I am a literary giant in Japan

On the afternoon of July 1999, 2.

The editorial office area of ​​Dazhong.

"Misa, let's go to Ginza for a drink after get off work?" A petite and cute female editor said as she walked to Misa Ochiai's desk.

Thanks to "Hanzawa Naoki", "White Tower" and "The Crucible" written by Mr. Kitagawa, "Dazhong" has enjoyed an excellent reputation in the industry in the past two years and has made steady progress. It has become the most popular literary magazine besides "Wenyi" alongside "Kitagawa".

As the sales of "Mass" continued to grow, the editorial staff received promotions and salary increases, and in the post-bubble Great Depression era, they received salaries and benefits that were 100% higher than those of their peers in the industry.

The petite female editor is a newcomer who jumped to Dazhong from other publishing houses.

In her previous company, her monthly salary was 38 yen before tax, and her year-end bonus and performance were almost zero in this environment.

After coming to Dazhong, her monthly salary directly increased to 45 yen. It is hard to imagine that in this period, an ordinary editor-in-chief of a publishing house can still get an annual salary of over 500 million yen!
This is also the reason why she dared to invite editor-in-chief Misa Ochiai to have a drink together at the Ginza bar - if she was in her old employer who was in a very bad state, she would not be willing to spend money at the Ginza bar where the average price per person starts at 5 yen!
As they were talking, the petite female editor called a few other editors with whom she had a good relationship, and prepared to host the party so that these seniors could enjoy themselves.

Everyone responded with a smile, thinking that this new junior was quite knowledgeable and much more interesting than the editor-in-chief Yasujun Ishida who had just left.

Ishida Yasujun chose to retire at the height of his fame, a move that puzzled the editors at the grassroots level.

Especially the few editors who followed him, who had originally hoped to rise together with him, but after he left, these people had to scatter to other editorial teams and suddenly became "children raised by a stepmother". They were very resentful of Ishida Yasujun.

Ishida Yasujun had a bad reputation in the editorial department because of his overly rigorous work attitude, as well as the fact that he was a graduate student from the University of Tokyo and was rather arrogant.

The only person who was familiar with him was Deputy Editor-in-Chief Sawamura, who had tried to protect him and had played the trick of "overcoming the superior with the inferior".

However, Sawamura had gone to the Osaka branch to serve as the director before him. From then on, the Sawamura faction and the Ishida faction in the editorial department of "Dazhong" completely collapsed and ceased to exist.

Instead, the Ochiai faction was organized by the new editor-in-chief Ochiai Misa.

The petite female editor who had found out all this information as soon as she arrived at the company has recently been trying to flatter Ochiai Misa, hoping to join the Ochiai faction as soon as possible and keep her iron rice bowl in the shaky economic environment.

Misa Ochiai, who had just joined Dazhong, was recommended to Hide Kitagawa by Yasujun Ishida.

Because of her tainted record of helping Shinichiro Azuma publish "Zetsuka", Misa Ochiai almost had to leave her homeland and could no longer continue to work in the Japanese publishing industry.

She was very grateful for Ishida Taijun's help, but also felt extremely sorry that people had forgotten about him after he left.

In her eyes, Ishida Yasujun is the real "editor" who is dedicated to authors, the company, and literature. He is dedicated to his career and does not care about anything else.

Unfortunately, the company is a big dyeing factory, and such an arrogant and eccentric person is destined to not survive in the workplace for long.

Misa Ochiai doesn't know whether Yasujun Ishida can become the "Hide Kitagawa" in the editing circle. She hopes he can, otherwise this world would be too despairing.

At this time, Misa Ochiai was concentrating on watching "The Call 1" and did not hear the conversation between the short female editor and the editors around her.

When Yasushi Ishida recommended this novel by Kitagawa Naoko to her at first, she felt a little disgusted.

"Mass" is anchored on the general public, and the subject matter of the serialized novels will be more inclined towards popular literature.

But that is also relative to pure literature.

Novels like "Ghost Call 1" are closer to the lower-level literature such as street literature, light novels and erotic novels, which are things that industry practitioners with certain strength do not want to touch at all.

Even if it becomes popular, it may become a blemish on her resume instead of a plus point when she makes further progress in the company and the industry in the future.

It wasn't until Misa Ochiai read the ideas and settings collection that her opinion of the novel changed immediately!
She overcame all objections, debated with many people in the board of directors, and finally convinced those old guys to classify "Call" into the sequence of "potential adaptation works".

After receiving the main text of the manuscript sent by Miss "Kitagawa Naoko" this morning, she immediately couldn't wait to read it, and read for several hours.

At this moment, Ochiai Misa was extremely glad that she had listened to Ishida Yasujun's advice, and she also admired the blank female writer "Kitagawa Naoko" from the bottom of her heart, whom she had never met.

This book will definitely be a hit, and a very hot hit!
The novel concept of spreading a terrorist virus through telephones alone is enough to make readers shudder, yet be reluctant to put the book down.

