[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-164":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},2355013,4607,"Chapter 164: The Editor-in-Chief's Admiration","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-164",164,"\u003Cp>\"Editor Awazu, it seems the Editor-in-Chief of your department is quite busy with official business, so I think I shall take my leave for today.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing his third cup of tea, Akiwara Yuto set the cup down and spoke to Hideki Awazu, who was sitting to the side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forty-five minutes had passed since he sat down, and he did not believe his time was something that could be wasted indefinitely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, serialization was merely something he was doing as a matter of convenience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since *April Youth* lacked sincerity, he could accept finding another publication to collaborate with, or simply waiting a while longer to release the collected volume.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, I apologize. I will go and ask; perhaps some urgent matter has delayed them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hideki Awazu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke in a very polite tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had vaguely guessed what was happening inside the Editor-in-Chief's office, but he had not expected it to cause such a long delay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He dared not let Akiwara Yuto leave; if that happened, the subsequent cooperation would likely fall through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the current arms race among the four major publishing houses, finding another author with the fame of Akiwara Yuto was undoubtedly harder than ascending to heaven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Hideki Awazu was preparing to leave the reception room, the sound of high heels approached.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately after, the door to the reception room opened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing the person who entered, Hideki Awazu finally felt relieved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, sorry to have kept you waiting. I am Rika Ooshiro, Editor-in-Chief of *April Youth*. Please treat me well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, Akiwara Yuto instinctively looked up to size the other person up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was a middle-aged woman in her forties, wearing glasses and a simple black suit. There was a very refined air about her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing her bow and introduce herself, Akiwara Yuto also stood up. \"Nice to meet you. I am Akiwara Yuto. Please treat me well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since she had arrived, he abandoned his plan to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he still had some vague suspicions in his heart: was making him wait so long a power play by *April Youth*?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Never mind, let's see how this Editor-in-Chief Ooshiro behaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If her attitude remained poor, he would not blame himself for not giving her face and leaving directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, after bowing and handing over her business card, Rika Ooshiro sat on the sofa to the right of Akiwara Yuto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She took out a document envelope and placed it on the coffee table in front of the sofa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, regarding the conditions you proposed earlier, some in our editorial department have raised objections.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Objections?\" Akiwara Yuto frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought about it and did not find it surprising; after all, demanding to retain the rights to the collected volume and other copyrights after the serialization ended was arguably against industry practice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But on this point, he would not choose to concede.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, whether it was distribution or promotion, he now had the funds and resources to arrange it himself, so there was no need to hand over a large sum in royalties to the publisher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto took a sip of tea and asked, \"Editor-in-Chief Ooshiro, what was the final result of your discussion?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had already made a decision in his heart: if *April Youth* did not accept these terms, he would choose to abandon the cooperation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rika Ooshiro heard Akiwara Yuto's words and carefully observed his expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Akiwara Yuto's face, she could not see the slightest hint of wavering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sighed inwardly and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Although some people have objections, I believe your conditions are acceptable. However, before signing the formal contract, I would like to take a look at your work.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto nodded and took out the document envelope he had brought from home, handing it to Rika Ooshiro across from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside this envelope were the outline he had written previously and copies of the initial manuscript.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the original manuscript, he had entrusted it to Asano Aiko, having her take it to the law firm they had previously collaborated with to have it properly filed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Come to think of it, this manuscript was his second adaptation of a foreign mystery work since *Negligent Homicide*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wondered if it would satisfy *April Youth*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he was a bit curious, Akiwara Yuto did not feel much nervousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, after a series of events, he had become accustomed to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Rika Ooshiro did not know Akiwara Yuto's thoughts. She opened the envelope and took out the manuscript to begin reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she saw the title, she was somewhat puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*The Invisible Guest*?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Japanese, \"kyaku\" implies a distinguished guest, and the term \"invisible\" carried a hint of the supernatural.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, was this work of the suspense genre?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed that the *Zoo* series, with which this Akiwara-sensei had debuted, was indeed suspense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, it seemed he had later written works in the social and orthodox mystery styles as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Never mind, let's look at the content first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rika Ooshiro glanced at the title twice and then began to read carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She did not look at the outline first, but instead picked up the first installment of the serialized manuscript.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, for a serialized work, the quality of the beginning was the most important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it could not attract many readers at the start, then even if it became brilliant later, its contribution to increasing magazine sales would be limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a time, the reception room became quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hideki Awazu sat to the side, waiting silently, while Akiwara Yuto closed his eyes to rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sunlight streamed through the window into the room. Meanwhile, time ticked away, and soon half an hour had passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this half hour, Rika Ooshiro's posture remained frozen; aside from the near-instinctive page-turning and her constantly changing expressions, she made almost no other movements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not until she finished the last page did Rika Ooshiro let out a sigh of relief, realizing her body had gone somewhat numb from sitting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She set down the manuscript, picked up the outline from the other side, and began to read it carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After quickly finishing the outline and understanding the cause and effect of the story, Rika Ooshiro felt something different in her heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mystery could be written like this?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, her eyes shone with a different light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her original imagination, *The Invisible Guest* should have been a suspense work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she had not expected a lawyer to appear at the beginning, which made her think it was a courtroom drama at the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, as the lawyer and the client continued to talk, the story kept reversing! Truth and lies kept alternating!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who exactly was the killer?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was the motive for the murder?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was the method of the murder?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These questions made Rika Ooshiro deeply realize that this Akiwara-sensei winning the Newcomer Award for Mystery Literature was no fluke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even after learning the cause and effect through the outline, she couldn't wait to see the subsequent manuscript!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such serialized content could absolutely help *April Youth* escape its current predicament!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rika Ooshiro expressed her admiration inwardly, but she did not show it on the surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the hand holding the manuscript was trembling slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought for a moment, set down the manuscript, and said to Akiwara Yuto on the other side:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, if there are no other problems, let's sign the contract now!\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1246,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","0fd73d35093634d27c9f99049bc5806e16a7c88fabdc6132a4120679a78ddfdf","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-165","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-163",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]