Chapter 77 This book is going to be a hit

Chapter 77 This book is going to be a hit

Chapter 77 This book is going to be a hit (first order, 1?)
The queues outside the branches of Industrial Central Bank were not particularly long. After all, they were only a small number of bank customers attracted by the free copy of "No Longer Human".

What is truly shocking is the endless queues of people outside major bookstores in Tokyo.

Before the sun rose completely this morning, long lines of pure literature readers gathered outside these bookstores, stretching all the way out with no end in sight.

Even the bus drivers and subway station staff were frightened. It was the first time they saw people swarming in like locusts, and they couldn't help but wonder if today was a special day.

But if you look at the calendar, isn’t it just the most ordinary “Tuesday (Saturday)”?

At this time, in bookstores across Tokyo, the crowds were clearly divided into two groups. One group was the readers who couldn't wait to buy Kitagawa Hide's new work, and the other group was the ordinary people who were confused by this group of readers and then joined the queue to find out what was going on.

Maruzen Marunouchi Bookstore.

"Shopkeeper-san, I want two copies of No Longer Human!"

As soon as Takeuchi Osamu opened his mouth, the crowd around him immediately tore open a narrow passage for him and Kimura Keiko, who was wearing a ladies' felt hat, to walk to the booth.

It’s not that these young people respect them very much, but they are both over 70 years old. The store is so crowded. If they get bumped and fall to the ground twitching, who will take the responsibility?
It's not like this hasn't happened before.

Some elderly people went to the store to shop and were suddenly bumped into by someone and fell to the ground. Then the unlucky passerby was sued for several million yen and was unable to even explain himself.

Now that the economic situation is getting worse and worse, there are more and more such elderly people who commit fraud. They have been called "the current Japanese version T0" together with "JK on the train". Anyone who commits fraud will die.

Takeuchi Osamu and Kimura Keiko didn't mind this. They went straight to the booth, paid, and put two brand new copies of "No Longer Human" in their pockets.

"Each book costs 5000 yen. Are books so expensive nowadays?" Takeuchi Osamu handed one of the books to Kimura Keiko and used his relatively strong body to clear the way for her, showing his gentlemanly demeanor.

"Hey, is this a gift for me, Aji?" Kimura Keiko chuckled elegantly and walked with him to the convenience store next to the bookstore, "Let's go sit in the store over there and read."

"Ahem, I just bought an extra copy." Takeuchi Osamu's face turned red as he held the book and said, "Isn't this the book published by your granddaughter? You should be able to get it easily."

"This time it's different." Kimura Keiko smiled and shook her head. "In order to keep the contents of the book secret, she only sent a copy to the original author before it was released today. No one else, including me, has seen the sample."

"So mysterious." Takeuchi Osamu snorted coldly. He always scoffed at the marketing strategies of this kind of books.

In his opinion, if a book is well written, it does not need any commercial marketing at all. Gold will always shine.

On the contrary, like Hikaru Oshima before, every time he publishes a book, he can't wait to use a loudspeaker over Tokyo to inform everyone. This only shows that he has no confidence in the quality of his book, and it is very likely that it is a rubbish work.

"A truly good book only needs to ensure the purity of its core and text. Everything outside is superficial. Over-focusing on these things will only cause it to lose its 'purity'." As he said this, he poked with his fingertips and tore open the transparent wrapping paper on the outside of the book.

In fact, Osamu Takeuchi is not optimistic about Hide Kitagawa's new book.

Judging from information obtained from various sources, Kitagawa Hide has obviously changed his track this time, and the reason that prompted him to do so is most likely related to his switch from Kodansha to Kawaide Shobo.

Takeuchi Osamu couldn't explain how many conflicts of interest were involved.

The reason he asked Keiko Kimura out this time was that he wanted to watch Kitagawa Hide's new work together first. If he was greatly disappointed, he would ask his old friend indirectly whether it was related to his job hopping.

After all, Keiko Kimura is Shizuko Kawaide's grandmother, and she must know some unknown inside information. Maybe she can even help contact Kitagawa Hide.

He didn't want to see a new writer who had the potential to win the world's highest award ruin his or her future because of some boring things. That would be such a waste of talent!
"Yes, yes, you are right. I know what you are thinking, but you should read the book first, right?" Keiko Kimura was well aware of the bad temper of this old friend. She did not argue with him and tore open the wrapping paper and took out "No Longer Human".

"Hmm? This book." Takeuchi Osamu had already turned to the first page.

What came into view was not the main text, nor the various prefaces and prologues commonly seen in physical books, but a suicide note from a man named Takuya Yanjing.

