I am a literary giant in Japan

"Ring World, actually Xiujun didn't tell me about this new novel.
He just said that this series is about creating a grand but bizarre new world.”

Yumeko tilted her head and said to Kimura Keiko a little embarrassedly,
“This is also the first time I’ve heard Xiujun say that he wants to write a literary work that is pure science fiction with horror and suspense elements.

But what is certain is that his idea must be very perfect, and it is definitely not the kind of "spur of the moment" as people say.

Because when he was directing Higashino-san to write "Laplace's Witch", he was already consciously shaping this kind of world view and setting collection.

Oh, by the way, the creative inspiration for my “Call Me” also comes from some of the settings in “Ring World.”

"Laplace's Witch. No wonder I thought the sci-fi horror mentioned in the promotion of Ring World looked so familiar.

Yes, isn’t the novel written by Keigo Higashino a work on this subject? "

Kimura Keiko suddenly realized,
"I've read that novel, too. It's really well written, but it's just too stream-of-consciousness, which led to mediocre response. His mystery readers also don't quite accept this work."

Mengzi nodded, and felt a little regretful that Keigo Higashino's transformational work did not become as popular as expected.

"Laplace's Witch" was amazing at first, but unfortunately, in the later period, readers' reviews were mixed, and the sales of the physical book failed to continue the glory of "The Convenience Store of Sorrow".

Now, it has been rated 50 by more than 7.6 people on the most popular website on the Japanese Internet, "This is Japanese Literature!", which is considered a decent work by a famous writer.

Generally, writers of his level have their works rated by over 50 people, which is equivalent to being an "upper-class writer" in the literary world.

The average score of all literary works in "This is Japanese Literature!" is about 6.9 points, and the median score is 5.1 points.

Therefore, overall, "Laplace's Witch" is still considered a relatively high-quality work by a famous author.

By the way, it has been less than a week since Yumeko's "Ghost Call 1" was published, but it has already been rated by over 20 people on the "This is Japanese Literature" website. The score is now 8.6 points, which has surpassed the works of many "vulgar writers".

If nothing unexpected happens, "Call Me 1" will most likely be rated by more than 50 netizens. If the quality of the work is not too bad, the final score will definitely be above 8 points.

Therefore, not only was Yumeko able to make her debut successfully with this book, but she was also able to successfully join the ranks of "low-level writers" in the Japanese literary world. It can be said that she is not much different from Kitagawa Hide, who wrote "Hear the Wind Sing".

"Ah, I wanted to continue asking you about the information of "Ring World", but now I think there is nothing wrong in keeping it mysterious and expectant. I'd better not ask for now!"

Keiko Kimura didn't get much information about "Ring World" from Yumeko, but this was enough to make her more curious about the specific content of the novel.

Mengzi kept nodding her head, she hated spoilers!

Because she is Kitagawa Hide's wife, she is often the first poor reader to receive spoilers from the author himself, which makes her feel that reading novels has become boring.

Later, Saito Rena, Jabami Rei, and Kawaide Shizuko also mentioned this matter, but unfortunately they did not help to check the quality of the novel, so they could only bear the consequences of the spoilers.

This time when "Ring World" was released, Hide Kitagawa rarely told anyone, but they were very happy.

The novel will be published in the newly created "Kitagawa Bunko" later, and the editorial department of this new light novel magazine is still under construction, so basically no one has read this new book.

In addition, "The Grudge" by Saito Rena and "Kara no Kyoukai" by Jabami Rei will also appear in the "Kitagawa Bunko" one after another.

This also makes Mengzi look forward to it very much!
Time flies, and before we knew it, it was the much-anticipated March 3th.

"Kitagawa Bunko" is a brand new light novel magazine.

This point was emphasized when Beichuan Entertainment released its promotional content.

There are already dozens of light novel magazines on the market. The more famous ones are Dengeki Bunko, This Light Novel is Great!, Kadokawa Shoko, and Fujimi Shoko. These four are collectively known as the "Four Heavenly Kings" of the light novel world, and are the same as the "Five Major Literary Magazines" of the pure literature world.

Now Beichuan Entertainment's "Beichuan Library" has made a strong debut. Even though it has not yet been released and any content has not been announced, the gossipers have already put it in the first tier and directly changed the "Four Heavenly Kings" to "Five Wonders".

