I am a literary giant in Japan

Chapter 248 This opponent is quite strong

The day after Kawaide Shobo held a press conference, the December 1996 issue of Shincho was put on the shelves of major bookstores.

Also released on the same day was the very familiar "Group Portrait".

However, "Gunxiang" has now been removed from the first-tier bookshelf at the entrance of the bookstore, and instead mixed with second-rate pure literature magazines such as "SEVEN7" and "Hanabi".

If readers pick up a copy of "Group Portrait" at random, they can see that the magazine, which was once so majestic and almost swept the world with Kitagawa Hide's single-handed strength, has now degenerated into a small magazine that relies on various writer gossips and rehashing Kitagawa Hide's old stories to survive.

This year, the turnover rate of the relevant departments of Kodansha's "Gunzo" is as high as 32%. In this unfavorable year, this terrifying turnover rate sounds like a fantasy.

The total assets of the Noma family have almost been halved. It is estimated that in a few years, they will withdraw from the large group of Japanese chaebols.

But readers have no time to mourn for "Qun Xiang", because coming towards them is the highly anticipated December issue of "Shincho"!
A constant stream of people flowed back and forth in major bookstores in Tokyo, and bookstores in other parts of the country also released new books at the same time, maximizing the publicity for Naoki Hyakuta's new book.

After sending his girlfriend, who had just gotten drunk together, back to the university dormitory, Mori Tetsutaro wrapped his coat tightly, bought a copy of "Shincho" from the newsstand, went to a convenience store to buy rice balls and coffee, and returned to his newly bought Mercedes-Benz to read with relish.

Not long ago, he took a risk and spoke up for Mr. Kitagawa. He openly wrote an article in his capacity as a literary critic to criticize Mr. Arima Yoshiyoshi, who is known as the "best writer in the world."

During that period, he couldn't eat or sleep well every day. He lived in fear, fearing that one day he would wake up and the sky would fall.

so far so good.

Even if the sky falls, there is still the tall man like Mr. Kitagawa to support it.

The profit rewards after going all out are extremely rich.

Tetsutarou Mori has completely made a name for himself in the literary criticism circle, and has established himself as the number one Kitagawa critic. From now on, whenever there is a request to write a literary criticism article praising Mr. Kitagawa, everyone will basically look for him first.

In addition, he also got a lovely girlfriend who was studying at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tokyo, a brand new Mercedes-Benz, and a small apartment in Ukyo Ward.

The most important thing was that he finally met Mr. Kitagawa, talked to him, asked for his autograph and took a photo with him.

Teacher Beichuan's warm smile made him feel very comfortable, and his girlfriend framed the photo of the two of them and put it in her dormitory to show off.

Teacher Beichuan also praised and thanked him warmly. So, rounding it off, he could be considered a general of the Beichuan faction, right?
From now on, Tetsutarou Mori just wants to cling to Kitagawa teacher's thighs even tighter. In the future, decades later, if Kitagawa teacher is really recorded in the history of Japanese literature forever and written into textbooks, it would be nice for him to show up a few times as a leg pendant!

There are so many powerful people in this world, but how many of them can leave their names in history?

With his new awareness, Mori Tetsutaro paid close attention to Kitagawa's every move and collected all the information related to him, no matter how big or small.

Therefore, as soon as "New Trend" was released, he bought it, ready to see what "Forever No. 24" was about.

As one of the oldest pure literature magazines, Shinchosha, which holds the "Four Shincho Awards" - the Mishima Prize, the Yamamoto Shugoro Prize, the Kobayashi Hideo Prize, and the Shincho Newcomer Award, has a magazine cover that is simple and beautiful, and the pages are made of special materials that smell like a faint scent of ink tea.

"Xinchao" is also called "a gathering place for literary youths" by the industry. Those writers who are seriously suffering from literary youth disease gather here, and the entire Xinchao Society has gradually become a place where literary youths are rampant.

The comic magazines under its umbrella either publish depressing works like "Girls' Last Tour" or adult comics like "Black Street" and "Breaking Game". Their main goal is not to care about sales, but to have a high level of quality.

Naoki Momota's new book was naturally placed at the forefront.

Shinchosha doesn't do anything fancy. There are no writer interviews, no pre-show talks, no warm-ups. It just starts with the main text of the novel.

"Forever No. 24" is a collection of short stories, and the opening chapter is a short story with the same title.

This novel also has another name: "Eyes of Fortuna".

The story tells about the protagonist Kiyama who lost his family in a plane crash when he was a child, and then he isolated himself and no longer had in-depth contact with other people. However, one day he discovered that he had the "Eyes of Fortuna" that could know the fate of others, that is, the ability to see the bodies of dying people gradually become transparent.

