In a cramped room.
In a bungalow less than 20 square meters, a pile of things are crammed together, leaving everyone stunned. They are piled up like toothpaste.
So many things crammed into a room less than 20 square meters. It's a shame this room isn't used as a storage room.
Among them, the most piled up are drawing papers, filled with vivid cartoons.
In the innermost part of the room, far from the door, on an equally cramped bed, a handsome and thin man lies with his eyes closed.
His facial features are quite pleasing, but his pale and motionless face always gives the impression that he's dead.
At that moment, bursts of rapid knocking sounded at the door.
Before the man could respond, an impatient voice came directly from outside: "Ren! There's a call for you!"
The pale man instantly got up, but the next instant, he turned his head to the floor, coughed hard, and spit out dozens of white pills.
Ren sighed, "Damn it! What kind of sleeping pills are these? Why are they so hard to swallow?"
He wiped his saliva, slowly got up, and walked out of the room barefoot.
As he got up, he realized that he wasn't lying on a bed, but on a rusty iron frame with a single, washed and bleached mattress.
Next to this "bed" was a medicine bottle and a half-empty glass of water. The label on the bottle had five large characters printed on it: "Clonazepam Tablets."
Ren walked out of his rental house and slowly walked barefoot towards a convenience store outside.
"Ren, there's a call for you." The owner, a man named Takeda, pointed indifferently, and the store's landline phone was pushed aside, obviously waiting for someone to answer.
Ren's lips curved into a thankful smile: "Thanks, Uncle Takeda!"
Then he stepped forward, picked up the landline receiver, put it to his ear, and said, "Hello, this is Ren!"
The landlord opened his mouth, angry and helpless, he said, "There's no Takeda in my name... What does this kid mean calling me Uncle Takeda all the time?"
But this kid has always been a bit weird, so he won't care.
Ren's voice came from the other end of the phone, and a clear, somewhat excited voice immediately emerged: "Yes! Hello! Master Amamiya, I'm the manga editor from Akatsuki Cultural Company!"
Ren suddenly realized: "Ah, so this is where I submitted my manga before. Great, to be honest, you're very lucky."
"Very lucky?" Ayumi was stunned for a moment. "Master, what do you mean by that?"
"That's right, if you call any later, I might have returned to my hometown," Ren said seriously. "You definitely won't be able to find me by then."
Suddenly, Ayumi realized: "That's right, then, Master, do you have time to come to our Akatsuki Cultural Company? We have high expectations for your work "Edgerunners" and hope to collaborate with you to thoroughly explore its commercial value."
"Wait, something seems to be wrong..." However, at this moment, Ayumi heard a bewildered voice on the other end of the phone.
"What's wrong? Master Amamiya?" Ayumi's heart sank.
"I remember my work was "Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners," not "Edge Runner." A bewildered voice came from the other side of the microphone.
Ayumi was speechless, but she didn't find it strange and said, "Yes, Master, your work is "Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners." When can you come to discuss cooperation with us?"
Ren thought for a moment and said, "Wait a moment. Where is your company?"
"Ah? Wait a moment?" Ayumi was stunned for a moment, somewhat unexpected. 'Will waiting be too rushed? I haven't prepared the contract yet...'
Ren blinked and said, "How about tomorrow?"
Ayumi seemed to notice the anxiety in Ren's words and asked cautiously, "Master, do you have any important matters?"
"Yes." A serious voice came from the other side of the microphone: "It's a matter of my life... because I haven't eaten for a long time and want to eat with you... By the way, does your company have a cafeteria?"
Ayumi immediately felt that the man on the other end of the microphone... seemed a little different from ordinary people.
Ayumi opened her mouth and whispered, "There's no cafeteria in our company... But! I can treat you to a meal! Please bring the original manga and ID when you go!"
"Then I'll come to your place tomorrow morning," Ren said, his eyes lighting up.
Ayumi forced a smile and replied, "Okay..."
"Beep, beep, beep..." The phone hung up.
Ayumi hung up. 'I've heard that some sensei in the industry have strange personalities. Did I just meet such a sensei?'
After hanging up, Ren hummed a song again and slowly walked back to the rental house behind the store.
Soon he'll be able to eat delicious rice and have a job!
With a job, his next attempt to return to his hometown will have financial support!
This way, perhaps he can return soon!
That's right, Ren has a traveler's soul. What he just told Ayumi about returning to his hometown is traveling to the world of his previous life.
But for Ren, time travel is bad luck, not something he likes.
