An Yilun also looked at the scene in front of him, his expression slightly confused.
A long table that could barely seat three people was covered with a purple and yellow polka dot tablecloth. On the table were two stacks of pure white books that were simply bound.
Except for the club name "Fancy Wave".
There are no other characters or patterns on the cover of the book. It is so plain that it even feels cheap, making people wonder if the owner is being lazy.
Compared with the colorful stalls around it, this place pales in comparison to the point of being completely unattractive.
——This is the place he will fight for today.
An Yilun also looked around for a long time, and finally blinked his eyes and cast his gaze on a certain figure.
In front of the cardboard boxes placed under the stall, squatting there was the young female character with whom he had a touching reunion this month—Hashima Demi.
It may be said that he is young, but the other person's growth in a certain aspect is really astonishing, so that his eyes will often focus there involuntarily.
Just like now.
He was originally staring at the two braids on the opponent's head, but somehow they slipped all the way to the edge of sin, and only after he realized what was happening did he move away with great effort.
The girl didn't know what he was thinking. After packing her things, she stood up, put a price tag of "five hundred yen per book" on the book, and then announced energetically:
"Okay! Ready~!"
"Eh... Is this good?" An Yilun also asked belatedly.
"Well, thank you for your hard work, Toruya-senpai~~!" Izuku Hashima smiled brightly at him.
From the two of them starting to prepare to finishing the arrangement, the whole process only took thirty seconds.
An Yilun also complained silently in his head, and said: "Well, then... then I will also help sell the books..."
"Ah~~Don't worry about that, I can do it by myself."
"Is this so...?"
"Yes, after all, I only printed a hundred copies, so I shouldn't be too busy."
"One hundred copies? But didn't you say before..."
"Ah, about this..."
Izuku Hashima unconsciously looked away, his expression becoming a little embarrassed.
"I originally planned to print fifty copies, but since the printing fees for fifty and one hundred copies were not much different, I printed a hundred copies as soon as I was proud...although there is a high probability that they will not be sold! Haha...
…”
As she spoke, her voice became smaller and smaller.
".........that's it."
An Yilun also looked at the young apprentice in front of him, speechless for a moment.
Even though they wanted to say something to comfort them, they also understood that what the other party said was basically the truth. You only need to look at the difference between their stalls and others to know this.
Compared to those super societies that frequently sell tens of thousands of units, they are a small business that would be grateful if they could only sell half of their units, and are doomed to have a deficit in their accounts.
In fact, even An Yilun himself.
If he came to visit the exhibition without knowing Hashishima Chukai, he would definitely not be interested in seeing such bare stalls and books, but would chase the more popular stalls.
——This is human nature.
Of course, situations like going out to sea on the island are actually very common on Comiket.
Although the threshold for doujinshi seems to be very low.
However, at most only 10% of the societies that can really make money from this, and the remaining 90% are almost unable to make ends meet.
Having said that, he couldn't openly say to others, "We are noobs anyway, so we can just lie flat on our backs."
That will only dampen the other party's enthusiasm and enthusiasm.
An Yilun also thought about it and decided to focus on encouragement, so he declared energetically:
"Okay, then let's do our best! If you have anything to do, just ask me to go to sea."
"No need! Senior Renye, you are too busy, how can you ask the guests to help you with your work!"
"There are no guests here today, we are all participants!"
"That's not what I meant, senior."
Hashima waved his hand and said: "I mean, there are more important things on Comiket than sales~!"
"Huh?"
Ignoring An Yilun who secretly harbored negative thoughts, the girl talked with bright eyes.
"Because~~those who come to my stall will talk to me a lot! That makes me very happy."
"Is...is it so great?"
"Well! "Little Fantasies" really has a lot of enthusiastic fans! They are the kind of people who don't like to talk about their ideas. They can even talk about it for thirty minutes without stopping."
"That's really...well, so enthusiastic."
"Moreover, when we are chatting, others often join in suddenly, and neighboring groups also chime in.
In the end, the area around the stall became like a tea party...there was no time to sell books, haha~"
"Those things...make you so happy."
"Yeah! Like I said, those people come to my booth every time there is an event. I know almost everyone's face!"
"..."
Seeing Bo Dao Chuhai who was so excited that he was chatting in front of him, An Yilun couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself.
The other party at this time was too dazzling, which made him feel that his previous subtle mood was simply mediocre.
But on the other hand, he felt extremely gratified.
This disciple trained by him has finally grown into an upright otaku without being influenced by his bad brother. This is really something to be thankful for.
"Well, you are right, Chuhai."
He nodded firmly in affirmation.
“We don’t have to worry about sales that we have no intention of pursuing!
Being able to gather together like this with people with similar interests, tell each other about their love for each other's works, and have a hearty chat, this is the spirit of fandom!"
