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During the transition of the Shouwa to the Reiwa era,
one mangaka quietly continued his work, unaffected by the changes around him.
Kazumi Ibahara (born 1968)
[Pictured: Mr. Ibahara in his 20s.]
made his gag manga debut while in his second year of high school.
His work, with its light tempo, was published mainly and inconspicuously in mediums aimed at children.

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Tomboy Princess Picohime
Chapter 67 by Kazumi Ibahara
>The castle
>kinda looks like a video game dungeon (star)
[Picohime]
[Rabbisoldier]
[Hootjii]
Princess!
Running in the halls is...
>You're out!
>The red tiles
>are lava!
*Wha!?*
They're high-class marble!
*flap-flap*
>Hmph, so that's the dungeon's boss!
>Secret Technique (star) Tiara Boomerang! (bold)
*ker-klank*
>Stage clear! So where's the next level?
The national treasure chandelier!!
*Ah!*
1996, magazine for kids

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Likeable characters.
Slapstick developments and easy-to-follow action.
His name recognition certainly wasn't anything great,
and he never had any standalone volumes published, or major works made.
This attitude of diligently and modestly producing manga for children to enjoy
granted him respect from fans and colleagues as a "Artisan of Kids' Manga".

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[100% Hero
Taros
Kazumi Ibahara]
Great Hero, please defeat the Demon King.
>Leave 100% to me!
>A monster's appeared, huh.
*blob*
>I got this covered!
>I'll cut it in half!!
*blob*
*crack*
>What!?
The Brave Sword!!
It's only been three minutes and we've already lost our main weapon.
>Then I'll just use my 100% Punch!!
*ploop*
*wriggle-wriggle*
>It didn't work even 1%!?
More of a 120% Clown than a Hero...
1999, in a video game magazine

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2021.
Ibahara was working on a monthly series a couple pages long for elementary school study guides published by Company E.
He had a longstanding working relationship with Company E.
His genuine work ethic, never skimping out or procrastinating on even the smallest illustrations, made him a mainstay at the company.
Despite that, however,
Ibahara's deadline had come and gone on this day and there was no word from him.
>Something must have happened to him, right?
His editor at the time found it suspicious and decided to visit Ibahara's home address, as recorded in the company's artist database---

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It was a hoarder house.
At the dreadful visage so divorced from his usual image of the hardworking Ibahara,
the editor couldn't help but gasp.
He pressed the doorbell, yielding no response.
Inquiring with a neighbor that happened to be passing by, they made a perplexed face
while informing him that it's always been "like this" for over a decade.
He was told that no matter how much they tried to clean up the place, the resident, supposedly Ibahara himself, would just hoard more trash to their dismay.

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Ibahara was apparently unmarried and living alone.
The editor, imagining the scene of him collapsed alone somewhere in that trash heap, unable to call for help, steeled himself.
By one mean or another, he climbed up the stairs of the house---
finding a work computer surrounded by garbage
containing a finished manuscipt.

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"Norikawa Kid Detective Club" Chapter 14: Case of the Missing Pudding
The cafeteria's pudding today was delicious~! (heart)
What's your favorite flavor, Mimi? Chocolate or custard?
Chocolate!
*turn*
*jot-jot*
Mimi on camp chocolate... noted.
I wanted to eat both...
*Only 1 per person is so stingy*
Me too, woof.
*hoohoohoohoo*
>Everyone!
>The pudding set aside for Yamame-kun has disappeared!
*cough-cough*
[Absent due to a cold]
Wha! That's a major case!!
*bam!!*
>And I'm gonna find out who did it!
[Characters
Norikawa Kid
Self-proclaimed Great Detective. Deductions are rarely spot on.
Mimi-chan
The class straight man. Wields piercing comebacks.
Detective Dog Perro
A talking dog. The detective club's biggest glutton.
Gonta
Physically strong but mentally not quite there. Always causing trouble.
Yuri-chan
Calm, collected, and compulsive note-taker. Records everything on her notepad.]
[*We have published the dialogue exactly as phototypeset by Ibahara himself.]

