Tokyo: Starting with the Gear-Conscious Male Gods!

Chapter 46 Online Novel Authors Are Daydreamers

When Shirakawa Yuta arrived at the classroom, Takahashi Masako was already there, sitting in her seat and writing something, as always.

However, this time was a little different from before. Masako Takahashi looked full of energy and vitality.

It's no longer as lifeless as when I wrote those book reviews and argumentative essays before.

Yuta Shirakawa didn't disturb her, but quietly moved closer to her and started watching.

"Katsuro Takeru leaned back in his chair, his gaze calmly sweeping across the narrow corridor. The sudden noise in the middle of the night had passed, and most of the passengers had fallen asleep again. Only he had been awakened by the unusual noise and keenly sensed that a crime was brewing on this train in the frozen snow."

"Shortly afterward, the train conductor, Shimizu Isamu, rushed over, looking flustered. He whispered to him: 'There's a strange noise coming from the compartment of Mr. Toudou Yan, a wealthy businessman from Kanto. Knocking on the door yields no answer, and it's locked from the inside.' Katsuro Takeru's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly became alert..."

The story has reached the crucial stage where the protagonist initially intervenes in the investigation. The names of the protagonist and the deceased were given by Yuta Shirakawa, or rather, he simply used the names from the novel he wrote in his previous life when it was adapted by Fuji Television in Japan.

Including some other content settings, when Shirakawa Yuta discussed with Takahashi Masako, he also referred to the settings in that drama, such as the time being set in the Showa period and the deceased being a wealthy merchant in the Kanto region.

After all, a script that has already withstood the test of the market and achieved remarkable results has a very well-developed setting, and at least there won't be any major flaws.

Therefore, there's no need for Yuta Shirakawa to waste his brainpower reconstructing a new setting; he might as well just use the one he has.

Masako Takahashi was writing very seriously, and it wasn't until she finished this section that she realized Yuta Shirakawa was standing next to her.

She gave Shirakawa Yuta a gentle smile, which served as a greeting.

Seeing that Shirakawa Yuta was reading the text above, she didn't try to hide it. Instead, she stepped back and showed it off generously.

She looked at Yuta Shirakawa and said, "According to our original plan, the background story before the incident is almost complete. Take a look and see if there's anything that needs to be changed."

Yuta Shirakawa nodded in agreement. He also wanted to check for any logical problems, as the word count was still low and revisions would be easier.

After receiving the manuscript, Shirakawa Yuta didn't look at it immediately. Since the first class was in Japanese, he figured he could look at it during class. His gaze casually swept over the dark circles under the other's eyes as he jokingly remarked:

"You wrote so fast, it seems you've been staying up late quite a bit."

Masako Takahashi's eyes lit up. She didn't deny it, but nodded vigorously and said earnestly, "Because I really love this story!"

Yuta Shirakawa met the other person's clear, spring-like eyes, and his heart stirred. He naturally knew what the other person wanted to say, and swallowed back the words he originally wanted to use to advise the other person not to rush and to write slowly.

Before he could speak, Masako Takahashi blinked as if she had thought of something, and looked up to ask, "Oh, by the way, has Kurosaki Takeshi's key been found?"

"Well……"

Yuta Shirakawa opened his mouth, but before he could answer, someone suddenly put their arm around his shoulder from behind and laughed excitedly:

"Yuta, I ran into that chubby kid again on my way to school. He was limping around, it was hilarious."

Yuta Shirakawa: ...Your mother.

During the Japanese language class, while the teacher was lecturing, Shirakawa Yuta looked at Takahashi Masako's manuscript from below. As soon as he turned to the first page, he smiled for no apparent reason.

This feeling reminded him of a scene from his previous life, where he was also in a Chinese class, not paying attention, and reading a novel.

His smile didn't bother him, but it instantly made Masako Takahashi, who was in class but still keeping an eye on him, tense up.

Why is he laughing? Is there something wrong with the first page? That shouldn't be the case...

Masako Takahashi spent the rest of the class in a state of anxious, racing thoughts. As soon as get out of class ended, before the teacher had even left the classroom, she eagerly turned around and asked:

"How is it? Is there a problem?"

Yuta Shirakawa hesitated for a moment. Although he didn't want to dampen the other party's enthusiasm, there was indeed a fatal problem that had to be pointed out, but he could be more tactful in his words.

Under Masako Takahashi's tense gaze, Yuta Shirakawa slowly began to speak:

"Overall it's pretty good. Your writing is very delicate, and the descriptions and foreshadowing of the plot are very well done."

Masako Takahashi's tense shoulders instantly relaxed, and the tension in her eyes faded considerably. She visibly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Really? I thought I wrote something terrible..."

"No, but there is a small problem."

As he spoke, Shirakawa Yuta pinched his little finger with his thumb to indicate that it was really small.

Masako Takahashi's smile faltered, her gaze sharpening as she leaned forward slightly and asked earnestly, "What's the problem?"

Yuta Shirakawa didn't mince words, saying directly, "When writing novels, especially detective novels, the most important thing is to tell the story clearly with simple language. Elegant metaphors and flowery language are useless here. If you describe a scene too much, it will even have the effect of overshadowing the story and greatly affect the reader's reading experience, making them feel like you are talking nonsense."

"For example, in the very beginning of the article, your description of the train in the snowstorm, a large part of it describes how beautiful the snow is when it falls on the ground, such as 'clothing the earth in silver,' 'the snowstorm raging,' 'the cold wind sweeping the snowflakes across the night sky,' etc. No matter how beautiful these sentences are, they are far less precise and powerful than the sentence 'a train quietly travels towards the distant canyon in the blizzard.'"

"Detective novels need this kind of straightforward visual imagery. Unnecessary embellishments will only slow down the pace and blur the core plot. You're not one of those shameless online novelists who start writing filler content all the time, so remember to change this."

Hearing this, Masako Takahashi nodded thoughtfully. She recalled the detective novels she had read before, and it seemed that they were indeed like that.

There are never any fancy descriptions, only straightforward narration. Even when there are descriptions of the environment, they are mostly used to create a terrifying atmosphere and serve the plot.

There will be virtually no other meaningless descriptions.

Suddenly, she remembered another word from the previous conversation and asked curiously:

"What kind of online novel author writes? I've never heard of this name before."

Yuta Shirakawa paused for a moment, then slowly said:

"Hmm, online novel authors are daydreamers."