Anime Crossover: Becoming Mangaka in Anime World

It's 11:30 PM.

If it were last week, when I wasn't drawing, Akifumi would have probably already been asleep by now.

But today, after getting such an obvious hint from Mihari, he felt like he had to put in a little more effort.

'Another 20 minutes of drawing, and then I'll rest.'

Akifumi stood up to stretch and yawn.

Just as he was about to sit back down, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller: Otosuna Mihari.

He picked up.

"Akifumi-sensei..."

The weak voice, like a whisper coming from the TV, startled Akifumi so much that he nearly dropped his phone.

"A-are you okay?"

"No... I'm just... soo... hungry."

"Well, if you're hungry, then you should eat something first. No need to force yourself to call me first."

"If you didn't get the information first, you will think it was my fault." 

"..."

A brief silence from the other side, then the little editor finally spoke in a voice full of resentment:

"I'm so hungry, and it's all because of you!" 

??

"Because of me?"

Akifumi blinked and hesitated before asking, "What do you mean?"

"I'm too hungry... can't -explain it in detail."

"Then make it short."

"It's because of you, Akifumi-sensei. The company meeting that supposed to end 3 hours ago just finished now because of your manga!"

"You mentioned last time that only the editor-in-chief can attend those meetings. What does it have to do with you, a small editor?"

Mihari was on the verge of tears: "Because I'm your editor, I was allowed to attend the meeting as an exception, thanks to Editor-in-Chief Minano!"

Akifumi remembered the meeting usually started at 6 PM.

It was now 11:32 PM, meaning it lasted for a whole five and a half hours!?

Is this what being a corporate slave is?

"Ugh, that's rough!"

Mihari, full of expectation, said, "If you really think I'm unlucky, could you delete that email from last time?"

"Huh? I already expressed my sympathy for you, but why should I give you more benefits?"

"!!"

"It's still unfair!!"

Not continuing with the small talk, Akifumi said, "You must've called for something important, right?"

"Exactly!"

As they spoke,

Mihari's voice had gained a lot more energy than when the call first started.

The little editor, excited, said: "Congratulations, Akifumi-sensei!"

"The new project proposal has been approved!"

Although Akifumi had already prepared for this news when he heard it in the afternoon, he was still surprised by how quickly things moved!

His calm heart couldn't help but stir with excitement.

"I understand, please thank Editor-in-Chief Minano for me."

"??"

Mihari Otosuna's smile froze, and she sighed: "Akifumi-sensei, I'm your editor, remember?"

"I know."

Akifumi replied flatly: "But you're just a small editor. You won't be involved in this anyway, right?"

"You don't even need to think about it. It was all Editor-in-Chief Minano's work, and I must thank her."

Damn!

This is too much!

What's wrong with being a small editor? Doesn't that come with its own purpose? If I hadn't helped... well, no one would've been impacted.

Mihari suddenly felt deflated.

Being with such an excellent author, she felt like she couldn't do anything useful, and always relying on Editor-in-Chief Minano for help.

"It's feels like... I'm just a burden!"

"Honestly, with such a great author, it should be up to the editor-in-chief, right?"

"I, a small editor, can't be of any use!"

Thinking about all this, and with midnight approaching and her stomach still empty, Mihari suddenly felt down.

"Hey."

Akifumi's voice came through the phone, bringing Mihari back to reality.

"I'm sorry.... I was just daydreaming a bit....."

Her voice had an unmistakable tinge of sadness.

"It seems you didn't catch what I said earlier, did you?"

Not noticing the change in mood, Akifumi sighed: "I'll say it again, and I need you to listen carefully."

"Not only should I thank Editor-in-Chief Minano, but I also need to make sure you thank others properly, understand?" 

"Huh?"

"Don't act surprised. Do you really think that everyone can get the main character's treatment like you?"

"If I had a different editor-in-chief, they might've taken over the project as soon as they saw how well it was doing and handled everything themselves!"

"Of course, in the workplace, that's not wrong, and no one would blame them.

The only one hurt would be you, but that's just how it goes!"

The higher-ups in the industry represent the company's rules to some extent.

"So, you must realize how lucky you are to have met Editor-in-Chief Minano, right?"

"She's putting effort into training you, don't let her down, and work hard!" 

Mihari paused, then a self-deprecating smile appeared on her face.

She really was... pathetic.

Getting so lost in her thoughts over such a small matter.

Just like Akifumi said, compared to others, she was already incredibly lucky!

She was working with such a great author...

Even though he always bullies her and has a weird personality, she'd seen how tough it was for other editors to deal with their authors.

Sometimes, their work was a mess, and they still argued about it, wanting to get it serialized, but ending up at the back of the queue, getting rushed at the deadline like they were in hell!

This guy doesn't need her to do anything, he finishes everything on his own.

Doesn't that feel like a free ride!?

And besides him, there's also such a wonderful editor-in-chief!

She was even taken along to today's important meeting, and was cared for in so many ways...

She couldn't disappoint Editor-in-Chief Minano's expectations!

She had to work hard to become a great editor!

One day, this guy would be the one calling her "Editor-in-Chief Mihari!"

With that thought in mind, Mihari smiled goofily, then puffed out her chest proudly: "Hmph! You think I need you to worry about me!?"

On the other end of the phone, Akifumi raised an eyebrow.

Typical of a tsundere blonde with twin-tails, huh?

Though this wasn't exactly twin-tails, more like two small braids, that tsundere tone was so vivid, Akifumi could almost picture her attitude.

[TL Note]

Hey there! If you're enjoying this, be sure to check out

p-atreon.com/InsomniaTL

Please remove the hyphen to access the page normally! Just a heads-up, there will be new advanced chapters every week in there! And thank you so much for reading!