Conan Rick's Investigator

In his impression, novels written by famous detectives should be detective novels, but this "At the Mountains of Madness"...

Could it be a murder that happened in the mountains?

The story should be written using the Snowstorm Manor model created by the famous mystery writer Ellery Queen.

The subject matter is a bit old-fashioned...

The detective novel case model of Snowstorm Manor is no longer novel at the end of the 20th century, and such cases even often occur in reality.

But if the content is good, it is not impossible to be outstanding...

Masao Iwata is worthy of being the editor-in-chief. He was able to recognize so much information the moment he saw the title of the book.

Turning to the first page, Iwata Masao began to read the text...

……

While Masao Iwata was reading, Qin Zhibo was drinking tea comfortably while looking towards the main entrance of the publishing house.

There had been no cases for three days, and Qin Zhibo felt it was time for a "chance encounter."

The person he met by chance was of course the elementary school student of Death God - Conan.

However, after waiting for a while, Qin Zhibo felt that there was no reason for Conan to come to this publishing house again, so he gave up the idea of waiting and concentrated on observing the expression of Editor-in-Chief Iwata.

You can read a lot of information from the micro-expressions on a person's face.

In the previous case, Qin Zhibo mastered the skill of [Psychology], which can be used to interpret the current psychological state of Editor-in-Chief Iwata.

First, Qin Zhibo saw a slight frown of denial on Editor-in-Chief Iwata's face.

This kind of denial existed from the beginning of the writing, so Qin Zhibo guessed that it was his own novel that made editor-in-chief Iwata feel inappropriate from the very beginning.

As he continued reading, Editor-in-Chief Iwata's frown deepened.

His two long, thin eyebrows were brought together as much as possible, indicating that his confusion was gradually deepening.

But Editor-in-Chief Iwata still did not give up the idea of reading it. Instead, he wanted to find out what kind of novel it was.

Even when he felt his throat was a little itchy and wanted to drink a cup of tea to moisten his throat, Editor-in-Chief Iwata never took his eyes off the words on the manuscript.

It wasn't until he reached a certain point in the reading that Iwata's frown gradually relaxed, his tightly pursed lips slightly parted, as if he had suddenly realized something...

Finally, Editor-in-Chief Iwata finished reading the last page of the manuscript of "At the Mountains of Madness." Before he even put the text back on the table, he said in a deep voice, "I have a question..."

"Please speak." Qin Zhibo replied.

"What's a Shoggoth?"

Editor-in-Chief Iwata's questions caught Qin Zhibo off guard, because Qin Zhibo thought he should ask some questions about the novel writing techniques, but it turned out to be about the story content.

However, Qin Zhibo didn't know what this "Shoggoth" was.

After all, in Mr. Mamiya's research manuscript, it was his assistant Danvers who followed Professor Dale to search for the missing members of the expedition team.

In other words, Professor Dale and Danvers should be the only ones in this world who know what Shoggoths are.

Professor Dale died decades ago, and Danvers was admitted to Arkham Asylum after the expedition, and it is unknown whether he is dead or alive.

Therefore, Qin Zhibo did not write about Professor Dale and Danvers' adventure in the Black Mountains of Antarctica, but only announced the final results as stated in the research manuscript.

"Shoggoth..." Qin Zhibo looked troubled and stammered, "Well..."

Before Qin Zhibo could think of a response, Chief Editor Iwata suddenly said, "I see! You're trying to foreshadow the 'Unveiling Chapter,' right?"

Qin Zhibo, who has writing skills, knows that this is a novel writing model, which is common in detective novels.

That is, the part where the case occurs in a detective novel is set as the "question-posing part", and the part where the case is solved is set as the "secret-revealing part".

Although in form it is the first and second parts of an ordinary novel, it has a greater sense of ritual when placed in a detective novel, which can easily arouse the reader's curiosity, actively put forward various guesses, and finally verify the answers in their minds.

It’s just that Editor-in-Chief Iwata completely misunderstood Qin Zhibo’s intention. The reason why Professor Dale and what “Shoggoth” is not mentioned in the article is simply because Qin Zhibo didn’t know.

