[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-186":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},2355035,4607,"Chapter 186: The","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-186",186,"\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto did not expect Toyama Miho to actually perform a \"dogeza\" and ask to become his apprentice; for a moment, he did not know how to react.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Japan, the master-apprentice system is not a new concept: from Japanese cuisine to rakugo, and from manga to Go, there are all sorts of famous examples of teachers and students.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The literary world is naturally no exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Ryunosuke Akutagawa's works, in turn, fascinated Osamu Dazai, exerting a great influence on the latter's literary style.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides that, Yukio Mishima and the author Yasunari Kawabata also shared a relationship of both teacher and friend; the two were nominated for the Nobel Prize one after the other, though only the latter won the award.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, regarding the choice of life, both eventually chose suicide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Returning to the matter at hand, should he consider taking her as an apprentice?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto frowned, weighing the pros and cons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In terms of talent, there was certainly no problem with her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only had she passed the independent admissions for the University of Tokyo, but she had also written such a work filled with humanity and satire before even officially entering university; even if she were to submit it to some journals for her debut, it would be fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of himself at that age in his past life, he was probably still struggling to write the \"5 Years of College Entrance Exams, 3 Years of Simulations\" from the Zhejiang Education Press, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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 as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But would that be too much like \"plucking the peach\"?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, what could he provide for her?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto thought for a while and felt that he still had quite a few things he could teach her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the field of mystery literature, 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 within them to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides that, he could evaluate and correct her works from the perspective of a veteran reader and provide her with platforms for submission and writing through his channels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto made his decision and then glanced at Toyama Miho.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was kneeling quietly on the ground, staring at the floor, saying nothing, seemingly waiting for Akiwara Yuto to make a decision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto did not help her up—after all, helping her up would be useless—but instead asked, \"Toyama... Miss, does this matter not need to be discussed with your father?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Shuichi Toyama was a professor in the Faculty of Letters at Kyoto University and had many connections; what if he wanted to introduce a better teacher to his daughter?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he himself had not debuted for very long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, my father has always let me decide these kinds of things myself, so it doesn't matter if I don't tell him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toyama Miho answered earnestly, though from this sentence, Akiwara Yuto understood Shuichi Toyama's awkward family status.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toyama Miho continued, \"I will officially move to Tokyo to live next April. If you accept me as an apprentice, I will come to learn from you every week and will never be the least bit lax!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not only that, before I truly debut, I will never publicly announce that I am your apprentice, to avoid causing you any trouble!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So I hope you can give me a chance to let me follow you to learn mystery techniques and knowledge regarding literary creation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice became even more firm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...I not only hope to debut, I even hope to win the Uemura Prize!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto listened quietly until she finished, then pondered. He did not expect this Miss Toyama to have such great ambitions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hadn't even debuted yet, and she already wanted to win the highest award in the current Japanese literary scene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, this also made him admire her; if this ambition was not fake, he would not have to worry about her giving up her literary career like some ordinary writers because of some temporary setback.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He mulled it over and found that by the standards of taking an apprentice, she was indeed impeccable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had a good upbringing, excellent academic qualifications, and she had ambition and talent herself. To tell the truth, even without apprenticing under him, it would only be a matter of time before this Miss Toyama made a name for herself in the literary world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he did not know what the future would hold, taking her as an apprentice had far more benefits than drawbacks for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto made his decision and responded earnestly: \"Toyama, get up. I agree, but before that, you should still discuss it properly with your father.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toyama Miho did not get up, but bowed there to express her gratitude: \"Thank you... Master!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since she had been accepted as an apprentice, she could properly address him as Master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After saying this, she intended to get up, but realized her legs were a bit numb. Akiwara Yuto stepped forward and helped her up. The latter hurriedly expressed that she had \"caused Master trouble.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto waved his hand to indicate it was nothing to worry about, though he couldn't help but feel emotional inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this world, he finally had his first apprentice!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was truly a very subtle feeling...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Akiwara Yuto was taking on an apprentice, the editorial department of \"April Youth\" in Chiyoda, Tokyo, was a scene of intense activity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the editor-in-chief, Rika Oshiro held three cover designs featuring different character portraits and hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The focus of the upcoming serialization in \"April Youth\" was that work by Akiwara Yuto called \"Police Inspector Furuhata Ninzaburo.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the development of this story's plot relied entirely on the protagonist \"Furuhata Ninzaburo\"; in other words, as the serialization progressed, readers would become increasingly convinced by this protagonist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, the magazine's cover design inevitably had to choose a suitable image to serve as \"Furuhata Ninzaburo\" in the eyes of the readers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In order to design a good character portrait cover, besides commissioning their own art editor at the publishing house, she had also found two outside designers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, as a woman, she found it difficult to judge which designer's character portrait cover would better suit the tastes of male readers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought for a moment, then placed the three different designs on the table, clapped her hands, and called out to everyone in the editorial department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everyone who has read Akiwara-sensei's work, come over and choose which cover better fits the image of Furuhata Ninzaburo.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people in the editorial department were also very concerned about this matter, so they all put down their work and gathered around to study them. They began to critique the character images and screen designs of the different drafts, and after arguing for a long time, they finally voted to reach a consensus—deciding to use the second cover portrait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This cover portrait used a black-and-white design. Against a black background, a man with prominent features and neatly groomed hair pointed his index finger to the left while frowning, and his gaze, however, was faintly visible in the darkness, as if he knew everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rika Oshiro pinched her chin and looked at it for a long time, thinking for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This character image was quite good; the image and temperament were captured, and the features were very distinctive, leaving a deep impression. When the subsequent manuscripts were serialized, they could just change the expression or posture based on this character image.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She made the decision directly: \"Then let's do this. Send it to the platemaking factory now and have them use this as the standard for the cover.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hideki Awazu nodded in agreement, picked up the cover from the crowd, put it into his briefcase, and ran out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rika Oshiro watched his back and nodded with satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The typesetting work had come to an end, the promotion was basically in place, and the follow-up signing events had been coordinated. Once it was released, they could have a good fight with the other magazines!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although it wasn't realistic to take first place, they had to at least beat \"Literary Spring\" in this stage; at the very least, they had to stabilize their position as the third in the industry!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, all the work was done, and there was no point in her overthinking it; she could only hope that the readers would like this work!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time passed quickly, and in an instant, it was the next day, the day \"Furuhata Ninzaburo\" would meet its readers for the first issue...\u003C\u002Fp>",1504,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","1fee3b336b95d4f76702b89f0f2544ff19012d661c0df0a08c57a891f6c83cd8","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-187","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-185",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]