Full-time comic artist

"May I ask who it is?" Lin Yifu asked, leaning closer with interest.

"Have you seen 'Hikaru no Go'?" the old teacher asked.

"Of course, we Go players have all seen 'Hikaru no Go'."

“That makes things simple,” Furuta said, pointing at Koharu. “This Koharu-sensei is the prototype for Tsubaki in Hikaru no Go.”

"Eh!" Lin Yifu exclaimed in surprise.

Furuta was very satisfied with his reaction, "So it's not incomprehensible that he knows the original author."

Hayashi pressed Koharu, "So, did you really have those experiences? Did you lose to Hikaru Shindo?"

“No Hikaru Shindo,” Koharu sighed, “it’s Odagiri 2-dan.”

"Odagiri 2-dan!" Hayashi Kazuo exclaimed, "That 1-dan player who won all his matches in last autumn's Oteai tournament!"

"Yes, that kid did a great job," Xiaochun said with satisfaction.

He watched the entire competition back then.

He was one of the people who uttered the phrase "the hand of God".

"What a big shot!" Lin Yifu bent down and circled around Xiaochun, looking at her with admiration.

Xiaochun said helplessly, "Teacher Lin, you really like to joke. I can't even pass the professional chess player exam, so what kind of big shot am I?"

Lin Yifu ignored him and asked excitedly, "Do you have Bird Akino's autograph?"

Xiaochun grinned, "I'm not interested in that kind of thing."

He also kept the Go notes he made with Hibiki Higashino back then, so it's normal that he didn't care about the signature.

"That's such a shame." Lin Yifu said dejectedly.

But he quickly cheered up again.

"Mr. Koharu, will Mr. Toriakino create anything related to 'Hikaru no Go'? I've been looking forward to it for so long!"

"Maybe." Koharu sighed. He also wanted to see how far Hikaru Shindo would go.

"Hikaru no Go."

He sighed.

……

December 1997, 1.

Weekly Shonen Jump is released.

Hibiki Higashino looked at the cover; the color page at the beginning of this issue featured a manga called "The Mysterious Detective Agency."

The art style is strange, and although it's crudely made, it's surprisingly stylish and memorable.

The author's name is Yamamura Morimichi.

"Before we knew it, Mr. Yamamura's new work was published," Hibiki Higashino remarked. "I wonder what kind of story it is."

Hibiki Higashino still vividly remembers his previous work, "The Sun Murder Case".

It's ridiculous and a real shame that it was cut in half.

Higashino Hibiki was very pleased that the other party was able to continue their efforts.

He was worried that Shancun would leave the comic book industry and go back to writing novels.

The first manga I picked up in Jump was "The Mysterious Detective Agency".

About fifty pages of content is quite satisfying to read.

The protagonist owns a property in Tokyo; the ground floor is rented out as a bar, staffed with hostesses. The protagonist frequents the bar.

The second floor is his detective agency, which offers many services.

Even if the customers of the hostesses refuse to pay, the protagonist will still take the job.

Unlike the righteous and upright male protagonist of the previous comic, the male protagonist of "The Bizarre Detective Agency" has a very flexible bottom line.

On this very day, a couple arrived from the countryside of Kanagawa. They had encountered strange things and, having heard of the protagonist's fame online, had gone to great lengths to find him.

The protagonist was puzzled, but seeing the potential reward of 10 yen, he decided to go and investigate.

Chapter 169 Short Story in Progress

Hibiki Higashino looked at Mamoru Yamamura's new book. He used to be an author of mystery novels, but now he seemed to have turned into a magical realist.

Following the elderly couple, the main characters arrive in the countryside and discover that the place is indeed bizarre.

The room was as hot as a steamer; the woman poured water on the floor to cool it down a bit.

It was winter, but he was too hot to sleep. Suddenly, he heard the pigs screaming in agony from the sty. When he went to check, he found the dog lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth.

The events were getting increasingly bizarre. Higashino swallowed hard and continued watching with curiosity.

There seemed to be a shadow in the darkness, which disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The next day, the couple told him that such things always happened. They could tolerate it before, but their daughter was coming home soon, and they were worried that something might happen to her.

The story unfolds layer by layer, creating a strong sense of suspense.

What amazed Higashino was that Yamamura Morimichi, who had only been studying painting for less than a year, had ordinary painting skills, but were better than Kawaguchi Taro in "Bakuman".

