Chapter 96: On-shelf Sentiment

Chapter 96: On-shelf SentimentI really like to describe a city in detail, just like the old Dunling in my last book. When I read many works, they seldom describe these. I remember when I watched "Naruto" as a child, I was very curious about the structure of Naruto’s home. These ninjas were like monkeys on trees, the buildings became a mess, and people could hang anywhere. I thought this feeling was very novel.

Of course, some people asked, "This city is just like Gotham, how come all the demons and ghosts are here."

Don’t ask, just consider it foreshadowing. I always fill the pits I dig, and I will give everyone a satisfactory answer in due time.

And you can also tell, I’m deliberately designing some symbols. The Order Bureau itself, and various departments, I’m envisioning some perfect icons, including things like the Mammon Coin at the Forked Path.

This part heavily influenced me by Robert Langdon. He is a fictional character in Dan Brown’s works, a symbology professor. Every time I see him talk about a symbol eloquently, discussing its meaning and history, I think, "Wow, that’s so cool," and after that, I started designing these things intentionally or unintentionally.

Chains and swords, fruit entwined by a venomous snake, staff swords, etc.

Recently, films that have influenced me greatly include "The Raid." I feel this movie has really refreshed action films, with blood splatter and fist-to-flesh combat, fighting from start to finish.

Plot? What is a plot? A plot is just about time, place, and how many people to fight against, whether to cripple them or kill them.

It’s really awesome. If you’re interested, you should definitely watch it. Inspired by this film, I became a fan of "corridor warriors."

Based on all of the above, plus my previous work in art, probably due to professional habits, I always want to present that kind of visual sense as much as possible, trying to stylize my story.

Just like a game theme song, though it changes with generations, the melody of the theme song will not change, at most, just variations.

Cheap blood plasma and harsh music, plus two grumpy fellows prying open the door, laughing and chatting...

I like this kind of black humor and some bizarre, indescribable grotesque feeling. The deepest impression, I think, came from the "Holy Mountain" in the Desacration Trilogy, at the end when the camera zooms out, and the camera appears in the frame, my brain felt like it was about to explode for a moment.

The above roughly answers some current reader curiosities, just like I wrote in "Back to Work after 117 Days," writing a book is a very mystical thing. Thoughts have connections, ideas collide with each other, and you never know where inspiration might strike.

Speaking of which, here’s a cold joke. When I first had the idea for this book, the story was completely different.

The time background of this book is approximately the twentieth century, and its original form was a post-apocalypse. The protagonist was an Undead but was essentially a mechanical doll running for an unknown number of years. A work that initially inspired me was "Various Species xxxxxx Shop."

As for how it inspired me, I won’t say.

Unexpected, wasn’t it? It shocked me too, hahaha, so funny. When I was talking with a friend about my initial idea, he asked me what I was thinking. I was really embarrassed to say it, fortunately, it changed completely in the end.

Also, for example, among the many doors standing in the dark in the "Transfer Station," an old fellow in the Chapter discussion guessed it right. When I was writing this, I was thinking of "Monster Power Company."

I imagined a situation like this: In "Monster Power Company," each door leads to the human world, where the monsters invade. But what if their roles were reversed?

Humans facing countless doors, each hiding an unknown thing behind it. These doors might lead to a bar, employees’ dormitory, some kind of crazy death environment, or a sleeping monster.

Worse still, many doors have already been forgotten, lurking in the dark, possibly being opened from the other side any day.

Just like the House of the Rising Sun.

"Keys" and "doors" are like specific portals, making the city’s space more complex.

And then there’s the "dynamics of the scene," just like the city architecture design I mentioned before. I care a lot about this sense of atmosphere, this change in environment.

Before, when talking with people about writing ideas, I said some novel boss fights are like arena fights. It seems like the location doesn’t matter, just two people fighting each other, and then it’s over.

I wondered why not let the scene join the fight as well? For example, setting the battlefield in a dynamic environment, like a speeding train, a chaotic battlefield, a carnival crowd, an out-of-control airship... These are the boss fight scenes I used in my last book. While the protagonists were slaughtering all sides, the scenes were rapidly changing.

More importantly, interacting with the environment, just like Jackie Chan entering a furniture store, using the environment to execute various moves, or picking up props and then slashing, slashing, slashing.

Then, let’s talk about how I got on the path of writing. I’ve mentioned this a few times before, like when I started writing disordered things back in junior high.

I feel what drives me to write is more about my own desire to share. I’m someone who is very keen on sharing, or as others would say, an enthusiastic promoter. I often like to stuff everything I like into others.

During junior high, I imagined whether I would become a writer one day in the future, but at the time, it seemed impractical. This sense of impracticality extended into university.