The King

The King (Japanese original: Aru Kingu) is a surreal suspense novel by Kotaro Isaka, translated into Chinese by Yuan Bin and part of the New Classics Kotaro Isaka series. The novel follows the growth of Yamada, an extraordinarily gifted athlete: he has outstanding athletic ability and strong willpower, and his parents are willing to sacrifice everything to protect his talent, even at the cost of being suspected of murder. As Yamada grows day by day and his strength becomes increasingly evident, he attracts more and more jealousy. Will he become a legendary figure, or will he be swallowed by the surging undercurrent? A match that will decide his fate arrives as if by destiny. The work uses multiple perspectives and a structure that loops from beginning to end, asking through almost incredible plot: if an extremely outstanding person appears among those around you, will people help him succeed or destroy him? The book also contains cryptic settings such as "Kanagawa Prefecture" and "King of Sendai," exploring, beyond the suspense, the tension between genius and the group, mediocrity and order. The book is short and compact, with a fast pace and a lingering ending; it is one of Isaka's colder, more satirical works.