Chapter 260: What a Big Mouth

According to Akiwara Yuto's investigation, the Japanese pure literature circle is a very special circle.

This circle is not only small, but also very closed.

But according to convention, as long as one can obtain the recognition of some literary critics and authors inside, others will often not give too much opposition.

This also means that one has almost already integrated into it.

And if one wants to climb up, one only needs to take out some "works" from time to time.

After all, as long as the work is excellent, not many people will have opposing opinions, and one can even further convince those who were originally dissatisfied with oneself.

But what surprised Akiwara Yuto was that after some good reviews of *Luo Shengmen* were published in the newspapers, there was no sound later.

Even some professional publications that he originally thought would give corresponding evaluations turned a blind eye to this work *Luo Shengmen*.

This is not right!

Akiwara Yuto frowned and started to think; before this *Luo Shengmen* of his was published, there had already been a lot of discussion.

According to that heat, it was impossible to have only these few book reviews.

Did something go wrong? Or did the pure literature circle decide to give him the "cold shoulder".

Just when he intended to find someone to ask about the situation, a literary professional publication under the University of Tokyo published an article called *On the Theory of Human Nature Being Evil in Luo Shengmen*.

But after reading the whole piece, Akiwara Yuto's mood turned bad.

Previous book reviews could often see at a glance whether they were praising his work.

But this book review analyzed his article much less.

Not only that, one could faintly see that he was promoting other writers' works in the article.

What does this mean?

Think his work is not as good as other writers?!

Forget it, let's see if there are other book reviews!

Just like this, Akiwara Yuto waited for another three days, but didn't wait for a new book review, but waited for an unexpected visitor—Ichimura Kenta, the editor-in-chief of Keihansha's *Yuno*.

After greeting the other party to sit on the sofa in the living room, Akiwara Yuto poured him a cup of tea and asked politely, "Editor-in-chief Ichimura, do you have something to do?"

The two were actually not familiar with each other, only having made a few phone calls, so he didn't know why the other party had come.

Ichimura Kenta politely took the tea and immediately said, "Akiwara-sensei, there is one thing I want to ask you."

In Akiwara Yuto's puzzled eyes, he continued, "Do you know Yoshikawa Yuichiro-sensei?"

Akiwara Yuto didn't expect to be asked this, but he immediately started to recall and found that he did know this person.

Yoshikawa Yuichiro, an "old man" in the pure literature circle, had written many literary works and was one of the representatives of contemporary Japanese writers in this world.

And his creative carrier took "beauty" as the main content, including reflections on gender, life, and family, and was even called the representative of aestheticism.

However, his "aesthetics" had caused a lot of controversy.

Because the beauty inside also involved many family ethics issues and described scenes of women being abused to a large extent, making many people disgusted.

Due to the description being too realistic, it even made people suspect whether he had had such real behavior.

There were even reports that the other party's private life was very chaotic.

Akiwara Yuto was a bit puzzled but still told the truth, "I have heard of Yoshikawa-sensei's great name."

He felt that Ichimura Kenta was talking nonsense; after all, the detective fiction community was also a member of the literary circle, how could he not know the other party.

Ichimura Kenta hesitated for a while, then said, "Then how do you view Yoshikawa-sensei?"

"I think Yoshikawa-sensei is a very talented writer," Akiwara Yuto gave an affirmative answer.

Hearing this answer, Ichimura Kenta revealed a satisfied smile, "Akiwara-sensei, Yoshikawa-sensei also praises your work very much; he hopes to take you as a disciple."

What the hell?!

Akiwara Yuto was a bit confused for a moment, and even felt like he had heard a joke!

He was now the most representative young writer in the detective fiction community, and there was no "one of" about it.

Judging from the current status of detective fiction, he could be counted as one of the top few among young writers in all of Japan.

As a result, someone actually wanted to take him as a disciple!

That Yoshikawa-sensei really had a big mouth!

Ichimura Kenta seemed to see through Akiwara Yuto's thoughts and started to persuade him.

"Akiwara-sensei, pure literature and detective fiction are different; if you want to go further in the pure literature circle, then having someone to help is very important."

He came to "persuade" Akiwara Yuto this time, also pushed by others. If he could persuade him successfully, he himself could also obtain no small benefits.

Akiwara Yuto was angered into laughter.

"Editor-in-chief Ichimura, is it impossible to create pure literature without someone's help?"

Ichimura Kenta didn't expect to hear this answer; he tried to explain again, "It's not like that, it's just..."

Akiwara Yuto waved his hand and said, "I have something to do today, please go back."

The other party was completely a guest, so there was no need to talk anymore now.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto's determination, Ichimura Kenta could only leave "helplessly", but before leaving, he said again, "If you change your mind, please contact me."

Akiwara Yuto didn't answer, just kept a straight face, watched the other party leave, and started thinking in his heart again.

Why did Yoshikawa Yuichiro want to take him as a disciple?

He returned to the study, poured himself a cup of tea, and thought about the meaning behind this matter today.

After pondering for half a day, he suddenly realized one point.

He now represented the new generation of detective fiction, and if he were to apprentice to a traditional pure literature writer, it might also represent in another sense that detective fiction was not as good as pure literature!

By that point, he estimated he would be hard-pressed to continue in the detective fiction community, and might even be confirmed with the reputation of a "traitor".

By then, let alone the Uemura Award, he estimated that even the sales of his current works might plummet because he offended detective fiction fans.

But conversely, for pure literature, which had always been suppressed, it was a good thing to be proud of.

He frowned, finding that this apprenticeship matter was all harm and no benefit to him.

He just wanted to use the pure literature platform to obtain some awards and fame, but if it damaged his foundation in the detective fiction community, it wouldn't be worth it.

However, was the suppression of the book reviews of his *Luo Shengmen* also the result of Yoshikawa Yuichiro's hint behind the scenes?

He thought for a long time, and finally decided to find someone to investigate, so he picked up the phone and dialed Asano Aiko.

"Asano, please help me contact the detective agency I cooperated with before... I want to inquire about someone's movements." ===== CHAPTER 261 =====