"Using a fictitious suicide note to introduce the story? It seems that he is increasingly inclined to use this kind of curious method to attract readers."

Takeuchi Osamu did not comment on this. He has always believed that the core goal of literary creation is to be fascinating, and as long as this goal can be achieved, it doesn't matter what means are used.

Even if this writing style is a bit flattering, that's fine.

The opening of "Hear the Wind Sing" begins with the creator's own understanding of writing, while "Ball" goes a step further and introduces the plot with the creator's life experience as the entry point.

When Takeuchi Osamu read the beginning of "A Wild Sheep Chase" for the first time, he felt ecstatic and admiring.

Because Kitagawa Hide not only used this final work to severely slap the faces of those literary giants who had previously denied his "Kitagawa Hide" school, but also further strengthened his new writing technique of "finding themes".

Previously, Ichiko Sadajō and others insisted on denying his claim that Kitagawa Hide was the founder of a new school of thought. Their core argument was that they thought he might become a short-lived writer, and no one could guarantee that his third work would still be as popular as the first two.

Now "A Wild Sheep Chase" has been serialized for nearly ten chapters. According to Kodansha, one-third of the plot of the whole book has passed. Anyone who has bought this issue of "Gunzo" knows that it is still a perfect work.

The words are filled with the rich style of Hideo Kitagawa, and the possibility of this new book dying a sudden death is very small.

The only thing that made Takeuchi Osamu a little uncertain was the opening of "A Wild Sheep Chase".

The first thing that comes to mind is the death of a "girl who can sleep with anyone", which seems to be a deliberate attempt to attract attention.

I didn't expect the opening of the new book to be even more outrageous.

He just threw out a forged suicide note.

Keiko Kimura, who also had not read the book, frowned slightly.

Her granddaughter, Shizuko Kawaide, has read the opening chapter of the book.

Judging from the results, Shizuko Kawaide admires and loves Kitagawa Hide's new book very much, and even said that it is worthy of winning the Nobel Prize in Literature.

This is also the reason why she insisted on cooperating with Hide Kitagawa under a top-level contract, the Freelance Writer Cooperation Agreement, against all odds.

But Keiko Kimura knew very well that her granddaughter was extremely lacking in literary aesthetic ability, and she was also an avid fan of Kitagawa.

So when she heard her granddaughter gave the book 120 points, she automatically bought it at a % discount before reading the book.

However, when both of them read the word "Aum Shinrikyo" in the suicide note at the same time, they suddenly realized that something was wrong.

If something was fictionalized like in "Hear the Wind Sing", Kitagawa Hide would definitely not add any real settings that might confuse the audience, because that would completely destroy the sense of fantasy that the book had worked so hard to create, which would be a very stupid act.

Especially controversial entities like the "Aum Shinrikyo" that are likely to cause widespread discussion should be topics that a mature writer would never touch upon.

Is this a non-fiction novel?
They were confused and puzzled.

Then he couldn't wait to continue reading, wanting to find the answer. Almost at the same time, nearly a hundred people in Tokyo finished reading Yan Jing Takuya's suicide note.

If the scope continues to expand to the whole of Japan, the number of people will probably exceed a thousand.

And now all of them felt surprisingly the same, that is, "sorrow" and "hatred".

They empathized with Takuya Iwao's "shame" and "loss" in his life, and also developed a heartfelt "hatred" for the Aum Shinrikyo that persecuted his entire family.

This hatred was endless, like a tide, just like the sarin gas that filled the Tokyo subway a few months ago, invading their brains and limbs.

Reading Takuya Yanjing's suicide note was like looking in a mirror, making them feel that everything about themselves was nakedly exposed to the public, with nothing to hide.

"So this is real! Isn't this a forged suicide note?"

Takeuchi Osamu's hands began to tremble slightly.

Yan Jingtuo in the suicide note was so desperate and helpless. His life was like a joke, and in the end the only remaining warmth was ruthlessly destroyed by the cult.

He could hardly imagine that this was actually happening.

The page was then turned to the preface written by Kitagawa Hide himself.

The two old men and women's hearts suddenly felt like they were hit by a heavy hammer, and the pain was so severe that they could hardly breathe.

"Everything in the suicide note is actually true. Because he was a living friend of the author Kitagawa Hide." Keiko Kimura finally understood why Shizuko Kawai looked so depressed and lost when she talked to her about this book that day.

Born into a chaebol family and living a life of luxury since childhood, Shizuko Kawaide has never really seen the life of the lower class.

Now, Kitagawa Hide has torn apart the lives of the lower-class people in this bloody way and put them in front of these heirs to the chaebol families.

