[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-224":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},2355073,4607,"Chapter 224: Death Threat Letter","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-224",224,"\u003Cp>For Japanese society, April is a special month, with two events of great significance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first is \"cherry blossom viewing,\" because starting in April, the cherry blossoms across the Japanese archipelago bloom one after another from south to north.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other is the Japanese \"entrance ceremony\"; from kindergartens down to graduate schools, all new students welcome a new stage of their lives during this season.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>10:30 AM, University of Tokyo Hongo Campus, at the school gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto arrived in a chauffeur-driven car to pick up his student, Toyama Miho. The latter had just finished the entrance ceremony and was preparing to leave campus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Toyama, congratulations on officially becoming a university student today.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sitting in the back seat, Akiwara Yuto handed a gift to Toyama Miho. This gift was actually just a fountain pen, worth no more than 10,000 yen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't that Akiwara Yuto was stingy; it was just that as an entrance ceremony gift, the price shouldn't be too high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master, thank you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toyama Miho said with a smile as she took it; she was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans today, a far cry from the \"big sister\" style she had in Kyoto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto waved his hand to signal the driver to go, then asked, \"Have you found a place to stay yet?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm still looking; for now, I'm staying at Asano Aiko's house.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Are you two that close already?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was slightly surprised; he really hadn't known there was such a relationship between the two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Toyama, in any case, if you need help, just tell me directly; don't be afraid of causing me trouble.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto gave a word of advice; after all, the other party was his student, and he should help if he could.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master, I understand,\" Toyama Miho said. \"My father gave me three months' worth of living expenses. I plan to submit some manuscripts during this time to see if I can earn some living money.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What type of manuscripts? Are they short stories?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, short stories. I don't have the ability to write long-form works well yet,\" Toyama Miho said embarrassedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto nodded, feeling quite satisfied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to long-form works, short stories seem to have a lower difficulty, but they are much friendlier for honing one's writing style.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only that, because the difficulty of reviewing manuscripts is lower, some magazines are also willing to accept submissions of short stories from new writers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But if you only rely on short story submissions, your rent and living expenses might not be enough, right?\" Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment and then asked further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If that doesn't work, I plan to find a part-time job and work while I write.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I see, then do your best.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto considered whether to proactively provide room and board to let her write; after all, this bit of money didn't amount to anything. On the contrary, if Toyama Miho could debut sooner, it would also be beneficial for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after considering it for a while, Akiwara Yuto gave up on this idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Toyama Miho's father hadn't done that, so he shouldn't overstep his bounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who do not work shall not eat; it was better to let Toyama Miho properly experience social life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An author lacking social experience probably wouldn't be able to write any good articles with depth or substance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By the way, Master, there is news in the papers that your work is expected to be shortlisted for this year's Uemura Prize, is that right?\" Toyama Miho raised her head and asked with an excited face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was indeed very excited; after all, as the highest award in the Japanese literary world, the Uemura Prize is only awarded to two people each year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Winning this award is the lifelong wish of many Japanese writers!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who knows? No one can say for sure about these things.\" Akiwara Yuto waved his hand, though in his heart, he actually had 70% or 80% certainty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some time ago, Kawai Shinta had specifically called him to tell him to look forward to the Uemura Prize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since then, a judge for the Uemura Prize had publicly praised the work *The Devotion of Suspect X* multiple times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This also led some media outlets looking to grab attention to directly publish the \"false\" news in newspapers that this work would receive a Uemura Prize nomination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toyama Miho looked unconvinced; in her view, this master of hers was sometimes overly humble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had read *Suspect X* several times and thought it was excellent, with a high possibility of winning the Uemura Prize.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the two were talking, the car drove to Asano Aiko's house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toyama Miho said \"Goodbye\" and got out of the car, while Akiwara Yuto had the driver turn around and head toward the Kyo-Kyo-Kan headquarters in Chiyoda Ward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>30 minutes later, he arrived at the *April Youth* editorial department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing Ooshiro Rika, Akiwara Yuto instantly changed his face, his expression becoming serious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Editor-in-Chief Ooshiro, what is your urgent matter?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This morning, Ooshiro Rika had called to say there was a very urgent matter and asked him to come to the editorial department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, let's go to the conference room to talk in detail.