"If you don't want to go, just let me know."
Eriri pretended to be nonchalant, looking away, though her voice had a hint of disappointment.
Akifumi Mugiho snapped back to reality and smiled again.
"Now that I think about it, the last time I had Aunt Sayuri's cooking was after middle school graduation. It's been so long, I can't turn down such a rare chance."
"Is it lunch or dinner on Saturday?"
"Lunch."
"Please tell Aunt Sayuri I'll definitely be there on time."
"Mm."
Eriri nodded, her face lighting up with visible happiness.
"See you on Saturday."
With that, Akifumi Mugiho stood up, ready to leave.
"Wait."
Akifumi Mugiho turned around, confused, only to meet Eriri's nervous gaze, like a frightened deer.
She opened her mouth, then gathered the courage to speak.
"By the way... what did you want me to go do with you earlier?"
"Don't get the wrong idea! I wasn't asking you to go with me. I just came to find you. Since I don't have other plans today, I thought I could keep you company for a while if that's okay with you."
Seeing her avoid his gaze, with her neck turning pink and her lips forming a little "~,"
Akifumi Mugiho paused, then walked back to her. He gently lifted her chin with his right hand.
With a playful tone, he said, "So, Eriri, do you want to come to my place?"
Her face, now only a few centimeters from his, turned bright red, and her mind went blank for a moment.
Seeing her freeze, Akifumi Mugiho closed the gap a little more.
Boom!
Her brain felt like it exploded.
But finally, under the pressure, Eriri snapped back to her senses.
Before she could fully register what had just happened, she instinctively bit down.
"Ugh."
The sting on his lips made him flinch.
As her grip loosened, Eriri glared at him, her eyes full of tears.
"Idiot! Pervert!!"
Watching her run off like a scared little rabbit, Akifumi Mugiho smiled, tasting the coppery tang in his mouth.
"This girl really doesn't hold back."
Maybe that's the price for acting on impulse.
"Knowing Eriri's personality, I wonder if she'll even be able to sleep tonight."
With a mischievous smile, Akifumi Mugiho thought to himself.
After all, that was his first kiss.
Even though it was spur-of-the-moment, Akifumi Mugiho didn't regret it.
When it came to tsundere types, a little action worked better than words.
At least, based on their past relationship, if it were anyone else, they'd probably be dating by now.
As a man, if he wasn't going to miss his chance, he had to be proactive in situations like this.
"I'll find a chance to apologize later."
Of course, apologizing was one thing, but whether it would actually change anything was another.
"What a pity."
Even though she didn't react at first, once he went for it, she bit him before he could fully enjoy it.
With those thoughts in his mind, he stayed in the classroom for a few more minutes, then grabbed his bag and left.
[011] The Newcomer is So Scary!
Time flies.
It's already been almost half a month since Akifumi Mugiho returned to school.
Life at school is pretty quiet.
Aside from studying, my daily routine mainly involves chatting with Kato, who sits next to me.
Maybe this kind of life feels boring for some students, but for Akifumi Mugiho, who's been through all kinds of social drama and the grueling 9-6 schedule in his previous life, this feels like a luxury, like going to a fancy club for some relaxation every day.
As for Eriri...
Let's just say the impact of our last encounter on her was much bigger than I expected.
Apart from that time I went to her house and said a few words to her, whenever we cross paths at school or elsewhere, she avoids me completely without even giving me a chance to talk.
Akifumi Mugiho just stays calm and doesn't push it.
After saying goodbye to Kato at the school gate like usual, Akifumi Mugiho turned around and left.
We live in different directions, so we don't cross paths on the way home.
It only took half an hour for Akifumi Mugiho to get back home.
For an average student, it would probably take at least an hour to get back to their home.
First thing first, I changed into pajamas and grabbed a can of Coca-Cola from the fridge.
"Phew."
Akifumi Mugiho let out a satisfied sigh, his face showing pure happiness.
'Finally, vacation starts today~'
Double the happinessit's amazing!
I lay down on the couch, turned on the TV, and started messing around with my phone.
Living alone is so simple and so good.
"Hey, are you all ready? The Tezuka Prize nominees will be announced tonight at 8 o'clock~"
Akifumi Mugiho froze when he saw the pinned message pop up.
