Chapter 186

Yuto Akiwara did not expect Miho Toyama to *dogeza* and ask to be his disciple; for a moment, he did not know how to react.

In Japan, the master-disciple system is not a new thing: from Japanese cuisine to *rakugo*, and from manga to Go, there are all sorts of famous master-student cases.

The literary world is naturally no exception.

In his past life, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who wrote *Rashomon*, was appreciated by Natsume Soseki and taken under his wing; the two of them, one after the other, held up half the sky of the Japanese literary scene at the time.

And Ryunosuke Akutagawa's works, in turn, fascinated Osamu Dazai, having a great influence on the latter's literary style.

Besides this, Yukio Mishima and the author Yasunari Kawabata also had a relationship of both master and friend; the two were nominated for the Nobel Prize one after the other, but only the latter won the award.

However, regarding the choice of life, both eventually chose suicide.

Returning to the matter at hand, should he consider taking her as a disciple?

Yuto Akiwara frowned, weighing the pros and cons.

In terms of talent, there was certainly no problem with her.

Not only had she passed the University of Tokyo's independent admissions, but she had also written such a work full of humanity and irony before even officially entering university; even if she were to submit it to some journals to debut, it would be no problem.

Thinking of himself at this age in his past life, he was probably still struggling to write the Zhejiang Education Edition of *5 Years of College Entrance Exams, 3 Years of Simulation*, right?

If she could continue to climb in the literary world in the future, then as her master, he would likely gain quite a bit of reputation.

But would that be too much like "picking peaches"?

In other words, what could he provide for her?

Yuto Akiwara thought for a while and felt that he still had quite a few things he could teach her.

In the field of detective fiction, what he had read were all works from another world; many of the tricks and writing styles were things this world did not have, and he could pass on some of the writing concepts and techniques to her.

Besides this, he could evaluate and correct her work from the perspective of a seasoned reader and provide her with platforms for submission and writing.

Yuto Akiwara made a decision in his heart and then glanced at Miho Toyama.

She was kneeling quietly on the ground, staring at the floor, not saying a word, as if waiting for Yuto Akiwara to make a decision.

Yuto Akiwara did not help her up—after all, helping her up would be useless—but instead asked, "Toyama... Miss, don't you need to discuss this with your father?"

Shuichi Toyama was, after all, a professor in the Faculty of Letters at Kyoto University, and he had quite a few connections; what if he wanted to introduce a better teacher to his daughter?

After all, he had not debuted for very long.

"Mr. Akiwara, my father has always let me decide on such matters, so it doesn't matter if I don't tell him."

Miho Toyama answered earnestly, though from this sentence, Yuto Akiwara understood Shuichi Toyama's awkward family status.

Miho Toyama continued, "I will officially move to Tokyo to live next April. If you take me as your disciple, I will come to see you every week to learn, and I will never slack off in the slightest!"

"Not only that, before I truly debut, I will never publicly announce that I am your disciple, to avoid causing you any trouble!"

"So I hope you can give me a chance to follow you and learn about detective techniques and knowledge of literary creation."

Her voice became even more firm.

"... I not only hope to debut, I even hope to win the Uemura Prize!"

Yuto Akiwara listened to her finish speaking quietly and then began to ponder. He did not expect this Miss Toyama to have such great ambitions.

She hadn't even debuted yet, and she already wanted to win the highest award in the current Japanese literary world.

However, this also made him admire her; if this aspiration was not fake, he would not have to worry about her being like some ordinary writers who would give up their literary careers because of some temporary setback.

He pondered for a moment and found that by the standards of taking a disciple, she was indeed impeccable.

She had a good upbringing, excellent academic qualifications, and she also had ambition and talent. To be honest, even if she hadn't asked to be his disciple, it would only be a matter of time before this Miss Toyama made a name for herself in the literary world.

Although he didn't know what the future would hold, taking her as a disciple had far more advantages than disadvantages for him.

Yuto Akiwara made his decision and responded earnestly, "Toyama, get up. I agree, but before that, you still need to talk to your father properly."

Miho Toyama did not get up, but instead bowed there to express her gratitude, "Thank you... Master!"

Since she had already been accepted as a disciple, she could properly call him Master.

After saying this, she intended to get up, but she didn't expect her legs to be a bit numb. Yuto Akiwara stepped forward and helped her up. The latter hurriedly expressed that she had "caused trouble for Master."

Yuto Akiwara waved his hand to indicate that she shouldn't mind, but he couldn't help but feel emotional in his heart.

In this world, he finally had his first disciple!

This was truly a very subtle feeling...

While Yuto Akiwara was taking on a disciple, the *April Youth* editorial department in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, was a scene of bustling activity.

As the editor-in-chief, Rika Dacheng held three cover designs featuring portraits of different characters and hesitated.

The focus of the subsequent serialization in *April Youth* was Yuto Akiwara's work called *Assistant Inspector Furuhata Ninzaburo*.

But the development of the plot of this story was driven by the protagonist "Furuhata Ninzaburo"; in other words, as the serialization progressed, readers would become increasingly convinced by this protagonist.

Therefore, the cover design of the magazine also had to choose a suitable image to serve as "Furuhata Ninzaburo" in the eyes of the readers.

In order to design a good character portrait cover, besides entrusting it to their own art editor at the publishing house, she also found two external designers.

However, as a woman, it was difficult for her to judge which designer's character portrait cover would better suit the tastes of male readers.

She thought for a while, then placed the three different designs on the table, clapped her hands, and called out to everyone in the editorial department.

"Everyone who has read Mr. Akiwara's work, come over and choose which cover better fits the image of Furuhata Ninzaburo."

Everyone in the editorial department was also very concerned about this matter; for a time, they all put down their work and gathered around to study it. While looking, they commented on the character images and screen designs of the different drafts. After arguing for a long time, they finally voted to reach a consensus—deciding to use the second cover portrait.

This cover portrait used a black-and-white design. Against a black background, a man with prominent features and neatly groomed hair held up his index finger, frowning and pointing to the left, while his eyes were faintly visible in the darkness, as if he knew everything.

Rika Dacheng pinched her chin and looked at it for a long time, thinking for a long time.

This character image was quite good; the image and temperament were portrayed, and the features were also very distinctive, which could leave a deep impression on people. When the later manuscripts were serialized, they could just change the expression or posture based on this character image.

She made a direct decision, "Then let's do this. Send it to the plate-making factory now and let them use this as the standard for the cover."

Hideki Sudo nodded in agreement, then picked up the cover from the crowd, put it into his briefcase, and ran out all the way.

Rika Dacheng looked at his back and nodded with satisfaction.

The layout work had come to an end, the publicity was basically in place, and the follow-up signing work had also been coordinated. Once it was released, they could have a good fight with other magazines!

Although it was unrealistic to get first place, they should first beat *Literary Spring* at this stage, at least stabilize their position as the third in the industry!

In short, all the work was done, and there was no point in her thinking too much; she could only hope that the readers would like this work!

Time passed quickly, and in an instant, it was the next day, which was the day *Furuhata Ninzaburo*'s first issue met the readers...