Full-time cartoonist

In the living room of Hibiki Hibiki's house, Higashino and his wife were reading comics, and Higashino Mirai was sleeping beside them.

It was quiet and peaceful.

It's August, and the air is full of heat. The wind chime hung by Akimiya Akemi at the door occasionally makes a sound, which can give Higashikata a sense of comfort.

He glanced at his son and asked, "Aren't you going to turn on the air conditioner?"

"Ah ~ it's only 30 degrees," Akimiya Akemi stretched lazily, then lay down on the table and said lazily, "This is how you can enjoy the comfort of summer."

"That's weird." Dong Yexiang said in a low voice.

"Hang," Akimiya Akemi called.

"Huh?" Higashikata looked over.

Akimiya Akemi raised her eyes to look at Hibiki Higashikata and asked blankly, "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"Comfortable." This look has a throbbing feeling like a female deskmate lying on the table in the summer and secretly looking at you, Hibiki couldn't help but say.

The uncomfortable heat just now has disappeared and is replaced by a warm and caring feeling.

"Well, that's good." Qiugong Mingmei smiled naively.

She just lay there and read for a while, and fell asleep unconsciously.

When Higashino Hibiki discovered it, he saw a puddle of saliva on the comic and couldn't help laughing.

"Really, just like a child."

The cicadas chirped by the window, and Higashikata looked up at his diary, "Today is... the day when the results of the "Golden Future Cup" will be announced. "

…

It was a quiet summer at Higashino Hibiki, but Sorachi Hideaki was already restless.

The editor said that according to the level of "All Things House Ah Yin", it will definitely pass. Don’t focus on the shortlist, think about the only goal of being selected.

He believed in Hideaki Sorachi immensely.

Even after talking to this point, Sorachi was still very worried. The colleagues he knew and some assistants had all participated in the "Golden Future Cup". The competition for 4th to 5th place among hundreds of people was really fierce.

"That senior named Amano Akira must have been immersed in painting for many years. Her skills must be better than mine..." Sorachi gritted his teeth, feeling extremely uneasy.

"The time is coming," he thought, "and it's time to face the consequences."

For the "Golden Future Cup", I have compromised a lot and worked a lot. It is time to reveal whether it is worth it.

The cell phone rang at the right time. Sorachi took a deep breath and answered the call.

"Hello, I am Sorachi Hideaki, I am..."

His voice became more and more trembling, and finally he cheered loudly.

""Golden Future Cup"... shortlisted! "

"Oh! Oh! Oh!"

Sorachi Hideaki started jumping around like a gorilla.

…

"If the "Golden Future Cup" is not shortlisted, there will be no chance of serialization..."

Hoshino Kei hugged himself, feeling uneasy.

"My dream is just..."

"Whether "Zone" works or not... I should draw "Continue"..."

She started to get confused.

Fortunately, the phone rang, interrupting Hoshino Katsura's thoughts, otherwise she would have suffered a cardiac arrest under the tremendous pressure.

"Hoshino-kun..." Yoshida Koji's voice sounded, with a hint of heaviness, "about the "Golden Mirai Cup"... I... want to congratulate you! "

"Eh?" Hoshino Kei thought that he had been eliminated, and he became discouraged.

Yoshida Koji's tone changed again, which made Hoshino Kei suddenly realize that he had been deceived by him.

"It's... it's too much..." Hoshino Katsura choked up. She wiped the tears from her eyes with a smile on her lips, "Editor Yoshida, this is too bad."

"Yes... I'm sorry!" Yoshida realized that he had gone too far and apologized loudly.

"I forgive you!" Hoshino Katsura shouted excitedly.

"Shortlisted!"

She cheered.

…

Aida Soichi looked at his two colleagues happily, quietly walked to the window and called Amano Akira.

"Teacher Amano, you have been shortlisted for the "Golden Future Cup", congratulations. "

"Thank you, Editor Aida."

Amano Akira replied calmly.

This made Soichi Aida very confused. His colleagues and the authors in charge were all celebrating selflessly. Why did his side change? His sense of accomplishment as an editor was gone.

But this is probably because of Amano Akira-sensei’s ability to do it with ease.

Aida comforted himself, "The cartoonist who got selected must be the veteran Amano-sensei."

After Amano Akira put down his phone, he sighed leisurely.

When she first entered the industry in 1998, she won the Chiba Tetsuya Award for Newcomer, but she received nothing in the following years.

It wasn't until 2002 that a short comic was finally published on Akamaru Jump.

