Chapter 106: Knives Out

Chiyoda Ward, Mantansha Headquarters.

Matsushima Kazuhiro walked out of the elevator, followed the corridor to the door of an office, and knocked. Upon hearing a "please come in," he pushed the door open and walked inside.

Sitting on the guest sofa behind the door was his direct superior—Department Head Kihara Daigo.

Upon seeing Matsushima Kazuhiro, Kihara Daigo gestured for him to sit, kindly poured him a cup of tea, and then said, "Editor-in-Chief Matsushima, what is Akiwara Yuto's stance regarding the terms in the contract?"

Matsushima Kazuhiro took the tea, hesitated for a moment, but decided to relay Akiwara Yuto's opinion truthfully: "He demands... that Takei Kohei be transferred."

Kihara Daigo frowned. Takei Kohei was currently a member of his faction and knew quite a few of his secrets; how could he possibly transfer him?

At this moment, Matsushima Kazuhiro added, "Besides that, he also hopes you will issue a public apology... admitting that there was an error in the award results."

Upon hearing this condition, Kihara Daigo was stunned for a moment. Me? Apologize?

Soon, he was so angry he laughed!

He was the Department Head of Mantansha, one of the four major publishing houses, and had seen more writers than he could count. As for Akiwara Yuto, although he had achieved some results, he was at best a newcomer who might run out of talent one day.

On the contrary, if he were to apologize publicly, he would not only have to endure criticism within Mantansha, but it might also invite accountability from the Vice President who directly managed the Editorial Bureau.

This would make all previous efforts to cover up the award ceremony incident go to waste and, worse, make them a laughingstock to competitors from the other three major publishing houses.

Kihara Daigo frowned. He stood up, paced back and forth in the office twice, and then thought of something else.

What exactly gave Akiwara Yuto the confidence to say such a thing?

"Matsushima, what is the name of Akiwara Yuto's latest standalone book, and what is the projected sales volume?"

Seeing his superior stand up, Matsushima Kazuhiro felt it would be inappropriate to remain seated, so he stood up as well.

"That work is called *The Devotion of Suspect X*. Based on data feedback from the statistics department, the projected annual circulation is likely around 60,000 copies. They believe that even in the most ideal scenario, it is unlikely to exceed 80,000 copies."

Kihara Daigo stroked the stubble on his chin and continued to ponder.

Previously, there had been some rumors within Mantansha suggesting that Takei Kohei was the culprit behind the unfair award results.

But in truth, anyone who understood the award rules slightly knew that he himself was the one truly responsible for the literary prize and decided the final outcome. Furthermore, the fact that Kadowaki Yuzhen was dating his daughter was impossible to hide...

In that case, if Akiwara Yuto's works could still sell well after leaving Mantansha, it would inevitably invite criticism against him, such as accusations of driving away a genius writer.

However, if Akiwara Yuto's standalone book could only sell 60,000 to 70,000 copies, it could only be considered qualified, not a bestseller.

At that time, he could arrange for some people to stir up talk of a "fallen genius"...

Kihara Daigo thought for a while and sat back down. "If the sales are only that much, there is no need to worry."

Matsushima Kazuhiro gave a bitter smile and replied, "Department Head, if I may be blunt, when Akiwara Yuto first joined *New Novel*, its weekly sales were only 30,000 copies, and it was once on the verge of being discontinued. But you should be aware of the final results."

He paused, then said in a more sincere tone, "I have read this work, *The Devotion of Suspect X*, carefully twice. In my personal opinion, I don't think it would be an exaggeration for it to sell 500,000 copies."

Hearing this, Kihara Daigo was astonished. He had not expected Matsushima Kazuhiro to hold such a high opinion of Akiwara Yuto's new work. Following that, he calmed his heart; after all, what Matsushima Kazuhiro said had some merit.

A few months ago, the sales of *New Novel* were barely under 30,000 copies. During the departmental decision meeting, someone even suggested changing *New Novel* from a weekly to a monthly publication, or discontinuing it altogether.

At that time, he had even considered arranging for Kadowaki Yuzhen to go to *Tokyo Literature*; after all, even if he couldn't be the lead writer, it was better than the fate of being discontinued...

But he hadn't expected that after Akiwara Yuto began his serialization, it would suddenly turn things around.

Kihara Daigo became conflicted. If things could really turn out as Matsushima Kazuhiro said, and Akiwara Yuto's work became a massive hit, then some of the suppressed voices would rise again, and he would have some trouble...

This had to be guarded against; it seemed he still needed to make some arrangements.

"Editor-in-Chief Matsushima, I have understood the situation. You no longer need to handle Akiwara Yuto's work; I will arrange for someone else to be responsible for it later."

Matsushima Kazuhiro breathed a sigh of relief. He truly had no way to deal with Akiwara Yuto now. However, another question occurred to him: if Akiwara Yuto did not resume serialization, what would happen to the sales of *New Novel*?

Forget it, I'll go back and think about it properly... It really is a headache...

Matsushima Kazuhiro stood up, bowed to Kihara Daigo, and left. Kihara Daigo watched his back and pondered for a while. Immediately after, he picked up the receiver and dialed an internal number.

"Deputy Editor-in-Chief Takei, come to my office. I have something to discuss with you."

While Kihara Daigo and Takei Kohei were discussing countermeasures, Akiwara Yuto was sitting at his desk, considering the idea he had previously had at the internet cafe—whether the method of driving traffic from the internet to physical books was feasible.

Akiwara Yuto closed his eyes, crossed his arms, spun his chair, and pondered.

The internet in this world had only been developing for a few years, so there were no cases with reference value.

But looking back at the memories of his past life, there were actually many relevant cases—many books became overnight sensations after being serialized online, and readers, loving the house and its crow, were driven to purchase the author's other offline physical books.

Moreover, among the thousands of replies under the *Mystery Taxi* post, many said they wanted to buy *New Novel*, which proved this point.

Therefore, this traffic-driving aspect should be feasible.

Since that was the case, which work should he bring out?

Akiwara Yuto stood up, paced back and forth twice, thought for a long time, and finally decided to find a foreign work and adapt it. That way, even if it failed in the end, he wouldn't feel heartbroken.

In that case, how about this one?

He sat back at the desk, took out paper and pen, and wrote down a title: *Knives Out*.

This story was about a mystery novelist who was found to have committed a bizarre suicide in his home manor the day after his birthday.

Immediately after, a detective was invited to come to the manor to investigate. But this detective discovered that every member of the family had a motive for murder...

Akiwara Yuto pondered the elements he could replace in his mind for a while, then began to write. He prepared to divide this novel into 6 parts and finish the serialization in 6 weeks.

Four hours later, he finished the first part, which was about 10,000 words long.

Akiwara Yuto checked the content in front of him, nodded with satisfaction, changed into his outdoor clothes, left the house, and headed toward the internet cafe.

Tonight, he planned to publish the first part on the internet first...