Chapter 78 Strange Slow Sales

Chapter 78 Strange Slow Sales

Chapter 78 Strange Slow Sales (2?)
Most of the first group of people who bought the book found their ideal places to read, and the vast majority of them chose to go home to carefully study Mr. Beichuan’s new work.

Sasaki, who had just walked out of the Adachi Ward branch of the Industrial Central Bank, was one of them.

He came here to deposit money and get a free copy of No Longer Human in order to please his wife, who is an elementary school teacher. He had no interest in literature and could not understand the thoughts of those fanatical readers at all.

Isn't it just a novel? What's the big deal? Can reading it change your personality?

Is it really necessary to deal with each one of them?
But when he saw Masato Senhara's extremely frustrated expression when he was unable to buy the signed limited edition of "No Longer Human" due to the surge in business, he suddenly became interested in this book.

In his memory, Masato Senhara was a person who rarely had clear emotional fluctuations because of something. Sasaki also wanted to find out what made him so obsessed.

When I got home, I sat on the sofa and adjusted myself to the most comfortable reading position.

Sasaki curiously tore open the wrapping paper and turned to the title page.

The most exciting quotes from the book are usually published there.

"If you can avoid violent joy, you will not be sad."

“That’s a very interesting sentence.”

Sasaki admitted that the book had aroused a little interest in him. He began to read it quickly and soon immersed himself in the "depressing" atmosphere created by Kitagawa Hide.

Preface, Introduction, First Notes, Second Notes, Third Notes.
The expected plot never appeared once, and as he read deeper into the book, an indescribable feeling of suffocation kept coming at him.

How can a book be written so coldly and desperately?
This man's life is so sad!

Are those workers at the bottom of society, who are like puppets in their own factories, leading such an inhumane life?

Aum Shinrikyo? It seems that some of their followers came to preach at home a few days ago?
The more Sasaki looked, the more surprised he became, and the more uncomfortable he felt.

But he couldn't stop.

Because he knew that once he stopped, his life would be completely destroyed by the ruthless society and cult, just like Oba Yezo!
after an hour.

"huhuhuhu"

"Snapped!"

Sasaki threw "No Longer Human" in his hand like a hot potato onto the glass coffee table. He looked at it as if he was staring at a devil and didn't dare to get close to it at all.

Just now, he finally finished reading the entire book despite the extreme discomfort.

In the postscript, Kitagawa Hidena's last sentence is: "We are all Ōba Yozo, but we cannot become Ōba Yozo."

It was like a bolt from the blue, which made him dazed and unable to control himself.

Although it was the end of July, which was scorching hot, Sasaki's back was covered in cold sweat.

Another ten minutes passed before he finally shook off that feeling of depression.

After drinking several glasses of cold water, he finally calmed down.

Then the brain, which had just been a little slow, began to work again.

it is good!
This book is really well written!

From the book, Sasaki saw the life of the prototype of the protagonist, Takuya Iwasui, as well as the miserable lives of his workers, and his own life reflected in the life of Ohba Yozo in different periods.

At the end of the book, the cafe owner said lightly, "The Yezo we know is straightforward and well-behaved. If he didn't drink so much, no, even if he drank, he would still be a good boy like God."

Gave him the most fatal blow.

How ironic and ridiculous.

In the eyes of the world, am I not such a ridiculous existence?
Superficial and useless, it is not worth others' in-depth understanding. Even if he dies, he will only be a topic of conversation after dinner.

If it weren't for what Mr. Kitagawa said in the postscript, I would probably have chosen to do the same as Ōba Yozo and end this useless life.

"Gululu."

Another gulp of cold water poured down his throat.

Sasaki suddenly remembered something, stood up with an angry look, searched in the entrance for a long time, and finally found his son's discarded metal baseball bat.

He walked step by step to the shrine in the living room, where his parents' spirit tablets were originally placed, but now they were replaced by a photo of Asahara Shoko, the "master" of Aum Shinrikyo.

hula-

A sudden rush of wind blew.

That disgusting smile, along with the photo frame and everything else, was smashed to pieces by the metal baseball bat!
Bang bang bang!
As if venting the resentment in his heart, at this moment, Sasaki suddenly felt as if he had turned into Takuya Iwao who died unjustly, and was frantically tapping the photo of Asahara Shoko!
"Honey?! What are you doing?!" The wife, who had taken leave early and came home, opened the door and saw this horrifying scene.

She was at a loss, and then she saw "No Longer Human" on the coffee table.

It was like a heavy iron fist hitting the face.

What followed was a series of slaps.

Jabami Rei, who had just bought "No Longer Human" and couldn't wait to read it in the classroom, felt that her face seemed to be swollen.

The brain is like a computer that has stopped functioning.

