To be honest, he had also dreamed of becoming a manga artist in his youth, but after learning about the state of the manga industry, that thought never surfaced again.
Because he didn't like suffering, much less looking for trouble, and more importantly, he felt he didn't have the ability.
But now, becoming a manga artist was the obsession of the Original Owner before he died, and for the current him, helping the other party realize this wish didn't seem impossible.
While checking the Original Owner's memories just now, he also noticed that he hadn't simply traveled back to the past, but had crossed over to a parallel world that was largely the same as his previous world, yet different in many ways.
For example, in the Original Owner's memory, some characters and works he was familiar with were missing, while some unfamiliar characters and works were added.
More importantly, he discovered his cheat.
When people remember things, they usually can't clearly recall the images and details they've seen in the past, but now he could. And if he wanted to, he could even see every single hair on the faces of the people in his memories.
Not only that, his memory had also been enhanced; even things from his childhood that he had long forgotten could now be easily recalled.
It's just that some things really didn't need to be remembered again.
Thinking of the dark history of his childhood that he accidentally saw just now, his face instantly darkened.
But then again:
"Not bad at all."
Confirming that he had a cheat, he showed a satisfied smile, and his confidence instantly grew a lot.
Back to the topic.
Regarding becoming a manga artist, he suddenly thought that even taking a step back and setting aside his personal wishes for a moment, there was still an important question.
Had he inherited the Original Owner's drawing ability?
After all, unlike the Original Owner, he had no talent for drawing to speak of. If he hadn't inherited the Original Owner's drawing ability, then this matter might end right here.
Of course, relying on the works of future generations in his mind, he might be able to find a highly skilled artist to debut as a duo, but that would probably be far from what the Original Owner hoped for, and it wouldn't be worth it for himself either.
If I'm going to copy, wouldn't it be easier for me to copy novels?
In short, to confirm this issue, he left the bathroom and came to the living room, or what could also be called the bedroom.
In this studio apartment of only twenty square meters, the bedroom and living room were integrated, and the furniture was placed quite crampedly. Even so, the bathroom and toilet were still separated, and the bathroom still had a bathtub for soaking, which was something he hadn't expected.
Soaking in a bath is truly an inexplicable obsession for the Japanese.
Due to the cramped space, the Original Owner's manga drawing desk was almost seamlessly pressed against the bed.
Piles of manuscript paper, various drawing tools, and books were messily placed together on the desk. The trash can under the desk was filled with crumpled rejected manuscripts, and some balls of scrap paper had overflowed and were scattered around the trash can.
Coming to the desk, a very thick-looking magazine immediately caught his eye: Weekly Shonen Jump.
Because Golden Week had caused Shonen Jump to release a combined issue, the one in front of him was the latest combined issue, Weekly Shonen Jump No. 21. The color cover seemed to be Yu-Gi-Oh!, but unfortunately, he wasn't very familiar with the characters of Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Taking a regular issue as an example, with 20 serialized manga and some short stories, plus color pages, ads, events, questionnaire cards, and other bits and pieces, the total number of pages in Weekly Shonen Jump is about 500, and its thickness is similar to a brick.
And such a huge manga magazine only costs 220 yen!
What does that mean?
Currently in Tokyo, the legal minimum hourly wage is 698 yen. In other words, by working for just one hour, the earned wages can buy three copies of Weekly Shonen Jump.
"...That's crazy!"
He couldn't help but exclaim.
You should know, in his previous life, he couldn't even buy those pirated manga collections for this cheap, let alone this is Shonen Jump!
Originally, considering that Japan has a population of only over a hundred million, the sales of several million copies per issue for Shonen Jump always felt a bit exaggerated, but now he instead felt that several million copies was a bit low.
Being able to buy a manga magazine of this quality at this price, who could resist buying it until it's sold out?
After picking up the magazine, he suddenly found that the weight was much lighter than he had imagined. This was probably due to the use of relatively low-quality paper to save on production costs.
He flipped through it casually and soon saw a manga he was more than familiar with: One Piece.
However, for domestic readers, One Piece was its more widely known name.
One Piece started serialization at the end of 1997, and it has only been a little over a year until now, but it has already become the undisputed new pillar of Shonen Jump.
At this time, probably no one would have thought that this pillar could continue to stand for more than twenty years without falling.
One Piece had already been serialized to Chapter 85, and the story was in the East Blue Saga. At this point, the plot of Luffy leading the others to attack Arlong Park to avenge Nami was unfolding.
The title of Chapter 85 was "Three-Sword Style vs. Six-Sword Style," mainly describing the battle between Zoro and Hatchan, and at the end, it led into the next battle between Sanji and another fishman.
