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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 41: Coming Out
Japan’s school vacation system is similar to Korea’s—but not quite.
For starters, their school year kicks off in April, which pushes vacations back by about a month compared to Korea.
And when it comes to winter break? It barely counts—just a short stretch from the end of December into the New Year.
Basically, a one-week blip.
But don’t get it twisted—that’s not the end of vacation.
The dates might be a little shifted, but a long spring break still waits in the wings, stretching from early February to April.
“Phew… Now that 'D Note' is finally finished, maybe I can actually chill this spring break?”
“Spring break’s over.”
“...Huh?”
＊ ＊ ＊
After spring break ends, new class assignments, graduation ceremonies, and end-of-term events take place.
Spring break came to a close—and just like that, I’d become a second-year student, the kind of middle schooler who even North Korea would think twice about messing with.
They call it a closing ceremony or graduation, but honestly? There’s nothing particularly special about it.
You just sit in the auditorium, watching teachers take turns up on the stage, while everyone around you chatters away in that restless, disorganized way—same in Japan, same in Korea.
“No way. It seriously feels like vacation just started yesterday…”
I was stunned by the sheer speed time had flown by.
Not that I’d done anything particularly big during the break.
Spring break had been just shy of two months.
I went back to Korea to visit my family.
Dropped by ND House studio to support the animation team chanting ’It’s all Director Daito’s fault we’re suffering!’ and even helped out a bit with some of the work.
(They welcomed me with open arms when I brought sushi.)
I also tagged along on Director Akagi’s film shoots and studied some cinematography techniques on set.
As for the actual work? Eh. Work is just a basic metabolic activity—like breathing. Let’s not dwell.
“You basically spent your whole vacation working your butt off…”
Kanna tilted her head at me, looking at me like I’d lost it.
“Wait—are we in the same class again?”
“...You’re only realizing that now?”
The end-of-term ceremony to celebrate our promotion to second-year.
Folding chairs lined the auditorium floor, students split into classes.
Kanna, who was sitting next to me, pouted her lips.
“It’s not just us. Most of the kids who were in our class last year are in this one too.”
“...What?”
Wait, what? Isn’t this the point in the story where the main character gets split from their friends, and some new mysterious character shows up, back turned, bathed in cryptic lighting? That’s the trope. That’s the law.
“Our school’s private, remember? From the start, the sports, arts, and music track students are separated into their own classes.”
I stared silently at Kanna.
Noticing the meaning behind my look, she kept going.
“I told them I wanted to stay in the general studies track to focus on academics.”
She said it with a little “hmph”, proud as hell.
I looked at her and nodded in quiet admiration.
“Honestly, I figured you stayed out of the arts track because you couldn’t stand seeing people more talented than you. Or that you’d get salty watching others succeed and snap at anyone who annoyed you.”
“......”
Respect. Seriously. Balancing school with a career in entertainment at her age? That’s no joke.
I wonder… if I’d actually said that last part out loud, would it have changed the course of my life, even just a little?
As the ceremony ended and we walked back to the classroom from the auditorium, I was suddenly ambushed by a mysterious attack—
From none other than Kanna.
＊ ＊ ＊
The 'D Note' movie is scheduled to be released in two parts, both aiming for a summer release this year.
As for the anime, airing it straight through to the end would likely result in either the staff dying of overwork—or Director Daito being murdered ‘by’ the staff.
So the decision was made to split it into a two-cour format.
At that point, there wasn’t anything left for me to contribute on either front, and I’d fallen into a steady rhythm of commuting to and from school and working in between.
Riiing—
One phone call came in.
There are very few people who have my personal number.
Aside from exchanging numbers privately with people like Author Ishida or Kanna, most calls I get are work-related.
“Hello, this is Sanae from Field Scroll.”
“Ah, Sanae-san! It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Thanks to you, I’ve been well. And you, everything good on your end?”
After some brief catching up with Sanae, she got to the point.
“So, this isn’t a huge deal, but since we previously featured your work at our booth, we still occasionally get business inquiries about it.”
“I’m really sorry about that. I haven’t properly set up a professional contact channel, so I keep causing trouble.”
“Oh, no, not at all. We've gained a lot thanks to you, so this kind of thing is no problem.”
Sanae reassured me not to worry and continued.
“Usually, we turn down most requests on your behalf per your instructions—but this one seemed promising.”
“Promising?”
“Yes, it’s a request for a Drama CD of 'Monogatari'.”
A Drama CD is basically an audio drama—like an anime without the visuals, just the voices and sound effects pressed onto a CD.
A 'Monogatari' drama CD, huh.
Not bad.
The series itself already relies heavily on its unique rhythm and the chemistry between characters, so it would probably lend itself well to an audio-only format.
Still, there wasn’t any pressing need to rush into it.
I was just about to politely decline when—
“It’s from a relatively new company called Avid Works. They’re not that well-known yet, but the director, a person named Utahara, has been getting very good reviews.”
“Wait—Avid Works?”
“Yes, have you heard of them?”
Heard of them?
In my original time, whether you were in the industry or just a fan, everyone knew that name.
Utahara of Avid Works.
A future legend who started with Drama CDs and eventually turned a fledgling studio into a major anime production powerhouse.
Someone who began building their portfolio with animation projects in middle school, continued working on high-profile titles into adulthood, and later co-founded Avid Works, growing it from a small Drama CD studio into a full-fledged anime production company.
A self-made icon. A role model to any animator chasing that dream.
“They're not super famous yet, but the buzz about them is pretty good…”
“I’ll do it.”
