Not a detective

Page 202

"Senior, do you know how many people have asked me why I haven't released a new book? It's not just my fans, but also my editors and publishers. They're all urging me to write more. But writing a mystery novel isn't that easy. Just coming up with interesting cases and clever tricks is difficult enough, let alone expanding it into a book and making sure it's not criticized after it's published..."

She laughed, looking at the notebook that was covered in colorful scribbles, and tore off a page: "So, please help me come up with ideas for my new book!"

"Give me... an idea...?"

Yes, you see—

The tiny finger pointed to the torn piece of paper. It turned out that it wasn't doodles, but rather a table drawn with lines, and even a title:

[Case Description: ——]

[Exploration: ——]

【clue:--】

[Exploration: ——]

【clue:--】

These two entries then appeared repeatedly several times, until finally, when two more lines appeared:

【murderer:--】

【Technique: ——】

"This is?"

"This is the initial outline of a case, what I usually call a preliminary outline."

Asukai Shi explained: "Starting from the discovery of the case, the detective conducts an investigation, gradually uncovers the truth, and finally deduces the culprit and the method."

This explanation is simple and easy to understand, but that's not what Asakawa Riku was referring to.

His eyes widened in surprise as he pointed to the contents of the paper:

"You wrote... in Chinese?"

Yes, what's written on the paper isn't just simple Chinese characters; there's not a single kana character. It's just a simple Chinese expression.

"Yes."

Asukai Shi answered matter-of-factly, then realized, "Oh, I'm Chinese. Shi is my original name. I changed it to an easy-to-understand Japanese surname because I'm here to study abroad, so it's kind of a pen name. Don't blame me, senior, this is information that hasn't been made public before. This is our secret, so please don't leak it out!"

She covered her mouth and laughed, but Asakawa Riku was extremely surprised.

"real or fake……"

Upon closer inspection, the surname Asukai is indeed very rare, so unusual that one might think it was made up. And it was indeed made up.

But East Asians all look pretty much the same, and at first glance, it was hard to recognize that they were from the same hometown, which made Asakawa Riku feel a little ashamed.

"Of course it's true~"

She suddenly switched to Chinese and even tilted her head cutely.

Asukai Shi's voice was already beautiful, and the familiar accent touched Asakawa Riku for some reason.

I feel that the resistance and unease I felt before have gradually dissipated.

Although he met an old friend in a foreign land, Asakawa Riku could not acknowledge him, as he could not reveal his identity as a transmigrator and had to be careful.

However, this also aroused his curiosity:

"Why write in Chinese... By the way, how did you know I can speak Chinese?"

"Because the inspiration for writing a book is an important [trade secret], and if it is accidentally leaked, it will be a huge loss."

That makes sense. After all, every book of hers is a bestseller. If the contents were leaked or leaked, it would be a big problem. Using Chinese would also allow for encrypted communication.

But Asukai Uta changed the subject, smiling and squinting her eyes: "But... I'll keep the second question a secret."

"Keep it a secret again?"

"Hehe, if you can win, I'll tell you everything."

...She's a truly mysterious woman.

Looking at that fox-like smile, Asakawa Riku couldn't bring himself to ask any further questions.

It seems like there's only one way: to win.

"Tell me, how do we play this game?"

Tamamo's Spring: Chapter Seven - "Red Letters" and "Blue Letters"

“It’s simple. You play the role of the murderer, and I’ll play the role of the detective.”

"The murderer... wants me to kill someone?"

"How could that be? Your idea is terrifying, senior. Of course, it's completed on this piece of paper."

Asukai Shi pointed to the first line, "Case Description": "Please write down a case you imagine here, and then I'll deduce it. If I can guess who the murderer is and how they did it, then I win; if I can't guess, it means it's a very clever trick that I can use in my new book, then you win, senior!"

"Oh?" Asakawa Riku became interested: "It's like a puzzle game..."

"Yes, yes! Isn't it fun?"

She laughed cheerfully and handed the paper to Asakawa Riku: "Alright, hurry up and write. I'm very interested. What kind of cases can you come up with, senpai?"

Asakawa Rikuya became interested. After all, he had read so many mystery novels under the influence of Chizuko-senpai and experienced a lot of events, so he would definitely have his own ideas.

But he doesn't have the time or the writing skills to write a novel, so if it could provide this aspiring writer with some inspiration, or even just appear in a book...

feel good.

But as soon as he picked up the pen, he ran into a problem: "But... I might not be able to write just these two lines?"

A complete case should be described in at least two or three hundred words. Even if you remove unnecessary descriptions and dialogues, you should at least describe the characters and details of the case.

In that case, how could it be completed without writing it down on a piece of paper?

"There's no need to write in such detail; just give a general description of the case type."

Asukai Shi picked up two brightly colored pens from the side: "As for the specific details of the case, we'll gradually reveal them in the [Investigation] and [Clues] stages."

