Full-time comic artist

"Tch," Torishima Kazuhiko was extremely dissatisfied after the awards ceremony. He hadn't enjoyed the show and felt like he'd wasted his trip.

"So who was the person who called out to the bottle back then?" Takahashi Toshimasa asked Torishima Kazuhiko.

"How would I know?" Torishima Kazuhiko retorted, then said dejectedly, "Forget it, we're going to China tomorrow to promote the anime 'Slam Dunk' and 'One Piece,' let's go."

Oda watched them leave, then walked up to Hibiki Higashino and shook his hand.

"Tori Akino-sensei, I often think of you."

"I remember you have a girlfriend, right? She's the model who plays Nami."

“Of course that’s not what I meant,” Oda said angrily. He explained, “After One Piece started serialization, I often regretted not learning more from you, otherwise I wouldn’t have been unable to resist calling you when I encountered problems. I finally told myself that only by being independent can one grow, so I restrained myself, hahaha.”

“I’m always ready to serve you,” Higashino Hibiki said with a smile. “Didn’t you just say you had to leave in a hurry?”

"It's been resolved now," Oda replied.

"You're really arrogant."

“I have the ability.” He said with great enthusiasm, “When I was your assistant, I always thought about drawing comics that could catch up with yours.”

"It's just that Slam Dunk is too strong, making me feel like I have no chance, and I can't sleep because of the pressure. But now I believe that One Piece will eventually surpass Slam Dunk."

Today, One Piece is just one step away from catching up with Dragon Ball.

Oda's favorite childhood work was Dragon Ball, which he considered to be a manga on par with Disney animation. He has rediscovered that pure passion from his childhood, so he is now fearless.

“Then you still need to work harder,” Hibiki Higashino said. “Ten or twenty years from now, One Piece might achieve the same level of success as Slam Dunk.”

"Eh~ that's taking too long!" Oda said, feeling disappointed.

……

The cartoonists had all left, and Yoshihisa looked at the call sign, which contained the names of the cartoonists who had been agreed upon in advance to be the finalists.

"Editor-in-Chief Sasaki, why did you choose Oda-kun to be the finale?"

He was somewhat puzzled.

Sasaki thought for a long time, and finally said:

"Perhaps it's just my preference."

"I trusted Torino Mirai too much."

……

After returning home with the prize money and trophy, Hibiki Higashino realized that his conversation with Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro was not yet over.

He simply didn't have Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro's contact information, so he shook his head and put the phone down.

After placing the trophy in the corner of the bookcase, Higashino Hibiki went to his studio in the living room.

Akemi Akemi was still drawing, while her assistant Hikaru Ibuki had already gone home after get off work.

She was the only one in the studio.

"I am back."

Welcome home.

Without their parents and assistants, and with only the two of them there, the villa suddenly felt more like a home.

Higashino Hibiki felt a wave of exhaustion. He plopped down on the sofa, his whole body slumped.

"Ah, home is still the most comfortable place."

"Aren't you going to the party?" Akemi Akimiya asked casually.

"It's so boring." Hibiki Higashino shook his head. "They're all a bunch of otaku, there's nothing fun about it."

"So you didn't miss me?" Akemi Akemi started acting unreasonably.

Higashino Hibiki: Pregnant women are so hard to please.

The caring Akemi Akemi of the past is gone, replaced by the unpredictable weather in the mountains, sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy.

"Of course not, I miss you too, Akimiya-sensei." Higashino Hibiki brought up the old nickname, which usually made Akimiya Akemi feel embarrassed.

"Hmph, I don't believe it." Akemi Akimiya put down her pen and pouted.

Hibiki Higashino, the straight man, was at his wit's end.

He clutched the check in his pocket—the 50 yen bonus from Jump—and looked at the crumpled paper on the ground, an idea suddenly forming in his mind.

"Mingmei, if you clean the floor, how about I give you 500,000?"