The current "Golden Future Cup" is her most important opportunity, so she must seize it!

Amano Akira walked to his work desk and read "Tutor HITMAN REBORN!" to think about whether there was anything that could be modified.

…

Omori looked at his cell phone in a daze. It was time for the finalists of the "Golden Mirai Cup", but Yoshida Koji did not notify him for a long time.

He couldn't accept it for a while.

Is it because you were not shortlisted that you are embarrassed to say it?

At this time, his cell phone rang twice, it was an email.

"Selected, congratulations."

What Yoshida sent was only five simple words, which made Omori extremely excited.

He was also a little surprised, "Why didn't Editor Yoshida call me to inform me?"

…

Higashino Hibiki was lying on the sofa, and Akimiya Akemi fed him grapes. He was enjoying himself very much.

“Tanaka, how’s the ‘Golden Mirai Cup’ going? "

"Shortlisted, teacher."

"I think so, Tanaka, let's move towards serialization!"

"Um!"

After the phone call ended, Hibiki opened his mouth wide and waited quietly for Akimiya Akemi to feed him.

Akimiya Akemi smiled and stuffed the peeled grapes into his mouth. A sweet smell filled Higashino Hibiki's mouth.

"Tanaka-kun's work has been shortlisted."

"Yes, I knew he could pass. After all, he has been my assistant for more than six years. I know him very well. He is talented."

"There are only 4 to 5 finalists in the "Golden Mirai Cup". Tanaka-kun is really awesome. "

"Well, ah~" Higashino opened his mouth wide, indicating that it was time to feed the grapes.

"Hibiki, what other works do you think can be shortlisted?" Akimiya Akemi was immersed in the Golden Mirai Cup and didn't notice Higashino Hibiki's movements. She asked curiously.

Hibiki slapped his mouth, "Amano Akira, Omori, Hideaki Sorachi, they are all very scary newcomers, oh, except Omori."

"Amano Akira, Sorachi Hideaki...are names I have never heard of. Sure enough," Akimiya Akemi sighed, "there will never be a shortage of talented newcomers."

"Which work will be number one?"

"Amano Akira or Sorachi Hideaki..." Higashino Hibiki said a little unsure.

…

The list of shortlisted works for the "Golden Future Cup" has been announced for a long time.

"All Things House A Gin" by Hideaki Sorachi;

"Tutor HITMAN REBORN!" by Akira Amano;

"Zone" by Katsura Hoshino;

"Diary of Despair" by Youra Omori;

"Secret Words" by Tanakai.

These short comics will be published on Jump one by one starting from September.

"On jump? Isn't it the supplement of "Akamaru Jump"?"

Sōma Satoru's eyes widened with envy.

"Weekly Shonen Jump" is very sacred, and being able to publish comics on it is enough to make newcomers excited.

This is a very rare opportunity.

Jump's serialization location is like the land in Hong Kong, where every inch of land is at a premium.

Even for senior teachers, most of the tentative short comics they used for serialization were published in Akamaru.

"I don't know when I can participate in the "Golden Future Cup"..."

He has just entered junior high school this year and is still far from the age where he can draw comics.

Among the current shortlisted authors, the youngest has also graduated from college.

"1, 2, 3...there are still many years to wait!"

…

On September 1, 2003, Hibiki Higashino looked at Jump and unexpectedly saw a name, Katsura Hoshino.

"Is it Mr. Katsura Hoshino who painted "The Exorcist Boy"? Did she also participate in the "Golden Mirai Cup"? "

Higashikata Hibiki really doesn't understand this.

With doubts, he read this short comic called "Zone".

Robin is an exorcist who meets the lovely girl Li Nali.

Li Nali had a fiancé. She originally thought that her fiancé died in a shipwreck, but it turned out that he did not. This was the conspiracy of the Millennium Earl.

The young earl wants to use the bond between Li Nali and her fiancé to turn the redeemed soul into a demon.

Robin wants to stop this and begins a battle with the Millennium Earl.

…

After reading it, Higashikata felt a little strange. It’s not because of the story, although “Zone” doesn’t have much in common with “The Exorcist” except for the exorcist and the Millennium Earl.

But this is actually normal. Short comics exist to test market feedback. If the response is very good, then consider long-form serialization.

When a cartoonist draws a long series, he will have more ideas.

This is actually an effortful stage in which a work continues to reach maturity.

Therefore, the emergence of a comic strip is very difficult and laborious.

