Chapter 3: A Teammate in the R99 Zone**

The system provided a location, along with some key information.

The coercive language in the message made things a bit suggestive... but it was thrilling!

Oda Shingo smirked and decided to follow the system's instructions.

It wasn’t that he was dependent on the system; he was just curious to know what kind of teammate the system had recommended and what their skill level would be...

Who wouldn't be curious?

Besides, he needed to form a team to create manga together. As someone who had been a director in his previous life, he understood the importance of teamwork in creating a manga.

Alright then, time to head to the store!

"Wait, it's this store?" Oda Shingo suddenly remembered that the discs on his desk were rented from that very store.

Might as well return them and get the deposit back.

As he was about to leave, the system flashed a countdown in his mind: *[-635, -634...]*

A countdown timer?

Oda Shingo quickly realized that this was the system's way of warning him that the teammate might leave that location soon.

It felt like a video game, but this [Great Anime Demon King System] was starting to deserve a bit more respect.

Could it predict the future? Was it due to calculations? Or was it something more advanced like the law of causality?

These weren’t things he needed to worry about right now. Time waits for no one, so he grabbed the discs and prepared to head out.

After a brief hesitation, he picked up a bag as well.

Japanese people rarely go out carrying things in their hands; most of them use bags. Many even believe that carrying things by hand without a bag isn’t just bad manners, but also feels weird.

The store wasn’t far—just a little over a kilometer away.

Oda Shingo remembered how his poor health on Earth had led to his sudden death, so he considered the fact that his body had only recently been resurrected.

Luckily, the soul transfer had somehow restored his body to perfect health.

"Let’s get some exercise with a light jog." Oda Shingo jogged all the way to the store.

The store itself was a medium-sized bookstore, but it also sold R99-rated books and rented out discs.

The old shopkeeper sat in a corner, his face almost pressed against a screen, sniffing it as if trying to absorb its essence.

Oda Shingo handed him the bag. “Returning the deposit.”

Compared to China, where CDs were almost obsolete, Japan still had a robust CD rental business.

“Thank you for your patronage. That’s 800 yen for the rental, a total of 7 times,” the old man said without looking away from the screen, efficiently collecting the discs, finding the record in his logbook, and handing Oda Shingo 4,400 yen in change.

Traditional rental businesses like this still primarily used cash.

What the old man was watching on the screen was somewhat intriguing, though it wasn’t R99-rated content—just some borderline entertainment.

The old man muttered, “Young man, you’ve rented seven times in just three days. Take care of your health.”

"..." Oda Shingo said nothing. Clearly, the original owner of this body had gotten him into this situation.

At the same time, he thought to himself, You're probably not watching R99 anymore because your body can’t handle it. A treasure you're too weak to enjoy.

The old man added, “We’ve got some great new stuff in stock recently.”

He pointed to a shelf in the distance, where a narrow curtain separated the section.

Oda Shingo glanced over casually.

Hmph, just a bunch of seductive women, all trying to drain my energy! But...

Who has the stamina to mess around with seductresses when I’m busy making manga?

He refocused, pretending to browse other rental items, while secretly scanning the store.

There was an overweight middle-aged man in the book section, and a woman in the distance near the bookshelf.

That area had an R99 warning curtain, clearly marking it as a section for more explicit books or CDs.

Japanese bookstores tend to handle explicit material with subtlety—just a small curtain that barely blocks the view. Of course, if it were completely blocked, how would it attract customers?

The system’s teammate indicator was still active, and the countdown hadn’t finished yet.

From the system’s message referring to "Miss," it seemed like the woman in the R99 area was the teammate?

How interesting, a female teammate in the R99 zone?

Oda Shingo pocketed the money but didn’t walk directly toward the woman.

Instead, he kept her in his peripheral vision, careful not to alert her, and snuck past the warning curtain.

For some reason, several classic scenes popped into his mind.

Like a hollowed-out beauty, or a woman who bows at the press of a remote control...

But once he got a clearer view of her, he dismissed those thoughts.

Her posture and demeanor weren’t like that at all.

