Starting as a Manga Chapter 4: Kaoru

6:00 PM.Tang Yao left the office.

Being a manga editor ca with its fair share of problems—but it wasn’t without perks. One of those perks was… relatively flexible working hours.

Since the mangaka all had different schedules, editors had to adapt their work hours to match. Plenty of them even worked night shifts.

So a fixed 9-to-5? Not possible.

That was, admittedly, one of the very few upsides Tang Yao could co up with after racking her brain.

“So, why did the original owner of this body even want to be an editor?”

Riding the subway, swaying slightly with the movent of the train, Tang Yao muttered to herself under her breath, “Because the working hours are flexible?”

Of course, she was just venting.She actually knew the reason: it was all for that unattainable dream—becoming a mangaka.

Dreams, huh.Taking the long way around to get closer to them… does that really feel any better?

She turned to look out the subway window at the high-rise buildings bathed in the golden glow of sunset. Her expression was tinged with helplessness.Drawing was never a good career path—especially not once AI becos mainstream. And being a manga editor felt like an entirely different world from being a mangaka.

Honestly… she’d chosen the wrong track.

Today, Tang Yao had run all over upscale neighborhoods—even made a trip to a well-known rich district in the city. But those kinds of places? She couldn’t afford to live there.

The truth was, her apartnt was in a remote part of town. After getting off the subway, she still had to ride the bus for about ten more stops.

Because rent was too expensive.

This city, coincidentally also called “Modu” just like in her previous life, may have had a different layout, but it was still a big city. And that ant real estate prices were through the roof.With her current salary, she couldn’t even afford a bathroom stall in the city center.

Right now, she rented a place way out in the southern suburbs, close to a crematorium…That’s why rent was cheaper than downtown.

But cheap was pretty much the only advantage.

Other than that, it was all downsides—old building, no elevator, inconvenient location…

But what could she do?

Sa old story—poverty forced her to swallow her pride.

—

After 7 PM, Tang Yao finally made it ho.Climbing seven flights of stairs left her a little out of breath as she fished out her key and opened the door.

The lights inside were already on.

She glanced around the room. The place wasn’t big. Even though it was cheaper than the city center, it still wasn’t exactly cheap, so she’d only rented a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom unit.

It was small—cramped, even. The bedroom and living room combined weren’t spacious. After placing a three-seat couch and a table in the living room, there wasn’t much walking room left.

Facing the living room was a narrow balcony that doubled as a kitchen. The only bedroom was on the left, but because the living room took up so much space, the bedroom was tiny.To leave a little room to move around, the only thing that fit was a bunk bed.

Still.

Small as it was, thanks to the sisters’ careful decorating, the place didn’t feel rundown. In the soft lighting, it was actually quite cozy.

So even though she was still catching her breath, Tang Yao felt a sense of comfort the mont she stepped inside.

Just then, from the room on the left, a girl walked out carrying a pile of clothes.

She had a face that shared about 60–70% resemblance to Tang Yao. Dressed in a simple white T-shirt and blue denim shorts, her long, fair legs looked especially pale under the light.

Despite the similar facial features, their vibes were completely different.

Compared to Tang Yao, this girl was much colder. Equally beautiful, but with a distant, unapproachable air.

Why did two sisters have such drastically different auras?

Tang Yao didn’t know either.

That’s right.

This was Tang Yao’s little sister in this world—Tang Kaoru.

“Kaoru.”

Tang Yao saw her holding the clothes—probably on her way to do laundry—and closed the door behind her before slumping onto the couch in exhaustion.

The girl paused but didn’t respond.She gave Tang Yao a once-over, as if checking for sothing, then silently walked into the cramped bathroom connected to the balcony.

About a minute later—

She ca back and sat down beside Tang Yao, looking over at her. “How was today?”

Her voice was light and clear.Just… a little cold.

“It was okay.”

Tang Yao was used to it. She leaned back into the couch and stared up at the ceiling light. “Just had a bit of work trouble.”

“…Oh.”

Tang Kaoru’s tense, beautiful face seed to relax a little. She looked away. “That’s good. I thought you were going to start talking nonsense again like last week. Sothing about dreaming.”

“……”

Tang Yao froze for a second.

To be honest…She really had been shaken up when she first got here.If it weren’t for this girl, she might not have made it through.

Because the whole situation was just too surreal.

“Oh, right. I talked to a doctor. They said your condition is caused by excessive stress.”

Her voice floated over again, calm and cool. “If you’re tired, you don’t have to worry about . I’ll start working once I graduate high school.”

“It’s not about stress.”

