Chapter 167: Are You an Idiot?

While Sugihara Aisa was reading, book critic Yashiro Toshihiro was also holding a copy of *April Youth*, flipping through Akiwara Yuto's work.

After finishing the entire first installment, Yashiro Toshihiro fell into deep thought.

Before this, when he saw the title *The Invisible Guest*, he had assumed it was a work of the "henkaku" (unconventional) school.

But after reading it all, he realized he had been wrong; this book should be a work of the "honkaku" (orthodox) school.

What surprised him even more was that this work actually reconstructed the crime scene through flashbacks and conversations.

This was vastly different from other "honkaku" works where the detective participates directly in solving the case.

He picked up the coffee at his side, took a sip, then took out paper and a pen and began to scribble.

As he read, he wrote down all the clues on the paper.

According to the story, the crime scene was a hotel room with the doors and windows completely locked, and it had been investigated repeatedly by the police.

Therefore, it could be proven that this locked room was in a completely sealed state, with no secret passages or mechanisms for entry.

So the question arose: how did the murderer stun Sugō Nobuyuki and kill the victim in this sealed room?

Furthermore, how did the murderer escape from this room without being seen by witnesses?

Yashiro Toshihiro looked at the clues written on the paper, thought for a long time without finding an answer, and couldn't help but sigh.

*Sigh*, Akiwara-sensei, you really know how to keep people in suspense!

He tore off that sheet of paper and began writing on a new one.

Although he hadn't finished the entire serialization and couldn't be sure how the story would unfold,

he believed that Akiwara Yuto's previous series of works had already proven his talent, so he figured this story wouldn't be bad either.

Besides, the name Akiwara Yuto had been a hot topic of public interest recently, so he assumed quite a few readers would be paying attention.

Therefore, this time, he prepared to write a quarter-page book review to briefly promote it.

But what would be a good title?

Yashiro Toshihiro thought for a long time, then wrote the title "I Am Not the Murderer—Akiwara Yuto's New Work Released" on the paper.

After writing the title, he organized the outline in his mind, leaned over, and began to write furiously...

Chiyoda Ward, Mantan Society Headquarters, *Tokyo Literature* Editorial Department.

The newly appointed editor-in-chief, Matsushima Kazuhiro, sat on a leather sofa, looked around at the office furnishings, and felt a complex mix of emotions.

He felt a bit proud, but also somewhat incredulous.

Half a year ago, he was still the deputy editor-in-chief of *New*, running around all day trying to secure promotional resources and racking his brain for how to advance his career.

But he never expected that in these six months, his life's circumstances would undergo such a earth-shattering change.

After Kikuchi Tai was "exiled," he was first promoted to editor-in-chief of *New* by Kihara Daigo, but due to the sharp decline in *New*'s sales, he had to request a departmental transfer.

Just as he was communicating with his superiors about the transfer, a "public opinion war" broke out between Mantan Society and Akiwara Yuto.

Following that, Kihara Daigo and Takei Kohei were "exiled," and another deputy editor-in-chief of *Tokyo Literature* was also given a corresponding punishment for failing to submit a proper report.

After various considerations, his superiors issued a transfer order, requiring him to take up a post at *Tokyo Literature* and cooperate with the Public Relations Bureau to handle the market promotion for *Tokyo Literature*.

After that, he became the new editor-in-chief of *Tokyo Literature*.

Just as Matsushima Kazuhiro was reflecting on his life's fortunes, a knock at the door suddenly sounded.

Immediately after, the door opened, and a female office worker in professional attire walked in, holding a book in her hand.

"Editor-in-Chief Matsushima, this is the latest issue of *April Youth*. Please take a look."

Matsushima Kazuhiro nodded and took the book from her, though he felt somewhat dismissive in his heart.

Among the literary journals of the four major publishing houses, *April Youth* had the worst sales performance.

However, he also knew the specific reason; after all, Kejiaoguan had been trying to transition to other more profitable businesses in recent years, and there was a certain amount of controversy over whether to put great effort into managing literary journals.

