Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Descent of the Avatar (2)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ah, this took way longer than I thought."
Honestly, it wasn't that much content, but being my first time, there were just so many screentones I had to draw.
Those ate up a ridiculous amount of time.
Of course, part of it was that I wanted to go all out since this was the world's very first comic—I got carried away and pushed my artwork to the absolute limit.
That meant trying multiple versions and picking the best one each time.
Sure, cranking out over a hundred pages in a month might sound decent, but...
Considering I skimped on sleep and poured everything into this, it was pretty disappointing.
Basically, even my rest time went to pasting screentones, so my mental state was shot.
"Still, no point stressing. The next one'll go faster anyway."
I'd prepped screentones for everyday scenes, battle moments, pretty much every type imaginable.
Should cut the time way down next project.
Back when I started digital art in my old life, my speed tanked until I nailed down the brushes and workflow, too.
"Man, it's been a while."
The capital hadn't changed much after just a month.
My old inn was right where I left it—even recognized me when I walked in, which felt kinda surreal.
A month's not long enough for big shifts, after all.
What I was really dying to check? Whether my artwork was still crushing it.
It had enough recommendations to last over a month back then, so the exhibit was probably still up...
But as a flash-in-the-pan novelty, the recs had likely cooled off by now.
"What the hell is this...?"
Something wrong?
Was I hallucinating from sleep deprivation?
I'd been hyped for those soulful, evocative pieces from last time, but now the place was packed with stuff that made me question my own eyes.
What was going on?
For starters, my piece was holding strong at the top with steady recommendations.
Yeah, that was something to be grateful for—something to celebrate.
The problem? Almost everything else had changed. A ton.
"No way... is this for real?"
Besides the evergreen mega-hits, the vibe of every other painting had flipped.
And the direction of that flip? It all echoed one piece in particular.
My White Flower on Water, naturally.
The whole gallery was a full-on explosion of illustrations mimicking my manga style.
You could call it a feast of otaku art styles and not be wrong.
Last visit, World Within the Door had been the big sensation, spawning a bunch of copycats.
Hell, some even cracked the top ranks.
But this? Way more intense—and in even less time. The turnover in top spots was insane.
Strip away the old blockbusters, and it was all otaku art now. Even I, a huge fan of the style, felt my head spin.
This was getting kinda creepy.
Oof, at this rate, the community back home would straight-up execute me for unleashing otaku art on this world...
Early days, so lots of stuff aping my exact style—but artists need time to find their groove.
Personally? I love art close to mine, so it was a win for me.
Taste is subjective, but this meant tons of people digging my stuff. Grateful as hell.
What worried me was this world's unique artistic flavors vanishing.
Those styles were gorgeous to me—worth preserving...
Eh, trends come and go. The classics'll survive.
Probably overthinking it.
The top tiers have definitely stabilized their own takes on it.
Some switched from oils to other mediums but kept the manga style rock-solid.
The colors and textures made 'em pop with totally distinct vibes.
Catching up to "otaku art" as a genre in one month? Wild.
Tops looked just like modern site's leaderboards—no real difference.
This world was terrifyingly advanced when it came to art as a hobby.
Hobby? Nah—with how it boosted their main gig of magic, you had serious mage-artists everywhere.
These paintings? The payoff of dumping a month's worth of their skills into manga style.
"Yeah, wondering how far this'll go is straight-up rude."
Best response: soak in the artist's aesthetics, judge the work on its own merits.
I ditched my tinted glasses, got serious, and started really looking.
Even if I'd kickstarted the meta, each piece had its own message.
"Only thing they share is the style, huh?"
Lower ranks had near-tracings, but tops? Worlds apart beyond the shared manga base.
Trend kicked off with pervy nudes, yet tons nailed proper clothing styles. Solid direction.
Nudity shines brightest with clothes to contrast—strip 'em all bare, and it loses punch.
Proof they got it: manga's beauty ain't just skin.
Artist and viewer alike remembered clothed allure, birthing these results.
Nude ratio ticked up from before, sure—but varied angles gave each its own flavor of bare beauty.
Looking closer, it seems pretty healthy...
Just like any era's hot art trend. I pulled the trigger; next wave's manga style.
From chats last time, they'd been primed post-camera invention, craving "art's exclusive beauty."
Would've shifted anyway—something similar.
I just squeezed the trigger.
Matching names to old works jogged memories: prior vibes lingered surprisingly intact.
At first glance, otaku art everywhere = panic.
Dig into the flow? No real cause for alarm.
Take an artist killer at detailed dress folds.
Old stuff: photo-real at a skim, but zoom in—folds so intricate, no camera could match.
New piece? Moe girl, but that dress? Still stunningly ornate.
My style skimps on hair details, yeah.
One specialist in flowing locks? Kept that signature flair even in manga form.
Only ref was my stuff, yet they cherry-picked perfectly. Had to respect it.
"Oh, this one's cool."
Lots of fun experiments, too.
This Mirror World? Twin verticals, same pose and setup.
Left: hyper-real. Right: manga style. Central line as mirror symmetry.
Nailed both aesthetics' strengths, thoughtfully highlighting the gap.
And it wasn't just a gimmick—the manga chops were pro-level for one month in.
These folks were nuts.
"Maybe exhibiting alongside talents like this is a blessing."
Me? Trained in an era where this was baseline, just ported it over.
But them? Dismantling and owning it that fast? Terrifying talent.
Learned a ton today.
Wonder how actual comics would land.
Pulling novels' turf into visual art?
Honestly pumped to see how these vets react.
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