Full-time comic artist

This time he didn't go out again, focusing his mind and giving it his all to finish the game.

They still lost.

Looking at the other person's innocent smiling face, he secretly hoped that he would never run into this brat again.

If he loses one more game out of five, he won't even qualify for professional competitions. It would be such a pity if his Go career ended like this.

Odagiri said, "It's annoying that I've played against you both times, Uncle. I want to try playing against more people."

Xiaochun nodded repeatedly.

He came to the venue for the third competition.

That kid named Odagiri has won all three matches and passed the qualifiers.

He felt somewhat fortunate.

The remaining three opponents were all of average skill. After teetering on the brink of danger, Xiaochun finally entered the professional competition.

"Damn you, Akino Toriyama!"

If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be in such danger.

……

"Ah! Ahh!"

Higashino sneezed several times. It was the rainy season, and the rain was falling non-stop, causing the temperature to drop a few degrees.

Akemi Akemi couldn't help but ask with concern, "Do you have a cold? Do you have a fever?"

Higashino waved his hand. "Someone is probably thinking of me. I'm perfectly healthy."

“That’s good, but it might also be related to the recent weather,” Akemi Akemi said. “After all, it reminds me of The Garden of Words.”

Higashino Hibiki smiled. "Would you like to come out with me and sit in a pavilion in a nearby park?"

Akemi Akemi rolled her eyes at him, "...Just keep drawing manga."

Hibiki Higashino had just picked up his pen when he received a phone call from Akira Toriyama.

"Teacher Toriyama, you should be at your Nagoya exhibition right now, how come you have time to call me?"

Akira Toriyama spoke with indignation, and he brought up the matter of Yoshihiro Togashi.

"Togashi told me that Jump gave him the right to update once a month!"

Even though he no longer serializes his work regularly, he was still somewhat angry upon hearing about this qualification.

"Why wasn't this condition given to me when I was serializing the story!"

Hibiki Higashino shook his head. A nightmare was about to begin. Jump had unleashed the root of all evil, and in the future, only the readers would suffer.

"Toriyama-sensei, you're alright, but I'm not feeling so good. When we authors are working hard to serialize our works in weekly manga, Togashi-san can go play mahjong, ski, or play video games. I feel even worse."

Higashino Hibiki was so tired of drawing that he was almost sick of it. Every day, as soon as he opened his eyes, he was either at school or facing these manuscripts. He felt like he was working his life away in a sweatshop with a twelve-hour workday.

"Pfft," Akira Toriyama laughed. Sure enough, he was much happier whenever he made a comparison.

“By the way, Higashino,” realizing he had gone a bit too far, he said, “When I was watching Hikaru no Go, I saw something you wanted to draw.”

Don't worry about the editorial department's objections, just draw what you want! After what Togashi and I did, they won't be as stubborn as before.

“Indeed,” Hibiki Higashino said, “we have a lot to do with you seniors. I know what to do.”

"Okay, then I won't bother you while you're drawing your comics," he chuckled twice as he mentioned comics, and ended the call.

Hibiki Higashino looked at his phone, feeling like he was being laughed at.

Looking at the half-finished original drawing on the table, I grew increasingly angry.

"What's the point of drawing now!" He stood up, walked to Akemi Akemi's side, and took her hand. "Let's go out and play!"

Akemi Akemi glanced at the rain outside and thought Hibiki Higashino was an idiot.

"Oda-kun and Yoshii-kun will be there soon, and wouldn't we get caught in the rain if we went out now?"

Higashino sighed, sat back down, and looked at the half-finished drawing of Hikaru Shindo on the paper, feeling annoyed.

“Alright,” Akemi Akemi walked behind him, massaged his shoulders, and coaxed him, “Be a good boy and work hard. After you’re done, I’ll make you beef stew with potatoes.”

What man doesn't like beef stew with potatoes?

“Well… alright,” Hibiki Higashino said.

Seeing Hibiki Higashino acting so awkwardly, Akemi Akimiya wasn't angry; on the contrary, she was quite happy.

He also has a childlike, naive side. She rarely experiences this feeling of needing her to take care of him, so it feels quite novel.

Oda arrived shortly afterward.

He didn't bring an umbrella and came over all wet.

Higashino lent him the bathroom.

After cleaning, Oda asked to borrow the phone, and Hibiki pointed to the door. Oda thanked him.

