Full-time comic artist

"I also want to win first place once." Looking at "Hikaru no Go," he saw the future.

……

Over the weekend, Higashino Hibiki went home, bringing with him a signed copy of Higashino Shio's "Tokyo Love Story" and the annual contract fee transferred from Jump.

He gave his after-tax income of 2500 million yen to Ichiro Higashino.

Tell him he doesn't need to struggle for a living anymore.

As a high school student, Hibiki Higashino was already able to support his family.

Higashino Ichiro nervously accepted the bank card, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

He didn't actually want to accept it, but considering that it was easy for a minor to have an accident or go astray while carrying such a large sum of money, he accepted it.

"You've worked hard."

He concluded in a dry, stilted manner.

Higashino went up to the second floor and heard a sound.

"The water horse is red, AIUEO,"

"Small shrimp are also swimming among the floating algae,"

"Persimmon tree, chestnut ball, KA KI KU KE KO."

"Woodpecker, tireless, withered beech tree."

Higashino Hibiki was surprised; the voice came from her younger sister Higashino Mei's room.

He knocked on the door, the room made a sound, then fell silent again, and no one answered.

Higashino Hibiki was puzzled and asked, "Is that... Mei? It's definitely Mei's voice."

"It's my older brother," Mei Higashino breathed a sigh of relief, opened the door to the room, and carefully looked around. There was no one else there.

"What were you doing just now? Was that a tongue twister?"

"I'm too embarrassed to say it now, sorry big brother." Higashino Mei put her hands behind her back and lowered her head.

"Yes, I shouldn't have asked you so abruptly."

Hibiki Higashino looked at the guitar on the bed in the room and suddenly felt a little confused.

As far as he knew, Mei Higashino played guitar without any formal training; she was simply a member of the Light Music Club.

However, she participated in club activities throughout last summer and winter vacation.

Does K-On! have so many club activities? They're even more serious than the baseball club.

Looking at her well-behaved younger sister, Higashino realized that she had many secrets.

"Oh, right, big brother!" Seeing that Higashino Hibiki didn't pursue the matter, Higashino Mei breathed a sigh of relief and asked excitedly, "Mom said you draw manga! What's your name?"

“It’s just a manga about Go,” Hibiki Higashino ruffled her hair. “It’s a shonen manga, you don’t like it.”

"I'm going back to my bedroom now." Higashino Hibiki waved and went to get a good night's sleep.

……

On Monday, Mei Higashino arrived at Meguro Ward First Junior High School.

She had dark circles under her eyes, and her usually bright eyes looked tired.

"Mei, are you alright?" her good friend Mitsugu Yagami asked worriedly.

"No problem!" Mei Higashino forced herself to stand up and gave a thumbs up. She complained, "My older brother almost found out. I was worried all night."

Mitsugu Yagami: "It's just voice actor training, what's so hard to say?"

"Keep your voice down," Mei Higashino glanced around carefully before replying softly. "My father is quite traditional and would definitely not allow me to become a voice actress. I have to make it a fait accompli first."

"I'm sorry to have troubled you." Mitsugu Yagami shook his head.

There's still half an hour before class starts.

She pulled a magazine from her clothes; it was Weekly Shonen Jump. Excitedly, she called out to Higashino Mei, "Let's look at this! Manga!"

"Miji, why did you bring a manga magazine to school?" Higashino Mei said, "Aren't you afraid the headmaster will find out? Besides, it's a shonen manga, you used to only read shojo manga."

"Just be careful," she said, flipping through the manga to the seventh issue of the magazine, titled "Hikaru no Go".

The handsome, ancient-style man shrouded in white cloth possessed an irresistible allure, captivating Mei Higashino's gaze.

"How about it? Sai is so handsome, isn't he?" Yagami Mitsugu said smugly, very satisfied with her best friend's reaction.

“Yes,” Mei Higashino nodded.

Chapter 43 The Difficulty of Becoming a Professional Go Player

"Hikaru no Go," a shonen manga, is this the manga that my older brother serialized?

Mei Higashino looked at Sai Fujiwara with great curiosity.

She opened the comic book and read it while listening to her best friend's explanation.

"The one who looks as pretty as a girl is Akira Touya. Ever since he lost to Hikaru Shindo, he has been holding a grudge. Moreover, he has developed a bond of rivalry with his peers who have beaten him. He yearns for the Go skills of Fujiwara no Sai, who is possessed by Hikaru Shindo."

Mei Higashino gradually learned the cause and effect.

He looked at Hikaru Shindo and visited the Go tournament. Seeing children younger than him playing Go seriously made him feel a sense of longing.

This made Akira Touya very curious: how exactly did this Go prodigy in front of him view Go?

In the comic, dark clouds gather, and it looks like a heavy rain is about to fall.

"Do you plan to become a professional Go player?" Akira Touya asked.

Hikaru Shindo never thought about this; he only learned about Go by accompanying Fujiwara no Sai.

"how about you?"

Faced with Hikaru Shindo's question, Akira Touya nodded very seriously, "Yes."

Hikaru Shindo was stunned by his resolute expression.

I was just playing around and never thought about something as serious as the future.

Akira Touya is so mature and has such clear goals.

Shindo Koichi was speechless for a moment, then turned to ask about the players' income.

Upon seeing Akira Touya's reply, Mei Higashino exclaimed "Eh!" She never expected that Go players could earn so much money.

Basic salary and other benefits are not considered.

Including only title matches, the Meijin title is worth 3600 million yen and the Kisei title is worth 4200 million yen.

There are a total of eight title battles, with a total winnings of 180 million yen.

It was ridiculously high. When Higashino learned about these prices, he realized that one of the reasons for the decline of Japanese Go in the world in later generations was the huge amount of money involved in domestic competitions.

As long as the competition is held domestically, they will be financially secure and will not need to compete with China and South Korea.

Upon learning that the amount was so large, Hikaru Shindo burst into laughter, joking in his mind with Sai Fujiwara.

"Sai, with your strength, winning the Meijin tournament should be a piece of cake, right?"

Sai was speechless: "You actually play Go just to make money..."

Hikaru Shindo: "I was just thinking about it."

Akira Touya overheard his words and asked curiously, "Just thinking about it?"

"Uh," Hikaru Shindo said embarrassedly, "I just want to be a professional Go player for a while, and it would be nice to win one or two titles."

Akira Touya wondered if he had misheard. "Just want to be a professional Go player for a while? And casually win one or two titles?"

"What a joke! What you said is an insult to professional chess players!"

Akira Touya roared hoarsely, his brows furrowed with rage.

“Uh…” Hikaru Shindo took two steps back, not understanding why Akira Touya was so angry.

Akira Toya regarded Go as his life. All the Go players he knew, as well as himself who was called a genius, were all purely trying to reach the level of "God's move".

His passion for Go fueled his immense anger.

"You're not fit to be a chess player at all!"

"How could a chess player say such vulgar things!"

Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky, and heavy rain poured down.

Akira Touya's words, accompanied by the rain, were especially heart-wrenching.

"Just want to try being a professional Go player? Do you know how high the bar for a professional Go player is?"

"Even after enduring hardship, effort, bitterness, asceticism, and overcoming even the pain of despair, some people still cannot reach that level!"

“I’ve seen many chess players like that around my father, but not you!”

Hikaru Shindo stared at him blankly.

Akira Toya continued his confession, "I have been fighting with the same resolve since I was a child. I don't know how many hours I've played Go every single day. No matter how hard it was, I persevered."

Despite the rain soaking him, Akira Touya gritted his teeth, his heart filled with immense resentment.

"Why did I lose to someone like that?!"

Mei Higashino felt like she had been lectured.

She became lax in her voice acting training because she was praised by her teacher.

Akira Touya in the manga, his purity and determination moved Mei Higashino.

"Is this what my older brother was thinking? Is this why he's serializing it? I need to learn from him."

……

At the Go club, Xiaochun stared blankly at the comic book.

He felt deeply for her and couldn't help but shed tears.

In Akira Touya's words, the person who overcame negative emotions but still failed to become a professional Go player was Koharu.