"Sister Misa?" Seeing that she still didn't respond, the petite female editor came closer and whispered.

Ochiai Misa finally came back from her trance and looked up at her in confusion: "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

"That's right. We plan to go to Ginza Bar for a drink after get off work. Sister Misa, if you are free, please."

The petite female editor felt a little embarrassed when she saw her working so hard while she, a junior editor, had already started to slack off.

Misa Ochiai said "Oh" and subconsciously wanted to refuse such a boring and useless gathering.

But then she thought that the opening plot of "Call 1" also started with a party, and maybe this party could give her some new insights, so she nodded in agreement.

"Huh..." The petite female editor secretly breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to go back to her workstation to slack off. "Then I'll go back to work first, Sister Misa."

"Hey, wait, take this manuscript over and take a look. I want to hear your opinion at the party later."

Misa Ochiai admired this capable petite female editor very much, so she handed the manuscript to her.

"Yes, I'll go back and take a look now!" The petite female editor was flattered and happily jumped back to her workstation with the manuscript in her hands.

"'The Call 1'? So it's this novel."

The petite female editor had heard before that Misa Ochiai was almost fired because she argued with the old guys on the board of directors over a horror novel.

She really wanted to know what kind of horror novel could be so attractive that it made Misa Ochiai go head-to-head with the board of directors.

Now that she finally had the chance, she immediately flipped through the manuscript and immersed herself in the plot of the novel.

The novel opens at a social gathering where the heroine is extremely bored.

The heroine, Yumi Nakamura, is a senior student in the Faculty of Literature at the University of Tokyo. Due to the poor economic environment and the fact that the Faculty of Literature has the lowest employment rate, she is about to face the dilemma of being unemployed after graduation.

During this period, Yumi Nakamura focused all her attention on finding a job and staying in Tokyo, and had no time to think about anything else.

However, her good friends Xia Mei and Yoko were "overwhelmed with love" and insisted on inviting her to attend some Tokyo singles university co-ed party.

Yumi Nakamura had no choice but to go to the appointment and just wanted to end this boring social gathering quickly and go home to continue submitting resumes and looking for a job.

Yumi Nakamura's anxious mentality and embarrassing situation made the petite female editor feel extremely involved.

In the post-bubble era, even those who graduated from prestigious universities have to face the embarrassing situation of difficulty in finding employment.

Women in the workplace are still the most discriminated group in society, which further exacerbates their uneasiness and anxiety.

If she hadn't entered "Mass" by accident, her current situation would not be much better than that of Yumi Nakamura in the novel.

She also couldn't understand why, in such a situation, other people could still be so leisurely thinking about love and useless things.

Just as the party was coming to an end, Yumi Nakamura's friend Natsumi suddenly received a strange MMS.

The phone screen showed that the sender was Xia Mei herself, and the MMS was sent three days later!

This doesn't make sense from a scientific point of view.

Xia Mei opened the MMS and found her own screams in it. She was so scared that she almost threw her phone away. "This must be a prank by someone. Damn it! So disgusting!" Xia Mei whispered angrily to Nakamura Yumi. Yumi was very uncomfortable with the indirect accusation.

The other people at the table came to comfort the beautiful Xia Mei, and subconsciously put the blame on Nakamura Yumi, who had the least presence.

Everyone thought it was a prank by "someone" with ulterior motives and did not take it seriously.

But for some reason, this strange MMS was inexplicably imprinted deeply in Yumi's mind.

"The interactions and little thoughts between girls are written so well and delicately." As an editor, she pays more attention to some details and metaphors reflected in the text, which are things that can enhance the reader's reading experience and directly reflect the creator's writing skills.

This blank-paper writer named "Kitagawa Naoko" is obviously also a girl, otherwise she would never be able to write such delicate details of girls' social interactions.

The beginning of "The Call 1" is rather ordinary, but the piled-up details made her want to continue reading. This is the writing skill that newcomers lack the most!
As the plot unfolds, "Kitagawa Naoko" also very skillfully presents the climax quickly to the readers.

Three days later, Xia Mei really let out a shrill scream just like in the MMS, and then was hit in half by a train!

The person who received Xia Mei's call for help before her death was their other good friend Yoko.

No one knew why Xia Mei ran onto the railroad tracks, and in the end they could only attribute it to coincidence.

however.

That night, Yoko, like Natsumi, suddenly received a color message from three days later, and the sender was herself!

After reading this, the petite female editor's palms began to sweat.

Is this a cyclical curse?

Thinking so, she continued reading.

Just then, a hand patted her shoulder suddenly.

"Ah!" The petite female editor screamed and almost fell off the stool.

Misa Ochiai, who was taking the photo of her, was also startled and looked at her in confusion.

Everyone around them looked at the two of them, making the petite female editor, who had just been awakened from the plot of the novel, feel particularly embarrassed.

“Mi-Misa-sister, it turns out to be you.

Oh, sorry, I think I smudged the manuscript!"