Because he couldn't sit idly by and watch their lives, he, who was originally not good at socializing, gradually opened his heart and met the girl Aoi, who made him fall in love at first sight.

At the beginning of the story, the male protagonist Kiyama used his abilities to save the old store manager who had always taken care of him, and the girl Aoi he met by chance.

But after that he occasionally suffered from sudden heart pains. After going to the hospital for a check-up, he found that he had serious heart problems.

The doctor who examined him then told him that he also had the "Eyes of Fortuna" and warned Kiyama not to try to change the fate of others, otherwise he would be the only one who would get hurt.

Kiyama decided not to change the fate of others and just wanted to be with Aoi forever. But one day, he suddenly found that Aoi and many other people's bodies began to become transparent. After several investigations, it turned out that these people were passengers of a runaway train.

After figuring out everything, Kiyama decides to save Aoi and all the passengers on the train, and so sacrifices himself.

At the end of the novel, Aoi cried and told Kiyama that she also had the "Eyes of Fortuna". When she saw Kiyama's body begin to become transparent, she wanted to sacrifice herself to save Kiyama. Unexpectedly, it was Kiyama who saved her in the end.

In one world, three people possess the "Eyes of Fortuna". The doctor chooses to protect himself, Aoi chooses to save his lover, and Kiyama chooses to save everyone.

After reading the whole novel, Tetsutaro Mori was deeply moved and shocked.

Naoki Momota added "fantasy elements" to the love story and heightened the depth of the story, turning it from love into humanity.

In just a few tens of thousands of words, he was able to skillfully combine these elements, making the story plot thrilling and bringing the three people with the Eye of Fortuna to life, showing his powerful writing skills.

"It really deserves to be called 'the best in the world'." Looking at the "Shincho" in his hand, Tetsutaro Mori felt a strong sense of crisis.

In the past, Kitagawa's opponents, from Oshima Hikaru to Ishihara Shintaro and others, had writing levels far inferior to Kitagawa's and were basically beaten.

But starting with Arima Yoshiyoshi, these new "enemies" become more and more difficult, each one more powerful than the other!
To use the gaming terminology of later generations, Mr. Kitagawa is finally no longer playing a "man-machine game"!

To be able to win the O. Henry Short Story Award, Naoki Momota is truly a strong talent!

The December issue of "Shincho" serialized three short stories from "Forever No. 12".

They are: "Eyes of Fortuna", "The Man Called Pirate", and "The Man Who Broke the 'Golden Second-Weight Class'".

Tetsutaro Mori continued reading, and after another hour, he finally finished all three novels.

"The Man Called Pirate" is a business novel that tells the story of a time when coal was the main fuel. Kunioka Tetsu had already predicted the future development of oil and then started an oil business in Kitakyushu.

Faced with tough obstruction from domestic practitioners and European and American oil giants, he was not discouraged. Instead, he expanded a new business territory with unconventional ideas, high initiative, and a heart that cherished his subordinates. Even after Japan was defeated in the war, his iron-hearted and resolute posture never changed.

This thing is a complete anti-war novel disguised as a commercial work. The core ideas contained in the novel are also the real thoughts of this guy Momota Naoki.

The entry point and plot of this novel are actually very interesting, but it is obvious from Tetsutarou Mori that this should be the setting of a larger work, but Naoki Momota forcibly wrote it into a short story for the purpose of showing off his skills.

Unfortunately, his writing skills are not as good as he thought. In terms of the overall reading experience, this novel is not as good as "The Eyes of Fortuna".

As for the third article, "The Man Who Broke the 'Golden Lightweight' Division," it tells the inspirational story of a lightweight boxer named Masahiko Harada.

The most produced works in Japan are those related to the workplace and sports. Mori Tetsutarou has seen a lot of these things and has no feelings about them.

Overall, "The Man Who Broke the 'Golden Lightweight Division'" is a worse read and is a completely mediocre sports novel.

"Huh" he let out a breath of relief.

If the quality of the three novels were as high as that of "Eyes of Fortuna", then he should really worry about whether Mr. Kitagawa would lose.

After all, short stories are a literary field that Mr. Kitagawa has never set foot in, but he has been studying it diligently for a long time.

Who wouldn't be afraid of something that happens unintentionally?

"Mr. Momota Naoki's writings are not orthodox pure literature, but we can start from this point and write some literary reviews to help Mr. Kitagawa's reputation."

Mori Tetsutarou thought so in his heart.

at the same time.

Countless readers are also silently reading this issue of "New Trend", and many people are moved by the love story of "The Eyes of Fortuna".

Thanks to the excellent quality of the novel, the sales of the December issue of "Shincho" continued to rise. When Oricon released the Oricon list the next day, countless people were looking forward to it, curious whether it would break the new record set by "Wenyi" just last month.

(End of this chapter)