"... Ahem."
Hisashi snapped back to reality and gave a forceful cough, struggling to maintain his composure as he took the manuscript from Akira to check it.
In truth, however, he was still immersed in the scene he had just witnessed and had no intention of focusing on the content.
Eventually, he couldn't help but ask Akira,
"Mochizuki-sensei, is your usual manga drawing speed... always this fast?"
"No, not really."
Akira smiled and answered truthfully,
"I'm usually not as focused as I was just now, so it might take a few minutes longer."
He certainly wouldn't draw like that under normal circumstances.
After all, maintaining such a high level of concentration throughout the entire process was mentally and physically exhausting.
Furthermore, he had taken a shortcut; to further increase his drawing speed, he had deliberately lowered the precision slightly.
Fortunately, the end result was still quite good.
A few minutes longer...
Everyone was speechless.
Indeed, for Akira, who could produce a line draft from scratch in twelve minutes, taking a few minutes longer was already considered a slow pace.
But that was still too exaggerated!
Yet, no matter how unbelievable they found it, the reality was right before their eyes, and they had no choice but to accept it.
Hisashi was the first among them to accept reality.
After all, as an editor, he hadn't created manga himself like the other three, so the shock he felt was ultimately not as profound as theirs.
From an editor's perspective, the greatest benefit of the ability Akira had just demonstrated was that he almost never had to worry about the author missing deadlines.
Moreover, since he drew manga so quickly, he would likely have more free time than other manga artists.
This meant Shonen Jump could invite him to participate in more events, reducing the awkward situation of 'not being able to find anyone to attend events because all the authors are busy rushing their manuscripts.'
Other than that, there didn't seem to be much else.
They couldn't just ask him to start another new serialized manga just because he drew quickly, could they?
Hmm... if it were a one-shot, that wouldn't be impossible...
But it certainly couldn't go beyond that.
Having considered these points, Hisashi finally regained his composure, but he couldn't help but smile as he looked at Akira.
At such an age, with such drawing skills and such talent...
Even without further improvement, as long as he could maintain this level, he was confident that Akira would surely become a pillar-level manga artist who could support Shonen Jump for the next thirty or even forty years!
Back to the main topic.
"—Anyway, that's that."
Akira smiled and steered the conversation back, saying,
"Alright, I think we should get back to business. Mr. Tanaka..."
"Yes!"
Daisuke nodded immediately, his tone now carrying a hint of respect.
Anyone working in the manga industry who had witnessed that scene would find it difficult not to feel respect, or even awe and admiration, for Akira.
It couldn't be helped; it really was too terrifying.
It wasn't just Daisuke; Hayato and Shota, who were standing behind him, only dared to sneak careful glances at Akira, not even daring to breathe too loudly for fear of attracting his attention.
Originally, their impression of Akira had just been that of a highly regarded genius manga artist.
Considering he was a few years younger than them, besides feeling shocked and envious, they had also secretly harbored the thought that they might be able to compete with him.
But now, they were completely humbled.
"Genius manga artist"? That was fake news—this guy was a manga monster!
However, Akira hadn't noticed them yet. He handed various materials regarding Kobe City to Daisuke and said with a smile,
"I will continue to handle the important backgrounds and buildings myself, but if possible, I would like to entrust a portion of that work to you in the future."
"I understand."
Daisuke nodded solemnly.
"I will familiarize myself with the drawing style for the backgrounds and buildings as soon as possible."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
He nodded in satisfaction.
Although it didn't take him much time to draw it himself, if it was work that could be delegated, why not delegate it?
Besides, this was someone he had specifically paid to hire.
At worst, he could just give them a raise once he had more money later; he wasn't going to be some kind of blood-sucking parasite.
"Also, Miyazaki-kun and Terashima-kun..."
"Yes!!" they both shouted.
Their spirited response actually startled him, and as he looked at them, he could visibly see their bodies tense up immediately.
Seeing this, he couldn't help but smile wryly.
It seemed that his earlier display of skill had been a bit too effective.
Still, he couldn't say much else. He turned back to Daisuke and said, somewhat sheepishly,
"Sorry, since this is my first time serializing a manga, I'm not really sure how to assign tasks to assistants, so I'll have to trouble you with that."
So, even he had things he wasn't good at.
Seeing Akira like this, Daisuke actually breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
"Of course. That's part of my job description."
Now, that's what you call professional!
Akira nodded in satisfaction and smiled at the other two.
"We're all rookie manga artists here. I wouldn't dare say I can guide you, so let's just learn from each other."
"In any case, whenever I'm free, feel free to come and ask me if you have any questions."
"Also,"
He paused, then smiled helplessly,
"Don't be as loud as you were just now. It's a bit scary."
"Yes!" they replied.
The two, like soldiers receiving orders, immediately lowered their voices by an octave. At the same time, they couldn't help but think to themselves:
This manga monster... maybe, perhaps, possibly... wasn't as scary as they had imagined?
After finishing the conversation with the three, Daisuke immediately entered work mode, taking Hayato and Shota to assign them their respective workstations and tasks.
As the three took their seats, the manga studio finally started to look like a proper workspace.
Seeing this, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.
He was really about to start serializing his manga now!
But getting back to business, he remembered something and looked at Hisashi.
"By the way, I should be able to finish the storyboard for Chapter 5 today. Should I send it to you via fax?"
"Uh..."
Hisashi was momentarily stunned, his expression turning strange.
Since becoming an editor at Shonen Jump, he had chased countless authors for manuscripts, but this was the first time he had been urged by an author to review one—it was completely upside down.
He had to admit, this experience was truly novel.
Or perhaps, bizarre?
Sure enough, if you live long enough, you really do see everything.
He sighed inwardly, then nodded.
"Of course."
Although Shonen Jump emphasized a deep, one-on-one bond between author and editor, he actually had many other responsibilities and couldn't run over here every day, so using a fax machine was necessary.
However, after thinking it over carefully, he turned to Akira and said,
"Actually, I don't think you need to rush the storyboard for Chapter 5. Before that, let's just focus on finishing Chapter 4 first."
As soon as he finished speaking, he couldn't help but smile wryly.
An editor telling an author not to rush to submit a manuscript—what kind of situation was this?