Full-time comic artist

Bird Akino: Yes, I lost to him the last time we played chess.

Hearing this, Akira Yamazaki was on the verge of tears. His professional Go player image had completely crumbled. T_T

Afterwards, the reporter and Hibiki Higashino discussed the plot of "Hikaru no Go".

Female reporter: The previous chapters revealed that Fujiwara no Sai would become a Buddha. Will it be drawn that way?

Bird Akino: The rest is all in my head, but I can't spoil it now. I'm drawing the most suitable content.

Female reporter: That's well said, but it's like saying nothing at all.

Bird Akino: Haha.

Female reporter: Regarding your other manga, "The Garden of Words," which is about teacher-student relationships, what are your thoughts on this?

Bird Akino: I just feel that love, once one is mentally mature, shouldn't be limited by age. The teacher-student relationship naturally has a hierarchical structure, making it easy to be pressured. So I think the current social opinion is good.

Female reporter: Thank you very much for your answer.

The interview lasted for about an hour, with questions given to Higashino Hibiki beforehand so he could remove some that were inconvenient to answer.

Therefore, these issues are all acceptable.

He declined the dinner invitation, and even after they had left, Akira Yamazaki remained.

She was somewhat unwilling to give up and asked Higashino Hibiki to play two more rounds.

After the score was tied 1-1, Hibiki Higashino went to draw manga.

Akira Yamazaki sat quietly, accepting reality.

……

6 month 3 day.

Sales of Weekly Shonen Jump dropped to 580 million yen.

In just half a month, 70 has already been lost.

This unimaginable number left everyone in the editorial department speechless, staring at the report with a puzzled expression.

Nobuhiko Horie's eyes have been red lately.

But there was no other way; we could only try our best to maintain the status quo and wait for the savior.

“Wait a minute,” Nobuhiko Horie said suddenly, looking at the data, “What’s going on with the plot of Hikaru no Go? We’ve received quite a few calls about it today, haven’t we?”

Sasaki replied, "It's about Fujiwara no Sai. Tori Akino Mirai is planning to have this character attain Buddhahood."

"Fujiwara no Sai!" Nobuhiko Horie slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "Isn't this the most popular character in 'Hikaru no Go'?! How can we let him finish filming!"

Sasaki remained unfazed, adjusting his glasses. "Because according to the story's tone, once the protagonist has grown up, the character Fujiwara Sai is no longer needed."

"Moreover, the initial setup of the story revolves around Sai's mission. Once he finds the meaning of his existence, he should naturally disappear."

Horie Nobuhiko sighed, "Is academic performance more important, or is storytelling more important?"

“In Tori Akino’s opinion, storytelling is more important,” Sasaki replied.

He discussed this with Higashino Hibiki for a long time and learned what Higashino Hibiki really thought.

So they decided to let him continue drawing like that.

For the sake of this cartoonist's future, temporary success is nothing.

“Akino Tori has not yet grown into a pillar of Jump,” Sasaki said, “so I don’t think it’s a problem to sacrifice temporary achievements to help him grow, so I didn’t report it.”

“But today,” Nobuhiko Horie said, “Hikaru no Go is already a manga on par with Rurouni Kenshin, how can we let him draw it like this?”

"Excuse my bluntness, Editor-in-Chief," Sasaki said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "it's because the editorial department interferes too much with the manga artists that Akira Toriyama is not planning to continue the series for a long time, and Togashi is just giving up. They both have a lot of grievances against the editorial department."

"I think we should take their thoughts into consideration rather than deny them."

"Moreover, it's possible that if more emotion is poured into 'Hikaru no Go,' its performance will actually improve."

Nobuhiko Horie nodded thoughtfully.

Manga artists are very stubborn, and the recent performance of "Hikaru no Go" has not declined.

He decided to wait a little longer.

The main problem is that he's not in the mood to argue with Higashino Hibiki right now.

He waved his hand, signaling Sasaki to leave.

After Sasaki left, he didn't return to his workstation to continue working. Instead, he went to a corner and called Higashino Hibiki.

It's not about taking credit, of course; it's about something else entirely.

The results of the second volume of "Hikaru no Go".

"It has just surpassed 800,000 copies, and it may eventually reach around 900,000 copies."

Hibiki Higashino has felt the negative impact of the end of Dragon Ball.

The first volume already has 1.1 million copies sold, compared to a decrease of 200,000 copies.

He earned 40 yen from one volume of Higashino Hibiki's book, which is 800 million yen!

This is only one volume; subsequent individual volumes will definitely have an impact as well.

Higashino Hibiki immediately felt disappointed.

"My money!"

Chapter 97 That Despicable Bird Akino

At 6 p.m., Tada Banri picked up his rice bowl and shoveled two mouthfuls of rice into his mouth.

I glanced at the TV; the anime "Hikaru no Go" was playing.

In this lazy episode, he saw someone familiar. He was immediately speechless.

Rice got stuck in his throat, and he turned red with discomfort.

The shopkeeper saw this and immediately took a glass of water and handed it to him.

He recovered after being rinsed with water.

However, he didn't notice this and continued watching TV intently, even though there were rice grains all over the table and his lap.

The person who played against Yamazaki Akira was, by all accounts, Higashino Hibiki.

"Higashino! Cough cough! Hibiki Higashino is actually Akino Mirai!"

The person who appears unassuming and always comes and goes in a hurry, seemingly as busy as a social butterfly, is actually the manga artist, Akino Mirai.

He was extremely shocked!

"My classmate is my idol!"

There's this feeling of bewilderment that comes with realizing how close the legend is to you.

……

At the same time, Gao Xueji also saw the broadcast of the anime.

"Is Higashino the same person as Akino?" She frowned. "No wonder he could write 'Hey—Come Out'..."

She was a little embarrassed, "The last time I told him I really liked 'The Garden of Words'..."

"I should ask him for an autograph..."

“However,” she sighed, “I don’t have time to write scripts. Just like he said, I’m really busy.”

She decided to give up.

……

The next day, Hibiki Higashino arrived at the Chinese painting classroom and saw a group of faces with different expressions.

"Higashino! You're Toriyama Akira, right? You know Akira Toriyama, don't you? Can you get me an autograph?"

Ah, this is a Dragon Ball fan.

Will Dragon Ball continue to be serialized?

Will Akira Toriyama continue with long-running serials?

As a cartoonist, I felt the enthusiasm of my classmates, but I never expected it was because of the teacher.

Higashino Hibiki was both amused and exasperated.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about the serialization. As for the autograph, it might have to wait until early next year."

"Is it Shueisha's New Year's party?!" a student exclaimed excitedly. "Lots of teachers will be attending!"

"Nobuhiro Wazuki!"

"Araki Hirohiko!"

"Hiroshi Honmiya!"

Masami Kurumada!

Seeing their excited expressions, Higashino thought to himself, "They really are art students, so sensitive to this kind of thing."

“Teacher Toriakino,” Tada Banri asked, “What about Sai? What will become of Sai in the end?”

Before Higashino Hibiki could answer, he held out a hand. "Never mind, don't say it. Let me watch with curiosity."

So no one else asked, probably because they were worried about hearing something they didn't want to hear.

After getting Hibiki Higashino's autograph, they stopped bothering him.

After calming down his classmates, Higashino Hibiki was able to have some peace.

Their enthusiasm today is only temporary; they'll get used to it eventually.

A few minutes later, Akemi Akemi, wearing a long dress, walked in gracefully.

Higashino Hibiki listened attentively.

……

After art class, Akemi Akemi, carrying her textbook and lesson plan, had just stepped out of the classroom when a lovely girl with glasses and a gentle demeanor asked softly: