Eriri couldn't help but send a message, praising him.
"I really admire you for being able to stay true to your original intention. If I could make it big, I definitely wouldn't draw anymore."
"Eriri, what the hell are you talking about! How can you say that to your innocent fans?
Those adorable people look forward to seeing our new works every day. Abandoning them like this, doesn't your conscience hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt at all."
Eriri replied as if it were obvious. If her mind wasn't filled with trashy ideas,
if her comics didn't naturally develop into explicit storylines, preventing her from conceiving good stories, she would have changed careers long ago.
Now that Tanaka Masao has a good story, she just needs to draw according to his plot.
Moreover, she found that drawing comics with him was not only fun, but her drawing skills had also improved significantly.
Most importantly, she was drawing comics that she could proudly show, without hiding; it didn't matter if others knew about them openly.
So, she somewhat liked her current life.
Eriri was unwilling to go back.
"Eriri, you've truly disappointed me. Have you forgotten our old oath!
Once an adult manga artist, always an adult manga artist.
As adult manga artists, we should dedicate ourselves and let readers see the best stories."
"Hey, hey, we're just the most vulgar adult manga artists, okay? Don't make it sound so grand.
We're just using the trashy ideas in our heads to satisfy those guys' evil desires."
"Alright, alright, since you put it that way, then I won't satisfy your evil desires."
With that, Tanaka Masao casually picked a few exciting scenes from the adult manga that the system had given him this time and sent them to Eriri.
On the other end, Eriri's eyes widened instantly when she saw the images.
Her breathing became a little heavy, her face turned red, and her body felt warm.
"Holy moly, the quality is still so good this time! Hurry, what about the rest? Send them to me quickly..."
After waiting a few seconds, the somewhat impatient Eriri noticed that he hadn't replied yet and urged him.
"Hey, say something! Quickly send me the rest of the content."
Another ten-odd seconds passed, and he still hadn't replied. Eriri started to get anxious.
"Hey, Tanaka, please, can you send me the rest?"
"Masao, I beg you, just let me see it. You've piqued my interest, and without seeing the rest, it feels like I have ants crawling all over me.
It's so itchy and uncomfortable.
Please, just let me see one, just one will do."
No matter how Eriri pleaded and demanded from Tanaka Masao, Tanaka Masao ignored her.
Hmph, how dare you look down on us simple readers of adult manga. You deserve to suffer the punishment of not being able to see the adult manga...
On the other end, Kasumigaoka Utaha sat on her bed, phone in hand, nervously shaking her leg.
"I've kept Junior Tanaka waiting for a full two minutes and thirty seconds. It's been a long time; he must be very anxious now."
Tanaka Masao was not anxious; instead, Kasumigaoka Utaha was getting a little anxious.
On one hand, deliberately not replying to a message while holding the phone and waiting is inherently a somewhat painful experience.
On the other hand, she was curious about the new novel Tanaka Masao mentioned he was writing and wanted to read it quickly.
After some hesitation, Kasumigaoka Utaha made a decision.
"I'll just keep Tanaka Masao waiting for another thirty seconds. Hmph, not replying to his message for a full three minutes should be a severe punishment."
She counted almost second by second, and when the thirtieth second arrived, a look of joy appeared on her face.
The time had finally come!
Kasumigaoka Utaha typed her reply almost immediately.
"Has Junior already written a new novel? That was fast. I happen to be free, so I can take a look at your new work."
Looking at the message she sent, Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded in satisfaction.
The language was reserved, showing that she wasn't very eager to read the novel, but merely wanted to pass the time because she was idle.
She also used somewhat ambiguous words, subtly teasing Tanaka Masao about his speed.
However... why had three seconds already passed, and Tanaka Masao still hadn't replied to her message?
Shouldn't he be glued to his phone, replying instantly?
Ten seconds have passed now, and he still hasn't replied to my message.
I know, is he playing hard to get with me?
Heh, how interesting. Do you think you can manipulate me like this? Too naive.
It's just a reply, I wasn't really looking forward to it.
Don't think I'm so easy to deal with. You want to outlast me, huh? I have plenty of time... "Ah, he replied!"
Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had been muttering to herself, immediately perked up.
"So, you're finally willing to reply to me? You actually dared to make me wait twenty seconds, how outrageous.
In that case, I'll make you wait twenty seconds too.
Never mind, ten seconds will do. After all, I've already punished him."
She looked at the message Tanaka Masao sent and pondered how to reply.
"Kasumigaoka Senior, this novel hasn't been officially released yet. If you want to read it in advance, you'll have to pay a price."
Seeing this message, Kasumigaoka Utaha frowned slightly.
What did he mean by paying a price? Did he want her to give him benefits? Did he think this would scare her? She was an experienced woman.
"Is Junior looking for *that kind* of reward? How bold. But if Junior's novel can satisfy me, it's not entirely out of the question."
She used her most adept ambiguous and suggestive language, toying with his nerves.
"What kind of reward? Actually, I don't need it. You'll know what price you have to pay once you finish reading, Kasumigaoka Senior."
After sending this message, Tanaka Masao directly sent the novel's plot in sections within the chat box.
The system thoughtfully provided an electronic version of the novel, allowing him to simply copy and paste, without the effort of typing.
And the novel he sent to Kasumigaoka Utaha was "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day."
Kasumigaoka Utaha didn't have time to ponder what price she would have to pay before she saw the novel content sent by Tanaka Masao. She cast aside her distractions and began to seriously read the novel.
At the beginning of the story, Menma, a lonely girl without friends, was invited by Jinta to join his small group.
The girl played video games with her friends for the first time, and they laughed, played, and messed around together every day.
They even found a dilapidated house in a nearby forest to use as their secret base.
A carefree childhood is always joyful and yearned for.
But such a time could not last forever. As they spent more time together and grew older, the boys and girls developed other feelings besides friendship.
When Naruko asked if Jinta liked Menma, this joyful and beautiful small group reached its turning point.
Jinta, out of shyness, chose to use the most hurtful words to hide his feelings, uttering words he would regret for the rest of his life.
"Who... who would like that ugly monster."
Menma only managed a forced smile in response.
In this awkward atmosphere, Jinta fled in a panic. Only after calming down did he realize his mistake and thought he needed to apologize.
Unfortunately, he never got the chance, because Menma, while chasing after the fleeing Jinta, lost her footing and fell into the water, never to wake up again.
Menma's death dealt a heavy blow to the small group; everyone believed her death was related to them.
The original small group also fell apart.
Kasumigaoka Utaha's heart clenched when she read this. She could imagine how devastating Menma's death was for Jinta; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was completely crushed.
At the same time, she was curious about how the subsequent plot would develop. After all, Menma was the heroine, so if she died at the beginning, what would happen next?
Would a girl who strongly resembled Menma appear later, gradually opening up the male protagonist's closed heart?
This seemed to align with Tanaka Masao's earlier line, "Later, someone was three-tenths like you, and I lost my composure."
But was it really okay for someone to be a substitute? Or could some event allow the substitute to surpass the 'white moonlight' in his heart?
With all sorts of questions and curiosities, Kasumigaoka Utaha continued to scroll down.
And then she found that there was no more!