Full-time comic artist

This company has many rules and regulations that restrict employee behavior in every aspect.

Chatting during work hours is a very serious matter.

Although they won't be fired, they will still face penalties.

"That's great, our usually strict team leader Matsushita didn't bother us." Kito said with a smile as he walked over.

“Maybe he has bad intentions,” Minami Kuriyama complained.

"It was so much easier when I was a kid. All I had to do was play."

"Reading comics, catching bugs, playing beanbag toss, playing Mario... Now that I'm an adult, I'm exhausted when it comes to the workplace."

The two looked at each other and sighed.

Working overtime until 8 o'clock, and then it was time for another group dinner.

"Drink."

Matsushita gestured.

Those were two glasses of strong liquor.

"This is your punishment."

Kito and Kuriyama could only force a smile and drink the sake in one gulp.

They are engaged in emerging industries and are already quite enlightened.

Employees in other companies will face even greater pressure.

Since the economic crisis, employees have become less and less human.

At midnight, seeing the two men's flushed faces, Matsushita nodded in satisfaction, and the dinner party came to a successful end.

"Hey, Kuriyama-kun."

"what?"

The two men, disheveled, staggered through the streets of Shinjuku, drawing disapproving glances from passersby.

"When I was a child, I especially hated my father drinking... I hated those drunken uncles. Now I understand, it's unavoidable."

……

On April 7th, Weekly Young Jump was released.

"This idol photoshoot features Nan, who's been in the spotlight lately. She has a great figure."

Someone managed to snag a copy of Weekly Shonen Jump, buying the manga amidst the envious glances of the students.

Odagiri sat under the gazebo, ignoring the stares of others, and began reading the manga.

"I rarely read comics anymore, but since this is a work by Tori Akino-sensei, I'll give it a try."

He's used to it; it happens every time.

Chapter 367 of "Hanzawa Naoki" was published.

"Hanzawa Naoki" is a workplace manga.

The first issue alone was a whopping 50 pages long, enough to keep readers entertained.

The comic opens with the protagonist joining a bank.

This piqued Odagiri's interest, as he had been involved in Go since junior high school.

Most of his social interactions also revolve around Go.

Such as title matches, Samsung Cup, and the like.

Sometimes Odagiri wonders what he will be like when he enters the workforce.

He was very curious about this.

He must be an elite, right? He's decisive and capable, leading his subordinates to fight in the workplace.

The fact that Tori Akino's new work doesn't start with students makes him feel very fresh, and he's been watching it with unusual interest since "Hikaru no Go".

“My family runs a small company. When I was in junior high school, our company was on the verge of bankruptcy because our client company went bankrupt.”

Naoki Hanzawa spoke earnestly and with deep emotion, “After my father passed away, the local bank with which we had the most business dealings immediately recalled the loan. This caused my mother and employees immense suffering. And the one who saved us from this predicament was your esteemed bank, which had no close relationship with my family.”

The investment from the Industrial Central Bank saved the Hanzawa family's business.

To repay the Industrial Central Bank, Hanzawa Naoki chose to become an employee of the bank and dedicate his efforts to it.

"Ah, so that's how it is."

The entire first page of the manga features a large image of Hanzawa Naoki's face. Every line he speaks is heartfelt and deeply moving.

His sincere demeanor moved Odagiri.

"It's just like the beginning of a shonen manga, where Hanzawa Naoki works like a slave at a bank out of gratitude. I guess the future story will depict Hanzawa falling in love with the job and dedicating himself wholeheartedly to the banking industry."

……

"Something's not right with this guy."

After joining the law firm, Kitamoto had seen all sorts of people. Looking at Hanzawa Naoki's dark eyes in the manga, he thought, "No matter how earnest his expression was, his eyes were always calm and still, as if they were hiding something..."

Kitamoto felt that Hanzawa Naoki was not there out of gratitude as he claimed, but rather for other purposes.

In his law firm, he had seen many cases where clients sought legal assistance but concealed the whole story and failed to explain it clearly, resulting in their loss in court.