Qin Zhibo, possessed by Brother Dao: I’m not coming!

At this moment, Chief Editor Iwata enthusiastically filled Qin Zhibo's cup with tea and said excitedly, "I didn't expect your creation to be so bold..."

"Oh, of course. When I say 'bold', I mean bold in the avant-garde and novel sense. I mean it in a positive sense."

"When I first saw you were writing in the first person, I thought it was a detective novel. You know, writing a detective novel from a detective's perspective is a taboo..."

As soon as he read the book, Editor-in-Chief Iwata, who had already made a subjective judgment about the genre based on the title, thought that Professor Dell was the protagonist of this detective novel.

It is very appropriate for a professor, a profession known for its wisdom, to appear as a detective character in a detective novel.

However, if the professor's psychological activities are described in the first person, there will be no sense of suspense at all.

Therefore, Editor-in-Chief Iwata initially thought that this was a cross-industry work by an amateur.

Even Editor-in-Chief Iwata was already thinking about how to politely reject the celebrity introduced by an acquaintance.

But as he continued reading, Editor-in-Chief Iwata discovered that "At the Mountains of Madness" was not that simple.

Starting with a foreign background that is not common in Japan, the book uses a more rational and documentary writing style to tell the story of an expedition team entering Antarctica for an adventure.

The first half of the story is relatively trivial, like an excerpt from a boring real expedition log, full of detailed records with almost no artistic processing techniques.

The only fascinating thing is that the adventure is set in Antarctica. Even in today's rapidly developing science, Antarctica is still a mysterious area for most ordinary people.

But when the story is told from the perspective of another professor named Rick, the tone of the story suddenly changes.

Black Mountains that are as high as the Himalayas, a large number of ancient fossils hundreds of millions of years old, and mysterious five-pointed star biological samples...

The acquisition of these mysterious things brings life to the story, as if the door to a new world is opening for the readers.

Coupled with Qin Zhibo's brilliant writing, Editor-in-Chief Iwata could feel the joy of the expedition team's fruitful harvest through the words.

But then the story takes a sharp turn for the worse. After a snowstorm that caused a loss of contact, the entire expedition sub-team was killed, and the expedition camp was filled with incredible and inhumane scenes.

As the protagonist, Professor Dell's responsibility is to uncover what happened on that stormy night.

This is the standard "question section" of a detective novel.

In the end, Professor Dale only brought back a crazy assistant and asked readers the question "What is a Shoggoth?", which also set up suspense for the "Revelation Chapter".

"Great! Great!"

Editor-in-Chief Iwata grew increasingly excited as he spoke, standing up and clapping his hands. "This is a completely new understanding of the Snowstorm Villa model!"

Chapter 296: The Tsundere Ai

Faced with Editor-in-Chief Iwata's new understanding, Qin Zhibo could only laugh along with a stiff face.

It’s not that Editor-in-Chief Iwata has a unique imagination, but in his opinion, this way of presenting the novel to the public is the most appropriate.

Qin Zhibo is quite experienced in writing and does not look like a novice at all, so Editor-in-Chief Iwata thinks that these were all deliberately arranged by Qin Zhibo.

"I never thought that Teacher Qin also had such attainments in literature. Although he is a newcomer, his ideas and writing style are comparable to those of professional writers."

“What a promising future!”

Editor-in-Chief Iwata praised him again and even changed his address to "teacher".

However, Editor-in-Chief Iwata didn't know that behind Qin Zhibo's current level of professional writing was a pile of bones...

Other writers practiced their writing skills by writing, but Qin Zhibo practiced his writing skills by relying on people’s lives…

Afterwards, Editor-in-Chief Iwata accepted the manuscript and informed that this week's magazine had been published, and that this introductory article for "At the Mountains of Madness" would not be published until at least next week's magazine.

At that time, they will put a big title in a prominent position on the cover - the debut work of the famous detective Qin Zhibo.

However, Editor-in-Chief Iwata was still a little confused about the category of this novel and asked Qin Zhibo whether it was an adventure novel, detective novel or supernatural novel.

Qin Zhibo thought for a moment and replied, "Science fiction."