This also meant that in recent book reviews and newspaper promotions, *April Youth* received the least amount of space.

Before this, even if *April Youth* did that, it wouldn't have been a big problem.

After all, as long as there were excellent works, a group of "loyal" readers would still purchase the magazine.

But the problem lay right there: their signature author, Nakata Keito, had actually jumped ship to *Tokyo Literature* because he wanted to challenge Akiwara Yuto, which caused a large number of originally loyal readers to drift away.

Come to think of it, he had to thank Akiwara Yuto for this.

If it weren't for him, how could he have become the new editor-in-chief of *Tokyo Literature*!

As he thought this, he lowered his head to look at the cover of *April Youth*, but the moment he saw it, Matsushima Kazuhiro was stunned.

On the cover, the line "*The Invisible Guest*, by Akiwara Yuto" was written.

Suddenly, Matsushima Kazuhiro's expression turned serious.

What was going on? Why had Akiwara Yuto popped up again? Hadn't he just released a standalone book? Was there no downtime for him?

And why was he mixed up with *April Youth* again? Did he want to establish a long-term partnership with Kejiaoguan?

The more Matsushima Kazuhiro thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, and his brow furrowed tightly.

Although, according to common sense, the boost an author provides to a magazine requires long-term accumulation.

But Matsushima Kazuhiro had served at *New* and had watched Akiwara Yuto use serialization to push *New*'s sales from less than 30, 00 copies to over 200, 00.

In his view, Akiwara Yuto could not be judged by common sense.

With such a precedent, how could he possibly set his mind at ease?

On the other side, the female office worker, seeing her new editor-in-chief looking uneasy, asked tentatively.

"Editor-in-Chief, I've read the first installment of his serialization, and personally, I don't think there's anything particularly brilliant about it. So, should we arrange to publish some articles saying his talent has declined?"

In her view, if they were too worried about this work, it would be better to smear it.

After all, the public, especially, loved to read about topics like whose talent had fallen.

But to her surprise, this Editor-in-Chief Matsushima put down the book and looked at her with an expression as if looking at an "idiot."

Immediately after, Matsushima Kazuhiro said in a loud voice.

"Editor Kawamoto, are you an idiot?"

"Do you know how much money Mantan Society spent to appease Akiwara Yuto? How much public relations expense was consumed?"

"Not counting the 300 million yen paid for the settlement, the public relations expenses alone exceeded an additional 1 billion yen. And that doesn't include the losses suffered by other departments of the publishing house!"

"With your salary, even if you worked for another 500 years, you wouldn't earn that amount of money!"

As he berated his subordinate, he also felt a sense of frustration at her lack of insight.

He felt that she must have water in her brain.

The current Akiwara Yuto was no longer the fledgling newcomer he had been at the start; he had the "backing" of the Mystery Writers Association and the Burakumin political groups.

In other words, he was practically a "hedgehog"!

Although small, whoever touched him would get pricked.

Mantan Society had finally managed to pull out the "thorn" that had pricked them, so why bother provoking him again!

The female office worker was stunned after hearing this reprimand.

She was "at a loss" for a moment and didn't know how to respond.

After a while, she finally reacted and immediately bowed deeply to apologize.

"I'm sorry! It was my oversight, please forgive me!"

Because Mantan Society had made personnel adjustments to its literary journals, she had only recently been transferred to *Tokyo Literature* and didn't know much about the taboos in this area.

She hadn't expected that such a simple suggestion of hers would be so harshly rebuked by her superior.

Matsushima Kazuhiro ignored his subordinate and focused on thinking of a countermeasure.

It seemed he would have to go find the newly appointed general manager and request more promotional budget and space.

He picked up the book again, looked at the "Akiwara Yuto" line on the *April Youth* in his hand, and muttered to himself.

"Akiwara-sensei, this time, let us have a fair and square showdown!"