Chapter 15: Manga, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
After a pause, Homura's heart began to itch with disappointment.
"What conditions? Just tell me, as long as I can do it," he assured.
"Don't worry, it's simple. When they come tomorrow, you have to do a live broadcast for me by phone," Sagiri proposed the condition.
Homura: "..."
'Live broadcast? Isn't this what happened when Jinno Megumi came? This is really Sagiri I knew.' Homura said inwardly, then he agreed, "Okay, I'll call you when I get home tomorrow."
By the way, there was no option to disagree, was there?
"Oh, Nii-san, just make sure you call me secretly, don't let them find out!" Sagiri added.
"Why secretly?"
Homura was puzzled.
Sagiri began to shoo him away, pushing him while saying, "Oh well! There's no reason! Just call me secretly."
'Without secrecy, who knows if those people will put on an act? I want to know their true faces,' Sagiri thought to herself.
Homura: "..."
Looking at Sagiri's tightly closed door, Homura was speechless. When he thought about it, he knew what Sagiri was thinking.
Sure enough, she's still too naive. Even Eriri probably could see through it, not to mention the Black-bellied-senpai and maybe Megumi?
However, Homura still decided to fulfill his little sister's request secretly, after all, he's a sis-con!
===
After setting up a room as an activity room, Homura returned to his own room and looked at Haru sleeping on the pillow. He didn't disturb her.
Sitting at his desk, Homura began to think...
The project plan has been made. Since he was going to make games; music was definitely necessary, which meant...he had to find a way to max out points in Piano and Composition?
Maybe even learn to sing, trigger the skill to appear, and max out vocal skills?
Homura shuddered at the thought.
How many skill points would that take?!
Even if he didn't max out everything, for the sake of his masterpieces work, Homura still wanted to maximize everything as much as possible...
Therefore, the most urgent matter is to... level up!
Homura looked at the System and the Mission Log was flashing...
===
[Main Mission]: Participate in the Newcomer Mangaka Contest of the Manke Weekly Magazine.
[Mission Objective]: Achieve a ranking within the top ten in the Newcomer Mangaka Contest of the Manke Weekly Magazine.
[Mission Reward]: Unknown (it will be based on the final ranking achieved in the contest).
===
"Now that the System has given a level-up method through the mission for me, and even the place to submit the work has been provided." Homura thought to himself and opened the computer, searching for information on Manke Weekly.
Through searching the internet, Homura learned quite a bit.
First of all, Manke Weekly is a weekly magazine under the Manke Bunko. Although it is not ranked in the top ten in Huaxia, it is one of the three major manga publishers in Penglai.
However, recently it has been a bit sluggish, with some of the serialized manga in the weekly being cut short, and some of the big and famous works are also about to end. Therefore, they have organized such a big competition.
The aim is to see if they can include some potentially promising works in the publication to solve the problem of the gap in the serialized manga.
Looking at the deadline for submission, it happened to be this weekend, with a minimum requirement of three chapters.
Homura: "..."
Fortunately, there is a System, otherwise, there is no way to make it in time!
"Moreover, it seems to be an internal evaluation, not a public vote!" Homura was a bit regretful. If it were a public vote, he could have earned some valuable experience in advance.
After understanding the situation, Homura closed the computer and took out his own manga tools.
Considering his age and other issues, Homura hesitated for a moment, then started to draw...
===
A cute girl with two red big bows tied on her head appeared in Homura's drawing. The girl blushed and shouted at the tall boy in front of her.
"No- No- No- No- Nozaki-kun! I have always been your fan!"
After the girl finished speaking nervously, she felt that something was off, 'Wait, I wanted to confess, why did I say it like this? I should say please date me, right?!'
Just as she was about to continue speaking, the boy clapped his hands and had a sudden realization expression.
He took out a marker and a signing board, and after a few clever moves, he handed the signing board to the girl, saying, "Please take this."
The girl instinctively took it, then realized what had happened, feeling helpless.
Sakura Chiyo, 16 years old, confessed to the person she likes and got his signature...
===
Yes, that's right.
The work that Homura is preparing to submit is "Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun", a highly praised work that almost all viewers have watched multiple times after its anime adaptation.
The male protagonist, Nozaki Umetarou, is a rigid character, but he is actually a talented shoujo mangaka.
The female protagonist, Sakura Chiyo, is a naive and adorable girl who always becomes the victim of the mangaka's quirky thought process, despite failing in her confession.
The romantic comedy between the two is presented in a way that makes people unconsciously pity poor Chiyo, but also unable to help but laugh until their stomachs ache, and even laugh until their abs hurt...
In addition, the group of people with distinct personalities around Nozaki Umetarou and Sakura Chiyo also makes people cry and laugh at their funny and bizarre daily lives. Overall, it is a rare and excellent work of romantic comedy.
The only regret is when poor Chiyo can achieve her romantic goal and convey her feelings...
Let's laugh for a while first, and then continue to cheer for Chiyo!
===
With the blessing of Level 9 Comic Skill, Homura quickly finished two chapters. Looking at the finished manga manuscript, he was not very satisfied.
"I should be able to be faster and more proficient!" Homura shook his head and sighed, "I still need to practice more and thoroughly absorb the skills given by the System and make them my own!"
Putting the manga away and into a folder, Homura placed it aside and planned to draw a bit more tomorrow before submitting it the day after tomorrow.
After finishing his nightly routine, Homura lay down on the bed.
After looking at his little one and smiling slightly, he turned off the light and looked forward to tomorrow's arrival in his dreams...
Once Homura fell asleep, Haru the cat, moved to his face and rubbed against it before going back to sleep.
In the darkness, only the breathing of the man and cat echoed faintly...
===
The next morning, the two of them, Homura and the cat finished breakfast.
Homura prepared his own lunch bento box and also Sagiri's and Haru's lunch. After bidding them farewell, he went to school.
Along the way, Homura watched the falling sakura. Although they were not abundant, his mood was still good.
When he arrived at school, he went into the classroom and greeted Tomoya. Then, he walked to his own seat and said to the figure next to him, "Good morning, Kato."
"Good morning, Minamiya-kun," Kato Megumi replied. She glanced at Homura and asked, "Are you in a good mood today, Minamiya-kun?"
"Oh? Can you tell? You're really amazing, Kato!" Homura exclaimed in amazement.
He didn't think he was that obvious, but Megumi, being perceptive as she was, immediately noticed.
"Since you can tell, can you also guess why?" Homura smiled and asked for her opinion.
Megumi tilted her head and replied, "It's probably because of the club activities, right?"
"Yes... today is the first club activity," Homura murmured to himself, looking forward to the end of the school day.