In the process of going NSFW...
Readers gained happiness, the artist earned money, and everyone achieved a win-win situation in harmony.
This was the charm of the lewd!
If Haru were alone, he really wouldn't mind making NSFW content his main career, since his income from drawing doujins wasn't lower than his regular job.
Once his fame grew in the future, if his doujins were adapted into hentai anime, Haru might even earn the title of "Ero Manga Sage" in the Far East, and then he could easily make big money.
However...
Haru was someone with a fiancée!
The biggest problem with being a doujin artist was that this profession was inconvenient to tell family about.
With Elysia's personality, if she found out he was secretly drawing doujins, it would definitely be social death.
Haru could already imagine Elysia with a mischievous smile, saying "You wouldn't want others to know about your doujin drawing, would you?" and then teasing him about this for a very long time.
"But compared to social death, poverty is even more terrifying!"
Thinking of his bank account balance, Haru took a deep breath, his eyes gradually becoming determined.
Even the former World Serpent leader had become an IT wage slave who often worked overtime in this timeline...
So it was perfectly reasonable for him, the Hyperion Captain who had defeated Finality, to secretly draw some doujins for extra income, right?
Haru convinced himself with this excuse and logged into P-site on his phone, checking his artist account.
As a tribute, his account name was Raiden Tachi (Thunder Fire Sword), currently with about sixty thousand followers.
"Not bad, I haven't checked in a while, and the follower count has grown quite a bit."
Haru raised an eyebrow and casually scrolled through the comments under his account.
[Milk White Yukiko: The latest work is so good to fap to, little brother is very satisfied, author keep it up, love from China.]
[Love Driving Big Cars: When will the author update "Longing to Become a Magical Girl"? It's been half a month since the next chapter, my whole body feels like ants crawling!]
[Anything Jade Will Only Harm You: I'd rather the author update "Showing You Panties with a Disgusted Face," hehe, being given fanservice by a girl who has feelings for you while being looked down upon is just too satisfying.]
[Raiden Tachi You Have No Heart: Wait, you guys are rushing updates like this, aren't you worried the old bastard will draw another "Metamorphosis"?]
[Mess With Me You Mess With Cotton: Wuu wuu wuu, Yoshida Saki, my Yoshida Saki, old bastard why did you draw such cruel plot in a doujin?!]
[Passing Stand User: Don't worry, I Higashikata Josuke will use Crazy Diamond to fix everything dora!]
"Cough cough, why are these readers either rushing updates or reminiscing about 'Metamorphosis'..."
Haru clicked his tongue slightly, but couldn't help the pleased curve that formed at the corner of his mouth.
With the mindset of sharing otherworldly classics, three months ago he had drawn "Metamorphosis," known as the strongest anti-drug manga, planning to open readers' eyes.
He hadn't expected that after so much time had passed, so many readers still remembered "Metamorphosis"...
They must really love this warm and healing doujin!
Haru was moved by the readers' enthusiasm, then moved his finger up, planning to exit the website.
However, just then.
He saw a comment that made his pupils shrink.
[Agile Dog in the Mountains: Speaking of which, does the old bastard know Teacher Eshi?]
[Good Taste in Tachi: I remember Teacher Eshi draws shoujo manga, occasionally some BL, with an extremely gorgeous style. She should be in a different circle from the old bastard who draws adult content, right?]
[Agile Dog in the Mountains: But Teacher Eshi's follow list only has Raiden Tachi old bastard, and Teacher Eshi's recent manga seems to have some of the old bastard's flavor. These two definitely have an unusual relationship.]
[There's Only One Truth: Damn, could it be that the old bastard hooked up with Teacher Eshi? Don't let that kind of thing happen!]
[The Meaning of Travel: Teacher Eshi's art style clearly shows she's a pure beautiful girl, she must have been deceived by the twisted perverted old bastard's sweet words. We must find a way to rescue Teacher Eshi from Raiden Tachi's clutches!]
Slander! I'm going to sue you for slander!
Haru wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly used his privileges to delete these comments.
These vicious readers, not only calling him twisted and perverted, but also pinning the crime of being a lolicon on him—they wanted him dead!
"Good thing I discovered this in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable otherwise."
Haru killed all comments mentioning Teacher Eshi, and only after repeatedly confirming there were no omissions did he breathe a long sigh of relief.
He did indeed know Teacher Eshi, but it definitely wasn't the kind of relationship the readers were guessing.
Because Teacher Eshi's real identity was actually Griseo from the Golden Courtyard, a 12-year-old little girl.
If he remembered correctly...
In past loops, Griseo was also one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, but didn't participate in the final battle against Finality, instead flying to space as an executor of the Ark Project.
Of course, the current Griseo was just a genius girl with extremely high artistic talent.
Don't look at Griseo's young age, but in terms of pure drawing skill, Griseo even surpassed Haru.
It was only because Haru had experienced more things and had richer experience that he was slightly ahead, otherwise he really would have been outdone by a little girl.
"But with Griseo's talent, she'll surpass me sooner or later."
Haru scratched his cheek, the image of that blue-haired girl who painted stars with her brush floating in his mind.
Naturally, he couldn't tell anyone about secretly opening an alt account to draw doujins.
But an artist's work inevitably carried personal marks.
Some idiotic reader had spread his erotic drawings around the internet, and Griseo happened to see them, then recognized at a glance that they were drawn by Haru.
At that time, Haru almost thought he was going to have social death, and in front of a 12-year-old girl at that.
But unexpectedly...
Griseo had also secretly opened an alt account, hiding from everyone to draw shoujo manga, and was quite popular.
But fearing this secret would be discovered, Griseo hoped that Haru, as a fellow artist, could help her cover, and she would also help Haru hide his secret.
Thus was born the alliance codenamed "Hidden Matters."
The older and younger artist often used each other as excuses to create opportunities for rushing drafts. Haru sometimes helped Griseo manage her account and gave opinions on Griseo's works.
However...
Griseo's personality was somewhat strange.
She was like a pure white sheet of paper, and after spending time with someone for a long period, she would be stained with that person's "color."
Even though Haru tried to avoid it, Griseo's works seemed to still be influenced by him, and even readers noticed something off.
"Good thing the alt account didn't get exposed, the situation is still manageable."
Haru made up his mind to reduce contact with Griseo during this period.
He worried that if Griseo continued to be influenced, Aponia and the others might notice something wrong, leading to the secret being exposed, which would be troublesome for both of them.
"Speaking of which, I probably won't have time to find Griseo to draw anyway, since even if I end up going NSFW, I still need a legitimate job as cover."
Haru glanced at the time, lay on the bed, and quietly closed his eyes.
"Let's sleep early, there's still an interview tomorrow..."
"I hope everything goes smoothly!"