Chapter 156: A Small Test from the Mystery Writers Association?

The next book? What genre should I write?

Akiwara Yuto bit the end of his pen, lost in thought, and began to recall the series of books he had written since arriving in this world.

As of now, he had written three works: the *Zoo* collection, *The Devotion of Suspect X*, and *Manslaughter*.

The first helped him debut and gain a certain level of fame; the second, through self-publishing, helped him accumulate a certain amount of capital; as for the third, while helping him win an award, it also resolved the dilemma of being blacklisted.

Some of these results were within his expectations, but others were unexpected.

For example, the work *Manslaughter* was something he had adapted from the foreign work *Knives Out* simply because he didn't want to let the idea go to waste.

In other words, it was purely an experimental work to test the waters.

Yet, this very test-water work actually achieved good results and received support from a specific social group, selling continuously well.

This proved one thing: even foreign mystery works, as long as the adaptation can adapt to the local Japanese society and the story is exciting enough, can still achieve considerable success.

So, should he adapt another suitable work to test the waters again?

After all, looking at it now, he no longer had too many burdens and just needed to continue playing it steady. Moreover, after releasing three consecutive bestsellers, he also had some room for trial and error.

But then again, should he avoid the trouble and just take works by Miyuki Miyabe or Ranpo Edogawa?

But he only remembered a dozen or so famous Japanese mystery novels; it really was one less for every one he used...

Akiwara Yuto put down his pen and looked at the paper on the desk, feeling indecisive for a moment.

While he was thinking, the phone in the Xuanguan rang.

Akiwara Yuto stood up, walked downstairs, and picked up the phone. "Hello, I am Akiwara Yuto. May I ask who this is?"

"Akiwara-sensei, this is Seto Tamae. Are you free to come to the Mystery Writers Association in Setagaya Ward this afternoon? Chairman Kawai would like to have a brief chat with you..."

Hearing this invitation, Akiwara Yuto was a bit surprised, but he agreed nonetheless.

2: 0 PM, Setagaya Ward.

Following the address provided by Seto Tamae, Akiwara Yuto arrived in front of an unremarkable building.

The building was about six stories high, plain and ordinary, somewhat resembling a Japanese middle school building.

But on the wall outside the building's entrance hung a plaque with the words "Mystery Writers Association" written on it.

Akiwara Yuto took a quick look, pushed open the building's main door, and walked to the front desk to ask a "balding" man on duty.

"Hello, I am Akiwara Yuto. I made an appointment by phone earlier."

The "balding" man looked down at a form on the desk, nodded, handed Akiwara Yuto a badge, and pointed to the elevator nearby.

"Akiwara-san, take the elevator straight to the 6th floor, then take the first room on the right."

Akiwara Yuto muttered to himself, compared to the front desk reception at Man-tan Society, this was too casual, wasn't it?

But he still thanked him, took the badge, pinned it to his chest, and left to take the elevator to the room the man mentioned.

He walked to the room the man had indicated, knocked lightly on the door, and after hearing a "Please come in," he pushed the door open.

Inside the door was a simple reception room, and sitting on the sofa in this room were three "acquaintances."

They were the writer Seto Tamae, the vice-chairman of the Mystery Writers Association Kawai Shinta, and Miyagawa Yosuke, whom he had met once before at Tokyo Woman's Christian University.

Upon seeing the three, Akiwara Yuto immediately bowed and greeted them politely; the other three in the room also stood up and responded politely.

"Akiwara-sensei, please sit down." Kawai Shinta waved his hand and invited Akiwara Yuto to sit as well.

Akiwara Yuto nodded and sat down with the others.

He knew he was a junior, and in terms of seniority, he was only a "newcomer" who had debuted less than half a year ago, so he consciously sat in the seat closest to the door.

This position signified that his seniority was the lowest.

After sitting down, Akiwara Yuto looked around at the others and then asked politely: "Chairman Kawai, I am honored to receive your invitation, but may I ask what the purpose of this invitation is?"

"Akiwara-sensei, no need to be so anxious." Kawai Shinta smiled and then took the initiative to hand a cup of already brewed tea to Akiwara Yuto. "Inviting you here this time is to give you a test."

Akiwara Yuto took the tea, but his heart was filled with many doubts.

A test? What is this?

He recalled the "riddles" he received on the night of the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award and felt even more speechless, thinking this Chairman Kawai was indeed an eccentric person.

Akiwara Yuto subconsciously looked at Seto Tamae and found that she was also smiling, looking like she was keeping him in suspense.

Miyagawa Yosuke, sitting to the side, smiled and took over the conversation. "Akiwara-sensei, this test is just a routine process; I hope you don't mind. If there are no issues, I will begin."

Before this, he had learned through the mouths of the other two that Akiwara Yuto had proposed a code containing all mystery trick design techniques, known as the Nine Types of Tricks.

After learning the specific content, he appreciated Akiwara Yuto's talent even more.

In his view, the so-called routine test was nothing more than an easy problem for Akiwara Yuto.

Akiwara Yuto was still confused, but he also understood the implication: if he passed this test, perhaps there would be some unexpected gains?

He thought for a moment, then nodded, signaling that he was ready.

Miyagawa Yosuke cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Generally speaking, when authors design mystery works, they often set some writing rules or taboos for themselves to avoid the irrationality of their works. So, today I would like to ask you, Akiwara-sensei, do you have any special rules to follow when creating mystery works?"

After a pause, he added: "Just talk about it simply."

Although Miyagawa Yosuke said he didn't have expectations, he was actually very curious inside.

After all, in his view, since Akiwara Yuto could propose a theory like the Nine Types of Tricks, it was perfectly normal for him to have other mystery theories.

Perhaps this test today could bring him a different realization.

Hearing this question, Akiwara Yuto became conflicted instead.

Mystery rules?

He took a sip of tea, then frowned and fell into deep thought.

If it were mystery rules, then he had to mention Knox's Decalogue and Van Dine's Twenty Rules; in these two sets of rules, many design techniques for mysteries were constrained by various frameworks.

But to be honest, both of these rules were too old and outdated; some of the designs within them were not only unreasonable but also full of religious and racial prejudices.

Therefore, in this test, talking about these two rules was meaningless.

Then, Keigo Higashino's *The Devotion of Suspect X*? No, *The Rules of the Great Detective*.

Forget it, it was full of criticism and mockery of the orthodox school; if he really brought it up, he would probably offend a large number of orthodox school supporters.

He didn't want to make enemies now.

But besides that, what else could he say?

Although this Miyagawa-sensei said to just talk about it simply, if he really just talked about it simply, the talented writer image he had built up would undoubtedly be shattered.

Akiwara Yuto closed his eyes and kept digging in his mind.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and said: "When I write mystery works, I have designed the following principles..."