Chapter 2: The Little Cat

Chapter 2: The Little Cat

In a narrow room, the space of less than 20 square meters is crammed with an astonishing array of items, stacked tightly together like toothpaste being squeezed out.

So many things, all crammed into a room of less than 20 square meters. It really makes one think that it's a shame this room isn't used as a storage warehouse.

The most stacked items in the room are sheets of drawing paper, all covered with vivid manga illustrations.

At the innermost part of the room, far from the entrance, on a similarly narrow bed, a delicate and thin man lay with his eyes closed.

The man's facial features were quite good-looking, but his pale, motionless, and sharply chiseled face always gave the impression that he might already be dead.

Just then, a series of rapid knocks suddenly came from the door.

Before the man could respond, an impatient voice came from outside, "Lin Qingshan! There's a phone call for you!"

The pale-faced man instantly sat up, but the next moment, he turned his head toward the ground and started coughing violently, spitting out dozens of white pills.

Lin Qingshan sighed, "Damn it, what kind of sleeping pills are these? They're so hard to swallow!"

He wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, got up slowly, and walked barefoot out of the room.

It was only when he got up that one could see he wasn't lying on a bed earlier, but rather on a rusty fitness iron frame with a single mattress washed so much it had faded.

Next to this "bed" was a bottle of medicine and a half-drunk glass of water, with the label on the bottle prominently displaying the words "Clonazepam Tablets."

...

Lin Qingshan walked out of his rental room, barefoot and slowly making his way to a nearby convenience store.

"Lin Qingshan, there's a phone call for you," the landlord uncle pointed casually, indicating the convenience store's fixed phone, which was clearly waiting for someone to pick up.

Lin Qingshan's lips curled into a grateful smile, "Thanks, Uncle Dong!"

Then he stepped forward, picked up the phone, and placed it to his ear, saying, "Hello, this is Lin Qingshan!"

The landlord uncle opened his mouth, a bit angry yet somewhat helpless as he muttered, "There's no 'Dong' in my name... What's with this kid always calling me Uncle Dong?"

But this kid has always been a bit odd, so he decided not to dwell on it.

On the other end of the line, hearing Lin Qingshan's voice, a somewhat excited and clear voice immediately came through, "Yes! Hello! Teacher Qingshan, this is the Manga Editorial Department of Manjie Culture Company!"

Lin Qingshan suddenly realized, "Oh, it's from the place where I submitted my manga before, that's great! To be honest, you're pretty lucky."

"Lucky?" Ayumi Ito was taken aback. "What do you mean by that, Teacher?"

"Well, if you'd called any later, I might have gone back home already," Lin Qingshan said seriously. "You definitely wouldn't have been able to reach me then."

Ayumi Ito suddenly understood, "I see. So, Teacher, do you have time to come to Manjie Culture Company? We're very excited about your work 'Edgerunners' and hope to collaborate with you to deeply explore its commercial value!"

"Wait a minute, something seems off..." However, at that moment, Ayumi Ito heard a puzzled voice from the other end of the line.

"What's wrong, Teacher Qingshan?" Ayumi Ito's heart tightened.

"I remember my work is 'Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners,' not just 'Edgerunners,'" the puzzled voice came from the other end.

Ayumi Ito couldn't help but smile, but she didn't find it odd, saying, "Yes, Teacher, your work is indeed 'Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners.' So, when would you be able to come over to discuss the collaboration?"

Lin Qingshan thought for a moment and said, "How about later today? By the way, where is your company located again?"

"Huh? Later today?" Ayumi Ito was taken aback, a bit caught off guard. "Isn't that a bit too rushed? I haven't even prepared the contract yet..."

Lin Qingshan blinked and said, "Then how about tomorrow?"

Sensing the urgency in Lin Qingshan's voice, Ayumi Ito cautiously asked, "Teacher, is there something urgent on your end?"

"Yes," a serious voice came from the other end. "It's a matter of life and death... Because I haven't eaten in a long time, and I want to get a free meal from you guys... By the way, does your company have a cafeteria?"

Ayumi Ito suddenly felt that the man on the other end... seemed a bit different from ordinary people.