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Let's start over there.
I'm smelling something tasty, woof.
*sniff-sniff*
Isn't that because the smell's coming from the cafeteria?
>*Mm!!*
>The culprit left a message on the blackboard!
*snap*
Doesn't that look like Norikawa-kun's handwriting?
[The culprit is me (heart) (girly font)]
The culprit's a girl...? No, maybe they're trying to come off as a girl...
Rahhh! I'll never forgive you, culprit! *krakl-krakl*
>This "Case of the Missing Pudding"...
>It's time for the Great Detective Norikawa's deduction!!
*Woah!!*

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The editor felt relieved for a moment.
>It's the usual Mr. Ibahara.
The lovable characters' lively back and forth.
*bam!!*
*Woah!!*
Even the subject of a "missing pudding" was something they had discussed in last month's meeting.
---But everything changed on he turned to the next page.

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>The suspects are...
[Pudding Culprit
Gonta Mimi
Perro Norikawa Yuri]
>These four plus Detective Dog Perro.
*stare~~*
Why did you draw yourself!?
>'Cuz "never overlook anything in an investigation" is my motto!
And why's it bigger than the rest!?
Your drawing of me is cute, woof!
That's not the point!
*thud*

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>Mhm!
>A half-eaten pudding cup!!
*Woah~~!!*
>This is vital evidence!!
*Ah*
Mm, tasty!
*snatch*
*jot-jot*
>Now then, it's time I made clear who the true culprit is.
*gulp*
>The culprit is...
>Gonta!!
*Whaaa!?*

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*jot*
*Eh*
*No matter how you slice it, it's gotta be you~~*
*It wasn't me, woof!*
>Looks like you got caught in my trap, Detective Dog Perro!!
*snap!!*
*eek*

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>This makes it case closed!
*slurp*
*jot* x2

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>As long as cases exist in this world,
*Ahem!*
>the Kid Detective Club will stick around forever!
>You can trust any case to me.
>Now where should I go next?

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The main character's, Norikawa Kid's, friends each,
panel by panel,
take on a bizarre form---
The transformed characters' dialogue begins to be filled with glyphs,
as the words and actions of everyone except the main character gradually become unrecognizable.

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The manuscript for "Norikawa Kid Detective Club" Chapter 14 was kept in Ibahara's suspended personal computer---
---Or more accurately, in a saved email draft.
It was unearthed from an URL in an email addressed to his editor.

[Norikawa 14 Manuscript Files
File Message Insert Text
Send To:
Contacts
Norikawa 14 Manuscript Files
Dear XXX
Hope you're doing well.
Here are the files for Norikawa Ch. 14, please give them a check.
I wanted to discard the "Missing Frozen Orange" idea after all, but decided to follow your suggestion and changed it to pudding (JK lol).
I found a good bar in Akasaka the other day, are you down for some drinks?
Ibahara]

The draft was saved two days before the deadline.
It was exactly what he expected of the regular Ibahara, finishing his work with still some time to spare.
*Image is a rendition
The cut-off communications.
The unusual manuscript strangely unsent.

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After coming back to report to his superiors, the editor immediately contacted the police.
According to the officers,
Ibahara had previously been reported numerous times for his hoarding antics.
Since his family had already passed, Company E filled a missing person report later.
The next issue of the study guide had to publish a substitute manuscipt to account for the missing pages,
and so,
"his final manuscipt" never saw the light of day,
instead it was archived by his editor, until today.

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>These nonsensical lines.
*jot*
>I always felt that Mr. Ibahara wouldn't have put them if they didn't have some kind of meaning,
>but I had no idea what.
>...That is, until recently.
>I thought that we might be able to decipher them by using AI.
[What do you want to know?
Input text here]
The editor trained the AI off the dialogue and tried to have it perform an analysis.
[Decipher the following code into Japanese.]

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The lines of glyphs, which seemed random at a glance, had in fact a regularity to them typical of a language.

>>284814131
>Using AI

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1. Repetition and Regular Placing of Morphemes
Cartain symbol strings (e.g.: X, Y) appear multiple times, suggesting that they act as "affixes" or "particles" carrying meaning.
Additionally, certain symbols (such as X and Y) often are used at the beginning or end of sentences, indicating a similar function to punctuation or sentence-ending particles in natural language.

2. Structural Sequences and Emphasis
In the case of "X" and "Y", these particular combinations of characters repeat throughout the text, building accentuation and rhythm.
They seem to correspond to structures in natural language such as verb conjugation or emphatic expressions.
Furthermore, iterative symbols like "XXX" may serve the function of onomatopoeia, signals, or exclamations.

