The next day, Hisashi arrived at Akira's manga studio downstairs as promised, with several books tucked under his arm.
These were books he had prepared for him, professional texts on storyboard creation.
And this time, besides himself, there were also the three assistants he had promised to bring.
"Mr. Sasaki, is it really here...?"
Looking at the high-end apartment building located in Minato Ward before them, a young man with long hair, Terashima Shota, asked hesitantly.
A place like this, one look and you know it's not something a so-called newcomer manga artist could afford, right?
"The rent in a place like this must be very expensive!"
On the other side, the young man with the spiky hair, Miyazaki Hayato, sighed with envy:
"As expected of a genius manga artist who could start serialization in Shonen Jump with his very first work!"
"Alright."
Hisashi signaled for them to be a little quieter, then said to the two with a serious expression:
"Miyazaki, Terashima. You should already know about Mochizuki-sensei's situation."
"I can say responsibly that he is a true genius!"
"Therefore, never look down on him because of his age. Furthermore, an opportunity like this to observe and learn by his side is very rare, you must seize it."
Hearing the seriousness and warning in Hisashi's words, the two became a little nervous and responded solemnly:
"Yes!" x 2
At the same time, information about Akira involuntarily surfaced in their minds—
Akira, a pure newcomer who had not debuted before this.
And the first manga he created won the serialization qualification for Shonen Jump with a strong, unanimous vote at the serialization meeting!
More importantly, he is only 18 years old this year!
Such terrifying talent.
Such terrifying ability.
As newcomer manga artists who had debuted with short stories through monthly awards and had been in the manga industry for a while, they deeply understood how fierce and cruel the competition in this industry was.
Under these circumstances, Akira's achievements seemed so exaggerated in their eyes that it was unimaginable; surely even manga wouldn't dare draw it like that?!
They even felt that 'genius' was no longer enough to describe him.
He was simply a monster!
Now that they were about to meet him, they couldn't help but start imagining what he looked like.
Watching the two newcomers, Hisashi sighed slightly and turned to the other person beside him:
"Tanaka-kun, in any case, I'll leave these two in your care."
"Please rest assured."
Tanaka Daisuke nodded calmly with a smile, his mature demeanor completely different from the other two newcomers.
Seeing this, Hisashi felt a bit more relieved:
"Alright, let's go."
---
"Mr. Sasaki, you've arrived."
Opening the door and seeing Hisashi, Akira greeted him with a smile, while also noticing the three people standing behind him.
The three also noticed him.
Although they knew he was only 18 before coming, they were still slightly stunned after actually seeing him.
He really is so young!
But—
Being young is one thing, but why is he such a super handsome guy?!
Handsome and talented, is this really reasonable?
Then what are they?
Akira didn't understand the psychological changes of the three, nor did he know that his deeds had already spread widely in the manga industry, becoming a legendary topic.
If he had known, he would definitely correct one error—
It wasn't his first work that passed serialization, but his second.
Back to the point.
After inviting everyone into the living room, without waiting for him to ask, Hisashi took the initiative to introduce them:
"This is Tanaka-kun, who will serve as the main assistant, this is Miyazaki-kun, and this is Terashima-kun. You will be working together for a while."
He listened to Hisashi's introduction while matching their faces to their names one by one.
After Hisashi finished introducing, he smiled and introduced himself to the three:
"My name is Akira, the author of 'Fate/stay night'. However, it hasn't started serialization yet, so no one should have heard of it."
"In any case, please take care of me during this time."
"...The pleasure is ours, please take care of us, Mochizuki-sensei."
The experienced Tanaka Daisuke was the first to recover and replied calmly.
The other two also reacted belatedly and hurriedly replied:
"Please take care of us!" x 2
Although they had just started, Tanaka Daisuke soon showed the professional quality that allowed him to be the main assistant.
He first checked every piece of large equipment, then the various tools needed for drawing, and finally checked the supply reserves.
After confirming that everything was ready and nothing was missed, he asked:
"Mochizuki-sensei, before work begins, I would like to confirm which parts are completely handed over to the assistants, which parts you must draw yourself, and any ambiguous areas..."
As expected of a professional assistant whose salary is higher than two people, he is indeed very professional.
He sighed inwardly while answering the other's questions.
The work that needed to be completely handed over to the assistants was all low-technical, highly repetitive, and patience-testing work, such as blacking out, sticking tone sheets, lettering, etc...
Besides that, there were some background drawings of passersby or simpler backgrounds.
And for Tanaka Daisuke, the main assistant, he also hoped that he could help him complete some main background drawings.
Of course, he had already prepared the reference materials.
The story background of 'Fate/stay night' is set in the fictional Fuyuki City, but Fuyuki City itself has a reference prototype, which is Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture.
The so-called main background refers to some iconic buildings in Fuyuki City, as well as some locations that appear frequently.
During their exchange, Tanaka Daisuke even took out a pen and notebook to record, which was indeed very professional.
"...In that case, I basically understand."
After the information was verified, Tanaka Daisuke stopped his pen and asked with a smile:
"Then one last thing, can you let me see your manuscript, Mochizuki-sensei? I want to understand your drawing style."
"Of course."
He nodded with a smile:
"And as it happens, I finished the line draft for Chapter 4 yesterday, now I can directly..."
"...Wait!"
Seeing the exchange between Akira and Tanaka Daisuke go very smoothly, Hisashi had been standing by without speaking, smiling and letting them interact on their own.
But just now, he seemed to have suddenly heard something incredible from Akira's mouth, and he doubted if there was a problem with his ears.
So, he had to temporarily interrupt their conversation and confirm with Akira:
"What did you just say?"
"Uh..."
Akira blinked a little puzzledly, but then quickly reacted and smiled:
"I said, I have already finished the line draft for Chapter 4."
"...Huh?"
Confirming that his ears didn't seem to have any problems, Hisashi looked at Akira again, showing an 'Are you kidding me?' expression.
Seeing this, Akira pointed to his workbench and asked with a smile:
"Want to see it?"