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I chose my next Japanese book!
I said I wanted to go back to the 60s/70s, but I didn’t choose to read another book by Futari Okajima as planned originally. Instead, I chose a collection of short stories by Shoji Yuki, also one of my favourite authors.

I hadn’t planned on finishing the third short story today, but 白骨無聲 by 羅永昌 was impossible to put down. It was a really engrossing investigation led by a disillusioned reporter who is tasked with reviving an old case to serve political manoeuvres. But he decides to look for the truth behind the case, and it’s crazy how suspenseful the plot was, with a good mystery to start with and good twists until the end too.

But the short story also shines with its background, how it subtly integrates Hong Kong recent history into the plot, and shows how journalists have to deal both with their journal’s direction and their political ties, as well as dealing with their own moral choices when deciding to reveal the truth.

I really love the protagonist, 陳焱火. He is a really good detective, and his internal conflicts, his personality and experience make him a very complex and interesting character, especially for a short story.

The first short story was fantastic, it gives its name to the collection and displays a harsh critic of the judicial system in general, showing that sadly, uncovering the truth is not what the court and the judge are aiming at.
The plot was really good too, I found the short story very suspenseful, and the explanations about some aspects of the judiciary really well balanced and integrated into the plot.

I finished the AQ, it was so so great. I thought Act II was really good already, but the end was even better? So many revelations too! I wasn’t expecting to learn so much so early!! Cutscenes were so great too.

Yeah this is the best opening we had, I’m sure. There was not a single scene that felt filler, the plot was so suspenseful, it’s the first time I finish an AQ so quickly and I can’t wait for the next Acts to release.

I didn’t take much time to read today, so I only just started the first short story. Love the beginning!

I’m not sure I understood Alyosha’s kit completely, because from what I read, he doesn’t do much? Heals and taunt on burst and increase stellar superconduct damage by 20%? That’s about it? His healing scales with his Atk, but his own damage is buffed depending on his ER? And I have no idea how decent it is anyway… Oh well, I’m going to build him for IT first and then see if I want to max him later.

I finished an IT run I had started at the beginning of the month. Didn’t manage to get that last flower… but it was so close!!
Now I didn’t have Odette nor Alyosha, so I could give it another try during the week or next weekend. Odette is IT ready, even though she’s not fully built yet, but Alyosha is not… Just bringing Odette might be enough, especially since it’s SO artifact farming time right now, so I don’t know if I want to build Alyosha just yet. Oh and I can bring Lumine cryo too… If I find the time to do a new run, I’m sure getting full flowers won’t be a problem.

The only thing I did apart from playing Genshin’s AQ today is read the second story of the collection: 直到真相盛開 by 陌途. It was excellent, such a good mix of human drama and murder mystery. I initially thought the story will be mostly focused on family drama and be more of a journey towards acceptance and how to cope with suicide. But the short story surprised me with a really good murder mystery and a suspenseful investigation. Even if it was relatively short, I almost feel like I just finished a novel, like I spent more time with the characters than just 40 pages of e-reader. The author really managed to make me care for the characters right away while also offering an engrossing murder mystery.

I think I literally spent the whole Saturday playing Act II of the AQ… But it was so so great! I can’t believe we were in the middle of a closed circle murder mystery!! This was right up my alley, and the plot was so good too! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, I rarely get so engrossed in an AQ. The atmosphere was also great, I really liked how they used the picture and the effects added.

I haven’t finished yet, but at least I finished the big part. I don’t know how long it still is…

Oh and I just saw the thumbnail for the cutscene on the official channel… I can’t believe they managed to make a really good plot with a really good twist then decided to completely spoil it to all players (even the ones who stay away from social media as long as they’re doing the AQ) via their official channel. Why?!?? The patch’s been out for 10 days, it’s reasonable to think players still haven’t finished the story.

Finished Act I, it was so great!!
I’ll continue with Act II today too. With the constant rain there’s not much else to do anyway.

I did 克鲁日科娃‘s challenge, it was such a fun one! The mini game and the story were both really funny.

I’m so tempted to explore more and start the world quests… especially the one associated with Huimou, but I think it’s best to finish the AQ first… It probably doesn’t matter, but I just want to avoid having several things opened at the same time.

1939년 명성아파트 by 무경 was so so great!!

I’ve been wanting to read more fiction set during the Japanese Occupation, especially about daily life and society, how people lived during this time, what life in Seoul/Gyeongseong was like and 1939년 명성아파트 is exactly that.

Our protagonist is a young Korean orphan working as a housemaid, and through her eyes, we see how traditional Korean lifestyle cohabited with Japanese and Western introductions: food, clothes, house equipment, and of course, language.

Even though it’s not a closed-circle mystery, the setting is pretty much limited to the Myeongseong Apartment and its direct neighbourhood, I don’t think there’a single scene taking place elsewhere. But the apartment serves as a microcosm of Gyeongseong society. The characters who live there come from different social groups, a haughty Japanese professor, a poor Korean writer, a young sophisticated woman working for a department store, the scary man from the 4th floor, and of course, our protagonist’s saviour, a mysterious woman who took her under her wing … Korean and Japanese live under the same roof, but as someone says, they never once gathered all together in a same place, and it soon becomes clear that they all have their secrets to hide.

And then murder happens. I wasn’t really expecting much from the plot part, I was happy enough with the setting and the characters, but the story really surprised me. It was a very good murder case with several layers of mystery. I really wasn’t expecting at all the revelations of the last chapter!

Everything in this book was a delight to read: compelling characters who all have their secrets, a portraying of society through the apartment residents, a really good murder mystery with twists… Both the characteristics of the period and the characteristic of the apartment were relevant for the plot, so the setting and the case are closely linked, making the novel feel very coherent.

In the afterword, the author hinted at a possible sequel, I would definitely read it if it happens!

The end was so great! I didn’t expect this book to have such a good double mystery.