Part 2: Why Do I Hear Boss Music? WIP (Original) (Patreon)

I said I might draw more of that couple from the last comic...well, I did. And I want to draw a lot more of them, lol. They have names now, and pages of backstory and character traits and stuff I have planned for them.

I've wanted to draw manga since like middle school, but all my previous attempts kinda petered out because I didn't have the focus or the skill to make them happen. I feel like maybe I finally do...we'll see. At the very least, I think this'll be a cute lil story with characters you will hopefully grow to love.

I still don't have a title for this project, but when I figure one out I'll go back and re-tag these posts so they're easier to find in the future.

Anyway, I'll work on cleaning and finishing this next week -- it ended up being twice as long as originally planned, but some beats just needed more space to breathe. The next part will focus on the walk to the arcade, and then the arcade, and who knows from there? One thing at a time, lol.

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PAGE 5: The guy in the OBEY sweatshirt takes a deep breath, exhales, and turns to look over his shoulder with a determined glint in his eye, thinking to himself, [I can do this, I can talk to her!] The lower 2/3 of the page is a Souls-esque manifestation of his mental state -- the reality of the cute goth woman who sits at the table nearby, surrounded by his imagination of her as a huge imposing demon woman with tattered batlike wings and horns, leering down at his player character who stands ready to battle with just a loincloth and a wooden club. A health bar and Souls item UI appear along the bottom of the page.

PAGE 6: He nervously walks closer, standing near her.

him, pulling at his collar: "Haha, uh, hey. I don't normally do this sort of thing."

her, reading her book and not even looking at him: "...you don't normally stare right a random woman's boobs?" The impact of her words knocks one of his teeth out, and his health bar goes down.

he attempts to collect himself: "NO! Ahem. What I meant was, I um...I don't normally chat up random women. I feel like my heart's gonna explode, but...I really wanted to try to talking to you, anyway."

she smiles angelically at him: "'Cause you're a titty maniac, right?" This verbal attack pierces him through the gut, dropping his health bar even lower.

PAGE 7: "No!!" he screams in frantic denial. She cocks and eyebrow and looks at him askew, skeptical. He wilts. "...well, yes..."

"OKAY, FINE! I LOVE BOOBS!" he declares, blushing and teary. She crosses her arms with a smug and triumphant look.

He can't bring himself to look her in the eye, but speaks again: "But like, seriously...you look so cool, so badass, and so hot, all at the same time. This feeling hit me like...if I don't take this chance, I'll regret it forever." He smiles sheepishly. "When I get a feeling like that, I have to try, no matter what. Even if I look like an idiot. Life's too short, ya know?"

The words "life's too short" seem to spark something in her, a moment of deeper emotion and surprise.

PAGE 8: She smirks and closes her book. "What's your name?" she says.

"Jeremy! Or Jerry. But, uh...I also go by Rat. Call me whatever you want, really."

"I'm Evelyn. Friends call me Evie." She props her chin on her hands and looks at him. "What do you do for fun, Jerry the Rat?"

Jerry grabs a chair and scoots it over to sit down at her table. "Oh! I...read. A lot. I picked up skateboarding last year. But my biggest thing is gaming, probably."

"What kind of games?" she says.

He considers. "Tons of stuff. Soulslikes, JRPGs. Retro games. Fighting games, too." He strikes a confident pose. "Actually, I play in tournaments at the arcade just a few blocks from here."

Evie interjects. "Yeah? They open during the day?" Jerry replies immediately, "Yeah!"

Nervously gesturing, still unable to look her in the eye, Jerry says with a blush, "I dunno if you'd be into that, but, if you wanted, we could, like...check it out sometime."

PAGE 9: He presses his fingers together. "I dunno, that's probably a dumb idea." Finally, he works up the courage to turn in her direction, "Anyway, um...Evie... what do you like? If you wa--" He turns and sees her chair empty. "...oh."

His expression is first shocked, then disappointed, a little sad, and finally resigned. He plunks his head down on the table as the YOU DIED text from Dark Souls appears overhead. Quickly, he thrusts his arms up and bats the text away, then leans back in his chair with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. [Man...] he thinks to himself.

PAGE 10: [Well, I tried.] He thinks, still leaning back, a glum smile on his face. [I woulda sworn I felt some kind of vibe, I dunno]. He squints and furrows his brows. [But yeah, of course she was just messing with me. Evie, huh? If that was even her real name...]

We see from his perspective as an overhead light shines down on his and he closes his eyes, still musing. [Women confuse me. ...people in general confuse me.]

"Hey."

[But man...she was cute. Cute freckles. And big ol' ti--]

"Hey, Jerry."

PAGE 11: Jerry opens his eyes, and sees Evie's face upside down and very close, the overhead light shining behind her. "So...are we going to the arcade or not?"

Jerry stares blankly at her for a long moment, then stammers out, "Y-yeah, sounds good!" He rushes to follow her out of the coffee shop as she hums casually to herself.

PAGE 12: We see Evie and Jerry from behind as she stroll down the sidewalk, sun shining down on the urban street, trees casting dappled shadows. The text under them is in the style of the BOSS DEFEATED message in Dark Souls, but says FIRST DATE ACHIEVED.