“…Sorry?”
“Please send me their contact info. I’ll reach out directly.”
“Ah, of course. And there was one other thing I meant to mention…”
After I hung up with Sanae, I leaned back in my chair and let out a quiet sigh.
Back when I worked as an editor, Utahara had a lot of nicknames:
God of Direction, The Good Kind of Source Material Wrecker, Hitmaker.
A prodigy who, even at a young age, already had a sharp sense of the production pipeline and never held back when it came to using their talent.
Getting the chance to work with someone like that? That’s the kind of opportunity people would pay extra for.
Who in their right mind would say no to that?
＊ ＊ ＊
“I’m against it.”
At Matsuda’s words, Jung Junhyuk stared blankly at him.
It was rare for Matsuda to flat-out reject something like that.
He was always the considerate one, especially toward Junhyuk—and knowing that, Junhyuk quietly listened as Matsuda continued.
“Creating outside of the magazine—contract-wise, there's no issue. It's technically fine. But that’s just from my personal perspective. From the publisher’s or editorial department’s point of view, they’re definitely not going to like it.”
“That’s... true.”
With nothing to argue back, Junhyuk nodded in agreement.
“You know that too, which is why, even at Comiket, you released your books under a different pen name and sold them on consignment. But producing a drama CD requires direct, face-to-face involvement. And if you want to keep your identity under wraps, it’s best to avoid public activities.”
A completely valid and reasonable point.
On top of that, unlike with an anime or film—where the publisher acts as a middleman and handles contracts—this situation required Junhyuk to sign everything himself.
And there were parts of that process that could raise red flags, depending on how you looked at it.
“But, Matsuda-san... I really want to do this. Just this once.”
“For this one... I still have to say no.”
Sigh…
Junhyuk let out a long breath.
Convincing Matsuda when he was this firm? Basically impossible.
With no other choice, Junhyuk got up and began rummaging through something, then placed an item on the table with a soft thud.
He slowly slid it over toward Matsuda.
“…Even if you try to tempt me with a summer-limited swimsuit Mikuts-chan figure, the answer is still no!”
Junhyuk wordlessly slid another item over.
“…Even if it’s the first edition Mikuts-chan Nendoroid…”
And then, Junhyuk pulled out his final trump card:
The dazzling, chrome-finished Chogokin Soul Mazinger Z GA-441 figure.
That finally broke Matsuda’s resolve.
He shot up from his seat.
“Itterasshai! Take care, Jun-kun! Stay healthy!”
He saw Junhyuk off with a misty, sentimental gaze.
...Even though Junhyuk wasn’t actually going to sign the contract right that second,
the mood had gotten too dramatic to just sit around—so he wandered around a nearby playground for a while, then quietly returned to the studio.
When he came back and saw Matsuda talking to the figures, Junhyuk decided it was best to pretend he saw nothing.
＊ ＊ ＊
Following the general address, Jung Junhyuk made his way to the Avid Works office.
They’d already ironed out the broad strokes of the contract over the phone, so all that was left was a bit of due diligence and hammering out the finer details.
He’d expected some pushback over IP ownership, but surprisingly, Avid Works didn’t seem too hung up on it.
Joint ownership of intellectual property requires a hefty investment, and given Avid Works’ current finances, even with the buzz around the title, they didn’t really have grounds to obsess over the rights to a doujin work.
The office was on the third floor of a mid-sized commercial building—not too big, not too small.
He took the elevator up and stepped into Avid Works’ office, where a woman near the entrance walked up to him.
“May I help you?”
“I’m Enju. I have a contract meeting scheduled for 4 PM today.”
At that, the woman blinked with slight surprise, then nodded and gestured for him to follow.
“The director is waiting for you inside.”
“Thank you.”
With a quick bow, Junhyuk opened the door and stepped into a small meeting room.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Enju.”
Inside were Director Utahara and the Producer, Mitami, already waiting.
“Ah—ah, Enju-sensei! Thank you for coming all this way. I’m Mitami—we spoke on the phone.”
“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Utahara Megumi, the director.”
Mitami looked visibly flustered after seeing Junhyuk in person, while Utahara just gave him a relaxed smile and greeted him warmly.
“Pleasure’s mine. I look forward to working with you.”
After the brief introductions, Junhyuk took his seat, and Utahara jumped right to the point.
“We’d like to proceed with the contract terms we discussed earlier, if that’s alright with you?”
“Yes, that works.”
“We’ve also added the extra clauses you requested—feel free to review everything at your pace, and ask if anything’s unclear.”
Junhyuk nodded and began scanning through the paperwork.
“Looks good. No issues that I can see.”
“Then we’ll move forward—”
“—Right before that, I have one document I need to submit.”
Junhyuk cut in, pulling out a single sheet of paper.
Contracts handled through a publisher were fine, but when Junhyuk had to sign a business deal personally, there was one unavoidable complication.
This was the document to clear that hurdle.
Both Mitami and Utahara tilted their heads, puzzled, as he slid the paper across the table.
“What’s this…?”
“I’d appreciate it if you could treat this as confidential between me and Avid Works.”
Utahara picked up the paper and began reading.
Rustle.
The sheet slipped from his fingers and fluttered to the floor.
“I’m a minor and a foreigner.”
Junhyuk explained.
“It’s my temporary guardian consent form, as required by Japanese law.”
And just like that, the faceless sensation tearing up online forums and social media—the elusive Enju behind all those viral doujin hits from Comiket—had officially come out.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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