I am a literary giant in Japan

The story picks up where it left off last time. The protagonist, Asakawa, discovers travel agency diaries left behind by several deceased students. He then deduces that the cause of this series of mysterious cases is most likely a videotape.

So Asakawa returned to the small hotel where the students had stayed and asked the hotel manager to rent the videotapes.

"I still want to borrow some videotapes," Asakawa said, glancing at the administrator's reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Upon hearing this, the administrator immediately smiled with delight: "Please feel free to choose whichever you like. Each volume costs three hundred yen."

Asakawa walked up to the "Supernatural Movies" section. "The House of Hell," "Black Terror," "The Exorcist," and "Omen" were all films he had seen in his student days, nothing special.

Asakawa looked from one end to the other, but still couldn't find a single film that interested him.

So he searched through all two hundred-plus videotapes in the topic list again, in order.

Then, in the corner of the bottom shelf, he found a videotape lying horizontally without a case.

All the other videotapes had stills or titles printed on their boxes, but this one had no labels at all.

"What is that?" As soon as she asked the question, Asakawa realized that she had used the pronoun "that," because there was neither a proper noun to describe it nor any other name for it.

The administrator frowned in confusion, exclaimed "Ah!", and picked up the videotape: "This thing doesn't have much content."

Huh? Does he know the contents of this videotape?
"Have you seen it?" Asakawa asked.

"Well," the administrator tilted his head, seemingly unable to recall why there was such a videotape.

"Could I borrow this videotape to take a look?" Asakawa felt that he had found "that thing" he was looking for.

The manager didn't answer, but slapped his knee: "Ah! I remember now! This videotape was left in the guest room by a guest. I thought it was one of our videotapes, so I brought it back."

That's it!

Asakawa was almost certain that this videotape was the one Iwata Shuichi referred to in his diary, "Warning! Don't watch this if you don't have guts! Otherwise you'll regret it! Heh, heh, heh!"

He picked up the unidentified videotape and asked the administrator to lend it to him.

The manager readily agreed, and since the videotape didn't actually belong to the hotel, he rented it to Asakawa for a cheap price of one hundred yen, essentially charging only a storage fee.

"If it's exciting, please let me know right away." The administrator's curiosity was completely piqued.

He had seen all the videotapes placed here, and they no longer aroused his interest.

Why did we forget that videotape? It was such a good way to pass the time.
However, perhaps it was just recording some boring TV programs.

That's what the administrator was thinking.

He had always assumed that the videotape would be returned soon.

"call--"

Before I knew it, I had finished reading the first chapter of the new serial.

Junji Ito glanced at the clock on the wall; it was almost 11 a.m., lunchtime was approaching.

He is a very disciplined cartoonist because he knows that for a creator, it is most important to always have plenty of energy and a clear mind. Therefore, his meal times, work hours and rest times are very fixed, as precise as a robot.

But today, Junji Ito suddenly had the idea of ​​ordering a pizza and then continuing to watch "Ring 1: Bell".

"No, I can't let myself fall into such a depravity!"

"Let's just watch for a little while. We'll be going to Asakawa soon to see the exciting part of the videotape. It'll be fine to eat after we finish watching."

"No! People's bottom line is often broken the first time it's crossed, and then they can't hold on to it anymore!"

"Actually, it's not a big deal. I haven't had pizza or drunk cola for over a year."

Junji Ito felt as if there were two little figures on his head, torn between his inner thoughts and his own inner struggle, causing him both pain and anticipation.

A few minutes later, the little man representing "self-discipline" and "kindness" was defeated by the little man representing "depravity" and "evil".

Just like Asakawa couldn't resist watching that terrifying videotape, Junji Ito also couldn't overcome his desires. He called a nearby pizza shop and ordered two pineapple beef supreme pizzas, plus a 5L bottle of Coke!

"That was great! Time to get back to reading!"

Having completely liberated his "desires," Junji Ito no longer agonized over the issue of self-discipline and turned his attention back to the computer screen.

In the next chapter, Kitagawa-sensei simply titled it "Warning! Horror Videotapes That Should Not Be Viewed!", which is quite straightforward and blunt.

Back home, Asakawa immediately put the nameless videotape into the VCR. Before playing it, Iwata Shuichi's words suddenly echoed in his mind.