"Huh?" Akemi Akemi glared at him.

"I'll do it." Hibiki Higashino got up sheepishly, and under Akemi Akimiya's satisfied gaze, he cleaned the house while letting out a sigh of relief.

We finally got through it.

……

Monday morning.

Mrs. Fukada had prepared breakfast and knocked on the door to wake her son.

After she and her husband finished breakfast, their son finally arrived, still in his pajamas.

"Eat quickly, don't be late," she urged.

"...Yes..." the son replied weakly.

"Wait a minute," Mrs. Fukada stopped him as he was about to sit down. "What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well last night?"

Fukada Eito's eyes were lifeless and bloodshot.

"Huh?" Fukada Eito was startled. He quickly organized his thoughts, "Yes, yes, the pressure of studying is too great."

Mrs. Fukada couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. "Should I ask you for a day off?"

"No need, I need to focus on my studies," Fukada Eito quickly replied.

He unexpectedly bought a copy of "Death Note" on Saturday, and when he got home, he immediately started looking at the scenes featuring Naomi Minami.

It turned out that Naomi Minami had no revealing scenes at all, and was always fully covered up.

He eventually died.

He was furious and threw the comic book aside.

It wasn't until the next day, when I got bored, that I picked up "Death Note" again.

The result was so interesting that he couldn't stop watching, and he ended up watching Tokyo until 4 a.m.

Before going to sleep, Eito Fukada's mind was filled with images of Naomi Minami being controlled by the Death Note and her lonely figure at the end.

So I couldn't sleep at all.

He heard from his classmates that Monday was the day Jump was sold out, so he wanted to buy Jump while he was at school.

"Okay, you're such a good baby, mua~" Mrs. Fukada was very satisfied.

……

During the break between classes, Eito Fukada took out Jump.

"I didn't expect that such a thick comic magazine would only cost 260 yen. It's so cheap!"

He had thought he would have to go hungry at noon.

Eito Fukada opened a manga and accidentally landed on "Black Cat." He looked at Eve and was taken aback. "This character is drawn so well."

Eve looks exactly like the Golden Darkness from Kentaro Yabuki's future work, "To Love-Ru," and she's very cute.

"No! I need to watch Death Note now!"

Eito Fukada overcame his initial interest in reading manga, stopped reading cute girls, and started reading "Death Note".

"This chapter is titled 'Simple'? What exactly is it about?"

Filled with curiosity, he eagerly peered inside.

"Wait! Misa Amane is cute, but who is she?! How come there's another Shinigami? Her name is Rem, and she's way cooler than Ryuk."

"Oh no, oh no, I don't understand it at all!"

The Death Note manga only contains the first 24 chapters.

The series is currently at chapter thirty-one.

Just seven episodes apart was enough to make it impossible for Eito Fukada to connect the story to what came before.

Its information density is too high!

This is the difference between Death Note and most Jump manga.

Having only read the collected volumes, I simply cannot understand the plot of the latest chapter.

"Oh my god, Eito, even you, the good student, have started reading comics now." His friend Kokoro came to his side.

"Kokoro, have you read Death Note?" Fukada Eito asked hastily, ignoring his friend's sarcasm.

"Of course. I'll definitely watch Death Note."

"Then who is this Misa Amane? Why does Light have to kill her?"

Eito Fukada's inquisitive gaze made Kokoro feel comfortable.

"Misa Amane is the second Kira. She also has a Death Note and a Shinigami protecting her..."

"Wait! Who is the second Kira?"

How many words have you read?

Episode 24.

"Oh, I see. The Kira who broadcast the murder live on TV was the second Kira, Misa Amane..."

Kokoro gradually explained the plot of Death Note to Eito Fukada, helping him to understand everything.

“You’re reading the latest chapter of Death Note, right?” Kokoro pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. “I haven’t read it yet, let’s read it together.”

"Okay."

Misa Amane's appearance put Light Yagami in a very difficult position.