Hibiki Higashino could vaguely hear him on the phone. Because Oda was particularly excited, his voice was very loud.

I thought they were talking about dating or something, but it turned out they were just exchanging ideas with like-minded people.

The topic of conversation was, of course, Akira Toriyama.

Oda talked about the collectibles from the Tokyo exhibition, and he shared details of the painting with fellow enthusiasts.

I am especially proud.

He was showing off halfway through.

He suddenly shouted, "Hey!"

"You've participated in this month's Shueisha HOP STEP Awards!"

This is an event that Shueisha holds every month. Oda won this grand prize the year after he won the Tezuka Award.

He just thought it was such a coincidence.

because……

Someone knocked on the door; it was Sasaki.

Oda immediately opened the door, and Sasaki, carrying a tote bag, carefully held it to his chest, so the tote bag didn't get wet.

"Thank you." Sasaki nodded in greeting. "Is Toriaki-sensei here?"

"He's drawing manga. It's raining, why would he be running around, hahaha." Oda watched Sasaki walk into the room and asked his fellow enthusiast, "What's the name of your submitted manga?"

““Robot,” the other person replied, “I don’t think I can win an award, I just wanted to try. My younger brother said my comics were terrible in high school, and my college classmates also said they were awful, so…”

I still really hope to win an award!

He suddenly shouted.

He has the feel of a male protagonist from a shonen manga.

Oda was also caught up in this sentiment, saying, "Don't worry, the Rookie Award is easy to win. Even someone like me with terrible perspective and bad drawing skills has won the Rookie Award before."

He became increasingly curious, and after speaking, he immediately hung up the phone and rushed into his room.

The person on the other side was left listening to a busy signal, feeling utterly bewildered.

"That guy, is he also planning to become a cartoonist?"

He wanted to ask more questions, but the other party quickly hung up, leaving him with a feeling of unease, like a fishbone stuck in his throat.

……

When Hibiki Higashino saw Sasaki come in, he stood up to greet him.

Sasaki sat down on the sofa, carefully avoiding the tea, and took out a few comics.

"This is the shortlisted work. Please, Mr. Toriakino."

Just as Akira Toriyama served as a judge for the "Tezuka Award", Hibiki Higashino is now being asked to evaluate works submitted to the HOP STEP Award.

Facing such a situation for the first time, Higashino Hibiki rubbed his hands together excitedly.

But after watching for a few minutes...

"That's it?"

Each book is worse than the last; in terms of storytelling, framework, cinematography, perspective, dialogue, etc., they have at most only one or two merits.

"These are all shortlisted works?" He was somewhat incredulous.

It's only slightly better than the original owner's entry for the manga award, "The War Between Gods and Humans."

“After all, it’s an event that’s held every month,” Sasaki replied calmly. “That’s how it is with new manga artists; they have flaws. What we need is to find their strengths within their flaws and wait for the moment when we can polish them into diamonds.”

"Akira Toriyama and Akino Toriyama were both honed in this way."

Looking at the original submissions, he said seriously, "Perhaps a top-notch cartoonist will be discovered among these works."

Hibiki Higashino looked at Eiichiro Oda beside him and nodded in approval.

He had read Oda's short stories, which were quite bad. However, he could see the style of the future Oda, which was the depiction of a man's growth, his transformation into a man in a certain event.

The Sniper King storyline, which deeply moved readers, is a testament to Oda's ability in this area.

In One Piece, there are countless such storylines, and each one captivates the readers.

This is Oda's strength; when he is polished into a diamond in the future, then Jump's efforts will have paid off.

Having understood this, Higashino Hibiki patiently began to look at the entries.

Just as in the world of public intellectuals, where even American children could become future presidents, these works might become pillars of Jump.

Twenty minutes had passed, and Higashino Hibiki's patience was wearing thin. He saw a comic book.

The art style looked very familiar; it was right in his mind, but he couldn't quite place it.

I glanced at the comic's title—"Robot"—but it didn't ring a bell.

He then looked at the author's name, and it turned out to be Masashi Kishimoto!

No wonder I couldn't remember; it was Kishimoto, the great master who was just beginning to grow.

Higashino Hibiki seemed to hear the Blue Bird again in his mind, returning to the days when he watched Naruto, which was his lost youth.