Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 701: The Most Familiar Stranger

"Oh, you want to hear the inspirational story of how I embarked on the path to becoming a professional cartoonist?"

"Uh, sort of, but more precisely how you transformed from a taxi driver into a cartoonist overnight."

"Well, I did drive a taxi for a while, but not for long before I started serializing One Piece."

"On Shonen Jump?"

"That's right."

"1996, Shonen Jump, you were serializing One Piece in Japanese?"

"The magazine saw my potential and paired me with a Japanese translator," Qi Yu said, as if this wasn't the first time he'd answered this question.

"Or did you plagiarize the work that was supposed to be published by Eiichiro Oda in 1997?" Ma Youyou said.

Qi Yu was shocked, "How did you know?"

He didn't even try to hide it, which surprised both Ma Lu and Ma Youyou.

Ma Lu said, "So One Piece isn't really drawn by you, are you a Time Traveler?"

"What's a Time Traveler?" The perplexed look on Qi Yu's face didn't seem feigned.

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"That's what we should be asking you, how did you go back to 1996 and alter history?"

"I never went back to 1996, nor did I rewrite history, wait, do you think I can travel back in time?"

"Isn't that the case?"

"Of course not, how could someone travel back in time? Isn't that just a plot from novels and movies?"

"Then how did you become a cartoonist?"

"I don't know either; about five days ago, I had just completed a long-haul fare, drove a passenger to Langfang, then brought him back, and after that I found a place to take a quick nap.

"When I opened my eyes again, on TV, Baidu, TikTok, all platforms were suddenly saying I'm a cartoonist.

"They even said that One Piece, Naruto, Chainsaw Man, One Person Below and what's more, Back Street Girls, were all drawn by me, especially the last one which I've never even seen."

"You've seen the ones before?"

"Of course," Qi Yu nodded, "What, a forty-something-year-old taxi driver can't read comics?"

"Well, no."

"Don't look at me like that; I actually loved comics when I was young and always dreamed of becoming a cartoonist. It's just that later my parents found out and took my comics away, but even so, I still saved money from my meal allowance to rent comics from the bookstore.

"Oh yeah, the pen name Qi Yu was also created back then. I used to practice my drawing skills by copying from comic books."

"Then how come you ended up driving taxis."

"Hey, it's just because my parents thought drawing comics was a distraction from real work, and in the sixth grade, I confidently submitted my work to several magazines, but I didn't get a single response, and even for the class bulletin board, I was rejected.

"That was a huge blow to me, and I never drew again after that."

"Uh, then your competitiveness might be a bit..."

"No, it's not because of me; the person I was competing against was the vice principal's niece. The teacher let her draw.

"But I only found out during a class reunion much later. Everyone said I was the better artist, but by that time I had already graduated from technical school.

"I worked at a canning factory for a bit, but that place closed down soon after, and then through my father's connections, I got a job driving taxis.

"And then I met my wife, bought a house, got married, and two years later, my daughter was born. I had a mortgage and needed to earn money for baby formula, so drawing comics was out of the question."

"You've started a family, but didn't you tell me before that you didn't have a wife?"

"Sigh, how do I explain this to you, I really don't have a wife right now," Qi Yu said, looking distressed, "After I became a cartoonist, for some reason I was suddenly single. At least, that's what Baidu Baike says.

"Later, I went back to the house I used to live in, and I saw my wife and child there, but they acted like they totally didn't know me, as if I were a stranger.

"I noticed our wedding photo on the wall of the living room; my wife was still my wife in the picture, but my spot was taken by a man I didn't recognize at all.

"I asked my wife what was going on, and she insisted that man was her husband."

"I was completely dumbfounded then because that was obviously my house; I paid the down payment with my hard-earned money and had been paying the mortgage, but suddenly it had nothing to do with me."

"Then my daughter and wife acted very scared, saying that the man would be back soon and told me to leave quickly."

"I thought they were bullied by that guy and wanted to stand up for them, but it turned out they were afraid of me, saying that I had trespassed and were going to call the cops on me."

"Afterwards, they really called 110, and I had no choice but to leave."

"Before I left, I managed to get that man's name and the name of his workplace. Later in the evening, I picked up a few passengers from his company and learned that the man was on a business trip elsewhere. I guess that's the silver lining.

"But he's bound to come back at some point, and I just can't understand why my wife and daughter have no memory of me."

Ma Youyou suddenly said, "I might have a guess as to why.

"I also looked at your Baidu Baike, and in the 28 years from 1996 to now, you've created a total of 7 works.

"The number of works may not seem high, but considering that includes long series like One Piece and Naruto, and they were serialized at the same time, even among the manga artists who work almost like slaves, your workload is well beyond the norm.

"In such a scenario, it's very likely the author had no time for dating, let alone settling down."

"But the problem is I didn't draw the comics, I was driving a taxi all these years. Ah, not that I didn't draw at all, I actually just drew 17 pages because Editor Qiu's words moved me."

"She said that the world of comics is being heavily impacted by short videos, and it's becoming harder for cartoonists to survive. I thought of the taxi business, how it's also been beaten back since the rise of ride-hailing apps like Didi, and I immediately sympathized with their plight."

With a sudden spark, Qi Yu said, "Then on impulse, I drew that fan comic, but to be honest, I wasn't confident about it. I haven't drawn comics for more than thirty years, my drawing skills now are even worse than when I was in elementary school. Is it really okay to publish something like that?"

"I think it's pretty good, although the artwork could be better," Ma Lu said, "But it's quite interesting, it has a middle-aged point of view."

"So why have you suddenly become a cartoonist now, and why are other authors' works now credited to you?" Ma Youyou asked again.

"I've already said, I don't know about this sort of thing," Qi Yu, looking distressed, exclaimed, "It just happened when I opened my eyes. I say I'm not, but everyone insists I am.

"Apart from you two, everyone's certain those comics are drawn by me, and my explanations are useless. Later I just had to accept it."