The physical version of "Beichuan Library" will officially appear in major bookstores in three days, and today's online version debut is also a brand-new model.

Generally speaking, the online version will be published after the physical version to avoid affecting the sales of the bulk of the physical magazine.

After all, today's publishing industry is still dominated by the old generation. Whether it is new forces such as Kitagawa Entertainment or old forces such as Kawade Shobo, everyone believes that the bulk of publishing houses' income still comes from magazine sales and IP adaptations.

Online pre-sales are at best a new channel for offline sales, which is completely different from a separate sales channel.

But this time, "Kitagawa Bunko" broke the convention and released it online first and offline later, which made countless people in the industry dumbfounded, and they also wondered whether Kitagawa Hide's decision would backfire.

Many people with dark hearts are expecting "Kitagawa Bunko" to fail and become a black mark in Kitagawa Hide's otherwise brilliant life resume.

After all, even someone as strong as Michael Jordan, the recognized GOAT of the NBA, has repeatedly demonstrated his "unique" vision in his career as a boss after retirement, becoming a laughing stock in the industry.

When gods come down from the mountains and become mortals again, it is also a topic of conversation that ordinary people enjoy talking about after dinner.

Whether the Beichuan Library is a donkey or a horse, you will know if you take it out for a walk.

So at 3 o'clock on March 10, countless people were looking forward to it in front of their computers.

Junji Ito, a 36-year-old horror cartoonist who has been in the industry for 9 years, is one of the people who is curious about the quality of "Kitagawa Bunko".

He didn't read novels.

But Mr. Hide Kitagawa is so famous, and this is the first time he has publicly talked about writing horror-themed works.

In addition, the recently popular "Call Me 1" in Japan has also caused a wave of discussion.

This immediately aroused the curiosity of Junji Ito, who was already engaged in the creation of related works.

He has read "The Call 1", which is really a wonderful horror novel. If he can be authorized to modify it into a comic version, it will most likely become one of the milestones in his career.

Unfortunately, he had inquired about this novel and found that it was about to become one of the mainstays of "Mass Magazine". In terms of IP value alone, it would be worth hundreds of millions of yen.

Hundreds of millions of yen are an astronomical figure for Junji Ito, whose current annual income is only 500 million yen.

Even if "Call Me If You Dare 1" is to be adapted into a comic, it will not be his turn to draw it.

There are very few horror cartoonists, but there are some studios and people with connections who can get such big IPs.

However, his inability to draw did not affect his interest in the new trend of horror themes. Before 9 o'clock, Junji Ito's hand holding the mouse did not stop refreshing the web page.

A few seconds after 9 o'clock, the webpage of Beichuan Library suddenly became extremely slow. If he had not been sure that his own Internet speed was strong enough, he would have suspected that there was a network fluctuation.

There is no problem with the network, it's just that there are too many people online!
Fortunately, the online version of "Kitagawa Bunko" was produced with the assistance of Kitagawa Technology, using the most advanced servers in Japan today, which can accommodate tens of millions of people online at the same time.

There is a number jumping in real time in the lower right corner of the webpage. Before 9 o'clock, Junji Ito remembered that the highest number had reached about one million. Now, with every difficult refresh, it would jump up by hundreds of thousands.

At 9:02, Junji Ito finally refreshed the entire webpage.

He glanced at the lower right corner. The current number of people online was 7934766. If there was no inflated number, it would be a really terrifying number.

The number of Internet users in Japan has only recently exceeded 800 million, and this new light novel website is about to break million visits. It's simply outrageous!
"This interface is quite clear and concise." Junji Ito is also a frequent surfer of the Internet. Many websites are messy, which greatly affects his experience.

What he cannot accept the most is the large-scale advertisements that are easy to touch by mistake.

It seems like these damn websites can't survive without advertising for those advertisers.

The Beichuan Library is very simple and clear.

Of course, this is all thanks to the fact that Beichuan Entertainment is rich enough, or that Mr. Beichuan behind the scenes is rich enough.

“It’s nice to be rich! It would be great if these light novels could be adapted into comics.

Alas, even if there is an adaptation, there are very few horror novels, and it is a genre that simply cannot make money! ”

Junji Ito, who works full-time here, couldn't help but complain again, and immediately clicked on "Ring World 1: Bell" on the homepage.

