Full-time comic artist

The prettiest person in Hibiki Higashino's class was Yuko Asahina, who kept her head down and remained silent.

The entire class looked at Asahina without prior arrangement.

Feeling the gazes of so many people, Asahina raised her head, revealing her delicate and beautiful face.

Three years after high school, she had grown tall and slender, dressed in black, with long hair as dark as the night, exuding an air of mystery.

In addition, she usually has a blank face and keeps people at arm's length, which makes her aloof temperament obvious.

Asahina looked at everyone with a blank expression. Hibiki Higashino looked at her desk, where a section of the storyboard from episode 15 of "Saint Seiya" was displayed.

Hibiki Higashino remembered that Kiko Takagi seemed to have mentioned that after graduating from fourth grade, the Miraisha branch located in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, began recruiting talent and absorbed seven or eight experienced animation company employees.

Compared to more specialized branches, the main campus of a university now seems more like a branch.

Due to the increase in staff, in addition to the production of "Hiyori-2", Mirai-sha began to accept outsourced work from other companies.

The first one was "Saint Son Arrives," which aired in April of this year.

For a half-year anime like "Saint Seiya: The Return of the Holy Child," it's inevitable to seek outsourcing companies, which also gives "Mirai-sha" more experience in producing professional animation.

Seeing Asahina Yuko's hard work, Hibiki Higashino nodded in satisfaction.

Everyone was looking at her expectantly. Asahina Yuko, confused, tilted her head slightly and, under everyone's gaze, parted her lips slightly, "Huh?"

All expectations vanished in an instant.

Everyone was both amused and exasperated; it turned out she hadn't listened at all.

The class monitor smiled helplessly and repeated himself.

Yuko Asahina nodded, indicating that she understood.

and so……

"Please forgive me for refusing," she said coldly.

After she finished speaking, she lowered her head and carefully watched the first cut of episode 15 of "Saint Seiya".

"Then there's nothing we can do, haha." The class monitor chuckled and asked the others in a dry tone.

The girls in the class didn't speak up, and Yuko Asahina didn't participate either; they didn't want to embarrass themselves.

This matter could only be left unresolved.

After class, acquaintances left the classroom together, discussing the school beauty, Musashino.

"Saki Tamura, a second-year junior, is very approachable and has a cute round face. She is a strong candidate."

"Yamahi Aoi from the next class is 170cm tall, with long, slender legs that are fair and smooth. I'm voting for her!"

Hehehe, hehehehe.

"Slurp slurp".

The boys in the class were having a great time talking, ignoring the girls' horrified stares.

Losing the right to choose a spouse on campus is a valid reason.

"Tori Akino-sensei!"

Someone patted Higashino Hibiki on the shoulder and spoke loudly in his ear.

It was my classmate, Tada Banri.

"Let's vote for Kaga Kaori together!"

He raised his hand, full of enthusiasm.

He then drew circles on his chest, the movements surging and powerful, conveying a sense of awe and encompassing the universe.

"That's Kaga Kaori, I heard her name is E!"

"Really!" Hibiki Higashino asked in shock.

“Of course, and…” Tada Banri leaned close to Higashino Hibiki’s ear and whispered, “Kaga-san’s feet are snow-white, slender and well-proportioned, with soft ankles, and her toes are painted with nail polish. They’re small, smell nice, um~”

Higashino Hibiki stared straight at him. "What an incredible pervert."

He conceded defeat.

"I'm sorry, I don't have time."

Thinking of the hardworking Asahina Yuko, Hibiki Higashino felt ashamed of his slight attraction to her and decisively rejected her advances.

"Excuse me..." Tada Banri lowered his head, muttering to himself as he left.

"That shouldn't be the case, why didn't the foot fetishist, Mr. Torino, agree..."

Higashino Hibiki heard this and was utterly speechless; the world had misunderstood him far too deeply.

……

Asahina Yuko was still looking down at the storyboard when Minami Chiharu gently flicked her head. Asahina Yuko snapped out of her reverie and looked at Minami Chiharu with a wistful expression.

"get out of class is over," Nan Qianchun said.

"Mm." Asahina Yuko nodded gently.

Asahina Yuko put the storyboard of "Saintess Arrives" in her backpack, and they walked over to Hibiki Higashino and left together.

On campus, the selection of the Musashino Campus Beauty has begun. The bulletin board on the first floor is covered with photos of pretty girls and their campaign speeches, making it look exceptionally professional.

"Asahina-san, why don't you participate in the school beauty pageant?" Hibiki Higashino then asked.

