Female protagonists from various anime/manga crossovers? They'll all regret it for the rest of

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He recounted the entire course of the meeting that day, from Akane Akasaka's appearance to her evaluation of his artwork, the argument between the two sides, and his final words.

He neither embellished nor deliberately downplayed the sharpness of Akane Akasaka's words.

As Yuto continued his narration, Eriri's face grew paler and paler.

When Akane Akasaka commented that her drawing had "unstable lines, immature composition, and a strong doujinshi feel," her body swayed uncontrollably, and she bit her lower lip so hard it almost bled.

When she heard Yuto say, in order to protect her, "I'd rather not have this kind of anime adaptation," her eyes instantly reddened, but she held back her tears.

Yuto has finished speaking.

“…So,” Eriri’s voice was dry as she spoke, “most of what was written in that article…is true?”

“Yes,” Yuto admitted.

"Am I... really that bad?" She looked up, her red eyes filled with self-doubt. The confidence and pride she usually feigned had vanished completely.

"Is my drawing... really just 'full of fan art' and not good enough to be presented to the public, only dragging you down?"

“Of course not!” Yuto immediately retorted. He stepped forward and tried to grab her shoulder, but she dodged him.

"Don't touch me!" Eriri took a step back, looking at him warily like a wounded little animal. "You make me feel... like a joke."

Her voice trembled with tears: "I was so happy preparing this persona, thinking I could finally help you, thinking we were partners fighting side by side... But what happened? In the eyes of you professionals, I'm just a burden who needs to be taken care of! You don't even dare to tell me the truth, afraid I'll cry and throw a tantrum!"

"I do not have……"

"Stop talking!" Eriri covered her ears and shook her head vigorously. "I don't want to hear anything right now!"

She turned around and tried to run away.

Yuto panicked and, disregarding everything else, grabbed her wrist.

"Let me go!" Eriri struggled.

"I won't let go!" Yuto increased his strength, pulling her back and forcing her to face him. "Sawamura Spencer Eriri, you listen to me!"

He rarely called her by her full name, which startled Eriri, who was struggling with her feelings.

Yuto looked directly into her tearful yet stubbornly defiant eyes and said, word by word, "I've never thought your paintings were bad, nor have I ever thought you were a burden. On the contrary, I think you're the best, irreplaceable!"

"You're lying..." Eriri's tears finally fell uncontrollably.

“I’m not lying to you!” Yuto’s voice was firm and resolute. “Akane Kousaka said your drawing skills are immature, so what? Skills can be practiced, but what about the soul of a work? These are things that assembly-line illustrators like her can never learn in their entire lives!”

"The Leafa she drew is just a sexy doll with only beauty. But the Leafa you drew is happy when she eats something delicious, and blushes when I joke with her. She has flesh and blood; she's alive! That's why readers like her! And that's why I like her!"

"The reason I didn't tell you wasn't because I didn't trust you, or because I was afraid you couldn't handle it. It's because those guys' opinions don't even deserve to be heard by you! They don't deserve it!"

"You just need to be happy and draw what you like. I'll take care of the rest of the challenges. That's what I should do as your partner, your artist, and your friend!"

Yuto Itsuki's resounding words echoed in the room.

Eriri was completely stunned. She stared blankly at Yuto, forgetting to cry and forgetting to struggle.

She had never seen Yuto like this before. His eyes no longer held the usual playfulness and nonchalance, but only seriousness and determination.

So... that's what he's always thought?

It turns out he didn't think she was bad, but rather that she was too good for her to be tainted by those foul words.

The grievance of being misunderstood and the anger of being deceived were replaced by a more surging emotion at this moment.

It was a feeling of being moved, a feeling of shame, and a little bit of... a sweetness that she herself hadn't even noticed.

"Idiot..." she muttered in a barely audible voice, her head lowered, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls, falling one after another to the floor.

This time, it wasn't tears of grievance.

Seeing that she had finally let her guard down, Yuto Itsuka breathed a sigh of relief.

He softened his tone and said gently, "I'm sorry, Eriri. I shouldn't have kept it from you. It's my fault."

Eriri didn't answer, she just kept crying with her shoulders shaking.

Yuto sighed, took a few tissues from the coffee table, and handed them to her.

