Full-time comic artist

"Thank you," Higashino Shio said awkwardly.

The salesperson then approached Higashino Ichiro and Higashino Hibiki and waited patiently.

……

Hibiki Higashino had no interest in the Toyota Crown in front of him.

He didn't like the car's appearance; it was boxy and didn't fit the style of future cars.

Of course, this is nothing to him. He doesn't care about appearances; as long as the car drives well and doesn't have any major problems, that's fine with him.

He is a pragmatist.

However, the Toyota Crown is a company vehicle used by Shueisha. If he bought this car and drove it to Shueisha in the future, he was worried that he would be mistaken for a driver.

However, Ichiro Higashino was particularly excited. He talked at length about the car, sat down to try out the seats and the dashboard, and looked at Higashino Hibiki with anticipation.

He is personally very satisfied.

"How much would it cost to pay in full?"

Higashino asked the salesperson next to him.

The salesperson replied, "The Toyota Crown S150 is worth 450 million yen, and with the on-road costs, it's around 530 million yen."

When can I pick up the car?

"It will be ready in three days."

“Hmm,” Higashino Hibiki looked at Higashino Ichiro, then said to the salesperson, “Swipe your card.”

When signing the contract, Higashino Hibiki used the excuse of being busy to entrust everything to Higashino Ichiro.

"Let's transfer the ownership later," he said.

Higashino Ichiro instructed, "Okay, be careful on the road."

"Yes," Higashino Hibiki said goodbye to Higashino Shio and hurriedly left.

When the salesperson returned and saw that Higashino Hibiki was gone, he smiled and said to Higashino Ichiro, "Your son is really filial."

"Yes." Higashino Ichiro nodded.

Then he realized what was happening and muttered to himself, looking at the spot where Higashino Hibiki had disappeared, "That's really awkward. Why couldn't they just say it directly..."

……

Hibiki Higashino returned to the studio.

“Higashino-kun,” Akemi Akemi asked curiously when she saw him, “Have you chosen a car so quickly?”

Hibiki Higashino shook his head, walked over, and took Akemi Akimiya's hand. "I felt that I still couldn't do without your advice, so I gave up in the end."

"Eh!" Akemi Akemi covered her face, feeling it was bright red.

She couldn't help herself; she wrapped her arms around Higashino Hibiki's neck and tilted her head back.

"Well……"

Not long after, their lips parted.

Akemi Akimiya's innocent expression and dreamy eyes made Hibiki Higashino unable to resist.

However, she was preoccupied with buying the car, so she grabbed Higashino Hibiki's hand and ran outside. Then she remembered that they were now teacher and student, so she nudged Higashino Hibiki twice to let him go first, and then she would set off in five minutes.

Higashino Hibiki was very unhappy, but he still agreed.

After meeting at the school gate, Akemi Akemi drove her own car and went with Hibiki Higashino to a nearby Mercedes-Benz dealership.

The final choice was the Mercedes-Benz S600, a dream car for many people in this era. Apart from its high price, it had no other flaws.

After becoming the owner of the car, Higashino Hibiki suddenly became dazed.

Back then, I discussed the AE86 and Mercedes with my friends, as well as Takumi Fujiwara and Natsuki.

He himself became a rich man.

"Can I find a 'Natsuki' too?" Hibiki Higashino said to Akemi Akemi in a cheeky tone.

"I'll hit you!" Akemi Akemi waved her fist.

She was of course aware of Initial D, which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine in 1995.

Natsuki once chose her "father" who drove a Mercedes, but she regretted it when she met Takumi who had an AE86.

"How about we just buy an AE86?" she said to Higashino Hibiki with concern.

“Haha, sorry,” Higashino Hibiki raised his hand, “I was just kidding.”

He was somewhat surprised. Akemi Akemi, who used to be so nonchalant and trusted him so much, was now somewhat anxious and insecure.

In matters of love, they have gradually become the weaker party, having previously been the dominant one.

He stroked his chin, beginning to ponder what had happened.

“Then let’s just buy a Mercedes,” Akemi Akemi suggested, backing down.

