Chapter 88: Unrepeatable

Zhang Chu glanced at the nearly finished manuscript on his computer desktop. He could not release the ending of The Sin of the Mind. It was the kind of finale that would leave readers stunned, darkly shocking in the extreme.

The protagonist, Fang Mu, had his finger found inside the belly of an unidentified corpse, while his own fate remained unknown, leaving the story suspended in uncertainty.

Now Zhang Chu copied and pasted the earlier drafts together one by one. After browsing through this several-hundred-thousand-word manuscript, he found very little that needed changing, so he sent it directly to Gu Xinxue and had him take it for review, hoping to get the book published as soon as possible. At the very least, it would give long-awaiting readers an answer.

The whole book was, in truth, simple enough in concept. Starting from one day, a series of people on the internet who were condemned by public opinion, morally vile yet beyond the reach of the law, began to die one after another in nearly perverse ways.

Before each of them died, someone calling himself “The City’s Light” would start a vote online, asking the public to choose who should die next. Once these killings began, the police were left baffled, while the public grew increasingly excited. Everyone felt as though they had become arbiters of life and death, yet they also feared becoming the target of “The City’s Light,” living in constant dread. In the end, Officer Fang Mu used himself as bait and brought the killer to justice.

Unlike other suspense and detective works, this story felt closer to reality. Those who were killed were all people who had stirred up outrage online, and even after being judged by netizens within the novel, they would still spark indignation in the real world.

...

“It’s been three days. Why still no update from the great Zhang Chu?”

A sudden roar erupted in the boys’ dormitory. Mao Yi slammed the desk hard, furious.

He had stayed on campus specifically to do a summer job. When he had nothing to do, he would stay in the dorm and watch videos, catch up on shows, and so on. Some time ago, after accidentally seeing a post recommending Zhang Chu’s The Sin of the Mind, he had fallen completely into the pit.

Mao Yi, who had rarely paid for anything online before, was astonished at himself. His very first paid book turned out to be a suspense novel.

He refreshed Zhang Chu’s microblog and saw that the latest post was still from three days ago. Fang Mu was about to face the killer head-on, and he desperately wanted to know exactly how the protagonist would bring the murderer to justice.

Right at the most thrilling point, it simply stopped. Mao Yi very much wanted to curse Zhang Chu for having no manhood at all.

Then he looked at the comments under Zhang Chu’s microblog and instantly felt balanced. It turned out he was not the only one anxious; many readers were worried about the ending. Mao Yi liked them one by one.

“What on earth happened to the author? Is the ending just too hard to write?”

“Breaking news! Zhang Chu has no manhood!”

“Come back and finish the plot hole! I want to see Officer Fang Mu hunt down the killer!”

“Zhang Chu, what exactly are you doing? At least come out and make a sound.”

“Hope the author doesn’t ditch this. My Teddy just had pups, watch out or I’ll send you a whole litter!”

“Any brothers in River City? Please go ask at the Hanlin Pavilion bookstore what’s going on. Is he still planning to write this book?”

“The Sin of the Mind could totally become a series. Write more about Officer Fang’s earlier experiences. That love triangle needs to be explained.”

Mao Yi sighed. Though he had cursed Zhang Chu, he still hoped Zhang Chu would hurry up and resume updating, and above all, that nothing bad had happened.

...

The crowd’s emotions ran high, and the readers’ resentment only deepened. The Nanhai Publishing Company quickly issued a statement.

“Good news: Zhang Chu’s new work, The Sin of the Mind: City’s Light, will be published and released next month. We hope readers will give it their full support!”

Zhang Chu also reposted the announcement and said, “Well then, that means the ending will have to be read in the physical book. Everyone, hurry up and pre-order it.”

After being silent for so long, he finally spoke, and the readers who had been waiting with bated breath thought he was about to update the ending. Who would have thought it would be such a cruel tease?

“I almost thought something had happened to you. It’s good that you’re fine.”

“What’s the point of a printed edition? Hurry up and show us the ending. We’ll decide whether to buy it after reading.”

“So I have to pay twice? Can I just buy the few pages with the ending?”

“It’ll definitely sell. I bought your Sherlock Holmes book too.”

“You made me worry for nothing. If nothing’s wrong, then update already. Stop dragging your feet.”

“It’s like a bolt from the blue! If I can’t see the ending, I don’t even feel like going to work.”

Looking at these exaggerated remarks, Zhang Chu felt deeply satisfied. It was already mid-August, and the day he would report to university was growing ever closer.

Of course he hoped these matters could be resolved as soon as possible, so that life at school would be a little easier for him.

Entering Yanjing University’s Chinese Department with both the identity of a college entrance examination top scorer and a writer, this would surely be an event of great attention. He had already prepared himself to face the challenge.

But for now, he still had to put on a handsome little suit and head to the River City Book Tower for the autograph event for The Sherlock Detective.

By now, the novel had already sold out its initial print run of one hundred thousand copies. The first added print run of fifty thousand copies was also quickly absorbed by the thirsty market, and a second reprint was already underway.

Online, the electronic edition had continued to sell exceptionally well. Between Amazon and Douban alone, sales had already reached one hundred and twenty thousand copies. Add to that channels such as Apple Books and Duokan Reading, and cumulative sales were charging toward one hundred and eighty thousand.

For a newcomer, this was absolutely an outstanding achievement, enough to make many writers envious. It was not only detective writers who envied him; authors of other genres would find it difficult to surpass such results as well.

Of course, The Sherlock Detective also enjoyed very favorable reviews. Amazon gave it 4.5 stars, while Douban Reading rated it 8.7, both placing it among the leading works in detective fiction.

On Douban Reading alone, more than seven thousand people had already reviewed it, and the book had been out for just over a month.

“If Conan Doyle were still alive, he would definitely love this fan work,” wrote a user named Plum Cat, awarding it five stars. That comment received several hundred likes.

Another user, Chili Pepper Is Not Banana, also gave it five stars, writing: “The national-level British ship of the century makes its debut in the twenty-first century. Too bad it’s not long enough—only three cases. For the first time in my life, I’ve wanted a novel as long as an old grandma’s foot-binding cloth.”

A user named Yi Xian gave it four stars, believing that the male lead, Sherlock Holmes, was too outrageous, though the plot was very tight, especially the ending of the third case, where Holmes and Moriarty clashed head-on and left people hanging on every detail.

There were negative reviews, but far more positive ones. This fan work attracted a considerable number of Holmes enthusiasts, detective fiction lovers, Zhang Chu fans, and the fujoshi crowd, among others.

Among the new books released in July, The Sherlock Detective had actually outsold the new works of many veteran authors, shocking industry insiders.

Only after careful examination did people realize that Zhang Chu’s debut work was something impossible to replicate.