Chapter 178: Reactions from All Circles

"Akiwara, you have truly written a remarkable work."

As Nishijima Tomoki sighed with emotion, the vice president of the Mystery Writers Association, Kawai Shinta, also expressed his own astonishment.

Prior to this, Akiwara Yuto had come to the Mystery Writers Association to inform him that he simply wanted to make a "new attempt" in mystery literature; while he had expressed approval of this approach on the surface, he did not think highly of it in his heart.

In his view, among the many writers who had been famous for years, few could succeed in such attempts, and as for a writer like Akiwara Yuto who had only debuted for half a year, it was even less likely.

However, he also felt it was not a bad thing; after all, Akiwara Yuto was still young and had written some fairly good works. Even if he failed once or twice, it would not amount to much.

Even though many critics outside were criticizing Akiwara Yuto, he had no intention of encouraging or comforting the other party—which writer had not grown up being criticized?

Yet he never expected that Akiwara Yuto would actually release an extended special issue in *April Youth*, explaining the subsequent story clearly and, furthermore, using the brilliance of the story to directly shut the mouths of all the critics!

He could foresee that in the coming days, there would inevitably be only one voice in the literary criticism circle regarding Akiwara Yuto's work!

Just then, the "ring-ring" of the telephone rang.

Kawai Shinta picked up the receiver and soon heard a familiar female voice.

"President Kawai, this is Seto. Regarding Akiwara-sensei's *The Invisible Guest*, how do you feel after reading it?"

Kawai Shinta laughed, but instead of answering, he asked in return.

"Seto-sensei, as a contracted author for *Tokyo Literature*, what are your feelings? After all, strictly speaking, you could be considered competitors!"

When it came to the work, Seto Tamae hesitated for a moment. Before this, she had actually been like the critics who held opposing views, believing that this work by Akiwara Yuto was too tedious and complex to be popular with readers.

But after finishing this extended special issue, she realized she had been completely wrong.

She thought for a moment and said truthfully: "I originally thought this work of Akiwara's might fail, but after reading the whole story, I realized I was wrong... If I had to use one word to describe my impression, I can only say I am very surprised."

After hearing this, Kawai Shinta nodded in agreement, "Seto-sensei, I understand your feelings. This work doesn't feel like it was written by a Japanese person, does it?"

Traditional Japanese mystery works, whether *honkaku* or social, have their own established rules. But this work by Akiwara Yuto broke away from the conventions of any school, walking a path of narrative trickery from beginning to end.

If it had to be categorized, it could only be classified as the courtroom school. But in this world, courtroom school works are more popular in Europe and America than in Japan itself.

Seto Tamae sighed: "To be honest, seeing Akiwara release so many excellent works in the half-year since his debut makes me feel a bit pressured. Perhaps I really am old and should seriously consider the days of retirement."

Kawai Shinta's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but grumble inwardly: If you are old, then what does that make me? An old fossil?

However, hearing that Seto Tamae was considering retirement because of Akiwara Yuto's work, Kawai Shinta couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.

As a newcomer, Akiwara Yuto's achievements over the past half-year, both in quantity and quality, were truly a bit terrifying!

Who knows how many veteran mystery writers would, like Seto Tamae, have thoughts of retirement because of Akiwara Yuto.

Kawai Shinta lowered his head, looking at the copy of *April Youth* in his hands, and a new thought entered his mind.

Perhaps, am I also at the age where I should consider retirement?

Unlike Kawai Shinta, who felt troubled, Uesugi Sonoko held the extended special issue of *April Youth* with a look of satisfaction on her face.

She was just an ordinary reader and did not think as much as the authors and critics; after finishing the entire work, she had only one feeling—that this work was truly brilliant.

Before this, because of the tedious exposition and flashbacks in the story of *The Invisible Guest*, she had been somewhat dissatisfied and even considered whether to stop following it.

She had already made plans to wait for a while and support Akiwara Yuto when his next new work came out.

But now, she was satisfied, because the development of this story was simply too far beyond her expectations!

How to put it, in her view, this story was like a Russian nesting doll, layer after layer of continuous entanglement, and the plot content was constantly twisting.

For example, she initially thought it was indeed a locked-room murder case, but she didn't expect it to be just a lie fabricated by Sugou Nobuyuki.

Or, for example, she initially thought Sugou Nobuyuki was just an innocent coward, but she didn't expect him to be the true mastermind behind the scenes! And his lover was the one with a true sense of justice!

Furthermore, she thought Watanabe Saki was initially just a lawyer who would stop at nothing for victory, but she didn't expect that this identity was a disguise, and that she was a mother seeking revenge for her child!

Of course, besides these details, there were various other plot twists, including the criminal reality revealed layer by layer, and the constant display of human nature, all of which were very memorable.

At this moment, Uesugi Sonoko was even more convinced by Akiwara Yuto; she planned to read this work carefully two more times and then continue to dig into the deeper meanings, especially the writing technique regarding the story's twists.

In her view, just reading it once was simply not enough to appreciate the true brilliance of this story.

She decided that from now on, no matter what, she would earnestly and carefully follow all of Akiwara Yuto's works to the end!

In another location, a group of people was surrounding Akiwara Yuto, engaging in a different discussion.

"What is everyone's opinion on this work by Akiwara Yuto?"

"This is indeed a bit unexpected."

"I didn't expect the ending of the story to be like this."

"We might have underestimated him too much before..."

At the Jingfan Publishing House, in the conference room of the *Spring of Literature* editorial department, numerous editors surrounded the large conference table, expressing their opinions one after another.

As the deputy editor-in-chief, Iwakura Kei looked at the thick copy of *April Youth* on the table and couldn't help but frown.

At the regular meeting two weeks ago, he had insisted that this work by Akiwara Yuto was nothing to fear, and many of his colleagues in the editorial department had agreed with his view.

After all, during that time, both readers and critics had expressed dissatisfaction with the other party's work.

In fact, when Akiwara Yuto was on hiatus last week, he had even speculated in private whether this work would just die out! After all, no matter what kind of serialization it is, a hiatus is a major issue that cannot be ignored.

But he didn't expect that *April Youth* would pull such a strange move, releasing an extra-thick special issue after a one-week hiatus, dumping all of Akiwara Yuto's subsequent work out at once!

Now, even readers who had no patience to follow Akiwara Yuto's work would consider the "sunk costs" already spent and settle down to take a careful look!

While he was thinking, a middle-aged man wearing glasses asked him: "Deputy Editor-in-Chief Iwakura, what is your opinion on the subsequent sales of *April Youth*?"

Iwakura Kei stood up, attempting to state once again that *April Youth* could not surpass *Spring of Literature*.

But he opened his mouth, only to find he couldn't say anything.

With the quality of this work by Akiwara Yuto, many critics might pay attention to it later, and as for readers, they might also post favorable opinions online.

By that time, relying on the word-of-mouth effect, *April Youth* might really see a huge increase in sales!

Thinking of this, a faint feeling of unease rose in his heart.

Damn it, is the third-place status of *Spring of Literature* really going to be lost just like that?