Chapter 97 - Real Coal in the Family (2/2)
Of course, Meng Cai Wei only said this, and she didn’t really believe it.
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“Adapt into a manga?”
After meeting Mr.Sleepy, Meng Fan conversed with him before quickly getting to the topic. After hearing him out, Meng Fan was rather surprised. “You want me to adapt your book, ‘There’s a Spirit Underground’? I have no manga adaptation experience, only illustrations. Don’t you think you’re thinking too highly of me?”
“You’re a profession!” Mr.Sleepy said matter of factly. “Moreover, you’re also talented! To be honest with you, I had found several illustrators to help me do illustrations before I met you. I even asked them to adapt my manga, but their artistic style didn’t match, which made it very upsetting.”
Sipping a mouthful of Pepsi cola, he gestured for Meng Fan to hear him out. “Your artistic style is to my taste, and you understand this novel very well. Many of your illustrations depict the scenes in my head, which is hard to come by, and perfect for me! So when I received the copyrights for a manga adaptation, you were the first person I thought of. It has to be you!”
“As for the story, you can take care of it if you feel adequate. If you need help, I can give you a few scriptwriters, and I will also participate in the adaptation myself. Also, if you need, I can give you two assistants as well if you need assistance in drawing or anything.”
“You can choose to receive the subscription fee in addition to the manuscript fees, which includes the subscription payments, publishments etc; or just name a price. Both are fine.”
“Either way, I just want you… as my main artist!”
Meng Fan spoke, “Wait, wait. Scriptwriters, assistants, and naming a price, can I ask you something? Are all novels this lucrative nowadays? Or does your family own coal?”
Mr. Sleepy paused for a moment and gave him a big thumbs up. “You even know about my family’s coal!”
Meng Fan also paused for a bit. “F*ck do you really?”
Mr. Sleepy snickered. “I’m from Mengzi, so my family does own some coal mountains.”
Meng Fan was shocked. “F*ck! No wonder you never update! You’re a second-generation mining tycoon!”
“Third generation,” Mr. Sleepy said very modestly.
Meng Fan continued, “You keep handing me so many cards, you’re not afraid of me asking for too much?”
Mr. Sleepy responded very seriously, “As long as the adaptation feels right, there’s no problem. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken back the copyrights and search for people myself. If I left it with the website, it would have been easy to pick, and they can help me choose the best choice, but I can’t guarantee their art will feel right.”
“Rich people are so impulsive!” Meng Fan couldn’t help but feel indulged at the moment. He thought about it and gave out his answer, “Because I’m already preparing to adapt a manga, I have to go back and think about your job. Give me some time within one week at the latest. I’ll give you a response before then. Is that alright?”
“Sounds good!”
Mr. Sleepy clapped his palms together loudly.
Maybe it was because he paid particular attention to anything aside from writing, or because Meng Fan was suitable to his taste, Mr.Sleepy had talked with Meng Fan for another two hours before leaving with the manuscripts.
Not long after, Wu Tong arrived ahead of schedule. As they prattled on their way towards the Hangzhou train, Meng Fan felt very comfortable on the smooth journey to Hangzhou. Naturally, not many shenanigans happened on the way, besides the two wild kids who would occasionally start a commotion. Thankfully, their parents were not wild as well.
Returning to the school, Meng Fan helped Wu Tong take her luggage to the entrance of the girls’ dormitory and felt reluctant to leave, but still happily returned to the boys’ dormitory.
Zhang Zhou Wei and the other guys hadn’t returned yet, so Meng Fan left his stuff in their room and headed to the studio with his drawing tube.
Using the rest of the afternoon, he caught up with the illustrations he had been procrastinating.
After dinner, he didn’t return to the studio, nor did he run, but immediately took a taxi to Xizi lake. The ‘Night Touring God’ task still had to be completed, only there would be no stream tonight. Instead, he wore his hat the entire process and sat on the corner of the scenic grounds. He wasn’t daydreaming, but pondering over the script Xing Ta Ge had given him.
He didn’t know if he would take Mr.Sleepy’s adaptation job, but Xing Ta Ge’s manga still had to be done.
With the manuscript in hand, and the +3 drawing skill and +1 imagination, the optimal conditions for creating a manga had been established.
After pondering, Meng Fan didn’t intend to begin creating a manga immediately but rather went off to search for a silly point of view. He prepared to draw some of the scenes from the script in the style of illustrations, drawing them separately. Naturally, this was to increase his progress for the [Illustrator] task—Meng Fan couldn’t confirm if manga content counted as illustrations by the system—so when he connected them together and modified them slightly, they became the first few panels of a manga!