These clients always speak with absolute certainty, making it impossible to tell whether they are lying.

The same goes for Hanzawa Naoki.

"Let's keep watching."

Hanzawa Naoki successfully entered the Industrial Central Bank.

At the inauguration ceremony, he met two people. One was the outgoing Watari Shinobu, who wanted to work in project financing, become a bank manager with hundreds of millions of dollars in hand, and participate in major projects that would lead the future.

One was the honest and simple-minded Kondo Naosuke, who was willing to go anywhere as long as he could make a contribution.

Naoki Hanzawa's gaze was deep as he said, "My goal is to reach the top. Once I get there, I have some things to do."

After he finished speaking, he quietly thought about something, his eyes gradually changing. When he looked up, his gaze was sharp and his handsome features were striking.

That look startled Odagiri; it felt even more intimidating than the aura of a veteran Go player.

"This character is terrifying!"

Odagiri discovered that Hanzawa Naoki was completely different from what he had imagined.

……

"There was definitely something wrong!"

Kita was intrigued, so he sat in his private office, engrossed in reading Weekly Young Jump.

This comic has some interesting foreshadowing, which will definitely surprise him.

"Higashino-kun has always been like this; he keeps things to himself and doesn't tell others."

It was during a book signing event in high school that he and Nishimura discovered that their best friend was Mirai Toriaki, the author of "Hikaru no Go".

He kept such a big thing well hidden. If it were Nishimura, he would have told everyone in Tokyo by now.

Kitamoto suddenly burst out laughing.

Thinking about all this, he misses his high school days.

After entering the workforce, facing all sorts of people and the work pressure from his superiors, he felt that he was completely different from his student self.

In the ivory tower, it's like being another version of yourself.

The vagueness fueled his imagination.

Let's get together sometime.

Nishimura in Hokkaido, myself and Higashino in Tokyo.

The plot of the "Hanzawa Naoki" manga is fast-paced, and it jumps from 1992 to 2002 in a short time, ignoring Hanzawa Naoki's early days as a newcomer in the banking industry.

This is quite different from many workplace comics.

This period is the main time for the protagonist to grow and for the supporting characters to develop.

Without the character's growth period, there's not much plot left in workplace comics.

In 2002, the Industrial Central Bank merged with Tokyo First Bank and was renamed Tokyo Central Bank.

In other words, the factions within the bank have become more complex.

Naoki Hanzawa was transferred to the Osaka West Branch as the head of the financing department.

He visited Makino Seiki's workshop and discussed loan matters with the boss.

Makino Seiki was brought to the brink of bankruptcy after its major client went bankrupt and its main bank announced the termination of its loan.

Hanzawa decided to do his best to help the company apply for a loan.

Seeing his boss sobbing uncontrollably and kneeling on the ground to thank Hanzawa, Odagiri was deeply moved.

The mutual support between banks and businesses, and the humanistic care depicted in the comics, allowed him, a chess player who had left the workplace, to feel warmth.

However, the written report from Hanzawa requesting a loan of 30 million yen from Makino Seiki was rejected by the deputy branch manager and the branch manager.

The head office set a financing target of 10 billion yen for the Osaka West Branch, which is still 500 million yen short. This 30 million yen is far too little. They need to focus their efforts on more important companies, since there is only one week left.

These selfish and unscrupulous bankers only cared about themselves and never considered that Makino Seiki desperately needed money to save its life.

Under such ruthless calculations, the bank's reputation has become increasingly unpopular, turning it into a vampire in people's eyes.

Kitamoto watched intently, not even noticing the passage of time.

The plot of this comic was so tight, with no unnecessary dragging, that he dared not be distracted and was completely absorbed in it.

……

In order to win the crown, become the first branch, and achieve better results, Nishi-Osaka Steel is an important client, and this company happens to need loan funds.

Branch manager Asano Tadashi decided to appoint the newcomer Nakanishi as a customer manager.