Tang Yao snapped out of it, stretched, and let out a lazy yawn. “Just focus on school. Don’t worry about the money.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“……”

Tang Kaoru glanced at her sister’s profile, then pulled out her phone and stopped talking.

Clearly, she didn’t agree and had decided to protest in silence.

Tang Yao thought for a mont, but didn’t say anything more.She kept staring at the ceiling, trying to unwind while thinking about what her next step should be.

As long as she had money, Kaoru would stop worrying.

So the two sisters sat in silence.A rare mont of peace for Tang Yao.

Because no one would bother them here.

As for their parents?

Well, they weren’t dead.

But they may as well have been.

Their father never showed up again after the divorce.And their mother… maybe she thought raising two daughters was too much trouble, or maybe the family she remarried into was obsessed with having sons.

Either way—

She abandoned them and disappeared from their lives.

A cliché, sad story.

Though Tang Yao inherited the original host’s mories, she couldn’t truly empathize. She just thought their parents were trash.

“You should go shower. The rice should be almost done.”

Kaoru’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

She stood up and put away her phone. “Your change of clothes is on the bed.”

Then, she went straight to the balcony and flipped on the light.

“Okay~”

Tang Yao temporarily set her work aside, grabbed the clothes, and hesitated before stepping into the bathroom.

—

Ten minutes later.In the bathroom.

Steam fogged up the small space, turning everything hazy.Even through the mist, her smooth, creamy skin shone like milk.

Tang Yao wiped away the water droplets and walked over to the mirror, swiping away so of the fog with her hand.Staring at her own blurry reflection, she looked thoroughly defeated.

Yep.

Humans were way too good at adapting.

Almost too good.

She’d even gotten used to this.

Seriously, there was no hurdle you couldn’t eventually get over.

Still deep in thought, she unwrapped the towel that barely covered her shapely curves and perky chest.Her cheeks flushed pink as she quickly dressed and stepped out of the bathroom.

The steam poured out with her, swirling in the light and giving the room a hazy, intimate vibe.

—

Back in the living room.

Tang Kaoru had already set the food on the table. Simple dishes.

One plate of stir-fried eggs with green peppers, and a pot of braised pork.

Seeing her sister co out, Kaoru put down her phone and picked up a bowl.

But before scooping rice, she gave Tang Yao—still dripping from the shower—a look from head to toe.Finally, her gaze landed on her chest. “Doesn’t that feel uncomfortable? There’s no one else here.”

“None of your business.”

Tang Yao blushed and sat down on the couch.

Kaoru looked down and started scooping rice. “Also, you don’t have to wash your hair every ti. Isn’t that a pain?”

“I have to.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Then just chalk it up to one of my quirks.”

“Definitely stress-related.”

“Stop. I don’t want this ‘quirk’ to turn into another excuse for you to quit school.”

“……”

Kaoru said nothing else. She handed over a bowl of rice.

The two quietly finished their al.

Then Kaoru cleaned up and carried the dishes back to the balcony.

Tang Yao ran her fingers through her damp hair. After a mont of hesitation, she stood up and walked into their shared bedroom.

She needed to do sothing after dinner. Otherwise, she’d fall asleep.And she was very lazy.

The sisters’ bedroom really was tiny.

But since they had a bunk bed, there was still room for a desk. A single-person computer desk faced the bed, cluttered with manga magazines, sketch paper, and all kinds of pencils.

Tang Yao pulled out the chair, stacked the magazines by her feet, picked up a sheet of drawing paper, and began thinking.

She was definitely quitting—eventually.But she still had to stick around a little longer…

Like Li Xue said, once the lazy editor-in-chief’s own interests were at stake, he’d turn into a monster.So if she wanted to ride this out with minimal drama, she had to fix a few things.

She’d already done her best with Mr. Ou and Mr. Shao.

If they wanted to self-destruct, so be it.

Yeah, it’d add pressure—especially with the bloodbath coming next issue thanks to Mr. Ou…

But the whole departnt already knew what that guy was like.That’s probably why they dumped him on her.

It was manageable.

But the manga award situation? That was trickier.

It made her look like she couldn’t get anything done.

And if it got too bad… she might actually get fired.

So she needed to fix at least one of the sses.

There was no way she could handle Mr. Ou.

Which left only the manga award.

There were only two options:Go back to the mangaka who bailed on their promise—Or find soone else of equal stature to submit a piece.

But honestly, she didn’t want to do either.

She was too tired to deal with that crap.

So she picked a third option—She’d draw it herself.

Yep.

When she told Li Xue she’d “give it a try,” she didn’t an finding a replacent author.

She ant drawing it herself.

After all…She had been a professional artist in her previous life.

Even if she didn’t want to draw now.