The lonely Hikigaya Hachiman wants to become the king of mystery novels

"I want to be a writer."

Hikigaya made up his mind.

Chapter 3 Hikigaya Hachiman’s debut plan

Hikigaya Hachiman, who had officially determined his biggest goal for rebirth, felt refreshed at the moment.

After being reborn, it is natural to start a career.In his previous life, he had already begun to contribute articles to some magazines, writing short essays and the like to gain experience in preparation for his actual long-form writing in the future.Now, after being forced to restart the show for two weeks by a dump truck, Hikigaya Hachiman suddenly felt a sacred feeling when he picked up the writing profession again.

After he came to the current world, he immediately began to study the development of literature here. He found that the Japanese literature in this timeline took the 80s as the dividing line. Many famous works before that that influenced later generations still exist, and this The world line after that is completely different from the previous life.

Take Hikigaya Hachiman's favorite mystery novels as an example. European and American classical writers from around a hundred years ago, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, and twenty Edogawa Ranpo, Yokomori Masashi, Matsumoto Seicho, Tsuchiya Takao, etc., all famous Japanese classical mysteries of the century, exist in this world line.These people still laid an excellent foundation for the vigorous development of Japanese mystery literature.

But starting in 1980, after the publication of Shimada Shoji's immortal masterpiece "Astrological Killing Magic", the mystery novels in this world line became very different.There are still a large number of mystery novelists influenced by the novel, but they are all names that Hikigaya Hachiman has never heard of.The group of authors whose original world line started with Ayatsuji Yukito and Kyogoku Natsuhiko disappeared.

"There's really a lot to be done, a lot to do."

Hikigaya Hachiman was very excited, as if the steady stream of royalties had been transferred to his non-existent bank card. In fact, he was not even qualified to open an account.

Even Keigo Higashino, who he didn't look up to in his previous life, has now become great in Hikigaya Hachiman's heart, because Mr. Higashino has written too many books, and he has absolutely no worries about selling them. The nickname "Bestseller" is so good. Not for nothing.

But Hikigaya Hachiman did not plan to make his debut by writing a book by Keigo Higashino. He chose a novel that was relatively unknown in his previous life but had an absolutely excellent reputation - "Confessions" by the socialist mystery queen Kanae Minato.

There is a slight difference in meaning between the "confession" in the title of the book and Hikigaya's previous confession.

This book takes direct aim at two extremely sensitive topics: campus bullying of junior high school students and juvenile delinquency.It has sold more than 350 million copies in the original world, and its adapted movie of the same name has gained far more popularity and influence than the original work.

Hikigaya Hachiman particularly values ​​the huge potential of this book on the big screen. His past life experience tells him that this book is extremely suitable for film adaptation.If you want to put this book on the big screen, you still need to pay a large copyright fee to Hikigaya. After the movie is released, the excellent reputation of the movie will feed back the sales of the original book.

"Chapter 1 of this book is explosive enough to get readers into an addictive reading state as quickly as possible."

Hikigaya Hachiman chose this book after careful consideration. It has been a month since he was reborn, and he has too many things he wants to vent. The content of this book is undoubtedly the most suitable for his current state of mind.

...... ......

After deciding on the debut work, the next step is to choose a publishing house.

Hikigaya Hachiman knows very well that in Japan today, if a new author wants to make a debut, the best or even the only way is to submit articles to various newcomers.In order to compete for excellent author resources, various publishing houses in Japan have launched a number of insane newcomer awards.

Taking the light novels that other time travelers prefer to write as an example, there are more than ten awards in Japan, among which the Dengeki Novel Award is the most famous.

When you win the Newcomer Award, in addition to receiving a considerable bonus, the more important thing is publishing resources. The publishing house promotes the winning works more than any other works.Receiving the newcomer reward is a guarantee of great sales in the early stage.

Even if you don't win the highest reward, if you can get a lower-level award, the treatment will not be much worse than the highest reward.

Returning to the field of popular literature in Hikigaya Hachiman, the Newcomer Award is even more dazzling.After some screening, Hikigaya set his sights on two awards:

The first one is of course Kodansha’s Edogawa Ranpo Shou, which is famous. This is a mountain that cannot be avoided when talking about mystery novels.In Japan, where mystery novels are popular, the influence of this award can even be compared with the Naoki Award/Akutagawa Award, the highest award for popular literature.