"Warning! Don't look at this if you're not brave! You'll regret it!"

Asakawa shook his head, ignoring the boring voice.

There was no way he could regret it; Asakawa was already used to this kind of thing.

He used to be a reporter for the social affairs department and had seen countless strange and unusual things, so nothing could stir up any regret in him anymore.

No matter how horrific the scene, he believed he wouldn't regret it.

“Just like me, such is the inherent weakness of humanity,” Junji Ito couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

He knew that if he were in that situation, he would be just like Asakawa, determined to find out the truth behind that videotape.

Humans sometimes have a stronger sense of curiosity than kittens.

The proverb "curiosity killed the cat" is universally accepted and popular throughout the world.

"How will Kitagawa-sensei describe the contents of the videotape? Will he still use montage techniques to switch between scenes, and then directly flash back to skip the specific contents of the videotape and go straight to Asakawa's death?"

As a veteran horror manga artist, Junji Ito has a lot of experience in handling these scenes, and these details are also the most challenging aspect for a horror creator.

He himself tends to use blank spaces and flashbacks to avoid the most difficult-to-describe horror scenes, or simply use bloody, grotesque, and disgusting images that make people physically uncomfortable to replace them.

However, these are the worst possible solutions; everyone knows them, so there's nothing special about them.

"On the pitch-black screen, tiny specks of light, the size of pinheads, flickered, then slowly expanded, darting left and right in all directions, before finally stopping in the upper left corner."

Then, the light split apart, turning into bursting beams of light, which then wriggled like earthworms, forming six characters.

These words were not typed by a subtitle machine, but written in white pen on half a sheet of pitch-black paper.

Despite the rather clumsy handwriting, it was recognizable as six words in a commanding tone: 'You must read this.'

After the six words disappeared, the phrase "You will be eaten by the ghosts" reappeared. What the ghosts refer to is still unknown, but the word "eaten" is very terrifying.

The conjunction "otherwise" seems to be omitted between these two sentences. In fact, it's a threat to the viewer: they cannot stop watching halfway through, or there will be a terrible consequence.

Upon seeing this, Junji Ito was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. He hadn't expected that Kitagawa-sensei would choose to directly write down the contents of the horror videotape!
This is the most controversial, but also the most likely to pique readers' interest and test the creator's abilities.

"As expected of Kitagawa-sensei, I always thought that facing difficulties head-on is the behavior of a top-notch writer."

"Teacher Kitagawa, you're awesome!"

Junji Ito continued watching, wanting to know what happened next on the videotape.

The row of "threatening fonts" that appeared was written in a fairly standard style and wouldn't scare him at the moment.

But he greatly admired Kitagawa-sensei's courage in facing the difficulties head-on.

"Incredibly, Asakawa didn't want to press the stop button. It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of the dead, but this powerful burst of energy made him feel very comfortable."

Junji Ito read the second chapter word by word, not wanting to miss any detail.

However, he had absolutely no idea what the contents of the horror videotape were.

The novel describes every detail of the videotape's contents in great detail, even analyzing it frame by frame.

But those images seemed meaningless, consisting entirely of ambiguous and vague imagery.

Examples include inexplicable black screens, volcanic eruptions, black dice rolling in a round-bottomed lead bowl, and old women speaking strange words.

The novel's description of the videotape's contents is also quite strange.

For example, this passage.

"At this moment, the face of a newborn baby filled the entire screen, and the sound of a baby crying came from somewhere."

The sound still didn't come from the TV's speakers; it seemed to be coming from beside Asakawa, below his face, and it was very realistic.

The image shows an arm holding a baby. A pair of beautiful hands, the left hand supporting the baby's head, the right hand encircling the baby's back, looking very careful.

Asakawa stared intently at the screen, her hands involuntarily mimicking the movements of the people in the picture.

The sound of a baby crying came from under his chin, and Asakawa withdrew his hand in surprise.

He could actually feel the warm amniotic fluid and blood, as well as the weight of the baby's tiny body!

"Could the scenes in the videotape make viewers feel as if they are actually there?"

Junji Ito began to have doubts.

He knew this descriptive method, which is the "synesthetic" writing technique often used by writers.

If you just look at it on its own, you have no idea what Kitagawa-sensei's intention was in writing it this way.

