Pulling down the blinds, Kazuhiko Torishima looked out at the office floor from the conference room and couldn't help but nod.
Having this kind of fire was good. Shame could be a powerful motivator.
He sat down and began reading the article again.
"They really do look down on me."
As an editor with decades of experience, his perspective was naturally broader than that of an ordinary journalist.
Weekly Shonen Jump was still in decline, which meant his decisions hadn't taken full effect yet. But in another two or three years, a wave of hit manga would surely emerge.
It was this anxious gap period that was the problem.
"Fujin, don't let me down."
...
"So that's Kanzaki's situation."
Looking at the article, Ichiro Fujima laughed with delight. He hadn't expected that after walking out of juvenile detention, someone would actually pay him to write a book, turning him into a wealthy man overnight.
He could buy all the games he wanted and the building block sets he liked.
"Fujima, since you're in such a good mood, why not do some studying?" his manager advised, looking pained.
He'd been closely monitoring the public sentiment around Fujima, which had gradually shifted from initial fascination into skepticism and outright rejection.
Sales of I Am a Murderer were trending downward.
When asked to use a ghostwriter, he refused, saying he wanted to convey the guidance of the gods himself.
When asked to maintain basic personal hygiene on camera, he'd agree halfheartedly, then immediately forget and do things like bite his nails or pick his nose in front of the lens.
If he didn't work on enriching his public persona, Fujima would sooner or later be abandoned by the market entirely.
"While people still care about you, hurry and put out I Am a Murderer 2."
"No." Fujima shook his head and tossed the newspaper aside. If his manager hadn't shoved it in front of him, he wouldn't have read it at all.
Fujima sat cross-legged on the floor, picked up a controller, and said, "I haven't beaten this Castlevania yet."
"My fans will never leave me. They love me the most. They don't even care that I'm a murderer."
...
On the streets of Shibuya.
Two girls wearing crop tops, short skirts, and loose socks, carrying luxury brand bags, blended seamlessly into the Shibuya crowd.
"Hey, Kyoko." Her friend nudged Kyoko Ikeda's shoulder. "Have you still not bought Fujima's book?"
"Fujima?" Kyoko hesitated for a second.
Her friend explained. "You know, that writer you used to like. Ichiro Fujima."
"Oh, him." Kyoko waved her hand in disgust. "He's always picking his nose. It's so gross. He's not cool at all, and he goes around calling himself a murderer. Ugh!"
"His writing is terrible too. Even worse than my little brother who's always playing in the dirt. 'The sun is like a tomato.' What a complete moron!"
She was trying her hardest to distance herself from Fujima, trashing him as completely worthless.
"Forget about him. I recently found this underground idol group. One of the guys has a tear mole by the corner of his eye. He's absolutely dreamy."
Her friend perked up immediately. "Tell me everything. I love that type."
After living a day in the life of a normal teenage girl, Kyoko returned home.
Her mother was on the sofa reading a newspaper. Hearing the door, she looked up.
"Kyoko, do you remember that manga you told me about? I think it was called Death Note."
Kyoko froze, then nodded hesitantly. "Yeah."
"It seems this manga has started serialization again. How awful. I'm thinking of filing another complaint, this time with the Agency for Cultural Affairs. I have to get it shut down."
"No!" Hearing her mother's words, Kyoko shouted before she could stop herself.
"Hm?" Her mother looked at her in confusion. "You didn't have this attitude last time."
"Well... Mom." Kyoko put her hands behind her back and tapped her foot, suddenly lacking confidence. "Actually, this manga isn't that bad. It's just a regular detective mystery story."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah!" Kyoko nodded firmly.
"Alright." Her mother nodded, still looking uncertain. "Let's drop the manga talk. Go wash your hands and come eat. I saved your favorite salmon slices."
"I already ate out, so I'll skip dinner. Thanks, Mom."
Kyoko bolted to her bedroom in a few quick strides, shut the door, locked it, and finally exhaled.
"She didn't notice, right?"
She pulled a copy of Weekly Shonen Jump out from under her bed and gently wiped the dust off the cover.
She'd originally bought it to fuel her attacks on Kanzaki. But after actually reading Death Note, she couldn't put it down.
"Light Yagami... I love you to death."
She kissed the cover.
She was completely captivated.
Light Yagami looked like a model student on the surface. Clean-cut, well-mannered, the picture of a good boy. But inside, he was pure darkness.
He wanted to exterminate the criminals, build a new world, and reign over it as its god.
That kind of premise hit Kyoko Ikeda's weak spot dead center.
Compared to Light Yagami, Ichiro Fujima wasn't even as good as Shiro. Shiro, for the record, was her little brother's pet dog. The one that liked to run outside and eat things it shouldn't.
Putting away issue 23, she pulled issue 24 out of her backpack.
Death Note was up to chapter two now, and she'd secretly bought this issue and snuck it home during a break while shopping with her friend.
...
"That article was pretty spot-on, wasn't it? Death Note already has holes in it by the second chapter."
Two students were debating in a ramen shop.
"Where?" one of them asked curiously.
"Obviously, it's about when Light kills." The thin one with glasses pushed them up his nose. "Light uses the Death Note during his break times. As long as you figure out the pattern of when he kills, L can easily determine that the killer is a student. That would narrow the suspect pool down dramatically."
"Now that you mention it, that's true." The stocky one nodded.
He opened the Weekly Shonen Jump he'd just bought. "It just depends on whether Kanzaki-sensei addresses it. If he doesn't write about this point, it means the mystery side of Death Note isn't that airtight."
"And if he does, it means Light isn't actually a criminal genius, which would make the showdown between him and L feel kind of flat."
"He probably won't," the thin one said smugly. "I only caught it after reading the chapter multiple times. Kanzaki-sensei is a rookie. It's normal to have oversights."
"Hm." The stocky one thought it over. "Let's just keep reading."
They set their ramen aside and dove eagerly into the manga.
The showdown between L and Kira had become the hottest topic over the past two days.
Light Yagami was extremely confident. The reason he dared to play savior without fearing the police was simple: his father, Soichiro Yagami.
The man was the police chief.
With that connection, Light could stay one step ahead by accessing L's investigation progress through the police side.
And just as Light had predicted, the police and L had already deduced that the killer was a student.
The two students put down the manga and stared at each other.
What was Light planning? What possible advantage could there be in practically exposing himself?
______________________
Bonus chapter at 666 Power stones
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