I am practicing in Tokyo

Chapter 91 The Last Painting

After experiencing the attack on Uncle Tenkai on Saturday morning, Fujiiki specially invited Uncle Tenkai to participate in the manga award on Sunday as a painting assistant. Anyway, he did help Fujiiki draw a lot of background pictures.

.

"Now, I would like to invite Shu, the eighth author of "Chainsaw Man", to come to the stage to accept the award."

In the auditorium temporarily rented as the venue, Fujii, wearing a mask and sunglasses, stood up from the back row, walked up to the awards podium, and took the trophy from the female emcee's hand, as well as a check with a long list of numbers written on it.

One million yen, got it.

Fujii confirmed the number on the check, gave a few formulaic acceptance speeches, and hurriedly left the stage, not wanting to stay for a second longer.

""Chainsaw Man" is indeed a comic with a good plot, and it is very suitable for adaptation into animation."

As soon as he returned to his seat and sat down, an old man in his fifties next to him suggested to him and handed him his business card.

"Aniplex Company? President Shirakawa Ryuzo?"

Fujii, who didn't expect to meet such a high-ranking person, was hesitant. What a coincidence. As soon as he won the award, an animation company came to visit him. He couldn't be a liar trying to steal the copyright, right?

"Ahem! Our club is an animation subsidiary of Sony, and I am fairly well-known in the industry. You can search for my photos."

Seeing that Fujii Shu didn't believe him, Shirakawa Ryuzo showed his mobile phone. On it was a Wikipedia introduction about him. The person in the photo was indeed him.

"For comic adaptations, our club has rich experience in the industry. As the original author, not only can we get a considerable amount of adaptation fees, but it will also be very beneficial to future sales."

Shirakawa Ryuzo continued to seduce. Since the creation of this comic award, he would personally visit the site every time to find some potential works and discuss comic adaptation matters.

"As long as you sell half of the copyright to us, our Anⅰplex company can adapt the work. Of course, more detailed matters cannot be discussed here. We can make an appointment to discuss it at our club."

His intention finally appeared and he asked for half of the copyright. Although he paid for it, the price was definitely not high.

"Forget it, I don't want to adapt the work into animation just yet. Thank you for your kindness."

Fujii thought carefully for a while. The monthly income of the Chainsaw Man serial was 300,000 yen, which was enough for him and his uncle Tianhai. Not to mention that he planned to finish the first volume in March or April next year and publish it by then.

Publishing a single volume would bring in a lot of income. Drawing comics was just to supplement his family's income. He had already made enough money, and he didn't want to add another branch.

"That's a shame. If you change your mind, you can call me."

Shirakawa Ryuzo had a calm expression on his face. He politely stood up and went to the front row to find the next author of his favorite work.

"Is this person unreliable?"

Uncle Amami, who was sitting next to Fujii, felt a little regretful and asked Fujii who was on the side.

"No, the conditions for purchasing half of the copyright should not be too harsh. It's just that I don't want to rush into adapting the work just yet. I'll wait until I have a satisfactory partner."

As soon as Fujiiki finished answering, his phone vibrated a few times. He opened the Lⅰne contact software and saw that it was from Rin Kamiya.

"Dafu High School, there are abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations. Let's meet here at seven o'clock in the evening."

Is the mission coming so soon?

Fujii put down his cell phone. Daifuku High School is also in the Tokyo metropolitan area, not far from Hachioji City. If you take the train, you can get there in less than half an hour.

——

In the midsummer of late September, even the night was unbearably hot. Fujii arrived a little earlier than the agreed seven o'clock and wandered at the gate of Daifuku High School. Today was the weekend and the gate was locked.

"Awaited."

A pleasant female voice came from behind. Turning around, the tall and slender Kamiya Rin put on a pure white printed dress, with a silver silk ribbon tied around her waist, cool flat sandals on her feet, and two thick quilts on her back.

The wrapped long object was thrown to him.

Unwrapping the package, half of a simple-looking knife was exposed. He pulled out the blade, and saw the word 'jue' engraved on the blade. The blade was seventy-five centimeters long, and the width of the blade was two-and-a-half centimeters. The blade was flat and continuous.

The knife pattern from beginning to end is low-key and simple when it is put into the sheath, but it is luxurious and graceful when its sharp edge is revealed.

"This is a weapon for work. The katana-kaku, the god-controlling blade. The one in my hand is the tachi-gen. They are all precious things for special attacks against monsters. We must take good care of them."

After Kamiya Rin finished explaining, he looked at the dark teaching building of Daifuku High School with a relaxed expression.

"What appears this time should be earthbound spirits that have just become monsters. Their strength is limited, so they are suitable for the first trial."

"Are earthbound spirits also considered monsters?"

Fujii asked in confusion, shouldn't it be considered a dead soul?