Although it doesn't quite have the finishing touch effect, the influence of the village painters on the artwork isn't excessively large.

At least it can immerse the reader. As long as the story is good, this level of artwork is sufficient.

At the end of the story, everything is revealed.

The protagonist used a sword to defeat the shadowy evil spirit, and the bizarre events disappeared. He eventually received his reward.

Higashino Hibiki frowned; he couldn't believe that this was the subject of Yamamura Morimichi's drawing.

There was no explanation whatsoever, as if there really were demons.

He flipped through the comics and finally realized what was going on.

The shadowy figure was a fellow villager who liked the couple's daughter. Hearing of strange things happening at the couple's house, and fearing something might happen, he kept watch near the house. He was then manipulated by the protagonist.

As for the strange phenomena in the house, it was because an electrical leak caused the iron frame of the room to heat up, and the pigs and dogs came into contact with the leaking conductor...

and so……

He took on the responsibilities of an electrician and received a high salary.

As Hibiki Higashino watched the protagonist in the manga triumphantly board the train, while simultaneously adding an epic chapter to his own webpage about defeating the "Flame Evil Spirit," he chuckled.

"What a despicable protagonist."

……

After reading the manga, Hibiki Higashino became interested in "The Bizarre Detective Agency," which took a different approach. Yamamura broke away from the framework of mystery novels and was undoubtedly more suitable for a serialization platform like Jump.

Compared to his previous work, the progress is very obvious.

On Tuesday, Sasaki visited Hibiki Higashino's studio.

He heard that Higashino Hibiki had a short story in progress, so he rushed over immediately.

"Don't you still have things to do with the animation company?" Sasaki asked, puzzled.

With "Slam Dunk" and "Gag Manga Biyori" already in the works, where does Hibiki Higashino find the energy to create another short story?

Hibiki Higashino waved his hand. "I didn't get involved in the animation company's affairs."

Just as he said, it won't take up too much time, except for providing the script.

Everything was left to Asahina Yuko and Minami Chiharu.

Sasaki glanced at him in surprise, but didn't ask any further questions. After adjusting his glasses, he said in a serious tone, "Please let me see the storyboard of 'The Great Revolution in Go'."

Hibiki Higashino casually handed it over, and Sasaki accepted it with both hands.

After a long pause, he nodded. "It can be serialized."

There are no prohibited contents, and the content maintains the style of "Hikaru no Go," so it will not have a negative impact on the original work.

"Although it has some biases, it has sparked social discussion, so let's leave it at that."

He returned to Jump with the 30-page manuscript drawn by Hibiki Higashino.

……

Mamoru Yamamura awaited feedback from readers, and on Friday, his editor contacted him.

"Xiao Zheng is ranked first."

Such excellent results greatly encouraged Yamamura Morimichi, who paced back and forth in his house.

He took a solid step, but he was still not satisfied.

"Just getting first place in the first episode isn't enough," Yamamura clenched his fist. The first episode's result doesn't matter; what matters is whether the result can be maintained. If the performance declines significantly, it will still be canceled.

Arai-sensei's new manga, "Cherry Party," ranked second in the first chapter, but then dropped significantly, falling outside the top ten by the fifth chapter.

In the second episode of "The Bizarre Detective Agency," Yamamura continues the style of the previous episode, achieving a dramatic contrast between the beginning and end while maintaining the humor, catching the reader off guard.

The result was third place, which is not as good as the first episode, but it is still very good.

Compared to "The Sun Murder Case", the new work has undoubtedly performed much better.

Episode 3... Episode 4...

By mid-February, "The Mysterious Detective Agency" had stabilized in the 4th to 6th place rankings, occasionally falling outside the 7th, but it was already a mainstay of Jump.

"Yes, we can! We definitely can!" Yamamura clenched his fist. "As long as things continue like this, once my story is fully developed, I can catch up with Toriakino Mirai!"

This is one of his motivations for drawing comics. Unfortunately, he could never see the future and felt insignificant now, but he finally had a direction to strive for.

……

Online chat rooms are discussion groups about comics.

Ichijō: "Has anyone read Jump's new serialization, 'The Mysterious Detective Agency'? The premise seems really interesting!"

Otaku: "Of course I've read the manga in Jump. In Slam Dunk, the match between Shohoku and Shoyo was so intense! The Shoyo coach even started warming up."