During high school, Asahina Yuko had many suitors, including Nishimura.

Upon entering university, the girl blossomed into a graceful young woman, but she lacked the typical hobbies and interests of a typical university student, spending her days immersed in the animation club, which made her seem somewhat out of place.

Asahina Yuko looked at Hibiki Higashino with a puzzled expression. "Why do you want to participate? Higashino-kun, what benefits will this bring to animation production?"

She didn't mean any sarcasm; she was sincerely asking for advice.

Asahina Yuko greatly admires Hibiki Higashino's production skills, as he was her mentor on her animation journey.

Hibiki Higashino replied, "You can have other lives besides anime."

Nan Qianchun nodded repeatedly.

“I don’t like that kind of life.” Asahina Yuko shook her head. “I’m more suited to being an animation director.”

She fell silent, gesturing with her hands, immersed in the storyboard of "The Arrival of the Holy Son".

……

Upon arriving at the animation club, Hibiki Higashino said goodbye and returned to his dormitory, where he told Akemi Akemi about the incident.

“School beauty pageant, what a nostalgic phrase,” Akemi Akimiya said wistfully, pointing to her lower lip.

"Could it be you?!" Higashino Hibiki was shocked.

“Of course not,” Akemi Akemi shook her head. “Back then, I was so focused on drawing manga that I didn’t have any free time to do this.”

"Competing for the school beauty pageant is very time-consuming and requires spending a lot of money on becoming more beautiful. This includes getting your nails done, perming your eyelashes, choosing suitable clothes, necklaces, earrings, and so on..."

"I also need to pull strings to get on magazine covers, learn performance skills, and showcase my beauty..."

She pointed out a lot of things that Higashino Hibiki, this straight man, wouldn't understand.

"After running for school beauty, you have to give up a lot of things."

Akemi Akemi stretched out her fingers. Although they were delicate and had a translucent, snow-white beauty, there were ink marks left from drawing manga on them. Her fingertips, which had held the pen, also had calluses, a slight imperfection in the otherwise flawless white jade.

This is not acceptable if you are participating in a beauty pageant.

"Hmm," Higashino Hibiki rubbed his chin and understood. School beauties are like models; those who focus their attention elsewhere wouldn't choose this path.

Just like how he gave up Go.

"Learning to let go is really important," Hibiki Higashino remarked.

Chapter 184: A Date and a Meeting for the One Piece Serialization

Since "Slam Dunk" has been filled with exciting basketball games for most of the year, the following plot will focus on Oda's emotional journey at Takezono High School to maintain a balance.

Hibiki Higashino can relax for a while now that he doesn't need to draw basketball games for a short period of time.

Because Higashino Hibiki had four assistants, and with the experience of serializing "Slam Dunk" for a long time, Higashino Hibiki was surprised to find that he actually had two days of free time every week.

Drawing storyboards takes three days, and the original manuscript can be completed in two days—it's like a dream.

Thanks to this, Oda can spend more time creating One Piece.

He only works two days a week, spending the remaining five days drawing storyboards at Tori Akino's studio.

While Higashino was working on the storyboard for "Slam Dunk," he took some time to look at Oda's "One Piece."

Because of his long-term accumulation of knowledge, he wrote very quickly, and within half a day, he had conceived a plot.

"Hmm, that's really good." Hibiki Higashino glanced at the clock and nodded. Unlike the One Piece he remembered, this was an adventure story set in a small town.

However, he didn't say much, thinking it was better for Oda to run into a wall.

Upon hearing his praise, Oda looked up, grinned, and laughed heartily, "As expected of me, hahaha!"

As expected of Oda, he's very confident.

"In Romance Down, Shanks had his arm bitten off by the Lord of the Coast. Will One Piece also depict this?" Hibiki Higashino asked curiously.

This is a major flaw in the work. After all, how could a mere Lord of the Coast possibly bite off Shanks' arm?

“There’s nothing I can do about it,” Oda said with some distress. “Editor Kushima said that ‘Romance Down’ lacks something that will shock readers. In the feedback from readers, they also really like this part of the story, so there’s no way to change it.”

It may become a flaw in the future of the work, but it is indeed the essence of the work now, the point that attracts readers, and it is hard to change.

Although One Piece has many foreshadowing elements, it is a long-running series, so there are many parts that cannot be explained logically.

For example, Haki, and the Nika Fruit.

Therefore, changing Shanks' missing arm is unnecessary.

Unless he can collaborate with Oda on One Piece, which is impossible.

Oda cannot allow anyone to criticize his work, even if that person is Tori Akino Mirai.

He has a rebellious streak.