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ooshiro Rika did not answer immediately, but instead led Akiwara Yuto to a conference room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Akiwara Yuto sat down, Ooshiro Rika took out a document bag, opened it, took out the envelope inside, and handed it to Akiwara Yuto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto took the envelope and saw that the address on it was only filled out as \"*April Youth* Editorial Department,\" and the recipient was \"Akiwara Yuto.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the sender information column was basically blank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto asked suspiciously, \"Editor-in-Chief Ooshiro, what is this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Please open it and see,\" Ooshiro Rika also said seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto followed suit, opened the envelope, and took out the contents—a sheet of letter paper and a utility knife blade, respectively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He frowned as he spread out the letter paper and discovered that this letter was printed, with vertical lines from right to left, filled with densely packed \"die\" (death) written in red printed font.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing this, Akiwara Yuto immediately understood; this was a death threat letter!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He put down the envelope, raised his head, and asked, \"When did the editorial department receive this letter?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was received around 9:00 this morning, mixed in with a pile of envelopes.\" Ooshiro Rika recalled for a moment and then said, \"At the time, we thought it was just a reader's letter, so the staff opened it directly to check.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the author is busy with work, reader mail is generally handled by the editorial department, and they will select a portion of valuable letters to give to the author themselves depending on the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the author does not handle it themselves, they can also entrust the editorial department to reply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have you called the police?\" Akiwara Yuto asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ooshiro Rika nodded, but added, \"Just around 10:00, two police officers had already come to look at it. But they indicated that the possibility of finding the sender is not high.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this explanation, Akiwara Yuto's brows furrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He remembered a piece of news he had seen in his past life: the voice actress for Azusa Nakano from *K-On!*, Taketatsu Ayana, had been sent over 7,000 death threat letters by a fanatical fan one after another starting in 2014.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet it took the police nearly four years to find and arrest that extreme fan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at it this way, the effect of calling the police might not be very great.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, the police asked me to ask you if you have any enemies? Could it be that the other party sent it?\" Ooshiro Rika asked again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto closed his eyes and began to recall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since his debut, he had offended quite a few people—Takei Kohei of Mantansha, Kihara Daigo, Kadowaki Yuma, and in addition to those, there were the recent Wada Shin and Oonuki Masakazu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, most of the people there probably didn't have this kind of motive, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, for something like a death threat letter, unless one is prepared to go down with the ship, there is no need to send it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sorry, I'm not quite sure who would do this...\" Akiwara Yuto shook his head, but just then, he suddenly thought of someone—a writer who wanted to kill his parents and agent in his work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the standpoint, the other party indeed had a not-insignificant possibility; after all, the other party could be said to have lost everything now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he guessed this possibility, Akiwara Yuto didn't intend to tell Ooshiro Rika.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He prepared to go find a few private detectives later and entrust them to investigate Oonuki Masakazu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, besides Oonuki Masakazu, the biggest possibility for writing this kind of letter was a reader or fan who was dissatisfied with his plot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the author of *Haganai*, Hirasaka Yomi, who was sent a large number of razor blades because of a terrible ending and had people leave messages online saying they would stab him to death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara-sensei, in any case, please pay attention to your safety recently,\" Ooshiro Rika showed a worried expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although *April Youth* wanted to get rid of its unequal status with Akiwara Yuto, it currently relied on him very much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If something happened to Akiwara Yuto, it would have a very serious impact on the magazine's sales.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the two had known each other for half a year; although they couldn't be counted as friends, they had developed quite a bit of personal rapport.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Understood,\" Akiwara Yuto replied in a serious tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the other party sent a threat letter, the possibility of actually carrying out the act was not high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for this kind of thing, one shouldn't fear the 10,000, but rather the \"what if.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, there was an author named Murasaki Hyakuro who was murdered in his apartment in Tokyo. The killer turned himself in to the police immediately after the murder and didn't receive a heavy sentence due to mental illness issues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't want to follow that path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto put down the envelope and forced a few smiles to comfort Ooshiro Rika.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ooshiro Rika didn't say anything else, only saying \"pay more attention to safety\" and \"try to avoid acting alone,\" before turning to leave, leaving time for Akiwara Yuto to think it over properly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto clenched his fists; there was an indescribable fire in his heart!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who exactly was the person who sent this letter!\u003C\u002Fp>",1758,"2026-06-21T03:58:02.196Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","f80c462ac60a733ae28199d7e3387f840121dec621a72f224a363401f0c2ac3d","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-225","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-223",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]