Chapter 221: The Author's Own

Just as Akiwara Yuto expected, after *Weekly Bunshun*, the largest gossip magazine in Japan, released the "ghostwriting scandal," the public paid attention one after another.

For a time, *Detective Kamimura*, *Tokyo Youth*, and Oonuki Masakazu became hot topics of social concern. Many newspapers followed up and reported related news.

After seeing the news, many people left messages on the internet, claiming that they would no longer watch *Detective Kamimura*. They claimed that works that use ghostwriting to deceive the public have no sincerity at all!

This also caused the ratings of *Detective Kamimura* and the sales of *Tokyo Youth* to be hit hard!

*Furuhata Ninzaburo*, which was in the same time slot, instead harvested this batch of viewers, and the ratings started to climb straight up, reaching 34%. Besides that, it also significantly drove the sales of *April Youth*!

In the sales statistics for the latest week, the sales of *April Youth* reached 285,000 copies, while the sales of *Tokyo Youth* were 310,000 copies, ranking second and first respectively.

For this achievement, the board of directors of Keijokan was very satisfied and increased the support for *April Youth*!

"Teacher Wada, regarding the matter of Oonuki Masakazu becoming a disciple, what should be done?"

Inside the tea room, the square-faced man wearing a kimono continued to ask Wada Shin. He didn't expect that in just about 1 week, the public opinion situation had undergone earth-shaking changes.

Wada Shin glanced at him and frowned, "Does this kind of thing need me to explain clearly?"

Originally, he accepted Oonuki Masakazu as a disciple, besides cherishing talent, he also wanted to take this opportunity to strike at Akiwara Yuto and Kawai Shinta behind him.

But after Oonuki Masakazu was exposed as a ghostwriter or shadow writer, these plans had already been shattered, and accepting the other party as a disciple had no value at all.

The square-faced man felt a bit unbearable.

In his view, this kind of ghostwriting was just a means for the other party to maintain his livelihood, so it was too harsh to criticize, and the other party was indeed talented.

He tried to persuade, "That Oonuki-san has called many times recently, hoping to talk to you. He said he would explain everything clearly."

Wada Shin frowned and looked at the square-faced man, saying, "What's the use of explaining clearly? After the ghostwriting scandal is exposed, what award committee would dare to award the prize to the other party."

The square-faced man was silent because he discovered that Wada Shin was right.

Judging from the award selections in the past ten years or so, there was basically no precedent for awarding prizes to writers involved in such industry scandals.

To a certain extent, the other party's path in the literary world had already been cut short by half.

After considering it for a while, the square-faced man sighed and said, "I understand..."

Just then, a rush of footsteps came. The two looked up and discovered one of Wada Shin's disciples running over in a hurry, holding a newspaper in his hand, "Master, something bad has happened!"

Under Wada Shin's angry reprimand, this disciple stopped his steps.

The latter knelt on the tatami and handed the newspaper to the low table in front of Wada Shin, saying, "Master, you'll know after looking at it."

Wada Shin took the newspaper and looked at the article pointed out by his disciple.

This article was called "The Conspiracy of *Tokyo Youth*", with text content taking up about two-thirds of a page, written by a book reviewer named Matsushima Sota.

In Wada Shin's impression, the other party seemed to be a book reviewer who would publish a review as long as he was paid.

He frowned and continued reading, discovering that this book reviewer first talked about the competition between *Furuhata Ninzaburo* and *Detective Kamimura*, and then pointed out that if the ratings of *Furuhata Ninzaburo* dropped, *Tokyo Youth*, which was behind *Detective Kamimura*, would benefit the most.

Then the book reviewer hinted that *Tokyo Youth*, in order to achieve this goal, hired a well-known old writer in the industry to frame Akiwara Yuto, the author of *Furuhata Ninzaburo*!

After Wada Shin finished reading everything, he immediately understood that this "old writer" was hinting at himself.

He frowned and said "Nonsense," then threw the newspaper on the table.

The disciple knelt forward and flipped the newspaper to another page, "Master, there is another side you haven't finished reading."

Wada Shin said disdainfully, "Nothing worth looking at, it's all lies."

