Chapter 3: Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose

Chiyoda Ward, Akihabara Electric Town.

Natsume Mio was out shopping with her best friend, but she wasn’t buying anything, her mind clearly elsewhere.

The day the exams ended, she had wanted to confess to Sakamoto Ken.

But Ken seemed to be avoiding her, running off immediately.

She sent him a message later, but he didn’t reply.

He hadn’t even opened it; to this day, it still showed as “un-read.”

Because she was always thinking about this, she’d been suffering from insomnia at night, a certain figure lingering in her mind…

On the day of the exam, after finishing her paper, she had taken a nap in the exam hall and had a dream.

Lately, that dream had been replaying in her mind almost every night.

Although only a few minutes had passed in reality, in the dream, it felt like a lifetime had gone by.

In the dream, she confessed to Sakamoto Ken right after the exam, and the two of them naturally got together.

Throughout the entire vacation, they visited every fun place in Tokyo.

On a rainy night, after watching a movie, neither of them had an umbrella, so he pulled her along into a love hotel.

And then, she gave herself to him.

After the first time, it was as if some kind of seal had been broken.

From then on, their dates would always include a session at a love hotel.

But she was just from an ordinary family, and playing like this every day was too expensive.

So she started rushing between various recording studios, doing voice-over work for minor characters in anime and games.

Around this time, Ken’s manga was successfully published. According to Ken, his royalties were quite generous, and their financial situation improved a lot.

They could even afford rooms in high-end themed hotels, and he would buy her all sorts of cosplay outfits.

She remembered the title of the book she saw in the dream very clearly.

Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose!

From time to time, Ken had to attend reader gatherings or some publisher event; in short, he was quite busy.

Until one day, Ken sent her a message saying he was going to a reader gathering, but she discovered that Ken was actually sitting in a small bar with another woman, acting intimately…

The subsequent tailing shocked her even more.

Because besides that woman, Ken was also frequently seeing another one.

Including her, Ken was dating three people at the same time!

What happened next became absurd. She actually joined forces with the other two women and cornered Ken on a rooftop.

Three stabs, six holes. She watched him lie in a pool of blood, his body gradually growing cold…

Throughout the entire dream, she could only see Ken’s face clearly. The faces of the other two women were like mosaics, blurry and indistinct.

Natsume Mio felt that the latter half of the dream must have been her own wild imagination.

My heart is too dark, to actually suspect Ken like that.

She specifically searched for the book Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose!.

It was clearly drawn by a female author and had nothing to do with Ken.

She still had the webpage saved in her phone’s browser. It was a news release from a publisher:
【JUMP New Work Info: Genius Bishoujo Author @Sangatsu Haru’s Strongest Debut Work, Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose!, to be released on “Shonen JUMP+” on February 14th to rave reviews!】

This time, after the page loaded, there was more content than she had seen a few days ago:
【Exclusive Interview Preview: A special live interview to commemorate the release of new author @Sangatsu Haru’s debut work! The story of Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose!‘s creation from 0 to 1 will be revealed for the first time! Please follow the YouTube channel @JUMP CHANNEL!】

Natsume Mio didn’t read much manga and usually didn’t pay attention to works in this area, so she didn’t know who this Sangatsu Haru was.

She generally preferred watching anime.

After all, she was applying to the vocal music department, and her future goal was to become a voice actress. Watching anime helped her learn the techniques of her seniors.

It was probably because she might have accidentally seen the publisher’s promotion at some point, and her subconscious had recreated it in her dream.

But today was Valentine’s Day…

If things followed the dream’s progression, Ken should be waiting for her downstairs at her house, and then they would go on a date together…

Natsume Mio felt a sourness in her heart.

I’m so bad.
To imagine Ken as that kind of scumbag…

Natsume Mio was filled with self-reproach.

She knew about Sakamoto Ken’s family situation. It was so difficult for him to work part-time while being so good at his studies, and even manage to create on the side.

If only I had money, I could just support him…

Support…?

When this keyword popped into her head, Natsume Mio thought of one of the women from the dream.

Although she couldn’t see her face clearly, she saw that this woman drove a red Porsche when she went to see Ken.

Ha, what am I thinking.

In reality, there’s no way a rich young lady would be keeping Ken.

But once this thought took root, Natsume Mio felt more and more that the dream might be some kind of premonition.

To this day, Sakamoto Ken had never told her where he lived, but she remembered the address from the dream.

Ken lived in a very run-down apartment. She had even gone to live with him there for a while.

Adachi Ward, Hanahata 4-chome.

Should I… go take a look?

Natsume Mio immediately stopped in her tracks and told her companion that she had something urgent to do and had to go back.

…

In the apartment in Adachi Ward.

Sakamoto Ken received a reply from the Shonen JUMP+ editorial department.

It said that his manuscript had passed the editors’ initial review, but the editor wished to meet with him in person to discuss the future plot. Attached was a schedule of available appointment times.

In the list of times, there happened to be a free slot this afternoon. Sakamoto Ken immediately clicked to book it.

He hoped the serialization would start as soon as possible so he could earn royalties sooner.

Lately, Sakamoto Ken had been pushing forward with the manga’s progress at full throttle every day.

After official serialization begins, authors usually hire several assistants to handle time-consuming and laborious processes like inking and backgrounds. Otherwise, it’s difficult to meet the weekly serialization requirements.

But Sakamoto Ken didn’t have any assistants yet; he was completing all the processes himself.

Fortunately, Fujimoto-sensei’s work itself wasn’t known for the fineness of its art, but rather for its visual impact, panel design, and the unique, almost unhinged characters and plot.

Therefore, by drawing for more than 12 hours a day, he had now finished the 4th chapter of Chainsaw Man. He could complete the manuscript for all seven chapters of the first volume within the month.

At this rate, he wouldn’t even need to hire assistants after the official serialization started.

He thought back to his own creative process in his past life. He was lazy every day. If it weren’t for a certain fan club leader cracking a leather whip to urge him on, he probably would have given up long ago.

After all, she gave him so, so much…

In his past life, the sales of that manga, Miss Sniper, and Pantyhose!, were mediocre. He later claimed publicly that his royalties were generous, but in reality, it was a certain young lady’s private “donations” to him…

In fact, it would be more accurate to call it payment for being kept.

Just as he was tidying up his original manuscripts, Sakamoto Ken suddenly received a LINE message.

The sender was Natsume Mio, wanting to ask him out.

Because he hadn’t actually clicked into the message, he could only see a rough preview in the pop-up notification.

This was a little habit of his.

If you don’t click into the message, it won’t change to “read” status.

In the later stages of his previous life, while juggling the three of them, if a message turned to “read,” he had to reply immediately. So, Sakamoto Ken told them that he usually kept his phone on silent and rarely looked at messages.

Just pretend I didn’t see it. At least leave it for half a day before replying. That way, it seems like I don’t care that much.

He knew all too well what Natsume Mio’s purpose was in asking him out.

Isn’t she just after my handsome face?

In the last life, she was the hardest one to satisfy.

Heh, this time, anything other than making money can wait.

Sakamoto Ken took his original manuscripts, changed his shoes, and went out and downstairs.

(End of Chapter)