The advantages of the Edogawa Ranpo Prize are very obvious. The grand prize of up to 1000 million yen is enough to crush the newcomer prize of any other publishing house in Japan.Simply for this bonus, there are countless new writers who are willing to fight for it.

Of course, this has also brought great competitive pressure to the contestants of the Edogawa Ranpo Prize. Although the Japanese literary world in this world is very different from the previous life, it is still an era where talents emerge in large numbers.There is only one chance for any newcomer reward. If you miss it, you will never have the chance to compete again.

The book "Confessions" actually only has Chapter 1 that is related to reasoning, and the rest of the book becomes a pure crime-themed novel. Compared with the many original mystery novels that participated in the Edogawa Ranpo Prize, the subject matter is Although the types of Japanese mystery novels are changing with each passing day, the judges still prefer to see excellent case reasoning.

Another point is that the Edogawa Ranpo Prize requires you to write the entire book at once and submit it directly to the competition, which also gives Hikigaya Hachiman a headache.

Hikigaya Hachiman is not particularly confident in his writing, and he needs to serialize it.During the serialization process, editors and readers will provide valuable opinions to improve his writing.After all, he didn't have a golden finger and couldn't retell the original work intact. Listening to other people's opinions while writing was the best way.

To sum up, Hikigaya Hachiman decided to choose another newcomer award - the "All Readings" Newcomer Award, which is sponsored by the most prestigious popular literature magazine "All Readings" under Bungeishunqiu Publishing House.

Although the prize is only 50 yen, you only need a minimum of 1 words to submit, which is just enough to write "Confession" Chapter [-] "Priest".

The story told in just [-] words is complete and exciting enough to make readers look forward to the next development, making it the perfect material for submission.

"I really wish I could get up and start typing now."

However, it was already late at night, and Hikigaya Hachiman decided to go to bed first. He did not dare to code in the middle of the night and fall asleep in class the next day.

Chapter 4 Hikigaya Hachiman’s coding routine

Chiba in May is still at the end of spring, the temperature is neither high nor low, and the breeze is gentle.However, Hikigaya Hachiman had no intention of experiencing the precious spring scenery before the rainy season.

Coding is always a painful thing.Hikigaya Hachiman thinks so.

Chapter 1 of "Confessions" has a very unique writing method. The [-] words of content are almost all monologues by Yuko Moriguchi.When I read it, I felt like I was attending a very long class meeting. Hachiman tried his best to polish the sentences to be as delicate, unhurried and eloquent as the original work.

The result is Chapter 2 of more than 1 words. After writing for more than a week, I only finished more than 1 words. If I had written a web article at this speed, I would have starved to death.

"Ni-chan, please stop staring at your phone all the time. We finally went out for a meal, so let's talk more."

The owner of the milky voice is naturally Hikigaya Hachiman's dearest sister, Hikigaya Komachi.Although Komachi and Hachiman are siblings, their personalities are completely different.

Hikigaya Hachiman's dead fish eyes and poker face always exude an aura that repels others, while Komachi always has a natural smile on his face, giving him an innate affinity.Komachi, who has not yet entered junior high school at this time, already possesses all the qualities of an excellent teacher.

"Let's order first."

Hachiman smiled and touched Komachi's head and said to his parents.

At this time, the Hikigaya family was in a family restaurant not far from their residence. The Hikigaya couple discovered that their already taciturn son had been spending more and more time with his mobile phone recently, and from time to time he raised his head to think and talk. The state of chanting words.

"Hachiman, tell mom the truth, have you fallen in love with any girl recently?"

Mrs. Hikigaya asked firmly.

Her version is a bit outdated. At this moment, Hikigaya Hachiman is no longer trapped by love.

Hachiman was stunned, but he quickly cleared his mind.Recently, he uses the computer to code when he is in the room, and uses his mobile phone to code when he leaves the room. Moreover, because the coding process is extremely constipated, he really looks like an innocent boy in puberty, exchanging emails with the girl he has a crush on every day.

"Uh-huh, actually I..."

Hikigaya Hachiman didn't know where to start. He had to confess to his parents that he wanted to write a novel and submit it, because at his current age, many things after the novel started being serialized and even published were not allowed to be done alone. As his guardians, his parents must accompany him.

"Who is it, who is it?"

