novelraw Chapter 99 Attack
Chapter 99 Attack
January 20, 1980 (Showa 55), 1 PM.
Inside Kinokuniya Bookstore, Japan's largest bookstore chain.
Miyuki Ikei, who has worked as a stock clerk in the "mystery book section" of a bookstore for twenty years, discovers something very strange.
Starting at 11 a.m. today, three or four people dressed in sportswear, wearing hats, sunglasses, and masks, and looking rather suspicious, suddenly appeared in the bookstore.
Miyuki Ikei could tell at a glance that these people didn't seem to be there to buy books.
After all, who would wrap themselves up so tightly in a well-ventilated place, as if afraid of being seen by others?
Miyuki Ikei originally didn't want to deal with these people; after all, it's the service industry, and you're bound to encounter a few strange people every day.
But these people seemed to be only moving around the area near the mystery novel section, communicating with each other using hand gestures, as if they were plotting something strange.
This situation naturally aroused Miyuki Ikei's curiosity.
After all, if they come to a bookstore and don't read books, what are they there for?
Driven by curiosity, Miyuki Ikei pushed a small cart, pretending to organize goods, and followed a man with a ponytail at a distance.
However, what happened next led Miyuki Ikei to discover a truth that infuriated her!
The man with the ponytail was standing in the mystery novel section. Seeing that there weren't many people around, he furtively pulled a few books from the bookshelf next to him.
He pulled out the book and stuffed it into the front of the bookshelf in front of him, blocking the books that should have been displayed to the readers!
Miyuki Ikei has been working as a stock clerk for twenty years and she detests such methods!
Because this is the most "simple and straightforward" form of business warfare, using manpower to smear, cover up, and influence other publishers or authors!
Although this tactic may seem ridiculous, it is very effective in publishing disputes.
Because of the high status of Japanese writers, whether it is mystery literature, other literature, or pure literature, they are always related to ideals.
Many people aspire to become writers.
But the reality is that becoming a writer requires more than just talent and ability; most importantly, it requires the support of editors, editors-in-chief, department heads, and publishing house presidents!
These people, who can influence the fate of writers, also admire geniuses, but they prefer geniuses who can create enormous profits!
Therefore, most publishers choose to use a trial mechanism to test the individual potential and value of each writer.
Simply put, the initial print run is 5,000 copies. If it sells well, it will be reprinted. If it sells even better, it will continue to be reprinted. Once a certain sales volume is reached, it will be granted the privilege of producing a "paperback edition". If it sells even better, it will have the privilege of a "reprint" or a "single volume".
However, if a book still has a large inventory on the market within a limited time.
So no matter what caused the inventory shortage, and no matter the quality of the books, the publisher will not give them a second chance.
This has led to many books that are clearly of high quality being completely shelved after only one publication.
This tactic of covering the target book with other books has a high chance of causing the covered book to fail to reach its sales target within the time limit and thus be shelved!
As for why Miyuki Ikei hates this kind of behavior so much?
On the one hand, it's because of my sense of justice regarding books as a medium, and I dislike this kind of despicable speculative behavior!
On the other hand, as a stock clerk, I finally managed to arrange the books that needed to be displayed neatly, and now these bastards have made a mess of it!
Thinking of all this, Miyuki Ikei suppressed her anger and summoned the bookstore's security personnel, who then kicked all the speculators out of the bookstore.
It took Miyuki Ikei about an hour to finally restore the messed-up bookshelf to its original state.
When he had some free time, he would use the bookstore's phone to report the situation to his superiors.
But to Miyuki Ikei's surprise, this kind of thing didn't only happen at Kinokuniya Bookstore.
Starting this afternoon, many large bookstores in Tokyo have seen a number of books being replaced.
All the books that were replaced came from the same publisher, Kodansha, which was the most popular publisher at the time!
This result clearly demonstrates that the popularity of Kodansha and Kyosuke Maijo has made many publishing houses envious, which is why they have united to target Kodansha...
-
Maijo Kyosuke slowly woke up in his room on the second floor of the "Longevity Bath".
Seeing that there was still plenty of time before the autograph session, Maijo Kyosuke put on his coat and planned to go out for some food.
After all, a personal autograph session is a very physically demanding job. How can you work if you're not well-fed?
I picked up the phone and called Jiang Liumei, but no one answered.
The same thing happened when I called Hideomi Uyama.
Clearly, the two were either busy setting up the book signing, in a meeting, or working.
Maijo Kyosuke sighed, shrugged, and headed towards the second floor of the "Longevity Bath".
As expected, the little shrine maiden Myojin Seine had not returned yet. Only her grandmother, Myojin Kusaka, was sitting inside the counter, knitting something that looked like a scarf or a sweater.
Maishiro Kyosuke did not disturb the other party.
He pushed open the door of the "Longevity Soup" and walked out, rubbing his hands together.
Maijo Kyosuke's idea was simple: since he came to this parallel world, he had been eating Japanese food most of the time and hadn't had authentic Chinese food in a long time!
So I decided to take a taxi from the main road 100 meters away from "Chōmei no Yu" to Ebisu in Shibuya, Tokyo, because there are many Chinese-owned restaurants there.
But this short 100 meters felt exceptionally difficult for Maijo Kyosuke to walk.
Because I could always hear the "crunch crunch" sound of my feet on the snow behind me.
Hearing that sound, Jingjie Maishiro felt a chill run down his spine, and couldn't help but think of the kidnapping scenes that only appear in crime movies.
Just as Maishiro Kyosuke was about to suddenly turn around to see who was behind him.
He was hit hard in the abdomen!
The force was like a truck running over Maijo Kyosuke, causing him to curl up on the ground, almost thinking he had been punched in two!
Just as Maishiro Kyosuke was enduring the excruciating pain and trying to get up to see who the other person was, a thick arm reached out from behind him and grabbed his neck tightly!
Next came a kick that sent excruciating pain down my ribs!
The immense pain caused Maijo Kyosuke to faint without even uttering a sound...