Living in the bubble economy of Tokyo, I became a literary giant through lotteries.

Tokyo, July 1989.

It was winter, and the snow fell silently.

At dusk, in the back room of an old bookstore in Taitung District, an old kotatsu (heated table) occupies two-thirds of the space.

The four people sat around the blankets, which were warm and cozy, but none of them showed any signs of comfort.

The kerosene heater was placed in the corner, emitting a faint burning sound. Koji Sekiya would occasionally glance at the oil meter on the heater to calculate how much money would be burned that night.

"This winter is exceptionally cold." He twirled the teacup in his hand. "The bookstore's business... if this continues, we'll even have trouble affording food."

Yuko Matsumoto, who was standing next to him, sighed and turned down the heater. "We need to use the oil sparingly; there's still a month and a half until spring."

"My younger brother submitted his work to a magazine, I don't know..." Guan Guyu said, biting her lip.

Guan Gu Feng sat in the seat closest to the door, furthest from the heater, and the chill seeped up from the wooden floor.

Having been reborn in Tokyo during the late stages of the bubble economy, he has remained silent for some time, piecing together fragments of his past life's memories to rediscover this world.

He is twenty years old this year and is the second child in the family. His mother passed away when he was seventeen.

Later, his father remarried with his current stepmother, Yuko Matsumoto, and they had another 18-year-old child, his third brother, Aki Sekiya.

The bookstore, which the family runs, is owned by the mother, Sachiko. When she was alive, the bookstore established itself in Taitung District with its high-quality and affordable products.

But after Sachiko left, Matsumoto Yuko, in order to make quick money, stocked up on a large number of low-quality books and sold them at high prices, completely offending her old customers.

This morning, Guan Guqiu, the only college student in his family, took his novel to submit for publication again; this was his seventeenth time.

But they haven't returned yet, so it's likely they've failed again.

Koji Sekiya downed his tea in one gulp. "I can't wait any longer. Sachiko still has some belongings. I'll look for them again tomorrow and see if there's anything I can exchange for money."

Guan Guyu suddenly looked up, "Dad! Those are Mom's..."

Before she could finish speaking, Matsumoto Yuko's harsh gaze choked her off.

Guan Gufeng watched all of this in silence.

Just then, the door was pushed open, a cold wind blew in, and a short, stout figure entered.

Guan Guqiu.

"Xiao Qiu, how is it?" Matsumoto Yuko was the first to speak.

Guan Guqiu didn't answer immediately. He took off his shoes, stepped heavily into the inner room, and plopped down on the kotatsu.

"That editor doesn't understand literature at all," he finally complained. "He said my novel was 'loosely structured and had flat characters.' What does he know? I'm writing a Kafkaesque modern allegory!"

"It's alright, it's alright. My son is a genius. That editor must have no taste." Matsumoto Yuko put on a smile and turned up the heat of the heater.

"Let's try a different place. How about Kadokawa? Shogakukan? Surely one of them will recognize our talent."

Guan Guqiu's expression softened slightly. "Mom, you don't understand. Literature isn't about submitting a resume; it's about finding kindred spirits."

"Yes, yes, yes, kindred spirits."

Koji Sekiya put down his teacup, rubbed his hands on his knees, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just sighed.

Everyone thought that was the end of it for today, but misfortune never comes singly.

"Bang!"

A loud bang was heard as the door was kicked open, and several burly men wearing expensive down jackets, with tattoos on their exposed necks and wrists, walked in.

Koji Sekiya quickly stood up, bowed at a ninety-degree angle, and said in a fawning voice, "Brother Sato! What brings you here? Didn't you say the gambling debts would be deferred for two days?"

These are thugs from the neighborhood who collect protection money. They are good at bullying the weak and causing trouble for no reason. Sato, who is in charge, is the leader of this group.

Although the Guan family has three men, they dare not offend him, simply because he has a triad background.

"Stop talking nonsense." Sato interrupted him, glanced around the house, and finally stopped at a jewelry box. He walked over and opened it, inside which lay a gold bracelet.

The inscription above reads: "Showa 29 (1943), Sachiko."

He grinned. "Hey, there's still some in stock, isn't there? Guan Gu, you said you didn't have money to pay your debts, isn't this bracelet money?"

"Brother Sato, those are my wife's belongings. I plan to take them tomorrow..." Koji Sekiya stepped forward, bending even lower, almost touching the ground.