Ayumi Ito opened her mouth and softly said, "Our company doesn't have a cafeteria... but! I can treat you to a meal! Please make sure to bring the original manuscript and your ID!"

"Then I'll come over tomorrow morning," Lin Qingshan said, his eyes lighting up.

Ayumi Ito forced a smile and replied, "Alright..."

"Beep, beep, beep—" The call ended abruptly.

Ayumi Ito put down the phone. She had heard that some teachers in the industry had strange personalities. Did she just meet one of those teachers?

...

[Translator: sauron]

After hanging up the phone, Lin Qingshan hummed a tune and slowly made his way back to his rental room behind the convenience store.

Soon, he would be able to enjoy a delicious meal of rice, along with a job and an income.

With a job and income, he could continue his experiments to find a way back to his hometown!

That's right, Lin Qingshan's soul was that of a transmigrator.

What he mentioned to Ayumi Ito about going back home was actually about returning to his previous world's timeline.

However, for Lin Qingshan, transmigration was a cursed experience, not something to be celebrated.

He didn't like this world. After all, in this world, he was alone, without any attachments.

Although this world had a powerful country, it seemed that at a certain point in time, some unknown change occurred.

But Lin Qingshan was sure that the world didn't change due to some other transmigrator.

Because the technological development in this world never exploded; in fact, American technology still surpassed the Republic's.

Now, the timeline he had transmigrated to was the same as in his previous life, but technological development was slower. Smartphones hadn't even appeared yet!

This was just a parallel world.

At the same time, everything from his previous life had been altered beyond recognition—there was no Apple, no Huawei, and naturally, no *Shonen Jump*, *Dragon Ball*, or *Naruto.*

Instead, other equally strong companies and equally exciting manga works had taken their place.

This was why Lin Qingshan decided to use the half-baked manga skills from his previous life to become a professional manga (wen) artist (chao) (gong).

Then, earn enough money to go back home!

But he did have one bit of good luck...

"System, log in!" Lin Qingshan lay on his bed and directly commanded.

Suddenly, a high-tech virtual interface that only he could see appeared before his eyes.

[Host: Lin Qingshan]

[Abilities: Hard Drive Memory (Diamond), Cinematic Storyboarding (Platinum), Artistic Kaleidoscope (Master)]

[Points: 250]

At the same time, there were options for Mall, Lottery, and Fusion & Enhancement on the page.

It was thanks to this system and the 10,000 points and master-level ability Artistic Kaleidoscope that came in the novice gift package that he could effortlessly adapt the anime *Edgerunners* from his memory into a manga.

The Artistic Kaleidoscope ability, as the name suggests, allowed him to master various drawing styles and techniques at a master level.

Abstract, Realism, Impressionism... and so on. He could even skillfully use traditional ink painting and Chinese brush painting.

And with the Hard Drive Memory ability, he could remember everything from his previous life with remarkable clarity.

In fact, after his memory was fully "hard-drived," he could vividly recall even memories from his infancy.

Reproducing the famous paintings he had seen in his previous life, like *Starry Night,* *Mona Lisa,* and *The Scream,* would be a breeze.

Unfortunately, making money through traditional art took too much time.

Lin Qingshan didn't want to die before selling the works he plagiarized at a good price.

And earning system points required...

He looked at the system's task page—

[Current Tasks:

Nobody: Create a work of any type that earns praise from three people. Progress: 2/3 (100 points)

Just Getting Started: Make ten people know your name and leave a deep impression. Progress: 3/10 (100 points)

Born Talent: Showcase your talent and change the world! Rewards vary depending on the degree of change! (Unknown Reward)]

Although there was no time limit on the tasks, Lin Qingshan couldn't wait too long; he was always an impatient, action-oriented person!

So he decided to draw manga. It was a faster way to make money. That's why he exchanged points for the Cinematic Storyboarding ability.

As for choosing *Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners,* it was just because he was interested.

Cyberpunk as a genre didn't seem to exist in this world yet, so being the pioneer would certainly increase the chances of success.

And since there were already many hot-blooded shonen manga like *Naruto,* he wasn't sure how many fans he could attract by drawing something similar.

So he decided