The message notification sounded. Eriri happily opened it to view her Kouhai's work.
She had never felt this sense of accomplishment before… it felt really good to guide a Kouhai, almost like teaching a student.
There were only three images, but Eriri didn't mind.
She herself only had a superficial understanding of manga, and she just knew the basics about publishers.
So, in her mind, when she wanted to guide her Kouhai, the number of pages didn't matter much.
A few pages were fine to look at, dozens of pages were also fine...
However, when she opened the three pages, she couldn't help but be surprised.
The artwork wasn't extraordinarily refined or perfect, but the technique was skillful. It skillfully used a few panels to convey what it wanted to express.
And besides the paneling, it also contained a sense of simplicity expressing complexity.
It looked effortless, yet you could imagine the scene the artist wanted to portray in your mind.
Even Eriri herself felt she couldn't match this.
Her own doujinshi had paneling too, but she felt it wasn't used as well as this guy's.
After reading it, Eriri couldn't help but wonder.
"Is this guy really a newbie?"
She wasn't one to dwell on things, and if she had a question, she just asked it directly.
[Are you really a newbie? I'm genuinely surprised.]
[I really am a newbie! I just suddenly felt like trying to draw manga tonight, so I drew a few pages to try submitting and see if it gets accepted.]
[I think it's great! At the very least, your drawing skills are excellent. You should be able to get it accepted!]
The two chatted about drawing-related matters, then added each other as friends before logging off separately.
…
In Yusei's room at the Kazami Household.
Yusei exited the chat app, scratching his head in confusion.
'Why did it feel like the person I was just chatting with was somewhat naive? Or perhaps scheming?'
Actually, when he sent those three pages, his intention was implicitly telling her, [This is private, I won't show you the content I'm submitting.]
It was a clear refusal, but unexpectedly, the other party seemed to ignore it and chatted enthusiastically with him.
Not only did they discuss his manga, but many other topics as well.
This made Yusei truly unsure if the other person was pretending or genuinely naive, even more newbie-like than an actual newbie.
In the end, Yusei could only label her as a 'strange person'.
Soon, Yusei put these trivial matters aside and began practicing the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu's mind training technique.
Practice must not stop… that's for sure!
.....
Time flew by in the blink of an eye. A week had passed since the incident where Taiji suddenly attacked Utaha in the Kendo Club.
During this week, nothing major happened at Toyogasaki Academy. Everything was as usual, with the only change being the increasing training sessions at the Kendo Club to prepare for the upcoming competition.
But the news outside school was more eventful.
First, there was Taiji. He was detained for three days for suddenly attacking a police officer. Three days later, after his release, he paid a large sum of money to the Kasumigaoka Family as compensation.
Then, for some unknown reason, while recuperating at home, he got into an online argument with some gang members, bragging that he would kill them.
They exchanged addresses for a fight. Taiji, taking advantage of his parents being out at work, actually went to the agreed location on crutches.
Originally, the other side, seeing he was disabled, just planned to rough him up a bit, extort some money, and let him go.
But unexpectedly, Taiji seemed to have eaten gunpowder. Upon seeing them, he directly pulled out a knife and started stabbing.
The lead gang member was stabbed squarely. Naturally, the others ganged up on Taiji.
Just like that, Taiji, refusing to yield, stabbed one person to death while being beaten to death himself.
This incident briefly made it to the key coverage of Tokyo News a few days ago.
Especially topics like juvenile fights and school bullying, which had been dormant for a while, were once again thrust into major social controversy because of Taiji's death.
When Yusei saw this news, he smiled slightly without saying anything, because he was the mastermind behind it.
As for Utaha, after learning about it, she showed her concern for Yusei in her own way.
"Don't get beaten to death in a fight. (Be careful, don't get into conflicts with others)"
Clearly, the level of combat prowess Yusei had displayed last time made Utaha feel secure but also somewhat worried.
The worry, naturally, was that Yusei might act recklessly outside and provoke some gangsters or the like.
After all, two fists are no match for four hands.