'Wait, has it really been that long?!'
Thinking about it, it makes sense.
When I submitted my work, it was already near the end of the Tezuka Award period.
It's crazy how quickly time flew by.
"Time really flies!"
Compared to the slow-paced lives of office workers who drag through each day like it's a year, this time passed in a blink of an eye.
I sighed, feeling a bit sentimental, and checked the chat.
"Of course."
"I'm so nervous. I wonder if my name is on the list for this round of evaluations."
"For me, there's no way I'm not making it through this time! I'm totally confident!!"
"Munoya-san, you're really confident! I envy you."
"I think this is Munoya-san's second time participating in the Tezuka Award, right? Having experience is really lucky."
Reading through these messages, Akifumi Mugiho couldn't help but smile.
He casually typed a reply:
"You're all experienced seniors. Teasing Munoya-san like this is a little much."
"The one who should be nervous is someone like mean actual newbie."
This was a chat group similar to QQ, filled with people who were all passionate about the manga industry.
[TL Note QQ is one of Chinese social media site, its almost like Reedit]
Most of them were seasoned veterans who had been in the industry for years, with some even having experience with serializations.
Of course, over 95% were struggling, doing odd jobs to support their dream.
After all, compared to light novels, getting into the manga industry is much harder.
To get a better understanding of the manga industry in Japan, Akifumi Mugiho had joined a few random chat groups online.
But in the end, this was the only group he stayed in.
The other groups, though claiming to be for "manga artists," would end up talking about anything from school gossip to the latest hit dramas.
It was like how, in serious game groups, people only talk about games when there's an update.
It wasn't too surprising.
"Thanks for your help, Battlefront-kun! Senpai, stop teasing me. Even if this is my second time, if I had that much experience, then wouldn't the seniors who've participated five or six times be like grandpas?"
??
Whoa, now that's something! If you can talk, you might as well say more!
Veterans who had failed five or six times were already feeling down, and now Munoya-san was rubbing salt in the wound!?
The others who had spoken earlier just fell silent after Munoya's remark.
Whether they were caught off guard or were too nervous to speak, only they knew.
The silence lasted for about two minutes before Munoya broke it again with a new message.
"Eh? Did everyone go eat? The results are coming soon. How are you feeling, Battlefront-kun?"
Akifumi Mugiho snapped back to reality when he saw the new message.
How was he feeling?
Akifumi Mugiho thought about it for a moment, then typed, "A little nervous."
With his skills and the success of other magical girl genre that is already the market is relatively high, so passing the first evaluation was definitely no problem.
But still, it was his first submission in this world, so feeling nervous was only natural.
After Akifumi Mugiho's calming message, others began replying again.
"Ahaha, feeling nervous is totally normal. I remember when I first joined an event like this, I couldn't sleep at all!"
"Yeah, honestly, I wasn't this nervous even when I got my first serialization!"
"I wasn't this excited when my anime adaptation got confirmed either!"
??
Hold on, now they're all comparing experiences!?
Akifumi Mugiho couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Serialization confirmed? Anime adaptation?! Bowing down to the big shots in the front row!!"
"66666"
[TL Note "6" in Chinese has the same pronunciation as "" Which mean cool/brilliant/smooth/awesome, and when you put multiple "6" together is emphasize the meaning.]
"Too strong!! These big shots are terrifying!!"
"Wait, is the Tezuka Award really that hard? People with serialization and anime experience are still worried about passing the first evaluation?!"
"Pffhahaha, this guy is hilarious!"
Just when Akifumi Mugiho had started to feel frustrated, Munoya's sarcastic comment made him laugh out loud.
The two who had been showing off earlier now looked uncomfortable.
They didn't know whether to get mad or just stay quiet.
Meanwhile, the other newbies were trembling in fear.
One side had the super confident newbie who was sure he'd pass, while the other side had the veterans with real achievements.
They were too scared to speak. They didn't dare.
After a few seconds of silence, Munoya once again broke it with a confused message:
"Eh? Did everyone go out to eat again?!"
Akifumi Mugiho stopped smiling and shook his head.
"I really can't tell if this guy is pretending or if he's genuinely this innocent."
