Chapter 237: How Did I Die?

In Akiwara Yuto's estimation, the news of his attack should have only spread widely by tomorrow.

But he underestimated his own influence, and even more so, he underestimated the attraction that an assassination attempt on a writer holds for the public eye.

And when this incident occurred at the University of Tokyo, the academic holy land in the hearts of all the Japanese people, it became even more of a hot topic.

To understand the true situation of the Akiwara Yuto stabbing case as quickly as possible, the Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and Chiji Shimbun all dispatched reporters, interviewing personnel at the crime scene, medical staff at the hospital, and the relevant investigators.

Even the First Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Department had their phones blown up by many people, leaving the switchboard operators miserable.

If they hadn't refused external interviews, the Metropolitan Police Department would likely have already been surrounded by reporters with their long lenses and microphones.

As for the University of Tokyo, which is open to the public, quite a few "news vans" had already arrived by this time.

There was no need to mention the library, which was the crime scene; many reporters used camera flashes to photograph the restroom where the incident occurred and directly interviewed students inside at random.

Not only that, these reporters also used their connections to directly find relevant school officials at the University of Tokyo to make inquiries.

While asking if the school was aware of the Akiwara Yuto attack, they also asked some very harsh questions.

For example, did the school's security measures have huge loopholes?!

How was student safety guaranteed? Did they intend to step forward and express an apology to Akiwara Yuto?

Upon hearing this question, the school's administrators felt like they had been cursed.

Akiwara Yuto was an outsider who used their library and was then stabbed by another outsider; how did that get tied to their security!

According to this logic, the University of Tokyo might as well stop being open to the public from now on!

However, as a well-known writer, Akiwara Yuto had a very high social status, so they didn't dare to speak their true thoughts directly.

They could only offer official platitudes about how the school would further strengthen security and that they hoped for Akiwara Yuto's good health.

Faced with these platitudes, many reporters were dissatisfied, but they had no choice but to accept them.

As Akiwara Yuto's assistant, Asano Aiko was busy to the point of exhaustion during this time.

After the news of Akiwara Yuto's stabbing broke, many newspapers and media outlets clamored to interview him.

But out of concern for Akiwara Yuto's health, she could only politely refuse them one by one.

However, this made some reporters suspicious about the actual situation.

Was there really something wrong with Akiwara Yuto's health?

If not, why wouldn't he accept an interview?

Driven by such motives, many reporters, when writing their news drafts, deliberately used ambiguous phrasing to point out their concerns regarding Akiwara Yuto's health status.

But after this news spread, it caused quite a stir on internet forums, and even gave rise to many rumors.

On the 2ch forum, many people posted threads to discuss the specific details of the attack on Akiwara Yuto.

Among them, someone posted anonymously, claiming to be a student at the University of Tokyo, stating that they had seen Akiwara Yuto being loaded into an ambulance with their own eyes, and since there was a lot of blood at the scene, they believed Akiwara Yuto was likely in the ICU.

After this post was made, many people left comments below, focusing on Akiwara Yuto's specific condition. Many even speculated whether Akiwara Yuto had already died from excessive blood loss.

Because this post was very popular, the administrator pinned it, which led to a wider range of discussions and caused it to be reposted or commented on by other forums.

Later on, some fake news appeared claiming that Akiwara Yuto had "passed away."

When Akiwara Yuto saw these messages on the computer in the guest bedroom, he was speechless.

Under Asano Aiko's arrangement, he hurriedly found a reporter from the Chiji Shimbun for a special exclusive interview and took a full-body photo to prove he was unharmed.

This move was very effective, because in this era, newspapers had more influence than the internet.

The circulation of the Chiji Shimbun was 1. million copies, directly influencing 1. million households, or 4. million people.

Compared to that, the number of internet users in Japan was only about 600, 00 to 700, 00 at the time.

After this news was published, many members of the public finally believed that he was not "dead" or "seriously injured."

And because it was an exclusive story, the sales of this issue of the Chiji Shimbun even rose by 20 percentage points, selling 320, 00 more copies than before.

As a high-level executive at the Chiji Shimbun, Tian Daxi even called specifically to express his gratitude.

But to Akiwara Yuto's regret, perhaps because he was constantly in the newspapers, the promotional effect on his works had become increasingly poor, so the sales of his stand-alone books and "April Youth" did not grow significantly, only increasing by 5 percentage points.

However, because his current volume was already very large, 5 percentage points was not a small number.

This caused a terrifying thought to flash through Akiwara Yuto's mind.

Perhaps he could only sell a massive amount through posthumous works if he truly "died" once?

……

April 27th, 10: 0 AM, Watanabe Law Firm, office.

Akiwara Yuto sat on the sofa and handed the documents in his hand to a 40-year-old man wearing gold-rimmed glasses opposite him.

