Full-time comic artist

Hibiki Higashino had never studied massage, but the results were surprisingly good.

Akemi Akemi felt her stiff shoulders relax, and her whole body felt limp, almost collapsing onto the sofa.

Sudden……

"Snapped."

She struck Higashino Hibiki's hands with her right hand.

"Isn't your hand pointing too low?"

“I’m sorry,” Hibiki Higashino replied, “because the dream is there, I just couldn’t help myself.”

After that, he behaved himself.

Five minutes later, Higashino Hibiki drew back the curtains.

……

Sasaki called at 4 p.m. on Friday.

"Xiao Zheng ranked first in the 'Great Revolution of Go' competition."

As a sequel to "Hikaru no Go", this result is quite normal.

However, Higashino Hibiki breathed a sigh of relief.

He was genuinely worried that his work wouldn't be well-received. After all, this was his first time creating something on his own.

Although it draws inspiration from things that will happen in the future.

After hanging up the phone, Hibiki Higashino noticed that Oda seemed a little distracted.

He was doing his job without any problems, but his eyes were lifeless, and he was just operating mechanically.

"Oda-san?" Hibiki Higashino called out, "Have you not been getting enough rest? You've been working too hard lately, I'm sorry."

"Sorry," Oda said, snapping out of his reverie, "it's my own business."

He gave a wry smile and nervously took out a brown paper bag from behind him.

"My short comic strip is finally finished..."

The results of what I learned at Hibiki Higashino's studio are about to be seen.

That's why he was so absent-minded.

Even if Oda is confident in himself, it's understandable that he would act this way at this point.

"Please, Mr. Toriakino!" Oda bowed and handed over the brown paper bag with both hands. "Please take a look and give me some inspiration."

"……good……"

Higashino Hibiki solemnly accepted it.

Is this short story... the beginning of One Piece?

He suddenly had a feeling that he was about to face a legend.

Oda's brilliance can no longer be hidden; he is about to shine and usher in his own era.

Hibiki Higashino sat down and carefully took out the manuscript.

The short comic strip is titled "Romance Down," which means the beginning of a romance.

The male protagonist of the story is Luffy.

He received a Devil Fruit worth 50 billion Berries from his great pirate grandfather, along with his grandfather's straw hat, and inherited his grandfather's will, becoming a pirate himself.

Hibiki Higashino's expression turned strange. He kept thinking to himself, "So Garp is a great pirate after all..."

It felt incredibly out of place.

As Oda looked at Hibiki Higashino's contorted face, his anxiety grew even stronger.

After a while, Higashino Hibiki finished reading "Romance Down".

This short story is undoubtedly the prototype for One Piece.

It features many characters from One Piece, and although the female lead has a different name, she resembles Nami.

Sanji, Coby, and others also appeared.

With a sigh, Hibiki Higashino looked up and saw Oda's mournful face.

"What's with that expression?" Higashino Hibiki asked instinctively.

"And then what happened, Mr. Toriakino?" Oda pressed.

Higashino pondered.

“That’s very interesting.” He finally nodded.

"Hooray!" Oda jumped up!

He dropped out of college in his first year to pursue a career in the comics industry.

He had been apprehensive about becoming a gambler, but now, faced with this assessment, he feels even more confident.

"Explain in detail." Oda looked at Hibiki Higashino expectantly.

"Cough cough," Higashino coughed and cleared his throat.

"Oh, okay! I got it." Oda quickly ran to the kitchen, and a short while later, he stumbled back with a bottle of mineral water.

Hibiki Higashino put the bottled water aside. "I want to drink hot water now."

"Understood." Oda nodded and ran back to the kitchen.

Akemi Akemi shook her head and rolled her eyes at Hibiki Higashino. "You're going too far. Why are you putting Oda-kun through all this trouble?"

Higashino Hibiki sighed, "If we don't get to use him now, we'll never have the chance again."

"Huh?" Akemi Akemi exclaimed in surprise, looking at "Romance Down." "Is this short story really that good?"

“Yes,” Higashino Hibiki nodded.

Shortly after, Oda returned, having diluted the water with mineral water to a temperature that was still drinkable.

Higashino Hibiki took the water glass, took a sip, and put it aside.

Oda didn't seem to care, and like an Akita dog, he anxiously circled around Hibiki Higashino.

"Is there anything else? Please let me know."

"Alright." Higashino Hibiki cleared his throat.

“Devil Fruits, pirates, dreams, crewmates, treasures…” he listed them one by one, “All these elements combined make for a truly wonderful comic.”

The core of One Piece is there, and Luffy is setting sail.

Higashino looked around and could only sigh.

“It will be approved through a series of meetings,” he assured, “I have no doubt about it.”

"Yay!" Oda exclaimed excitedly!

Yoshii Yamahisa and Tanaka congratulated Oda. The Toriakino Studio was as peaceful as ever today.

……

The gears of time are turning, and Hibiki Higashino eagerly anticipates the arrival of another era.

Oda has already started, I wonder how Kishimoto and the others are progressing?

Kyushu Sangyo University.

Masashi Kishimoto is about to graduate.

"Rurouni Kenshin is still very interesting." He seemed completely unhurried, leisurely reading the manga.

"This samurai manga is so interesting that it's really discouraging for me when I wanted to create samurai-themed works. No matter what, I can't surpass this work."

He believes that Rurouni Kenshin has reached the limit of its subject matter.

"The game settings in this season of Yu-Gi-Oh! are really boring," he remarked.

Kishimoto didn't really understand why Kazuki Takahashi frequently switched game content.

I had just gotten into the game when it became an unfamiliar one.

This approach has a very high barrier to entry.

After all, understanding how to play a game requires using your brain.

Sometimes, comic book readers just want a way to relax.

"It would be better to specialize in one game, but that would mean losing the core concept of Yu-Gi-Oh!, so it's a tough choice."

Kishimoto greatly admired this mind-bending creative approach, but it was also somewhat thankless.

“Next is…” He flipped open the manga, “Hikaru no Go.”

Just then, the phone rang, and Kishimoto answered it.

Finally, I learned about Oda's creation of "Romance Down".

On the phone, the other party proudly expressed Tori Akino Mirai's opinion, believing it to be a work that could be serialized.

At this point, the task was handed over to the editor, who suggested that it be published in Akamaru Jump as a trial.

If the results are good, we'll draw the storyboards for the first three chapters of the serialization, followed by a serialization meeting.

It can be said that although he is still far from serialization, he has already taken a solid first step.

Kishimoto offered his congratulations repeatedly, while secretly feeling quite envious.

After hanging up the phone, he looked at the comic book magazine in his hand, but he lost interest.

"It's being serialized."

He saw absolutely no hope.

"Robot" won the comic book award, which also showed him his limits.

Given his current abilities, he simply cannot serialize a work in Jump.

They still need some time to hone their skills.