This is Mr. Kitagawa’s new book!
The introduction of this novel was very interesting, and Junji Ito couldn't help but read it word by word.

“The word ‘loop’ is translated from the English word ‘loop’ and in the book it refers to the name of a computer virtual world jointly constructed by scientists from Japan and the United States.

In addition to its literal meaning, 'ring' can also be understood as 'ring-shaped virus', that is, bell virus (ring).

"'Loop' and 'ring' can actually both be interpreted as 'ring', and the 'ring world' is a whole new world invaded and ravaged by the 'ring virus'."

This is a very sci-fi introduction. Obviously, this "Bell Virus" is a new concept set up by Mr. Kitagawa himself.

Teacher Kitagawa specifically mentioned this in the introduction, and it is obvious that this "Bell virus" is of vital importance.

“.Four boys and girls died suddenly at the same time in different places, with expressions of horror and fear on their faces.

Asakawa, a reporter from Tokyo Broadcasting System TBS, accidentally discovered that the four cases were related to each other.

Driven by curiosity, he launched a series of investigations, and then a videotape surfaced."

The story begins with the diary-like memoirs of the "author of the novel".

This kind of "picture within a picture", in which there is a "novel author" who writes the novel and narrates the story, is quite popular in the Japanese literary world.

It is impossible to verify the first writer to use this narrative perspective, but writers of popular literature generally prefer to write in this way because it increases the suspense and sense of immersion in the work.

Mr. Kitagawa has always been regarded as a pure writer of pure literature. Even though he has not attended college, he is generally believed in the industry to be a "professionally trained" writer.

Using the techniques that "half-time" authors like to use is considered a very cheap and self-humiliating behavior in the eyes of "professionally trained" writers.

"Mr. Kitagawa is truly a bold and unique writer."

Junji Ito, who didn't know much about Kitagawa Hide's status in the Japanese literary world, sighed.

He didn't know why Mr. Kitagawa did this, but he knew that this way of writing would most likely lead to criticism and he would definitely be criticized.

Daring to do things that go against the world's will is just like his love for drawing horror comics that no one likes to read. It is the embodiment of bravery!

He continued to read.

"September 9, 5:22 Yokohama
In the residential area adjacent to Sankeien, several 14-story apartment buildings stand side by side in the north. Although they are new buildings, they are almost all occupied.

There are nearly a hundred households living in each building, but most of the residents do not know each other.

Only when night falls and lights appear in the windows of the houses do people realize that there are people living here.

There is a factory to the south. The light from the factory's searchlight shines on the oily sea surface. The lonely figure of the factory is reflected in the water, reflecting dots of light.

The factory's exterior walls are entangled with countless pipes, reminiscent of the intricate blood vessels in the human body.

The lights covering the surface of the pipelines look like flickering fireflies. This wonderful landscape creates a unique beauty.

In the distance, only a few hundred meters away from the factory, a newly built two-story villa stood alone on a planned residential area.

The small western-style building is next to a one-way street running north-south, and next to it is a parking lot with only one parking space. The same style of buildings are scattered throughout the emerging residential area. Perhaps because of the inconvenient transportation here, there are no other buildings around this building. Instead, there are signs everywhere saying that land is for sale.

Compared with those apartments that were filled with people right after they were completed, it seemed a little lonely. At this moment, the fluorescent light shone through the open windows on the second floor of the small western-style building, and fell on the dark road in patches.

Tomoko Oishi is a third-year student at a private girls' high school and is currently sitting at a desk in her room on the second floor.

She was wearing a white T-shirt and shorts, with her legs spread out in front of the floor fan, her body turned to one side, her eyes fixed on the open exercise book. The hem of her T-shirt fluttered in the wind, and the wind blew straight into her skin.

From now until now, Tomoko has made no progress in her studies. She has an exam tomorrow, but even if she studies all night tonight, she still won't be able to finish her lessons.

Her increasingly depressed mood and hot weather made it impossible for her to concentrate on learning anything, so she decided to turn on the TV and watch a videotape that her good friend Mei Zi had given her a few days ago.

"You must watch it, otherwise you will definitely regret not watching it." Mei Zi's words were so tempting that she couldn't help but watch it.

Tomoko Oishi took out the videotape from her schoolbag."

Ito Junji, who is familiar with horror routines, held his breath. (End of this chapter)