Chapter 24: Lee Ye-na (1)

It all started with a phone call from Tanaka.

[Director, how have you been?]

"Same as always. How about you, Tanaka-san?"

[Likewise. I've been so busy I haven't had time to contact you.]

"Haha, we're all in the same boat. So, what's the occasion?"

[Actually, we're looking for a particular artist. I was wondering if I could ask for your help?]

"Ah, of course. I'd be glad to help. What kind of assistance do you need?"

[We're searching for an artist who draws 4-panel comics. We tried contacting them first, but couldn't reach them. After digging around a bit, we found out there's a high chance the artist is Korean.]

"I see. But we don't exactly keep tabs on the whereabouts of Korean artists..."

Tanaka responded with a surprised tone, as if waving his hands in denial.

[No, no. Of course, we're not expecting that level of help. I'll send you the artist's account information. If you happen to get in touch with them by chance, we'd greatly appreciate it if you could let us know.]

"Well, I can do that much... Alright."

After hanging up, I waited a bit before an email from Tanaka arrived in my inbox.

Opening the email, I found a Pixiv link along with a notepad file containing various information.

Let's see...

Following the Pixiv link Tanaka sent, I was greeted by a flood of uploaded illustrations.

True to the site's unrestricted nature, there was a high ratio of NSFW content, so I quickly turned on the 18+ filter.

Thank goodness I'm in my private office... This could've been a disaster if I opened it in the team room.

While this era was more sexually liberal than the 2020s I'd returned from, caution was still necessary.

After double-checking that the filter was working properly, I started examining the artist's works.

First up were the 4-panel comics Tanaka had mentioned.

After reading through them from the first episode to the latest, I could see why they were popular.

First off, the art style.

It maintained Girls Memorial's signature style while perfectly deforming the characters into SD proportions.

Next was the setting.

Many fan artists who draw doujinshi based on existing works often ignore the original settings.

These people are usually called "lore breakers," but this artist showed no such tendencies.

Despite the characters being deformed into chibi proportions, they meticulously maintained accuracy in accessories, clothing shapes, and physical characteristics.

Moreover, seeing how they used snippets of daily life from the story as comic material, it was clear this artist was definitely playing Girls Memorial.

Lastly, panel composition.

The easiest way to distinguish a skilled comic artist is through their mastery of panel composition.

From that perspective, this artist seemed to be at least a well-known doujin artist or professional level.

That aside...

Why does this art style look so familiar?

After appreciating all the 4-panel comics and browsing through the illustrations, I couldn't shake this feeling.

As I pondered, one person came to mind.

Ah, Lee Ye-rin.

I realized why it looked so familiar—it was very similar to the style Ye-rin often used when drafting character designs.

She had mentioned slightly altering her style for Girls Memorial to unify the overall aesthetic...

With that thought, I immediately checked the username.

ye12na

It was the username of Ye-rin's younger sister, Ye-na, which community users who were time detectives in my previous life had uncovered.

As expected...

If this artist really was Ye-rin's sister Ye-na, her skill level and popularity made sense.

After all, in my previous life, she had the same career as Ye-rin, working as an Art Director.

That said... the fact that SFLAG was looking for an artist who turned out to be Ye-na was starting to give me a headache.

In principle, I should just send this information I'd discovered straight to Tanaka and be done with it.

But I couldn't do that.

For one, she wasn't a complete stranger but Ye-rin's sister, so it felt wrong to carelessly hand over her personal information.

More importantly, I was hung up on the fact that Ye-na hadn't been active publicly in my previous life.

After pondering for a moment, I pulled out the smartphone from my pocket.

For now... it'd be faster to hear directly from Ye-rin.

*

After securing a spot at the café we'd agreed to meet at, I waited briefly before spotting Ye-rin entering.

"Over here."

I waved my hand while seated at the table. Ye-rin seemed to notice me and came straight over.

"What's going on? I'm already swamped with event preparations..."

"Sorry. There's something urgent I need to ask you."

"Oh?"

Ye-rin sat down across from me, wearing a surprised expression.

"Why the look?"

"Well... it's just strange to hear you say there's something you don't know and need to ask me about... It's been a while since I've heard that."

"Has it?"

"Yeah, usually you seem to know everything without me having to say much, so I just assumed that's how it was."

Hearing this from Ye-rin made me realize I'd been too careless.