Editor-in-Chief Iwata: "..."

In this way, "At the Mountains of Madness" was finally confirmed to be published in the science fiction category of "Literary Times" magazine.

……

"This science fiction novel written by a famous detective is really exciting!"

"If possible, I hope we can see the revealing chapter of "At the Mountains of Madness" as soon as possible, please!"

After leaving the publishing house with the respectful farewell of Editor-in-Chief Iwata, Qin Zhibo felt a little worried.

Originally, this was the entire content of "At the Mountains of Madness", but under the arrangement of editor-in-chief Iwata, an additional revealing chapter was also written.

According to editor-in-chief Iwata, only serialized novels in their magazine can earn higher royalties. If it is just a single article, you can only earn basic royalties.

The price of a single article ranges from 1 to 5 yen depending on the number of words. This level of royalties is just a small amount of money.

Each issue of Wen Yi Shi Dai magazine will have a ranking of readers' expectations, and books that rank higher on this ranking can get higher royalties.

"Half of the Peak", which is currently being updated under the name of the new name Rentaro, is the most anticipated serialized novel by readers, and the amount of royalties is quite considerable.

Therefore, if Qin Zhibo wants to earn more royalties, he must write revealing articles.

But the key issue now is that Qin Zhibo doesn't know what Professor Dale and his assistant Danvers experienced in the Black Mountains.

What is a Shoggoth?

Why did Danvers go crazy?

These are questions that even Master Jianmiya doesn't know, so Qin Zhibo has no way of knowing them.

Unless you go to Antarctica yourself to find out...

Qin Zhibo thought about it and thought, "The author actually went to Antarctica in person to find inspiration." This kind of thing could become a big news that would shock the society.

But Antarctica is not the neighboring town of Beihu. Even with the rapid development of science today, a trip to Antarctica requires months of preparation time, and a professional team and material supplies are indispensable.

Although the specific coordinates are listed in Mr. Mamiya's research manuscript, it is hard to say whether they can be found.

So it is absolutely impossible to go to Antarctica. I will never go to Antarctica in this lifetime...

In comparison, Qin Zhibo felt that asking the parties involved in the incident was a more feasible option.

Although Professor Dale has passed away, his assistant Danvers may not be dead.

After all, Danvers was still young and strong when he entered Antarctica, and he is only in his 90s now...

Well, there's little hope.

Of course, in addition to looking for this part of history that has disappeared in time, you can also make up a revelation out of thin air.

The introductory chapter of "At the Mountains of Madness" won't be published until next week, and the revealing chapter will be at least another week away.

According to the passage of time in this world, Qin Zhibo is not in a hurry to create the revelation chapter.

We'll talk about it when the time comes...

At this moment, Qin Zhibo's mobile phone rang with a "dilili" sound.

I picked up the phone and heard Dr. Agasa's voice on the other end.

"Mr. Qin, Officer Megure has informed us that we can go pick up the computer disk. I'll take the children there now..."

"Well, I happen to be nearby, let's go together."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Zhibo, who had been waiting for a long time, went straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

……

When Qin Zhibo arrived in front of the Metropolitan Police Department building, Professor Agasa and the Junior Detective League had already arrived and were standing outside the building waiting for someone to take them in.

Looking at the Metropolitan Police Department building, the three little ones all showed envy in their eyes.

Only Conan and Haibara Ai looked calm, as if they didn't care.

Ayumi: "Conan, aren't you looking forward to entering the Metropolitan Police Department?"

Mitsuhiko: "This is the top police unit in Japan!"

Before Conan could get over it, Qin Zhibo came up and touched Conan's head affectionately, answering for Conan: "What are you talking about? Conan is a frequent visitor here."

The three children asked in unison, "A regular customer?"

Hey!

Conan, horrified, cried out inwardly. Just when he thought Qin Zhibo was about to reveal his true identity, Qin Zhibo changed the subject and jokingly said, "Conan lives in Detective Maori's house, so of course he's a frequent visitor here~"

After Qin Zhibo's explanation, Conan and Dr. Agasa both breathed a sigh of relief.