Chapter 10 postscript

The time when I often took the train was when I was a student.At that time, the route I went to school was to take Kintetsu (that is, Kinki Nippon Railway, the largest private railway company in Japan’s related areas. The line covers Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara.) From Fushi Station to Tsuruhashi Station, and then transfer to the Loop Line Get off at Tennoji Temple.Every day, the car is crowded like sardines, and there are naturally perverts and pickpockets.There is an Imazato station between Busch and Tsuruhashi. A friend of mine gets on the train from this station. He sneaks up on women's buttocks from time to time, and even argues that "just touching the back of your hand is not a pervert."Once I happened to be there when he made an obscenity, and the white-collar girl with heavy make-up seemed to have made a mistake and stared at me fiercely.

Since I got through the subway, I no longer have to suffer from traffic jams, because the station closest to home is the starting station.Although it is the nearest station, it still takes more than fifteen minutes to walk.By the time the subway station was built, a thirty-second walk from my house, I had already left Osaka. When I was an office worker, I always drove to the company, so I was lucky not to have to take a tram full of people.But I encountered traffic jams every day, and later found that it would be more efficient to go out at the last moment, and then take a shortcut and drive all the way.

Driving to work is relaxing and enjoyable, but you can't go out for a drink with your colleagues after get off work.I have always dreamed of being able to drink and talk as I wish, like Masuo or Popei in "Ms. I have been working at home since I became a writer, but I rented a studio outside for two years and went to work every day.Originally, it can be reached in 20 minutes by car, but I always deliberately take the bus and then transfer to the tram, and toss on the road for nearly an hour.It's hard work, but it's also fun.That studio is close to the city center, so it has been well received by the editors. Now it takes an hour and a half to get to my house from the city center, so the editor must have had a bad review.

This work came to me by accident on the way to the studio.No, it is not very accurate to say that I thought of it by accident. It should be said that I was trying to figure out the state of mind of the people in front of me, and unconsciously conceived such a story. Sometimes I want to ride that smoldering tram again, but it's boring to ride every day. "Giant Star" and "Tomorrow's Zhang" (also translated as "Little Boxing King", "Iron Fist Prodigal Son", a masterpiece of boxing comics serialized from 1967 to 1973.) are classic comics of my boyhood, but now that I think about it, Quite a very inexplicable place.Among them, the one that I can't figure out anyway is the magic delivery ball invented by Xing Yiche.This is a pass from the third baseman to the first baseman. It seems to be running straight towards the face of the first baseman, but when the opponent timidly slows down, the ball makes a sharp turn and falls steadily into the first baseman's. Gloves, really amazing.Toru Hoshiichi was originally a well-known third baseman who was unable to throw a fastball due to a shoulder injury, so he invented this technique.

But no matter how you think about it, it's weird.How could he throw a ball that nearly hit him in the face when he couldn't throw it faster than he was running? This is all right, more or less can always make sense.The most difficult thing for me to understand is Xingfei Stallion's view of Magic Sending Ball. After entering the Giants, he immediately realized that the straight ball alone was not enough to rule the world, so he began to develop a new change ball, and realized the Big League Magic Ball.But I really want to say: slow down!Why don't you shoot the magic ball that Dad taught you?That is an extremely powerful changing ball, no one can stop it.Coupled with a straight ball that is accurate to the point of rigid speed, it is absolutely even more powerful, and it is no problem to win dozens of games.

But Flying Stallion has been unable to think of a trick to throw magic and send the ball to the batter.It wasn't until he developed the Major League Magic Ball II that he finally remembered it, but he didn't use it directly, but used its principle to invent the disappearing magic ball.Here's another unreasonable thing: every time the batter sees that the disappearing magic ball is essentially a magic ball, the batter immediately swings his stick and hits hard.I want to emphasize again that the magic ball is a very powerful change ball, and the wind it brings will even make the ground dusty.Naturally, no one could hit the magic ball hidden under the cover of dust, but even if they saw the ball, it was still impossible to hit it.

Although I am no less critical, it is not that I have any fault with this comic, but rather an expression of deep affection.In fact, in "Star of the Giants", the magic ball is far more significant than the big league magic ball. Every turning point in the story will always involve the magic ball.Because Mo Songqiu is his father's clone, as long as Fei Xiongma does not draw a clear line with Mo Songqiu, he will not be able to get rid of his father's control and live a life that truly belongs to him. When writing this work, I was thinking about such serious issues, but in the end I wrote it like this.