Although he said so, he still took the newspaper and looked at it.

What surprised him was that on it was a photo of him participating in an event organized by *Tokyo Youth* a year ago.

"Master, what should we do now?" the disciple asked anxiously.

If this news was believed by the public, it is estimated that even Wada Shin himself would be involved in this storm.

Wada Shin closed his eyes and said after a long time, "You don't need to worry about this matter; I will find a way to handle it."

After saying this, he stood up, pushed open the shoji door, and walked out.

He prepared to go and call his several "old friends" next.

While Wada Shin was trying to find connections, Akiwara Yuto, with the help of Keijokan, held a press conference.

In the large conference room on the top floor of Keijokan, Akiwara Yuto and Dacheng Lixiang sat on the podium, facing countless cameras and microphones below the stage.

"Teacher Akiwara, there were reports claiming that you didn't award the prize to Oonuki Masakazu because of jealousy. What is your opinion on this point of view?"

A reporter raised his hand and asked.

Akiwara Yuto laughed, "I don't think I have anything to be jealous of the other party for. The other party hasn't written any work that I think is valuable."

The many reporters below the stage were "excited." They loved this kind of news content that had a point of view and was direct enough.

If it were all official pleasantries, it is estimated that the public wouldn't have any interest at all.

"Teacher Akiwara, Teacher Wada Shin believes that this work is very excellent. Don't you think so?" the reporter pursued.

Akiwara Yuto shook his head, "I don't think this work is an excellent work. In fact, I think it's a bit scary."

"Scary?" Many reporters were suspicious, and even Dacheng Lixiang beside him was a bit puzzled.

Akiwara Yuto continued, "May I ask the reporter friends below the stage, have you read the work *The Duet of Death* submitted by Oonuki Masakazu?"

Seeing everyone below the stage nodding, Akiwara Yuto explained.

"In my view, this is completely written by Oonuki Masakazu from his own perspective. The protagonist Yamawaki Junpei, as a painter with high income, yearns for the violin. Just like Oonuki Masakazu himself, although he has a ghostwriting career with not low income, he hopes to become a writer with his own works."

"And the obstruction of the protagonist's parents to his career is just like Oonuki Masakazu's own parents' obstruction to his literary career. According to the exposure of *Weekly Bunshun*, his mother once burned his manuscripts, which is exactly the same as the plot of the protagonist's mother burning the protagonist's violin."

"And that agent who threatened the protagonist, no matter how I look at it, feels like the editor from *Tokyo Youth* who was in contact with him."

He sighed, "To be honest, after understanding the whole situation, I can't help but worry about whether Oonuki Masakazu will adopt any measures to kill his parents and that editor."

After hearing Akiwara Yuto's explanation, the many reporters below the stage were in an uproar.

Besides the ghostwriting scandal, Oonuki Masakazu actually metaphorically expressed killing intent toward his parents and editor in the text!

It is estimated that once this news is reported, it can attract great attention from the public!

For a time, many reporters raised their hands one after another, trying to grab the next question.

Akiwara Yuto chose a beautiful female reporter to ask, and the latter immediately raised the question.

"Teacher Akiwara, there are reports claiming that Teacher Wada Shin framed you at the instruction of *Tokyo Youth*. Is this the case?"

Akiwara Yuto really wanted to say "Yes," but he knew he didn't have actual evidence, so he could only change to another way to criticize the other party.

"I won't comment on Teacher Wada Shin's point of view, but I think he is already old. Otherwise, how could he think that a writer who wants to kill his parents is a talented writer?"

He paused and Akiwara Yuto emphasized.

"I am very grateful for Wada Shin's contribution to Japanese detective literature, but to be honest, I hope he can consider retiring as soon as possible."

Hearing Akiwara Yuto's accusation, many reporters were even more excited.

The duel between old and new writers was undoubtedly another highlight that could interest the public!

Akiwara Yuto watched the many reporters below the stage taking notes and taking photos, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Wada Shin, you treated me as a weakling and wanted to kill the chicken to warn the monkey by suppressing me.

But to this point, I want to see how you deal with the counterattack of this "weakling" of mine! ===== CHAPTER 222 =====