"Ordinary dead souls don't even have the ability to affect the real world, so they are naturally not monsters. But after reaching the realm of small monsters, they can slightly affect reality, and they can be regarded as a kind of monster. There is no classification of monsters in the first place.

How rigorous.”

Kamiya Rin shrugged, walked to the locked school gate, pulled out the Gen-style sword, and cut through the entangled chains with one sword.

Is it this direct?

Fujii was a bit tongue-tied, this was considered a forced intrusion.

"Didn't Shinnosuke follow?"

"It's too lazy to bark."

He followed Kamiya Rin's footsteps and entered the campus, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas from the treetops not far away.

In the studio, Nakano Yoji patiently applied watercolors on the drawing board, while Inoue Yao next to him watched his paintings.

Yoji Nakano sketches a lighthouse along the coast. In the dark night of a gloomy thunderstorm, half of the sky is illuminated by the orange light from the top of the tower. A small boat in the distance is sailing towards the lighthouse against the wind and waves.

Kamiya Rin and Fujii Shu stood outside the door, looking at the two people in the studio, each showing different expressions.

He and she, one pondered, the other hesitated.

"Can you draw?"

Rin Kamiya thought about it and came up with an idea, and asked Fujii Shu.

Painting; LV4/30%.

Fujii, who is already an expert painter and will become a master at the next level, nodded and answered.

"You know better, do you have any ideas? This doesn't look like a monster that can harm humans."

"You can't let monsters get so close to ordinary humans. This has been a rule for thousands of years. Please cooperate with me later."

Rin Kamiya reminded him and took the initiative to walk into the studio.

"Excuse me, are you drawing?"

Both she and Fujii were wearing regular clothes, so the other party probably wouldn't be able to tell that they were not students of this school.

"My companion is also good at painting. We made a bet just now. He thinks that this classmate's painting skills must not be as good as his."

Rin Kamiya told lies without blinking an eye, as if it was true.

"Watercolor painting? Why not use Western oil painting to compare?"

Fujii had no choice but to cooperate with her, walked to the watercolor painting of a lighthouse, and spoke provocatively.

"Let's compete, who is afraid of you?"

Inoue Yao responded tit for tat without showing any signs of weakness. Nakano Yoji, holding a paintbrush in his hand, sighed and reluctantly agreed to accept the challenge.

There is a full set of oil painting tools and materials in the studio. Fujii Shu and Nakano Yoji each set up their drawing boards. Since it was a competition, the paintings they chose were smaller and they also used quick-drying paints. Otherwise, they would really follow the traditional painting method.

You may not be able to complete a work in a week.

Rin Kamiya, what exactly is she going to do?

Fujii was still thinking about what he had just done. After binding the picture, it was about twice the size of A4 paper. Opposite him, Nakano Yoji had already begun to apply primer. He simply didn’t think too much and started to apply a thick layer of primer.

He has already thought of the material and theme.

A blue sky gradually took shape in Nakano Yoji's paintings, and Inoue Yao looked expectantly behind him.

Her thoughts began to wander slightly, and she didn't notice at all that opposite Rin Kamiya, who was also watching Fujii's painting, quietly opened a sachet, exuding another kind of fragrance.

When did you first meet Yoji Nakano?

A year ago, I happened to pass by the studio. In the empty room, a vague figure appeared, applying colors carefully in front of the drawing board.

At that time, she covered her mouth in fear and crept away.

It wasn't until a few days later that she found out that it was an old studio that had been abandoned for a long time. More than 20 years ago, a talented student died in it because he worked hard day and night to train his painting skills, so it was abandoned.

That student's name is Nakano Yoji.

Driven by curiosity, she chose a sunny afternoon and saw a series of masterpieces being created in the studio, including watercolor paintings, classical Western oil paintings, and even some sketches for practice.

By some strange coincidence, Inoue Yao secretly brought out a watercolor painting and showed it to the painting teacher in the cram school outside for inspection.

"Well, it's a very good work! Did you create it?"

The painting teacher turned to ask her, with a serious expression that suddenly turned into a smile.

"Just kidding, a painter with such skill is probably in his forties or fifties, so of course it can't be you."

"Two million yen, I keep it, is that okay?"

Finally, the painting teacher quoted a sky-high price for a student like her. She hesitated for a while, suppressed the idea of ​​getting something for nothing, and did not sell the painting.

She returned the painting intact, and took another late night to gather her courage, and finally saw the specific form of Nakano Yoji, who was carefully painting the scene of golden beaches and waves.

"It's a beautiful painting."

Yao Inoue actually doesn't understand what is good or bad in painting, and expresses her thoughts from the heart.

Unexpectedly, Nakano Yoji, who was already a dead soul, was still afraid of her, which made her even bolder.

"Did I scare you? Coward."

She spoke mockingly, and for the next six months, she would come to admire Nakano Yoji's paintings every night, alienating her friends at school and living alone.

