All-rounder Artist

“The culprit is him!”

At the same time, in Lin Yuan’s studio, Jin Mu, who had just finished reading the novel, suddenly let out a massive gasp!

Luo Wei had knocked off work by then.

Lin Yuan was about to head home when he heard Jin Mu’s gasp and stopped in his tracks.

He felt that Jin Mu must have something to say.

Indeed, Jin Mu did have something to say. He had a lot of questions, but they all boiled down to one fundamental issue:

“Boss, this detective novel is mind-blowing! The murderer turned out to be Xie Shepherd, the protagonist from the first-person perspective. It’s just unbelievable! How did you come up with such a writing technique…”

“Narrative Trickery.” Lin Yuan said.

“What the hell?” Jin Mu looked confused.

Lin Yuan explained: “The trickery of ‘Narrative Trickery’ — narrative deception, this is the technique applied in ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’.”

Jin Mu opened his mouth wide.

After a long silence, he muttered, “Narrative Trickery… narrative deception… because of the novel’s narrative approach, readers are susceptible to falling into this textual trap from the very start, but it’s not merely about wordplay. No wonder Chu Kuang…”

Some novels employing Narrative Trickery simply play games with words.

However, ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ isn’t one of them. As one of the earliest novels using this form of narrative, this work simply exploits the cognitive blind spots of the readers. The clues are not hidden, so some readers may guess the murderer beforehand.

Of course.

For those who’ve never encountered narrative deception, relying solely on the clues provided in the novel to deduce the murderer’s identity would be next to impossible.

Unless they receive a strong hint like “you will absolutely never guess the culprit of this case” from the start.

“Got it.”

After Lin Yuan left, Jin Mu, somewhat excited, stood up and contacted Silver Blue Books to discuss the publication of the new novel.

Following Jin Mu’s negotiation with Silver Blue Books, they also began researching promotional strategies for ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ that very night.

Without a doubt.

As one of the main pillars of Silver Blue Books, GOAT author Chu Kuang’s fresh detective story naturally needed to be arranged for the highest promotional level.

It’s a matter of prestige!

The next day, the promotion by Silver Blue Books kicked off!

The glamorous headline on the official website was very much in line with the style of Chu Kuang’s new book release. The tone was as unabashedly bold as ever, typical of Chu Kuang’s book promotion:

[In the name of deduction, declaring war against readers, the new book ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, Chu Kuang creates yet another new genre!]

Clicking through to the article, every line ended with an exclamation point:

“Chu Kuang’s new detective novel shocks with its release!”

“The ending of the novel will blow your mind!”

“Completely overturning your understanding of deduction!”

“Creating a new creative method for detective novels!”

“Chu Kuang: Always Imitated, Never Surpassed!”

Look at those words: “Creation”, “Shock”, “Explosion”, “Overturn”, “Always Imitated, Never Surpassed”…

Which one isn’t boastful?

Especially the last line, “Always Imitated, Never Surpassed,” which perfectly reflects Chu Kuang’s position in the industry.

Becoming a pioneer and an influencer of several novel genres, Chu Kuang has allowed many people to make a living from them.

So…

Even if the language is a bit boastful, even if the promotion is a bit loud, readers didn’t find the massive new book advertising inappropriate.

On the contrary.

Many people held high hopes for this book—

“Chu Kuang is taking a crack at mystery? Say no more. I’ll buy it.”

“Mystery? I’m not interested. Chu Kuang? I am. No time to talk, the new book is about to be released~”

“As a fan of Chu, having recently finished ‘A Bowl of Spring Noodles’, I should take a look at Chu Kuang’s new book just for the sake of this novel alone. Moreover, I’m a dedicated mystery enthusiast, and we Chu fans love mystery novels the most!”

“A detective novel? Heck no… Oh, it’s written by Chu Kuang, well, never mind then.”

“Hahaha, so true. Chu Kuang has completely broken genre boundaries, whatever he writes people are buying.”

“Mostly because, even though the genres are always changing, the remarkable thing about Chu Kuang is that he writes wonderfully in every genre!”

“Wow, that line is so domineering: ‘Always Imitated, Never Surpassed.’ Chu Kuang, the old rascal, is truly impressive!”

“…”

Unbeknownst to the readers.

A maestro from the far-flung planet of the detective novel world also used the phrase “Always Imitated, Never Surpassed” to describe Agatha Christie’s work.

Sir Conan Doyle made a cake called “mystery” and created the first detective in the detective world, Sherlock Holmes!

But Christie, in a way that sold explosively worldwide, allowed many more people to taste this cake, and created the second detective in the detective world, Poirot!

This can be seen from many detective works influenced by Christie.

Sir Conan and Christie are the true pioneers of the detective literature world.

If the former is the king, the latter is undoubtedly the queen.

However, many readers in the detective literature circles still aren’t entirely convinced.

Chu Kuang has a significant reputation, making it common knowledge that he excels at creating new genres, with plenty of past achievements to prove this.

But because readers of detective literature have their own comprehension of this genre, they find it hard to conceive of how one could create a novel detective genre?

Would even the top names like Carter in the detective literature circles dare claim they can create a novel that pioneers a new detective genre?