Friends who have read my works may know that I am very disgusted with teachers.As for the reason, it should be that I have never received the care of the teacher.There are also many people in the world who, even after they grow up, still miss their mentors who took care of them. Every time I see such people, I feel deeply envious. Mr. Hiroyuki Kurokawa, a writer who is close to me, used to teach art in high school.If I could have met such an excellent teacher as him back then, maybe I wouldn't have become distrustful of adults.It's a pity that all the teachers I've met are idiots who have taken great pains to pretend to be saints.When I was in junior high school, there was a young teacher who was humorous and funny. It was rare that I liked him a lot. I didn’t expect him to openly utter unsavory and discriminatory words to me, who injured my left eye due to an accident, in front of everyone.While I wasn't hurt by it, I was angry that I couldn't see through his true nature.

Although "Reverse Classmates" is an artistic creation, the inspiration comes from my personal experience.I have been invited to such gatherings of ex-teachers, but instead of going to the meeting, I was asked to speak.The wording on the invitation letter is very polite, which makes me tremble with sincerity. But I finally wrote back and declined, on the grounds that I couldn't arrange the schedule.This is certainly true, but there is another reason not mentioned in the letter, that is, it is stated in the invitation letter that "the speech fee will not be paid". I am not greedy for money. If the other party asks for a speech fee, I will take the initiative to resign.But when I saw such a statement in the letter, I couldn't help but feel that "teachers really have this kind of virtue".

Let's talk about something else.A few years ago, I wrote essays for the internal magazine of the company I worked for. At that time, the seniors of the company called to ask for opinions, and then the editor of the internal magazine sent a formal invitation letter, stating in the letter "Try to apply for the manuscript fee for you. ".Not long after, seniors from the company called again and asked me if I would take the job, and it was only then that I agreed for the first time.Then the senior said, "There is something that is not easy to talk about", and then asked me how much I should pay for the manuscript fee.Usually in this situation, it is understandable to discuss the issue of remuneration at the end. I immediately replied that there is no need to pay the remuneration, as long as I send me the next few issues of the internal magazine.After the senior confirmed that I was sincere, the terms were settled.This job makes me very happy.