"Your wife's belongings?" Sato held the bracelet up to his eyes, examining its quality under the light. "Perfect, consider it interest."

"Big brother, I..."

"roll!"

Sato stuffed the bracelet into his pocket, shoved Koji Kanya aside, and stopped at the door.

"Giving you an extension until the end of the month is already out of consideration for Sachiko." His voice was icy. "If you can't repay the principal by the end of the month, it won't be a problem that can be solved with just a bracelet."

"When the time comes, you can choose between your finger and the ledger."

The footsteps faded into the distance, and a cold wind blew in from outside the door, sweeping away all the warmth that the heater had painstakingly accumulated.

Yuko Matsumoto walked up to Koji Sekiya and lowered her voice, as if afraid of being overheard by someone.

"Koji, look again, see if Sachiko has anything else. Akiko needs that money for her tuition next year..."

Guan Gufeng witnessed everything from the sidelines, and at the same time, gained a clearer understanding of his own environment.

After his mother passed away, Koji Sekiya, without a wife to keep him in check, started frequenting pachinko parlors. Later, finding pachinko too slow to generate income, he started betting on horse racing.

At first, I only lost my cigarette money, then it was the bookstore's revenue, and later it was my family's savings.

The "money" the stepmother mentioned was the "college preparatory fund" that her mother left for Guan Gufeng and Guan Guyu.

The money was in a bank account, but Matsumoto Yuko took it away, claiming that her older sister needed to help run the shop and didn't need to go to university, so as the older brother, he should give way to his younger sister.

Their biological father never uttered a single word.

Koji Sekiya sat back down on the kotatsu and slowly began to speak, "Before Sachiko passed away, an editor owed her a favor. I'll go ask her for an intern editor position tomorrow."

"Then who should we send them to?" Matsumoto Yuko asked, glancing warily at Sekiya Kaze.

"Let Xiaofeng and Xiaoqiu go together, and let the editor see which one is more suitable."

Upon hearing this, Guan Guyu's eyes lit up as she looked at Guan Gufeng.

Looking at her expectant eyes, Guan Gufeng was speechless. Although he didn't say it outright, wasn't that obvious enough?

As the eldest sister and a woman, she naturally has to contribute to the family.

He was the second son, and his situation reflected the old saying.

The firstborn are rare, the old are pampered, and the suffering lies halfway up the mountain.

"Koji, where is that editor you mentioned from?" Matsumoto Yuko asked softly.

"New Trend Club."

Shincho Publishing House, one of the five major publishing houses and a leader in literature and art, was a household name in this era, with almost every family owning a Shincho Publishing House book to show off their culture.

Even though becoming an intern editor at Shinchosha means working as cheap labor, not everyone can get that opportunity.

Even if it's cheap, it can improve the family's living conditions. If they get a promotion, they'll become part of the elite class and achieve a life-changing turnaround.

When you're out and about, you'll be respected.

But none of this mattered to Guan Gufeng. He knew this opportunity wouldn't be his, so there was no need for him to be anxious about it. Besides, just now...

[Host memory integration complete; equipment slot lottery system now available]

The cheat code has arrived!

After the somewhat unsettling family meeting ended, Guan Gufeng returned to his room, locked the door, and with a thought, a light screen that only he could see appeared.

Current equipment slots: 1 (expandable)

【Equipped Items: None】

Current number of draws: 1 (refreshed weekly)

[The host can obtain equipment through a lottery. Equipping the equipment will enhance its attributes, and completing certain conditions will permanently retain the equipment's effects.]

[After equipment is removed, its attributes become invalid, and the equipment is returned; after being permanently upgraded, the equipment disappears, and the equipment slot becomes empty.]

"Is this my cheat code? It looks pretty simple."

Guan Gufeng rubbed his hands together and offered a prayer.

"Please, please, just give out the gold!"

[Using one lottery draw attempt, spatial portal is forming]

A portal to another dimension? Could it be that you can draw something from another dimension?

Before he could think any further, he heard a voice say "Start the lottery." Guan Gufeng's vision blurred, and after a dizzying moment, he found himself in an unfamiliar place.

Looking around, it was a very classic and elegant study, with jazz vinyl records slowly playing from the gramophone.

On the desk sits a glass of single malt whisky with an ice ball.

On the desk was a manuscript titled "Sleep," and in the pen holder were some Parker pens, some of which were engraved with names. He looked closely at them.

Haruki Murakami.

Could it be that...?