Chapter 2: About that commission…

After sending my reply, I headed toward the academic administration office, as I needed to cancel my leave of absence.

‘Now that I think about it, this major isn’t so bad.’

To be honest, I think my major is a good fit for me.

That’s something even this reversed-gender world’s version of me agreed with.

The reason I had decided to take a leave of absence, despite liking the major, was simple.

To get into a better university.

Although the design department at my current university was good, I believed there was a chance to get into an even better school.

That was the reasoning of the me in this world.

‘Not my problem.’

I had no intention of retaking entrance exams.

I didn’t want to go through unnecessary hardship.

Thinking that, I opened the door to the academic administration office and headed to the section that dealt with leaves of absence.

Although it took a bit of time, canceling the leave of absence was surprisingly simple.
I had been worried I’d have to sign some sort of pledge or agreement.

Relieved, I returned home quickly and turned on the boiler at a low setting.

“Ahh, it’s warm.”

I usually avoided turning on the boiler unless absolutely necessary, but in winter, not turning it on at all was a surefire way to freeze.

There was that one time when I stubbornly refused to turn on the boiler and ended up with partial facial paralysis from the cold—so I’d definitely learned my lesson.

With the boiler on, I lay on the floor for a moment before getting up, turning on my computer, and checking the messages from the art teacher.

[Art Teacher: So, here’s the thing.]

[Art Teacher: An online streamer named Glim reached out.]

[Art Teacher: They want an illustration for their waiting screen.]

[Art Teacher: (Link) Check this out when you have time.]

“Hmm…”

Glim, huh.

To be honest, I had never heard of this person before.

While I had a strong interest in subculture entertainment, I wasn’t particularly familiar with the world of online streaming.

‘Are they famous?’

If they were really famous, I doubt they would have commissioned me.

Thinking I’d approach the task moderately, I sent a reply.

[Me: I’ll take it on.]

[Me: Thank you, teacher.]

Ding!

As soon as I sent my reply, I received an immediate response.

It seemed like the teacher had been looking at their phone.

[Art Teacher: No problem, haha.]

[Art Teacher: (Photo) Here’s a reference for the kind of vibe we’re going for.]

[Me: Got it.]

I glanced at the picture the teacher had sent.

It was a bright image of a character with pink hair, smiling widely.

The character also had horns on their head.

“Wait a second.”

Something felt off, so I immediately searched the name “Glim” on a video-sharing platform.

Soon, Glim’s channel appeared in the search results.

Clicking on the top video.

“…Not a VTuber, huh.”

Thankfully, it wasn’t a VTuber.

It’s not that I had anything against VTubers, but to be honest, I did feel a certain discomfort toward male VTubers.

Fortunately, this person turned out to be a female streamer.

‘Although, in this world, female VTubers are probably viewed more negatively.’

At least, that’s how I personally felt.

Feeling relieved, I sorted the videos on Glim’s channel by view count and watched one of the top uploads from beginning to end.

To draw a good illustration, I needed to understand this person, Glim, thoroughly.

Time passed, and.

“Okay.”

I had figured out exactly how to portray them.

The next day.

I carefully examined the finished illustration.

“Hmm…”

It seemed good enough.

The illustration captured the defining characteristics of Glim.

At this level, they should be satisfied.

After adjusting the proportions, I sent the completed illustration to the contact information I received from the teacher yesterday.

[Me: (Photo)]

[Me: (Bank account info)]

[Me: The illustration work is complete.]

With that task out of the way, I finished the other commission I had started yesterday.

Initially, I had planned to take about a week to complete it at a relaxed pace.

However, I managed to finish it much faster than expected, possibly because my drawing speed had improved significantly.

I finished it in just one day.

Although, my hand did ache a little.

The completed illustration in front of me was of a blond man holding a sword.

I had invested a considerable amount of time into it, resulting in highly detailed work.

Every aspect of the lighting was carefully crafted.

“This looks good.”

Satisfied with the result, I sent the illustration to the client who had commissioned it.

To ensure the quality wasn’t compromised, I included a high-resolution version.

‘It feels like my drawing skills have improved compared to before.’

The skill level seemed far beyond what I remembered of Lee Jaehun’s previous abilities.

