Chapter 15

Sitting at the desk in the living room, Akiwara Yuto held a black fountain pen in his hand, looking at the paper in front of him, and couldn't stop frowning in thought.

The house he was in now was the "detached house" that the agent had recommended to him before.

After that conversation with Asano Aiko the day before yesterday, he felt that he could no longer waste time on small matters like finding a house.

So he immediately went to that real estate company and agreed to sign the contract, with the only requirement being that he could move in as soon as possible.

The other party was overjoyed to hear this request, not only promising to waive the gift money but also immediately finding a moving company and a cleaning company.

Not only did they help him pack everything, but they also replaced the tatami mats and wallpaper in the new house.

Of course, the cost of these two services was paid by him.

In addition, before moving, Akiwara Yuto also treated the apartment manager to a meal at a yakitori restaurant to express his gratitude for this period of time.

It was just that the thing the other party said about him getting along well with his girlfriend left him a bit confused.

Having moved into the new house, Akiwara Yuto could be considered to have let out a sigh of relief; after all, this meant he didn't have to be troubled by noise and mold anymore.

Especially since cockroaches had appeared a while ago, which were not only shiny and black but also flew all over the room, becoming another important reason that forced him to move.

Now that the house had been moved and the place had been tidied up, it was time to start considering what to do next.

He put down the pen in his hand, stood up, and walked to a cardboard box nearby—this entire box of books was specifically selected by him at a bookstore, and they were books specifically targeting the Japanese literary world, which would be beneficial for him to further understand his current situation.

He examined them for a while, pulled out a book, opened it, and began to read carefully, starting to further understand the current literary journal market.

First is the situation of the publishing houses. In this world, besides Mantanshe, there are Kejiaoguan and Jingfanshe; these three are called the three major publishing houses by readers.

Besides these, there is also Dongyingshe. Although its circulation is not large, it has many small and medium-sized publishing houses under its umbrella, so it is also called the "invisible" fourth-largest publishing house by the outside world.

These four major publishing houses all have their own representative literary journals: Mantanshe's representative journal is *Tokyo Literature*, with a weekly circulation of 150,000 copies; Kejiaoguan's representative journal is *April Youth*, with a weekly circulation of 120,000 copies; Jingfanshe's representative journal is *Spring of Literature*, with a weekly circulation of 180,000 copies; Dongyingshe's representative work is *Tokyo Youth*, with a weekly circulation of 250,000 copies.

Seeing this, Akiwara Yuto laughed in spite of himself. The *New Novels* he was submitting to now had a circulation that was only a fraction of these big magazines, like a small sampan next to an aircraft carrier, humble enough to be pitiful.

He shook his head, then stood up and took out a bag of snacks with a hamster head printed on it from the drawer of the storage box nearby, ate two bamboo shoot chocolates inside to replenish his energy, and then returned to the table with the book, pondering carefully while reading.

Actually, the best choice at present is to accumulate fame after serializing Otsuichi's *ZOO* in *New Novels*, and then switch to another larger publishing house's magazine.

After all, the sales of *New Novels* are limited, and there is a very serious situation of seniority, so it is difficult for him not to be affected by the personnel struggles between editors.

But from a moral perspective, he cannot make such a choice. Because although this is beneficial to him personally, it will seriously affect Asano Aiko's career prospects.

He cannot do such an act of returning kindness with ingratitude.

So the best way at present is to prove the popularity of his work through reader feedback and win a literary award above the Gold Prize.

Once at that stage, the editorial department will have to pay attention to him. Not only will his future book releases have better promotion and revenue, but Asano Aiko, as the editor in charge, will also receive significant benefits.

But according to Asano Aiko's statement, because he cannot get promotion in the early stages, his work starts at a disadvantage.

If the popularity feedback during the serialization period is always at the bottom, it is estimated that he won't even be able to enter the selection for the Gold Prize.

He put down his pen and couldn't help but have a headache. From the current situation, there is not much room for maneuver for all the plans, and he can only wait for the specific popularity feedback of the work after the journal is released.

This feeling of leaving things to fate really made him unable to be happy.

Just as he was thinking of giving up, leaning half of his body on the back of the chair while constantly turning the office chair with his feet, he suddenly saw a report on the cover of a literary journal on the floor—"Popular Writer Sudo Shuichi Expected to Win the Uemura Prize."

Uemura Prize?

He was a bit curious, walked over and picked up the magazine, and just at this moment, a thought he had had before suddenly popped into his mind again.

Since winning awards within the publishing house can increase my fame and thus ensure my interests in the editorial department, wouldn't industry-recognized awards be more effective than awards within the publishing house?

Thinking of this, he walked to the cardboard box again and began to search for the information he needed in that pile of books.

In this parallel Japanese world, the one with the highest status in the literary world is the Uemura Prize, which was established to commemorate a writer named Uemura Yukito and has been held for 74 consecutive years.

According to the rules, the Uemura Prize is selected by a jury composed of several well-known writers in the first and second half of each year for literary works published in newspapers and magazines. The winner can receive a prize of one million yen and a gold pocket watch.

Besides this award, there are also awards established by various organizations and associations, among which the most famous are the Mystery Writers of Japan Award and the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award established by the Mystery Writers Association.

Below that are the novel awards established within various publishing houses, and the Mantanshe Literary Award is one of them.

Akiwara Yuto collected the winning rules and winning records of various awards and found that the Uemura Prize is mainly aimed at established mid-career writers and has nothing to do with him.

But the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award of the Mystery Writers Association is different; it not only does not require the work to be published publicly, but also allows the winner to choose the publishing house for publication after winning, and it has great prestige in the industry.

This means that if he can win this grand prize, his right to speak will be greatly improved.

Once that step is reached, the *New Novels* editorial department will inevitably tilt promotional resources toward him, otherwise, they will be scolded by the industry.

In addition, his award-winning work can also be published by Mantanshe, and inviting Asano Aiko to be the editor in charge then will undoubtedly be of great benefit to both parties.

But there is another problem, and that is what kind of work should be taken to participate in the competition.

Closing his eyes, he began to recall constantly in the depths of his memory.

In his past life, although he studied East Asian literature, he hadn't read many Japanese mystery novels; he had only read the representative works of Seicho Matsumoto, Edogawa Ranpo, Miyuki Miyabe, Keigo Higashino, and others, and he could only recall and write down a dozen or so by memory.

Excluding these, what he could link to mystery was that he had watched a large number of foreign mystery works, including novels and movies like *Murder on the Orient Express*, *Witness for the Prosecution*, and *The Invisible Guest*. Could these be adapted into books suitable for the local Japanese market?

It seems there is feasibility. After all, he had heard in his past life that a series of movies like the famous British detective novelist Agatha's *Murder on the Orient Express* had been localized in Japan, but he didn't know how the box office was.

So, which piece should be chosen for submission?

Time passed day by day, and while he was busy ensuring the completion of his original manuscript tasks, he also worked hard to study the possibility of localizing foreign mystery works.

He wrote many sheets of manuscript paper and threw them away directly after finding them unsatisfactory.

During this period, he and Asano Aiko also held two meetings, and the two became more familiar with each other, and he gained a further understanding of her personality.

When it came to work, Asano Aiko was a dedicated professional woman, but if it involved her private life, she would become a bit shy.

After experiencing all this, time finally reached July 5, 1993, ushering in the day of the release of the new issue of *New Novels*...