The Taboo of Reading Novels

On the bustling streets of Tokyo, Lin You watched a parade of attractive figures walk by, instantly brightening his mood, which had been dampened by the stress of his business trip to a foreign land. Like most men, Lin You had three passions in life: beautiful women, money, and novels. Hence, he held three dreams close to his heart. The first dream was touching, embodied in three words: limitless, boundless love. This lofty dream involved providing a warm, loving home for all the single women in the world. As for his second dream, it was simple: he wanted to make endless money without having to work, just lying at home. Finally, his third dream was to start a novel website, encouraging authors to write in the genres he loved, and to have those usually unresponsive authors kneeling down, begging him for mercy with pleas like, "Merciful patron, spare me," "I'll update every day," and "I promise not to take leaves anymore." Enough with the daydreaming. It was time to squeeze onto the subway! Having seen numerous shocking news stories about the crowded subways in Tokyo, like "Japanese subways are so crowded that women can get pregnant by accident," Lin You, lucky to be on a business trip to Japan, was eager to experience Japanese customs firsthand and see whether the subways were indeed as shockingly crowded as reported. However, once he got in line... He was profoundly disappointed with the country! The majority of those queuing with him to get onto the subway were unkempt men! Worst of all, when the subway ride started, a middle-aged woman seemed to have targeted him, continuously pressing herself against him! He could only attribute it to his damned good looks. Finally, Lin You managed to break free from the woman and squeezed himself into a corner. With a look of disdain, he pulled out his phone, intending to read a novel to kill time. To his surprise, there was a new book on his shelf that he hadn't seen before. He didn't need to think too much to know that this was a book the website was promoting; otherwise, it wouldn't have appeared on his bookshelf so abruptly. "'Forbidden Reading'? What could be forbidden about reading a novel?" Lin You wondered. This was the novel that had suddenly appeared on his bookshelf. Lin You had always chosen novels based on their titles. If the title was interesting, he would check the synopsis. If the synopsis also piqued his interest, he would proceed to read. If any step in this process failed to satisfy his reading cravings, he would not bother to click 'read.' The synopsis of this particular novel read as follows: "Click to read and embark on a bizarre journey! Trembling, danger, agony, despair... may become your synonyms! Wealth, fame, power, desire... might also become your synonyms! Just remember one thing: death is a sign of cowardice. Only in living will you have it all! Lastly, note that you are not the only reader!" This synopsis was rather interesting. Lin You clicked to read, curious about what "reading taboos" this novel held. There hadn't been many worthwhile new books in the supernatural thriller genre in recent years! As Lin You clicked to read, the lights in the subway suddenly went out, followed almost immediately by a woman's shriek from somewhere nearby. "Ahhh!" Lin You jumped at the scream. The lights in the subway were off, and it was pitch black, one could hardly see their hand in front of their face. All he could see were several spots of faint light scattered throughout the long carriage, likely the glow from other passengers' phone screens. Just as Lin You was about to turn on the flashlight on his phone to light up his surroundings, he saw four blood-soaked characters displayed on the screen: "Subway Ghost!" At this moment, Lin You's scalp began to tingle! He realized that he seemed to have stumbled upon a genuine supernatural novel! Only then did he belatedly realize that something was amiss! Firstly, it was the peak hour for people leaving work in Japan, and the subway was crowded. Yet when the lights in the subway suddenly went out, aside from a woman's scream, there were no sounds of panic or discussions from other passengers. Secondly, he no longer felt crowded. It was as if the passengers who had been pressed against him had vanished with the extinguishing of the lights! Then, a voice rich with the timbre of cigarette smoke echoed, a familiar tone of his countrymen: "Hey, is anyone there? What's happening?" Immediately afterward, another male voice calmly responded, in a manner suggestive of familiarity with the bizarre: "If I'm not mistaken, we've been involved in a supernatural event! Can I confirm, did any of you just open a supernatural novel called 'Forbidden Reading?'" "Yes, yes!" "My phone suddenly displayed this novel, and then when I clicked to read, this situation suddenly happened!" "I had the