Chapter 39: Look Back

Kaji Keiko returned to the company and parked the company car in the parking lot.

She carried the original manuscript paper upstairs and used the company’s special scanner to scan the original manuscript paper into a high-definition electronic version.

Then, she printed out an extra copy of the original manuscript.

After all, repeated flipping would damage the paper, and the hand-drawn original manuscript paper was the only one.

After organizing the original manuscript and leaving it at the company, Kaji Keiko left the company with the printed version and took a taxi back.

Coming to the company on weekends was considered overtime, and taking a taxi home from the company could be reimbursed.

Kaji Keiko lived in an ordinary apartment building. It was just that the door number was not very auspicious, Room 404.

Entering the room, the room was a 1LDK layout, that is, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, the most common single apartment room.

There was a bookshelf on one wall of the room, which was full of various manga books.

Kaji Keiko sat down at her desk and carefully read the printed manga manuscript page by page, holding a red pen in her hand and making marks on it from time to time.

When she had previously communicated with Sakamoto-sensei, Kaji Keiko had only admired his creative speed and talent, but now, she was moved by him personally.

Sakamoto-sensei had to rely on himself since middle school to live in the expensive city of Tokyo.

She thought of herself.

She came to Tokyo from a small town in the northern part of Yamagata Prefecture. Her family ran a ramen shop in Tsuruoka City. There were almost no tourists in the city, so they could only do business with the neighbors. The profit was also very low, just enough to make a living.

Therefore, her family could not give her much financial support.

Everyone has more or less heard of Yamagata Prefecture. After all, there is the Ghibli animated film “Only Yesterday,” and the story is set in Yamagata Prefecture.

However, this film also deepened people’s stereotype of Yamagata Prefecture: rural.

After all, the protagonist of the story is an office worker who took a ten-day vacation to experience rural life in Yamagata Prefecture.

As for the name Tsuruoka City…

If you ask 100 people on the street, probably the only one who will say “Oh, I know” is a Chinese tourist, and then say that buying a house there is very cheap…

When she was in college, she relied on her own part-time work and applied for a scholarship to support herself until graduation.

By the way, she still hasn’t finished paying back the scholarship.

After all, university scholarships in Japan are basically loan-type scholarships, which must be returned after graduation, and even have interest.

But in general, it was much better than Sakamoto-sensei.

At least her tuition and living expenses for the first semester were funded by her family.

The work she was previously in charge of was canceled, and after several months, she finally found a treasure author. Kaji Keiko was now full of motivation.

I must make Sakamoto-sensei’s work a bestseller!

…

Sakamoto Ken held a pencil in his hand and twirled it casually.

His mind was replaying the various works he had seen in his previous life.

He had seen a lot of manga, novels, and film and television animations.

But for short works, his impression was that most of them were 18+.

He didn’t watch these to enlighten himself, but purely because this type of work was particularly outstanding in its depiction of the human body, and he could learn some drawing techniques.

After all, the three girls around him had already overdrawn his two kidneys. How could he have any surplus to waste on himself?

In addition to this type of work, there were also manga adapted from novels, such as “Penguin Highway,” but the original novel was published before 2015 and already existed.

There were also very profound works like “Chi: On the Movements of the Earth,” but the length far exceeded 300 pages.

After thinking about it.

Although it felt a bit dishonest to always pick on one person.

But…

Sorry, Fujimoto-sensei.

I believe you can create even more amazing works.

Sakamoto Ken wrote a title on the paper.

“Look Back.”

This work was the first short manga in history to win first place in “Kono Manga ga Sugoi!”.

He remembered that this manga was first released on the JUMP+ platform in 2021 and was on various hot searches within a day.

Unlike passionate (physically), fighting, and hot-blooded works like “Fire Punch” and “Chainsaw Man,” “Look Back” was a purely realistic manga.

Two girls who loved to draw met, separated, and then… were separated by death.

