[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-137":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Literary Master of Tokyo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2354986,4607,"Chapter 137: A Playful Smile","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-137",137,"\u003Cp>Tokyo, Mystery Writers Association conference room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As vice-chairman, Kawai Shinta sat in his office chair handling work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yesterday, the results for the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award were released, but since the awards ceremony was still a few days away, the winner's identity had to be kept confidential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides that, before the official announcement at the ceremony, other invited guests and relevant media personnel had to be considered to prepare for the press conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, there was a knock at the office door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kawai Shinta said \"Come in,\" and immediately, a man in a gray suit walked in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kawai Shinta looked up and realized the person was his subordinate, Takeda Yuto, who was in charge of public relations for the Association Award and the Newcomer Award.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Takeda, what are you here for?\" Kawai Shinta asked nonchalantly while flipping through documents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Takeda Yuto stood straight and replied solemnly: \"Chairman Kawai, I am here to report on something regarding the Newcomer Award winner, Akiwara Yuto.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara Yuto?\" Kawai Shinta hadn't expected to hear this answer. He looked up and asked in confusion: \"Is there a problem with him?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This had to be investigated thoroughly; if they just awarded the newcomer prize to someone only for it to come out later that he had major issues, the Mystery Writers Association's reputation would suffer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, this wasn't without precedent; a few years ago, a writer who won the Mystery Writers Association Award was exposed after winning for beating his wife until she miscarried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately, the media focused on it, and someone even wrote an article titled \"This Year's Mystery Writers Association Award Winner Beats Wife to Miscarriage,\" leaving the organizing body, the Mystery Writers Association, in a very embarrassing position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kawai Shinta did not want to experience that a second time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The situation is a bit complicated,\" Takeda Yuto hesitated, \"It concerns Mantan Publishing; they seem to have imposed some restrictions on this writer.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mantan Publishing?\" Kawai Shinta was puzzled. He remembered from the information he received that Akiwara Yuto debuted in a magazine called \"New\" under Mantan Publishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the two had a cooperative relationship, why would Mantan Publishing impose restrictions on Akiwara Yuto?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stopped his work and frowned, saying: \"Explain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Takeda Yuto nodded and replied: \"According to information our PR department recently gathered, Mantan Publishing seems to be using business cooperation as leverage to demand that other media outlets refrain from reporting on him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isn't this a blacklist? Kawai Shinta was somewhat surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a large publisher to blacklist a debut author was simply too strange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you know the reason?\" Kawai Shinta pressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"According to the news we received, the various newspapers have inconsistent accounts; some say it's due to factional infighting, some say the author himself has poor character, and others say he offended someone with real power.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What a mess, Kawai Shinta shook his head, but he began to ponder it carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed that whether to award the Newcomer Award to Akiwara Yuto still required careful consideration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the other party just had a chaotic private life, it would be fine; the public and media wouldn't care much about that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if the other party had issues with their character or had done something morally corrupt, he would have to think it over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kawai Shinta thought for a moment and told his subordinate to head back first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately after, he took out an address book from his drawer and flipped to a page. He picked up the receiver and dialed the number in the book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hello, this is Kawai Shinta. May I speak to Seto Tamae?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nothing special, I just wanted to ask you about a writer named Akiwara Yuto. Do you know him, and what do you think of this writer?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What? He proposed nine methods for designing tricks? Please, tell me more in detail.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kawai Shinta had only intended to ask about his character, never expecting such an unexpected delight. He gripped the receiver tightly and listened carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he listened, his pupils dilated involuntarily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tricks involving the body, tricks involving the scene, tricks involving time, tricks involving murder weapons and poisons... this series of design methods for tricks left Kawai Shinta astonished and surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had never imagined that someone could think through the design methods of mystery tricks so clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more Kawai Shinta thought about it, the more incredible it seemed. In his view, based solely on these nine concepts for trick design, Akiwara Yuto could secure a place in the Japanese mystery world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Akiwara-san might truly be a genius; no wonder he could write a work like \"Manslaughter\" which contained so many trick design methods!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time passed bit by bit, and 20 minutes later, Kawai Shinta finally ended the call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By this time, he had forgotten that his original purpose for calling Seto Tamae was to learn about Akiwara Yuto's character.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he didn't think that was important anymore. A writer with such talent was a treasure to the Japanese literary world; even if his character was a bit lacking, so what?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the changes he could bring to the future of the Japanese literary world, some personal matters were not an issue at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then again, why did this Akiwara-sensei leave Mantan Publishing, and why did Mantan Publishing blacklist him? Even if the writer's character had issues, it shouldn't go this far, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more Kawai Shinta thought about it, the stranger it felt, so he picked up the receiver again and dialed a number from his address book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the vice-chairman of the Mystery Writers Association, Kawai Shinta held a certain status in the Japanese literary world and had connections with many in the publishing industry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So this time, he contacted Mantan Publishing's competitor, Keihan Publishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As competitors, the two companies should have a good understanding of each other's intelligence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The call was connected quickly. Kawai Shinta held the receiver and said: \"Director Murata, this is Kawai Shinta. I want to ask you about something.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's like this, the PR bureau of Mantan Publishing recently made... regarding a writer named Akiwara Yuto.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You'll have someone look into it? Alright, I'll wait.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kawai Shinta hung up the phone and waited for a little while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After 15 minutes passed, the phone rang, and Kawai Shinta answered it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A male voice came from the other end: \"Chairman Kawai, according to an editor named Awazu Hideki at our 'April Youth', the development of the matter is as follows...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kawai Shinta nodded subconsciously and listened carefully. He listened for a full twenty minutes before putting down the receiver. By then, he understood the ins and outs of the matter clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the more he learned about the inside story, the angrier he became.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn Mantan Publishing, just because a writer ended their cooperation, you let the outside world blacklist him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If everyone acted like you, wouldn't writers become slaves to publishers?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, this precedent cannot be set!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, a genius like Akiwara Yuto who could propose nine trick design methods—if he really stopped writing because of suppression, it would undoubtedly be a major loss for the Japanese literary world!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kawai Shinta stood up and paced around the office. After a while, he finally decided what to do next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought for a moment, picked up the receiver again, and called Takeda Yuto, who was in charge of PR, back in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Takeda, the choice for the Newcomer Award winner will not change.\" Kawai Shinta looked at his subordinate and said: \"In addition, help me send out a few special invitations. Besides the originally scheduled Mantan Publishing vice-president, invite a department head named Kihara Daigo and a deputy editor-in-chief named Takei Kohei.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this request, Takeda Yuto couldn't help but show a surprised expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inviting a department head was barely acceptable, but what was the deal with inviting a magazine's deputy editor-in-chief? However, since his superior had said so, he would just follow orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He nodded and turned around, but he didn't notice that a playful smile had appeared on Kawai Shinta's face...\u003C\u002Fp>",1341,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","d584263e7dccad5dff8b41abf749b9d2ecd0d93cbcd11c1432454cf2d1e96ef5","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-138","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-136",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]