Full-time comic artist

Hibiki Higashino quietly put down the breakfast machine and, without anyone noticing, smoothly blended in and sat quietly to watch.

Chapter 70 Future

In 1995, the economy began to recover.

Although the following decades are known as the Lost 20s, the situation this year is indeed much better than the previous two years.

Hibiki Higashino went for a run this morning and saw religious figures handing out leaflets. Most of them smiled and refused, unlike their previous indifferent attitude.

There is a cult called Truth Church that is particularly rampant, claiming that 1997 will be the end of the world and that only the rituals of its leader, Asahara, can liberate the souls of believers and lead them to a state of absolute freedom and happiness.

This argument was particularly popular during the economic bubble, with over 1 members joining in 1989, and later church leaders even attempted to run for parliament.

Recently, it seems that fewer and fewer people believe this claim; you can see them promoting it, but not many people pay attention.

Things started to get better. Hibiki Higashino thought to himself, and changed from jogging to strolling back to Yoshiwara-so.

On the way, he bought breakfast. Yoshii and the others were awake, so they came over to eat breakfast together.

"Thank you very much, Higashino-kun," Minami Chiharu said gratefully.

She hasn't gone out to work since she started making the animation for "Hey—Come Out".

I've been working under Asahina Yuko for a while now, and recently I've been drawing Asahina's own works. I heard that they're almost finished.

“Minami-san, you and Asahina-san have been very busy lately,” Higashino said, seeing her tired appearance. “The university entrance exam is in two weeks, so you can put the animation production on hold for now.”

The common entrance test for universities is actually the college entrance examination.

However, after taking the Japanese university entrance exam, you still need to take the university's entrance exam to get into a particular university.

With a recommendation like Hibiki Higashino's, admission becomes much easier.

“It’s alright, I’m already prepared,” Nan Chiharu said confidently.

Her dream is to enter Musashino Art University, and she has been preparing for it for almost three years. She has mastered both the tuition fees and the courses.

Private university tuition is expensive, so she worked part-time throughout high school and saved up a lot of money.

Now that he's hooked up with the rich woman Asahina, he has even less to worry about.

"Where's Asahina-san?" Higashino Hibiki turned to ask Asahina, who had been silent all along.

"Musashino," Asahina said.

"What?" Higashino asked, puzzled.

"I've been accepted into Musashino Art University." Asahina took a bite of her bread. "Nice to meet you in the future."

"...Wow, that's amazing..." Higashino Hibiki was speechless. This was his original dream, and someone else had achieved it so easily.

"Where's Yoshii-kun?" Hibiki Higashino asked.

“Musashino,” Yoshii Yamahisa replied, “After trying, Dad said we shouldn’t worry about the debt.”

"20 billion yen, can it be achieved within a year with hard work?" Hibiki Higashino couldn't imagine it.

Is this what they call class solidification?

He recalled Ai Haibara saying this when he watched Detective Conan.

"The sons of politicians will become politicians, and the sons of bankers will become bankers. If this continues, no matter how much time passes, Japan will not change."

She called it Japan's ugly hereditary system.

However, Higashino Hibiki did not expect that bankrupt bankers would be able to turn their fortunes around immediately under this system.

The upper echelons may have already formed a large network, with mutual help and support among themselves.

Of course, Grandpa Yoshii Yamahisa also helped.

"So, Yoshii-kun, are you still going to be my assistant?" Higashino asked.

“My father said that we should repay kindness,” Yoshii Yamahisa replied. “It was Higashino-kun who helped me back then, so I certainly can’t abandon you. Besides, being an assistant is a lot of fun. The thought that my work will make millions of people happy fills me with motivation.”

Higashino nodded and decided not to try to persuade him further.

He looked around and said, "So all of us will still be going to the same university. It feels like something out of an animated film."

However, upon closer reflection, everyone who can enter the Art Department of Yan Yan High School is a prodigy and also has a net worth of hundreds of millions.

Their goal was originally Japan's three major art academies.

"Haha, what a coincidence!" Nan Qianchun laughed heartily. "It's so great to be able to stay with everyone!"

“Takagi-senpai is still waiting for you at Tokyo University,” Yoshii Yamahisa said.