This man was named Takumi Watanabe, the ace lawyer he had learned about from Dachen Lixiang. The other party's track record was also very dazzling—a criminal case win rate of over 80%.

His fees were naturally quite high, with the estimated litigation costs reaching over 30 million yen, which was undoubtedly a sky-high price compared to the fees of ordinary lawyers.

However, Akiwara Yuto didn't care; compared to his own life safety, this money was nothing.

Seeing that the other party had finished reading the documents, Akiwara Yuto asked: "Lawyer Watanabe, my requirements are what is written above; I hope to have Onuki Masakazu imprisoned for 5 years or longer."

Takumi Watanabe pondered for a while after listening, then said: "Mr. Akiwara, I understand your requirements, but I need to inform you of a few things in advance."

"Please."

"Based on your actual injuries, the greatest possibility is a sentence of only 3 years; for 5 years, I will need to fight for it further. So I hope you can demonstrate that you have suffered greater losses?"

Akiwara Yuto hesitated for a moment, then probed: "Do you mean, mental damages?"

Takumi Watanabe nodded and added: "Besides this point, we also need to estimate the economic damage caused to you by this incident. For example, because of the death threat letters, you specifically hired bodyguards and moved out of your residence; all of these can be counted as losses caused to you by the other party."

Akiwara Yuto asked skeptically: "But will the judge and the jury believe it?"

The Japanese court system mainly follows the inquisitorial system, meaning the judge leads the trial; in addition, it has absorbed the jury system from the Anglo-American legal system, so it is a hybrid.

Therefore, these losses he proposed might not necessarily be accepted.

Takumi Watanabe said seriously: "Please rest assured, I will do my best to fight for this on your behalf. Even if not all of it is accepted, I estimate that a portion will be."

Akiwara Yuto nodded and asked another question of concern, "Is there a possibility of a suspended sentence?"

If the other party were given a suspended sentence, it would mean the other party would have the time and space to act.

By that point, even adding a few more years to the sentence would be meaningless.

Takumi Watanabe laughed, "Do you know the criteria for applying a suspended sentence?"

Seeing Akiwara Yuto shake his head, he took the initiative to explain, "A suspended sentence requires the crime to be minor, the offender to show remorse, have no risk of reoffending, and have no major negative impact on society."

Akiwara Yuto thought about these conditions after hearing them.

Onuki Masakazu met the two points of the crime being minor and having no major negative impact on society, but his lack of remorse and the risk of reoffending were still present.

After all, during the interrogation process, he was quite uncooperative with the police and revealed his "intent to kill" toward him.

Looking at it this way, perhaps he didn't need to worry about the issue of a suspended sentence.

He suddenly remembered a case that Toyama Miho had told him about before, and followed up: "Then if the other party has a mental illness, is it possible they could be given a suspended sentence?"

Takumi Watanabe was stunned for a moment, then said: "That is possible, but the information you gave me does not state that the other party has a history of mental illness."

"Then can it be forged?" Akiwara Yuto asked.

"It's difficult," Takumi Watanabe hesitated, then said: "But it's not absolutely impossible."

Because of the economic downturn, many people suffer from anxiety or mania, and the number of confirmed cases remains high.

Under such circumstances, if one goes to a less-than-diligent hospital and deliberately fabricates the same symptoms, perhaps they could deceive the doctor and obtain a corresponding appraisal report.

However, if the plaintiff raises a request, then experts can be arranged to re-evaluate the situation.

But out of consideration for the reputation of the hospital that issued the appraisal report, it is rare for the original appraisal result to be overturned.

Akiwara Yuto frowned subconsciously after hearing this explanation.

Onuki Masakazu had tracked him for a full month and a half to assassinate him and had formulated a detailed plan; it was hard to imagine such a person wouldn't think of ways to exculpate himself.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto's expression, Takumi Watanabe took the initiative to advise: "Mr. Akiwara, you don't need to worry too much."

After a pause, he explained: "This assassination attempt against you was too detailed; it's hard to imagine it being done by a mentally ill person, or rather, the mental illness is irrelevant to his motive for murdering you. So even if the other party produces a certificate of mental illness, I will do my best to ensure the court and the jury do not accept this evidence."

In his view, Onuki Masakazu had no money and no connections; he would likely only be able to find an assigned public defender to go through the motions.

In such a situation, it wouldn't matter even if the other party produced some mental illness certificate.

Moreover, current public opinion was basically sympathetic or concerned about Akiwara Yuto.

So he also had the confidence to persuade the court and the jury, making the result more favorable to Akiwara Yuto.

Akiwara Yuto felt relieved after hearing this explanation.

He felt that the money he spent was worth it; after all, hearing this was much more useful than his own blind speculation.

But neither he nor the lawyer expected that a report published by the Asahi Shimbun the next morning would cause their original plans to fall through completely...