refrigerator, were also exactly as she remembered.

She remembered that washing machine clearly because a few times when she was leaning over it, he had been particularly vigorous, loosening some part inside, causing the washing machine drum to always make a strange noise. In the end, she was the one who paid to replace it with a new one.

What is this woman’s relationship with him?

A girlfriend?

But she seems a bit too old, and her looks… not to say she’s ugly or anything, but Mikazuki Haruna felt she wasn’t Ken’s type.

Or maybe a sister? A relative?

Mikazuki Haruna asked directly, “Hello, I’m looking for Sakamoto Ken. Does he live here?”

“Sakamoto Ken?” The woman’s brow furrowed slightly. “I live alone. I don’t know any Sakamoto Ken.”

“Huh? That’s impossible…”

Mikazuki Haruna continued to survey the room, certain that she was familiar with every corner of it. After all, these were all places where she had fought her battles.

“You probably have the wrong place. Sakamoto Ken isn’t here,” the woman said, and then directly closed the door.

Mikazuki Haruna looked left and right down the hallway, her gaze lingering on the door.

She took another step forward and tried to look through the peephole.

However, the peephole was designed to be one-way. From the outside, she could only see a blur.

Then she pressed her ear to the door again, trying to hear that familiar voice from her memory.

“Click.”

The lock was opened again. Mikazuki Haruna was so startled she quickly jumped back.

“What’s wrong with you? I said Sakamoto Ken isn’t here. You have the wrong place. Please leave,” the woman said impolitely.

Mikazuki Haruna laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, sorry, I might have the wrong place…”

She walked quickly towards the stairwell.

The woman must not have gone back into the room after closing the door but was watching from behind the peephole, and then saw her leaning up to it.

For a stranger to suddenly do that outside one’s door would indeed be unsettling…

After going downstairs, Mikazuki Haruna didn’t leave the apartment but went to the mailroom behind the manager’s office.

There were several rows of stainless steel mailboxes here, one for each room, with the corresponding resident’s name on it.

She found the one for room 403. The name was… Muto Yuko.

She had never heard of it.

In her memory, this room was rented by Sakamoto Ken. The name here should be his…

Just then, an old man with white hair walked by. Seeing Mikazuki Haruna looking at the mailboxes, he came over and asked.

“Hello, are you looking for mail?” The old man glanced at Mikazuki Haruna and said, “You’re not a resident here, are you?”

“Are you the manager of this apartment?” Haruna asked.

The old man nodded and said, “If you need anything, you can tell me. Please do not try to open other residents’ mailboxes.”

“Ha… I wasn’t. I was just looking around…” Mikazuki Haruna felt like she was being treated like a criminal. She quickly walked out.

“By the way, Manager-san, I wanted to ask about room 403…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the manager replied, “Oh, you saw the information online, right? Are you looking to rent?”

“Eh… yes, that’s right! What’s the deal with that apartment?”

“Room 403, that lady has only lived here for less than a month, but she has to move because of a change in her job. She signed a one-year contract and is looking for someone to sublet it at a low price. Otherwise, she’ll have to pay a hefty penalty,” the old manager said.

So that’s how it is?!

A “click” went off in Mikazuki Haruna’s head, and she immediately understood.

At this point in time in her memory, Ken’s financial situation was probably not good.

So he took over the lease for that woman’s apartment to save a large amount of initial fees. The appliances in the room were probably left for him as well.

If things had developed according to the dream, he would have come to rent this room.

But the problem was, everything had changed!

The manga Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose! had been published by her ahead of time!

That meant Ken didn’t create this manga, and therefore had no income from serialization fees.

It was even more impossible for him to come and rent this apartment.

Unless, the Sakamoto Ken competing with her on JUMP+ at the same time was the one from her dream…

She had thought so before, but judging from the art style, it seemed unlikely.

Once a manga artist starts publishing, their personal style doesn’t really change that much.

She herself was very clear about how big the difference was between Miss Sniper and Chainsaw Man.

The plot, paneling, characters, and dialogue style were all clearly different in every aspect.

She only liked Miss Sniper because it was to her personal taste, whereas Chainsaw Man was definitely an excellent work in the conventional sense.

Because I copied his manga, he has no source of income, which means he can only continue to live in a dilapidated apartment…

I don’t even know where that dilapidated apartment is.

My acquaintance with him started with the manga Miss Sniper.

If he didn’t publish this manga, I wouldn’t even have a chance to contact him.

Then it’s over. Doesn’t this mean it’s all my fault?!

How could I be so awful!

(End of Chapter)