"It's okay Hachiman, say it boldly!"

"Brother, do you really have a sweetheart? Is he a classmate?"

The voices of parents and Komachi came together.

The fire of gossip in the eyes of the family is already burning brightly.In their opinion, their son (brother), who was usually silent and withdrawn, finally came to his senses and took the initiative to take the first step towards serving other people's cabbage.

"Dad, Mom, actually...I'm writing a novel recently, and I want to participate in the Newcomer Award of the "All Readings" monthly magazine..."

Hachiman confessed straight away.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey (the pitch gradually rises)?!"

After that, Hikigaya Hachiman spent a long time telling his family about his specific plan, which sounded weird.Normal parents would definitely not allow their 14-year-old son to become a writer. After Hikigaya Hachiman said that this would never affect his academic performance and promised that he would show his parents the content of his first submission, The Hikigaya couple reluctantly agreed to put aside the dispute.

...... ......

After solving the last and most important matter of convincing his parents, Hikigaya Hachiman felt that his writing efficiency had improved to a new level.

One week before the submission deadline for the "All Readings" Newcomer Award (June [-]th every year), Hikigaya Hachiman typed out the last paragraph of the first volume in the document:

Amy's father and I have been living together since the incident.We were going to get married.I want to live a peaceful life with him from this spring break until the end.Everyone, please also have a meaningful spring break.Thank you all for this year.

My words end here.

...... ......

Hikigaya Hachiman handed the finished first volume to his parents, and proudly watched their expressions become a little more complicated as the plot progressed.

They put down the manuscripts in their hands one after another, and the Hikigaya couple looked at their children with complicated eyes. At this time, Hachiman became a little strange in his eyes.Even Mr. Hikigaya, who often reads novel magazines, has to admit that the novel written by his son is an undisputed masterpiece.

"Hachiman, is your novel too dark?"

Hikigaya's mother discovered the problem, why her 14-year-old son wrote such a vicious conspiracy.

Where does this go, Hikigaya Hachiman thought to himself, the characteristic of this book is that it goes from dark to dark, and it can even be regarded as a refreshing novel.A ruthless counterattack against the little devils protected by the minor protection law will not only not make the experience bad, but will instead give readers an extremely comfortable reading experience.In the simple moral outlook of the public, it is very reasonable that evil people still need to be punished by evil people.

"Really? In fact, a plot like Teacher Moriguchi's revenge would never exist in reality. I think this is the meaning of the existence of novels. In reality, the two murderous students might really escape easily. Only in novels can they be judged."

"What you said makes sense. Mom, from the perspective of a reader, your novel, Hachiman, is really wonderful. Mom is very proud that you can write such a novel at the age of 14. It seems that there will be a big one in the Hikigaya family. He’s a literary giant now.”

"Brother-Brother! I also want to read the novel you wrote! It's so unfair to only show it to mom and dad!"

Hikigaya Komachi was very curious that his brother's novel was unanimously approved by his parents.

"No, Komachi."

Hachiman raised the manuscript in his hand high, enjoying the feeling of Komachi bouncing against his body.

"At least I have to wait until you are in junior high school to see it."

"What's the difference? I will be a junior high school student next March."

Komachi was still reluctant. Fortunately, Hikigaya's parents also believed that Komachi, an elementary school student, should not be allowed to read such dark literature, so they coaxed Komachi away.

"I remember the name of the magazine is All Readings...come on."

Hikigaya Komachi tried hard to remember the magazine that his brother mentioned when he was in the restaurant.

"Since no one showed me the manuscript, I had to use my pocket money to buy magazines to read."

Komachi thought silently. She naively thought that this novel would be published in next month's magazine. In fact, the results of the Newcomer Awards of "All Readings" magazine are not officially announced until the November issue of each year. There are still four days left before now. More than a month.

五㈤④7○⑦⑤5五

"When "Confessions" is published later, let's give Komachi a collector's edition."

The ultimate girl control Hikigaya Hachiman thought so.

Chapter 5 Hikigaya Hachiman’s serialization plan

Japanese junior high schools have a three-semester system. At this time, Hachiman has finished the first semester of his second year in junior high school and is enjoying his summer vacation.

【Qianxun】②⑤⑤⑤⑨⑤③00

It is better to say that he is enjoying the summer vacation than enjoying the air conditioning. For a guy like Hikigaya Hachiman who has no friends, it is normal to stay at home for the whole vacation.