Before Hibiki debuted, he also drew the short story "The Soul of the Game". After the Jump editorial department saw that the results were good, the full-length comic "The Soul of the Game" appeared.

What was strange to him was that he saw a very familiar flavor in Hoshino Katsura's writing.

This style of painting looks very similar to myself when I first debuted.

Delicate and real, but with more layers of exquisite magnificence than myself.

It gave him a feeling that this comic was his own attempt at a new style of painting.

"Eh?"

He was stunned for a moment.

…

"How can they be so similar?"

Yoshihiro Togashi looked at "Zone", touched his chin and smiled.

"Isn't this a cartoon drawn by Tori Akino where the big one bullies the small ones?"

This comic's style of painting, use of frames, use of white space, perspective of characters, etc. are all similar to Tori Akino Mirai.

This made Yoshihiro Togashi couldn't help but have an idea, which was painted by Tori Akino Mirai.

"It can't be wrong. Look, in order to avoid being noticed by others, he went out of his way to draw very poorly. The lines of the characters are all messed up. It's really scheming."

"How could it be?" Naoko Takeuchi said, "Toriakino-kun doesn't need to do this."

If it is true, and if it is exposed, the matter of competing for the grand prize with a newcomer will really be a stain on Tori Akino's future that cannot be erased.

"That kid is always messing around. Good comics end easily. It's not impossible to participate in the Newcomer Award."

Seeing that Naoko Takeuchi still didn't believe it, he picked up the phone and said, "I'll call him!"

…

"How could it be that I drew it?" Higashikata laughed angrily.

Katsura Hoshino is indeed a rare talented female cartoonist, but she has just debuted, and her immaturity can still be seen in her works.

The plot can only be said to be good, but not amazing yet.

If Hibiki Higashino were to draw it, the level of completion would be even higher.

This is the experience gap.

"If you put it that way...it is indeed somewhat possible..." Togashi murmured.

"Teacher Togashi, you are really going too far. You actually doubted me like this."

"Ah... no... I'm sorry, the signal here is not good, so hang up first."

Togashi ended the call.

…

Even Yoshihiro Togashi admitted his mistake, let alone the readers.

"Is "Zone" Tori Akino's new work? Is Hoshino Katsura his vest?"

Odagiri was confused. He saw the shadow of "Ghost" in "Zone", which made him very familiar with it and developed a good impression of "Zone".

"But...it shouldn't be drawn by Tori Akino-sensei. "Zone" is far worse than "Spirit of the Game"."

He shook his head, put down the jump, and went to the study to play two games on the computer.

…

"Who said Mr. Tori Akino only started serializing it in 2004? Mr. Tori Akino is so diligent, doesn't he have new works?"

"Exorcist? It's a very interesting setting."

"Millennium Earl? A very fashionable name."

"It's still a short story now. I really want to see a full-length comic."

"Just wait a little longer. Tori Akino will definitely be able to serialize it."

There is a lot of commotion on the Internet, and some people have already determined it.

However, some people have a different view.

"Hoshino Katsura is a fan of Mirai Tori Akino, right? The drawing style of Miku Akino is so impressive."

"Zone has too many problems in terms of details. The connection of the plot is not smooth enough, and the use of storyboards is too far behind Tori Akino."

"No matter how you look at it, it's just a caricature of a newcomer."

…

"Tanaka-kun, "Zone" is not teacher's work, right?"

"Well, we can draw it to this extent."

Omori and Tanaka got together and discussed their opponent, Hoshino Katsura's "Zone".

As Toakino Mirai's assistants, they are very familiar with Tori Akino and can draw conclusions based only on their feelings.

"Actually, if readers think carefully, they won't have such bizarre ideas." Tanaka said, "In the final analysis, the teacher is too lazy."

Omori continued, "Everyone is impatiently looking forward to Teacher's new comics, so as soon as there is any news, it causes an uproar."

Many people really hope that "Zone" is drawn by Tori Akino.

"It's just a coincidence, but..."

"It would be very detrimental to us..."

They looked at each other and saw distress.

"Zone" has aroused huge public opinion, and many people will read this comic, so with one move, Hoshino Kei won half the battle.

The selection results of the "Golden Future Cup" are based on readers' questionnaires.

Xiaozheng has the best grades and the most votes, and he will be selected first.

…

"Hoshino Katsura is Tori Akino?"

Sorachi Hideaki heard the news. Although he didn't know where it came from, he believed it despite his confusion.

"How can I win if Tori Akino has already participated?"