And so, after a series of inexplicable images, some text reappeared on the television screen.

The text in this final scene is also clumsy, making it seem like it was written by a child who has just started to remember things, though it is neater than the text in the opening scene.

These words, which appeared one after another and then disappeared, read: "A person who has watched this video will face death at this time a week from now."

If you don't want to die, start doing what I'm about to say right now.

Asakawa swallowed hard and stared wide-eyed at the television.

The scene suddenly changed completely, interrupted by a familiar television commercial: on a summer night in a town, an actress in a yukata sat on a porch, fireworks exploding in the night sky.
This is an advertisement for mosquito coils.

About thirty seconds later, the advertisement ended. Just as it was about to cut to another scene, the screen returned to darkness, the last words disappeared, a hissing noise came from the TV, and the videotape finished playing.

Asakawa's eyes widened as he rewound the videotape, playing back the last scene over and over again, repeating the same action. The commercial had somehow managed to slip in at such a crucial moment!
Just then, the phone rang, startling Asakawa.

He picked up the microphone and held it to his ear, feeling as if something was hiding in the shadows, silently watching him.

"Hello?" Asakawa managed to squeeze out a trembling voice, but there was no response.

"Have you seen it? Do you understand? Follow the instructions above, otherwise..."

The second chapter's plot ends abruptly here.

Junji Ito was very familiar with this scene, because the four high school students who died at the beginning died mysteriously after receiving similar phone calls.

"No wonder Naoko Kitagawa said that her novel 'One Missed Call 1' was inspired by Kitagawa's novel 'Ring 1: Bell'. The connection is right here!"

Junji Ito was aware of the "who plagiarized whom" controversy that had been raging online, but later Naoko Kitagawa herself came out to refute the rumors, saying that she and Kitagawa knew each other in real life and that he had guided her in writing "One Missed Call 1". Only then did the gossipy netizens stop arguing.

"What's the connection between this terrifying ringtone and the videotape? And what do those strange images in the videotape represent?"

Junji Ito pondered for a moment, then gave Kitagawa-sensei a thumbs up!

The answer is definitely hidden in the later part of the novel's plot!

This way of writing not only perfectly solves the problem of whether or not to skip this part of the plot, but also arouses the reader's curiosity and imagination!
It turns out that using suspenseful writing is the most effective way to solve this kind of problem!
As a creator of horror works, Junji Ito felt he had benefited greatly and couldn't help but think of bowing to Kitagawa-sensei from afar.

Unable to contain his curiosity, he continued browsing the webpage and discovered that this time, Kitagawa-sensei hadn't stopped writing; in fact, a third chapter had been serialized!
My heart is ecstatic!

Just as Junji Ito was about to continue reading, his cell phone, which was placed beside him, suddenly vibrated!
"Damn!" He was startled, and his first thought was of the anonymous, terrifying ringtone that Asakawa had received!
"Hello, is this Mr. Junji Ito? I am salesperson number 003 from the Kitagawa Bunko customer service department."

Have you participated in our recruitment process before?

"What an idiot! Who would call to conduct this kind of survey at this time of day?! I'm going to file a complaint against you!"

Junji Ito, who was so frightened he almost peed himself, wanted to hang up the phone immediately.

at the same time.

The customer service staff working overtime at the Kitagawa Bunko office building all looked distressed, having to endure countless questioning phone calls from customers while also expending energy dealing with criticism from officials of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

After Kitagawa-sensei's "Ring 1: Bell" was updated, due to the latest plot, all phone calls made from "Kitagawa Bunko" were mistaken by customers as the "Midnight Bell" mentioned in the novel.

Several elderly customers were so frightened that they had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

The innocent customer service staff, caught in the crossfire, became the outlet for the emotions of customers and their superiors, and had to work overtime all night.

The terrifying videotapes and ringtones revealed in "Ring 1: Bell" have become the hottest topics on the internet, with some netizens even creating GIFs and using public telephones to scare and harass people.

This phenomenal social response also boosted online subscriptions for "Ring 1: Bell".

At this moment, Kitagawa Hide, who was working a miserable apprenticeship in Tsarist Russia, received a congratulatory text message from Saito Rena. It turned out that *Ring 1: Bell* had surpassed the average subscription mark of 200 million after its update, doubling its previous sales! (End of Chapter)