A Lewd Sketch Artist in a Gender-Reversed World - Chapter 110

Chapter 110 : rare

The story goes back a few days.

At the e-book publishing department of Top Entertainment.

Among them, Song Hara, the team leader of the sales team, had a lot on her mind lately.

Work at the company? Well… that was always a lot, so that was no surprise.

It was her recent meeting with a newly contracted rookie artist that left a strong impression.

“No, seriously… the more I think about it, the more fascinating it is.”

She muttered while sitting in her office chair.

Even though it had been a few weeks since their meeting at the café, that person, hala, still lingered in her mind.

It wasn’t love at first sight or anything like that. Sure, she felt some fondness, but not to that extent.

Probably.

Anyway, the reason she kept thinking about him was simply because it was intriguing.

The fact that a guy was drawing that kind of art… It was something she hadn’t expected, and the shock was considerable.

For those unaware, the art Lee Sewon draws is on the hardcore side.

It wasn’t just about niche sexual preferences; it wasn’t the kind of art an average “guy” would draw.

Rape as a baseline, group assault, bondage, spanking while tied up, and so on…

A long time ago, he even drew male characters with severed limbs.

…Of course, back then, Lee Sewon was going through some mental struggles, but still, his art was far from ordinary.

Even if a regular woman drew that kind of art, she’d likely be labeled a lunatic. So, the fact that a seemingly normal, physically and mentally sound person was creating it caused some serious cognitive dissonance.

“This kind of thing… by a guy…?”

It even led her to some mildly sexist thoughts.

If he hadn’t approached her first, she might have left the café without ever finding the contractee.

She was lost in these stray thoughts when—

“Team Leader.”

A subordinate called out to her from the side.

“Team Leader?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

She quickly snapped out of it and waited for the subordinate’s words. What could it be, what could possibly warrant disturbing the team leader…

“It’s not a big deal, but don’t you think it’s about time to start promoting the new artist we signed? Didn’t you say their debut is in a few days?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, you’re right.”

She nodded.

Now that she thought about it, it was indeed time to start promotions.

Promotions or, in simple terms, marketing were a customary necessity for all works.

No matter how mediocre the work was, or even if the relationship with the artist wasn’t great, giving at least one round of promotion was the standard.

That way, the work could gain proper exposure and attract at least some initial readers.

Word-of-mouth only works if there’s a minimum number of readers to begin with.

To create a virtuous cycle where readers bring in more readers and the work grows, basic promotion was essential.

This usually involved featuring it on the main page or sending notifications to users’ gift boxes.

And in this regard, Song Hara had a slight concern.

“We have to do it. We definitely have to, but…”

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to.

Initial promotions were mostly standardized, and she didn’t have the authority to change that anyway.

For highly anticipated works, they’d get a main banner. For less prominent ones, they’d just get phone notifications and gift box alerts.

Her concern was actually the opposite.

She wanted to give *better* promotions, but her authority was limited, so she couldn’t do more even if she wanted to.

“Hmm…”

Song Hara coolly assessed Lee Sewon’s value.

A young rookie webtoon artist debuting at 22. That title alone could seem appealing to the general public.

But from the perspective of higher-ups managing money and profits, it was just a shiny but unproven asset.

Youth at 22 and a rookie with no experience.

That could easily be interpreted as inexperience.

Sure, he had potential, but he hadn’t even completed a long-term serialization yet a total newbie.

His art was certainly well-drawn and provocative, but it wasn’t on the level of top-tier artists.

Those artists were polished professionals, while Sewon still had a lot of growing to do.

So, as of now, before his debut, Sewon was just an unproven artist with some potential.

Sadly, reality was harsher than one might think.

For that reason, the chances of him getting separate SNS promotions or a main banner spot were slim.

No matter how much she advocated, he’d likely only get a brief spot at the end of the main banner for a few days.

Of course, if she used her mother’s “influence,” things could change… but she wasn’t one to rely on power.

She clutched her head.

“Ugh… I want to promote him more…”

It wasn’t just because she liked him.

She was genuinely passionate about the works.

She found joy in recommending works she enjoyed and thought were good to others.

