[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-220":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},2355069,4607,"Chapter 220: The Bunshun Cannon","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-220",220,"\u003Cp>One week after the judging for the Modern Mystery Literature Newcomer Award concluded, Akiwara Yuto returned to his normal work life, which included attending book signings, visiting Fuji TV to discuss scripts, and various other miscellaneous tasks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just as he had almost forgotten about the person named Wada Shin, he received a phone call from Ooshiro Rika.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Teacher Akiwara, there is something I need to tell you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto paused for a moment and asked, \"Editor-in-Chief Ooshiro, what happened?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have you seen the news? In an interview, Teacher Wada Shin claimed that because you were jealous of the newcomer Oonuki Masakazu's talent, you pushed the Modern Mystery Literature Award to be given to an inferior work.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was somewhat confused; he had only gone to cast a vote, so how did he become jealous of a newcomer?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Teacher Akiwara, please take a look at the newspapers.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ooshiro Rika said a few brief words and then hung up the phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was currently the face of *Youth of April*, and attacks on him also had a significant impact on the magazine's sales.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, she had to handle a lot of related work on her end to cope with this public relations crisis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto put down the receiver and called Satake Maki, telling her to immediately go and collect the relevant news from the market. After receiving the task, she quickly went to a newsstand, bought a stack of newspapers, and brought them over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara, these are all the newspapers from the last two days; I have circled the relevant news.\" Satake Maki handed the newspapers to Akiwara Yuto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto took the newspapers and began to read.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First was the article in the first newspaper, written by Wada Shin himself, titled \"The Victim of the Past, the Oppressor of the Present,\" taking up nearly half a page.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this article, Wada Shin stated that he had been invited to participate in the judging for the \"Modern Mystery Literature Newcomer Award\" and had been distributed two manuscripts by the committee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the two manuscripts, he found that the second piece, titled *Death Duet*, was written exceptionally well, far exceeding his expectations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But just when he thought this manuscript would surely win the award, the committee actually gave the prize to another piece, which he found completely inconceivable, leading him to believe there must be a massive cover-up behind this award.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reading the whole thing, Akiwara Yuto's expression turned completely grim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Wada Shin did not state the specific reason for the cover-up, the article repeatedly mentioned a young writer who had been very popular lately, and also brought up cases of writers being prone to jealousy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reading it, many readers would likely conclude that this young writer was the mastermind behind the scenes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, anyone interested only needed to check the list previously released by the committee to discover that the young writer was him, and that his reason for doing so was jealousy of the newcomer's talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto put down that newspaper and picked up another, finding that it had spent several pages printing the original text of both *Death Duet* and *The Deceased Mother*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, a book critic provided separate evaluations for the two articles: he praised the former highly as a rare masterpiece, while saying the latter was merely \"not bad.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the text didn't contain a single extra word, under such a comparison, many readers would likely also think that *Death Duet* should have been the one to win.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides these two newspapers, book critics from other papers also expressed their views, but the vast majority stood on Wada Shin's side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto frowned, realizing that this matter was indeed unfavorable for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Currently, the *Furuhata Ninzaburo* series was still airing to high ratings, and the *Youth of April* magazine as well as his own standalone books were selling well, putting him in a state of complete upward momentum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if the negative rumor that he manipulated the selection process out of jealousy were to break, it would inevitably cause some of the public to feel disgust toward him, and they might even choose to stop watching or buying his works.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This would interrupt the upward momentum of the *Furuhata Ninzaburo* series.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only that, but some competitors with conflicts of interest would also be very likely to kick him while he was down and fan the flames!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, he had to conduct crisis management as soon as possible, otherwise the longer it dragged on, the greater the losses would be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Akiwara Yuto was thinking of a countermeasure, a phone rang. Akiwara Yuto picked it up and found it was Seto Tamae calling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara, have you seen the relevant reports?\" Seto Tamae's voice came through the receiver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I've basically read most of them,\" Akiwara Yuto replied. \"The editorial department is currently helping me handle some of the negative news.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused and added, \"However, I still don't quite understand; his claim clearly doesn't hold water. After all, I wasn't the only judge, and I have the least seniority. Will the public believe him?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Teacher Akiwara,\" Seto Tamae said helplessly, \"sometimes, the public is often foolish.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She added, \"After all, the public are not people in the literary world and don't understand the situation inside. In their eyes, as a famous writer, you have the ability to manipulate the awards.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sighed, \"Driven by Wada Shin's faction, it is estimated that more and more newspapers will report news unfavorable to you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto frowned and said, \"Three people make a tiger, is that it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Japanese society has always had the habit of \"reading the air,\" so the views of the majority are often considered correct. By that time, even if a few clear-eyed people saw that something was wrong, they would only be drowned out by the unanimous consensus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seto Tamae said again, \"Teacher Akiwara, don't worry too much. During this time, Chairman Kawai, Teacher Miyagawa, and I will all come forward to help voice our support for you. After all, we bear no small responsibility for this matter.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then I'll leave it to you,\" Akiwara Yuto nodded, not refusing her offer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Wada Shin using him as a target this time inevitably included the intention of killing the chicken to scare the monkey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the other party's eyes, he was likely that \"chicken,\" while the moderate faction represented by Chairman Kawai was the \"monkey.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two discussed countermeasures further and then hung up the phone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this, Akiwara Yuto summoned Asano Aiko and Satake Maki, instructing them to take a portion of funds from the foundation to contact several large public relations firms, so that the latter could begin laying the groundwork on the internet, newspapers, and other media as soon as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, he turned down some recent public events to avoid contact with the media.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, contact at this time would very likely lead to negative coverage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the media are fence-sitters who only follow public opinion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not believe that with so many media outlets badmouthing him now, there would be any media left to speak fairly for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if there were, aside from business partners, they would be a very small minority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the third day after Akiwara Yuto had arranged the tasks, an unexpected visitor arrived at his home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master, sorry to disturb you.\" Tooyama Miho brought a gift and said to Akiwara Yuto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto took the gift and led her to the living room to sit down. \"Tooyama, why are you here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tooyama Miho took the tea, glanced at Akiwara Yuto, and said timidly, \"Master, regarding my winning the award this time, did you really not do anything?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had read the newspapers over the past two days and learned of the criticisms from Wada Shin and other book critics toward Akiwara Yuto, and she found it unbelievable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Akiwara Yuto had never told her about serving as a judge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made her wonder if Akiwara Yuto had manipulated the award results, just as the newspapers said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She knew she should be grateful to her master, but somehow, she still felt a bit disappointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto held his tea, took a sip, and asked in return, \"Do you think I would favor you during the selection process just because you are my disciple?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tooyama Miho didn't know how to answer and lowered her head, saying nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto sighed. He knew his disciple had been influenced by public opinion and had therefore thought too much about all sorts of things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was silent for a moment and explained, \"I voted for you simply because I thought your work was better, nothing more. Furthermore, I did not manipulate the award.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had expected to spend more breath on it, but to his surprise, Tooyama Miho let out a long sigh of relief instead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stood up and bowed deeply. \"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you, Master!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto asked in confusion, \"You don't need me to explain further?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tooyama Miho shook her head: \"No need. Since Master said there wasn't, then there surely wasn't!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing these words from his disciple, Akiwara Yuto showed a look of relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Discovering his disciple's trust in him was the only thing worth being happy about these past few days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That said, besides his disciple, how many others would believe him?\u003C\u002Fp>",1572,"2026-06-21T03:58:02.196Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","7ce150f86bdab17b54a1bb862736b8e01de4d8610b14d9e0ac396cf0f442d159","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-221","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-219",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]