Ayumi Ito enthusiastically talked at length, energetically bringing out a stack of documents and carefully laying the contract in front of Hayashi Aoyama for his formal review.
Hayashi casually flipped through the pages. In reality, he didn't care about the specific details deep down in his heart.
His solitary goal in this new world was purely to draw manga to scrape together enough money to survive and properly fund his eventual 'return home.'
Moreover, he was a complete amateur who had entirely taught himself from scratch. In his past life, he was never a professional manga artist; he was merely a passionate ACG enthusiast.
Because of this, Hayashi actually had absolutely no distinct idea how this specific compensation package objectively compared to the standard rates offered to newcomer manga artists in his past life.
But the primary factor driving this high rate was the simple fact that he was officially serializing his work at Manga World Publishers, the absolute undisputed reigning titan of the manga industry in this parallel world. It was essentially the exact equivalent of Weekly Shonen Jump from his past life, so the standard treatment was naturally bound to be significantly better.
"...Sensei, what are your thoughts?" Ayumi asked respectfully as she finished her lengthy explanation.
"It works for me. So, I just need to sign here... here... and right here, right?" Hayashi instantly perked up, his eyes locking onto the signature lines.
"Yes... you also need to press your fingerprint firmly over your signature, as well as actively provide a clean photocopy of your ID card... though I can quickly help you photocopy it down at the convenience store shortly," Ayumi explained, clearly having prepared for every possible contingency.
"No problem at all," Hayashi casually agreed.
Following that, the two of them rapidly breezed through the remainder of the formal signing process.
Throughout the entire process, Hayashi didn't raise a single question or voice any concerns, which inevitably left Ayumi feeling slightly anxious and unsettled.
"Aoyama-sensei... Do you really not have any questions at all?"
Ayumi lightly bit her lower lip, unable to hold back her lingering curiosity.
"Nope. The only thing I really want to ask is, when exactly do I get paid?"
Hayashi aggressively rubbed his hands together, asking the defining question with a slightly embarrassed grin.
"The standard industry regulation regarding this is that whenever we receive a submitted manuscript, the company officially calculates the total compensation based directly on the approved, finalized pages. If the editor confirms the Sensei's manuscript has no major issues, the company will officially disburse the agreed-upon compensation to the Sensei right before the magazine goes into formal printing."
Ayumi explained the process with rigid, professional seriousness.
"And since the first three chapters of your work, Sensei, have already been fundamentally green-lit to begin official serialization starting next month, we should ideally be transferring your first substantial payment sometime before the tenth of next month."
"Ah, I see. That makes perfect sense."
Sudden realization dawned on Hayashi.
However, that explicitly meant he had to wait until an unspecified date next month to finally receive his first actual paycheck. And today was only the twelfth of the current month.
That was going to be an incredibly brutal, agonizing wait.
Hayashi subconsciously pursed his lips in mild disappointment.
Seeing his reaction, Ayumi nervously added, "I am so sorry, Sensei, but this is a strict company regulation we have to abide by."
"It's totally fine, I completely understand the situation! Long live mutual understanding, right?"
Hayashi grandiosely waved his hand, putting on a generous, overly magnanimous display.
"By the way, Ito-san, did you come to The Metropolis entirely by yourself?"
He suddenly shifted gears, asking out of genuine curiosity. "Why did you decide to come all the way to The Metropolis? Are the job prospects and treatment back over in Japan really that terrible?"
Ayumi froze for a second, completely caught off guard. She certainly hadn't expected Hayashi to so abruptly pivot the conversation directly onto her personal life.
"No, that's not it at all. I was actually working temp jobs back in my hometown before this. I purely submitted my resume to Manga World Publishers with the 'give it a try' mentality. I genuinely never expected them to actually accept me, so I packed up and came over."
Ayumi answered, her voice tinged with slight awkwardness.
"Ah, I see. Where exactly in Japan is your hometown, Ito-san? It wouldn't happen to be Tokyo, would it?"
Hayashi pressed further, his curiosity clearly piqued.
Tokyo... now that was an infamous city synonymous with constant, catastrophic accidents and supernatural incidents in basically every single anime... His mind immediately began racing with rampant, chaotic imagination.
"No... my hometown is actually located down in Kyushu."
Ayumi then curiously asked, "Has Aoyama-sensei ever been to Japan?"
She couldn't shake the distinct feeling that Hayashi seemed bizarrely familiar with her home country.
