Playing house in the anime world

Dazai Osamu suddenly jumped up, and Nakajima Atsushi was so scared that he almost thought there was a bomb in the package.

"This, this, this is..." Dazai Osamu danced on the spot in an exaggerated manner, "What a shining thing this is! The feel of this bandage! This luster!"

Nakajima Atsushi: “…Shouldn’t the focus be on what’s inside?!”

"Atsushi-kun, you don't understand this~" Dazai Osamu silently stuffed the bandages and the things inside into his drawer, "The bandages outside are so shining, the things inside must be even more amazing!"

"Then why don't you take out the contents and let us see..." Nakajima Atsushi was speechless, but looking at Dazai Osamu's expression, at least the contents of the package should not be dangerous items.

"It's a book. I saw it." Izumi Kyoka whispered behind him.

"Isn't it that suicide book again..." Nakajima Atsushi remembered that the book was said to have been discontinued a long time ago, so it was no longer available? That's why Mr. Dazai treasured it so much.

Could it be that Mr. Dazai bought a second-hand copy?

Nakajima Atsushi never considered the possibility that it was another type of book.

"Hmph, why don't you send me some snacks?" Edogawa Ranpo glared at Dazai Osamu with dissatisfaction.

"Mr. Ranpo, do you know who sent it?" Nakajima Atsushi looked curious. From Edogawa Ranpo's tone, it was obvious that he knew the person!

Not only does he know Mr. Dazai, he also knows Mr. Ranpo, and he also sent a book to Mr. Dazai. Who could it be?

"I don't know!" Edogawa Ranpo said he would not tell you, just guess it yourself!

He already has a new method of traveling through the world, but he doesn't even send him a gift!

Although... he didn't really want those innovative dishes... but he must have a portion for Lord Ranpo!

"Hehehe~" Dazai Osamu suddenly laughed, then looked left and right, and found that Kunikida Doppo was not there, so he stood up and left.

"How come Mr. Dazai skipped work so openly today..." Nakajima Atsushi looked at Dazai Osamu with a confused look on his face as he left the Armed Detective Agency with the book.

Huh? Wait! When did he get the book?

Izumi Kyoka walked up to Dazai Osamu's desk and opened the drawer, revealing only a pile of bandages.

"As expected, what's important is what's inside, not the bandage outside!" Nakajima Atsushi knew that Mr. Dazai was fooling people again.

Could it be that he actually bought a new suicide manual and put its contents into practice?!

"So suspicious..." He secretly glanced at Edogawa Ranpo, and seeing that he didn't seem to react, he thought it was nothing dangerous.

However, everyone has become accustomed to Dazai Osamu's suicidal habits, and would not even classify his suicidal behavior as a "dangerous incident."

How about... follow them and see? In case they call you later and ask you to take the member who committed suicide away...

"Don't worry about him, Atsushi-kun, come and go buy some snacks with Lord Ranpo!" Edogawa Ranpo dragged away the hesitant Nakajima Atsushi and Izumi Kyoka who was watching the show next to them.

"Hey, hey, hey? We just bought some snacks yesterday!"

"Ranpo-sama wants the new flavor that came out today!"

"Okay, okay..."

On the other side, Dazai Osamu returned to the dormitory with the book.

He originally wanted to check it out at the detective agency, but after thinking it over, he still felt it was not safe.

This is...Odasaku's novel!

Although the name seems a bit strange, it may be because I have been taking care of the baby for a long time and I was influenced by it.

"Strawberry chocolate...Killer, haha." When Dazai Osamu opened the book, the first thing he saw was the signature that took up an entire page.

Oda Sakunosuke's signature is not the kind of cursive artistic signature that the public idealizes, but a very formal signature method similar to calligraphy, with every stroke very clear.

But what is surprising is that his signature is incomplete. He signed "Odasaku" instead of "Odasaku nosuke".

“This is really…” Dazai Osamu turned to the second page, which was the title page. On it was written a sentence: “That day I was standing in the corner and saw a wild dog passing by the target. I thought it was very similar to me. The only difference was that it couldn’t eat chocolate covered strawberries.”

"Hahaha!" Dazai Osamu felt that this was indeed something Oda Sakunosuke would say.

The third page is the table of contents. This novel has a total of six chapters, and the chapter names are all quite funny.

"I didn't buy the discounted strawberry chocolate, the cat and dog were fighting at the landlady's house, I ran out of cigarettes and lighters, I found someone, the sun was shining but it started to rain, I should give up strawberry chocolate."

Dazai Osamu read out the chapter titles and felt that he could vaguely guess the tone of the content of this chapter from these names, but it was obviously impossible to be just what was written in the names.

He turned to the first chapter and began to read the novel.

In the first chapter, all we can see is a 30-year-old man living in a small town, living a clumsy life alone. He is a stranger, has no partner, and no friends. He doesn't know how to bargain when buying things, and he doesn't know there will be discounts at night when he goes to the supermarket.

The enthusiastic neighbor grandmother told him some life tips, so the man walked into the supermarket that had night sales, but he underestimated how busy the supermarket would be during this time period.

There are not many supermarkets in this kind of small town. The nearby residents all come here to buy things. As he has no experience in rush buying, the man did not buy his favorite strawberry chocolate which was on sale.

He went home alone and dejectedly, without buying anything, and then sat by the window and lamented the difficulty of life.

Although he just failed to grab the discounted strawberry chocolate, he still felt very hit.

Then the next night, he went to the supermarket to buy again, but this time he still failed to get his favorite strawberry chocolate.