I was just about to ask this question: is the color of the pen and the color of the text what makes the paper look so colorful?

Actually, they are two colors.

"Red is a [clue]."

"Blue represents [Exploration]."

She pointed.

Asakawa Riku asked, puzzled, "What do you mean? Why do we need to use different colors?"

"Red refers to [undeniable facts], [truths that need no explanation], and [absolutely objective clues]."

Asukai Shi explained, covering her flat chest: "For example, the sentence 'I am a human being, I am Chinese' is red truth."

After saying that, she wrote the sentence on the paper with a red pen.

"What about blue?"

"Blue represents the detective's investigation process, the conjectures being attempted to answer, and the necessary path to proving the truth."

She added, "For example, I might ask a senior, 'What did you eat this morning?'"

The sentence was written on the paper in blue pen.

"We ate...bread."

Riku Asakawa recalled that Yukie had heated the bread in the bread machine, along with the milk.

So, two lines of text were left on the paper in front of them:

[Blue text: What did Xiaochuan eat this morning?]

[Red text: Ogawa ate bread this morning.]

It's like a children's educational book or a basic Chinese textbook...

"What kind of nickname is Ogawa...? That's really strange."

Asakawa Riku felt goosebumps. Calling him "Riku-chan" was one thing, but who would use part of their surname as a nickname?

"Because the red text must be truthful, but there are many predecessors, but only one Ogawa, so we must use the most unambiguous and precise expression possible."

Asukai Shi smiled and said, "You can also call me 'Shi-chan,' it sounds more intimate that way."

"talk later……"

Asakawa Riku said helplessly.

He roughly understood how the game worked: "So, you ask questions one by one through 'investigation,' and then I give you 'clues' to answer you?"

"That's right! That's exactly how it's played—a detective game using language and words!"

Asukai Shi excitedly slapped the table, looking very expectant: "The blue words are like bows and arrows, and the red words are like shields. If you can block all the attacks, you'll win!"

After thinking about it for a moment, Riku Asakawa felt that this game was indeed good. It could not only clearly explain the outline of a case, but also simulate the process of a detective solving a case.

It's quite interesting to unravel a case shrouded in mystery bit by bit.

Just like the outline of a novel, once the case is expanded, it becomes a complete novel.

If she succeeds in solving this case and it stumps her, there's a chance it will be included in her next book...

"Moreover, listen to me, this method can also successfully avoid the [late-stage Quinn problem]."

"The late Quinn issue?"

"You must have heard of him, senior, right?"

Asukai Shi proudly puffed out his chest: "This is an important point of view that was raised by Rintaro Hozuki in 1995 in the Japanese magazine Contemporary Thought, titled 'On the Early Quine.' It mainly focused on Ellery Queen's 'The Mystery of the Greek Coffin,' 'The Tragedy of Y,' and 'The Mystery of the Siamese Conjoined Twins.'"

"...I think I've heard about it before."

Asakawa Riku suddenly felt that the name sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure if he had seen it before or heard his senior mention it.

Its main arguments are twofold:

"First, whether the answer the detective finally proposes in the work is truly the answer cannot be proven in the work itself."

"Second, the detective plays the role of a god in the work, deciding the fate of the characters."

Asukai Shi also wrote these two sentences down on paper, but without using a red or blue pen.

To summarize these two sentences simply:

How does a detective ensure that all clues are complete and that no new clues have been discovered yet?

Even if the detective has all the clues, is it possible that some of them are false (clues fabricated by the culprit to mislead the detective)? How can the reliability of the clues be guaranteed?

Even if all the clues are credible, is the reasoning based on these clues unique? Are there other ways to arrive at the answer?

[Isn't it incredibly irresponsible for a detective to make inferences based solely on such uncertain clues, revealing what they believe to be the truth, and deciding someone's fate?]

Asakawa Riku was somewhat taken aback.

As expected of a mystery novelist, the depth of his thinking is quite different from that of an ordinary reader like him.

"If that's the case... then all mystery novels seem to have lost their meaning..."

A detective is not a god, nor can he be omniscient. Can he guarantee that he knows all the clues?

Even if you do find the clues, what if they are false clues deliberately set up by the murderer to interfere with the detective's thinking? How can you tell the difference between the real and the fake?

What if someone makes a hasty conclusion, saying things like "there's only one truth" or "there are other answers"?

What should be done about the fate of those who have been sentenced?

------

It's a pity that Hedgehog Cat doesn't allow you to adjust the text color, otherwise it would be much more intuitive.

I started daydreaming again, imagining the day this book would be adapted into a comic and published as a physical book...

Tamamo no Spring: Chapter Eight - Dismemberment in a Secret Chamber

"The 'Later Quinn Problem' is really annoying, isn't it? It's practically the enemy of creators. Once you start thinking about it, you can't write properly."

Asukai Shi shook her head in complaint: "So, this game can smoothly avoid this kind of problem. No need to think about it, red text is red text, and blue text is blue text."