September was just around the corner—the beginning of a new university year.
Haruki's quiet departure barely caused a ripple in his hotown.
Back in February, he had made headlines when he won the Award, a prestigious honor in the manga world. For a while, every local magazine had his na splashed across their pages, celebrating the rising star from their own backyard.
But the excitent didn't last long. Within a month, Haruki's presence in the manga scene seed to vanish.
Those familiar with the inner workings of the industry knew the real reason: Haruki had fallen out with Kurokawa Publishing.
The company, wielding its considerable influence, gradually pushed him out of opportunities.
Many who knew the story shook their heads in sympathy. Giving up the serialization of an award-winning series to support an editor—so called it loyalty, others called it stupidity.
But to the wider public, it simply looked like Mizushiro-sensei was taking a well-earned break, quietly preparing the next chapter of Rurouni Kenshin.
Without any fuss, Haruki packed his life into a few suitcases and left the city he had called ho for eighteen years, setting his sights on Tokyo—the legendary heart of Japan's manga world.
His first order of business was finding a place to live.
He ended up renting a three-bedroom apartnt near his university. One room for resting, one for work, and one for guests or—eventually—assistants.
As he watched tens of thousands of yen transfer from his account to the landlord, Haruki's normally calm expression twisted ever so slightly.
It was... painfully expensive.
From his serialization earnings on Rurouni Kenshin: Rembrance, he had brought in just over 300,000 yen. After taxes and deductions, he was left with a little over 200,000.
Between living expenses over the past six months, tuition paynts, and now setting himself up in Tokyo, nearly all of it had already vanished.
But if he planned to launch a new series here, there was no choice. Dormitory life was out of the question. And sooner or later, he would need a team.
Hiring one or two manga assistants was inevitable. Better to set things up properly from the start.
Painful as it was, the money had to be spent.
It took him a full day to organize the apartnt. Buying chairs, desks, art supplies... the expenses piled up faster than he cared to think about.
By the ti he was finished, his bank balance was down to about 15,000 yen.
Lying flat on his new bed that night, Haruki stared at the ceiling for a long mont, then picked up his phone and started scrolling through his ssages.
There weren't many people he kept in touch with these days. Mostly just Kotone and Sora.
Coincidentally, Kotone's university was also in Tokyo, and Sora, who had moved here a month earlier, had finally found her footing.
She had landed a solid position as a manga editor at a mid-sized publishing house—an impressive feat considering how competitive Tokyo's manga scene could be.
Tokyo's manga industry tended to look down on editors and artists from outside the capital. It had led Japan's manga boom for decades and still saw itself as the center of the world.
But Sora's Award credentials gave her a different kind of weight. With that honor on her résumé, no one dared treat her like an outsider.
Finding a job had gone surprisingly smoothly, and she had even managed to secure a senior editor's salary.
As soon as Kotone arrived in Tokyo, she and Sora t up for drinks at an izakaya.
They sent Haruki photos—plates piled high with sushi and grilled ats, drinks clinking in the background. Just looking at them made his stomach growl.
Apparently, a few of the local guys at the bar had tried to impress Kotone with a drinking contest.
Big mistake.
By the end of the night, Kotone had effortlessly outdrunk five or six of them, leaving them sprawled over their tables while she sat there, calm as ever, sipping another beer.
Haruki chuckled, setting the phone down beside him.
Tokyo was already starting to feel a little less lonely.
According to Sora's updates over the past few days, Kotone had beco sothing of a minor celebrity in the neighborhood.
After all, quite a few people had witnessed her incredible drinking that night at the izakaya.
The amount she could put away would have been enough to knock out most people—and yet she drank it all without even breaking a sweat.
Lying on his bed, Haruki scrolled through the ssages, unable to hold back a smile.
The night of the Award still felt like it had happened just yesterday.
But when he really thought about it... more than half a year had already passed.
Half a year—without drawing a single manga.
The thought jolted him.
Manga!
Haruki sat up straight.
Without hesitation, he closed his eyes, letting his consciousness sink into the system space that had accompanied him since his strange encounter with the parallel world's manga treasures.
The familiar virtual environnt unfolded before him.
Imdiately, Haruki noticed two shining prompts, practically calling out to him: a B-rank lottery chance, and an S-rank lottery chance.
During the past six months, he had been busy preparing for university entrance exams, and with no plans to serialize new works through Kurokawa Publishing, he had simply left the lottery opportunities untouched.
But now, with his new apartnt set up and classes still a week away, there was no better ti.
"System," Haruki said calmly, "use the B-rank lottery ticket."
"Confirm using B-rank lottery?" the system voice chid.
"Confirm," he replied without hesitation.
The familiar roulette wheel materialized, the cursor flashing rapidly between dozens of manga titles—all rated B-rank by the system's standards.
After about thirty seconds, the cursor slowed, then stopped.
"Congratulations," the system intoned. "You have obtained the top-tier B-rank manga: Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day."
Haruki raised an eyebrow.
Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day?
What kind of title was that?
For a mont, suspicion crept in. Had the system given him so second-rate work?
But then he rembered—top-tier B-rank.
In the system's classification, even among works of the sa rank, there was a hierarchy. A top-tier B-rank work was hardly sothing to dismiss lightly.
Still, he wasn't in a rush to dive into it just yet.
After all, he had an even bigger prize waiting.
"System," Haruki said, feeling his heart race a little, "use the S-rank lottery ticket."
"Confirm use?"
"Confirm."
This ti, the wheel spun differently.
There were fewer titles flashing past—much fewer.
S-rank works weren't exactly common. Even with the wealth of manga from the parallel world stored in the system, only a limited number reached that level.
Haruki watched as the cursor slowed and eventually settled.
"Congratulations," the system announced, "you have obtained the S-rank manga: Natsu's Book of Friends."
There was no top-tier or ultra-rare tag attached, which ant he had drawn a standard S-rank series.
Haruki exhaled quietly.
As expected, pulling a legendary, generation-defining work like One Piece or Naruto wasn't going to happen so easily.
Still... Natsu's Book of Friends.
And earlier, I Have Heard the Na of the Flowers.
Both titles were unfamiliar—gentler, more subtle than the flashy, battle-heavy manga that usually dominated the charts.
Hopefully, the system hadn't trolled him.
Since he had so free ti, Haruki didn't hesitate. He clicked into the system's archive and began reading through the two newly unlocked works.
(Author:-The reason I chose Natsu's Book of Friends. is because it has a strong following and works well as a unit drama. Once the writing is nearly complete, I can quickly wrap up this work with the protagonist finishing it. Sword Art Online, fz, and similar works are also popular, but as many people have pointed out, these kinds of works tend to shine more in animation. Since the protagonist is studying animation, that'll co into play later, so I'll focus on those more animation-friendly series for now and save the others for later.)
Shout out to Brandon, NovelDrear for joining my p-atreon! your support ans everything to .
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon/Alioth23 for 50 advanced chapters)
Reviews
All reviews (0)