"Is this really the book written by Teacher Beichuan?" she murmured to herself, her two long, white legs constantly crossing up and down, occasionally colliding with each other, making crisp popping sounds.

She, who had been so excited to find Kitagawa Hide to "demand punishment", suddenly fell into anxiety and depression.

I'm halfway through the book and I'm almost exhausted, so why would I go looking for a parasite?

The reactions of other college students in the classroom who bought books were similar to Jabami Rei's. They all had sad faces, and their gloomy expressions almost showed through their bodies.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the classroom was strangely divided into two parts.

One film is about the students, led by Jabami Rei, who were lucky enough to have bought "No Longer Human". They read the book, crying, as if they were about to die.

The other section was mainly composed of students who failed to buy books. They were curious and eager to read together. The atmosphere was both active and anxious.

Yes, they were only a few minutes late and failed to buy Mr. Beichuan’s new book!
All the copies of "No Longer Human" were sold out in all bookstores. It is said that the first batch consisted of 1 copies, of which 8000 were sold in major bookstores and 2000 were given away as gifts, which could be obtained for free by handling certain transactions at the Industrial Central Bank.

The book has not yet been released outside of Tokyo, and seems to be aimed mainly at readers in suburban areas such as Adachi Ward and Tama area. There is not much stock in downtown Tokyo.

But this is also quite exaggerated.

The best-selling novel in the first half of 1995 was "Hear the Wind Sing". Only 1000 copies were printed for the first time. Due to the high quality of the book, it was normal that it was sold out on the same day.

But this time, the first print run of "No Longer Human" had 1 copies printed, which is ten times the number of "Hear the Wind Sing", and it was actually sold out?
They were just one step late!
The bookstore opens at 9 o'clock and there is a long queue outside. Is it not too much for them to go at 9:05?

But I just didn’t buy it.

No one knows when Hechu Shobo will restock, and they can’t wait any longer.

"Yamada-kun, have you finished reading? Can you lend it to me? Professor Takeuchi's class will start soon. How can I attend class if I haven't read the book?"

"Hey, hey, is this book good or not? Hey, why are you crying? Is Mr. Beichuan's new book so good that it can make people cry?"

The curious people in the classroom asked the reading people again and again, but no one got a response.

After a while, even the most slow-witted people will react.

There's something wrong with this book!
There is something seriously wrong with this book!

Even the usually cold and serious student Jabami Rei seemed to have her defenses broken.

What on earth was written in it? Jabami Rei was already breathless after reading only the second note. She needed to take a break and needed the soft and broad chest of Yumeko-chan to comfort herself.

But it seemed like Mengzi-chan went to the office to help the teachers process documents.

When will she come back?
After closing the book, Jabami Rei anxiously waited for her best friend, but her head was full of famous quotes from "No Longer Human".

At this moment, the bell for class broke the eerie atmosphere in the classroom.

The students quickly put away their books, put away their stationery, and sat up straight, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

This class is Professor Takeuchi’s literature appreciation class!
Anyone who dared not listen carefully, intended to slack off or pass notes would have failed the course.

However, one minute, three minutes, and five minutes passed.

Takeuchi Osamu did not appear.

"What's going on?" Jabami Rei stretched her neck to look towards the door. Professor Takeuchi was not the kind of "fishing" teacher who would hide outside the window and peek, and then suddenly appear and scold the students when they became noisy.

Another three minutes passed.

The classroom was finally no longer silent, and some people began to whisper to each other, worrying about Professor Takeuchi, who was never late or left early.

Then, Yumeko Agatsuma, wearing a pink dress, came panting in, holding a pile of papers.

Everyone was confused.

"Mina-san (classmates), Professor Takeuchi has to attend an important meeting. This class has been changed to a self-study class. This is the homework left by the professor. Please come and claim it in order."

Agatsuma Yumeko placed the pile of test papers on the podium, and then secretly waved to Jabami Rei.

Jabami Rei understood and trotted after her out of the classroom.

"What's wrong, Mengzi-chan?" After leaving the classroom, she was surprised to find tears flowing from the corners of Mengzi-chan's eyes, and quickly reached out to wipe them away for her.

"Rei-chan. Takeuchi, Professor Takeuchi was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment!" Agatsuma Yumeko wiped her tears and sobbed, leaning on her chest.

"What?! Why is this happening?!" Although Jabami Rei really, really, really disliked Takeuchi Osamu's class, she always considered herself Takeuchi Osamu's favorite student and felt extremely proud of it.

On the surface, this master and disciple pair may seem completely incompatible, but in fact, their relationship is very harmonious.

She didn't remember that Takeuchi Osamu had any underlying disease!