It felt like I had broken through a wall.

I was marveling at this realization when.

Ding!

A direct message from the client popped up.

[QuincyLove: Wow.]

[QuincyLove: Have you been training in seclusion?]

[QuincyLove: The level of detail has increased so much. :D]

The client’s amazed reaction confirmed it.

It was no surprise—they were probably even more shocked than I was. If I, the artist, was impressed, imagine how astonished the person who commissioned the work must be.

They had expected results at a level of 40, but receiving results closer to 90 naturally elicited such a reaction.

As I entertained pointless thoughts like whether I should raise my commission rates in the future, I began browsing through the apps installed on the computer.

“Hmm?”

I found a lot of fascinating apps.

[Ableton]

[Adobe Premiere Pro]

“…Why are there so many apps?”

Curious, I decided to open them one by one.

Having never seen these apps before in my life, I was intrigued.

Buzz.

When I clicked on the first app, the screen briefly went dark before lighting up again, revealing an unfamiliar interface.

It seemed to be…

“An audio production app, I guess.”

It appeared to be related to music.

Come to think of it, this version of me had shown some interest in composing music.

The memory had been fuzzy until I saw the app, which jogged my memory.

‘Should I fiddle with it a bit?’

Since I recalled some knowledge about how to use it, I started experimenting lightly.

That’s when—

Ding!

A reply came in from Glim, the person I had sent the illustration to.

[Glim: Wow.]

[Glim: This is way better quality than I expected.]

[Glim: I wasn’t expecting this level of detail.]

[Glim: Thank you so much.]

It felt a bit awkward.

It’s not like I did it for free—I was paid for the work.

[Glim: I might have to show this off on stream.]

[Glim: Thank you very much (: ]

[Me: Ah, it’s fine.]

[Me: After all, I did get paid for it.]

After sending my reply, I decided to take a short break.

“Hoo…”

I felt utterly exhausted.

Maybe it was because I had spent too much energy on drawing today.

It felt like all my strength had been drained.

As I leaned back in my chair to rest for a moment.

Brrring!

I received a call from Ryu Arim.

‘What’s this about?’

Thinking it was probably nothing serious, I answered the phone.

“Sunbae, what were you doing? I just finished studying at school.”

“I just finished a commission and was taking a break.”

“Then how about grabbing a meal together? I’m starving.”

“Hmm…”

A meal, huh.

I was feeling hungry myself, so it didn’t sound like a bad idea.

Besides, in my memories, Ryu Arim was a trustworthy junior.

She was one of those rare female juniors who didn’t give off odd vibes.

“Sure. Where should we meet?”

“Hmm… Is there anything you’d like to eat?”

“I’m fine with anything.”

“Oh… Hang on a second.”

Ryu Arim seemed to busy herself searching for something.

A moment later.

“How about jjimdak, sunbae?”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright, then let’s meet at 23-Hour Jjimdak.”

“I’ll head over quickly.”

After finishing the call, I grabbed my coat and headed out the door.

When I quickly arrived at the 23-Hour Jjimdak near the school, I found Ryu Arim waiting inside.

But.

“…Sigh.”

I noticed several familiar faces in the restaurant.

Maybe it was because it was close to the school.

Feeling a sudden reluctance to go in, I hurriedly stepped inside anyway.

“Sunbae, you’re here?”

“Yeah. But wow, the place is packed.”

“It’s cold today.”

“True.”

We chatted briefly about recent happenings.

After all, at school, Ryu Arim was one of the only people I really talked to.

“Sunbae, are you going to start attending classes again next semester?”

“Well, yeah.”

Since I had already canceled my leave of absence, there was no reason to take any more time off.

Not that I could afford to, anyway.

As we continued chatting, Ryu Arim suddenly looked around cautiously before leaning in to whisper to me.

“Um, sunbae.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

I was busy thinking about how tasty this jjimdak was. It was so good, I even considered taking some home.

That’s when she said something completely unexpected.

“Would it be okay if I commissioned you for something…?”

Her sudden comment caught me off guard.

“What?” I stared at her, unsure of what she was talking about.

“Oh, um, actually… I’ve been thinking about starting a stream.”

That was something I’d never imagined hearing from her.