But compared to Hatchan, who still appeared later, Sanji's opponent Kuroobi was a complete extra.
If it weren't for his cheat, he probably wouldn't even have remembered the other person's name.
Moreover, looking at One Piece in front of him, he felt somewhat between laughter and tears.
He had followed it for over ten years in his previous life, and seeing that in a few more years he might finally see the day it ends, only to be suddenly sent back to 1999 and have to wait another few decades, who could stand that?
But then again, in this life, he might have the chance to get to know Oda and give him suggestions regarding problems that existed in the future, thereby creating an even better One Piece.
Maybe not even just One Piece, but also some other manga.
In addition, besides the aforementioned Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece, there were many other works currently being serialized in Shonen Jump that would become famous in the future:
Rurouni Kenshin, Hunter x Hunter, Hikaru no Go, Shaman King, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind...
Every one of those mentioned above was a famous work well known to countless people in the future.
And if he remembered correctly, The Prince of Tennis and Naruto would also officially start serialization this year.
"Another golden age..."
He sighed again, suddenly feeling that if he could serialize in Jump and compete on the same stage with these authors, it seemed...
No, no, no. I should think carefully about this one thing!
He shuddered, shaking his head frantically to regain his sanity, and at the same time remembered the business he originally intended to do.
So he put down the magazine for the time being, sat at the desk, and skillfully pulled out a blank manuscript paper from the messy tabletop based on the Original Owner's memory, then turned his gaze to the various pens in front of him.
Pencils are usually used for sketching, blue gel pens for drawing perspective and effect lines, G-pens for drawing characters, maru-pens for fine details, school pens for drawing backgrounds, brushes for inking...
Various knowledge and techniques about drawing surfaced in his mind. He thought for a moment and chose to pick up the G-pen.
The moment his fingers touched the G-pen, he naturally assumed the most comfortable grip. At the same time, a strange sensation came over him; the pen in his hand didn't feel like an external object but had become a part of his own body.
This feeling...
It was really hard for him to describe his current state. Although he hadn't started drawing yet, it felt like it was already in the bag.
Well, let's give it a try anyway.
But what should I draw?
He looked down at the blank manuscript paper in front of him and fell into deep thought again.
With a G-pen, it's naturally best to draw characters, but at this moment, the images of countless classic characters flashed through his mind, making it a bit difficult for him to decide.
But just then, the image of one character suddenly froze for some reason and lingered in his mind.
Next, his hand, as if receiving a command, dipped into the ink and drew clean and beautiful lines on the manuscript paper with fluid motions. Before long, the image of a beautiful young girl appeared vividly on the paper.
The girl was dressed in armor with her hands resting on a sword. Her lips were pressed tight, her brow slightly furrowed, and she gazed forward with a clear and chilling look. She was beautiful and restrained, yet the ahoge on her head gave her a playfulness that was the exact opposite of her serious expression.
Looking at the beautiful girl he had drawn, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, then sighed self-deprecatingly:
"Sigh, Tsukihime fan."
The fame of this beautiful girl needed no explanation. After more than twenty years since her creation, she was still an ultra-popular character known and loved by countless people until the time he crossed over. Even many outsiders were no strangers to her existence.
She was one of the heroines of the visual novel Fate/stay night, developed by Type-Moon, and first released on the PC platform on January 30, 2004: Artoria Pendragon.
"But it's actually Artoria?"
He was a little surprised.
Although Artoria's popularity was beyond doubt, in fact, in the work Fate/stay night, he liked the other heroine, Tohsaka Rin, more than Artoria.
Even so, he had still subconsciously drawn Artoria, which was enough to show the classic nature of this character from another perspective.
And beyond the character, he immediately noticed one thing.
The Artoria he drew was in the standard Takeuchi Takashi art style, looking as if Takeuchi Takashi himself had drawn it.
From the first stroke to the completion of the drawing, the whole process didn't seem to exceed five minutes. Moreover, during the entire process, his hand was as steady and precise as a precision machine, without a single mistake.
More importantly, the girl's image was no different from the image he had imagined in his mind.
He unconsciously rubbed his chin, quietly watching Artoria, his eyes shining with light.
He didn't know how high the Original Owner's drawing talent was, but just the near-absolute control over lines shown now was already very impressive in his eyes.
Moreover, this ability and his cheat seemed to have produced a wonderful reaction, being able to perfectly reproduce the images in his mind, just like a high-precision humanoid printer.
If that's the case...
"Seems like there's a chance."