In the stage exam before the summer vacation, Hikigaya Hachiman performed exceptionally well. In his previous life, he was not good at mathematics, but at least he was able to get into a good university. His mathematics knowledge in the second grade of junior high school did not make him black-eyed.And his strong liberal arts knowledge directly helped him become the liberal arts champion in his grade.

"Is this the energy that a lovelorn man can unleash?"

His classmates sighed.

Thanks to his excellent grades, Hikigaya Hachiman's life in school has been a little better. At least the rumors about him in the girls' group have basically stopped. Junior high school students are sometimes so simple. To put it bluntly, they have a strong mentality.

Novelqun㈡⑤⑤⑤九㈤三0.0

After Hikigaya Hachiman completed the first volume of "Confessions", he carefully proofread it and submitted it to the designated mailbox for the "All Readings" Newcomer Award.

"It's so convenient, the Internet."

Hikigaya Hachiman sighed, you must know that a few years ago, most magazine newcomer awards still needed to use original paper for writing, and then delivered it in person or mailed it to the publisher of the publication.

"Speaking of which, it's more convenient to use original paper."

Manuscript paper is a unified paper used for submission to all magazines in Japan. It is usually 400 words per page. Comic magazines also have the same manga manuscript paper.

There is a very obvious advantage of using this kind of manuscript paper, which is that it is convenient to calculate the manuscript fee.In Japan, the fee for submitting articles to literary magazines is usually [-] to [-] yen per piece of manuscript paper.This price is extremely uniform for writers. Even if Haruki Murakami came in his previous life, he would be given a treatment of up to [-] yen per piece.It is easy to understand that writers who are not famous have no right to bargain, and writers who are famous do not like the money given by magazines. For them, royalties after publication are the main source of income.

Hikigaya Hachiman is not a very self-disciplined person. When he thinks that he has worked or studied very hard, he will start to reward himself.

"We can't go on like this! Hachiman, where was your ambition when you decided to become a literary giant?"

Hikigaya roared at himself, but opened the turret anyway.

During his free time after the rewards were over, Hikigaya Hachiman decided to buy a typewriter.It sounds retro, but even in this day and age, there are still a large number of writers who use typewriters to write, and there are still manufacturers producing new typewriters.A typewriter not only allows writing directly on manuscript paper, but also allows writers to concentrate on writing.

"Ugh...it's so expensive."

Hikigaya Hachiman browsed Nichia's typewriter products. A slightly better typewriter on the market would start at [-] yen.

"Let's wait until the first month's royalties are paid..."

Hikigaya Hachiman has specifically calculated the income that the book "Confessions" can bring to him during the serialization stage.He plans to serialize it in the "All Readings" magazine for four months, publishing a total of 220 words, which is about 110 pieces of manuscript paper. The pure royalties for these four months will be more than 50 million yen, and if he wins the award, there will be more Prize money of [-] yen.

Of course, if it can be published successfully next year, these will be small sums of money.Thinking of this, Hikigaya Hachiman became smug again.

Chapter 1 of "Confessions" is a monologue by Teacher Moriguchi. She told the students the truth about the death of her young daughter after her investigation. Her daughter was killed by two murderers. She decided to use her own way to punish the murderer, and the content of the punishment is revealed at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 2, the main perspective changes to a classmate named Mitsuki in Mr. Moriguchi’s class.Teacher Moriguchi's revenge was very effective, and gradually the students began to engage in endless bullying against a classmate in the name of "justice."Mitsuki, who was unwilling to participate, also became the target of bullying.

In Chapter 3, the narrator is changed to the sister of one of the murderers. Her brother has not been in school for a long time for unknown reasons.The day before Obon, she learned from her father's phone call that her brother had killed her mother.When she returned home, she found a diary of her mother, which recorded a human tragedy between her mother and her brother within a few months. She decided to find out the truth about the changes in her brother.

Chapter 4, the main perspective returns to the younger brother. He tells the story of himself and another murderer, as well as the endless torture he suffered after being retaliated by Teacher Moriguchi, and also reveals the truth about matricide.

The first four chapters of this book have completed a closed loop, and each chapter will give readers a better understanding of the whole thing.As for Chapters [-] and [-] of this book, they are about an even crazier revenge that goes beyond the revenge incident.