The Crab Editorial Office.
"Didn't you hear me? Your doujinshi is trash! Just because a man and woman are together doesn't make it good doujinshi! You're underestimating the genre! Hmph... I can tell from your work that you're a virgin. Go get a girlfriend first, then come back and draw!"
H-how scary!
Satou-senpai is terrifying!!!
Orie, sitting at her desk in the Crab Editorial Office, shivered.
Under a shoulder-length, ash-blonde bob were a pair of sharp, capable, emerald-green eyes. Small, ivory-colored, circular cut-out earrings hung from her delicate earlobes. A bust that slightly eclipsed Orie's own was pushed high beneath a wide-collared shirt, half-concealing her collarbones beneath a black jacket. Tight trousers accentuated the curve of her hips and her long, slender legs.
The person sitting opposite Orie was Misa Satou, the so-called "Demon Editor" of the Crab Editorial Office.
As a new editor, Orie was learning from Misa Satou how to become a competent editor. Misa Satou was a demon to mangaka who missed their deadlines, yet she occasionally showed a gentle side to her junior colleagues.
After finishing the call, Misa glanced at Orie. "You need to make the mangaka fear you, make them scared to cross the absolute deadline you set, and submit their manuscripts obediently. Only then can you become a qualified editor."
"Y-yes... I... I understand, Satou-senpai!" Orie answered, sitting up straight.
Misa Satou looked at Orie's cautious demeanor with a hint of helplessness.
"When is Rin Ito arriving?"
Orie checked the time. "Ito-sensei told me he has already left. If there isn't too much traffic, he should be arriving soon."
Misa nodded and resumed her calls to chase manuscripts.
Before long, Rin Ito skillfully walked into the editorial office and approached the desks of Orie and Satou.
"The only thing you need to worry about is the submission deadline..."
Rin Ito listened to Misa chastise the mangaka for a while with a slight smile. Before Orie joined the Crab Editorial Office, Misa Satou had been Rin Ito's editor. However, Rin Ito had never experienced the side of Misa that other mangaka called "demonic." Because he was so short on money, Rin Ito submitted his manuscripts exceptionally early, never missing a deadline, and sometimes even daring to reverse the dynamic by pressing the editorial office to arrange the layout faster.
After Orie was hired, Misa treated Rin Ito like a "newcomer's gift pack" and handed him over to Orie.
Rin Ito waited until Misa put down the phone before speaking. "Is there something you need help with, Misa-san?"
Misa lifted her eyes and looked at Rin Ito with a detached gaze. It wasn't because she disliked Rin Ito; it was simply her consistently cool and businesslike nature.
"Orie told me you have a friend who wants to print a small batch of doujinshi and you want me to introduce you to a printing company, right?" Misa crossed her legs and folded her arms across her chest. She didn't beat around the bush; Misa always maintained a professional attitude.
"Mhm."
"I can certainly give you an introduction, but if you and your friends work with the editorial office, not as individuals, but under the name of a doujin circle, the editorial office can let you print at our contracted price."
"A circle, huh... no problem."
A circle simply referred to an amateur group. Forming a circle was fine even for one or two people, let alone two or three. No formalities were needed; they just had to come up with a name. Even Rin Ito's current manga serialization only used a prefix before his pen name.
Under a circle name, if Mashiro and Sagiri didn't want to be credited individually, they could just use the circle's name. Sagiri was fine, but Mashiro was publicly known online. While using her real name for regular manga was acceptable, it wasn't quite appropriate for doujinshi.
Furthermore, Rin Ito wouldn't need to contact the printing company; he could just hand the original manuscripts to the editorial office, and they could print them alongside the magazine. By piggybacking on the volume of the editorial office's magazine, the printing cost could be suppressed significantly. The printing company might even print at cost as a favor to the editorial office.
Misa had considered everything for Rin Ito, but Rin Ito didn't think he had that much influence.
Misa had previously mentioned needing a favor from Rin Ito.
"Do you know 'Bitch Chicken Butt'?"
"Chicken Butt...? You mean the one with the pen name 'Thick-Skinned Chicken Butt'?" Rin Ito thought for a moment, recalling the pen name from the Etsurakuten magazine.
"Yes, her. Today is her deadline, but all of her assistants are unavailable... go help her out."
"Assistant? What kind of work? Drawing backgrounds, or just inking and coloring?"
The work of a mangaka's assistant generally consisted of non-creative tasks like inking, drawing backgrounds, filling in solid blacks, or adding screen tones. After mangaka finished the draft, they would hand these tedious and time-consuming tasks over to assistants. For example, an author who has never been inside a girl's room might need to draw such a scene, requiring extensive research and image searching, reducing their creative time. Many hand these tasks to assistants, like converting a photographed reference into a hand-drawn image before adding backgrounds or characters.
Background assistants are generally experienced veterans with strong drawing skills or struggling mangaka taking on the work for a living, while simple tasks like inking and filling blacks can be done by almost anyone.
As for Rin Ito... he never had the money to hire an assistant, so he did all the odd jobs himself. Assistant? What is an assistant? Can I eat it?
"I don't know. Go over there and check. If you have time, give her some guidance."
"Guidance? She's a serialized mangaka. I probably don't need to guide her, and she might even dislike my unsolicited advice."
"Her deadline is midnight tonight." Misa waved her hand. "Just go first. I'll send you her address shortly."
"Alright then..."
Rin Ito didn't argue further. It was only one day of work as an assistant. Compared to the anxiety of negotiating prices with a printing company, spending a day as an assistant was clearly worthwhile.
Leaving the editorial office, Rin Ito followed the location Misa sent and arrived at an apartment building. After confirming the address, Rin Ito took the elevator up to the 10th floor.
"Room 1004 on the 10th floor... found it."
Stepping out of the elevator, he followed the numbers to room 1004 and pressed the doorbell.
A burst of hurried footsteps came from inside, and as the door swung open, the voice of the room's occupant reached Rin Ito's ears.
"How late are you?! If you were any later, I might have—"
As the door opened wide, a busty girl in glasses, wearing a home short-sleeve shirt and shorts, flashed before Rin Ito's eyes. After seeing Rin Ito outside the door, she froze for less than 0.1 seconds before slamming the door shut with a loud BANG.
...What the hell?