She was much younger than he had imagined, around 20 years old. She had long, slender legs, giving her a tall, graceful appearance. Her long hair was tucked under a sunhat, and she wore a mask and sunglasses.

Even though it was cloudy, it was clear she didn’t want to be recognized.

Yet he could tell she was quite beautiful.

Especially those long legs—they were truly a sight to behold.

But why did she look so familiar? Oda Shingo searched his memories.

I hope she’s not someone I’ve stored on my hard drive.

Otherwise, this would be a case of, "The girl drawing manga with me had already been saved to my hard drive."

Wait a second, it’s her! He remembered!

She was a junior from Tokyo University of the Arts, studying in the same Fine Arts department—Yūzuru Namikaze.

The reason he knew her was because she had been featured on the university’s list of beautiful girls.

However, she was usually too quiet, the archetype of a literary girl, and always wore thick glasses.

“Could Yūzuru Namikaze, that pretty girl, be a yandere type?” Some classmates had once speculated.

She had an aura that made her hard to approach.

It wasn’t cold, but rather eerie... a strange sense of isolation.

No one could confirm this, though, because she didn’t have many friends.

She had an even higher level of social isolation than Oda Shingo’s previous self.

However, her beauty, especially her legs, made her stand out among Japanese girls. Despite the thick glasses and gloomy aura, she ranked in the top 10 beauties at Tokyo University of the Arts.

Now here she was in the bookstore, wearing a mask, sunhat, and sunglasses. Even acquaintances would find it hard to recognize her.

But Oda Shingo’s memory was like a hard drive—he could remember her easily.

In a way, you could say she was already stored in his "hard drive"...

*Ding! Congratulations, Host! You’ve found a potential teammate!*

With the [Great Anime Demon King] system’s notification, a status window popped up next to Yūzuru Namikaze’s figure:

*Yūzuru Namikaze, Art Skill: 82*

My God! Oda Shingo’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

A golden-level art skill! His eyes were almost blinded by its brilliance.

This was exactly the skill he needed to make up for his serious lack of artistic ability!

There’s no way he wasn’t going to recruit her into his team.

To draw the best manga, I have to work with her!

Oda Shingo continued to observe her discreetly.

He saw Yūzuru Namikaze hesitating before nervously approaching the R99 section.

What’s she looking for? Oda Shingo was puzzled.

Right, the system said she’d be a teammate.

So, does she want to learn how to draw explicit content? Interesting.

Oda Shingo’s guess wasn’t entirely wrong.

Yūzuru Namikaze was indeed there for drawing, but more specifically, she was there to figure something out.

“This… this is the legendary R99 material…” Yūzuru Namikaze was incredibly nervous, her eyes wide as she stared at the shelves.

So focused was she that she lost all awareness of her surroundings, completely missing the fact that someone was watching her.

A few months ago, she had painstakingly created a manga titled The Lost Paradise of Men.

Yesterday, she had uploaded the work to a web platform, filled with anxiety and excitement. Within just a few hours, it had been torn apart by the readers.

No, shredded to pieces!

Her mind was still reeling from the mocking comments:

“LOL, does the author even know what they’re doing?”

“Did she seriously draw a banana?!”

“Does the author even realize? At full power, you’ll die...”

There were even comments from Chinese readers in block characters: "Hehehe, the author must be a girl!"

I don’t understand… Yūzuru Namikaze thought with a frown.

Fortunately, she had posted it under the pseudonym “Yūyūko,” so no one knew her real identity.

But did I really draw it wrong?

I’ve studied anatomy in art class; I know the basic male structure, so what’s wrong? Yūzuru Namikaze was feeling defeated.

Maybe what you see in class is different from what happens in manga...

That seemed to be the key issue.

Yūzuru Namikaze desperately wished there were a guy who could explain how to draw that properly...

But you couldn’t just ask someone about it

, right? How embarrassing would that be!

So, she had decided to do her own research.

She had to draw it right! As a professional artist, that was her pride on the line.

Her hands trembled as she stood in the store, paralyzed by the decision before her.

Finally, she chose an R99-rated manga, tucked it under her arm, and turned to leave the store.

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