In just over a hundred pages, it depicted a life spanning ten years.

At that time, Fujimoto-sensei was already very popular with “Fire Punch” and “Chainsaw Man,” which was one reason, but more importantly, the work was touching enough.

Sakamoto Ken wrote the theme of the manga on the paper:

「A story of youth and growth carved into each other’s lives.」

Without pausing, Sakamoto Ken spread out the original manuscript paper. The images from his memory appeared before his eyes, and he picked up his pen and began to draw on the paper.

Until the sky gradually darkened, the alarm on his phone rang.

6:30, half an hour before his evening part-time job.

Sakamoto Ken put down his pen and organized the manuscript he had completed in the afternoon.

In nearly four hours, he had completed the first 9 pages, including inking, backgrounds, and all other processes, to the point where it could be submitted directly.

At this rate, he could finish the entire piece in two weeks.

Sakamoto Ken put down his pen, went to the shared restroom to wash the ink from his hands, casually tidied his hair, and then went downstairs and walked towards the convenience store where he worked.

As expected, he saw Natsume Mio standing inside through the glass door of the convenience store.

…

From six o’clock in the afternoon, Natsume Mio had been keeping an eye on the street outside the store.

Finally, she saw the figure she had been waiting for.

In the afternoon when there were no customers, she chatted a lot with the old manager. The manager was also a very charming beauty in her youth. According to her, she had even won over a magazine male model back then.

Now Natsume Mio felt that her mind was full of love skills, and she was terrifyingly strong.

The store door opened automatically. After Sakamoto Ken entered the store, he first greeted the manager, and then his gaze fell on Natsume Mio, who had a strange smile on her face.

The old manager chuckled and said, “Ken, if you haven’t had dinner yet, pick a bento for yourself.”

“Okay, thank you, Manager-san.”

As usual, Sakamoto Ken went to the refrigerated cabinet where the bento boxes were placed and chose a lower-priced minced meat bento.

“Ken, give it to me, I’ll heat it up for you~” Natsume Mio stood behind the counter, the end of her words rising.

She took Sakamoto Ken’s bento, turned around and put it in the microwave. Accompanied by the sound of the microwave running, the two looked at each other.

However, it didn’t last long. A customer came to pay next to them, so Sakamoto Ken moved aside to make way for him.

The microwave dinged, and the bento was heated. He took it from Natsume Mio’s hand and sat down in the corner of the dining area.

It was almost seven o’clock. Sakamoto Ken went to the changing room to change into his convenience store uniform.

Just as he came out of the changing room, the manager waved at him.

“Ken, come on, it’s Sunday today. Many magazines will be new tomorrow. The bookshelf in the store and the pile of books that have been taken down are quite messy now. You and Mio should organize them together,” the old manager said.

Natsume Mio immediately responded, “Okay, we’ll clean it up right away!”

Sakamoto Ken nodded and didn’t say much. He stood in front of the magazine rack and looked at it. The books on it were indeed a bit messy today. Some of the magazines were placed on top of other magazines, and some were upside down and not placed neatly.

With this kind of placement, customers couldn’t see where the book they wanted to buy was at a glance.

“Ken, you’re familiar with the store. Teach Mio how to arrange the magazine section,” the manager came over and added.

“This is simple. Just remember a few sequences.”

Sakamoto Ken was about to continue when the manager put her hands behind her back and walked to the entrance of the convenience store.

The glass door opened automatically. She said to the two of them, “I’ll leave the store to you. Mio, if you don’t know something, just ask Ken. He’s very familiar. I have something to do at home, so I’ll go back first.”

“Okay, Manager-san, don’t worry. We’ll take good care of the store~” Natsume Mio waved at the manager with a smile.

Natsume Mio turned to the side, and looked back, her ponytail swaying with her.

The girl still maintained an eighty-percent full smile, her gaze fixed on Sakamoto Ken’s face.

(End of Chapter)