Chapter 382 - 270: Making Cars and Toy Cars Together (4)

Chapter 382: Chapter 270: Making Cars and Toy Cars Together (4)

"Are you nuts?" Robben pushed the door open and walked into the room like he owned the place. "You should probably see a doctor. A Priest would work, too."

"No, what are you doing here?" Ribery retorted.

"I’m bored out of my mind," Robben said, plopping down onto the sofa. "To be precise, it’s been a while since I’ve drawn a comic, and my hands are itching to get back to it."

"Are you nuts?" Ribery found Robben completely unreasonable.

"We barely managed to escape that prison of waking up early, going to bed late, working year-round without a single day off, and having someone breathing down our necks every week! And now you’re telling me your hands are itching to lock yourself back in? How long have we even been enjoying the free world?!"

Robben completely ignored Ribery’s complaints. Instead, his attention was drawn to a pile of papers on the table in front of him, covered in messy, chaotic lines.

"What’s this?"

"Ha, just a pile of useless trash. I’ll throw it all out right now." Ribery said, starting to gather them up.

"Don’t you move!"

Ribery’s uncharacteristic behavior put Robben on high alert. He immediately snatched a few sheets and began examining them closely.

"Don’t look!"

"These are... storyboards!"

Robben had cracked the code. Even though Ribery’s drawing style was incredibly sloppy, their years of working together allowed him to recognize what they were.

Then, both of them fell silent.

After a long moment, Ribery, like a child caught red-handed, gave up all pretense. "My hands are itching, too," he confessed.

It just went to show that every comic artist is a workaholic. The only difference is whether it’s out in the open or hidden beneath the surface.

The two quickly reached an agreement and started brainstorming what their next comic should be about.

"What’s this one about?"

"It’s about a creature from another planet that possesses a Human. The Human can then transform into the alien and fight monsters..."

"Nope, not that one. The mere mention of monsters makes me sick right now."

"I think this one’s okay. It’s set in a future world with no Magic, where everyone has an innate ability. The catch is that using their ability requires paying a certain price. It’s a story about them fighting using these powers."

"That’s kind of interesting."

"There’s also this one: an invincible Warrior who has no equal in the entire world. But every time he resolves a crisis, someone else accidentally gets the credit. He doesn’t care, though. He just fights for the fun of it..."

"What a weird premise. I have an idea, too. Do you know how to play mahjong? What do you think about a battle-of-wits comic centered on mahjong?"

"A battle of wits over mahjong... I feel like there wouldn’t be much content, and it wouldn’t be very exciting."

"The stakes could make it exciting! For example, they don’t play for money—they bet their own blood. Whoever loses has to have blood drawn. Or we could add all sorts of new rules, like some of the mahjong tiles are transparent."

"And we could design interesting characters! Like, someone who plays by analyzing the game, someone who relies on intuition, and—and—someone who specializes in cheating! The whole theme of the comic could even be about cheating, a contest to see who’s more cunning!" Ribery added.

"Hey, that’s a pretty good idea!"

And so, the two of them spent a good while brainstorming plotlines for a mahjong battle-of-wits comic.

Then they discovered their fatal flaw.

They weren’t smart enough.

They couldn’t come up with a battle of wits.

The two of them lay dejectedly on the sofa.

Robben said listlessly, "It’s no good. Isn’t there something completely new, like Mechanical Warrior was back then? I think we’re better suited to drawing that kind of stuff."

Ribery clutched his head. "Where am I supposed to pull all these new ideas from?"

Just then, a cell phone rang.

"Hey, hey! You, you! I don’t like your girlfriend..."

The ringtone was the latest single from Miss Galina.

Robben glanced at the screen, immediately sat up straight, and answered the call.

"Mm, okay, yes, got it, understood, roger that. We’ll be right over."

"Who was that?" Ribery asked.

"Sister Elsa. She said Zog wants to see us. He has a new comic idea for us. It’s about four-wheel drive cars."

"Ohhh—"

"What’s a four-wheel drive car?" the two asked in unison.