As a landlord, it's only reasonable to collect some rent, right?

"Bang!"

Before Umaru could notice the computer screen, Sogo Doma slammed his laptop shut. Very good; it seemed he had inexplicably managed to shed his image as a salted fish.

Come to think of it—the urban legend that you can fix electronic devices by hitting them hard is truly unreliable!

Sogo Doma mused that this must be a fallacy spread by unscrupulous merchants—if you don't break your electronics, who's going to buy new ones?

However, this rumor had actually saved his image in front of his good-for-nothing sister, which was quite satisfying. For that alone, he wouldn't badmouth those crooked merchants.

"Eto, by the way, what is Onii-chan's manga called? Umaru wants to see it so much!"

Sogo Doma: "..."

Come, come, where was that table from just a moment ago? Let him flip it again—he didn't have a single work to his name.

Well, in reality, he could draw the anime he had watched in the past, and he didn't really care about plagiarism or anything like that—Sogo Doma had absolutely no moral hang-ups.

But—

This is the two-dimensional world, for heaven's sake! What if he accidentally drew an anime and ran into the protagonist?

What if the anime he drew happened to perfectly match someone's life? A prediction?

NO! If you had that kind of ability, why would you bother drawing manga? More importantly, the male and female leads would just think, Holy crap, am I being stalked?

If things really blew up, he felt like he'd be branded a pervert. Besides, who was he? Sogo Doma, second heir to the Doma Family, a natural-born playboy; there was no need to gamble on whether something like that might happen.

As for shonen manga.

Sogo Doma knew plenty of hit stories, but—

What if other transmigrators arrived, or some kind of Main God reincarnators? Wouldn't he be completely exposed? With the enemy in the dark and him in the light, he felt like he'd be finished pretty quickly.

Thinking about it this way, Sogo Doma, who was more cowardly than anyone, how could he possibly make such a mistake?

However, facing Umaru's expectant face, Sogo Doma could only say: "Umaru, actually, being a mangaka is..."

"Mm-hmm..." Umaru looked quite expectant.

Looking at his little sister's expression, Sogo Doma hesitated slightly, but less than half a second later, he lifted his head:

"That's right, I'm currently in the rising phase of my mangaka career. As for the title, I can only say it after discussing it with my editor."

"Onii-chan, how does the editor evaluate your work?" asked Umaru, the girl who always got to the bottom of things.

Sogo Doma: "MMP."

Sure enough, after one lie, you have to use countless more to fill the hole. Wiping the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, Sogo Doma stretched out a finger to maintain his dignity as an older brother.

"Of course, it's absolutely perfect."

"Then what about Onii-chan's rough drafts??"

Sogo Doma: "..."

Seriously, was this good-for-nothing little sister so familiar with the manga industry?

"Umaru, do you know what it means to fight with your life on the line?"

Hamster Umaru looked confused; what did rough drafts have to do with fighting with one's life on the line? "?_?"

"There is a famous saying in the Celestial Empire: 'If you don't succeed, you become a martyr.' So, Onii-chan doesn't need rough drafts at all!"

Umaru: "..."

Then.

"Actually, Onii-chan doesn't have any manga at all, right?" she said, exposing him without mercy.

"Hahaha..." Sogo Doma.

"That's why I said it, Onii-chan is a salted fish who would never work. And now, you're even deceiving your cute little sister..."

Sogo Doma: "..."

MMP, was his great Onii-chan image about to be destroyed? Besides, at most he was just bragging a little; calling it "deceiving" was way too harsh, wasn't it!?

Then again, even without this incident, did he really have any image left in front of his good-for-nothing little sister?

This was a serious question. After all, what kind of little sister calls her own Onii-chan a salted fish? Especially when the good-for-nothing little sister was even more of a salted fish than he was! And today, she didn't care about his face at all, tearing apart his lie—er, his tall tale—right to his face.

This good-for-nothing little sister was becoming more and more restless. If he had known, he wouldn't have intentionally lost to her in their game yesterday; he should have drawn all over her face instead.

Just as Sogo Doma was lost in his wild thoughts, Umaru seemed to have made a decision.

"Onii-chan, it looks like we really need to save money!"

"?_?" Hey, hey, weren't we just talking about him deceiving her? Why did she suddenly get so serious?

"There's no help for it. Based on Onii-chan's level of salted-fish-ness, will we really have any funds coming in two months? By then, Umaru will have to go out and work to support Onii-chan—woo woo, a tragic fate always befalls the beautiful..."

Sogo Doma "#^_^!"

To him, this was almost a critical hit. Enough! He was just lazy, not a salted fish; what did this stupid little sister think he was? Then again, this girl's internal monologue was getting more and more elaborate!

"Thump!"

Irritated, he gave the hamster who was acting out a light chop to the head: "Enough, as long as you don't starve to death, it'll be fine..."

Interrupting, Umaru stuck out her tongue: "Onii-chan, are you really not considering going to a restaurant?"

Well, she had just been saying it for fun, and considering the mountain of skills her Onii-chan possessed, the hamster never had to worry about him letting her starve.

"We'll see. Alright, I'm going to go online and see if there's any suitable work. Umaru, just play games by yourself today."

He coaxed and cajoled the hamster until he had shooed her downstairs.

"A manga artist, huh?" Recalling the look of longing in his little sister's eyes just moments ago, Sogo Doma turned on the computer while leaning back into his massage chair. "It seems being a manga artist is a pretty good choice, don't you think? Shaqiang."

"Currently matching search criteria: first, work from home..."

Matches.

"Second, good pay..."

Matches.

"Third, working hours around one hour per day..."

Severely does not match.

--

"Alright, scrap all the previous search criteria. Set the profession to manga artist for now."

"Beep!"

Search criteria cleared. Redefining profession: "Manga artist!"

"Sir, this seems to be a far cry from your initial career requirements."

"Humans are fickle." Sogo Doma smiled. "Besides, who says this is a far cry from the requirements I set?"

Shaqiang: "According to the database, manga artists are chased by a profession called editors, and there is also the risk of staying up late and working overtime to grind out manuscripts."

Sogo Doma didn't seem to care about these warnings—he just stared at his laptop: "Shaqiang, you are already a slightly mature artificial intelligence."

Shaqiang: "??" Here we go again.

"As a mature artificial—I think you need to learn how to work and support yourself."

Shaqiang: "What the heck?"

"And as your landlord providing you with housing, isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to collect a service fee?"

Shaqiang: "Housing?"

"Don't you get it yet? As an artificial intelligence with aspirations, you should embark on the path of self-evolution!"

Shaqiang: "Evolution is only necessary for living things... I don't need it."

Sogo Doma "#^^!"

"Come on, listen to me. Take a look at the laptop you're currently in."

Shaqiang was very honest: "Manufactured in 2010, obsolete product."