"Runya-senpai... Well, that's right!" Izumi Hashishima frankly agreed, his face bursting with joy from the bottom of his heart.
The two sat down on the folding chairs together to guard the stall.
An Yilun also casually picked up a book about Chuhai from the table and said with emotion: "But Chuhai, you are so awesome, you can actually gain so many deep fans without saying a word!"
"I hate it, those people are not my fans, but fans of "Little Fantasy"."
"Haha... That's right. After all, he is the number one in the female-oriented game, huh huh!"
He paused for a moment when he said this, and his tone became a little sad.
"But then again...
I originally thought that I would be busy selling books all day today, or helping to sell books at the top of my lungs... Now it seems that I am of no use."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was immediately rejected.
"——There is no such thing! Seniors are not useless!"
Hashima Dekai couldn't accept this statement, and stared at him with tears in his eyes.
"Because I'm just the sister of my senior's friend who I met two years ago. Just because my senior is willing to come to my stall, I'm very happy!"
"Um...no, um...after all, you gave me the admission ticket so solemnly. This is what I should do."
"But...but, senior...Senior Renye is special to me..."
"Go...go to sea??"
An Yilun also opened his eyes suddenly, and his heart was pounding.
"Woooo..."
A teardrop fell on Haidao Dehai's face.
"Because, if it were not for the seniors, I would not be standing here now, and I would not be affected by "Little Rhapsody" and go off the right track in life...!"
The venue is now full of people.
As soon as Bo Dao Dehai cried like this, he immediately attracted countless eyes.
People first looked at the girl who was crying with tears in her eyes, and then looked at the "culprit" next to her who made the girl cry, and their eyes became vaguely evil.
An Yilun was also on pins and needles.
"I understand, I understand... Anyway, calm down first and go to sea!"
He said as he took out a certain beautiful girl character scarf he bought yesterday from his pocket and handed it to the other party.
"So, senior...senior just needs to stay here."
Haidao Dehai took the handkerchief with a sigh of relief and said while wiping his tears:
"Throughout the whole day today, as long as the senior is willing to read my notebook, stay next to me and talk to me, and then keep waiting for me with a smile...!"
"Well, um... Okay, okay, I'll just do it."
An Yilun also looked at that innocent face, feeling a little guilty in his heart.
Just before the event was about to start, Hoshida finally stopped after crying enough.
In order to avoid causing further trouble, An Yilun did not dare to irritate the other party anymore, so he simply took the new issue in his hand and flipped through it.
Seeing his behavior, Hashima Izumi shrank his shoulders with some anxiety and spoke apologetically.
"I'm sorry...Senior, because I didn't make the cover in secret, all my books are in vain."
"Huh? Ah, oh oh."
"Also, because I had a new idea at the end of the painting, it turned into a pencil sketch during the process."
"For that kind of thing, just write an apology statement in the postscript and don't worry about it." An Yilun waved his hand disapprovingly and stared at the notebook in his hand.
Unexpectedly, the completion of Chuhai's book was higher than he imagined.
Whether it's the background or the storyboard, you can see the traces of the creator's meticulous craftsmanship, which is truly admirable.
Even if you look at it with a sophisticated eye, the standard of the other party's works is above average, and the degree of completion is so high that you can't even tell that it is a club with a circulation of only 100 copies.
Beside him, Haidao Dehai continued to talk.
"Although it hasn't been long since I started making doujinshi, I have had so many happy things and met so many people with similar interests."
"For example, Yusuke-san, Sawamura-senpai, and Sagara-san, they all taught me a lot of things and techniques.
It made me understand that painting can be done in one way or another, and there are still many things I need to learn!"
"Just thinking about it makes me full of motivation!"
"And for the fans who have always supported me, isn't it a wonderful thing to be able to continue to share the things they love like this?"
What he said from the bottom of his heart is truly admirable.
If it were normal times, An Yilun would definitely be moved to tears.
But now——
But he couldn't take his eyes away from the book in front of him!
He had now seen the part of the pencil sketch that the other party was talking about.
The characters and backgrounds that were previously shockingly surprising turn into densely drawn pencil lines from here on, which are completely different from the printed blackness of the previous pages.
Contrary to Eri's concise style of painting, Hashima Dekai uses a large number of complicated pencil lines for decoration, almost making the reader confused as to which lines should be used.
However, this does not mean that the completion of the work has declined since then!
Furthermore, this is simply the starting point of a new world——!
It's obviously just some sloppy pencil drawings, but the tension in the picture shines through on the paper!
"Go to sea——!"
An Yilun also yelled almost rudely, completely ignoring the fact that Bo Dao Dehai's shoulders shook due to fright and the surrounding voices fell silent.
"Senior Renye...?"
Hashima Dekai called out tremblingly, looking at him with both confusion and worry in his eyes.