……

Time flies, and spring break is here again.

Yuko Asahina contacted Hibiki Higashino and said she would be hiring an employee to take on the responsibilities of a manager.

Higashino Hibiki let her do her best.

The manager quickly reached an agreement with the DVD distributor to release the first six episodes of "Gag Manga Biyori" on DVD when the seventh episode aired.

It contains Hibiki Higashino's script signature, post-production videos, and some content that was cut from the anime.

A week later, DVD sales reached 7800 copies, hitting the second-tier threshold, which is below the best-selling level.

Compared to other animated films, this is considered profitable.

But for "Nichijou," it was a huge success. They achieved a massive return on a small investment.

Higashino Hibiki didn't keep a single penny of the 1300 million yen in revenue from the DVDs; he kept it at the company for company dinners and employee benefits.

Moreover, the senior students are about to graduate, and we need to provide them with subsidies, as well as cover the rent and renovation costs of the company's premises.

This amount of money is considered small.

Fortunately, not long after, they started generating revenue from licensing merchandise with toy factories and clothing manufacturers.

The art style of "Hiyori" is both ugly and cool, which makes it very attractive.

In short, Mirai-sha is thriving.

In the manga, "The Great Revolution of Go" has reached its fifth chapter.

The identity of "Master" has been revealed: he is an artificial intelligence developed by Demis Hassabis and Yang Hai's team at Google—"AlphaGo".

“Ai!” Odagiri was taken aback.

He never imagined that the unconventional chess player, "Master," was actually just a machine!

He speculated about the future soul, whether it was a middle-aged genius who came into contact with Go, or some other master.

He never considered it from this perspective!

"That's really exaggerated!"

Odagiri, who started learning Go in junior high school but whose grades were mediocre and who was considered a poor student, found it hard to believe that machines could really defeat top human Go players.

"I don't understand it, but I'm deeply shocked."

……

"So, the bizarre moves designed by Tori Akino Mirai are what he thinks are how Go is viewed through the eyes of AI?" Shinoda, a 4-dan professional, pondered, stroking his chin.

In comics.

Demis Hassabis claims that he watched online Go games with the characters "ai" and "sai" when he was a child.

In that game, he realized his limitations in Go, so he tried to defeat "Sai" using a computer.

Upon seeing this scene, Shinoda, a fourth-dan player, was taken aback. He pulled out "Hikaru no Go" and, sure enough, found the character in the scene where "Sai" was dominating the battlefield.

This was a foreshadowing that Akino Mirai had planted back in 1994, and it was surprisingly brought to life in a short story in 1997.

"That's really impressive."

He then recalled a long conversation he had with a friend in 1994.

That was also about AI and Go.

Whether or not AI chess skills could surpass those of professional players was not discussed at the time.

After all, Go is very complex, with a great many possibilities, which cannot be compared to chess.

“By 1997, Akino Mirai still had this idea.”

Shinoda then thought of Yang Hai, the player who had guided Isumi at the Chinese Go Association, who had seemed unfathomable back then.

At that time, Yang Hai configured a computer and claimed that the future of Go lay there.

This is also a foreshadowing of Akino Toriyama's future.

Judging from the recent plot, Yang Hai did not give up on this idea and completed the path he had been pursuing back then in 2016.

"Ai."

Perhaps in twenty years, human technological creations will indeed pave new paths for Go.

The middle-aged Shinoda 4-dan was not discouraged, but rather looked forward to the arrival of this era.

Unlike his magnanimous attitude, many professional Go players scoffed at AlphaGo during live streams and online.

"Go has 19 vertical and 19 horizontal lines, 361 intersections, and endless possibilities. I don't think artificial intelligence will surpass our brains one day."

Chapter 173 Debates on Television Programs

The comic depicts AI, which is nothing to worry about.

Japanese manga artists have incredibly imaginative minds. In "Doraemon," Fujiko F. Fujio demonstrated the pinnacle of human creativity, conceiving countless futuristic technologies.

Artificial intelligence is negligible among these props.