Well, if he's being devious, who cares? We're all anonymous here, after all.
But if he's actually that clueless, it's even more interesting.
...
Hours passed in the blink of an eye.
"Ding ding ding."
The alarm clock went off. Akifumi Mugiho put down his work, grabbed his phone, and opened the Shueisha website.
As the page loaded, the clock turned to exactly 8:00 PM.
The first thing that stood out on the page was the big, bold red text:
"First Evaluation List Confirmed."
He clicked it open.
[012] I made it too~
As the page switched, a list of names appeared. After scanning through it for a bit, Akifumi Mugiho finally found his submission at the very end.
48. Puella Magi Madoka Magica Note: Rankings are in no particular order, just randomly arranged.
Seeing his work had passed the first round, Akifumi Mugiho couldn't help but smile.
After all, in a competition like this, Madoka, is piece that doesn't really pick up steam until later on, didn't exactly have the best odds.
If he'd been eliminated, it wouldn't have been a huge surprise.
In just one chapter, the only thing he really had going for him was his years of experience from his previous life, plus the storyboard he'd built up in his mind, which already had a pretty mature style.
By constantly comparing it to his memories, he could inject more expression into the work.
"Anyway, no matter where you are, story isn't the only thing that gets judged."
Even though the Tezuka Award tends to focus more on story than art style, they wouldn't immediately dismiss someone like Akifumi Mugiho, who already had a solid style.
"Passing this first round means that even if I don't win, I'll at least get to meet and talk with the editors. Once I show them the next few chapters of Madoka, as long as they're not blind, I'm sure getting serialized won't be a problem."
With that thought, Akifumi Mugiho finally felt completely at ease.
He decided to take a break for the night instead of working.
After all, he'd been drawing non-stop for the past few days. Not only had he completed the first three chapters, but he was also nearly done with the fifth one!
[TL Note — It's official this guy is the flash lol]
"Right, that guy from earlier sounded so sure. Wonder if he made it through the review?"
If he didn't pass, he could already imagine how wild things would get in the chat group.
Curious and maybe a little amused by the drama, Akifumi Mugiho opened the group chat.
He noticed a bunch of new names that had joined recently, and now they were all chatting and complaining, making the conversation pretty lively.
"Results are up!!"
"Damn it, didn't make it again!"
"I didn't make it either, sob sob sob."
"Classic! The manga industry's brutal trial. Is it really this hard to pass?"
"Looks like I need a few more years to improve"
"Such a tough challenge by the way, has anyone here actually made it through?"
"Didn't Munoya say he definitely pass? he must've made it, right!?"
"@Munoya"
As expected, the drama came in full force.
There were always people who enjoyed watching things unfold, especially since that guy often made comments that were easy to dislike.
Sure, it was the truth, but sometimes the truth can sting.
"Hm? Didn't I already say I'd pass the review?"
Munoya replied, causing the group to explode with questions.
"??"
"Wait, really!?"
"Where's your name? If you passed, you should tell us which work it was, right!?"
But unfortunately, Munoya didn't respond to any of those questions.
"This guy is really sly, huh?"
There were always people like thatsneaky, with a dark side.
The saying "watching you make money feels worse than watching me lose money" wasn't just some random phrase. It was a real thing.
Thinking about it, most of the people in the group hadn't made it through the review. If they knew who had, wouldn't they start stirring up trouble behind the scenes?
Even if it didn't lead to anything, just the thought of it was kind of gross.
While thinking this, Akifumi Mugiho casually typed a message and sent it.
"Honestly, passing the review isn't that hard. I passed too, everyone~"
No hidden agenda, just wanted to share his little victory.
The people who had been mocking Munoya earlier were now flooding the chat with questions and doubt.
"???"
"Wait, isn't this guy named Battlefront a newcomer? Did they really join the group recently?"
"Not only that, but according to them, they're a complete rookie in the industry."
"This is the Tezuka Award from Shueisha! The top of the industry! A rookie passed it? /laugh"
"Anyone who doesn't reveal their name or work is a fraud."
"@Battlefront, is this some kind of joke? What's the point of tricking everyone?"
Seeing all the @ messages, Akifumi Mugiho just chuckled and shook his head.