And the university I graduated from has invited me to write papers several times.Once I suddenly received a thick envelope, and I opened it wonderingly. Inside were manuscript paper and a return envelope, and a page of letterhead was attached, explaining the manuscript and title, minimum number of pages, deadline and contact information.Among them, if the minimum number of pages is converted into 400-character manuscript paper, it will take nearly 20 pages, and the deadline is 20 days later.Because there is no mention of the manuscript fee, I think it should mean that it is free of charge, right?If I obediently write for him like this, then the editor who calls a month in advance just for a few pages of essays is too pathetic.Needless to say, I naturally tossed it aside and ignored it.When the deadline was approaching, the person in charge called and begged again and again, so I had to drastically cut down the number of pages and settle the matter.Universities are often seen as places lacking social common sense, and not without reason, in my opinion. Students are not the pawns or subordinates of the school, especially after graduation.The school should treat them as a professional social person. I think that the teacher who invited me to give a speech mentioned above actually understood this truth, but he had a mentality of relying on the old to sell the old.Otherwise, for a person who is going to give a speech in Osaka from Tokyo, it should be impossible to say "no speech fee will be paid".And I don't want to condone this mentality of relying on the old to sell the old, because my teacher's allergies are too serious. I don't like things that don't stand up to science, but that doesn't mean I don't like fiction that doesn't have a scientific basis. After all, quite a few of my own novels aren't very scientific.What I hate is explaining facts from an unscientific point of view. "Someone saw the ghost of a girl in the toilet of XX elementary school." There is no problem with this statement, because it is indeed possible to see ghosts, which can be proved. "The ghost of a girl appeared in the toilet of XX elementary school." This is wrong.The existence of ghosts has not been scientifically proven.If you want to say that, you have to provide some evidence.If it is said that a hundred people have witnessed it, can they agree?Or not.To put it more extreme, even if I saw it with my own eyes, I would not agree with this statement.At this time, I can only draw the conclusion that "you will see something similar to a girl's ghost when you go there", that's all.As for what it is, it is something that needs to be studied next. I hear it all the time: "Scientists turn a blind eye to the paranormal because they don't want their theories to be destroyed." How offensive this is to the great scientists who built civilization.No one is more looking forward to the phenomenon of subverting existing concepts than scientists. They always dream of completely subverting everything they believe in, because only by constantly overthrowing and rebuilding can science change with each passing day.Based on this concept, sometimes they also act very cold.For example, when the Great Hanshin Earthquake occurred, scientists led by architects must have been shocked, but it was these scientists who regarded this tragedy as a treasure trove of data. In fact, it is non-scientific people who have always refused to face reality.Is it the scientist or the religionist who denies the fact that the earth is autobiographical? Scientists also make mistakes, and the rush to draw conclusions has led to misinterpretation of data and social unrest.But in the world of science, wrong conclusions never reign for long, and there are always supplementary experiments by other scientists to verify whether the conclusion is correct.Scientists admit they were wrong when someone else presents convincing evidence that overturns the original conclusion.It is the scientists themselves who question the normal temperature nuclear fusion. Scientists dismiss superscience advocates simply because they fail to provide evidence.Mere hearing and seeing is not enough as evidence, the only physical evidence they put forward are photos and video tapes.And among all the evidence, no one has been found that can be said to be "can only be explained by supernatural phenomena".To put it bluntly, many even feel like pinching soap.In the scientific world, once the evidence of soap making is found, the parties involved must withdraw from the front line of research, which is beyond doubt.In this sense, the world of superscience is much more confusing. This novel refers to works such as "UFO Image Truth Exploration" published in the May 1993 issue of "Science Asahi", especially the report of science reporter Mr. Kubota Hiroshi, which gave me a lot of inspiration. I would like to express my gratitude here . Finally, it needs to be stated that although I currently do not believe in supernatural phenomena, I am always mentally prepared to accept them.As long as there is scientific evidence, whether it is ghosts, Loch Ness Monster, super powers, or UFOs are alien vehicles, I will readily believe it.No, it should be said that I am actually looking forward to the existence of such a thing. This is what happened when I was in the lower grades of elementary school. There is an uncle who always wears a mouse-gray (too dirty to describe it as gray) shirt, folds his arms, and mutters words as he walks.He is thin and thin, with a pale face, short-cut hair showing gray, and his eyes are always wandering into the distance. Almost every day at a fixed time, the uncle would appear out of nowhere and walk past us frolicking children, as if he didn't see our existence at all.There is an invisible barrier around his body, creating a world that is completely his own, and no one else can enter through the door.Judging from his appearance, he is just an ordinary passerby, but the aura he exudes makes people feel like an ascetic monk.In fact, we really thought that what he was chanting were scriptures. In my impression, it seems that on the way to the bathhouse, the uncle was walking in front of me.He folded his arms across his chest as usual, hunched over slightly, and muttered words.I quickened my pace to follow, and finally heard what he was muttering, which was really unexpected. "It's the bottom half of the eighth inning, and the hitter is Long Island. His score today is three strikes and one hit. So how will the pitcher Murayama respond? There are runners on first and second base, and Murayama pitched Out! It's an outside corner! Nagashima fakes one or two times, and Murayama on the mound exchanges signals with the catcher, and starts the second pitch. The pitch goes! Ahhhh! Hit! Nagashima hits the ball Hit between the third baseman and the shortstop, the third baseman fumbles, the shortstop doesn't catch up. Hit! Hit! It's a left-out hit! The second base runner steps over third to home plate! Left The outfielder has the ball now and throws it all the way straight to the plate! It's a race between the ball and the runner, the timing is tricky, if the catcher catches the ball first and puts it out... safe hit, safe hit, safe Hit! Runner makes it home! The catcher throws the ball to third! Safe hit, safe hit this time! Giants lead by one run, and there are runners on first and third bases...  " The above are just my random guesses now, the point is that the uncle was muttering such words all the way at that time, and he talked endlessly in one go, just like a live broadcast on the radio.I even think it may be more enjoyable than the real broadcast. It was only later that I discovered that adults seem to know his origins very well.I heard that his life seems to be not going well, but when my mother said the following words, I was inexplicably happy. "He is really not simple. He speaks so fluently without stopping at all. Maybe he has a very bright mind." To this day, when I think of this uncle, I still miss him endlessly. Generally speaking, the biggest purchase in a person's life is buying a house.Naturally, there are people who do not buy a house, and what is being discussed here are those who have already or are planning to buy a house. In my experience, buying a house is really hard work, and to be honest, it's a hassle.When you are thinking about it in your mind, you are still fascinated. Once you put it into practice, it will only make people frown.Fundraising is one of those headaches. But the biggest reason why buying a house is so hard is that everyone feels "absolutely can't fail" from the bottom of their hearts.After all, it is a huge deal. If something is not satisfactory, you can't easily say "Oh, it's such a failure, throw it away and buy a new one."Even if you want to buy a new house, you have to sell the house you live in first to raise funds.But the house that makes the owner feel like a failure is usually not sold at a high price, and when luck is unlucky, no one wants it even if it is sold at a cheap price. Due to this pressure, buyers will inevitably worry about gains and losses and be troubled.Worry to the end, often buy a house on impulse. The key to choosing a home depends on the buyer's priorities.For example, whether the head of the household prioritizes work or family is an important point of disagreement.Some people would rather travel all the way to work every day than let their children live in a spacious house. I really admire this kind of love and perseverance.Even if there is a speculative psychology of expecting the house to appreciate in the background, I still think it is amazing.I can't do it. This novel was written shortly after the bubble economy burst.To this day, to apply the saying "now is not the era just after World War II", it can also be said that "now is not the time when the bubble economy just burst".But I think similar stories will still be staged somewhere, but there should be no corpses. My grandmother passed away at the age of ninety-seven.It might seem strange to say that, but the funeral was quite pleasant. I have been away from my hometown of Osaka for a long time, and I have not seen my cousins ​​for twenty years.When they met again at the funeral, they greeted each other lively, like a class reunion.I was quite surprised when I found out that a certain aunt was my cousin of the same age.Those who ran around in the venue were all the children of these cousins. Uncles, aunts, and the others laughed from ear to ear when they saw the rare reunion of relatives.The atmosphere of the funeral was so harmonious, largely because of the grandma's longevity.My father and uncle had started preparing for the funeral several years ago, and they had asked the funeral home for an estimate.If there is any regret, it is that my grandmother failed to break through the 100-year-old mark.But at the funeral, when the master of ceremonies said "Ninety-nine years old" (it seems that they all said false age), the audience seemed to be silently amazed. The only one who shed tears was my aunt, my grandmother's own daughter.As she placed the bouquet in the coffin, she touched her grandmother's face and wept.On the bus to the crematorium, when she heard her granddaughter say that picking up bones was disgusting, the aunt replied: "It's no big deal to pick up bones. If you think human bones are disgusting, then think about fish bones." After speaking, she giggled. This work came to me by chance during a funeral wake.As readers can see, the title is borrowed from the novel (the work of American writer Daniel Case, which tells the bizarre experience of a mentally handicapped patient who gradually became a genius after undergoing brain surgery. It was published in a magazine in short form in 1959. Hugo Award-winning, 1966 adaptation of a novel, won the Nebula Award.).Originally, I wanted to write a long story, but the original version also had a better reputation as a short story, so I maintained the current short form. All living beings can be divided into two categories, one is bird people and the other is murlocs—the above is purely my own theory. I just said this theory casually, and there is no basis for it. I didn’t expect it to be very popular when I mentioned it to my friends. Some people said, “Ah, then I should be a murloc.” So I think maybe this classification is quite accurate. .Of course, there are those who don't think they fit into either category. Judging by this unlikely theory, I'm a typical birdman.I especially love flying and would love to try bungee jumping and skydiving if I get the chance.In addition, I have also played parasailing, and I am not afraid at all. But I can't do diving, no, not only diving, I don't want to see the scenery in the sea at all.Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't like going to aquariums either.Even when I see the underwater scenes drawn in the children's illustrated books, I get a chill on my back. I once visited a museum in Canada. There was an exhibition area displaying dinosaur models in the sea. The entire exhibition area created an underwater situation in the ancient times.As soon as I stepped in, I immediately felt uncomfortable all over. When I was young, I took swimming training classes (it should be called "swimming school" now), and I also participated in the swimming competition in Osaka Prefecture, so it is not that I can't swim.Diving in the pool is nothing to me and I love it, but in the sea it's totally out of the question. But I love fish and shellfish so much that I hate almost nothing, so if I were to compare myself to an animal, my answer would always be "seagull". Regarding this work, I will not gossip about it, and readers are invited to appreciate it for themselves.Among the short stories I have written so far, this is the one I think I have put the most effort into, but I dare not say that it will definitely meet the taste of every reader.