[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-297":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},2355146,4607,"Chapter 297: The Box Office Exceeding Expectations","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-297",297,"\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto knew nothing of the speculations regarding Toei Film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hurried to the office rented for the temporary film crew and met Asano Aiko, who had just returned from outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon seeing him, Asano Aiko said excitedly, \"Akiwara, the opening day box office results are out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto smiled. \"Go on, how much is it?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Asano Aiko's expression, he vaguely guessed it was good news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asano Aiko took a deep breath and said forcefully, \"Yesterday's box office revenue totaled 23.56 million yen! It far exceeded our expectations!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto hadn't placed much importance on it initially, but he paused, feeling slightly surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A figure of over 20 million yen was nothing to write home about; in absolute terms, this result couldn't compare to the opening day box office of other films, being only about one-tenth of some hit movies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what surprised him was that this number exceeded his expectations by a full 100%!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You see, he had originally estimated a box office of only a little over 10 million yen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He asked curiously, \"Wasn't it only showing on 30 screens? Why is the box office so high?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After \"Memories of Murder\" was finished, Asano Aiko contacted some cinemas in Tokyo. However, the theaters only cared about profits and didn't pay much attention to Akiwara Yuto's fame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, no matter how famous he was, to the audience, he was not as important as the film's lead actors and actresses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, although they eventually negotiated with 30 theaters, each theater only arranged one screen to test the waters for the film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asano Aiko's expression became even more excited as she explained, \"I asked some of the theater owners at the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They said the film 'Memories of Murder' sparked a lot of interest among the audience, so they increased the screenings and added more screens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yesterday, there were at least 40 screens showing it! And they added quite a few midnight screenings too!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Midnight screenings? Aren't those time slots usually garbage?\" Akiwara Yuto asked, puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his impression, midnight screenings were basically empty, sometimes even allowing a few people to book the whole theater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Akiwara, you're wrong. 'Memories of Murder' is a premiere, after all! And its quality is superior to other midnight movies, so it attracted quite a few viewers!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the box office was excellent, Asano Aiko's pressure eased significantly, and she smiled beautifully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"After this news got out, more than 10 other theaters contacted me today, hoping to screen the film. And the phones have been ringing constantly just now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto felt relieved; with excellent film quality, word-of-mouth would naturally attract theater operators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, for them, profit is what matters most!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto said with a smile, \"I expect more and more theaters will contact you later; your workload is going to increase.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asano Aiko waved her hand dismissively. \"I'm actually happier with a bit more of this kind of hard work.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought for a moment and asked, \"Can we arrange the follow-up promotional plan now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Up until now, due to Akiwara Yuto's requirements, only a portion of the 50 million yen promotional budget had been used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In her mind, the situation was excellent, and it was the perfect time to strike while the iron was hot and release all the promotions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who knows, under a promotional offensive, hundreds of theaters might contact them and start showing it soon!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Akiwara Yuto did not agree, saying instead, \"Wait a little longer. I'll notify you in these two days.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After sending Asano Aiko off to busy herself with other work, he stepped aside and made another call to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The film \"Memories of Murder\" was adapted from the Kanagawa murder case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the promotions before the film, he had never emphasized this point, only letting people privately spread the word that it was adapted from a true case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason was that he needed to ride the coattails of the police department's hot topic to create a social ripple effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before this, although the police department had identified who the specific suspect was, they had been unable to catch the person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lacking further confessions, the police department had not released relevant news for fear of a scandal involving arresting the wrong person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as far as he knew, the police department had caught the person in these last two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they could truly confirm the person was the killer, the relevant topic would soon drown out the current public discourse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the film \"Memories of Murder\" could borrow this heat to achieve a rapid surge in box office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Assistant Inspector Soma, it's me, Akiwara Yuto.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the call connected, Akiwara Yuto asked politely, \"Has that fugitive confessed yet?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soma Daiyu said politely, \"Yes, he has confessed. We plan to hold a press conference the day after tomorrow to announce this news.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice was very bright; after all, he had been called \"useless\" for so long, and now they had finally caught the person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he himself knew that if not for Akiwara Yuto helping to point out the psychological profile, who knows how many years it would have taken to catch the killer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto nodded. The killer was caught and had confessed, and the police department was preparing to hold a press conference, so he could now execute his previous plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He calculated for a moment in his heart and then made a request to Soma Daiyu that was not too excessive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing it, Soma Daiyu showed a look of astonishment, but after weighing it, he agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time quickly reached the day of the press conference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the conference room of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department building, a high-ranking official acting as the spokesperson announced a piece of news to the dozens of reporters below.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"After 3 years, we have finally captured the killer of the Kanagawa serial murder case!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the killer has confessed to all his crimes!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Click, click!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this news, the many reporters sitting below stood up one after another to take photos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kanagawa County is within a 50-mile radius south of Tokyo, so the people of Tokyo were very concerned about this murder case!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the case had remained unsolved for so long, it had made many citizens feel panicked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some people even dared not let their wives or daughters go out on the street alone, creating an extremely negative social impact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today, this case was finally announced as solved!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was big news that could be placed on the front page!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I bet the newspapers will sell out tomorrow!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a time, the room was filled with the sound of cameras and flashing lights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't until a full 2 minutes later that it stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as a reporter was about to raise their hand to ask a related question, the spokesperson said one more sentence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For solving this case, we are very grateful to the mystery writer Mr. Akiwara Yuto! We thank him for his contribution to this case!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, the reporters below all showed very stunned expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto, isn't he a writer?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What does this have to do with him?\u003C\u002Fp>",1198,"2026-06-21T03:58:02.196Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","d14dc754c060cc6c4a14c01e3944a4205d38dd80a904956db0d5f51d591d4e9c","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-298","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-296",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]