Time was already limited—and now, with the added burden of this part-time job, what little free time Lin Yu had left was being squeezed even further.
According to Nanako's estimation, even if he managed two pages a day, Lin Yu would still have to sacrifice his rest time to catch up.
"Lin-kun, at this rate, you'll burn yourself out... and the deadlines might be too much."
"If you're struggling, why not talk to me about it? I could speak with my supervisor... maybe there's a way to work something out."
Nanako genuinely cared. Lin Yu wasn't just some artist—he was the promising talent she'd personally discovered. Watching him wear himself thin for the sake of deadlines was the last thing she wanted. It would be tragic if such a brilliant story fizzled out due to overwork.
She could more or less guess why Lin Yu was still clinging to this sushi shop gig. If life was really that tight financially, maybe she could talk to her boss about advancing part of the manuscript fee. Even if it wasn't much, it might be enough to help him get by without the part-time job.
That way, he could protect his health and stay on track with the manga.
Seeing her concern, Lin Yu understood right away—this thoughtful, gentle girl had seen through his situation. But he didn't take up the offer. Instead, he simply smiled and shook his head.
"Did you forget how fast I was when you first saw me draw?"
Nanako blinked, then suddenly remembered that moment.
Back then, the thing that first caught her attention wasn't the story or plot of the manga—it was Lin Yu's absurd speed while drawing.
Only later, after diving into Inuyasha, did she become absorbed in the content and completely forget the shock of that first impression.
Noticing her still looking a little unconvinced, Lin Yu didn't bother explaining further. He just smiled, picked up his pen, and got to work.
Unlike most manga artists, Lin Yu didn't need to spend hours brainstorming plotlines, dialogue, or panel layouts.
Why?
Because what he was doing wasn't creating from scratch. It was tracing—copying from the system's reference lines, detail by detail.
Tracing, by definition, meant he just needed to follow what the system projected onto the paper.
The reason Lin Yu often spent extra time on drafts was simple—he wanted perfection. He'd redraw the same panel several times to refine it.
But even so, his speed still vastly outpaced artists who had to create everything from a blank page.
Nanako was about to press him again, but seeing Lin Yu already fully focused, she quietly sat down to observe.
Whether it was a novelist or a mangaka, once they entered the creative zone, they should never be disturbed.
This, Nanako had learned firsthand from her father, Ohara Shijirou.
Her father, when working on a story, would lock himself in his room all day just to avoid distractions.
"Nanako, about the—" Kanda Torinobu had just come out of the kitchen, ready to say something, when Nanako raised a finger to her lips and silently pointed at Lin Yu.
Seeing Lin Yu working so intently, Kanda nodded quietly and walked over to sit beside Nanako. Together, they watched him draw.
With every stroke of the pen, line after line emerged on the clean A4 paper.
As the once-blank page gradually filled with detailed artwork, Nanako's eyes widened. The amazement in her gaze was unmistakable.
Most manga followed a multi-step process: pencil sketches, rough layouts, clean lines, inking, shading...
Only after all that did a complete page come to life.
But Lin Yu? He skipped straight to the final stage.
No pencil. No rough sketches. Just ink on paper—clean, confident strokes from the get-go.
Thanks to the system's tracing assistance, he didn't even need to plan. It was like connecting the dots, except the dots were masterfully drawn outlines that he simply had to follow.
In short, it was idiot-proof.
Anyone with the system's help could do it. But Lin Yu, thanks to the "starter art skill gift pack" he received at the beginning, could pick it up faster and execute it better.
To Lin Yu, this was routine. But to Nanako, it was nothing short of shocking.
No rough drafts. Just straight-to-pen execution.
Even among famous mangaka, very few had the guts or skill to pull that off.
Clearly, he wasn't just winging it—his mental outline was already fully formed.
Otherwise, how could he draw so smoothly, without hesitation, as if even the dialogue had already been written in his mind?
Within an hour, Lin Yu had completed the first page of Chapter 2.
But without even glancing at it, he was about to crumple it up and toss it aside.
To him, these early pages were just warm-ups—practice for the real thing. To achieve perfection, he'd redraw the same scene several times.
But just as he was about to discard the page, Nanako's urgent voice called out.
"Lin-kun—can I see it?"
As his editor, she had the right to review his work. It wasn't just about oversight—it was often a way to help polish and improve things.
Seeing the anticipation in her eyes, Lin Yu assumed she was just curious about what happened next in Inuyasha, so he handed the page over casually.
"Take a look if you want. It's not the final version—I'm going to redraw it a few more times."
Nanako nodded and began to study the draft.
From her professional perspective, Lin Yu's line work was still a bit raw compared to industry veterans. But when it came to panel composition and storytelling...
It was already at an astonishing level.
Even if his style still needed refining, his sense of narrative structure and visual pacing were rock solid.
This was, without a doubt, the work of someone with real talent.
"Lin-kun…"
She wanted to say something more, but then noticed Lin Yu was already fully absorbed in drawing again.
What he was sketching now was the same page she held in her hand, but this time his strokes were more confident—faster, smoother, stronger.
Was he… a genius?
"Boo~! Nanako-neee-chan~ you're watching so seriously!"
Suddenly, a face popped up by the window—a yellow-hatted blur pressed against the glass with his chubby cheeks squished like mochi.
Shin-chan grinned from outside, wiggling his eyebrows and making kissy faces on the glass.
"Let me innn~ I wanna draw too~! I'll use my butt brush technique! Hehe~!"
BONK!
"SHIN-CHAN! I TOLD YOU NOT TO WANDER OFF!"
A slipper flew like a homing missile from across the street and smacked the boy square in the forehead.
And just like that, peace returned to the sushi shop.