Eriri hesitated for a moment, then took it and wiped her face haphazardly.

The atmosphere in the apartment gradually shifted from tense to somewhat subtle.

"Then... what do we do now?" Eriri wiped away her tears, her eyes red, and asked softly, "People online... that's what they're saying..."

"Ignore them," Yuto said. "They can say whatever they want; we just need to do our own thing. Let's use our best work to prove everyone wrong."

"Hmm..." Eriri nodded, her emotions finally calming down.

Seeing her regain her spirits, Yuto felt completely relieved.

He even thought that this was for the best.

Although the process was painful, their trust in each other became even stronger after the storm.

Just then, the doorbell rang again.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

Who could it be at this point in time?

Yuto Itsuka walked to the door and looked out through the peephole again.

His pupils contracted sharply after just one glance.

Outside the door stood a tall woman with long, wine-red hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a stylish casual suit, and a condescending expression on her face.

Akane Benisaka.

How did she find her way here?!

Eriri guessed what was going on from Yuto's stiff back and sudden change in expression. She nervously peered through the peephole and then let out a suppressed gasp.

It's her! The "legendary animator" who, in the news reports, belittled her own drawings to nothing!

What is she doing here? Demonstrating? Or is she here to pronounce their "death sentence"?

"Don't be afraid." Yuto sensed Eriri's nervousness, turned around, gave her a reassuring look, and then opened the door.

Akane Akasaka, standing outside the door, looked past Yuto and landed directly on Eriri behind him.

Eriri felt uncomfortable under Yuto's gaze and instinctively shrank back behind him, but then remembered something, stubbornly straightened her back, and glared back defiantly.

"Kusaka-sensei, what brings you here?" Yuto quietly stepped in front of Eriri, breaking the silence.

“You got your address from Machida,” Akane Akasaka replied simply and directly.

Her gaze returned to Yuto's face, and she smiled with a hint of amusement: "What? Aren't you going to invite me in? Or is it that your 'strategy meeting' doesn't welcome outsiders?"

She clearly already knew about what was happening online, and it's even quite possible that she orchestrated it herself.

The way she came to our door at this moment was more like a hunter watching his prey struggle in its death throes.

"Please come in." Yuto stepped aside to make way for him.

"It seems I've come at the wrong time, interrupting your melodramatic performance." She sat down on the sofa without any ceremony, crossing her legs, adopting the posture of the hostess.

"Mr. Kousaka, please speak frankly." Yuto closed the door, his tone calm. "The articles online, were they written by you?"

"It was my instruction."

Akane Kousaka readily admitted it, and when she saw the sudden chill in Yuto and Eriri's eyes, she smiled nonchalantly.

"Don't look at me like that. In the business world, this is called creating public opinion, which is a common tactic. I just want you kids living in your ivory towers to experience the harsh reality in advance."

“Reality?” Eriri finally couldn’t help but speak, her voice still hoarse from crying, but filled with anger. “Is reality something where you can arbitrarily distort facts and use public opinion to attack others?!”

"Distorting the facts?" Akane Akasaka raised an eyebrow. "What did I say wrong? Did I say your lines are unstable, or that your composition is immature? Little girl, instead of spending time questioning me here, you should spend more time practicing your human anatomy."

"You!" Eriri was so angry that her face turned red and her whole body trembled.

“Alright, Eriri.” Yuto pressed her shoulder, signaling her to calm down.

He turned to Akane Akasaka, his eyes sharp, and asked, "Akasaka-sensei, tell me the purpose of your visit today?"

Akane Akasaka dropped her playful expression and became serious. "I'm here to discuss a bet with you."

"A betting game?" Eriri was stunned.

“That’s right.” Akane Kousaka leaned forward slightly. “Yuto Itsuka, no, Itsuka-sensei. I admit, I underestimated you.”

"You are very courageous and persuasive. To be honest, your words at the meeting even moved an old stubborn like Director Kinoshita."

“However,” she changed the subject, “ideals and passion alone are not enough to make good animation. Animation production is a huge industrial system with interconnected links.”

"Character design is a part of this system, and a very important one. It not only needs to look good, but also be 'usable'. It needs to enable concept artists and animators with varying skill levels to quickly and accurately draw the characters within a tight schedule, while maintaining the consistency of the characters."

