Chapter 100. Sarudou Takuji Wants to Draw a Pure Love Manga

Qiao Qiao had once heard a story.

Once upon a time, there was an editor. The author he was responsible for always delayed their submissions. The editor's daily routine was to go to the author's house and urge them to finish their manuscript. Then one day, the editor died in a car accident. His authors, amid their grief, all breathed a sigh of relief—they would never have to be pressed for manuscripts again. At that moment, one author who had been planning to slack off suddenly began having nightmares. In the nightmares, the editor, his face ghastly pale, grabbed the author by the neck. "Write faster, write faster, write faster..." Even as a vengeful spirit, he was still urging the author to write.

Of course, this was merely a joke meant to get a laugh. However, Qiao Qiao believed that such a situation might genuinely be possible. After all, vengeful spirits existed because of obsession. If an editor's greatest obsession truly was a particular author who kept delaying submissions, it was entirely possible that he would transform into a vengeful spirit and haunt that author.

As for Oba Sadao, Qiao Qiao had no idea why he had chosen Enodou Takuji. Perhaps it was because Oba himself had once been a fleeting star, now fallen into hardship, and seeing the rising Enodou Takuji filled him with resentment. Perhaps he felt that his own works were the truly excellent adult comics, and that Enodou Takuji merely had fame and nothing more. Perhaps he had simply chatted with Enodou Takuji for a while and, for no clear reason, latched onto this newcomer.

Qiao Qiao could not understand Oba Sadao's thoughts. But one thing was certain. Oba Sadao possessed the ability to alter comics. This was a low-level memetic manipulation ability. Because Enodou Takuji could tell that his comics had been tampered with, and Qiao Qiao could tell as well. If it had been a high-level memetic manipulation ability, Enodou Takuji might not have realized at all that his work had been modified, and would have assumed it was his own doing.

To break through this vengeful spirit, the simplest method was, of course, to directly destroy the computer. However, that method might not completely eliminate Oba Sadao's spirit. It might simply treat the symptoms rather than the root cause.

After thinking it over, Qiao Qiao concluded that Oba Sadao's obsession was likely that of unrecognized talent. Oba Sadao believed his works were excellent, and that everyone should be looking at his comics. Yet in reality, readers preferred the works of famous authors, or the better-illustrated works of Enodou Takuji. Thus, the resentment of the deceased Oba Sadao transformed into a vengeful spirit. He latched onto Enodou Takuji.

He altered Enodou Takuji's comics, turning the originally pure-love, sweet stories into decadent, heavy, betrayal-filled tales. But that was only one aspect. On the other hand, Enodou Takuji himself was the real problem. If he had insisted on his original drafts and his own stories, he might not have been unable to contend with Oba Sadao. But the truth was, he had compromised. These thrilling plotlines pleased the readers. They brought Enodou Takuji fame and income. It could be said that it was precisely Enodou Takuji's compromise that allowed the vengeful spirit to persist for so long.

If Qiao Qiao eliminated this spirit, would Enodou Takuji truly be able to return to normal creative work? Qiao Qiao voiced this concern. He saw no need to beat around the bush; he had always been straightforward, especially when it came to matters involving vengeful spirits.

After hearing Qiao Qiao's words, Enodou Takuji fell silent. Indeed, he was now reaping both fame and fortune from his heavy-flavored editorial department series. Oba Sadao's spirit had brought him incalculable wealth. Could he truly part with the spirit? No. Enodou Takuji thought to himself. He had entered this profession to draw the manga in his heart. The current manga was not what he wanted at all!

"Please destroy this vengeful spirit for me!" said Enodou Takuji. Those filthy manga were just like his own fallen heart. If he indulged in such stimulation, he would only become an emotionless wanking machine, incapable of drawing manga that truly reached the hearts of readers!

"Understood," Qiao Qiao said, then explained the composition of the spirit to Enodou Takuji. "...In short, if Mr. Enodou can create a manga that surpasses this spirit, then it will naturally dissipate." For memetic anomalies, breaking the meme was the simplest solution. The reason Oba Sadao's spirit clung to Enodou Takuji was that it believed Enodou's works were inferior to its own. And the facts had proven that Oba Sadao's stimulating works were indeed more popular than Enodou Takuji's pure-love comics. Therefore, as long as Enodou Takuji proved he could draw a manga that surpassed Oba Sadao's, the spirit would naturally be broken. Otherwise, even if Enodou Takuji destroyed his computer, he could not shake off the spirit. Worse, even if Oba Sadao's spirit were eliminated, Enodou Takuji's career as a manga artist would be difficult to continue.

"A manga that surpasses this spirit?" Enodou Takuji fell into distress. In truth, he had been continuing to create. Before Qiao Qiao had arrived, he had tried to draw a pure-love work. But no matter how he drew or conceived, Enodou Takuji felt he could not surpass those filthy, NTR, BDSM, incest, tentacle plots. After all, on certain indescribable websites, the number one search keyword in the age category was NTR. Plots you never see in the ordinary world were naturally far more appealing!

Qiao Qiao was also racking his brains to help. Unfortunately, he was still a minor. The manga materials he had encountered were limited. Many of the "plays" had never even crossed his mind. Nevertheless, Qiao Qiao still offered some suggestions. For example, some plots took place in a car. Qiao Qiao proposed whether it could be changed to the cockpit of a tank, and when the plot reached its climax, the protagonist instinctively pulled the breech block and the cannon fired. Using such montage techniques to enhance the artistry. Another idea was to depict the story between a retired mercenary who had crawled through mud and bullet-riddled battlefields for years and an innocent, sheltered young lady, using the disparity in class and status to create conflict. Or perhaps take an entirely different path and write a love story between firearms—wasn't the personification of guns quite popular lately? Use that to add a gimmick.

Enodou Takuji rejected all of these. "Creation really is a difficult thing," Qiao Qiao said, his brow furrowed. At that moment, a thought suddenly struck him. Didn't he have a group? The seniors in the group should also have plenty of insight into creation, right? He recalled Hoshikawa Miyuki's nine personal albums. He recalled Ii Masaharu's risqué photo book. So he picked up his phone.

The Tokyo Exorcism Club had grown quite quiet since the break began. Everyone must be diligently cultivating their skills. Qiao Qiao hesitated for a moment, then decided to disturb their practice anyway.

Newbie: Does anyone have any ideas for an adult comic? For exorcism purposes. Waiting online, very urgent.