Then on the third night, the chocolate covered strawberries were not on sale.

Day 4… Day 5…

Finally, one day, the man was able to skillfully grab his favorite strawberry chocolate!

The first chapter ends here.

In fact, this chapter mainly describes some abnormalities of this man, such as why he lacks common sense? Where is he from? What did he do in the past? Why did he settle in this town?

It also expresses the man’s positive attitude towards life. Although he is an idiot in life, he is trying hard to learn how to live.

Although he went through all this trouble, seemingly just to grab a box of strawberry chocolates, it actually implied that he was gradually starting to live like an ordinary person. In the process of grabbing strawberry chocolates, he learned how to observe the night discount times of various stores in advance, and how to squeeze through the crowd to grab the goods he wanted.

The second chapter is similar. After gradually getting his life in order, the man begins to socialize with people around him, including the enthusiastic old neighbor lady and his landlady.

The landlady lived downstairs from the man. The house the man rented was on the second floor of a two-story building. The landlady ran a grocery store on the first floor and kept a group of cats and dogs in the store.

Since the man hasn't found a job yet, he occasionally does part-time work in the landlady's grocery store, moving goods or taking care of the cats and dogs.

Many neighbors nearby love these cats and dogs, so even if they don’t come to the grocery store to buy things, they will come to touch and hug these furry little animals.

Men don't have any special feelings for cats and dogs. They think these little guys are just like human cubs. They are difficult to take care of, but they will always heal you inadvertently.

During this period, he frequently interacted with his neighbors and gradually became familiar with everyone.

By chance, he met a lady from a convenience store while delivering goods. The two of them had overlapping interests and hobbies, so they got along quite well during their chat.

They started dating and occasionally went out to read books and drink coffee together.

But after that, they never met again. The lady was not originally a resident of this town. She moved away because of better job opportunities.

The man gradually began to get used to the life here and the residents here, as if he was already one of them.

The second chapter ends here. Dazai Osamu originally thought that the next third chapter would be about a man gradually spending all his savings, so that his life became difficult and he couldn't even afford to smoke.

In the end, he may have accidentally lost his only lighter, so the name is "No cigarettes, no lighter".

But halfway through, his expression fell silent.

This chapter begins with a friend of the man coming to see him.

They were close friends and former colleagues.

But from the man's hesitant tone when answering the landlady and the vague and ambiguous words he used when communicating with his friends, it is obvious to remind readers that the man has problems in his past.

And it was a problem that was obviously not worth discussing, otherwise he wouldn't have to hide his past.

The man’s friend asked him for help, but the text did not specify what kind of help he provided.

After much hesitation, the man agreed to help and left the town that night.

What follows is a journey with a rather gloomy tone. While riding the tram, there is a series of lengthy psychological descriptions. It is obvious that the man is very hesitant and struggling inside.

He felt sad when he saw the family of three sitting opposite him, and felt uneasy when he heard the sleepy snoring of the old man next door.

He felt that he shouldn't do that again, but he had done this countless times.

This series of psychological descriptions vaguely point to the man's past as being in some rather dangerous areas, and that he is probably now in a state of retiring from criminal activities.

Finally, the man's identity as a former killer was finally clearly revealed.

"He pulled out his pistol, and like countless nights and days in the past, without thinking, his arm was already in a shooting position, and every muscle in his eyes and face was ready to aim."

"His target is the landlady, the old lady next door, the butcher, the clerk at the convenience store, the cashier at the supermarket, the delivery driver... and himself now."

Dazai Osamu paused and subconsciously pinched the cover of the book.

When the killer became an ordinary person and then turned back into a killer, the person he pointed the gun at was actually himself, his "ordinary self".

Afterwards, the man was forced into some crises, and then he found out that his friend had betrayed him, and he wanted to pull himself back into the darkness.

At the critical moment, someone rescued him and he was able to escape the crisis.

He lost his former best friend and set out on the journey back to the town like a wounded wolf king.

This chapter ends here. The title "no cigarettes, no lighter" means that he lost his friends and also lost the principles he has always adhered to.

At the end, he was still confused. Could he go back to the town?

Then in the next chapter, he picked up someone, and on his way back to town, he met a little boy who had run away from home.

They fed the wild cats together in the park and chatted.

He originally wanted to take the little boy to the police station or send him home.

However, during the conversation, he found out that the little boy was an orphan. He was abandoned in an orphanage because he suffered from a terminal illness. However, current medical technology could not cure his terminal illness, and the orphanage did not have that much money to spend on him.

So he chose to run away from home.

Since he didn't have much time to live anyway, he wanted to go out and see the world.

The man thought about it and took the little boy away.

The man brought the little boy back to the town, and to his surprise, he immediately got into the state of life as soon as he returned here.

Whether it was snapping up discounted items or taking care of cats and dogs in the grocery store, he soon returned to this ordinary life, but this time there was a little boy by his side.

He took the boy to do many things and passed on to him all the common sense he had learned in life.

The residents of the town also liked the little boy very much, and the cats and dogs in the grocery store were happy to play with him.

In this way, they continued to live in this small town in peace for two years.

However, by the third year, the boy's health deteriorated and his condition became increasingly worse.

But the little boy didn't think it was a big deal, because he was happy and satisfied every day and there was nothing he wanted anymore.

One afternoon, the little boy took a nap with the cats and dogs in the grocery store, and he never woke up again.

The man buried the little boy and the townspeople held a grand funeral for him.

When he dealt with everything and returned home, the clear sky suddenly started to rain. He looked out the window, not knowing what he was thinking.

The sun was shining, but it was raining.