Anyone who still has a shred of conscience in his or her heart will not be able to accept this cruel truth!
The two continued to flip through the pages of the book, only to find that the suffocating moment had just begun.

The preface of the main text is just a description of three daily photos, but the original photos are deliberately attached at the end, as if pressing the readers' heads and saying with a grin: "Look! Look! Look! This is not a fictional story, but a real story that really happened and really exists. It is so real that it will make all of you despair!"

As soon as he started reading the first letter, Takeuchi Osamu's hands were shaking.

He reads very quickly, so the shock he receives is stronger than that of ordinary people.

Keiko Kimura on the side was still carefully savoring the series of psychological activities of the male protagonist Ohba Yozo in the first notebook, while Osamu Takeuchi had finished reading the first notebook and started reading the second notebook.

The same sound of flipping pages could be heard in every corner of the convenience store.

Not only are Keiko Kimura and Osamu Takeuchi here, but there are also a large number of die-hard fans of Hide Kitagawa who can't wait to start reading the books they just bought.

Shop assistant Sang looked at the heartwarming scene in the store and felt very grateful for Mr. Kitagawa's new work.

The last time "Ball" was published, the same scene appeared in the store. Everyone was leaning against the wall or sitting on the floor, drinking the coffee they bought from him and reading with relish the freshly-published masterpieces of pure literature.

The picture is so harmonious and beautiful.

“Maybe I should buy a copy.”

Before the clerk Sang could say the word "see" after the word, he heard a loud "thump" suddenly coming from the store.

Then the old lady started shouting hysterically: "Azhi! Azhi! Azhi, what's wrong with you? Someone come quickly! Someone has fainted!"

The store suddenly became noisy. Some people hid far away, while others kindly went over to check on the person who had fallen.

The shop assistant Sang was scared to death by the sudden incident. He immediately called the hospital and called an ambulance.

When a group of people hurriedly carried the unconscious Takeuchi Osamu into the ambulance, he saw the book "No Longer Human" left in the hall, and the page was frozen on the page that Takeuchi Osamu had last read.

He saw two sentences that might be the culprit that caused Takeuchi Osamu to fall into a coma, because there were faint wet marks on the two sentences, like tears that had not yet dried.

"The small window above the room in my house was open, and I could see the scene inside from there. The lights were on in the room, and a woman I was familiar with was being pressed on the table. Behind her was an unclear, moving figure."

"I suddenly felt dizzy and my breathing was short, but at the same time I was whispering in my heart - this is just a human drama, this is human nature, nothing to be surprised about - I even forgot to rescue my wife Liangzi, and just stood in the middle of the stairs for a long time."

These words, this book "No Longer Human" seemed to have an unspeakable magic, tempting the shop assistant Sang to walk over step by step, pick it up, turn back to the first page, and then read it carefully.

Outside the Kinokuniya bookstore in Shinjuku district, many readers who came here to see the bookstore are still pouring in.

Kinokuniya originally had only a small main store in Shinjuku, but thanks to its excellent quality and excellent service, it has 1927 branches in Japan since its establishment in 59, and even has branches in other countries.

This original "main store" has also expanded from its original small area of ​​30 square meters to the current 8000 square meters, becoming the largest and most famous bookstore in Shinjuku District.

In the past, the bookstore’s daily customer traffic was about 2 people, but today it seems to have more than doubled.

Many of the readers who rushed in were obviously heading for No Longer Human, which was displayed on the front counter. Some even asked the clerk as they ran, "Is this the new work by the author of Hear the Wind Sing?"

"The packaging looks so beautiful. Are all physical books this good looking now?"

"I haven't read the Youth Trilogy written by this teacher yet. I heard it's a healing story about young love. So this book must be very sweet too, right?"

"Sweet? Mr. Kitagawa's novels often give people a sense of sadness and loneliness. The love stories in them are definitely not sweet, but they are not painful either."

"Anyway, I heard everyone talking about this, so I just bought a copy and took a look. In today's society, whether it's on campus or in the workplace, if you don't understand what everyone is talking about, you will be criticized for not being able to 'read the air'."

"Yeah, yeah, it's the norm in society to please others and agree with others. I don't like reading pure literature either, but everyone else is talking about it, so I can't be a loner!"

There was a constant stream of discussion and exchange.

The shop assistants, who had not had time to read the contents of the books, were busy taking out one copy of No Longer Human after another from the boxes. This book was so popular that if they were not careful, the stock on the stands and shelves outside would be snatched away by readers, and they had to be replenished all the time.

They didn't know whether the book was good or not, but they had confirmed one thing -

This book is going to be a hit!

(End of this chapter)