3. Separation of Noun Phrases and Verb Phrases
Combinations like "X" and "Y" appear to modify the subject.
On the other hand, combinations that seem to indicate action like "X" and "Y" also exist. This construction that alternates between noun and verb phrases is indicative of natural languages.

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4. Role-sharing of Symbols
Unique symbols (X, Y) are treated differently from regular text, bearing roles similar to signs and emphasis markers. They resemble punctuation or emphatic marks in natural language.
Additionally, the repeated use of specific strings like "X" may allude to their use as proper nouns of people or gods.

In Summary (Principal Characteristics)
We can establish the presence of repetitive word forms (equivalent to affixes and particles), and of consistent patterns of noun and verb phrases.
From these points, we can conclude that this is not complete nonsense, but a system built in conformance to the linguistic rules of morphemes, grammar, and sentence structure.

The AI concluded from the points that it wasn't complete nonsense, but "a system built in conformance to the linguistic rules of morphemes, grammar, and sentence structure."

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As a result of applying the analyzed lines, a number of linguistic characteristics were found.
[>Mhm!
>A half-eaten pudding cup!!
*Woah~~!!*
>This is vital evidence!!
Note: torn fabric, two layers of knots, and a red mark.
*Ah*
Mm, tasty!
*snatch*
We need to go back now!!
Signal is "Swana"- Continue to "Swana".
I'm not done here!!
*jot-jot*
>Now then, it's time I made clear who the true culprit is.
*gulp*
>The culprit is...]
*After repeated analysis attempts, the meaning became too murky to continue.
However, we were unable to grasp Ibahara's true intentions.

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Company E's former editor-in-charge spoke thus:
>Mr. Ibahara had something of a catchphrase.
I wanna keep drawing gag mangas till I die.
>---He would say.
>He was someone who put entertaining children above everything else.
>I don't believe he drew that manuscript.
>Ibahara was in touch with what was popular and knowledgeable about the newest games and consumer electronics.
>Around 2008, he adapted himself to the digital environment and he took on a drawing style of analog line art but digital finishing touches.
[Sketches and line art drafts left in Ibahara's workshop on the day he "vanished"]

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>---But there's one last thing that bothers me.
On the day the editor made his way through the trash into Ibahara's house,
he saw, neatly hung up, a portrait resembling the "Rod Humans" that appeared in his final manga.

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It was hung up like a portrait of a deceased family member, but...
was it one of Mr. Ibahara's art pieces?
Was he part of some kind of religion?
Or was it too just trash someone threw away...?
-QC:4 A Certain Mangaka's Posthumous Work-

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That's it for now. Check out our other series if they look interesting to you. We're also looking for cleaners to help us with this series.
I've got good news about that btw, the first chapter should be done cleaned some time soon, so I'll dump it as soon as I can. Don't know when the other chapters will though, considering our editor is overworked.
Also, I swear that the cuneiform is a substitution cipher for Japanese katakana, but I'm too stupid to crack it.

So the aithor follow a cult?

>>284814515
can you post the text part that was "ai translated" in hiragana?

>>284814623
Sure, but I'll warn you that it doesn't seem to match with the number of cuneiform characters.
きろく：さけたぬの、にじゅうのむすび、そしてあかいしるし
すぐもどる！！
あいずは「すわな」ー「すわな」につづけ
ぼくはまだだ！！

>>284814767
yeah i noticed on the "note" part the amount of characthers dont match

The reason why I think it's a substitution cipher is because point 4 here >>284814250 points out that the * and house-looking cuneiforms match exactly with the first-person pronoun おれ.
There are also a lot of defining speech quirks for the characters, despite the fact they become almost impossible to distinguish, so it makes me feel like you should be able to decipher some parts of the text using context clues, which'll pave the way to the rest.

Thanks for the TL. I read the raw but didn't quite get it. Too lazy to decode the text.

>>284814203
These feel like hints, maybe one of the strings in 2 is a ない?

>>284814515
Thank you for posting and translating.

LET'S GHOOOOOO

>>284813508
Looks like a cool dude. Suprised they gave an identity this time.

>>284813694
They can't do anything to him legally? Because that house looks like a vermin paradise.

>>284813974
A typesetter dream.

>>284814515
Thx mate.

Anybody else watched the latest TXQ Fiction? It's a mockumentary series by the Fake Doc Q team. Latest season was UFO themed