An Yilun also turned a blind eye to this.
Holding back his excited heart and trembling hands, he asked: "Hey, Dehai...you just said how long has it been since you started drawing doujinshi?"
"Eh? It must have been a few months...what's wrong?"
"It only took you a few months to draw this? And you did it alone...?"
"Well, that's not the case. It doesn't take that long to draw a book. I think it took about a month and a half, right?"
Izuku Hashima tilted his head slightly, thinking back and said:
"Also, I participated in several events with my friends when I was in Nagoya, but this is the first time I signed up by myself..."
Hearing this answer, An Yilun suddenly got goosebumps all over his body.
"Hey, let's go to sea..."
He tried his best to restrain his racing heart and the surging emotions, and pretended to be calm and asked: "If I want all of this book to be sold, will you reject it?"
"……Huh?"
"Do you think that chatting with fans is more important than selling books? Is it better not to be popular?"
"Senior Renye...?"
As if he was confused by his excited eyes and nonsense, Hashima Dekai was stunned for a moment not knowing how to react.
After a few seconds.
The girl suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ahaha, ahhahahaha! Renye-senpai is so weird~"
She said: "No author would think that it would be better if his work cannot be sold~~ Of course I hope that my work can be seen by more people."
"Really...really?"
"Of course~~!"
Haidao Dehai nodded his head gently, his expression became a little embarrassed.
"As for what I said before, it's not that I didn't mean to make an excuse for why the book couldn't be sold, hehehe."
"I see……"
An Yilun also murmured, took a deep breath, and said word by word: "I understand, then I will definitely help Chuhai sell out all the books."
"Learn...senpai...?"
"Sorry! I'm leaving for a moment! I will definitely come back before closing!"
"Eh? Wait, Senior Renye??"
Ignoring the bewildered girl who reached out to him, An Yilun strode outside the museum.
Ever since, Bo Dao Chuhai was left alone in the same place.
…
Time passes slowly.
It wasn't until one o'clock in the afternoon that An Yilun, who had been missing all morning, returned to the stall.
"Sorry! I'm late!"
See him coming back——
"Learn...senpai...!"
For a moment, Haidao looked like he was about to cry, but he held it back sensibly.
That face mixed with doubts and grievances made An Yilun feel slightly heartbroken, but now he had more important things to do.
"Going to sea! How many books are left now?"
"Ah, uh... there are about... about sixty books left, right?"
"Does that mean we only sold 40% in one morning?"
An Yilun also nodded and announced confidently: "Okay! Then the next goal is to sell out within one hour!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately put down the things in his arms and started tinkering on the ground.
"I'm sorry. I'm going to sea. Anyway, let me use the stall. I'm really sorry~~"
"Senior...?"
Izuku Hashima looked puzzled at first, but after he saw the pile of things he had spread out...
"Uh...wow...wait a minute, senior!"
She panicked and said: "Why...why do you have to make this part into a poster? And it's so big, it's just a joke."
Faced with this inquiry, An Yilun did not answer, but just focused on doing the work at hand.
even--
Even though he knew it would cause trouble, he still proudly held up the A2 size billboard with the oversized poster on it.
That proud look is like a guard guarding the princess.
"Trust me, go to sea."
He declared with certainty: "I will definitely make you a popular author, so just watch it carefully——!"
"Lun Ye...Senior..."
Shocked by the momentum in his tone, Haidao was speechless for a moment and had no choice but to let him go.
The result is……
"I'm very sorry~~~The book has been sold out!"
It only lasts thirty-five minutes.
The remaining sixty volumes were sold out.
There were dozens of people left on the scene who had queued up but couldn't buy anything.
"Really...really thank you all!"
Haidao Dehai said loudly in a voice mixed with tears, and bowed deeply to the crowd.
An Yilun also looked at this scene with pride, and said comfortingly from the side: "Okay, okay~~ We can almost calm down after we go to sea."
"But, but, my notebook actually sold so...so...wu~~~~"
Izuku Hashima sobbed uncontrollably: "Ever since I started drawing doujinshi, I have never felt as happy as I do today...!"
As he spoke, his soft sobs turned into howls.
"Study...senpai, senior...Ren Ye-senpai~~~~!"
The two of them once again attracted attention, but this time most of the eyes gathered were warmer, not as dazzling as in the morning.
An Yilun also coaxed Bo Dao to go to sea in a good voice, while secretly observing the reactions of the people around him.
Suddenly, a familiar yet unfamiliar figure attracted him.
"Huh? That's... Yinglili...?" He said the name unconsciously.
"Sawamura-senpai...?"
After hearing his words, Hashima Dekai raised his eyes red with tears and followed his gaze.
As if hearing their voices, the girl hiding behind the crowd looked back.
Her hair covered by a brown beret revealed a touch of dazzling golden color. Under her large black-rimmed glasses, there was a pair of pure blue eyes like gems.
"What, it is indeed Yinglili."
An Yilun also walked up, "Why are you here? And why are you dressed like this?"
"I...I came...that's it, to take a look at the stall decoration." Ying Lili stammered and looked away unconsciously.
"Oh, is that so...?"
An Yilun also scratched the back of his head, vaguely feeling that something was wrong, but before he could think about it deeply...
"——Is it Sawamura-senpai?"
When Bo Dao went out to sea, he ran up belatedly.
"Wow, thank you for coming to see me!"
Although her eyes were still red, she still tried her best to put a smile on her face when she found out that the person coming was Yinglili.
Her arrival not only interrupted An Yilunye's thoughts, but also made the girl focus on her.
"Hashima... Chuhai... classmate."
Ying Lili murmured: "Yes...Lun Ye has been helping you today."
"What are you doing? It turns out you already know."
An Yilun also said, putting a hand on the head of Haidao Dehai next to him and gently stroking it, and praised: "Dehai is very good. All the books she brought have been sold out."
"I'm not great... I'm not good at all!"
Namishima Dekai shook his head desperately, and responded with a smile in tears: "After all, I can sell all my books, thanks to the relationship between senior Renya...!"
"No, I haven't done anything extraordinary either."
"Senior, yes! Senior is really awesome!"
Ignore An Yilunye's politeness and refusal.
In an excited tone, Hoshida recounted his heroic deeds in detail.
It looked like An Yilun was the protagonist today, rather than her, the actual creator of the book.
"..."
Yinglili watched their interaction and remained silent.
Haidao talked for a while, then suddenly remembered something and took out a book with a white cover from his bag.
"Ah, by the way...Sawamura-senpai, please accept this if you can!"
"Huh...?" Yinglili couldn't help but be stunned, not understanding what she meant.
"Senior...this is my new issue today." Izumi Hoshio solemnly handed over the notebook with both hands.
"You don't have to worry so much...Besides, aren't you sold out?"
"That's why I want to ask senior to accept it!"
"Huh……?"
"Because this is the first book in my life that has been sold out...a book full of memories."
"For the first time in my life..."
Yinglili murmured unconsciously, a complicated look flashed in her eyes, but she made no move.
Seeing her hesitation, An Yilun just said something.
"Just accept it, Yinglili. This is the notebook that I originally planned to keep as a souvenir. You have experienced this kind of period before, so you should understand the meaning of it, right?"
There was silence for a long time.
As if she couldn't stand the current atmosphere, Ying Lili reached out and took the notebook, "Then... thank you."
"No, please accept it." Bo Daochang said openly.
"Sure enough...it's a book of little fantasies." Ying Lili murmured quietly while turning the pages of the book.
"Ah, doesn't it mean that Sawamura-senpai doesn't like little fantasies?" Izumi Namishima asked anxiously.
"No...it's just unfamiliarity."
This was an out-and-out lie - An Yilun knew this very well, but he wisely did not expose it and instead followed her words.
"Don't worry about this. Even if you don't recognize the original work, you will definitely find it interesting after reading the book. I promise."
"..."
Yinglili listened to his words absentmindedly, turning the pages in her hands and looking at the book in her hand with all her concentration.
The scene fell silent for a while, except for the soft "swish" sound of turning pages.
"……Well."
When the reading progress entered the second half of the pencil draft, Yingli couldn't help but groaned, and the speed of turning pages began to increase.
See her reaction.
An Yilun also immediately understood one thing, that is, the other party had been completely immersed in the works of Hashima Dekai.
"Thank you for your hard work, Comic Market is over for the next day."
A pleasant announcement came from the loudspeakers installed in the venue.
Accompanied by the enthusiastic applause of the visitors, Yinglili closed the book she read at the end and said with a sigh: "Thank you for going to sea...but I still give this back to you."
"Hey, why...Sawamura-senpai?" Izumi Hashishima showed a confused expression and was deeply shocked.
"I'm sorry...I'm really sorry."
As if she couldn't bear the other person's gaze at this moment, Yinglili stepped back step by step, her face becoming very pale.
"I still have to...prepare for tomorrow's activities...so I'm leaving first." She said and left the stall as if running away.
The sudden development made An Yilun startled.
He looked at the other person's retreating back, and his heart twitched suddenly.
"Lun, senior Lun Ye...?"
Next to him, Izumi Hashima called his name worriedly, not knowing what to do next.
That expression was really endearing, but it was a pity that An Yilun couldn't care about it at this time.
"Sorry! Go to sea! Just clean up first, I'll be back soon!"
Regardless of being left behind again, Bo Dao went out to sea.
He suddenly ran away, chasing Yinglili who was about to disappear at the door.