He really wanted to say that this was indeed an unprecedentedly wonderful start.
As mentioned before, taking manga serialized in a weekly magazine as an example, the creation of a single chapter can be roughly divided into two parts:
Creation and Storyboarding:
Specifically, this includes conceiving the direction of the main plot, character dialogue, double-page spreads, panel pacing, and even the discussions and revisions with the editor after the 'name' (storyboard) is created.
This part usually accounts for about half of the total manga creation time, but due to issues like the author's inspiration running dry or the editor rejecting the original content, it sometimes takes even longer.
Drawing:
Once the aforementioned content is finalized, the next part goes without saying. It includes drawing characters, perspective, large double-page panels, backgrounds, special effects, and everything else—the part that readers actually see.
This part generally takes up half of the creation cycle as well, but it is affected by the first part, so there are rarely instances where time is abundant.
More often than not, due to a lack of time, one has to pull all-nighters to rush the manuscript. Sometimes, if it's truly impossible to finish, one can only hurriedly submit half-finished sketches and then perform a dogeza to apologize.
Considering these two parts, the role his 'golden finger' could play became very clear.
First is the issue of creation and storyboarding. He could completely rely on information from the future to be a 'copycat,' choosing a popular future work to copy directly; he didn't have much of a psychological burden regarding this.
As long as it didn't involve adaptation or original creation, his time consumption in this part could be considered nearly zero.
As for the drawing aspect, the Original Owner's powerful drawing talent and foundation allowed him to become a human printer. Furthermore, his superb control over lines could reduce errors during the drawing process to a terrifying degree, greatly increasing his drawing speed.
In other words, if he were to draw manga, his efficiency would likely be countless times higher than that of an average serialized mangaka. He might even easily handle a weekly serialization, which leaves countless mangaka exhausted!
"If that's the case..."
Akira rubbed his chin and fell into thought.
It had been less than an hour since he transmigrated. He was actually still a bit ignorant and lost, not knowing what he could do now that he had come to this world.
However, there was one goal that was very clear and also aligned with the Original Owner's thoughts—
Making money.
As the saying goes, money isn't everything, but without money, you can do nothing.
He wasn't a person with strong desires. In his previous life, he knew his abilities were limited and he wouldn't make much money, so he could peacefully accept the status quo; his small life had been quite flavorful.
But since he had the ability to earn more money in this life, there was naturally no reason not to.
Not to mention becoming the world's richest man, as long as he could achieve financial freedom, he would have much more confidence regardless of what he wanted to do later.
But speaking of making money, he suddenly remembered that right now, there seemed to be something far more important than drawing manga—
"...It seems like it's about time to get ready for work."
He looked up at the clock on the wall. It was already 10:30 AM. However, he was scheduled for the afternoon shift today, so he still had plenty of time.
So, he temporarily cast aside the messy thoughts in his head, washed up, ate, and prepared for work.
...
...
The Original Owner's rented address was near Nakano Station in Nakano Ward, Tokyo. It was a 20-square-meter 1K-type studio apartment. The rent was 50,000 yen per month, which was already relatively cheap for this area.
But due to Japan's bizarre rental rules, in the first month of renting, besides the rent and security deposit, there were all sorts of messy fees like key money, guarantor company fees, fire insurance fees, key exchange fees, and so on...
All these things added together actually caused the Original Owner to pay 250,000 yen in one go, directly wiping out more than half of the allowance he had painstakingly saved over the years!
Moreover, of all that money paid, except for the security deposit, the rest would not be returned!
Good grief, treating the Original Owner like a Japanese person, huh!
However, this was the norm when renting in Japan, and it remained so even twenty-odd years later.
Precisely because of this, the Original Owner had to find a part-time job to supplement the rent. Otherwise, before he could even create his first manga to submit, he would have to return to his hometown in disgrace because his funds had run dry.
Of course, even if he had money now, he probably wouldn't make it that far.
"...Cough, cough!"
Realizing he had accidentally made a dark joke about the Original Owner, Akira coughed twice, stepped out of the elevator, and left the apartment building.