Although he couldn't see it with his eyes, Takumi somehow grasped the shape of the gas.
This emanated a fresh breath in his brain, clearing his mind like never before. Blockages and vagueness disappeared, like a torrential rain in an arid desert, and his whole being felt refreshed.
Takumi's thoughts cleared.
'This is a flash of inspiration.'
Almost without thinking, Takumi guessed the identity of the gas. It was the interrupted flash of inspiration. Not only did it not disappear, but it remained in his mind.
A sudden pride arose, and Takumi suddenly believed that he could do many things. He could sing beautiful songs, draw the best pictures, and write the best calligraphy, but he only had one chance.
'Could he take advantage of the remaining flash of inspiration?'
This discovery made Takumi unable to contain himself. He couldn't control the emotion in his heart and longed to return home to check if his assumption was correct. But before leaving, he still waited for Yuna and Shiori to finish singing. The two girls had good voices, especially Shiori, whose singing skills were as outstanding as her appearance.
"Clap, clap, clap!" Takumi clapped along with others to praise the two's performance. In the interval between the next song, Takumi stood up and bid farewell.
"Are you leaving already?"
Yuna was surprised: "How long have you been here, and two beautiful women are here? Do you really want to leave?"
"This girl is not modest at all." Takumi smiled and said, "I forgot something very important, so I have to go home immediately."
Perhaps because he had stayed home too long, or perhaps because he was too old, Takumi found that this party did not convey the youth he expected. The people around him seemed very strange and childish, and he was not interested in his classmates' topics.
The only surprise was Shiori, but this girl didn't surprise Takumi much either. Besides her impressive appearance, Shiori didn't show any characteristics different from other girls. In fact, she wasn't a school bully, but a normal girl.
"If something happens, forget about it." Shiori reacted differently from Yuna. She didn't stop Takumi from leaving, but took out her phone: "Give me your number so we can contact you easily."
Takumi exchanged numbers with her and left with Weekly Shōnen.
The two girls and Kenta-kun accompanied him out of the box. Looking at Takumi's back, Shiori softly sighed: "He has a better character than I thought. We should be able to be friends."
Shiori seemed relieved to have found a trustworthy compatriot before going to Osaka.
"Why? Do you like him?" Yuna joked.
Shiori was a little stunned.
"I like him a lot. He has a beautiful gaze." She didn't deny her affection, but she shook her head and said: "But it's impossible for me to like him. People like me will never like him. The same goes for him."
Yuna frowned: "Why?"
"Intuition, no reason, just intuition." Shiori smiled and said: "But my intuition is very accurate. Only super-powerful girls can reach him."
Shiori felt that she was a little better than ordinary people. Aside from studying, she had nothing outstanding. However, Takumi was different. He radiated confidence and tension. It was a temperament that combined talent and ambition.
He was too strong...
Of course, Takumi was unaware of Shiori's thoughts. He was on his way when he suddenly received a call.
"Editor-in-chief Kurosawa, how can I help you?"
The caller ID showed it was Kurosawa. Takumi remembered that he had already sent him the manuscripts for the next few weeks. 'What could Kurosawa want from him now?'
"Takumi, can you do another drawing with the same emotion as the last one in the first episode?" Kurosawa got straight to the point and said: "We need a promotional poster, the sooner the better. We hope you can draw it yourself. The reward is 40,000 yen!"
40,000 yen, Takumi was a little tempted.
Generally, mangaka are only responsible for drawing manga, and advertising and publishing are the responsibility of the editorial department, but it is obvious that the editors of Weekly Shōnen do not trust the painting and prefer Takumi to prepare the promotional posters.
Takumi didn't understand why Kurosawa was in such a hurry to get a poster, but 'couldn't he take this opportunity to test his inspiration?'
"No problem, what content do you need?"
he nodded without hesitation.
"The male and female protagonists of Detective Conan should especially highlight the female protagonist to capture the attention of male readers!" Kurosawa was excited to hear Takumi's reply: "We're in a hurry. You don't need to send the drawing once it's finished. Just fax it to me!"
"Can it be finished in a week?"
Takumi certainly didn't need a week, but to avoid accidents, he accepted the deadline.
After hanging up the phone, he continued walking home. Kurosawa's request must have been to promote Detective Conan, and he specifically asked for such a high-quality poster. It didn't seem like just any promotion.
Thinking about the two fans he met today, Takumi came to a hard-to-reach conclusion. 'Could it be that Detective Conan is very popular now? Hinotori Publishing is willing to spend a lot of money to increase its advertising!'
"Go back and draw first!"
Takumi exclaimed, cheering himself up. After finishing the poster, he had to see what the current situation of Detective Conan was.
Upon returning home, Takumi found a brush and paper.
He took a deep breath and began to try to dissipate the "air mass" in his head. Unexpectedly, there was no need for any complicated steps. Takumi just had an idea, and the "air mass" began to dissipate instantly. It slowly merged with the cerebral cortex, and an impulse and an illusion emerged.
Yes, it was the effect of a flash of inspiration!
Takumi bit his tongue; the pain calmed him. Then he took the brush, began to control it with reason, and carefully drew the illusion.
The clock slowly ticked, sweat beaded on Takumi's forehead, ran down his face, and then fell onto the table... 'He seemed to have no idea, and his entire mind was fixed on the brush, not relaxing for an instant.'
An hour later, his hand trembled and detached from the paper.
It was sore, tired, and weary... But Takumi did it!
Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, were vividly printed on the paper. The entire image was black, but it created an illusion of color. Especially the girl, with her lotus figure and crescent-like pupils, was breathtakingly beautiful.
"This is...! Yes, this is!"
Takumi murmured to himself; he mastered it, finally mastering the ability to decide the future.
A flash of inspiration, as long as he used this ability, Takumi could escape a future of copying manga. He has never been content with copying, but longs to spread the manga from his previous life in a better state and achieve a glory that surpasses the original.
The air in his head did not completely disappear, and Takumi deliberately kept some. Because if it runs out, he has to wait for another flash of inspiration; the time is uncertain, and it must be interrupted by others, and the probability is too great.
In that case, it is better to leave some to see if it recovers.