The same doubts were also arising in the minds of some writers in the detective fiction circle.

Quite a few of them were discussing privately:

“Chu Kuang’s new book is going to be a detective novel, and he claims to invent a new genre of detective fiction. What do you think?”

Mystery and fantasy are completely different genres and literary fields, but Chu Kuang’s sales are just too impressive!

He is so well-known among many authors in the detective fiction circle!

“I’m planning on using my computer to read it.”

“I’ll read it on my phone, so I can lie down while doing so.”

“Enough, you guys… If anyone other than Chu Kuang said this, I would probably slap them in the face. But if it’s Chu Kuang, I will keep my opinions reserved.”

Someone spoke uncertainly.

Immediately, someone echoed: “Let’s just wait and see. If Chu Kuang does indeed establish a new genre of detective fiction, his contribution to the field would be enormous.”

“There should be some innovations.”

A certain detective author made a more objective judgement:

“It might not be enough to establish a new genre, but innovation should be present. Otherwise, they wouldn’t dare to make such bold statements in their promotion, considering the risk of a backlash.”

According to the conventions of book promotions, declaring a minor innovation as “establishing a new genre” is not at all inappropriate.

After all, it’s a widely acknowledged fact…

A promotion is essentially boasting based on the quality of the work.

Now, everyone is curious about how much truth there is in the promotion and how much is fluff.

As long as there is a certain degree of innovation, no one would nitpick the exaggerated claims in the promotion. That’s also a consensus in the industry.

Otherwise, it’s like sabotaging each other’s livelihood.

After all, all authors would do some self-aggrandizing in their promotions, which is what we call boasting.

Just make sure not to overdo it.

If I stop you from boasting a bit today, what will happen if you forbid me to exaggerate in the future?

The phenomenon of literary personnel belittling each other? Yes.

The practice of mutual flattery in the book industry? Also yes.

So, anyone with a bit of intelligence would know not to jump to conclusions too early at this stage—

As if!

There would always be people who jump to conclusions before even reading the work, which is why there is so much backfire.

This time is no exception.

When the news of Chu Kuang writing a detective novel spread from Silver Blue Books and most people in the circle were still observing, some people began to habitually jump to conclusions—

Don’t get me wrong.

This time it’s not slander, but praise!

“I learned online today that Chu Kuang is writing a detective novel. Then I saw someone say that Chu Kuang has never written a detective novel before, and there were no detectable elements in his previous works. Therefore, they speculated that the promotion for Chu Kuang’s new detective novel is overhyped. I feel obligated to speak out: Chu Kuang’s new detective novel would not disappoint!”

“The reason is simple.”

“Those who still doubt Chu Kuang surely don’t understand him. Being a humble man, I have just finished reading all of Chu Kuang’s works. After finishing, I can only say, there were detectable elements in Chu Kuang’s previous long story ‘Ghost Blows Out the Light’. In fact, that novel encompasses numerous pieces of knowledge and writing elements. So many that I could list more than seven or eight.”

“Some people will say that even if Chu Kuang’s previous books had detective elements, it doesn’t mean that he is good at writing detective stories.”

“Wrong! Looking back at all of Chu Kuang’s works since his debut, regardless of whether he had written that genre before, as long as he was willing to write, he succeeded! Someone who understands grave robbery would not understand detection?”

“Chu Kuang is number one in the world! Those who understand, understand!”

This long post was published in the Tribe, and the one who posted it is named Shen Jiarui.

A famous short story writer!

Short story writers might have a disadvantage in this matter, but Shen Jiarui doesn’t have this weakness, because his short stories are all about detection!

So, Shen Jiarui is actually a detective fiction writer who excels in short stories!

He holds a certain status in the industry.

As a result, his statement highlights one thing, “praise”!

As for why Shen Jiarui praised so highly, it’s because he previously lost to Chu Kuang’s “A Bowl of Spring Noodles” in a short story contest.

After losing, Shen Jiarui read all of Chu Kuang’s works, the more he read, the more he liked them, the more he read, the more amazed he became!

Especially after reading “Ghost Blows Out the Light”, Shen Jiarui was utterly astounded by Chu Kuang!

“A true genius of an author! There might not be any genre that Chu Kuang cannot write!”

This is the conclusion Shen Jiarui came to after reading all of Chu Kuang’s works.

This guy is a freak!

So now, Shen Jiarui has become Chu Kuang’s hardcore fan, or to be precise, a crazy fan!

In the eyes of a crazy fan, no doubt about Chu Kuang is tolerable, hence this long post.

After the post was published, Shen Jiarui’s comments section blew up:

“I’m willing to call you the number one Chu Kuang Fan!”

“Hahaha, did the number one Chu Kuang Fan come online again?”

“Shen Jiarui: It’s not directed at anyone. I’m saying that everyone here, except Chu Kuang, are all xx.”

“Are you Chu Kuang’s number one fan?”

“Wow, Shen Teacher, you’re a big shot in the detective circle, and now you’re over-praising a newcomer in detective fiction?”

“…”

Shen Jiarui’s title as the number one Chu Kuang Fan was solidified, but it was precisely because of Shen Jiarui’s high praise that the detective fiction circle’s attention to Chu Kuang’s new book jumped up a notch!

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