"I've always wanted to go, but unfortunately, I never got the chance. After all, isn't Japan the glorious birthplace of modern ACG culture?"
Hayashi replied, a hint of genuine regret lacing his voice.
In his past life, after he had officially reached adulthood, he genuinely harbored concrete plans to travel to Tokyo for a vacation. If possible, his dream itinerary consisted of aggressively raiding the legendary streets of Akihabara before happily returning home.
But tragically, around that exact time in his past life, a massive, globally disruptive event had occurred, effectively destroying any realistic possibility of international travel.
Suddenly, Ayumi understood. So that was precisely why Hayashi seemed to possess a working, baseline knowledge of Japan.
Even though the timeline in this parallel reality had heavily diverged, Japan firmly remaining the definitive birthplace of modern ACG culture was the one key detail that hadn't changed.
However, over time, the local ACG industry had developed its own robust, standardized, and highly efficient model of cultural production. This professionalization allowed the domestic market to grow rapidly, rivaling established global leaders in the field.
"If Sensei genuinely wants to visit, whenever I actually manage to get some vacation time, I would be more than happy to act as your personal tour guide and take you around!"
Ayumi suddenly chimed in, her voice brimming with unexpected excitement.
People always grew visibly energetic and excited whenever they were given the chance to proudly talk about their hometown.
Hearing this bold offer, a bright smile instantly broke out on Hayashi's face. "That sounds like a great plan! Going on a fun vacation to Japan before my eventual trip back home definitely doesn't sound too bad!"
"Oh, right! Sensei, what is your current home address, and what is your personal phone number? Having those on hand will make it vastly easier for me to directly contact you or personally swing by your place to collect future manuscripts."
Ayumi suddenly remembered this crucial detail and quickly brought it up.
The only contact information she currently possessed was the landline number she had used to call Hayashi earlier. And from the incredibly bizarre context of that phone call, it seemed that specific number didn't even belong to a landline inside Hayashi's house, but rather to a completely random neighbor's phone.
"Ah, right, about that..."
Providing his home address wasn't an issue at all, but the phone number request genuinely put Hayashi in a tight spot.
How the hell was he supposed to get his hands on a personal mobile phone right now?
"I don't actually own a personal phone number right now, so you'll have to keep calling that landline if you need me. As for my home address..."
Hayashi nonchalantly pulled a cheap paper napkin from the restaurant table's dispenser, grabbed the pen he had just used strictly to sign the contract, and swiftly scribbled down the detailed directions.
"Here. Whenever you need to find me, just head straightforward to this exact address."
After finishing his messy handwriting, Hayashi casually shoved the napkin directly into Ayumi's waiting palm.
However, he privately thought to himself that Ayumi Ito would probably very rarely need to physically visit his apartment to look for him.
After all, the massive stack of drafted manuscripts he had just handed over to her accounted for exactly six full chapters. If the magazine was a bi-weekly publication serializing only one single chapter every half-month, he had just provided her with three entire months of solid, high-quality backup content.
For all future manuscript submissions, Hayashi firmly planned to just mail them directly to the Manga World Publishers' headquarters.
That way, he could conveniently save this poor editor lady the exhausting, unnecessary hassle of continuously traveling to his rundown neighborhood.
Ayumi carefully scanned the messy address scrawled on the napkin, neatly folded it up, and placed it safely inside the inner pocket of her small, professional suit jacket with grave solemnity.
"Well, looking at the time, it's getting pretty late."
Hayashi dramatically pantomimed checking a watch that clearly wasn't on his wrist and stated, "You probably need to head back and formally eat your own meal too, so I'll be taking my leave now."
Ayumi froze in place. "Aoyama-sensei, you're leaving already?"
Hayashi chuckled sheepishly. "I brutally scored a free meal and successfully signed a lucrative contract. What else is there for me to do if I don't leave now?"
"I'm heading off! Properly enjoy your afternoon lunch break, Ito-san."
He cheerfully waved his hand and promptly spun around, confidently striding straight out of the fast-food restaurant.
Watching his rapidly retreating back, Ayumi couldn't help but let out a long, deeply exasperated sigh.
"Aoyama-sensei... truly is an eccentric weirdo."
(End of Chapter)
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
T/N: Bi-Weekly/Half-Monthly (半月刊) - A magazine format that is published twice a month, or roughly once every two weeks.