After finishing his chat with Miku, Yuki opened his drawing software.
Then, he picked up his digital pen and began drawing on the tablet.
Today, he wasn't working on a proper manga but was creating a brand-new doujinshi.
Having not released anything new for several months, he was naturally facing a great deal of pressuring from his fans.
So, Yuki decided to release an update to respond to his waiting fans.
With swift and skilled strokes, from layout to paneling, to line art, Yuki completed a 15-page doujinshi in under a minute.
Next came the text, dialogue, refinements, and some effect processing.
As for why Yuki didn't simply generate it all with a single thought—there was simply no need.
For him, it didn't take much time anyway.
After a brief three minutes, a brand-new doujinshi had been created by Yuki.
The next step was simple: upload it directly to the website.
Within less than a minute of Yuki uploading it, his author page instantly exploded.
Messages flooded in one after another, constantly refreshing.
Everyone was caught off guard by Yuki's sudden update.
After all, he hadn't released a doujinshi for two or three months. Everyone thought he would start another manga after finishing Dragon Ball.
However, no one expected him to suddenly update a doujinshi, making his old fans feel as though he had abruptly returned to his old trade.
But Yuki didn't pay much attention to these comments, since they were mostly praises for his artistry and such.
He opened the author page of "Kashiwagi Eri," also known as Eriri, to see whether she had any new updates.
As usual, her update speed was very diligent.
Considering that Eriri was an ordinary student who had to attend classes and could only draw in her spare time after school, her drawing speed was actually quite fast, managing to produce around three doujinshi per month.
She could be considered a hard worker in the industry.
But even so, ever since Yuki debuted under the pen name "Thunder Fire Sword,"
"Kashiwagi Eri," the former number one in the industry, could now only hold second place.
While Yuki was checking Eriri's author page and her new works
on the other side, in a luxurious villa in Tokyo,
Eriri was wearing a simple, somewhat outdated green tracksuit.
On her beautiful, youthful face, she wore a pair of black-framed glasses that didn't quite match her overall temperament.
At that moment, just like Yuki, Eriri was browsing the Thunder Fire Sword page on the online platform.
Ever since Thunder Fire Sword appeared and stole the industry's top position from her, although the girl never showed how much she cared online, in reality, she cared a great deal.
So much, in fact, that she checked the rankings every day after returning home to see whether she had risen.
However, today, when she clicked on Thunder Fire Sword's page as usual and secretly browsed through his fan messages, she noticed that after such a long time, he had actually updated.
This surprised the girl immensely.
Holding a studious (and critical) attitude, she finally clicked on Thunder Fire Sword's new work.
After browsing through it with a flushed face, the girl slammed her fist onto the table.
"No way I can win! They're too strong!"
"Damn it! Whether it's content quality or subject matter, compared to my work, it's like heaven and earth!"
"And the artwork? Don't even get me started! It's the undisputed pinnacle in today's art world!"
"There's simply no comparison."
Eriri's expression shifted from initial distress, to complexity, then finally to a reluctant acceptance.
She realized it—she shouldn't even be comparing herself to this monster who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Soon, Eriri came to terms with it.
She just needed to focus on her own art and not worry about others.
Then she glanced at his previous works again, her brows knitting slightly.
"This guy—every one of his works leans toward the pure love genre!"
"Logically speaking, the harem style would be far more popular for doujin!"
"But he went completely against the trend, teaching many industry artists a lesson."
"What an unfathomable guy!"
Eriri slid her mouse, slowly scrolling through the comments on Yuki's homepage.
One thing Eriri never voiced aloud was how naturally his creations drew readers into the story.
Perhaps that was his ultimate secret to success!
Eriri mused to herself.
While she sat in her room, fully absorbed in her computer screen, the door behind her quietly opened.
A slender figure spotted Eriri seated at her desk. The silhouette paused briefly before tiptoeing silently to the side.
Eriri remained completely unaware, still engrossed in browsing the doujinshi.
"I see. Eriri has reached that age, hasn't she?"
A playful, gentle female voice suddenly echoed behind her.
The girl shuddered in fright. Her right hand swiftly closed the webpage, switching to another software interface. She then pretended to have noticed nothing, acting calm.
This entire sequence of movements was smooth and fluid—probably the fastest reaction in Eriri's life.
However, when she turned her head and clearly saw who it was, she rolled her eyes.
It was a woman with purple hair and purple eyes, dressed in a kimono, with porcelain-white skin and a mature aura, smiling warmly at Eriri.
"Koyori, it's you!"
"You scared me half to death! Can you not sneak up on people like that next time? I could actually die from fright."
Eriri said with a look in her eyes.
The woman before her was named Sawamura Koyori, the younger sister of Eriri's mother—meaning she was Eriri's aunt.
Eriri's father was from Great Britain, and her mother was Japanese.
So Eriri had half-British blood, which explained her blonde hair and blue eyes.
Furthermore, her father was a diplomat with considerable financial means, so Eriri had grown up in a wealthy family.
However, because her father was always busy with work and had no time to care for the family, and because of frequent job transfers, her parents were now quite far away from her.
They usually had no time to look after their daughter.
That's why Eriri's maternal aunt, Sawamura Koyori, had come to take care of Eriri, who was studying in Tokyo.
For Eriri, the time spent with her aunt was far greater than the time spent with her parents.
And her aunt naturally understood Eriri much better.
Especially the fact that Eriri was a doujinshi artist—Koyori was very aware of it.
"What do you mean 'Koyori'! Call me Auntie or Aunty!"
When Sawamura Koyori heard Eriri call her by her first name, she immediately pouted, pretending to be upset.
But Eriri was used to her aunt's antics.
"Tch. Don't you usually complain that those titles make you sound old?"
"And now you want me to call you Auntie? Are you serious?"
Eriri pursed her lips and spoke casually.
Seeing this, the dissatisfied expression on Koyori's face instantly blossomed into a smile.
"Hehe, little Eriri still understands me best!"
Sawamura Koyori then affectionately pulled Eriri to sit in the chair beside her.
"Tch."
"All right, what's up? You walked in without even knocking!"
Eriri pouted, then cut straight to the point.
"What do you mean without knocking? I knocked dozens of times!"
"You didn't hear me, so I opened the door and came in!"
"Ah—!"
"Sorry, sorry, maybe I was too focused, so I didn't notice."
Hearing this, a hint of embarrassment flashed across Eriri's expression.
She pondered inwardly,
To make me ignore the sounds around me… Thunder Fire Sword! He really is an incredible manga artist!
Eriri couldn't help but feel immense respect for him in her heart.