“I don’t care about her,” Minami Chiharu shook her head. “You should be going to Tokyo University to keep her company.”

Yoshii Yamahisa blushed.

Asahina Yuko said, "I went to Musashino because of Higashino-kun."

"Eh! Isn't it because of me?" Nan Chiharu exclaimed in shock.

“No,” Asahina shook her head.

"You're so mean!" Minami Chiharu vigorously rubbed her cheeks, and Asahina pouted.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

They were playfully fighting and getting into a chaotic mess, and Akemi Akemi sighed.

In that case, only I am left.

I really envy them; they're still just students.

……

In the afternoon, the comic finally progressed to the moment when Xiaoguang was testing a professional Go player.

Although Xiaoguang ranked seventh in the final Go academy assessment, the comparison was based on average rankings, and his Go performance in the previous assessments was not ideal.

He did not make it into the top eight at the chess academy and had to participate in the preliminary rounds.

At the entrance to the qualifying match.

Xiao Guang sighed, "I've finally made it this far..."

Sai said with dissatisfaction, "It's come to this? Shouldn't it have started from here?"

"I know!" Xiao Guang has grown a lot since then. "But no matter what, I'm still standing here."

"First day of the professional preliminaries!"

The latest chapter has finally ended, and Hibiki Higashino breathed a sigh of relief.

Hikaru's life was completely changed by Fujiwara no Sai, and the story of Hikaru no Go can also reach a turning point here.

Just as he was thinking, there was a knock on the door.

It should be Sasaki; he said yesterday that he would visit today.

Higashino Hibiki put down the manuscript in his hand, opened the door, and sure enough, it was Sasaki.

Wearing glasses and a suit, he stood tall and straight, his lips pursed, looking exceptionally serious.

That's definitely his usual style.

"Sorry to bother you today."

"Please come in."

Upon entering the studio in the living room, Sasaki saw the original manuscript on the table and asked, "Is it finished?"

"Yes." Higashino Hibiki nodded.

"Hmm, as expected of Teacher Akino Mirai." Sasaki flipped through the pages but didn't find anything wrong.

"Although he is a high school student, he always manages to finish his manuscripts on time. He is much more self-disciplined than some adult comic artists."

"At the initial serialization meeting, others were worried that serializing in high school students would cause many problems, but the efforts of Mr. Tori Akino over the past year have left them speechless."

"Not a single delay, not a single suspension of publication, even I didn't expect it."

"Thank you for the compliment." Higashino Hibiki nodded.

His advantage lies in storyboarding; other cartoonists would spend more than three days conceiving a storyboard.

Hibiki Higashino only needs two days, since he already has the ending plot in mind.

“This isn’t something that can be accomplished with just a few words of praise,” Sasaki said, pulling out a file he carried with him.

"Based on your contributions last year, the editorial department has decided to double your contract fee for the latest year."

Chapter 71 Work Arrangements

5000 million yen, this is just the contract fee for one year, there are no other requirements.

In the past, Hibiki Higashino, who suddenly became rich, could have spent his free time fishing, playing games, enjoying life, and drawing comics in his spare time, which would have been a wonderful thing.

However, now that I've become a cartoonist, it's quite interesting to leave my mark on this ambiguous world.

He decided to continue striving for excellence and focus 8% of his energy on comics.

Having worked with Jump for a year and understood the magazine's style, Hibiki Higashino signed off cleanly and efficiently.

5000 million yen will be deposited into his account within half a month.

Sasaki breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed his temples, and relaxed for a while.

He was in charge of many things during this period, including the serialization of "Hikaru no Go" and "Rurouni Kenshin", the organization of the New Year's party, and even communication with Yoshihiro Togashi.

I hope that Togashi can start a new serialization as soon as possible.

"How about we play a couple of games to relax?" Hibiki Higashino suggested.

Sasaki is around 30 years old this year. He joined the editorial department of Jump in 1991 and started as the fourth editor of "Kochikame". It has only been 4 years since then.

This person usually has a stern face, but if you think about it carefully, he's just a young man.

"I haven't played any of the games since I won the arcade machine," Higashino Hibiki sighed. "It's almost March, and I'll be leaving here soon. I want to try out the fun of arcade games."

“It might not work yet,” Sasaki said.