same experience!" "So, what should we do now?" "Should we call the police?" Lin You felt a wave of panic. How come everyone on this Japanese subway was speaking Mandarin? Was it possible that he had traveled to another dimension just by reading a novel? He turned off his phone screen and observed the others surreptitiously. From their conversations, he gathered several key points. First: After reading that novel, they were all suddenly thrust into a supernatural event titled "Subway Ghost." Second: Judging by the voices, besides him, there seemed to be six passengers in the carriage, four men and two women. Third: Unknown dangers lurked in the dark subway carriage, and they could be facing a threat to their lives at any moment! This was because the novel's synopsis had said: "Trembling, danger, agony, despair... may become your synonyms!" So, they were surely about to encounter dangerous and terrifying supernatural events! And the synopsis had also said: "Wealth, fame, power, desire... might also become your synonyms!" This suggested that, if they survived, there could be unexpected rewards? But the prerequisite was, they had to survive first! This was indeed thrilling... Suddenly, the gravelly-voiced man who had spoken first announced, "The mission is up!" Another person immediately read out, "Subway Ghost. Event description: Six readers who were watching a novel in the subway at the same time are suddenly involved in a supernatural event... Mission description: This is a despair-filled one-hour death subway. In addition to the six readers caught up in it, there is a murderer. Every ten minutes, the subway will stop at a station. As readers, you need to vote out the murderer and throw them off the subway. If the murderer is successfully ejected, the readers win, the task is completed, and the million-dollar reward can be shared. Additionally, if the murderer dies, it is also considered a victory for the readers. Conversely, if the murderer kills all the readers or hides their identity and rides to the last station, then the murderer wins and takes the million-dollar prize!" Upon hearing this, Lin You's face became extremely unpleasant, cursing in his mind the teammate who had broadcast the mission! Now the murderer, hiding amongst them, knew their next move! If not careful, this murderer could start a killing spree, exterminating them one by one! At this moment, the smoky-voiced man suddenly spoke, "I remember that including the crying girl, there were exactly six people speaking just now! So, the one who has been silent since the beginning, could they be the murderer?" Lin You: "..." You're really great at deducing, aren't you? I bet you're the guilty one projecting! The real murderer, I assume! However, what was most speechless was that someone actually agreed with this brainless reasoning? And this person was the very teammate who had revealed the mission content. "Yes! The reason he doesn't speak must be because he isn't a reader, so he doesn't know what's happening and couldn't join our conversation in time!" Yeah right! Lin You wanted to curse, but instead, he forced himself to take out his phone, unlock the screen with his fingerprint, and said calmly, "I kept quiet because I was shocked by this sudden supernatural event. I had no idea what would happen next or if there would be any danger to our lives! So, I decided to observe silently, better safe than sorry!" "Unlike someone who recited the mission content word for word! Directly informing the murderer that six readers are about to apprehend or kill him! This kind of action truly fits the saying: 'Nothing is more to be feared than a teammate who acts like a pig!'" Just as he said this, the lights in the subway car came back on. In the long carriage, the seven people were all simultaneously looking around. The slender man who had been mocked by Lin You as a 'pig-like teammate' had an intense hostility in his eyes and was seemingly holding back words. Lin You pondered for a moment before adding, "Actually, there's a simple way to identify the murderer!" The tall, imposing man with a smoky voice asked, "What way?" Lin You swung his phone slightly, stating, "Everyone just needs to take out their phones. If they are readers, they should be able to see the novel and the mission details on their phones! So, I guess that the one without a phone, or the one whose phone does not display the novel and mission, is probably the murderer!" The next second, the man Lin You scorned as a 'pig-like teammate' chuckled, "See! The evidence is solid! You're the murderer! Because as readers, we all know that when the mission is up, it only shows for a short while, then completely disappears from the phone! Including the novel!" Really? Looking at his phone that indeed left no trace, all the thoughts and words in Lin You's mind condensed into one single word: "Damn!"