On June 22nd, the third volume of The Newcomer was published in the magazine All Readings. However, neither the readers nor Hachiman himself seemed to have much interest in it. Hachiman was preparing for his exams, so naturally, he wasn't paying attention. As for the readers, it wasn't that The Newcomer wasn't well-written; it was that The Clockwork Museum Incident was about to be released. They had no time for heartwarming stories right now; they all wanted to take a big gulp of strong medicine.
To whet people's appetites, Sakuraba even opened a useless pre-sale channel on its official website.
"Do you think this is a game? You're still doing pre-sales. By the time others start reading, your package won't have even shipped. Whoever buys this will be a huge complainer." The netizens saw this very clearly.
However, Sakuraba's promotional methods didn't stop there. Since they had promised Hachiman that they wouldn't hold a second book signing event within a year, they changed the format. They printed Hachiman's autograph on the title page of 1,000 copies of The Clockwork Museum Incident and informed all readers that these books would be evenly distributed in bookstores across Tokyo, with no way to identify them. Whether you could buy one depended on pure luck.
As soon as this announcement came out, it naturally caused dissatisfaction among readers outside Tokyo, but soon, readers in Tokyo also became dissatisfied.
"Are you kidding? Do you know how many bookstores there are in Tokyo? On average, there isn't even one special copy per bookstore! I can never find a needle in a haystack when I'm pulling for cards in mobile games."
How could Sakuraba not know this? They just wanted to create a gimmick. As long as they could keep the discussion of The Clockwork Museum Incident going in the period before its release, they would have a real blockbuster on July 3rd.
Strong early sales—this was what Sakuraba wanted most. The audience for a hard-core mystery, especially one like The Clockwork Museum Incident, is extremely narrow in the field of popular literature. The unprecedented attention the book had received was, in reality, unreasonable. It had been created by the publisher through a massive publicity and promotion campaign. In fact, the content of the book would be relatively difficult to read for those who had never been exposed to hard-core mystery, or even mystery literature at all.
Therefore, from this point of view, The Clockwork Museum Incident shouldered the great responsibility of developing "blue ocean" users. If the book was successful, it would attract a large number of readers who were previously uninterested in mystery fiction, thus broadening the genre's audience. It could be said that this work by Hikigaya Hachiman would benefit the entire mystery literature community and maintain its influence for a long time.
Other publishers had already sensed this opportunity and had begun reprinting excellent mystery novels from their own back catalogues. Many mystery novels that had last been printed more than ten years ago were being picked up again by publishing houses in this wave.
Even Arisugawa, the writer Hachiman admired the most, recently received a notice from his publisher that two of his old novels would be reprinted, which added another sum of money to his bank account.
"Hikigaya-kun, you are truly an amazing writer," Arisugawa said when he specifically called Hachiman to tell him the news. "The Clockwork Museum Incident hasn't even been released yet, but it has already had such a huge impact. Even my books have benefited from you, hahaha."
"Is it really that exaggerated, Mr. Arisugawa?" asked Hachiman, who had been studying hard recently and didn't know much about current affairs in the publishing industry. He was quite surprised by Arisugawa's description. "In fact, if it weren't for the strong promotion by Sakuraba Publishing, it would be difficult for a hard-core mystery novel to gain such a large amount of attention. I am aware of this."
"Don't underestimate yourself, Hikigaya-kun. Other people's orthodox mysteries can't do it, but yours can. The Clockwork Museum Incident can! Believe me, if Sakuraba didn't have enough confidence in the quality of your novel, it wouldn't dare to promote it so boldly. Hikigaya-kun, just look forward to the hurricane that will blow through the entire mystery world because of you after July 3rd."
After finishing the call, Hachiman felt a little dazed. For the first time, he realized that his work was about to bring such a massive shock to the literary world. The feeling was a little unreal, and he temporarily lost his will to study.
Contrary to his usual behavior, he took the initiative to go to Yukino's apartment door and knock. Soon, he heard the sound of footsteps in stockings approaching from the other side.
"Hikigaya-kun? What's going on?" Yukino seemed a little at a loss when she opened the door. After all, she had always been the one running to his apartment; this was the first time Hachiman had knocked on her door on his own initiative.
"It's nothing, really," he said. "I have an exam tomorrow, and I'm feeling a little bored staying in my room. Maybe it's because you're not by my side."
"It doesn't matter where I study. If you want me to accompany you, Hikigaya-kun, I will," she said, but her keen senses picked up on his absent-mindedness, and she couldn't help but worry. "If you feel bored right now, you can chat with me for a while."
"Okay. Can I go to your room and sit for a while?" Hachiman asked. There was still a big difference between a girl entering a boy's room and a boy entering a girl's room. Although Yukino practically treated his bedroom as her own, Hachiman couldn't do the same.
"Of course. I would say you are welcome to come whenever you want, Hikigaya-kun."
The last time Hachiman had walked into this apartment was when he ran into Yukino and her father by chance at the end of last year. Half a year had passed, and apart from the addition of some home appliances, not much had changed. The most important point was that the apartment lacked a lived-in atmosphere. But as Hachiman thought about it, he realized that was normal. After all, Yukino spent most of her life in his room instead of her own. This was called an apartment, but for her, it was probably more like a hotel.
"You have an exam tomorrow, Hikigaya-kun, so I won't make you tea or coffee. Just drink some hot milk to ensure your sleep quality."
Hachiman took the cup of hot milk from Yukino, but just as he was about to take a sip, he felt a warm touch on his back.
It was Yukino. She had gently hugged him from behind.
"Hikigaya-kun," she whispered, so shyly that her voice was difficult to hear clearly. "I don't know what's bothering you, but this may make you feel better."
Hiss... Yukinoshita, Hachiman thought, this is much more refreshing than coffee... It was like the breath of life itself.
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