"Come on, Yumeko-chan, let's go to the hospital to see Mr. Takeuchi now!" Jabami Rei pulled Agatsuma Yumeko and walked out of the school.

in the afternoon.

Outside the Peter Cat jazz café on the first basement floor of the south exit of Kokubunji Station.

The culprit behind all this, Kitagawa Hidemasa, excitedly directed the staff of the ceremony company to place various wreaths in an orderly manner outside the gate.

"Here, here. This wreath is too big. It can't be placed here to block the entrance or exit."

Kitagawa Hide glanced at the top-level deluxe wreath sent by Kawaide Shizuko and felt a bit amused.

When attending a funeral next door, mourners often send wreaths in the hope that the deceased's soul can rest in peace.

However, in Japan, wreaths are also sent on happy occasions, especially before a store opens, many people will send various wreaths to the store owner to express their congratulations.

The number of wreaths is also proportional to the owner’s network of contacts.

If a newly opened store has more wreaths placed at the door, it means the store owner has a more prosperous business and has more connections.

Therefore, the current scene happened, which was extremely embarrassing and weird for Kitagawa Hide.

It is just a small cafe tucked away on the basement floor of the station, but the wreaths received at the opening ceremony filled the entire underground passage.

The patrolling police officers at the station even came over to inquire, thinking that it was a money laundering company that had been opened by some underworld boss after retiring from the underworld.

Thanks to driver Kinoshita and a group of other people who came to help and explain, Kitagawa Shusai avoided the embarrassing experience of being called to the police station for questioning.

The employees of the celebration company were shocked.

They have organized celebrations for countless companies, but this is the first time they have seen a small cafe receive so many wreaths for its opening.

Customized wreaths are not cheap in Japan. Even those decorated with plastic flowers start at 4000 yen each, not to mention that the wreaths here are the largest and newest in style and are decorated entirely with fresh flowers.

At least one costs 2 yen.

Just as the employees of the celebration company were wondering who Kitagawa Xiu was, the landline phone in the cafe rang.

"Sorry, please continue. I'm going to take a call."

Kitagawa Hide opened the door and trotted into the cafe.

He just bought a new landline, and all the expenses added up to 12 yen. The damn Japanese telephone company is really a rip-off. It cost so much to connect a landline plus some miscellaneous fees in 95!

Now he can understand why every apartment charges tenants telephone charges and telephone management fees by the minute. The cost is too high. How can ordinary people afford it?
The landline is placed next to the cash register, and in the center is a big Ebisu doll.

Ebisu is the Japanese god of wealth and commerce, and is depicted as an old man holding a sea bream.

Shops usually worship it as a mascot in the hope that it will bring good luck.

"Moshimoshi, here's 'Peter Cat' jazz"

Kitagawa Hide pulled the Ebisu doll over and squeezed it. Due to time constraints, the Ebisu shrine he had ordered had not arrived yet, so he could only use the doll as a makeshift.

He felt that his recent bad fortune and the reason for spending money like water might be related to this, so it seemed that he had to urge the shrine production company to deliver the things over.

He was halfway through his words when the other party interrupted him hastily.

"Kitagawa? It's Kitagawa, right? I'm Saito. Are you free now? Can you come to the company?"

Saito Reina's voice sounded a little impatient. Kitagawa Hide's heart skipped a beat and he quickly replied, "Is it urgent? I'm busy with the opening ceremony right now and can't get away."

"Well, it's not that urgent. I just want to ask your opinion on something." Saito Rena took a few deep breaths and seemed to calm down.

"What's the matter?" asked Kitagawa Hide.

"The 1 copies of No Longer Human that were released today were quickly sold out. The distribution department still has 5 copies in stock. I heard that trucks were sent to various bookstores at noon. But..."

Saito Reina on the other end of the phone paused, looked at her watch, and continued,
"The new books have been on the shelves for three hours, but my colleagues in the marketing department said that the new books seem to be selling very poorly."

"Is it very bad?" Kitagawa Hide was stunned.

This isn't right.

In the original history, "No Longer Human" was released in 1948. In that impoverished and chaotic era, it sold a terrifying 100 million copies in a single year.

If it were today, even if it didn’t dominate the charts, it would certainly be a piece of cake to sell 50,000 or 100,000 copies on the same day.

The 1 copies in the morning were quickly sold out, which shows that the book has great market appeal and readers have high expectations for it.

It doesn’t make sense that the new goods in the afternoon would suddenly become unsaleable.

"The marketing department roughly estimated that they probably didn't even sell 100 copies in three hours."

Reina Saito reported a number that she herself didn't quite believe.

Even though everyone at Kawade Shobo firmly believed that this would be a best-seller comparable to "Hear the Wind Sing", the reality was that "No Longer Human" seemed to be unsalable on the afternoon of the first day of its release.

(End of this chapter)