She looked at the manuscript with her wet handprints on it, and quickly stood up and apologized to Ochiai Misa.

"It's okay, it's okay. I've asked the publicity department to make several copies. I'll hand them out to everyone when we meet at the Ginza bar later."

Misa Ochiai realized that the little female editor's misbehavior was due to "The Ghost Call 1", and she felt very happy at once.

It seems that her judgment was correct. The "horror level" of this novel far exceeds those crudely made horror novels on the market. It is a good candidate to become a hit!

When the petite female editor heard that Misa Ochiai was going to distribute "Call Me If You Can 1" at the party, her mouth instantly fell and she silently prayed for the colleagues she had brought along.

Sister Misa is such a devil!
Hopefully those guys won't be scared shitless by this novel!

"Yes. Then I'll go and inform everyone now!" The petite female editor picked up the manuscripts and stuffed them all into her handbag.

When she saw the phone in her bag, her heart skipped a beat. At the same time, a MMS message was sent to her.
1999 2 Month 28 Day.

This day is called Sunday in the West, called Sunday in Japan, and called Nana Day by the people in Thailand.

Nana is a famous female ghost wife in Thai folklore. She has been adapted into movies many times and is a folk character familiar to the Thai people.

Because adapted works about the ghost wife Nana always become popular, the Thai entertainment industry believes that this is the real Nana appearing in person, and they even built a temple for Nana in Bangkok.

The Nana sculpture in the temple is said to be made of Nana's immortal mummified body, and people often help her change her clothes, apply lipstick and eye shadow, etc.

Over time, the ghost wife Nana has become a deity similar to the goddess Benzaiten and Yunzhong Juejianji. Every time the crew starts and wraps up filming in Thailand, all the crew members have to go to the Nana Temple to pay homage.

"Children in the Dark" has been successfully completed and is scheduled to be released simultaneously across Thailand on March 3. Tonight is the premiere in Bangkok.

Kitagawa Hide and his group decided to return to Tokyo after watching the premiere, so at noon on the day of the final shooting, he brought a large group of people to the Nana Temple to pay homage to his ghost wife Nana.

After hearing some legends about Nana, Jabari was extremely scared. If it wasn't broad daylight and there weren't so many people around, she would definitely not be willing to come and worship such a ghost!
"How are you going to perform in 'The Grudge', 'The Grudge' and 'The Ring' in this state?" Kitagawa Hide couldn't help but teased as he looked at Jabami Rei who was shivering while holding Saito Rena.

He didn't expect that Jabami Rei, who was fearless, would be so afraid of ghosts and gods.

No wonder when she was finalizing the draft and ideas, she insisted on the "Kara no Kyoukai Series" and decisively gave up the "Ju-Grudge Series".

"Do I have to act?" asked Jabami Rei with a pale face.

"You are the only ace in the company right now. I heard that the "Ghost Call 1" that Mengzi sent to the editorial department of "Dazhong" was very popular and scared a dozen editors that day. It is expected to start serialization on the 5th of next month.

When you return to Tokyo, you will definitely not be able to escape the role of the heroine Yumi Nakamura."

Seeing her timid look, Kitagawa Hide couldn't help but put on his "boss attitude" and said to her with a smile.

Saito Rena on the side pursed her lips and remained silent, rarely speaking up for Jabami Rei.

She is also writing the "Ju-Jou Series", which is a work she has carefully prepared. If it can be adapted, she naturally hopes to let the national goddess play the role.

I have to let the ghost-fearing Jabami Rei suffer!
Hearing him say this, Jabami Rei immediately pursed her lips and held Saito Rena even tighter.

"Alright, alright, stop scaring Rei-chan."

Saito Reina was really scared when she saw Snake Rei, and she couldn't bear it, so she smiled and said to Kitagawa Hide,
"If Rei-chan were caught like this by the paparazzi, the image of the fearless female reporter in Children in the Dark would be greatly compromised."

"That's right. If it affects the box office of the movie's premiere, I'll see where you can go to cry!" Jabami Rei made a small threatening gesture towards Kitagawa Hide.

Kitagawa Hide chuckled and stopped teasing and scaring Jabami Rei. Instead, he turned his attention back to the statue of the ghost wife Nana in the middle of the temple.

He took the three incense sticks brought by the temple keeper, restrained his smile, stood side by side with the two men, and respectfully burned incense and worshipped the ghosts.

“Please Nana bless the movie to be a big hit at the box office.”

Kitagawa Hide, Saito Rena, and Jabami Rei bowed at the same time, silently saying this in their hearts.

This was the first time that Hide Kitagawa sincerely hoped that the movie produced by his company would be a big hit.

It’s not that he is greedy for the little profit brought by the box office - nowadays, with his financial resources, he can afford to make more than a dozen big-budget movies, let alone one, without worrying about the cost issue at all.

He hopes to use this carefully produced film to put a satisfactory end to the dirty deeds of the Charity Group.

Let the souls of those children who were killed rest in peace! (End of this chapter)