Eriri stared, utterly disbelieving, at the exquisitely rendered drawing on his easel.
Every line, every detail, was flawless—not a single stroke out of place. Even in monochrome charcoal, the realism was staggering. If it had been in color, one could easily mistake it for a photograph.
This level of photorealism was something even Eriri knew she couldn't achieve.
"Yuki-kun… when did you finish?" she asked, her voice tight, her expression strained.
"While you were still drawing the apple," Yuki replied with a calm, easy smile.
Eriri's face stiffened further, her pride taking a direct hit.
'While I was drawing the apple…? That was only my second object. Which meant he had finished sketching all five by that point.'
That kind of speed was inhuman.
Even with all the speed she'd honed from years of churning out doujins, she couldn't come close.
It was… genuinely shocking.
"No way! That fast?!" Marin, who hadn't even finished half of hers, turned around at the commotion.
She stared blankly at both Eriri's and Yuki's completed, masterful sketches for a few seconds before gasping in amazement.
"It's right in front of you. How could I be lying?" Eriri replied flatly, glancing at Marin before turning her full attention back to Yuki. Her eyes gleamed with intense curiosity. "But Yuki-kun, how did you do it so quickly? And with such precision, such lifelike quality… Speed and skill like that together…"
"Well, I just picked up the pencil and drew," Yuki said, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"Uh… I know that!" Eriri retorted, flustered.
"But even the most skilled masters couldn't work that quickly and perfectly!" Eriri sighed helplessly, shrugging her shoulders.
"Just because others can't, doesn't mean I can't," Yuki replied, his dark eyes reflecting her image, a faint smile playing on his lips. "If you still don't believe me, Eriri, I can draw another one right now—with you watching the entire process. How about it?"
"That… that works! I'd actually like to see exactly how you do it," Eriri agreed without hesitation, her sea-blue eyes fixed intently on him.
"Me too!" Marin chimed in, even putting down her own charcoal, eager to witness Yuki's speed firsthand.
The commotion around Yuki soon drew the attention of other nearby students. One by one, they set down their brushes and gathered around to watch him work. Eventually, the entire class—even the art teacher—had formed a circle, observing Yuki's live drawing session.
Faced with such a crowd, Yuki remained completely at ease. He calmly removed the finished drawing from his easel and replaced it with a fresh sheet of paper.
Then, without any rush, he picked up his charcoal pencil and made the first mark on the pristine surface.
With that first stroke, his hand became a blur. Lines flowed onto the paper in rapid, seamless strokes, one after another, until—before anyone could fully process what they were seeing—the entire composition was complete.
"It's… it's finished?! I could barely even see what was happening!"
"It's a miracle! Just a few swishes and it's done! So fast! Yuki-kun is way too fast!"
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never believe it."
"So cool! Even while drawing, Yuki-kun is incredibly handsome!"
"Is this for real? This speed… even professional illustrators can't match it, can they?"
Eriri, who had witnessed it up close, was utterly convinced.
Match it? This surpasses even world-renowned masters! With speed like this… if I had it, my output would be through the roof! she thought to herself, amazed.
"Yuki-kun… have you studied art professionally before?"
The art teacher beside them was practically sweating, pushing up her glasses with a slightly trembling hand as she slowly asked, "Yuki… have you studied art professionally before?"
"I've taught myself a little," Yuki nodded, giving a simple answer.
Hearing this, the teacher was at a loss for words.
'Self-taught… and he's reached this level? What's left for someone like me to teach? With speed and quality like that, even she, the teacher, couldn't match it.'
"That's… truly impressive, Yuki-kun," she managed, forcing a strained smile. "Alright, everyone, the show's over. You should all get back to your own work now. Return to your seats, please."
Trying to ease the awkward tension, the teacher shooed the gathered students away.
They obediently went back to their places, but whispers about Yuki's incredible demonstration continued to ripple through the room.
When Eriri heard Yuki was self-taught, a strange sense of kinship stirred in her chest. She felt as if she'd finally found someone who understood, and her gaze toward him softened with a new, subtle light.
"So amazing, Yuki-kun!" Marin gushed, her eyes sparkling with admiration. "That speed is just unbelievable! It was all a blur—I could barely even see your hand moving! How do you do it?"
Yuki smiled faintly. "It's nothing, really. Just takes a bit of practice."
"'A bit of practice'? I don't think just a bit gets you to that level," Eriri chimed in, shaking her head in disbelief.
If years of dedicated practice alone could achieve that kind of speed, she would have gotten there herself by now. She'd been drawing for years, after all, and she was nowhere close.
"Right! It feels like you're just teasing me, Yuki-kun!" Marin puffed out her cheeks, hands on her hips in playful indignation.
Seeing their reactions, Yuki couldn't help but chuckle. "Alright, alright, I was teasing a little."
"It really is difficult. It tests not just your hand speed, but your eyesight and focus too."
"See! I knew it!" Marin exclaimed, her pout finally easing.
"But still… that kind of hand speed and precision is terrifying," Eriri mused after a moment of thought.
Then, a name she'd been obsessing over lately flashed through her mind—Raikage (Thunder Fire Sword). The doujinshi artist who had dethroned her from the top spot, relegating her to second place in the industry.
{T/n: I will go with "Raikage" instead of "Thunder Fire Storm" from now on.}
If she was honest, she had just observed that the flawless precision in Yuki's work was on par with Raikage's.
A wild thought crossed her mind: Could Yuki be… Raikage?
Of course, it could just be her imagination. This similarity alone wasn't enough to link the two.
Besides, what Yuki had just drawn were simple objects, not human figures, let alone manga panels. It made it hard for her to judge.
But he had also mentioned being self-taught, which meant he probably drew regularly as a hobby.
Curiosity and a desire to test her theory began to simmer inside her.
'Well, it wouldn't hurt to probe a little,' Eriri decided. And with that, she prepared to make her move.