Plus, he was someone she personally scouted and contracted.

If he succeeded, it would boost her own performance. Even for a “golden spoon” like her, performance mattered.

But there wasn’t much she could do…

“Wow, but it’s really fascinating.”

At that moment, her subordinate spoke up again.

She hadn’t left and was staring intently at her monitor.

“That’s the artist for that comic? It doesn’t match at all.”

The monitor displayed Sewon’s profile his photo, age, ID number, and so on.

It wasn’t a big deal; she just had it up because she wanted to.

The subordinate continued, sounding intrigued.

“I checked out some of his art, and it’s super niche, right? Kind of rough, too. Definitely not something you’d expect a typical guy to draw… Wow, this kind of person actually exists.”

Song Hara nodded enthusiastically.

It was definitely curiosity-piquing.

A “guy” drawing adult art was rare enough, but someone making it their profession?

And the art wasn’t soft or cute it was mostly hardcore and rough.

He was an incredibly rare individual in every way.

“Wait… rarity?”

Suddenly, an idea sparked in her mind. The fog in her head cleared up.

If promoting the work itself was tough, why not generate buzz through external appeal?

People are naturally drawn to rare things.

The rarer and more unique something is, the more interest it garners.

In that sense, he had plenty of value.

If his gender was revealed, and maybe even his face, it could generate significant buzz.

“Oh.”

The more she thought about it, the better it seemed.

Thanks to YouTube these days, some artists had become famous outside their work.

Some had even become more famous than their works.

There was precedent, so he definitely had potential.

Good. It seemed like a solid plan.

With the idea set, she reached for her fancy phone to contact Sewon.

“Ah.”

But then she hesitated.

There was definitely potential for gain.

The issue was that revealing his appearance depended on his consent.

She worried whether he’d accept the proposal.

“Would it be rude to ask…?”

She felt uneasy, wondering if even asking might offend him.

Come to think of it, he’d never openly revealed online that he was a man.

If he had, it would’ve caused quite a stir.

He’d endured mockery like “majo-rez” (masochist-lesbian) without flinching.

So maybe he was reluctant to have his identity exposed.

And given his profession, it could inevitably stir up some noise.

“Ugh…”

She put her phone back down.

She didn’t even know his personality well yet, so proposing something so bold felt overwhelming.

Her phone lingered on the desk for a while.

“No, but it feels worth suggesting…”

“If I explain the benefits well, maybe…”

She went back and forth, debating whether to suggest it.

His rarity was too valuable to pass up without trying.

A few days later—

“Ugh, whatever!”

After endless internal conflict, she sent the message on a whim.

[Song Hara: Hey, have you ever thought about revealing your face?]

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_

[Lee Sewon: Nope, haven’t thought about it.]

That’s what I said.

It seemed like she mustered some courage to ask, but it was so sudden, I couldn’t help but respond that way.

“It’s true I haven’t thought about it.”

It’s not about liking or disliking the idea.

I genuinely hadn’t considered it.

Why bring up face reveals when we’re talking about promotions?

I’m not some mega-popular virtual streamer.

I’m just an artist in my room, scratching my crotch and churning out adult art.

Sure, being a “male” artist might get some reactions…

But I couldn’t connect that to promotions.

[Song Hara: Oh, okay… Sorry about that.]

Seeing her deflate, I quickly followed up.

[Lee Sewon: It’s not like you said anything rude, no need to apologize.]

[Lee Sewon: But can I ask why you brought it up?]

I was curious about why she made such a suggestion.

What reasoning led to the idea of a face reveal?

She said since we were meeting tomorrow anyway, she’d explain in detail then.

“So I have to show up, huh.”

And so, tomorrow.

I was standing in front of a barbecue restaurant.

A celebratory dinner for my webtoon debut, a discussion about promotions, and an explanation for the face reveal suggestion she was treating me to meat.

A lot was packed into one meal.

“At least we won’t run out of things to talk about.”

I chuckled.

This was only our second time meeting, but since we’d been chatting online, I didn’t feel particularly nervous.

I don’t know how she felt, though.

With that, I slowly walked into the restaurant.

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Translated by Reversalnovel.web.id