He doesn't like this world. Yes, after all, he's alone in this world, without any ties.
Although the country in this world is powerful, almost unknown changes occur at some point.
However, Ren is convinced that it wasn't a time traveler who caused the earth-shattering changes in this world.
Because technological development in this world hasn't exploded at all, and even American technology continues to suppress the Republic.
Now, the time he traveled to is the same as in his previous life, but technological development is still a bit slower, and smartphones haven't even appeared yet!
This is a parallel world.
At the same time, everything in his previous life has changed beyond recognition. There's no Apple, no Huawei, and of course, no "Weekly Shonen Jump," no "Dragon Ball," no "One Piece," or "Naruto."
But instead, there are other equally powerful companies and equally wonderful manga.
For this reason, Ren decided to use his three-legged cat manga skills from the previous generation to become a professional mangaka.
Then earn money and return to his hometown!
However, he's also lucky in one place...
"System Silverhand!" Ren shouted non-stop while lying on the bed.
Suddenly, a high-tech virtual interface, only he could see, appeared before him.
[Host: Ren Amamiya]
[Skills: Hard Drive Memory (Diamond), Movie Storyboarding (Platinum), Kaleidoscope Painting (Master)]
[Points: 250]
At the same time, there were three options on the page: mall, lottery, and fusion upgrade.
Precisely thanks to the system, it also granted 10,000 points and the master-level Kaleidoscope Painting skill in the beginner's gift package.
He was able to adapt the anime "Edgerunners" from his memory into a manga almost effortlessly.
Master-level Kaleidoscope Painting, as the name suggests, grants him the master-level ability to master various painting styles and techniques:
abstract, realism, impressionism... and even ink painting and Japanese-style ink painting, can be used freely.
With the hard drive memory ability, he can clearly recall his previous life.
Even after completely clearing the hard drive memory, he still retained his childhood memories.
It would be too easy to reproduce the world-famous paintings he had seen in his previous life, such as "The Starry Night," "Mona Lisa," and "The Scream."
But, unfortunately, making money from traditional art takes too long.
Ren doesn't want to die, and only his plagiarized works can sell for a good price.
The task requirements for earning system points are...
He looked at the task page in the system page:
[Current Task: Nobody: Create a work of any type and receive praise from three people. Current progress: 2/3 (100 points)
Beginner: Let ten people know your name and have a deep impression of you. Current progress: 3/10 (100 points)
Innate Talent: Show your talent and change the world! Based on different degrees of change, rewards will be given at different stages. (Unknown reward)]
Although the task has no time limit, Ren can't wait long. He has always been impatient and likes action!
So, he simply draws manga, because drawing manga earns more money, so he changed it to movie storyboarding.
As for choosing the anime "Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners," it was simply out of interest.
Cyberpunk, this type of work seems to have not yet appeared in this world, and the founder of a school always has a better chance of success.
There are already many passionate youth manga like "One Piece" or "Naruto" in this world, and drawing this type of manga may not attract many fans.
So he simply took a gamble, betting that "Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners," a cyberpunk work that hasn't appeared in this parallel world, could take the lead—at least it could catch the attention of manga editors!
Now it seems his choice is correct; after all, he'll be able to eat soon!
"System Silverhand, this sleeping pill is really hard to swallow. It's so dry I can't swallow it even after drinking half a glass of water," Ren said, smacking his lips.
"If the host is taking sleeping pills just to sleep well, the reason for the difficulty swallowing may be nervousness or a sore throat, etc. It is recommended that the host relax or treat the sore throat." The system's cold voice is only heard by Ren, and there seems to be no emotion in its words.
Although this system can communicate, it actually resembles the GPT artificial intelligence from the previous life, with a kind of artificial mental retardation beauty.
"If the host takes sleeping pills to commit suicide, a large amount needs to be taken. More than 5 pills will make swallowing difficult, and more than 10 pills will obstruct the esophagus, which has a diameter of only 2-3 cm. Moreover, some ingredients in the pills will prevent the host from swallowing many pills, causing a lot of pain."
"Therefore, the system recommends that the host not take sleeping pills to commit suicide."
Ren scratched his head. "I'm not going to commit suicide, I just want to go back."
"I've been here too long, my cat will miss me~" He yawned, and after a while, he emitted a faint but rhythmic snore.
In his dream, he seemed to have returned to his hometown, and the calico kitten he raised, named Becca, turned into a cat girl, and kept saying to him, "Welcome home, Master~"