"Have you ever thought about putting these paintings on display?"

Suddenly one day, she suggested that she was the only one who knew about Nakano Yoji's paintings, so she was being selfish.

"My level is not enough, right?"

Nakano Yoji has very high requirements for himself. It is clear that any of his watercolor paintings can be offered a high price of two million yen, and this is still without knowing the name of the artist.

"To what extent?"

Inoue Yao continued to ask, and it was already very pitiful for him to be trapped here. If the work could be spread, he would probably become a Buddha immediately after learning the truth (people in the island country call ascending to heaven a Buddha), right?

"Modern painters either pursue surrealism and make paintings look like photos, or they use clever lines and color blocks to fool people. I don't like them. I want to have the skills of a classical oil painter and create works that are popular with both the public and professionals.

All people can appreciate beautiful works, that’s all it takes to reach this point.”

Yoji Nakano had a long speech, but Inoue Yao couldn't understand what he said at all, and could only guess that he wanted to improve himself.

Until tonight, a visitor came to visit. I wonder if this challenger can stimulate Nakano Yoji and get him to agree to exhibit his paintings.

Under the blue sky, a boundless field of sunflowers was blooming wantonly. The afterglow of the setting sun was scattered on the golden disk. In the center of the field, a girl in a high school girl's school skirt was lying. She gradually developed a detailed outline and facial features.

It was Inoue Yao's smiling face, reaching out to grab the fire clouds in the sky, as if he wanted to take them off and hold them in his hand.

And in the corner, the young man Nakano Yoji, with his hands in his pockets, stared at her silently.

Time passed little by little, and before dawn, the painting, which lasted more than ten hours, was finally completed. Both of them performed extremely well and compressed the painting work that took several days into one night.

"Why are you still wearing this outfit?"

For more than half a year, as long as Inoue Yao appears in Nakano Yoji's paintings, she must be wearing a school skirt, she said with some dissatisfaction.

"because…"

"Why, come and see for yourself."

Nakano Yoji had just started to speak when he was interrupted by Kamiya Rin.

Inoue Yao came to the completed painting by Fujii Shu. On the painting of the same size, there was a studio with lights on. There were completed paintings everywhere. A pair of boys and girls were in front of the drawing board. The boy was holding a paintbrush and frowning slightly. The girl chuckled.

He repeatedly pointed out his works.

The he and she in the painting have illusory colors below their legs. The girl Yao Inoue in the painting is still wearing the well-fitting school skirt.

"Two classmates, your lives have ended long ago. I'm sorry."

Fujii put down his brush, and Inoue Yao recalled that when he delivered the painting that night, he passed by the road, cars, lights, sudden stops, and collisions. He turned around and found the watercolor painting from the corner of the studio. The dried maroon on it almost covered the entire painting.

Complete coverage.

Why? You never told me?

Inoue Yao looked at Nakano Yoji, who lowered his head. If it weren't for the same kind of dead soul, it would be impossible for her to see her appearance.

"I'm sorry, Yao, it's my fault."

In fact, Nakano Yoji has always known the fact that he is a dead soul, but he cannot bear to break Inoue Yao's self-deception and imagine that he is still alive in the world.

He walked to Fujii's painting and looked at it carefully. Fujii also saw his painting and took the initiative to speak.

"It seems that your level is still higher. I lost."

He estimated that his painting skills were at mid-level LV5, and in the Middle Ages, he would be no worse than masters like Dürer or Titian.

Fujii was quite surprised. His painting skills were concise and mature, his light and color were unique and unique, and he followed the path of the classical school. Today, he can be said to be unparalleled in the world.

"Let's go, Yoji."

After hearing Fujii's praise, Inoue Yao calmed down, came to Nakano Yoji's side, and took the initiative to hold hands.

"I've always wanted to hold your hand, but I was worried that I couldn't. Now I finally get my wish."

She showed a satisfied smile, and the two waved to Fujii Shu and Kamiya Rin in the studio, and walked out of the studio, turning into spots of light that filled the sky and dissipated in the air.

The paintings in the studio faded with the disappearance of the two people, until they disappeared completely, leaving only the last painting of a sunflower field, still bright in color.

"Kamiya-kun, you should keep this painting in your collection. It is already a priceless treasure."

Fujii wrapped the painting, handed it to Kamiya Rin, and stretched out his palm.

"what?"

Rin Kamiya took the painting and asked.

"The labor fee is one million yen. I was busy adding this painting all night. It's worth it."

Fujii Shu pressed his waist and kept painting in the same posture all night. He should have this kind of money, right?

"I didn't expect you to be so greedy for money. Okay, I've transferred the money."

Rin Kamiya picked up his mobile phone and made a payment transfer. The two of them took the last painting and left in a hurry before anyone went to school.

I wrote an extra 400 words, so it should be free.

(End of chapter)