I've been acting too complacently since my return.

Making a mental note to be more careful, I took a sip of coffee.

"Want me to order something for you?"

"No, I'll order myself."

No sooner had she finished speaking than she was ordering through the table's kiosk.

After that, Ye-rin went to the counter with the buzzer and returned with her coffee.

It was a frappuccino loaded with java chips, chocolate mousse, and whipped cream—Ye-rin's favorite.

Normally, this would be a question you should never ask a woman, but I couldn't help myself.

"Don't you gain weight eating such sweet snacks so often...?"

But Ye-rin, despite receiving such a sensitive question, replied with an unexpectedly calm expression.

"No, I don't seem to."

"Really?"

"I'm not sure if it's my constitution or if it's because I exercise... but my weight hasn't changed much since high school, even though I've been eating like this."

"I'm a bit jealous of that."

After some light small talk to break the ice, I got down to business.

"So, moving on to the main topic, I received a request from SFLAG."

"Yes?"

"They asked me to find an artist active on Pixiv. This account."

As I finished speaking, I turned on my smartphone and showed it to Ye-rin.

"This is..."

"You should be familiar with this account too."

"Y-yes..."

"That's your sister's account, right?"

Ye-rin slowly nodded at my question.

"I noticed from the art style. It's identical to the character design drafts you draw when you're not putting in extra effort."

"Senior, you've got a surprisingly good eye."

Ye-rin said with a smile, but I didn't respond.

She didn't seem to expect a reply either, taking a sip of her frappuccino before continuing.

"The account you showed me is indeed my sister Ye-na's. From the way you're talking, you already know a lot about Ye-na, don't you?"

"No, I don't know much, just her face. You showed me before, remember? That internet-famous beautiful sister duo of doujin artists."

At my words, Ye-rin's face reddened slightly, seemingly embarrassed.

"A-hem... Anyway, what do you plan to do now?"

"Well... If it had been a complete stranger, I would've just passed the information to Tanaka-san and been done with it. It's a publisher-side initiative, so there's no real reason for me to get deeply involved."

"But the reason you didn't do that is..."

"Because she's your sister. When it's the sister of a close junior, it's only polite to ask the person directly at least once."

Ye-rin's eyes widened for a moment.

She seemed a bit surprised, staring blankly for a moment before smiling broadly and saying,

"Every time something like this happens, I'm reminded... Senior, you're really kind."

Embarrassed by this unexpected response, I cleared my throat and continued.

"A-anyway... So that's why I'm asking, is there something going on with Ye-na?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, does she have any health issues or chronic conditions that limit her outside activities...?"

"No, not at all."

"What?"

Ye-rin shook her head with an expressionless face at my question.

"I don't know what kind of misunderstanding you have, Senior, but... Ye-na is very healthy."

I felt confused by Ye-rin's answer.

*She's fine? Then why in my previous life...?*

"So right now, she's...?"

"Unemployed... or should I say, a NEET?"

"Ah..."

"What good is graduating from S University's art department? She's just wasting her life, earning living expenses through doujin activities because she finds working a regular job bothersome."

Ye-rin seemed to have a lot pent up, as she started to vent in earnest.

"With her level of skill, she could get a job at any number of game companies or advertising agencies. I really don't understand why she's wasting her life like this..."

Listening to Ye-rin's story, it was clear she had been holding back a lot.

In my previous life, Ye-rin had eventually lost patience and dragged her sister to work at her own company...

This time around, I was planning to be the one to drag Ye-na into our company.

"There's one thing I'd like to ask."

"Yes, go ahead."

I continued, watching Ye-rin who was slightly out of breath, probably due to her sudden emotional outburst.

"Has Ye-na ever done any activities besides doujin work, or taken on any freelance jobs?"

"Hmm... Ah, that's right. About a year ago, I think? She mentioned doing some 3D modeling freelance work a few times."

Bingo.

"So what happened with that?"

"Probably... quit after a few jobs, saying she'd earned enough money?"

"I see..."

Hearing Ye-rin's story, I realized it hadn't changed from my memories of the previous life.

It mostly matched what Ye-rin had mentioned in passing before my return.

*If that's the case, the 3D model project scenario I was considering earlier... might actually be possible?*

"Ye-rin, what you want is for your sister to get a job and join society, right?"

"I... guess so?"

"Then how about we do this?"