She looked at Eriri, her gaze becoming extremely harsh: "And your drawing, Ms. Kashiwagi Eri, is full of personal style and emotion. It's excellent as a single illustration, but as an anime character design, it's a disaster."

"Unstable lines, overly complex hair and decorations, lack of standardized facial expression references... these can all become nightmares in the middle of animation production, infinitely increasing the cost of drawing and the risk of animation failure."

Eriri's lips moved, but she couldn't refute it.

Because she knew that what Akane Akasaka said was true.

Her paintings are indeed "flowing from feeling," and often even she herself cannot perfectly replicate them a second time.

“Public opinion is just the first step,” Akane Kousaka continued. “Next, the production committee will cut the budget because of concerns about risks, and the animation company will delay the project due to the difficulty of the animation.”

"In the end, this animation will either be a complete mess, with poor visuals, confirming your accusation of 'holding the project back'; or the production team will succumb to the pressure, replace the designers midway, and use my designs instead. At that point, your so-called 'victory' today will become a huge joke."

Every word she said was like a heavy hammer, striking Eriri's heart hard.

"Is this what you wanted?" Itsuka Yuto asked coldly.

“No.” Akane Kousaka shook her head. “If I just wanted to see you fail, I wouldn’t be here today. I told you, I’m here to discuss a bet.”

She took a stack of documents out of her bag and threw them on the coffee table.

"These are the 'Animation Character Design Guidelines' and 'Animation Correction Guidelines' that I used when I was training newcomers." She looked at Eriri, who was dumbfounded.

"There's about a month left before the animation officially enters the drawing stage. I bet you, Eri Kashiwagi, that you won't be able to complete the standard character designs, three-view drawings, expression sets, and key action sets for all the main characters of 'Farming King' within this month, according to the requirements here."

"What if I do it?" Eriri blurted out almost without thinking, her competitive spirit completely ignited.

“If you do it, and get the approval of Director Kinoshita and the animation team,” Akane Kousaka said with a smirk.

"Then, I will find a way to suppress the online public opinion. Not only that, I will also use my connections to introduce some of the industry's top animators to your production team to be in charge of the most critical battle scenes."

Eriri was shocked. If it succeeded, it would be like a windfall.

"Why?" Yuto asked, puzzled. "Why did you do that?"

Akane Akasaka was silent for a moment, her eyes somewhat unfocused. "Five years ago, the anime adaptation of my 'Cardinal Gotanda' failed because the production team stubbornly pursued my original art style, which was also 'unsuitable for anime,' resulting in a complete failure."

“From that day on, I no longer believed in the so-called ‘faithfulness to the original work.’ I only believed in myself and in the fact that commercialization is the most efficient approach.”

She looked up at Yuto and Eriri again, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

“But that day in the conference room, I saw in you a courage and… foolishness that I didn’t have back then. I’m very curious, very curious.”

"Can your naive idealism, your willingness to risk everything for your 'partner' and 'soul', actually create a miracle? Or will you ultimately end up like me, crushed by the giant wheel of 'reality'?"

“I am using you all to verify whether the path I took back then, which I had no other choice, was indeed a dead end.”

She stood up and looked down at the two of them.

"So? Will you take the bet or not?"

Eriri's chest heaved violently as she looked at the thick stack of documents on the coffee table, then at Yuto beside her, who remained calm.

Fear, excitement, resentment, exhilaration... a mix of emotions swirled within her.

This is a trap, but also an opportunity.

She suddenly raised her head, and a fierce flame ignited in her blue eyes.

"I'll take it!" Her voice was firm, without the slightest hesitation.

Akane Akane finally revealed a genuine, genuinely interested smile.

“Very good.” She nodded. “Then, starting today, I will come to ‘inspect’ your progress from time to time. Don’t disappoint me, Ms. Kashiwagi Eri.”

After she finished speaking, she turned and walked away, the sound of her high heels clicking crisply on the floor.

As she reached the door, she seemed to remember something and turned back to Yuto, saying, "By the way, Itsuka-sensei, take good care of your genius artist. If she collapses from exhaustion, I'll consider this bet a win."

The door closed, and Akane Akasaka's aura vanished.

In the apartment, Yuto and Eriri looked at each other, both feeling a sense of unreality, as if they were in a dream.